Exeter storms to Berks League title with win over Muhlenberg
LYONS >> It wasn’t so much the eventual outcome, but the speed in which it was achieved.
Exeter scored five runs over the first two innings, then piled it on, to vanquish Muhlenburg 11-4 and win the 2016 BCIAA championship, held at Lyons Field Thursday evening.
It was a somewhat unexpectantly one-sided affair, considering Muhlenberg had beaten the Eagles 5-3 just nine days earlier. But Exeter was in control at Lyons from the go with the title on the line.
“This is a great group of girls,” Exeter head coach Dan Wegman said. “Once we got in the playoffs, our bats starting coming alive again, like at the beginning of the season. We’re a very close group. These girls have been playing together for a long time, and I’ve been blessed to coach most of them since seventh grade. It’s a great accomplishment and they worked extremely hard and they deserve it.
“When our girls play their game they’re tough to battle with, and they brought everything together today.”
Exeter (18-3) displayed why they entered the tournament as the team to beat, coming of a Berks 1 section championship. The Eagles sliced through Muhlenberg pitching early to the tune of five runs on six base hits before the Muhls recorded an out in the bottom of the second inning. The Eagles chased starter Alexis Pugliese in that span and established a beachhead that would never be threatened.
Senior leader Kayla Evans smoked a triple to lead off the bottom of the first for Exeter, a tone-setter if there ever was one. She came on home on an infield error to plate the game’s first run.
“As a senior with four years experience, I knew that starting the team off with high energy was really important,” Evans said. “This feels amazing. I’ve worked since my freshman year and we knew what this program could be with these girls coming up.”
A year behind Evans, junior hurler Sarah Musselman delivered from the circle. She ran into some turbulence trying to close the Muhls out in the seventh — holding an 11-2 lead when the strike zone contracted — but was otherwise on-point. Musselman struck out five and walked two, scattering seven hits. Both walks came in the seventh.
“I have to give credit to my defense,” Musselman said. “Being out there on the mound is tough, but have them back me up is what gives me the confidence to do this. Knowing that I could help my team out and do this for the team is great.”
Exeter began to open up some distance in the second. The Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs on five hits, the big blow coming off the bat of Coryn Uhrig, whose two-run single up the middle opened the floodgates. Zoe Texidor capped it with a two-run double. The frame opened with four consecutive singles — the fourth to Uhrig — which was enough for Muhlenberg coach Jeff Haas to go get Pugliese and replace her with Krystie Kuczawa.
A similar move nine days ago during their last meeting worked. “We beat them switching pitchers like that late in the year,” Haas said. “What we going to do was switch back if it stayed close.”
But it didn’t. The Muhls scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, set up by a Pugliese leadoff double and McKenna Rozzi’s RBI triple, but gave in back and more in the bottom half when Exeter responded with four to make it 9-2. Halle Kisamore clubbed a bases-clearing triple off Kuczawa to put the Eagles in the clear.
“I think they were a little star-struck out here in the moment,” Haas said of his club. “But you know what, first time here for these girls, (Exeter) showed why they No. 1 from Day One.
“It is an excellent accomplishment getting here. Once we started winning, they figured out they could play. I’ll tell ya what, they’ve got a lot of heart. I wouldn’t trade these girls for the world.”
BCIAA championship
at Lyons Field
Exeter 11, Muhlenberg 4
Muhlenberg – 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 — 4 7 4
Exeter – 1 4 0 4 1 1 x — 11 9 2
WP: Sarah Musselman LP: Alexis Pugliese
2B: E, 1 (Zoe Texidor); M, 1 (Pugliese)
3B: E, 2 (Kayla Evans, Halle Kisamore); M, 1 (McKenna Rozzi)
