Dylan Barrett-Gov. Mifflin

When you heard the crack of the bat, you knew it was gone. Ethan Grim hammered a solo homer to center field in the 2nd inning of Friday’s District 3-6A semifinal against Ephrata. “That was the farthest ball I’ve ever seen,” stated Mustangs’ outfielder Dylan Barrett. Top-seeded Gov. Mifflin cruised past the fifth-seeded Mounts 11-1 in five innings. After a slow start, Grim’s home run tied the game at 1-1 and fired up the (24-1) Mustangs. “Ethan came up, hit that bomb and that definitely started everything. Everybody got really excited,” replied Barrett. Grim is known for his work on the mound, however, the Virginia Tech commit can also do plenty of damage at the plate. Barrett provided three of Gov. Mifflin’s twelve hits. He knocked in three runs and scored two more. Charlie Ainge went 2-for-3 in his first start of the season. “We’re looking for a DH. He definitely fills that role. He came out today really hot,” said Barrett. Bryce Detwiler and Matt Koehler added two hits apiece. Detwiler struggled with his command in the 1st inning. The UConn commit walked three batters and then hit Caleb Grant to force in a run. Detwiler had issued just seven walks in 46 innings entering the day. He came into the contest with a staggering 0.60 ERA. The two-time Berks County Player of the Year settled down and limited Ephrata to two hits over five frames with seven strikeouts. Detwiler improved to (9-0) this year. “I wasn’t worried at all. They say he’s our No. 2 [pitcher]. They’re both No. 1 in my eyes. They’re both great pitchers. I have the same confidence in both of them,” noted Barrett. Grim has a (7-0) mark and features a fastball that’s 92-94 mph. After his homer, Barrett hit a bloop RBI single to right that brought home Koehler for a 2-1 lead. Ainge doubled down the right field line to make it 3-1. An error on Aden Reiter’s grounder to shortstop put the Mustangs in front 4-1 against the Lancaster-Lebanon League runner-up. Gov. Mifflin tacked on five more runs in the 3rd. A safety squeeze bunt by Billy Angstadt with the bases loaded gave them a 5-1 cushion. Barrett, the No. 7 hitter in the lineup, followed with a two-run double to left-center. Detwiler then hit a ground ball to third base with two outs that took a bad hop. It was ruled a single and brought in a pair of runs. Camryn Simes was charged with nine runs, eight earned, on nine hits in three innings. The junior came into Friday with a (10-0) record and a 1.58 ERA. The Millersville commit had piled up 93 strikeouts over 62 innings, while only giving up 37 hits. The Mustangs ended it in the 5th. Sophomore Ethan Gockley hit Branson Adams with the bases juiced. He then walked Travis Jenkins to make it 11-1. The (18-8) Mounts lost to Gov. Mifflin 6-4 back on April 5th. They’ll travel to Hempfield on Tuesday for the third-place game. Meanwhile, the Mustangs will battle third-seeded Cedar Cliff for the District 3-6A title on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster. Cedar Cliff beat Hempfield 8-5 in the semifinals. Gov. Mifflin is seeking its first District 3 championship.