Hohlfeld’s cool demeanor led Boyertown to state title, Mercury All-Area POY award
What, him worry?
Not Pat Hohlfeld, who embraces the mantra of MAD Magazine cover boy Alfred E. Neuman when he’s out on the baseball field. No matter how big the game, or the arena, Hohlfeld doesn’t let the pressure affect his approach or performance.
The Boyertown junior’s cool demeanor served his team well this past spring, helping direct it to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Class AAAA championship — the program’s first state title in a quarter-century. And it was at the forefront of his being named The Mercury’s 2016 Player of the Year.
“Stay calm and focused, looking just to the next batter,” was Hohlfeld’s secret to success. With it, he pitched the Bears to the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship and into states … then past Plum in the state championship game June 16 at Penn State University.
Big games? Pressure situations? No worries.
“It’s pretty cool, throwing big games with my friends and families in the stands,” Hohlfeld said. “I did it with the 12-year-old Black Bears and with my Junior American Legion team in the state tournament. I’m used to it.”
The AAAA state championship game proved a telling example of Hohlfeld’s calm demeanor. When the start of the game was delayed by rain, Hohlfeld took a nap during the down time.
“I think the coaches would rather see me be relaxed,” he said. “It didn’t affect me too much. I usually warm up a half-hour before the game, so I was prepared for it.”
He went on to throw a masterful game against Plum, the second-seeded team out of District 7. Hohlfeld scattered six hits, yielded just one walk and an unearned run in the fourth inning while recording four strikeouts.
“We knew we’d have to play our best baseball, that they (Plum) were there for a reason,” Hohlfeld said. “But there’s nobody we’re scared to play against.”
His Boyertown mates staked Hohlfeld to a two-run lead in their first at-bat. They then added another pair in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.
“I wanted to go as far as I can. I wanted to throw as long as I could,” Hohlfeld said. “Getting clutch hits was in our favor. I worked off that.”
Hohlfeld finished the year with some eye-popping statistics.
Along with a 7-3 record, he had an 0.84 earned-run average and pitched six complete games while recording four saves. In 75 innings, Hohlfeld recorded 51 strikeouts against just 13 walks; and of the 21 runs scored off him, only nine were earned.
“I wanted to do better than last year,” he stated as his goal for 2016. “I was undefeated going into the post-season, then lost three games. This year, I wanted to do better and help the team more.”
Hohlfeld listed a fastball, curve ball and change-up as his primary pitches, with a slider serving as a fourth pitch when needed.
“My curve was doing a lot better,” he said. “I tried a two-seam fastball. I was working on my location and changing speeds.”
He and senior teammate Andrew Bauer formed what the latter once described as a “1-1” pitching punch. Bauer contributed an 8-1 record, 1.19 ERA and 34-7 strikeout/walk ratio through 47 innings.
“Going in, I knew he and I would be throwing a lot of innings. Grant (Fronheiser) and Nate (Kline) would do some pitching, but we’d be finishing it.”
That was particularly true during the Bears’ state-playoff run, where they outscored the opposition by a combined 29-4.
Hohlfeld and Bauer threw 21 of the 26 innings in the four-game run, Hohlfeld also working a complete game in Boyertown’s second-round win over Wyoming Valley West. Bauer, in turn, pitched the first three innings of the Bears’ mercy-rule 18-0 rout of Olney in the opening round, and four in a semifinal-round win over Cumberland Valley.
“He backed me up, and I backed him up,” Hohlfeld recalled. “He had a good year.”
With Hohlfeld and Bauer back leading the mound corps, Boyertown stood in good position to improve on its 19-6 finish of one year ago. It had five principal players bat in excess of .300 while appearing in more than 50 percent of the team’s games — Ben Longacre (.389), Mitch Pinder (.365), Ryan Jacobs (.320), Seth Endy (.310), Mitch Peers (.300) — and 12 that played error-free ball in the field, Hohlfeld among them.
“Coming off last season, we had good guys moving up,” Hohlfeld noted. “Our main goal was to win the PAC. The rest of the season would be a bonus.”
The Bears, finishing the regular season record with a 15-3 record, started out the Final Four playoffs by edging Owen J. Roberts, 2-1. They then handled Perkiomen Valley, 5-1.
“I think it was the PAC-10 semis, beating Owen J. Roberts for the first time,” Hohlfeld cited as a pivotal point in Boyertown’s season. The Wildcats dealt the Bears a 7-1 loss in their season opener, then edged them 4-3 in a late-April rematch.
Another pivotal moment — and a timely one, at that — was the 18-0 rout of Olney to open states. Boyertown was coming off a fourth-place finish in districts after sustaining shutout losses to Pennridge (3-0) and Downingtown West (2-0).
“Our first game in states got us back, coming off two shutout losses in districts.” Hohlfeld said.
Hohlfeld has been spending his summer playing for the All-Star Baseball Academy (AAU) team based out of West Chester. He plans to continue doing that before his senior year of high school starts.
Then, of course, comes next spring and defense of Boyertown’s state championship. It’s a challenge Hohlfeld is ready to face.
“We always get everyone’s best pitcher,” he said. “We do what we try to do.”
