Second-best not good enough for Mustangs this time
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Gov. Mifflin finished second to Wilson in Division I of the Berks League this season, losing a head-to-head regular season finale that decided first place.
Ten days later the Mustangs lost to the Bulldogs again, this time in the BCIAA championship game.
They fell to Mechanicsburg in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament two weeks later.
The Mustangs have won 23 games, matching a program record, but they’ve got nothing to show for it at this point: No trophies for the showcase, just a couple of silver medals.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Mustangs coach Chris Hole told his players after Monday’s state semifinal win over Selinsgrove, “but I’m damned tired of being second.”
Mifflin plays Hollidaysburg Friday at 4:30 at Penn State’s Medlar Field for the PIAA Class 5A championship.
Hole and his players are not about to settle for second-best again.
The Mustangs are looking to become the first Berks team to win a state baseball championship in eight years and the first team from their school to win a PIAA championship.
They scuffled in the district tournament, eking out a pair of 1-0 wins and a 3-0 victory en route to the title game, but it wasn’t easy. The normally potent lineup went stone cold and the Mustangs batted a paltry .113 in the four-game tournament.
They didn’t look like a team about to make an extended state tournament run.
“We were trying to do too much (at the plate),” junior Ethan Grim said of a slump which saw his team score just six times in four games.
They managed just two hits in a 6-1 loss to Mechanicsburg in the championship game, but that turned out to be a new beginning, not an end.
“After that, we knew we had to work even harder if we wanted to accomplish what we want to accomplish this year,” said junior shortstop Bryce Detwiler.
In the six days between districts and states the Mustangs went about changing their approach at the plate. They were determined to take more pitches and hit the ball on the ground, and that approach paid off in a 7-2 opening-round win over Franklin. They banged out 10 hits, four for extra bases, including a homer by Detwiler, the Berks Player of the Year.
They were even better in the quarterfinals, bashing District 11 champ Whitehall 10-0 in five innings. They opened that game with four straight hits and finished it with 11 hits, four for extra bases.
They continued to bash in the semifinals against Selinsgrove ace Josh Domaracki, knocking him around for nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 7-2 victory.
“Our guys were dialed in,” said Hole.
Over three state playoff games Mifflin batters have collected 31 hits, batted .375, slugged .575 and scored 24 runs in 18 frames.
“We’re putting it all together,” said Detwiler, Mifflin’s biggest basher and owner of a .458 batting average and whopping .964 slugging percentage.
The Mustangs will face another top pitcher, Hollidaysburg’s Carson Kensinger, a senior who hasn’t lost a game this season. He’s struck out 108 batters over 67 1/3 innings, with a 1.04 ERA.
“We just have to keep having good at-bats,” said Detwiler, “(keep) rolling the ball, (making) the pitcher throw more pitches. Hopefully we can put it all together for one more game.”
Grim, who pitched the final inning Monday, will get the start. The All-Berks right-hander is 7-3 with a 1.85 ERA and 102 strikeouts over 65 1/3 innings. He has allowed just 44 hits.
If needed, Detwiler will be available. He’s 10-2 with a 1.72 ERA and 87 strikeouts over 69 innings after throwing six innings Monday.
Unlike the senior-loaded Golden Tigers the Mustangs are a relatively young team – at least on paper. Detwiler, Grim, Travis Jenkins and Dylan Barrett – their top four hitters – are juniors. Outfielders Bryce Wunderlich and Joey Berg will be the only seniors in the starting lineup.
Hole is not concerned. His team has played loose and smart throughout the state tournament.
“You look at Grim, Detwiler, Jenkins, they’re juniors, yes,” he said, “but they’ve been starting for three years. You have that veteran leadership where you don’t get too high, you don’t get too low. I know the whole team is excited for the opportunity that’s in front of us.”
“We’re just trying to make history and have fun out there,” Grim said. “We’ve definitely loosened up and we’re ready to go play.”
