Teener Baseball: Hegins Black clinches 8th straight Junior title with championship sweep
Hegins Black poses with the Joe Grabowski Memorial Trophy after defeating Schuylkill Valley 12-3 on Thursday in Game 2 of the Schuylkill Teener Junior League Best-of-3 championship series (Photos by Eli Doyle).
MIDDLEPORT — Eight in a row — and not slowing down.
Hegins Black’s junior squad kept its dynasty intact Thursday, rolling past Schuylkill Valley 12-3 at Schuylkill Valley’s Middleport Field to sweep the best-of-three series and clinch an eighth consecutive Schuylkill County Teener League Junior Division championship.
“The kids do not want to be the team that breaks the streak, I guess you could say,” Hegins Black coach Shawn Masser said. “There are good kids coming up all the time. I just help out, put them together and whatever happens, happens. And it’s just happened — eight in a row.”
The victory pushed Hegins to 21-0 and closed a 15-6 season for Schuylkill Valley.
Shortstop Daxton Maurer powered the clincher. The right-handed hitter ripped a three-run double to left-center in the second inning, singled in the fourth and added another double in the fifth, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs and five total bases. Teammate Riley Kaslavage matched him with three hits, including two doubles and a run-scoring triple.
Hegins grabbed control with a three-run second inning, then tacked on two more in the third when Brady Wolfgang and Lukas Lucht worked bases-loaded walks. The champs kept the pressure on all night, drawing 14 walks and swiping six bases — three by Wolfgang and two by Lennon Kline.
Kaslavage handled the first five innings on the mound, scattering three hits and allowing one earned run while striking out four. Kline closed with two shutout frames, fanning four of the nine batters he faced.
Schuylkill Valley leadoff man Bentley Werez went 2-for-4 with a double, while catcher Danny Trezise stole three bases and drove in a run. In all, Schuylkill Valley pitchers allowed nine hits and 12 earned runs.
“We have really good pitching,” Masser said. “Two studs and three guys that I could put out there any time I wanted to. We really have it all. We played good defense for the most part and scored a lot of runs this year. So, pretty much all three phases of the game.”
With the victory, Hegins Black was awarded the Joe Grabowski Memorial Trophy, the junior league’s most prestigious honor, named after the late founder of the Schuylkill County Teener League.
Grabowski, who launched the league in the mid-1940s and served as its president for more than six decades, was known for his unwavering dedication to youth baseball. Honored in 2012 for 62 years of service, Grabowski’s legacy continues to shine through the championship trophy that now bears his name — a symbol of tradition, community and commitment to the game.
