Wilson, Fleetwood win elimination games, advance to PIAA Tournament
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Wilson and Fleetwood each got strong starts from their aces and plenty of hits to win District 3 Tournament elimination games Tuesday night and advance to the PIAA Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (19-7) got five shutout innings from senior Matt VanOstenbridge in a 7-3 win over visiting Waynesboro to finish third in Class 6A.
The sixth-seeded Tigers (14-8), playing at James Buchanan, got a complete game from senior Liam Hilburt in a 5-2 win to finish third in Class 4A.
Both open play in the PIAA Tournament Monday. Each meets the District 7 champ, on the road. Wilson will play either Mount Lebanon or North Allegheny; Fleetwood will play either North Catholic or Indiana. Both District 7 championship games are Wednesday.
Wilson and Fleetwood are among three Berks teams to advance to the state tournament along with Gov. Mifflin, the Class 5A runner-up.
The Bulldogs scored just one run in their semifinal loss to Ephrata but collected 14 hits in beating the seventh-seeded Indians (15-7). Eight different players had hits.
Alex Ernesto went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs; Christo Hunsicker went 3-for-3 and scored a run. Ryan Marmolejos and VanOstenbridge each had two hits.
VanOstenbridge allowed just three singles and struck out seven, improving to 6-1 and lowering his ERA to 0.93. He has struck out 74 and allowed just 27 hits over 52 2/3 innings.
VanOstenbridge left with a 7-0 lead, and after throwing 98 pitches, but the Indians immediately got back in the game, scoring three times in the sixth against Ben Kulp.
Christo Hunsicker relieved in the sixth and got the final five outs.
Wilson returns to the PIAA Tournament for the second straight season.
Fleetwood is back for the second time in three years after Hilburt improved to 8-1 and won for the third time in three postseason starts.
The Tigers went up 2-0 in the second and pulled away with single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to lead 5-1. The fourth-seeded Rockets (15-9) got a run back in the final inning.
Cane Cromer led Fleetwood’s 12-hit attack, going 3-for-4. Nate Seidel, Nick Noll, Aiden Soumas and Dalton Young each had two hits. Five different players drove in runs and five different players scored.
James Buchanan opened the district tournament by eliminating fifth-seeded Berks Catholic 10-8.
Waynesboro and James Buchanan each saw its season end with the losses.
