Plum Settles for Silver Again

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, June 16, 2016 | 11:21 PM

The Plum Mustangs lost just two games all season long. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the two losses came in championship contests, including on Thursday in the PIAA Quad-A Championship. Boyertown, of District 1, claimed gold with a 4-1 victory at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State University.

With the victory, Boyertown notched its third PIAA title, and first since 1991. Bears pitcher Pat Hohlfeld recorded the compete-game win, knocking off the Mustangs in their first ever state final appearance.

The Bears, who finished fourth in their district, gained the early advantage, and never relinquished it, despite several close calls. Boyertown (24-6) plated two runs in the top of the first inning against Mustangs’ left-handed pitcher Ryan Kircher.

Boyertown’s Mitchell Pinder opened the game with a single, and later moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Ben Longacre delivered an RBI single. Mitchell Peers followed by crushing a triple over the head of Plum’s Taylor Vivino, extending the lead to 2-0. Peers was gunned down at home on a double steal attempt, though, to end the inning.

Plum got its first baserunner in the bottom of the third, as Justin Sembower reached on an error, and Jason Maltese went to first on a fielder’s choice. After another out was recorded, Plum’s Alex Kirilloff, who was drafted in the first round of the MLB draft last week, blasted a ball to deep right field. Maltese scored easily, and Kirilloff rounded third in an attempt to notch an inside-the-park home run. The Bears’ defense got the ball home quickly, though, resulting in a bone-crunching collision between Kirilloff and Boyertown catcher Ryan Weller. Weller held on to the ball, though, to prevent the tying run, as the Bears held a 2-1 edge.

Kircher settled down after struggling with his command in the third stanza, and retired nine straight hitters through the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs (25-2) appeared poised to deadlock the score, as Kirilloff blasted the first pitch into right-center field for a ground-rule double. He moved to third on an infield single by Vivino, as the Mustangs had runners at the corners with nobody out. Alex Terrell then hit a fly ball to left field that allowed Kirilloff to tag up and seemingly score the tying run. An appeal by the Bears, though, showed that Kirilloff left the bag early, which wiped the run off the board. With two outs, Hohlfeld induced a flyout from Ethan Winesburgh to retire the side.

Boyertown added two key insurance runs in the seventh against Winesburgh, who came in relief of Kircher. Pinder produced an RBI single, while Peers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to plate the second run of the frame.

Although Mike Anderson doubled with one-out in the bottom of the seventh, the Mustangs could not mount a rally, as Hohlfeld struck out Maltese looking to seal the victory.

Plum head coach Carl Vollmer expressed the disappointment he and his squad felt after the conclusion of their season. “To come in second place in both championship games, I’m not going to mince words, it’s devastating,” he said. “It’s a brutal feeling right now.”

Hohlfeld’s complete-game included six hits and one run, with one walk and four strikeouts. Kircher, who was saddled with the loss, yielded three hits and two runs, walking four and striking out six. Winesburgh gave up two runs courtesy of two hits and a walk in his inning of work.

Boyertown graduates 12 seniors, while Plum bids farewell to eight players, including Kirilloff, who is expected to sign a contract with the Minnesota Twins in the upcoming weeks. Despite his promising future, though, Kirilloff and his teammates were somber after the game, coming up just short of their ultimate goal for the second time this campaign.

Boyertown Bears : 2 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 2 = 4–5–1
Plum Mustangs : 0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 = 1–6–1