The Kutztown Area High School Cougars mounted a seventh-inning rally to knock off Pine Grove and advance to the state final yesterday, continuing a superb season for Kutztown baseball.
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown is no longer just the home of the Pennsylvania-German Folk Festival, birch beer and late pop artist Keith Haring. With a high school team going for the state title and two collegiate-level teams reaching new heights, Kutztown is starting to challenge Reading's self-proclaimed title of "Baseballtown."
Kutztown Area High School (20-7) will play Bald Eagle for the PIAA Class AA state championship Saturday after a dramatic win over Pine Grove in the semi-final round. It was the second-consecutive game where they rallied from behind to advance in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Kutztown University, a solid baseball program for years, finished the regular season 49-5 and for a short time ranked No. 1 in the country in Division II baseball. They later suffered an early exit in the College World Series.
In addition, the Kuztown Rockies of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, an NCAA-sactioned summer league, which claims Craig Biggio, Jamie Moyer and Matt Morris as alumni, finished last season 36-6, the best record in the 40 year history of the league. The Rockies are off to a 4-4 start this season.
– Report by Beerleaguer senior correspondent Martin Smith
Good Luck Kutztown High School Baseball Team. Kutztown thanks Beerleaguer for the post!!!!
Posted by: Mayor Sandy Green | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 02:34 PM
KU has been pumping out pro players for years now. My first ever college AB was vs Ryan Vogelsong. The dude was throwing 94 and it was about 35 degrees out. Not fun.
Posted by: Tony | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 02:52 PM
how many of their guys are former boyertown kids?
Posted by: joe | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 03:03 PM
Joe, On the 2007 KU team, 2 players were from Boyertown, one was their leading hitter. Boyertown is a real hotbed for baseball. KU seems to produce pitchers. 3 from the 2007 team were signed or drafted, the Twins took McCardell in the 6th round. Also currently pitching pro ball include Vogelsong in Japan, and Tim Bausher, Ron Chiavacci and Glen Woolard.
Posted by: martin | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 03:18 PM
And what survey of Kutztown baseball would be complete without mention of everyone's favorite former umpire, "Gentleman Jay" Druckenmiller? Go, Cougars!
Posted by: Brendan | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 03:37 PM
I grew up as friends with Bausher through my church and actually played against him as I played for Oley before leaving to go to private school. Good guy, Davthom should fall in love with him soon as he is playing for Nashua independent league team with Rich Garces.
Posted by: Your Conscience | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 04:42 PM