Tyler Minick: ‘We’ve gotta get that swagger back’
For the first 5 1/2 weeks of the baseball season the Gov. Mifflin Mustangs could do no wrong.
They scored 10 or more runs five times in their first eight games, clinched the Berks League Division 1 title with a week to go, won their first 19 games and compiled the highest power rating in the district.
They’ll open the District 3 Class 6A Tournament Thursday as the No. 1 seed — and without having won a game in over three weeks.
The Mustangs were on the brink of history, just a few outs away from recording what might have been the first 20-0 season in modern Berks baseball history.
The confidence displayed in dominating the league was shaken by a 16-10 loss to Exeter in their regular season finale and further flattened their next time out with a 6-1 loss to eighth-seeded Oley Valley in the opening round of the BCIAA Tournament.
“We haven’t felt that confidence in a while,” said junior shortstop Tyler Minick, the Berks Player of the Year. “We’ve gotta get that swagger back that we had, we’ve gotta play confident and come out and play the game we know we can.”
The Mustangs open at home against ninth-seeded Hempfield (15-6), a 6-0 winner at Cedar Cliff in Monday’s opening round. Considering the seeding, the first-round bye, the home field advantage and the fact that the Mustangs smoked the Black Knights 21-3 in the third game of the season you’d think Mifflin is a heavy favorite.
There’s more to it than that, of course. Neither team is the same as when they met March 29, a nasty, windy day that saw the Black Knights at their worst.
“We know they’re a whole different team,” said senior captain Mike Marmolejos. “They made districts for a reason.”
Hempfield allowed more than six runs in just two other games this season and went on a winning streak shortly after that loss, winning 9-of-10 during one stretch.
The Mustangs are different, too, mainly because Minick isn’t 100 percent. He strained his right triceps pitching against Twin Valley May 2 and couldn’t throw the ball effectively three days later, when he had an error in the loss to Exeter.
He hasn’t pitched or played the field since, though Mustangs coach Chris Hole hasn’t ruled out using him defensively.
Minick, a University of Connecticut recruit, was a force during the regular season. He set the tone from his leadoff spot, where he’s batted .500 with a ridiculous .623 on-base percentage and an equally ridiculous 1.604 OPS. He leads the team with 27 runs scored, 17 walks and 12 extra-base hits, including five homers.
He’s also one of the league’s best pitchers, and a dogged competitor on the mound. He went 4-0 with an 0.93 ERA and 42 strikeouts over 30 innings. In his final game, a 4-1 win against Twin Valley, he threw a four-hitter, striking out 11.
The Mustangs won’t have that going forward. When they need a second starter — which they will if they reach the championship game — they’ll turn to a freshman, Ethan Grim. Junior Alexander Velez (7-0, 1.04) is expected to start against Hempfield.
A few weeks ago Mifflin would’ve entered the tournament as the favorite. Now the Mustangs are simply trying to regain their mojo. So, how do you get that back?
“The way you get it back is you come out with energy,” said Hole, “you come out with focus and you play well — and you win. That’s the only way. It’s that time of the year where it’s win or go home.”
The top three teams in Class 6A advance to the PIAA Tournament. Thursday’s loser is eliminated.
“We’ve got to come out and play our best game,” Minick said. “Our defense has been lacking recently; we’ve gotta pick that up or we go home Thursday.”
Mifflin was averaging about one error per game during its winning streak. It committed five errors against Exeter, allowing the Eagles to rally from a 9-5 deficit, then committed four against Oley Valley.
That stinging loss to Exeter, Minick feels, carried over to the Berks playoffs.
“We were flat going into the Oley game,” he said. “We didn’t listen to Coach, we didn’t execute our game plan. Give it to Luke Macdonald and Oley, they played well, he pitched amazing. They played their best game and we played one of our worst. We made a lot of errors and we didn’t have good at-bats. “
Hole has tried to impress upon his players that power ratings don’t matter once the tournament begins. Berks champ Muhlenberg reminded everyone of that, falling to 16th-seeded Gettysburg in a Class 5A opener Monday night.
“So much of it at this level is mental,” Hole said. “Every team in the tournament is good. It’s not about your seed, it’s about being mentally focused, (being) able to grind it out for seven or more innings.”