Brady – Berks Sports Report

Brady McKee-Conrad Weiser

Paul Roberts — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 23:59:00 +0000

Conrad Weiser head coach Rich Miller knows the importance of winning your home games. The former PSAC East Coach of the Year at Mansfield instructed his players to write their initials in the circle at midcourt before the season opener against Antietam. “To establish that this is our home court and we don’t lose [here],” explained Brady McKee. The 5’10 sophomore guard had a game-high 17 points in the Scouts’ 54-51 victory over the Mounts in Robesonia. McKee hit three triples and sank two clutch free throws with 32 seconds remaining for a 52-46 advantage. Antietam took its first lead at 44-42 on Noah Archambault’s layup midway through the fourth quarter. The Mounts went scoreless for the next three and a-half minutes. Archambault’s jumper got Antietam within 50-46 with 33 seconds to go. A deep 3-pointer by sophomore Jowen Reyes-Rodriguez cut the deficit to 53-51 with six seconds on the clock. The Mounts were out of timeouts and some precious seconds ticked away until Conrad Weiser inbounded the ball to Evan Miller. The coach’s son went 1-for-2 from the stripe with only two seconds to play for the final margin. I asked McKee what was the difference down the stretch. He replied, “Just staying composed out there. We have no rush. There’s really nothing to be worried about. I have faith in my team.” The Scouts went 14-of-19 from the foul line in the last period. Miller had their only bucket over the final eight minutes. The 6’1, 200-pound sophomore contributed six points off the bench, all in the fourth quarter. He’s a TE/DE on Conrad Weiser’s football team. Donovan Gingrich, the quarterback on that squad, is also a key figure for the Scouts when hoops season arrives. He averaged 8 points and made 43 treys last year as a freshman. Gingrich got off to a hot start versus Antietam. The 6’ guard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points in the opening quarter. He finished with 15 points. Gavin Rapp, a 6’3 sophomore starter, provided eight points. Conrad Weiser raced out to an 18-11 lead after eight minutes. The Scouts held a 27-23 edge at halftime. They were on top 38-33 after the third period. The Mounts started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run. They used balanced scoring to keep it tight. Archambault, a 6’3 senior, had a team-high 14 points. Jovan Hollis, who just wrapped up his football season at Exeter last Friday, chipped in with 11 points. Eight of the ten points for Reyes-Rodriguez came in the second half. 6’4 sophomore center Julious Williams picked up his third foul with two minutes left in the second quarter. He ended up with nine points. Antietam only connected twice from beyond the arc while Conrad Weiser drilled five 3-pointers. “That’s kind of our thing, live and die by the 3-pointers,” admitted McKee. The Scouts were 17-of-25 from the free throw line. The Mounts went 6-of-9. Antietam won 20 games last season and reached the District 3-2A championship game. Conrad Weiser had an (8-14, 3-8) mark in Miller’s first year at the helm. He was the head coach at Mansfield from 2006-16 before moving on to run the Penn State Berks men’s basketball program in 2018. “Coach [Miller] runs us a lot in the offseason. We’ve put in a lot of hard work. I think we’ve shown a lot of improvement,” said McKee. We also discussed his favorite NBA and NFL teams, as well as his favorite teachers.

Brady Hannahoe-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Mon, 23 May 2022 22:03:00 +0000

As more and more Major League Baseball players become obsessed with launch angle, the value of making contact has been diminished. The strikeout rate continues to soar in MLB, but managers don’t seem concerned. Exeter showed the importance of being able to put the ball in play during Monday’s District 3-5A opening round matchup against #12 seed Twin Valley. The fifth-seeded Eagles used a pair of sacrifice flies in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Raiders 3-2. Speedy outfielder Evan Franek started the inning with a single to center field. Twin Valley ace Kannon Zdimal fielded a sacrifice bunt and opted to go to second base, but his younger brother Kooper wasn’t able to come up with the throw at shortstop. That error set the stage for the Eagles’ comeback. Pinch-hitter Owen Wisner delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to even the score. Brady Hannahoe, Exeter’s leadoff hitter, followed with a fly ball to deep right that scored Jon Martin with the game-winning run. Hannahoe told me that longtime head coach Justin Freese has always emphasized doing the little things well. Freese is in his 27th year as the Eagles’ skipper. Zdimal and Deven Sheerin, both all-division selections, hooked up in a pitcher’s duel that was very similar to their regular season encounter on April 8th. Exeter got two runs in the sixth inning to win that contest 3-1. Sheerin and Zdimal were both throwing in the high 80s in the first inning on Monday. Paul Colombo was back in the Raiders’ lineup after missing the Berks League playoffs with an injury. The sophomore ripped a 2-run single to center in the opening frame. After allowing two hits and two walks in the first inning, Sheerin got into a groove. The 6’5, 230-pound junior struck out the side in the fifth. He picked up two more strikeouts in the sixth before reaching the limit of 105 pitches. Sheerin finished with twelve strikeouts and four walks over 5.2 innings. He held Twin Valley to three hits. Zdimal was equally as impressive. The junior struck out eight and walked three in 6.2 innings. He limited the (16-6) Eagles to three runs, one earned, on three hits. Exeter was hitless until Nick Sydor’s line drive single to center in the fourth. Alex Kelsey followed with a long single to right. The Eagles got on the board thanks to a wild pitch. Zdimal then struck out Chase Cupitt with the tying run on third. He got Sheerin on strikes with the tying run on second to end the sixth. Hannahoe explained why Zdimal is such a good pitcher. The all-division second baseman had high praise for Sheerin as well. We joked about what would happen if he had to step into the batter’s box against Sheerin. Hannahoe gave credit to Mike Greenawalt for his 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Freshman Ben Vaughan had two of the Raiders’ four hits. They were all singles. Hannahoe knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy game. I asked him about the level of competition in Berks County. He said, “We have some of the best players in the state in this county.” Hannahoe added that playing at home definitely helped the Eagles. Twin Valley wraps up its season with a record of (12-9). The Raiders dropped five of their last seven games, however, the future is bright in Elverson. Their starting lineup included four sophomores, two freshmen, and no seniors. Meanwhile, Exeter has eleven seniors on its roster. The Eagles will travel to fourth-seeded Ephrata on Thursday. Exeter has won six of its last seven. Putting the ball in play put the Eagles into the District 3-5A quarterfinals.

