Tyler Minick, Gov. Mifflin, open Berks playoff run with a blast
Tyler Minick bats leadoff in Gov. Mifflin’s explosive lineup because of his ability to get on base at an incredibly high rate.
That, combined with his power, overshadow one of his best leadoff skills: His speed.
He reminded everyone at Owls Field about that Thursday when he crushed a ball to center field, sprinted out of the batter’s box and circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
“It’s a Little League home run,” Minick joked after the Mustangs opened the Berks League Baseball playoffs with a 12-0, five-inning win over Brandywine Heights. “Counts the same, though.”
There’s nothing Little League about Minick or the top-seeded Mustangs (16-4), who quickly erased bad memories of last year’s playoff opener by scoring eight first-inning runs.
Minick capped the bat-around inning with his three-run homer. He led Berks with six homers as a junior and has a team-leading four this season. This was the first homer he’s hit since cracking the Mifflin lineup as a freshman that didn’t carry over the fence.
“I knew I got good barrel on it,” said the University of Connecticut recruit. “I was busting out of the box and Coach gave me the green light, so I went and took it. When I saw it (go) over (the center fielder’s) head, I knew I was gonna get it.”
Minick made it home easily to give the Mustangs an 8-0 lead.
“Man, can he fly,” said Mifflin coach Chris Hole. “It’s fun watching him run.”
Minick’s homer and the early outburst overshadowed the mound work of sophomore Ethan Grim, who mowed through the most productive lineup in the league.
Eighth-seeded Brandywine (11-7) entered with a .368 team batting average and averaging nearly 7.9 runs per game. It managed just a third-inning single, by Jaeger Smeltz, off Grim, who pitched the first four innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven.
“We had confidence that he would pound the zone today, and he did,” Hole said. “When Ethan’s in the zone, he’s very tough. He can mix his pitches. Today he kept the ball down and challenged the guys with the elevated fastball when he needed to, to get some strikeouts.”
Hole had several good options for the starting assignment. Bryce Detwiler has a 1.77 ERA and a team-best 6-1 record. Minick has a 1.75 ERA and plenty of experience.
Hole handed the ball to Grim.
“He’s a big-game pitcher,” he said. “He pitched very well against Exeter, and very well against Boyertown. It was nice to see him at his best again today.”
Mifflin was the top seed in last year’s tournament but went out in the first round against No. 8 Oley Valley. Minick, the Berks Player of the Year, was injured at the end of last season, which hurt his team in the postseason.
He was at the top of his game in leading Mifflin’s opening-round rout of the Berks IV runner-up Bullets. He walked to lead off the game and scored twice in the opening inning.
Travis Jenkins had a two-run single and Grim had an RBI double. Alexander Velez had two hits and scored two runs and Jonathan Radwinski had two hits and two RBIs for Mifflin.
Mifflin advances to face fifth-seeded Fleetwood, a 5-2 winner over Kutztown, in a Saturday semifinal at FirstEnergy Stadium. They will play in the second game of a doubleheader.
The Mustangs won the league championship in 2021 but couldn’t get out of the first round last year, losing 6-1.
“It’s a great win,” Minick said of 10-running the Bullets, “but we’ve gotta stay focused and get ready for the next one.”
| Brandywine Heights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | x | – | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| Bullets | AB | R | H | RBI | Mustangs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Crist, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Minick, ss | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frisch, 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unger, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Renner, ss/p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N. Radwinski, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hall, 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Detwiler, 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Fronheiser, p/ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Velez, 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Bojt, lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jenkins, c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Cardinale, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sanchez, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Smeltz, cf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Koehler, 3b | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Showalter, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Troche, dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Parks, c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lehman, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Haring, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tobin, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| A. Leib, rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | J. Radwinski, lf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Moyer, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hohl, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Acosta, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Grim, p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Berg, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Novotny, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wunderlich, rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
E:Jaeger, Smeltz. 2B: Grim. HR: Minick. SB: Showalter, Detwiler, Koehler. LOB: Brandywine Heights 3, Gov. Mifflin 7.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Fronheiser, L (4-2) | 2/3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | Grim, W (5-2) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Renner | 3 1/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Novotny | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
WP: Renner. HBP: Troche (by Renner); Christ (by Grim).
