We took in the always highly anticipated match-up between the Boyertown Bears and West Lawn Owls of PA Region 2's Berks County League. The rivalry generally features some highlight reel plays and a hostile environment. Tonight's game was no different.
West Lawn jumped out to an early one run lead when their leadoff hitter began the game with a walk and came around to score on a base hit off of Boyertown southpaw Colby Hartman. After Boyertown tied it up on a sacrificed fly, the Owls went ahead again 2-1. The Bears struck back, though in a controversial manner, when they attempted a double steal with runners at first and third and one out. The runner was thrown out at second, but the runner who broke from third just beat the tag, much to the dismay of the visiting fans.
Following an error, Boyertown rallied for one of their prototypical big innings which consisted of seven runs on only a few hits. The Bears were aided in the game by five costly West Lawn errors and several hit batters and walks. One of the most interesting points in the game came when Bears leadoff hitter Ryan Schwager was hit not once, or twice, but three times in the same at bat. The first two were ruled balls because Schwager didn't attempt to get out of the way. The pitcher hit him again a third time for good measure.
The Bears continued to manufacture runs off of the Owls pitching staff throughout the game. With one out in the eighth, Boyertown had runners at first and second base up seven. Andrew Gehringer ripped a towering homerun to left field to deliver three more runs and end the game via the ten run mercy rule.
With the way this series always goes, and the fact that West Lawn will host PA Region 2 Tournament and the Mid-Atlantic National Regional, and Boyertown hosts the Berks County and PA State Tournament, these teams are sure to meet at least a few more times on not so neutral grounds.
Final score: Boyertown 14, West Lawn 3 in 8 innings
Comments