Needing a win to keep pace in the crowded standings in Division I of the Berks Baseball League, Wilson rode its offense to a 9-7 win over Muhlenberg in a slugfest Monday at West Lawn.
“Before this game, we were behind Muhlenberg so this was a big one if we wanted to try to get second place in the division,” Bulldogs coach Bill Underwood said. “These are always big (games) because we’re trying to maneuver ourselves to be in the best spot for for counties and districts, and this is a big win for us because that’s a very quality opponent. And for us to go out and be able to pull a victory out after giving up those runs (was important).
“It wasn’t a pitch fest. It was getting runs and then keep battling, and that’s a good testament to our guys’ fortitude this year.”
Wilson jumped to a 4-0 lead, but a five-run fourth inning put the Muhls (6-3, 8-5) on top until. Trailing the Bulldogs down 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth, Mason Sensenig hit an two-run double to kickstart a four-run rally that put Wilson (5-4, 9-6) ahead for good.
“We just kept our composure,” Underwood said. “Our guys were so positive and trying to pick each other up. And so I think that one good thing about our club this year is that character. It’s a really quality club and they do a good job of picking each other up and knowing that we can battle back if we stay positive and work towards that.”
Composure was more than necessary after Muhlenberg drastically shifted the momentum in the fourth. Singles by Derek Wilson and Eli Keller got things started for the Muhls before an RBI single by Sean Patton made it 4-1.
A two-out single by Aaden Lopez knocked in two runs before a two-run home run by Cameron Burr in the next at-bat gave Muhlenberg the lead at 5-4.
“We battled,” Underwood said. “Timely hitting is something that we’ve been kind of struggling with over the last week-and-a-half and we got some timely hits early on. Then we kind of sat back a little bit after scoring four in the first two innings and, I don’t think we were resting on our laurels, but we were kind of cruising along.
“And then they got that big five spot and it snowballed with some walks and then with two outs they had some nice hits and the big home run to to move ahead. That was a big one on their part.”
A sacrifice fly by Evan Gabaldon tied it for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth, but Patton’s second RBI single of the day put Muhlenberg ahead at 6-5 in the fifth.
Singles by Rafael Fernandez and Jordan Shutter put runners on for Wilson with no outs in the bottom of the inning before Lucas Kolodziejski came on to pitch in relief for Drew Fidler.
Fidler allowed seven hits and seven runs, five earned, walked three and struck out two over four innings and received the loss for the Muhls,
With two on, Sensenig’s double scored Fernandez and Shutter. Sensening finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases.
“I think he (Sensenig) really stood out today because he’s been kind of like a role player for us,” Underwood said. “When Nick (Crocona) pitches, he’s in left field and he’s been doing a really good job of filling in that role for us in that spot. He’s putting the bat on the ball in timely spots, and today he did a really good job of getting on base.
“He had a couple stolen bases, he had a walk, he put the ball in play on a fielder’s choice, but then the big double, that really capped us off. So he had a he had a really quality game today.”
Crocona followed Sensenig’s double with a walk. With Sensenig on third and Crocona on second, a hard hit ball by Charlie Frantz got through Keller at shortstop for an error and two more runs scored to make it 9-6.
“I feel great,” Sensenig said. “I love that we came through with the win; that was really important to us. In the dugout (in the fifth inning), we said we needed energy and that’s what we brought. We brought in the runs.
“It’s a big confidence booster and we’ll just keep moving on from there.”
Matt VanOstenbridge came on to pitch for Crocona in the sixth. Crocona, who earned the win, allowed nine hits, six earned runs and struck out four.
VanOstenbridge struck out three and gave up just one run in the top of the seventh when Patton hit a double to score Wilson, who had singled. Patton went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Wilson was 3-for-4, and Burr was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
With two outs and Patton on second, VanOstenbridge struck out Kevin Rodriguez to end it.
For Muhlenberg coach Brian Kopetsky, defensive miscues played a factor in the loss.
“We have a lot of young guys in the lineup so you’re gonna see mistakes,” Kopetsky said. “We should have turned five double plays today. We turn those five double plays, you’re erasing big chunks in numbers. They don’t score two in first and they only score one in the second. So guys got frustrated early. We didn’t make some plays early, but they did. They came back when they got their second opportunities and they started grinding out at-bats, which is what we try to do all the time.
“I thought once we scored the five, I felt pretty good that we were going to roll but again you got to have all parts of the game: pitching, hitting and defense. Today the defense kind of let us down a little.”
The Muhls finished with five errors, but an offensive showing of 11 hits was a positive sign for Kopetsky.
“They’re fighters, they’re tough kids and they have that mentality,” Kopetsky said. “We’ve seen this happen time and time again in different games over different seasons where teams have that ‘we’re not going to quit and we’re gonna grind it out’ attitude and you saw that today. We like to use the word relentless a lot. It’s something we talk about in the weight room, it’s something we talked about all season. There’s 21 outs and that’s why you play all 21 outs.”
Fernandez went 2-for-4 a two-run double in the first for the Bulldogs. Tommy Hunsicker went 2-for-3, including a two-run single in the second for Wilson.
Source: Berkshire mont