Berk Catholic’s historic season continued on Thursday at Methacton High School in Eaglesville.
The Saints defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond 5-3 in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals.
“It feels great,” Saint coach Brandon Shurr said of the win. “We’re hitting our stride at the right time here. The guys are playing good. They’re playing for each other, and they’re playing for the next day. So, it feels great.”
Berks Catholic is coming off a 1-0 victory over Hughesville in the first round, marking only their second win in school history in the state playoffs.
“Great, absolutely, great,” centerfielder Owen Schalk said of the quarterfinal win. “We just got to keep rolling, and I’m so excited. I’ve been looking forward to this my whole entire baseball career, trying to win states. I have a lot of athletic family members who have won state (championships) in other sports like basketball, and I really want to get one for the school and for my team.”
On Thursday afternoon, it was a perfect day for baseball, with the sun shining down on the District 3 and District 11 champions.
Michael Fidler took the mound for the Saints (20-7), while Clemente Cintron got the start for the Crusaders (15-10).
The Saints were retired in order, 1-2-3, at the top of the first, while the Crusaders wasted no time putting their first run on the board in the bottom half.
Two-hole hitter Jason Frederick singled to right field, setting the stage for clean-up hitter Austin Casal to drive him in with a double to left-center.
It wasn’t until the top of the third that the Saints got into a groove offensively.
With two outs, Fidler reached base safely at first on an error by the second baseman.
Up next was the three-hole hitter, Denny Rodriguez. The senior ripped a deep line drive to the right-center field fence, allowing Fidler to score all the way from first base for the Saints’ first run.
Schalk kept the scoring going with an RBI single, bringing in Gio DeSabatino, who had entered as a courtesy runner for Rodriguez and stole second base.
“Offensively, we came out in the first two innings and I thought we were a little over-aggressive, kind of getting ourselves out,” Shurr said. “We talked about that again, we need to be more patient. Getting better counts for us. We did that, towards the end of the game, and it helped us execute and hit more balls hard in that situation.”
In the bottom of the inning, the Crusaders had the opportunity to also drive some runs home, but Fidler, along with his defense behind him, would bend but not break.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Notre Dame with two outs.
But Fidler stood strong, fielding a weak ground ball from Paul Smith and throwing to first for an easy 1-3 putout, ending a potentially big inning for the Crusaders.
“Mikey is just really tough. He’s a tough kid,” Shurr said. “He executes what we want him to do. He executes what he needs to do, gets guys, keeps guys off balance, and keeps them guessing. Mikey’s a really tough kid that when those situations come, bases loaded, we still have a lot of confidence in Mikey and he has a lot of confidence in himself.”
It was déjà vu in the bottom of the fourth inning as Fidler again allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs.
And unfortunately for Notre Dame, they had the same result. Fidler struck out Frederick on four pitches to escape a close disaster.
“I feel like my defense really backed me up. I didn’t have quite my best up,” Fidler said of his performance on the mound. “It was tough to grip the ball over there with the sun. It was hot, but I figured it out. Innings where I was in trouble were when I fell behind.”
No harm, no foul for the senior, who went six innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs, while striking out four.
In the top of the fifth, the Saints struck once again.
Rodriguez was walked before Schalk, who went 3-for-4 on the day, drilled a laser double to left field.
With runners on second and third, Aidan Curley hit a ground ball that resulted in a fielder’s choice RBI.
In their next two innings at bat, the Crusaders couldn’t get anything going, trailing 3-1 as outs came one after another.
“Our defense was awesome,” Schalk said. “All of the postseason, our defense has been absolutely great, and we’ve not made many errors, and we just get the job done well.”
In the top of the seventh, the Saints bought some insurance.
Leadoff batter Trey Stricker was walked and advanced to third on two passed balls.
Fidler then hit a grounder to third base, but Frederick overthrew the first baseman, allowing Stricker to score.
Cintron’s day on the mound ended after allowing seven hits and five earned runs, as Christian Rivtuso took over, hoping to stop the bleeding.
But after striking out Rodriguez, Schalk stepped to the plate.
The junior stayed hot, blasting a rocket to left field that was somehow kept in play by the high net at Methacton’s field.
“I thought that ball was gone. I mean, I started jogging down the first baseline, and then it hit the top of the net,” Schalk said of his RBI double. “I couldn’t hit that ball any better. So, you know it is what it is, next time.”
The hit drove in the fifth run of the game, putting the Saints ahead 5-1. With just three outs needed to advance, the Crusaders made it as difficult as possible to close out the game.
Frederick led off with a single, bringing an end to Fidler’s day on the mound.
Brock Shrawder took over, tasked with closing out the game.
Shrawder recorded a quick out on a fielder’s choice at second base before giving up a single to right field.
But on Victor Mejia’s throw-in, the ball went all the way to third base instead of stopping at the cutoff, allowing the runners to advance to second and third.
A single up the gap from Smith drove in both runs, giving the Crusaders hope for a comeback.
“We talked about a little bit of composure again,” Shurr said of the seventh inning miscues. “Knowing the game situation, we’re up 5-1 going into the seventh, they get a couple of runners on, and those runners don’t 100% mean anything yet. So, we’re just trying to minimize the impact and as far as they can go. Give us easy outs at first and second base.”
Shrawder was poised to record back-to-back flyouts to first base and right field to end the game, as Saints fans breathed a sigh of relief.
Berks Catholic will face the District 4 champions, Mount Carmel Area, on Monday, with the time and location to be determined.
The Red Tornadoes (19-4) defeated Bermudian Springs 3-1, advancing to the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
“The bats have been going really well, and our pitchers have been doing a phenomenal job. I think if we just keep doing that well, we’ll get the job done,” Schalk said of what’s needed to get the job done.
Trey Stricker, a West Chester University commit, will take the mound against the Red Tornadoes, who will counter with their ace, Drew Yagodzinski.
Yagodzinski, a Monmouth University commit, is the program’s strikeout leader and has been flawless as of late.
“I know they have a really good arm. I think in their district championship, he threw a perfect game in the semis, and a no-hitter in the championship,” Shurr said, looking ahead to Mount Carmel and Yagodzinskie. “ We got Trey ready to go, so we’ll have a really good arm able to combat it, and see who comes out on top.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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