catcher – Berks Sports Report

Caleb Ricketts-Fightin Phils

Paul Roberts — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 10:39:00 +0000

Baseball players take different paths to reach the professional ranks. In the case of Caleb Ricketts, it meant staying in college for four years. “It helped me tremendously [to] grow as a player and a person, emotionally too. I was a totally different player than I was at 18. I’m really grateful for those four years I spent at USD,” said Ricketts. The 6’3, 225-pound catcher put up big numbers as a senior at the University of San Diego. He hit .373 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI in 56 games. The Phillies selected Ricketts in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. The left-handed hitter got off to a great start last year in Clearwater. He posted a .368 batting average while driving in 23 runs in 23 games. Unfortunately, injuries cost him about two months. Ricketts struggled after being promoted to High-A Jersey Shore. The 23-year-old hit .218 in 44 games while dealing with a wrist injury. He was able to get some more plate appearances in the Arizona Fall League. “That was an awesome experience. That was a blessing to be able to go out there and play. I definitely learned a lot from all my coaches and teammates,” remarked Ricketts. He’s ranked as the #21 prospect in the Phillies’ minor league system. Reading won its season opener 5-2 at Bowie on Friday night. The Fightin Phils scored three times in the 9th inning. Max Lazar struck out the side in the bottom half of the frame for the save. Southpaw Matt Osterberg got the start. He allowed one unearned run on two hits over 3.2 innings. Jordi Martinez picked up the win in relief. The lefty tossed 1.2 hitless innings with four strikeouts. Ricketts is confident in Reading’s pitching staff. “I think all of our guys are gonna be able to bring it to the table and help us win,” he replied.

RJ Emrich-Berks Catholic

Paul Roberts — Wed, 11 May 2022 19:37:00 +0000

The 2021 season wasn’t a fun one for the Berks Catholic baseball team. The Saints started five freshman and a sophomore, and finished the year with just five wins. They went (2-10) in league play. RJ Emrich told me that the lopsided losses from a season ago resulted in the Saints playing with an edge in 2022. Berks Catholic has transformed from a (5-15) ball club to one that’s headed to the District 3 playoffs. Emrich gave credit to the younger players for improving. The 5’10, 205-pound senior added that a trip to Myrtle Beach in late March really helped the team’s chemistry. Emrich is hitting .373 with five doubles and 16 RBI. The all-division selection from last year has an OPS of .888. The (12-8, 7-5) Saints ended the regular season with an 8-0 victory over rival Wyomissing. Parker Nein threw a 3-hitter with four strikeouts and no walks. Emrich believes the 6’1 sophomore will be even better next season. Nein, who also plays basketball, is (5-0) with a sparkling 1.08 ERA. He’s allowed 27 hits in 39 innings. Berks Catholic has a handful of underclassmen in the starting lineup. Emrich is extremely impressed with Dennys Rodriguez. The freshman is batting .367 with a .483 on-base percentage. He homered against the Spartans on Monday. Rodriguez has knocked in 18 runs, second-most on the squad. Emrich said, “BC will be in good hands after I leave. That kid is a freak of nature.” Emrich is one of four seniors on the Saints’ roster along with Chris Avram. The speedy right fielder is hitting .375 with a team-high 23 runs. We talked about the competition in Division 3 of the Berks League. Hamburg, Oley Valley, Berks Catholic, and Wyomissing ended up within two games of each other. The Hawks earned the division title with the Lynx finishing second in the standings. Emrich is confident that the Saints can make a deep run in the District 3-3A tournament. He explained why he decided to become a catcher and why he committed to Alvernia. Emrich is hitting .444 with RISP. As a junior, he had a .400 batting average and a lofty 1.012 OPS. Finally, we discussed his favorite teachers and classes at Berks Catholic.

Shane Rosenberry-Muhlenberg

Paul Roberts — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 10:02:00 +0000

Muhlenberg has several players back from last year’s team that won the Division 2 championship and reached the state playoffs for the first time since 2008. Luis Beato, Sean Levan, Sam Martinez, Jacob Rodriguez, Gio Cavanna, and Cameron Burr have all returned for longtime head coach Brian Kopetsky. However, a newcomer to the lineup had the biggest hit on Wednesday night against Twin Valley. Shane Rosenberry ripped a 2-out, 2-run double down the left-field line in the second inning. The sophomore catcher went 2-for-3 in the Muhls’ 2-1 victory over the (6-2, 1-2) Raiders. Rosenberry was able to turn around a fastball from Kannon Zdimal, the #1 pitcher for Twin Valley. We talked about that at-bat and the transition from JV to varsity baseball. Rosenberry told me that he has a great relationship with senior lefty Brad Coley. The Alvernia commit fired five hitless innings with nine strikeouts and five walks. Coley hasn’t allowed a hit in three of his four starts this season. He was limited to 12.1 innings in 2021 due to an injury. Rosenberry said Coley’s high release point makes the ball difficult to pick up out of his hand. Having an 85-87 mph fastball doesn’t hurt either. The Raiders left the bases loaded in the second when Coley struck out freshman Ben Vaughan. Cavanna kept Twin Valley off the scoreboard in the fifth when he threw out Vaughan at the plate trying to tag up on a fly ball to right field. Derek Wilson replaced Coley (91 pitches) in the top of the sixth inning. After Wilson walked the first two batters he faced, Kopetsky turned to Dalton Follweiler. He allowed an RBI single to left by Paul Colombo. That was Twin Valley’s lone hit of the game. Owen Rhoads followed with a slow roller to first base. Sam Martinez fired home to catch Jaydon Goebel in a rundown. Goebel was eventually called out near home plate for running out of the baseline. Follweiler struck out Roman Cieless with runners on second and third to end the sixth and keep Muhlenberg on top. The junior right-hander used his sinker well. He got three groundouts in the seventh for the save. Rosenberry gave credit to Follweiler for pounding the strike zone. Kenay Rodriguez had two of the Muhls’ eight hits. Zdimal went the distance for the Raiders. He struck out eight and walked four while displaying a mid-80’s fastball. Twin Valley had just one senior in its lineup. Rosenberry believes the (6-0, 3-0) Muhls can compete with anyone in Berks County. He loves playing under the lights at Gochnauer Field. Rosenberry is also getting the job done in the classroom. He has a 4.2 GPA. Finally, he revealed who the best MLB The Show players are on the Muhlenberg squad.