Jack – Berks Sports Report

Jack Gabel-Wilson

Paul Roberts — Tue, 14 May 2024 16:20:58 +0000

Ethan Grim entered the BCIAA Championship with a (5-1) record and a 1.50 ERA. The hard-throwing junior has interest from several DI schools. Jack Gabel said that Wilson’s approach was to attack the fastball. When Gabel got a high heater in the third inning, the sophomore didn’t miss it. His three-run homer off the left field pole propelled the third-seeded Bulldogs to a 10-3 victory over Gov. Mifflin. “I know he’s got good ‘velo’. I looked up and it just kept going. It was a crazy feeling,” explained Gabel. The top-seeded Mustangs had won two of the previous three Berks County titles. They beat Wilson 6-3 in the final at FirstEnergy Stadium a season ago. Grim got the win in that matchup, allowing just three hits and one unearned run over five frames. Monday night was a different story. The righty gave up eight runs, seven earned, on seven hits in 5.1 innings. Gov. Mifflin struck first with two runs on three hits in the opening frame. Travis Jenkins hit a sacrifice fly and Dylan Barrett ripped a RBI single to left field that was nearly caught by freshman Ryan Marmolejos. Matt VanOstenbridge had only allowed 13 hits all season. The Penn State commit settled down after the first inning. VanOstenbridge was charged with three runs, two earned, in 5.1 innings. The southpaw gave up eight hits and three walks while striking out four. He improved to (4-1) with a stellar 1.03 ERA. The (16-6) Bulldogs exploded for five runs on four hits in the 3rd. Tommy Hunsicker laced a RBI single to the opposite field before Gabel’s blast made it 4-2. The promising shortstop didn’t think the ball was going to stay fair. “It just had so much backspin, it stayed straight,” he noted. Gabel finished 2-for-3 with a walk and 5 RBI. Cooper Kennedy knocked in a run with a double to right-center for a 5-2 edge. Wilson added two runs in the 5th on RBI singles to center by Christo Hunsicker and Nick Fiorini. Gabel drove in two more runs with a two-out, two-run single to right field in the top of the sixth. As if that weren’t enough, he threw 1.2 hitless innings with three strikeouts. “I just stayed calm and tried to not be too cocky,” mentioned Gabel. John Bodnar came off the bench and provided a RBI double to left in the 7th for the final margin. Sophomore relief pitchers R.J. Weaver and Evan Glucksnis each allowed one run. Mustangs’ head coach Chris Hole said before the game that the key was being able to command off-speed pitches. However, Gov. Mifflin’s first pitch strike percentage was just 30% which got Wilson’s batters into fastball counts. The Bulldogs piled up ten hits. Fiorini and Tommy Hunsicker had two singles apiece. Fiorini has a team-high .444 batting average with 28 RBI. Hunsicker leads the club with 29 runs. The Millersville football commit scored three times on Monday. Wilson defeated the (17-4) Mustangs for the third time this season. “Even though we were down, we battled back and our energy stayed up. It was a great team win,” stated Gabel. His average increased to .389 as the Bulldogs claimed their 13th Berks League crown.

Jack Miller-Berks Catholic

Paul Roberts — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 01:35:23 +0000

Jack Miller was held scoreless in the District 3-4A semifinals against Octorara. It was just the second time all season that the 5’10 senior failed to score. Miller was determined not to let that performance carry over into Thursday’s District 3 Championship versus #2 seed Fleetwood. “I knew I needed to come into today confident and even if I miss the first shot, I’m gonna keep shooting,” he said. It’s a good thing for the Saints that Miller did keep shooting. He nailed five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 17 points in a 73-44 rout. Top-seeded Berks Catholic won its second straight District 3 title and fifth in twelve years. “It feels great. Not a lot of teams get to go back to back, so to be able to do that is crazy,” replied Miller. After just four minutes, the (23-4) Saints had built a 12-4 lead. It was 17-7 at the end of the opening period. “The intensity on defense helped us get that [lead] and on offense we moved the ball really well. JayJay dished to us on the outside,” explained Miller. Berks Catholic didn’t commit a turnover until nearly three minutes into the second quarter. The Saints only had five turnovers all afternoon. They connected eleven times from beyond the arc in undoubtedly one of their best efforts of the season. Ryan Koch had a team-high 20 points. The Pitt-Johnstown commit splashed four treys. The 6’3 senior is 18 points shy of 1,000. Jordan added 16 points to increase his career total to 1,197. He’s the program’s all-time leading scorer. Fleetwood was searching for District gold for the first time since 1990 when the Tigers beat Central Catholic 43-40 in the Class A Final. The (22-4) Tigers trailed 36-22 at halftime and 50-33 entering the fourth quarter. Jake Karnish, Fleetwood’s all-time leading scorer, poured in 23 points. The 6’2 senior is a two-time all-county selection. Karnish is headed to King’s College. 6’7 junior center Hunter Svoboda provided a dozen points. The Tigers entered the game allowing just 41.5 ppg., but they weren’t able to slow down Berks Catholic. The Saints put up 23 points over the final eight minutes. Miller has made 108 3-pointers in his career. He’s one of four seniors in Snip Esterly’s starting lineup. Esterly has won 14 District 3 championships over 34 years. His record improved to (792-216). I asked Miller to compare this year’s club to last year’s team which crushed Middletown 60-37 in the District 3-4A Final. Miller was understandably reluctant to comment, but eventually gave an answer. Berks Catholic returns to action next Friday when the PIAA playoffs get underway. If the Saints shoot like they did at the Giant Center, they’ll be tough to beat.

