Brian Kopetsky, who’s in his 27th year as the Muhls’ head coach, decided not to start Cole Moody. Muhlenberg’s ace had thrown 90 pitches in a 4-0 win over Gov. Mifflin on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Kopetsky gave the ball to sophomore John Martin. If healthy, he would have been one of the Muhls’ top pitchers this season. Martin had only one inning under his belt this spring. The young righty didn’t allow a run over the first two frames against Wilson.

Alex Frantz, the No. 9 hitter, and Gabel opened the bottom of the third with singles. Ryan Rosenberry, who tossed three scoreless innings on Friday in the county semifinals, took over for Martin. After a walk to Pat Lengle, Ben Kulp hit a grounder to third base. Sophomore Mike Canfield came home, but the throw wasn’t in time to get Gabel who scored the first run. Tim Lengle drew a walk to make it 2-0. A balk by Rosenberry gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. Matt Mallis then put a squeeze bunt down the first base line which scored Kulp. Spohn followed with a RBI double down the third base line. “I was fired up. It was a great feeling, top 5 moment in baseball for me,” emphasized Spohn. Wilson took control with five runs on three hits and two walks in the third inning.

The Bulldogs ended it early with five more runs in the sixth. Sophomore Landon Kostelac led off with a double before Frantz walked. A single to left field by Gabel made it 6-0. A sacrifice fly to left by Ryan Marmolejos gave Wilson a 7-0 cushion. After walking Pat Lengle, Rosenberry was replaced by Chase Kreider. Following a walk by Kulp, Tim Lengle hit a 2-run opposite field single to left. Spohn’s RBI single through the middle was the final blow. The (17-6) Bulldogs claimed their second BCIAA title in three years and 14th overall. The (13-8) Muhls await the District 3-6A playoffs which begin on Friday.

Martin was charged with two runs on four hits in two innings. Rosenberry allowed seven runs on four hits and four walks in 3.1 innings. Gabel needed just 72 pitches to get through six frames. He also provided three of Wilson’s ten hits. Gabel boosted his batting average to .389 this year. Tim Lengle went 2-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBI. Spohn provided two hits and knocked in a pair of runs. “If you’re down, he really keeps you in it. He’s a great captain. Behind the plate, he’s a brick wall,” remarked Gabel of his catcher. Pat Lengle was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs. The freshman is hitting .464 this season. His older brother, Tim, isn’t far behind at .431.

The Bulldogs are hitting .351 as a team this spring. They only used three pitchers to navigate through the county playoffs. Gabel, Kulp, and Pat Lengle each threw a complete game. Wilson outscored its three opponents 24-to-3. “I don’t think anyone can beat us when we’re playing our game,” stated Gabel.

The (10-4) Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Jake Hafer, an East Stroudsburg commit, ripped a double down the right field line and Jake Franek followed with a triple to right. Franek scored on Brandon Weller’s hard ground ball to shortstop. Hafer, Franek, and Matt Woram had two hits apiece. The rest of Exeter’s lineup produced just one hit. Wilson piled up 13 hits. Eight players had at least one hit for the Bulldogs. Aidan Incledon went 3-for-4 with a walk and four runs. The speedy senior outfielder was struggling in the classroom last year and got cut from the team. Incledon is now hitting second in Wilson’s lineup and has a .500 batting average. Freshman Pat Lengle was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs. He’s also hitting .500 this spring. Spohn, Ben Kulp, and Ryan Marmolejos added two hits apiece against the Eagles. Spohn, who’s hitting .404, drove in four runs in the first frame. Kulp, a West Chester commit, knocked in three runs and scored two more.

Hafer entered the game with a (4-0) record and a 1.94 ERA. The southpaw only managed to get two outs. Hafer allowed seven runs on three hits and four walks. Jack Gabel and Incledon walked to begin the bottom of the first inning. Kulp lofted a bloop single to right to make it 2-1. Spohn’s two-run double down the third base line put the Bulldogs in front 3-2. “We’ve seen some good pitchers this year. He’s a great pitcher, but we have guys who can really hit. We were confident at the plate and good things happened,” explained Spohn. A two-run single to left field by Marmolejos gave Wilson a 5-2 edge. After a walk to No. 9 hitter Zach Troutman, Hafer was replaced by sophomore Balin Mann. Gabel’s bloop single to right made it 6-2. Incledon followed with a RBI single and Kulp delivered a two-run single through the left side for a 9-2 advantage. Matt Mallis walked with the bases loaded before Spohn hit a two-run single through the right side for a 12-2 cushion. Mann was taken out and junior Ethan Ramos got the final out of the first inning. Mann was charged with five runs on four hits and a pair of walks. Ramos limited the Bulldogs to one run on three hits over 3.1 innings.

A RBI double to center by Tim Lengle put Wilson on top 13-2 in the second. Exeter responded with four runs in the third. Woram dropped a RBI single into left field and a wild pitch by Gabel made it 13-4. The Eagles tacked on two runs on Mason Goodhart’s grounder to shortstop. The Bulldogs made two throwing errors on the play. Gabel gave up six runs, four earned, on seven hits in five innings. The West Chester commit had six strikeouts to surpass 100 for his career. Gabel, who reached base three times on Monday, is hitting .408 this season.

Marmolejos drilled a triple to right-center and scored on a wild pitch by Ben Ruppert in the fifth. Wilson ended the contest with two runs in the sixth. Mallis hit a long fly ball to right field for a RBI single and a 16-6 margin. The Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 30-to-11 in two matchups this year. Exeter had won four straight and eight of its previous nine games coming into the week.

