Hertzler walks Boyertown off over Owen J. Roberts

Boyertown >> The patience was wearing thin for Boyertown on Friday afternoon.
Just two days removed from a shutout loss to Methacton, the Bears found themselves scoreless once again through five innings to Owen J. Roberts in another Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty division games.

The reigning league champs, who have had to replace a good chunk of last year’s lineup, were down three runs and facing an 0-2 start in the PAC with a meeting with last year’s Liberty regular season champs, Spring-Ford, scheduled for next week.

.@BashAthletics first baseman Cole Hertzler had the game-winning hit for Boyertown in a come-from-behind win over Owen J. Roberts. pic.twitter.com/YYVJmYJbtR

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) March 29, 2019

“That’s what I got worried about when we were down,” Bears senior catcher Billy Coleman said. “I was like, this isn’t going to look good going against Spring-Ford.”

With its backs against the wall, Boyertown showed that while some of the faces might be new, the Bears are still capable of competing for another league title.

Boyertown scored four runs in the last two innings, capped by a walk-off hit by sophomore first baseman Cole Hertzler to defeat the Wildcats, 4-3, at Bear Stadium.

“It was surreal,” Hertzler said. “I didn’t even think. I just hit the ball, and I almost blacked out. I was just kind of running around the bases knowing that was the game-winner.”

FINAL: Boyertown 4, OJR 3… Cole Hertzler walks it off for @BashAthletics. pic.twitter.com/AJ8K0QFFcr

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) March 29, 2019

Owen J. Roberts (0-2 PAC Liberty) got on the board in the top of the first inning when catcher Jordan Siket’s sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field scored shortstop Jack Rinehimer. The Wildcats added another in the third when Rinehimer singled home third baseman David Bealer. Ryan Glenn led off the top of the fifth with a double and came around to score on a safety squeeze by outfielder Jake Iyoob to put the Wildcats up 3-0 after five inning.

The three runs looked like more than enough support for Wildcats’ starter Ben Samuelson. He didn’t run into any trouble until the fourth inning when he stranded runners on the corners. After OJR scored in the top of the fifth, Samuelson sat the Boyertown (1-1 PAC Liberty) down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. He had a shutout going through five innings and looked to have plenty left in the tank after throwing just 81 pitches.

“Ben’s real consistent,” Owen J. Roberts head coach Greg Gilbert said. “He’s always around the plate with all of his pitches. I thought Ben did a really nice job today.”

Junior Gavin Richards started the game for Boyertown allowing two runs on three walks and one hit. Lefthander Sean Sutterby entered with a shutout fourth inning before running into some trouble in the fifth. Senior righthander Stephen Cisik came into the game in relief of Sutterby with runners on first and third and no one out. After allowing Glenn to score, Cisik worked his way out of the inning with a strikeout and flyout to right.

Cisik kept the game within reach by setting OJR down in order in the top of the sixth. The Bears scored their first run in the bottom of the inning when third baseman Shayne Horrocks crossed the plate on wild pitch with two outs. Samuelson was replaced by Ben Karpinski with the Wildcats up 3-1 and two outs in the bottom of the sixth. He struck out four and allowed five hits and two earned runs in 5.2 innings.

Boyertown added another run when designated hitter Nolan Kline singled home shortstop Chris Davis, heading into the last inning trailing, 3-2. Cisik struck out the side in the top of the seventh to keep it a one-run ball game and had the Bears fired up as they sprinted into their dugout, ready to start a rally. Cisik tossed three innings of hitless relief. He retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, striking out four Wildcats hitters.

“He came in there and mowed them down,” Coleman said. “Did not give up any in relief and just kept coming with the fastball and the curveball and made them look funny … When everybody was running off the field after that called strike three, everyone was ready to go.”

Leadoff hitter Colin Maloney started the inning with a single. Derrick Baisle bunted him over to second, then Coleman tied the game with an RBI double to left center. After an intentional walk to Horrocks, Hertzler, who played on the freshman team last season, walked to the plate.

Hertzler fell behind in the count 1-2, but he saw a pitch he liked.

“I got up there and with two strikes, he left me an inside fastball, and I took advantage of it,” Hertzler said.

“It just kept going and going,” Coleman said. “When the outfielder gave up on it, that’s when everybody went nuts.”

Coleman went 2-for-4 to lead Boyertown at the plate. Siket, Rinehimer, Glenn and Bealer had the only four hits for Owen J. Roberts.

The late-inning defeat was Owen J. Roberts’ second such loss this week. The Wildcats lost, 3-2, to Perkiomen Valley after leading 3-0 heading into the final inning.

“They were a little better than us down the stretch,” Gilbert said. “We gave away some at-bats in the middle of the game that we maybe shouldn’t have, and the man they brought in at the end of the game came in and did a really nice job for them. We just gotta keep our heads up. We’ll be fine.”

While somewhat inexperienced, the Bears still feel capable of competing for another league title. Boyertown has shown the ability to reload in the past, winning two of the past three PAC championships and four league titles since 2012.

Horrocks, Kline, Maloney and second baseman Broc Babb are some of the key returners from last year’s squad, but as displayed by Friday’s timely hitting from Coleman and Hertzler, others are ready to rise to the occasion.

“We’re all from Boyertown, and we want Boyertown to look their best,” Coleman said. “Even if all of us are new, we just gotta hold our own and show them what we got.”

“Now we’re ready to go,” he added. “We’ve got our feet wet in the winning on varsity fields, and we’re ready to go.”