Mikey Fidler-Berks Catholic

Bermudian Springs entered the District 3-3A Championship with a lofty .352 team batting average. Six players were hitting over .350 and three had averages of .400 or better. Berks Catholic senior Mikey Fidler shut down the top-seeded Eagles in a 8-0 victory on Monday morning at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster. “It feels amazing…We wanted this one really bad. We exceeded our goals from the beginning of the season,” said Fidler with a gold medal around his neck. The righty tossed a one-hitter with four strikeouts and only one walk. He mentioned that his fastball, curveball, and changeup all felt really good when he was warming up. The curveball was the key. “I had all three [pitches] working. If I know I have that curveball working, I can get ahead with it,” explained Fidler. He needed just 82 pitches to get through seven frames. Fidler also knocked in the first run of the game with a bases loaded walk in the top of the 3rd. He was 1-for-3 with two runs. Owen Schalk added a two-out, two-run single to center in the 3rd. Dennys Rodriguez made it 4-0 by hammering a RBI double to left-center with two outs in the 5th. That ended the outing for senior Skyler Gentzler. He was charged with four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings. Gentzler (3-1) struck out five and walked a pair. The (19-3) Eagles were searching for their second District 3 title and first since 2010. Their first and only hit was a single by Ayden Knight in the 6th. The (18-7) Saints tacked on four runs, two earned, off Brayden Heller in the 7th. The big blow was a two-run single to center by Rodriguez. The Shepherd commit went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. “When we have runners on for Dennys and Owen Schalk, big chance they’re gonna have an extra-base hit,” emphasized Fidler. A wild pitch by Heller gave Berks Catholic a 8-0 cushion. Trey Stricker had two hits and scored two runs. Sophomore Cole Harter and Brock Shrawder each went 1-for-3 at the bottom of the order. Berks Catholic finished with eight hits and no errors. Stricker, who’s headed to West Chester, tossed a four-hitter in the semifinals against Trinity. He struck out eight and the third-seeded Saints prevailed 2-1. “We’ve been battling in a ton of close games to get here,” replied Fidler. Berks Catholic claimed its third District 3 championship and first since 2018.