Kutztown falls to Delone Catholic in District 3 Class 2A baseball final

FREDERICKSBURG — Hoping to defend its District 3 Class 2A baseball title, Kutztown fell behind early and never recovered, losing 7-1 to Delone Catholic in the final on Thursday night at Wenger Field.

The second-seeded Squires (14-7) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs from J.D. Sieg and Ethan Little.

The fourth-seeded Cougars (12-11) responded with a run in the third on an RBI single from Chase Sleboda that scored senior Kole Schuler. Sleboda would later be thrown out stealing before a flyout by senior Colin Hamm ended the inning.

Kutztown’s Chase Sleboda is called out on a steal attempt in the third inning during the Cougars’ 7-1 loss to Delone Catholic in the District 3 Class 2A baseball final on Thursday at Earl R. Wenger Memorial Baseball Field in Fredericksburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)

Delone Catholic answered with a strong inning of its own in the bottom of the third.

All with two outs, Chris Cole hit an RBI single before a walk and a wild pitch each brought home an additional run to give the Squires enough to start to pull away.

“You have to be a good team to get to this point,” Kutztown coach Tim Mertz said. “It just didn’t end the way we wanted. We struggled early on with leadership in the beginning of the season, and we’ve found our identity closer to the end of the season and started playing some really good baseball.

“To be back here for a second time to defend our championship doesn’t happen too often.”

With just two senior starters on Thursday, the Cougars had just four hits compared to the Squires’ nine.

Junior Colten Mathias took the loss for Kutztown, as the right-hander threw 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two.

Kutztown starting pitcher Colten Mathias takes the loss in a 7-1 Delone Catholic victory over the Cougars in the District 3 Class 2A baseball final on Thursday at Earl R. Wenger Memorial Baseball Field in Fredericksburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)

Senior Kole Schuler took over in relief for Mathias and allowed four hits and two earned runs over two innings. A two-run single by Nic Pierce closed out the scoring in the fifth for Delone Catholic.

Schuler had the lone double of the game for the Cougars in the sixth but ended up stranded on third when Mathias flied out to right.

Denver Ostrum threw a complete game for the Squires, striking out five and walking one in addition to allowing the one earned run.

Delone Catholic’s Denver Ostrum pitches a seven-inning, 7-1 victory over Kutztown in the District 3 Class 2A baseball final on Thursday at Earl R. Wenger Memorial Baseball Field in Fredericksburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)

For Mertz, the leadership of Schuler and fellow senior Colin Hamm helped lead Kutztown back to the district final.

“Understanding what leadership was and how to be a leader took them a little bit of a learning curve for them,” Mertz said of his seniors. “But once they got it, we started playing some good baseball and they were solid.”