With a great escape, or two, (or three) Saints hold off Hawks, improve to 6-1

Parker Nein spent so much time in trouble Wednesday afternoon you expected him to be called into the principal’s office at any moment.

The Berks Catholic junior was constantly working from the stretch; every time he peeked over his right shoulder he saw Hamburg baserunners stationed at second and third base.

It didn’t seem to faze him.

“You’re not gonna see much difference in his emotions (whether he’s got runners on or not),” said Saints coach Brandon Shurr.

Nein wiggled out of scrapes in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, then turned a messy situation over to sophomore Matt Sterner in the seventh. He, too, wiggled his way free to earn his first save in Berks Catholic’s 4-2 win over the visiting Hawks in a Berks Conference Division III game.

“Our guys are confident in the work they’ve put in and they’re able to go in and do it without a panic,” said Shurr. “They stay really calm. We got out of a couple bad situations today. We (tend to) either minimize the inning or we don’t give up anything.”

The Hawks (0-2, 1-6) had 11 baserunners and put 10 in scoring position but couldn’t bring enough of them home. They were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Isaac Krick had the only RBI hit, an infield single in the two-run fourth. The other RBI came on Braden Fetherolf’s groundout.

The Hawks loaded the bases with none out in the fourth but didn’t capitalize as Nein retired the final three batters to keep it tied, 2-2.

“I (was facing) the back half of the order, so I (knew I) could probably blow some fastballs past the kids that I couldn’t in the beginning of the game, so I just tried to gas it up.”

He struck out the No. 9 hitter, freshman Ethan Horvath, to end the inning. It was one of his eight strikeouts. It turned out to be a big momentum swing for the Saints (1-1, 6-1).

“I knew the middle half of our order was coming back,” Nein said, “so I knew we’d get some back.”

Which they did.

Sophomore Matt Sterner, the DH, pounded a curveball to the gap in right-center and over the head of Fetherolf, the right fielder, for a two-run double.  Nein and Michael Bradley, each of whom had singled, scored to make it 4-2.

“I tried to sit back (on that pitch) and take it to the right side,” Sterner said, “and I just caught it right that time.”

Sterner finished the job in the seventh after Nein walked leadoff batter Scottie Dunleavy and gave up a single to Conner Licklider.

He went right through the heart of the Hawks’ order, retiring the only three batters he faced, two by strikeout, to record his first save.

“That’s my guy,” said Nein. “When he comes in I know he’s gonna throw gas. I know the game’s pretty much over.”

Like Nein, Sterner remained composed in a tight situation. A wild pitch allowed the runners to move to second and third; a bloop single could’ve tied the game. Sterner didn’t seem bothered by the slim margin he was protecting.

“I don’t change my approach depending on the batter,” he said. “I just throw whatever pitch I think is best to get the batter out. I don’t give (any hitter) too much credit. I’m worrying more about where I’m throwing it rather than where they can hit it.”

The win gives the Saints the best record in the league, along with Gov. Mifflin, a bit of a surprise considering they had to replace three of their best players from last season: All-Berks catcher RJ Emrich, all-division outfielder Chris Avram and all-division second baseman Kevin Lawlor, their best hitter.

Until about a month ago Shurr thought he’d have Lawlor batting cleanup for him but the senior tore his ACL during the Saints’ district basketball run. He’ll miss the entire season.

Even without him the Saints are off to their best start in seven years and right in the thick of a wide open Berks III race. The Hawks were the preseason pick to repeat as division champs but a week into league play they’re the only team in the division without a league win.

“We wanted to be here,” Shurr said of the fast start. “We didn’t know if we’d be here. We had a couple tough games early in the year. Twin Valley was a really tough one that we were able to scratch out in Myrtle Beach (where both teams prepped for the season).

“The positive thing for us is we’re 6-1 and we’ve played B-minus baseball to this point, so there’s still room for us to improve. We’re happy at 6-1 but we’re not going to settle for that.”

The Saints, obviously, have a long way to go. They’ve still got a pair of games against Oley Valley, a rematch with the Hawks at Hamburg, and another game with Wyomissing, which beat them 8-4 on Monday.

As of Wednesday evening they were ranked No. 1 in the District 3 Class 4A power ratings.

“I was hoping to get a start like this,” Sterner said. “I wasn’t really sure how we were going to be, but team chemistry’s been great and hopefully we just keep it rolling.”

Hamburg	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	–	2	6	3
Berks Catholic	2	0	0	2	0	0	x	–	4	5	2

Hawks (1-6)	AB	R	H	RBI		Saints (6-1)	AB	R	H	RBI
Dunleavy, cf	3	0	0	0		Fidler, ss	3	0	0	0
Licklider, 2b	4	0	2	0		Mace, cf	3	0	0	0
Bensinger, ss	3	1	0	0		Rodriguez, c	3	0	1	0
Gilbert, c	4	1	1	0		Shrawder, cr	0	1	0	0
Krick, p	4	0	2	1		Nein, p/1b	3	2	1	0
Shuey, 3b	2	0	0	0		Moschak, 2b	3	0	1	1
Clark, lf	3	0	1	0		Bradley, rf	2	1	1	0
Fetherolf, rf	3	0	0	1		Sterner, dh/p	2	0	1	2
Horvath, 1b	3	0	0	0		Casantini, 1b	0	0	0	0
						Stricker, 3b	3	0	0	0
						Walls, lf	3	0	0	0
Totals	29	2	6	2			25	4	5	3

E:Shuey 2, Bensinger; Stricker 2.  2B: Clark, Gilbert; Sterner.  SB: Krick, Licklider.  LOB: Hamburg 9, Berks Catholic 5.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K			IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Krick, L	6	5	4	2	1	6		Nein, W	6	6	2	1	1	8
								Sterner, S	1	0	0	0	0	0

WP: Krick, Sterner.  B: Nein.  HBP: Bensinger (by Nein), Shuey (by Nein); Bradley (by Krick).