Boyertown has enjoyed more legion baseball success than any other program in the state over the last several decades. With an experienced team last year, the Bears, from Region 2's Berks County League, took the PA Region 2 crown before finishing second at the state and Mid-Atlantic tournaments. The perennial power did not return a single starting position player from last year's team. Ten of the team's seventeen players are in their first year with the team, many of whom are just sixteen years old. While a solid cast of starting pitching and a few good reserve players returned from last season, whether Boyertown would rebuild or reload was still in question.
After dropping a few non-league games to start the year, and a few league games to open up their Berks County League slate, it appears as though by summer's end, this Boyertown team will be primed to make some noise in the playoffs yet again. Returning from last year's team are pitchers Dan Woodley, Colby Hartman, Luke Stong, and Ryan Pinter. 2011 reserves Ronnie Mauger, Alex Jazlovietcki, and Cole Speilman round out the returning core for the Berks County squad. If you followed the Bears exploits last summer, those names should look familiar. Even the youngest players paid huge dividends for Manager Rick Moatz last postseason, as they provided crucial starting and relief pitching, pinch running, big-time hits, and stellar defense.
Boyertown played host to the Nor-Gwyn Hawks on Friday evening at Bear Stadium, in a match-up between two of the most prolific teams in the state over the past few years. The Hawks came to power under former head coach Kevin Manero, who has since assumed the head job at North Penn High School. Friday's game, as they always have been, would be a good test to see where each team stood against stiff competition.
This time, Boyertown got the best of Nor-Gwyn behind a stellar pitching performance from sixteen year old rookie Brandon Griesemer. The left-hander surrendered just three hits and struck out four in five innings of work. Ryan Pinter took over in the sixth, notching five outs while giving up one hit before leaving the game with an injury. Another sixteen year old, Matt McCarney, took over on the mound where he gave up a few runs and a few walks in the ninth inning. Tyler Bauman came on and got out of the jam, earning himself a save and his team a win by recording two quick outs.
Nor-Gwyn starter Nate Heller had a solid outing of his own, pitching six innings and giving up five runs (three earned) and six hits while striking out a couple batters. Young Anthony Cameron came on in relief for the Hawks, tossing two innings and surrendering a run while striking out three Boyertown hitters.
Ronnie Mauger and Cory Fox led the offensive attack for Boyertown. Mauger, the starting center fielder, had two hits including a double, scored a run, and tallied an RBI. Fox, who was a mid-game substitution at third base, went two for two to add more spark at the bottom of the order. The one through six hitters all had an RBI a piece for Boyertown, which netted six runs in the victory.
Nor-Gwyn got the bulk of its offense in the last frame and was led by two hits from Nick Yacopino, and RBIs from Brandon Billetz and Steve Cameron. Final score from Boyertown: Bears 6, Hawks 2.
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