PENN STATE — The dream came true for the Gov. Mifflin baseball team Friday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
After making the PIAA Class 5A final for the first time in program history, the Mustangs have a memory that will last a lifetime, as they defeated District 6 champion Hollidaysburg 2-1 behind clutch hitting and a dominant pitching performance from junior starter Ethan Grim to claim their first state title.
“It’s almost an indescribable feeling coming out on top,” Gov. Mifflin coach Chris Hole said. “This is what you dream of as a player, as a coach, and to see these boys come through and to know that this is always something that they’ll have now as a memory is just so special.”
And for one Bryce Wunderlich, a senior playing in his last game with the District 3 runner-up Mustangs (24-5), Friday’s game was one he’ll always remember.
With the game tied at 1-1, two outs and runners on the corners, Wunderlich crushed a hard-hit ball up the middle that went past the outstretched arm of pitcher Paul Wedel and over the second base bag into center field, scoring Ryan Lehman from third, who was pinch running for Dylan Barrett.
“I think every senior dreams of playing their last game in a state chip and to do this is something special and it’s something I’ll never forget,” Wunderlich said. “Doing this meant a lot to me and I’m so happy it turned out the way it is.
“It felt good being in that spot and doing my job.”
Once Gov. Mifflin took the lead, the outstanding pitching that had been on display throughout the game carried the Mustangs to victory.
Grim pitched six full innings to earn the win, striking out 11 batters, and allowing just two hits, one earned run and three walks.
In total, Gov. Mifflin struck out 14 of the 21 outs recorded in the game. And the Mustangs did it when it mattered most.
Despite an aching arm he dealt with from the wear and tear of postseason, Grim struck out the side in the first and fifth innings. In the sixth, Grim struck out the last batter he was allowed to face to end the inning after reaching the maximum pitch count.
“I feel like I didn’t have my best stuff,” Grim said. “My arm was aching and I didn’t feel 100 percent. So I just went out there and did my best and I gave it all I got. The slider I was definitely yanking out too much but at the end I kind of got it over and then the curveball was there the whole game and the fastball ended up where it needed to.”
With a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, Berks Player of the Year and junior Bryce Detwiler came on to pitch in relief and struck out the opposition in order to seal the win.
“It feels amazing; going out there and getting those three outs for my team to win the state championship, nothing can beat that,” Detwiler said. “I’m just happy with how everyone played today.”
Detwiler came up with a big moment earlier to help tie the game before the momentum got away from the Mustangs.
In the third, senior leadoff hitter and outfielder Jake Hileman opened up the scoring for Hollidaysburg. Hileman ripped a screaming ground ball to Detwiler that went off the shortstop’s diving glove and into center field, scoring Brady Michaels for the Golden Tigers (17-7) from second and making it 1-0.
Michaels reached base on Grim’s first walk of the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ty Szynal.
Gov. Mifflin wasted no time responding, as Detwiler hit a ground rule double deep to right center with one out in the bottom of the third. After Branson Adams reached second on an error by the center fielder who bobbled a pop fly, Travis Jenkins hit an RBI groundout that scored Detwiler from third, making it 1-1.
On the same play, RJ Weaver was thrown out at home to end the inning after trying to score from first.
“My first at bat I got all fastballs so I knew that he was probably going to come with a slider,” Detwiler said on the ground rule double at bat. “So I was sitting slider and it got over the plate and I just put a good swing on it.”
Grim looked sharp from the onset. In the top of the first, he struck out the side swinging, and in their first matchup, Grim got EJ Ulery out with a tantalizing curveball low on a 1-2 count for the second out. It took Grim just 13 pitches to get out of the first.
Brady Steiner got the first hit for the Golden Tigers with two outs in the second when he hit a hard grounder into left field in between short and third. Grim struck out Keagan Hockey looking in the next at bat for his fifth strikeout of the game.
Wedel earned the loss for Hollidaysburg, giving up seven hits, two runs (one earned) and struck out one over five and one third innings.
For Detwiler, as well as Hole, after falling in the District 3 and BCIAA finals, earning the ultimate win at the state level is a sign of the resilience, work ethic and firm belief that the Mustangs had in themselves. Indeed, Gov. Mifflin would not let its 2024 season be defined by those losses, as it earned the first PIAA wins in program history on the way to a first state title.
“We wanted this so bad,” Detwiler said. “This week at practice we pushed each other so hard and now it all came together. I’m just so happy that we’re on top of the state.”
“It almost goes without saying, even though I said it, that you want to come away with winning something,” Hole said. “We didn’t win a division, we didn’t win the county, we didn’t win districts. But you know what? That’s not the stuff that we want to define. We don’t want to be defined by county championships. We want to be defined by something bigger. Tonight. We were able to do that.”
Able to do that and perhaps more, the Mustangs will return their core next season, as Gov. Mifflin graduates seven starters, two of which were starters. With All-Berks juniors Detwiler, Grim and catcher Travis Jenkins remaining in the fold, among others, it seems as though the Mustangs are well positioned to carry on their success.
“That’s definitely the end goal,” Grim said on returning to the state final next year. “That’s should be the end goal for every team, but that’s definitely what we’re trying to do next year.”
