Tyler Drobek-Oley Valley

Tyler Drobek has a simple philosophy to hitting ninth in the batting order. “You get on any way you can. You help the team every way you can,” he said. The Oley Valley senior helped the Lynx a lot in an 8-6 victory over Kutztown. The left fielder went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI on a windy Wednesday afternoon. Oley Valley scored three runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Drobek drove in a run with a single that put the Lynx on top 2-1. Chase Reifsnyder made it 3-1 with the fifth single of the inning. “Chase is awesome in the leadoff spot. He’s so fast. He steals like every base and it’s almost always a run,” remarked Drobek. Sophomore Colten Mathias replaced freshman Chris Bergstrom on the mound after just two frames. The Cougars came alive in the 5th with four runs. Matt Remick and Bryce Schafer provided RBI singles off Paul Petersen. All-division catcher Nick Hugo followed with a 2-run single to right that gave Kutztown a 5-4 edge. Oley Valley responded immediately with four runs in the bottom of the 5th. Catcher Bradley Auge was his in the helmet with the bases loaded to force in the tying run. Drobek then came through with a 2-run single to right field. The (7-5, 5-0) Lynx tacked on an unearned run to go up 8-5. The (8-4, 3-2) Cougars committed four errors that led to three unearned runs. Dalton Furst, another all-division selection from a season ago, launched a solo homer to right in the top of the 7th. Freshman Gryffin Cappellano got the final out after Petersen reached the pitch limit. Petersen allowed six runs on ten hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. Mathias took the loss. He gave up five runs, two earned, on four hits over three innings. Drobek, Reifsnyder, and Colin Remmel finished with two hits apiece. Oley Valley is alone atop Division 3 of the Berks League. Berks Catholic, Wyomissing, and Hamburg are in pursuit. The Lynx entered Wednesday #5 in the District 3-3A power rankings. The top six clubs in that classification will qualify for the playoffs. “This game is big for us. It helps us get in District’s and County’s,” replied Drobek. Oley Valley reached the BCIAA championship game and the District 3 semifinals last year. Kutztown collected ten hits, but fell out of a first place tie with Brandywine Heights in Division 4. The Cougars have an experienced team and a veteran head coach. Tim Mertz is in his 23rd season at the helm. His 339 wins are the most in school history. Meanwhile, Drobek is one of just two senior starters for Lynx skipper Jeff Pinder. Drobek talked about his favorite movie and TV shows. He also discussed his favorite high school teachers. He’s hoping that Oley Valley can make another deep run in the postseason.