After a week off following the District 3 Class 6A championship, the Gov. Mifflin Mustangs picked up where they left off with another dominant win.
The Mustangs, last season’s PIAA Class 5A champions, defeated Perkiomen Valley 6-1 on Monday afternoon at Rulon L. Griffith Field.
“It’s another journey that requires maximum effort. It’s going to be a complete grind against any team we play. We have such a mature group that they understand that,” Mustangs coach Chris Hole said of trying to win a state championship in Class 6A. “I think that we have the experience. We know what to expect, and now we’re more battle-tested for it.”
“It all starts with practice. We know what we can do, we know what we should do, but coming here to the field, staying loose, having fun, not getting tight, not thinking about someone’s going to beat us, and just having fun along with it. Everyone’s on board with trying to win another state championship. So, it makes it easy,” senior catcher Travis Jenkins said on not staying complacent.
Ethan Grim took the mound and delivered his usual strong performance, striking out three and allowing one hit.
Michael Stretchay took the mound for the Vikings (17-9) and quickly got introduced to the Mustangs’ high-powered offense.
Bryce Detwiler led off the game with a single that snuck past the third baseman, followed by a walk to Branson Adams.
Travis Jenkins stepped up in the three-hole and made Strechay pay.
Jenkins ripped a rocket to right field that rolled to the fence, driving in two runs to get the scoring started.
“Just hitting a curveball. I knew he liked to throw a lot of curveballs and throw strikes, so I knew I wasn’t really taking anything,” Jenkins said. “So, after I missed the first one, I knew I couldn’t miss a pitch in the zone again after that.”
In the same inning, following a single by Grim, Matt Koehler and Billy Angstadt each drove in a run, extending the lead to 4-0.
Before escaping the inning, Stretchay faced the entire Mifflin lineup in the first.
Grim came in and retired the side 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in a quick half-inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Mifflin’s bats stayed alive. Detwiler led off with a stand-up triple deep into right-center field.
Adams then drove in Detwiler with a hard ground ball to the second baseman, who completed a 4-3 putout.
Jenkins followed with a triple to the same spot in right-center field, prompting the conclusion of Strechay’s day.
“It was pretty much the same pitch (he threw before), had a little more velocity on it, but same spot,” Jenkins said.
The senior allowed six hits and six runs in 1⅓ innings.
Nicholas Cress took over on the mound for the Vikings.
One batter later, Grim hit a hard ground ball to third base. Third baseman Liam McNiell tried to make a play at home, but his throw sailed wide right, allowing the Mustangs to score again.
After two innings, Mifflin held a commanding 6-0 lead, looking to cruise to yet another win.
In the top of the third, Hole handed the ball to Evan Glucknis, preserving Grim’s arm.
“When we got up, we knew we didn’t have to force the issue too much with him (Grim), but just like Evan (Glucknis), who came in, in relief, they both had a little bit of arm tightness,” Hole said on taking Grim out after two innings. “We didn’t want to mess around with that when we had other fresh guys to come in and keep the game where it was at.”
Glucknis walked a batter and gave up a single before striking out the final hitter to end the inning with two runners left on base.
Vikings’ Cress kept the Mustangs offense in check for the most part, allowing only four hits the rest of the way and striking out three.
But Mifflin’s bullpen performed just as well down the stretch.
“I thought they did a fantastic job. We are very fortunate. There are a lot of guys we have, especially in our junior class, that just don’t get a ton of innings because of the guys at the front of our rotation,” Hole said of his bullpen. “But they can do the job, and we have confidence in them.”
Glucknis, Aden Reiter, and RJ Weaver combined to allow just four hits, effectively shutting down any comeback attempts from the Vikings.
“I mean, it’s difficult because some guys have different tendencies than others, but I have confidence in every single person on our team. No matter if they throw one inning all year, zero innings all year, or 100 innings all year, they’re all going to come out and perform like dogs, and you can’t ask for much more out of them,” Jenkins said about catching behind the plate for different pitchers throughout the game.
Perkiomen Valley finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with an RBI single to left field from Andrew Keenan, driving in Stretchay, who had been walked earlier.
An interesting moment occurred in the top of the sixth inning when the Vikings’ first base coach argued a call at first base. Detwiler fielded a grounder and threw to Nate Radwanski, who was slightly off the bag but managed to apply the tag and record the out.
The first base coach, who continuously argued the call after the umpire confirmed the out, was thrown out along with a player from the dugout in a bizarre situation.
In the bottom of the inning, looking to drive in some insurance runs, Jenkins stepped up to the plate with two outs and just a home run shy of the cycle.
“It wasn’t in my mind until I was warming up in the on-deck circle and someone said, ‘You’re one way.’ And I’m like, ‘Why do you have to say something?’ I mean, I wanted it obviously, but it wasn’t in the back of my mind,” Jenkins said of potentially hitting for the cycle.
Unfortunately for Jenkins, the senior hit a fly ball to left field, falling just short of his first career cycle.
Weaver came in during the seventh and retired the side with two men left on base, as the Mustangs cruised to the quarterfinals.
The District 3 champions will face District 11 runner-up Liberty on Thursday, with the time and location to be determined.
“We know that they’re very talented, there are always talented teams from District 11,” Hole said of Liberty. “They hit the ball very, very well, and they’re going to be a great challenge for us in the next round.”
The Hurricanes (21-6) defeated West Chester Henderson 11-3 on Monday in West Chester.
Detwiler will be the Mustangs’ starting pitcher on Thursday.
Source: Berkshire mont
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