Wilson ended up (14-8) a season ago. The Bulldogs lost in the BCIAA quarterfinals and the District 3-6A quarterfinals. “I know as a senior and a captain that we had to turn things around. Last year, we didn’t have a great result and we came in super hungry. This is my last baseball season. I’m trying to leave everything out there,” said Spohn.

Gov. Mifflin went (50-7) over the previous two years with a state championship in 2024 and a District 3 title a season ago. However, the Mustangs lost eight starters to graduation including five All-State selections. Two of Wilson’s first three batters reached via errors. After Evan Glucksnis hit Kulp, Tim Lengle ripped a single down the first base line. RJ Weaver, a Juniata commit, made a diving attempt, but the ball bounced off his glove and two runs came home. Lengle went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI. “He’s been swinging it great all year. He’s just been hitting it right at people which happens. He’s got it in him and we know he’s gonna get hot,” noted Gabel.

Gov. Mifflin’s first hit didn’t come until the top of the fourth. It was a single to center by shortstop Aden Reiter. The (3-3) Bulldogs threatened in the bottom of the frame. Gabe Spohn and Matt Mallis drew back-to-back walks. Wilson had runners on second and third with nobody out, but Glucksnis got out of the jam. Ryan Marmolejos lined out sharply to left field with the bases loaded to end the threat. Glucksnis, who’s headed to Gettysburg College, kept the (3-4) Mustangs in the game. The 6’2, 200-pound righty gave up three runs, one earned, on two hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out six and walked six. Cam Zurawski got them on the scoreboard in the fifth. The Lebanon Valley commit provided an opposite field RBI single to left with two outs.

Spohn, who’s hitting .444 this year, worked another walk to begin the bottom of the sixth. Glucksnis had to come out after throwing 104 pitches. Charlie Ainge, who’s going to Penn State Altoona, took over on the mound with one out and a runner on second base. Following Gov. Mifflin’s third error, sophomore Logan Pettit delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to center. A bloop single to right by Gabel brought in two more runs to make it 5-1. The shortstop went 2-for-3 with a walk to increase his batting average to .381. Ainge wasn’t able to record an out. Owen Miller came out of the bullpen and walked Kulp with the bases loaded. Kulp has a team-high .500 average and 11 RBI through six games. Lengle gave the Bulldogs a 8-1 cushion with a two-run single to center. Wilson is hitting .337 as a team and averaging nine runs per game. “Going into the season, we thought pitching was gonna be our strong suit and hitting was gonna have to come around. Coming out of the gate, we’ve been putting up like 10-15 hits a game and putting runs up,” said Gabel.

Ainge was charged with five runs, four earned, on three hits and a walk. The Bulldogs ended up with six hits and eight walks. They didn’t make any errors. Kulp retired the final batter with a strikeout. The Mustangs earned their 16th BCIAA championship last year. There seems to be a lot more parity in Berks County this season. “Everybody can compete with everybody this year, but I think we’re the team to beat,” stated Gabel.

Kulp got the second inning started by drawing a walk from senior Mason Goodhart. The (1-1) Bulldogs got on the board thanks to a pair of errors. Brandon Weller, an all-division catcher last season, tried to pick off a runner at first base with two outs. His throw sailed into right field giving Wilson a 1-0 lead. Jack Gabel, who’s also headed to West Chester, ripped a RBI double off the left field wall in the third to make it 2-0. Max Maoury, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, provided a two-out single through the left side of the infield in the fourth to put the Bulldogs on top 3-0.

The (2-2) Eagles got their first hit off Kulp in the bottom of the fourth. An infield single by East Stroudsburg commit Jake Hafer was followed by a line drive single up the middle by Jake Franek. After Weller was hit by a pitch, Brenton Feathers delivered a two-run single to left field. Kulp limited the damage by picking a runner off of second base and getting a pop up to first base to end the inning. Rhys Stadelmeyer began the fifth with an infield single. Following a balk and a wild pitch, Kulp stroked a single to center for a 4-2 edge. Goodhart was charged with four runs, three earned, on six hits in 4.1 innings. He walked two batters and struck out one. Ethan Ramos, a junior righty, took over on the hill.

Wilson erupted for six runs in the sixth to blow it open. After another RBI double by Gabel, Stadelmeyer got a ground ball to the right side past a drawn-in infield which brought in two runs. Kulp then crushed a three-run homer to left-center off of southpaw Jacob Hohl. “The whole at-bat I was just trying to stay back, knowing he’s a slider kind of pitcher. Mainly just thinking contact and got lucky on that one,” explained Kulp. Ramos gave up five runs on a pair of hits and three walks in one inning. Hohl allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Exeter got within 10-4 in the sixth on a two-run homer to left-center by junior Matt Woram. The Bulldogs tacked on four runs in the seventh off of sophomore lefty Braedon Duncan. Kulp hammered a two-run double off the wall in left field. Matt Mallis added a pinch-hit, two-run single. Wilson finished with 15 hits and no errors. Gabel was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. “He definitely has a lot of confidence up there. I love him in the leadoff spot,” replied Kulp. Stadelmeyer, Gabe Spohn, and freshman third baseman Pat Lengle also had two hits apiece. Hafer, a second team All-State pick last year, was responsible for two of the Eagles’ six hits. They committed two errors.

Wilson and Exeter both returned five starters this season. The Eagles went (16-8) in 2025, while the Bulldogs ended up (14-8). Wilson has an extremely challenging non-league schedule. The Bulldogs host North Penn on Thursday at 4:15pm. The Knights won 22 games and the District 1 championship last year. They fell to Cedar Cliff 1-0 in 13 innings in the PIAA-6A Final at Penn State. “It’s a big game for us. It will really show us where we sit in the state,” noted Kulp.