Boyertown’s Kreitz comes up clutch, sends Bears past OJR

BOYERTOWN >> Andrew Bauer and Pat Hohlfeld combined on the pitching duties, and Tyler Kreitz delivered the game-winning hit in the sixth inning as Boyertown advanced to the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game with a 2-1 victory over Owen J. Roberts Tuesday night at Bear Stadium.

Bauer pitched six innings of four-hit ball against the Wildcats, surrendering just one third-inning run, and Hohlfeld came on in the top of the seventh inning to record his second save of the season as the Bears edged Owen J. Roberts in the second game of the Final Four semifinals doubleheader.

An error opened the gates for Boyertown in the sixth, and then with two outs, Kreitz stroked a two-out single to left field to knock in Mitch Pinder with the go-ahead run.

Boyertown (17-4) will now take on Perkiomen Valley, a 2-0 winner over Spring-Ford, in Thursday night’s 7 p.m. title game back at Bear Stadium to determine the PAC-10 champion.

“Until the fifth inning, I didn’t have a curveball,” said Bauer, who upped his record to 5-1. “When the curve ball came, I got in a groove.”

Bauer said he felt sore after the outing, but he was willing to gut it out for the rest of his Bear teammates.

Bauer struck out one and walked two before Hohlfeld came on for a 1-2-3 frame that included three ground balls.

Boyertown coach Todd Moyer said the one-inning chore simply came in place of the work Hohlfeld would have done in preparation for his next outing, starting the championship game against the Vikings.

Left-hander Corey Hennessey (2-1) pitched another strong game for the Wildcats. He finished with a four-hitter and two runs allowed (one earned) with three strikeouts and two walks.

Hennessey defeated Boyertown twice earlier this season.

Boyertown scored single runs in the second and sixth innings while Owen J. Roberts (14-6) knotted the game at one with a run in the top of the third.

Kreitz, the Boyertown third baseman, talked about his game-winning hit.

“I choked up on the bat,” said Kreitz. “I wanted to put the bat on the ball. I was not trying to do too much. Put the ball in play.”

Kreitz said he got a good swing on an off-speed changeup that was low in the strike zone.

Kreitz said the Bears wanted to win this particular game because Owen J. Roberts has been a nemesis for the Bears throughout their varsity careers.

“This was our time,” said Kreitz. “A couple of our seniors went their whole career and did not win against Owen J. We wanted to beat them. We wanted to play a clean game.”

The Bears did that by committing no errors in the contest to support the pitching.

Boyertown got its first run when Ben Longacre led off the second inning with a single and moved up on a Kreitz sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Cory Melchior, catcher Ryan Weller came up with a run-scoring single to center field.

Andrew Fisher scored the Owen J. Roberts run with two outs in the third on a single to left field. He rounded the bases on an RBI double to left field by leadoff man Riley McGinley.

“Those two guys are our big RBI guys,” Moyer said of Kreitz and Longacre. “Luckily, the little guy came through.”

The Bears faced Hennessey for the third time this year and had the challenge of dealing with his change of speeds. Moyer said he uses three different pitches and uses good location by putting the pitches on the edge of the strike zone.

“Bauer was supposed to have surgery three weeks ago (for gall bladder), but he said he can pitch,” said Moyer. “For a healthy kid, he did a great job.

“We want a shot for the team. (Catcher) Ryan (Weller) works real hard back there with him. The two of them are both seniors. They are sharp kids as far as baseball.”

Joe Zgleszewski also doubled for the Wildcats, and Brian Sikey had the other Owen J. Roberts hit.

“He (Hennessey) made a good pitch, and he (Kreitz) got a swing at it,” said Owen J. Roberts coach Greg Gilbert.

Gilbert said Hennessey is effective because he works ahead in the count with good control on his off-speed pitches.

“We didn’t do a lot on the offensive side to help ourselves,” said Gilbert. “You can win a game with four hits, but I don’t know how many.”