Brady Hannahoe-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Thu, 05 May 2022 23:17:00 +0000

Brady Hannahoe admitted that he wasn’t thrilled when he was first moved into the leadoff spot. On Thursday afternoon at Shillington, the senior second baseman came up at exactly the right time. Hannahoe ripped a 2-run triple in the top of the seventh inning to get Exeter within 10-9 of Gov. Mifflin. He came through again in the ninth with a single to center that brought home Evan Franek with the go-ahead run. The Eagles went on to score six runs on five hits in the ninth. They outlasted the Mustangs 16-10 and handed Gov. Mifflin its first loss of the season. The marathon game included 28 hits and nine errors. Exeter has eleven seniors on its roster. I asked Hannahoe about the importance of having so much experience. He replied, “Our chemistry is fantastic. We’ve played with each other since the age of 5. It honestly won us the game today.” The (13-5, 8-4) Eagles trailed 6-2 after the first frame. They were down 9-5 after the third inning and 10-7 entering the seventh. A sacrifice fly to center field by Luke Weller tied it at 10. Exeter scored three times on one hit in that inning. Hannahoe loves having Weller hit behind him. The senior shortstop has a batting average of .500. Weller leads the team with 26 RBI. He was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI against the Mustangs. Weller greeted freshman Bryce Detwiler with an RBI single in the ninth. Nick Sydor followed with a 2-run double to give the Eagles a 14-10 advantage. Deven Sheerin knocked in a run with a double to make it 16-10. That was plenty of insurance for Alex Kelsey. The sophomore left-hander earned the win with 1.1 innings of hitless relief. Kelsey (2-0) had only pitched 4.1 innings before today. He hasn’t given up a run. The speedster increased his batting average to .364 by going 3-for-6 with a triple. Hannahoe added three hits and drove in three runs. He’s hitting .400 this year. Franek got on base all five times that he went to the plate. The No. 9 hitter singled, walked twice, and was hit by a pitch twice. Hannahoe gave a lot of credit to Owen Wisner. After Ian Wilson and Gavin Marr struggled to get through one inning, Wisner tossed 6.2 innings when Exeter desperately needed him to slow down a potent Gov. Mifflin offense. The senior lefty allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits. He struck out five. The Mustangs committed six errors leading to seven unearned runs. Xander Velez gave up six runs, one earned, on eight hits. The hard-throwing junior had five strikeouts and two walks. Matt Novotny took the loss. He was charged with seven runs, five earned, in 4.1 innings. The (19-1, 11-1) Mustangs got a leadoff double from Detwiler in the bottom of the eighth. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to third, Wisner struck out pinch-hitter Hunter Unger. Kelsey had to take over for Wisner who had reached the 100 pitch limit. Kelsey promptly struck out Novotny to end the inning. Travis Jenkins, Jon Radwanski, and Detwiler had two hits apiece for Gov. Mifflin. Star shortstop Tyler Minick was moved to second base during the game. The UConn commit looked very uncomfortable throwing the baseball. Minick was 1-for-3 with three walks and two runs. Hannahoe said they had nothing to lose facing an undefeated team. The Eagles have a lot of momentum, but he knows that they can’t take anyone lightly. The BCIAA playoffs begin next Thursday. Exeter has won six of its last seven contests. When he’s not on the diamond, Hannahoe pays close attention to the stock market. He enjoys trading stocks. We also talked about his favorite teachers at Exeter.