Jack Miller-Berks Catholic

Paul Roberts — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 10:58:00 +0000

Parker Nein and Kevin Lawlor probably aren’t the first two names that come to mind when discussing the Berks Catholic basketball team, but they came to the rescue in the Saints’ season opener. Nein and Lawlor combined for 19 points off the bench in a 47-40 victory over Allentown Central Catholic at Exeter’s tip-off tournament on Friday. “We have a great bench this year. We can go 8-to-10 deep. I think our bench won the game for us,” said Jack Miller. The Vikings led 18-6 early in the second quarter. Berks Catholic went scoreless for the first three minutes and twenty seconds of that period. The Saints trailed 24-15 at halftime. With JayJay Jordan in foul trouble and Ryan Koch having an off night, longtime head coach Snip Esterly turned to Nein and Lawlor. Miller and Nein drained 3-pointers to get Berks Catholic within 31-26 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Lawlor followed with a layup one minute later to make it a one possession game. Nein’s free throws gave the Saints their first lead at 32-31 with 43 seconds left in the third period. The 6’2 junior hit a tiebreaking triple early in the fourth quarter. Allentown Central responded with four straight points including a dunk by Jahrel Vigo that gave the (0-3) Vikings a 38-37 edge. Jordan’s layup with 3:45 to play put Berks Catholic on top for good. The all-county point guard then found Miller for a clutch 3-pointer with 1:15 on the clock. Lawlor added a layup for a 44-38 lead. That basket capped a 7-0 run for the Saints. Miller had a team-high 14 points. The 5’10 senior sank four shots from beyond the arc. He made 44 triples a season ago when Berks Catholic won 23 games and a District 3-4A championship. Nein provided a huge lift with a dozen points. “That’s my guy. He can shoot, he can do everything. He played really good defense,” emphasized Miller. Jordan contributed ten points and Lawlor chipped in with seven. Koch, a 6’3 senior who’s committed to Pitt-Johnstown, was limited to four points on free throws. “Ryan and JayJay, I know they’ll do their thing. They’ll step it up next game. I’m not worried about them at all,” replied Miller. Lucas Mushrush took control early with eight points in the first quarter. He ended up with twenty for Allentown Central Catholic. Mushrush was responsible for all four of the Vikings’ 3-pointers. The Saints connected seven times from long distance. They were 8-of-14 from the free throw line while Allentown Central Catholic went 4-6. The Vikings committed 21 turnovers including seven in the final period. They won the 2021 Class 4A state title and reached the PIAA playoffs last season as well. Berks Catholic certainly had its hands full in its opener. Miller has high hopes for the Saints. “I think we can go far. I think we can run it back in District’s and hopefully give Reading a shot in County’s,” he said. We also discussed his favorite NBA players and rappers. As a Steelers’ fan, Miller joked that he’s hearing a lot right now from his classmates who cheer for the Eagles. Miller told me that he worked hard this offseason on shooting off the dribble. His long range shooting and the bench production got Berks Catholic off to a (1-0) start.

Jack Riffle-Fleetwood

Paul Roberts — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:35:00 +0000

Jack Riffle is so excited for the start of football season that he’s been having trouble sleeping for months. “I’ve been waiting for Friday night since about April or May. Kutztown’s a great team. I don’t care what anyone says about their past. We have to take them as serious as possible,” he said. The 6’1, 175-pound junior has big shoes to fill at quarterback with Tanner Maddocks now at Villanova. Maddocks threw for 1,520 yards and 14 touchdowns. He added 624 rushing yards and seven more scores. If that wasn’t enough, Maddocks made the Class 5A all-state team as a defensive back with five interceptions. He led Fleetwood to a (7-4) campaign and a Class 5A/6A Eastern Conference championship. First-year head coach Steve Pangburn has high hopes for Riffle who was named one of the captains. Riffle told me that was a tremendous honor. The new quarterback doesn’t need to be introduced to the Tigers’ #1 wide receiver. Riffle and Mason Musitano live very close to each other. Riffle replied, “We’ve been throwing since we were about seven or eight years old. I know what he’s doing. He knows where I’m throwing it. It’s awesome.” Musitano finished with a team-high 29 catches for 488 yards and five touchdowns a season ago. The 6’2, 185-pound junior was a second team selection at WR in Section 2 of the Berks Football League. Riffle mentioned that Ty Wamsher could have a breakout season. Pangburn, who served as Fleetwood’s offensive coordinator for the previous two seasons, plans on getting Wamsher the ball in a variety of ways. The 5’10 senior has gone from 155 pounds to 180. “He’s been a great target for me since the 7-on-7 season. He’s a great leader, hard worker, [and] really hard hitter too. He’s the guy you want on your team,” said Riffle. They connected on a TD pass in the Tigers’ scrimmage. David Ramsey, Trey Killian, and the speedy Czion Brickle will also get carries. Ramsey had 99 yards and a score on just 16 touches in 2021. Fleetwood must replace all-section running backs Gavin Morris and Gage Moyer. Morris rumbled for 975 yards and 14 TD. Moyer chipped in with 648 yards on the ground and 9 TD. He averaged an incredible 10.5 yards per carry. Hunter Leister (G/DT), Noah Yourkawitch (C/DT). and Hunter Svoboda (OT) are back on in the trenches. Riffle noted that the 265-pound Yourkawitch is one of the strongest players on the squad. Svoboda is a towering figure at 6’7 and 240 pounds. Leister was a second team guard in Section 2 of the BFL as a sophomore. The Tigers will be part of Section 3 in the new Lancaster-Lebanon League. They’re joined by Daniel Boone, Twin Valley, Elizabethtown, Solanco, Ephrata, and Garden Spot. Riffle believes the section title is up for grabs. I learned that Riffle is an Eagles fan, and Carson Wentz is still his favorite QB. I asked what he wants to happen when Washington faces Philadelphia. Riffle joked, “I hope Wentz throws for 600 yards, but the Eagles win.”

