Boyertown’s Raineri shakes off early mishaps, delivers in state semis

EPHRATA >> Standing in the on-deck circle in the third inning, Boyertown shortstop Michael Raineri had a moment of self-reflection … not an especially favorable one.

“Well, I don’t think I could be playing any worse,” the junior said to his teammates on the edge of the dugout. “On the bright side, it can only get better from here.”

It most definitely did.

Shaking off an inning where he made an error and was eaten up by a hot shot from Cumberland Valley’s Drew Baughman that saw the Bears escape a bases-loaded jam, Raineri came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth.

The upbeat infielder came through with an effective squeeze bunt that scored Seth Endy, broke the game’s deadlock, put the Bears on the board and on their way to what would become a 3-1 victory over Cumberland Valley in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals Monday, sending Boyertown to its first state final in 25 years.

“Coach Todd (Moyer) called me over and he said, ‘You’ve got to get it down.’ I knew exactly what he wanted from me,” Raineri said. “He had faith in me, I knew my team had faith in me and if they have faith in me I know I can do it and I have to be confident up there no matter what happens in prior situations.”

Putting aside his earlier fielding woes, Raineri also started a pivotal 6-4-3 double play in the fifth inning with the Eagles’ looking threatening against reliever Grant Fronheiser, who entered for starter and eventual winning pitcher Andrew Bauer.

“That was a big moment for us as a team. We were holding on to that 3-1 lead, they had the leadoff man on and the No. 4 man up. That could have been a big moment for them, but Grant made a great pitch and Mitchell (Pinder) and I made a nice turn.”

It was a moment of triumph in the field for Raineri, which haven’t been so easy to come by in his past couple outings and why he was feeling as though he couldn’t be playing worse. Committing three errors in the Bears’ 4-2 quarterfinal win over Wyoming Valley West and another against Cumberland Valley, the No. 3 seed from District 3, could do that to just about anyone.

But the atmosphere around this year’s Bears, who are rewriting the past two decades of Boyertown postseason baseball, doesn’t allow anyone’s confidence to sink.

“Everyone picks each other up here. You make an error, someone’s going to be there to pick you up. That’s the mindset you have to have: you have to let it go,” Raineri said. “That’s the mindset I’ve had to have these last two games where I’ve had rough fielding plays.”

No rolled eyes, no bad body language, just teammates there to lift one another.

“Every team I’ve played on here (at Boyertown) has been very cohesive,” middle infield mate Pinder said. “We’ve been through a lot as brothers. We support each other, we pick each other up.”

“No one ever gets down on each other. We’ve all got confidence in one another no matter the situation.”

Successful squads always talk about team chemistry and the current Boyertown bunch is no different.

“It’s not a surprise,” Raineri said of reaching the PIAA final. “We knew from Day 1 that we’d have a good team and we’ve been working since January, out here every day rain or shine. We were there working with each other and we’ve become a family during this (season). We knew our one goal was to get to State College and play for the state championship and it’s worked out for us.”

No big celebrations from the cool-as-can-be Bears even upon clinching a trip to Penn State, yet the energetic shortstop did light up when Moyer announced in the postgame that he would cede control of the bus-ride music.

“I really hope I can be the DJ. I think I play some good tunes, the team usually pumps up for it and that’s what it comes down to,” Raineri said, though he admitted he may not be the team’s first choice.

“I’m a throwback. Nowadays music’s not as good as I like, I’m more of an oldies guy. ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,’ that would be my go-to track for the team.”

With a trip to the state title game in store, ain’t no mountain high enough indeed.