Ben Kulp-Wilson

With a trip to the BCIAA Championship on the line, Wilson turned to sophomore Ben Kulp and he delivered. The 6’1, 215-pound righty allowed just three hits over 5.1 innings in a 6-3 victory over Twin Valley at Owls Field. “The curveball was working early in counts. The splitter and slider were working later in counts,” explained Kulp. He gave up three runs, two earned, with five strikeouts and only one walk. “My goal was to get ahead of batters early and then keep them off balance,” said Kulp. He’s (5-1) with 41K in 35.2IP. The third-seeded Bulldogs gave him some early support with three runs on one hit in the second inning. After two errors and a walk, freshman Ryan Marmolejos ripped a single to left field. C.J. Fernandez’s grounder to second produced another run. A sacrifice fly to right by sophomore Jack Gabel made it 3-0. The second-seeded Raiders got on the board in the 2nd thanks to Jon Oxendine‘s groundout with the bases loaded. Kulp struck out Kooper Zdimal with men on second and third to limit the damage. A two-out RBI double to right field by Paul Colombo got Twin Valley within 3-2 in the third inning. Colombo had three of the Raiders’ four hits. He’s headed to Division II Anderson University in South Carolina. Owen Rhoads, an Elizabethtown commit, left after five frames and 98 pitches. He was charged with three unearned runs on five hits and two walks. Rhoads finished with a handful of strikeouts. Zdimal took over and allowed a two-out, two-run double to left-center by Christo Hunsicker. Penn State commit Matt VanOstenbridge replaced Kulp in the bottom of 6th with one out and a runner on second base. Kevin Eden greeted the southpaw with a RBI double to right. Fernandez added a bloop RBI single in the 7th for the final margin. Marmolejos and Fernandez each went 2-for-3. They hit eighth and ninth respectively for Wilson. The (15-6) Bulldogs had eight hits on Saturday. VanOstenbridge had a pair of strikeouts to surpass 200 for his career. He permitted just one hit while throwing 25 pitches. “He’s a great guy on the bench, great teammate. He’ll take you under his wing and show you his stuff,” noted Kulp. VanOstenbridge is expected to be on the hill Monday evening at FirstEnergy Stadium. Wilson meets rival Gov. Mifflin for the Berks County title at 6:05pm. The Mustangs defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 in last year’s championship game. “We want redemption,” stated Kulp.