Jack Miller-Berks Catholic

Paul Roberts — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 23:39:00 +0000

Berks Catholic was originally scheduled to play in a showcase event at Santander Arena on Friday. The Saints were replaced in the first game of that doubleheader by Muhlenberg. That decision didn’t sit well with the Berks Catholic players and it was a talking point in the locker room before Thursday’s crossover matchup with the Muhls. The highly motivated Saints cruised past Muhlenberg 80-64 at Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium. Junior guard Jack Miller told me that his teammates were really looking forward to this game. Miller hit three 3-pointers on his way to 14 points, one shy of his career-best. Berks Catholic connected on nine shots from beyond the arc and put up 45 points in the second half. The (13-2, 6-2) Saints seized control with a 12-0 run to start the second quarter. They held the (11-4, 5-2) Muhls scoreless for four and a-half minutes. Muhlenberg entered the night as the second-highest scoring team in Berks County at 68 points per game. The Muhls couldn’t keep JayJay Jordan out of the lane or stop him in transition. The 5’10 junior erupted for a career-high 25 points including 17 in the second half. Miller explained why Jordan is a special point guard. I asked Miller what would happen if he had to guard Jordan. He got a kick out of that question. 6’3 senior Aidan Sands added 18 points with seven coming in the fourth quarter. Ryan Koch, a 6’3 junior, chipped in with 11 points. Miller said Sands and Koch are versatile players. Miller knows that his role is to knock down shots from deep. He worked on his 3-point shooting every day in the summer. Miller is averaging 7.5 points. He likes how the Saints are moving the ball which is something longtime head coach Snip Esterly stresses at practice. Esterly is (759-209) over 33 seasons. He’s (217-76) in eleven years at Berks Catholic. Esterly’s teams have been well known for their defensive prowess, but the Saints put up 80 points for the second game in a row. They also had 80 on Monday at Daniel Boone. Berks Catholic was 15-23 from the free throw line, while Muhlenberg went 7-8. Edwin Suarez sat out for six and a-half minutes after picking up his fourth foul early in the third period. The 6’6 senior still piled up 27 points. Suarez jammed 11 points into the first quarter when the Muhls led 18-17. He’s averaging 19 points. Eric Branch contributed 11 points off the bench. The lefty made three of Muhlenberg’s seven 3-pointers. The Saints have won five in a row. Miller believes that chemistry and confidence have helped to turn things around following a (6-11) campaign last season.

Jack Miller-Wyomissing

Paul Roberts — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Running for 300 yards in a game is very impressive. Running for 300 yards in a half is almost unheard of. (11-0) Wyomissing accomplished that feat in a 65-3 win vs. #8 Northern Lebanon in the District 3-3A quarterfinals. The Spartans finished with 446 yards on the ground, 302 came in the first half. Jack Miller helped to lead the way. The 5’11, 200-pound senior talked about the importance of the guard position in the Wing-T offense. He told me that Jven Williams has helped him make the transition from fullback. Williams is a 310-pound junior OL with several Division I offers. Miller loves playing at home. He said, “it’s the biggest advantage in the world.” We discussed Wyomissing’s coaching staff including longtime head coach Bob Wolfrum who has 333 career victories over 35 seasons. Miller admitted that he’s a Patriots’ fan, and Nevin Carter is the best Madden NFL player on the team. Carter, a three-year starter at cornerback, had a 77-yard Pick 6 against Northern Lebanon. Miller, who also starts at linebacker, can’t wait to face Middletown next week in the District 3 semifinals. The Spartans have won two straight District titles and nine overall. Plus, Miller mentioned two of his favorite teachers at Wyomissing.