Kelly fans 12 in complete game two-hitter for Boyertown

by Dennis Weller, Special to The Pottstown Mercury

Posted on June 22, 2006

BOYERTOWN -- Boyertown came out ready to play Wednesday night against a visiting opponent that had lost just one game all season.

And while the Bears had some early trouble in the field and took awhile until they really started hitting, in the end, it was another impressive Boyertown win, 13-1 over Gregg Post at Bear Stadium. The Berks County Legion League Red Division contest ended in the bottom of the seventh when Pete Mazzie drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to give the hosts their 12-run margin.

Matt Kelly went the distance on the mound for the Bears (12-0 Berks, 20-0 overall) and gave up just two hits and an unearned run while striking out 12.

Mike Schwager was 4-for-4 for the winners with two triples and four RBI, Steve Bealer homered and came up with a spectacular defensive play and leadoff man Nole Saylor picked up three hits. The loss was the second straight for the Keys (8-2 Berks, 11-2 overall), who are in second place in the Red Division.

"The guys really came out ready to play tonight," said Boyertown manager Rick Moatz. "We’ve been working on that, and I was happy to see it."

"They had one league loss, and they’re a good tough team," said Bealer. "We came out ready to go tonight, and we played very well."

The Bears opened the scoring with a run in the first as the visitors committed the first three of their eight errors on the night. They added two in the third -- one unearned -- and another pair in the fourth. Then the hosts started to really hit the ball in the fifth. Dan Wolfgang and Jeff Rhoads singled with two outs, and Schwager tripled to right and continued to the plate when the throw to third was wild.

Bealer homered in the sixth, Alex Neiman doubled, Wolfgang singled and Schwager tripled to deep center to make it 12-1, and the only remaining question at that point seemed to be how many innings the game would last.

Schwager said he had put in some extra work after going 0-for-5 the night before.

"I had a bad night (Tuesday) night," he said. "I came out today, got some extra work and hit off the tee a little bit. I was due for some work."

But the quiet right fielder thought that the pitching of Kelly was the key to the win.

"Kelly shut down their hitters and came out and threw well," Schwager added. "Despite our four errors, we still played pretty good defense behind him."

The defensive play of the night came in the fifth when the Keys, trailing 5-1, put runners on first and second with no outs. The next batter popped up a bunt, and catcher Bealer made an all-out diving and tumbling catch back and to his left.

"We have some work to do, but we’re on our way," said Bealer. "We’re rolling. We have to keep up the pace and get pumped up for every game."

Left-hander Brad Swavely pitched well for the visitors in the first four innings and was relieved in the sixth after Schwager’s second triple.

"The kid threw well for them early in the game," said Moatz. "But we worked some deep counts. Kelly did a fantastic job keeping them off-balance."

The Bear right-hander did his best job of pitching after he made a bad throw to second on a pickoff try with the bases filled and none out in the fourth to hand the visitors their run. He fanned three-in-a-row after that, using a sharp, breaking curveball. He struck out three-in-a-row again in the seventh after giving up a leadoff walk, and the Bears ended it in their half on two errors, a single by Brandon Sullivan and Mazzie’s walk on a full-count pitch.

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