The Boyertown 10U Advanced Play Team nearly repeated their 2021 9U Cal Ripken State Championship, falling to Pensbury in the championship game to finish as state runners-up.
The Bears rolled through pool play, going 3-0 versus Del-Valley, Warrington, and Langhorne and earning a first-round bye in the single-elimination playoff. They started things off with a 6-3 win over Del Valley, with Declan K going 3-3 to lead Bears hitters. Pool play game two was a resounding 12-1 mercy rule-shortened thumping of Warrington. Stephen B went 2-2 at the plate and Brendan S and Collin P teamed up to throw a two-hitter. The final pool play game against Langhorne was a much tighter affair, with each team managing only three hits. The game was tied at 1 after regulation, setting up a dramatic walk-off in the bottom of the seventh by Isaac S. The trio of Sam N, Hudson C, and Collin P struck out ten Langhorne batters in the three-hitter, only walking two.
The quarterfinal playoff game against Nor-Gwyn started off a little hairy, with the Hawks jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first. The Bears would respond in the bottom of the second, hanging a 9-spot to take the lead for good. The big inning started off with an Isaac S walk and a Stephen B hit-by-pitch. After a fielder's choice to get the lead runner, Liam M hit a 2-run double to put Boyertown on the board. Logan S then laid down a bunt single and Collin P walked to load the bases. A bases-loaded walk to Brendan S tied the game at 3. A Garret G single and Hudson C error-inducing grounder to third plated two more. Sam N reloaded the bases with a swinging bunt single, as the Bears batted around in the inning. They were not finished. Bases-loaded walks by Isaac S and Declan K would force in two more runs, and a daring steal of home by Sam N would complete the scoring. Garrett G and Sam N each had multiple hits for Boyertown, with Sam N ending the game on a mercy-rule walk-off single in the bottom of the fifth. Isaac S, Logan S, and Liam M shared the pitching duties, scattering five hits and only one walk over five innings.
The semifinal game against Nether Swarthmore began as a tight back-and-forth contest and ended as a 13-3 blow-out. The Bears pounced first, scoring two in the bottom of the first on Brendan S and Hudson C singles and a Sam N double. Nether Swarthmore answered with two of their own in the top of the second. Boyertown took the lead for good in the bottom of the third, when back-to-back-to-back singles by Brendan S, Garrett G, and Hudson C scored two. Two batters later, Stephen B added a third run with an RBI single of his own. The Bears blew the game wide open with an eight-run bottom of the fourth, capped by a game-winning mercy-rule walk off squeeze bunt by Collin P. Brendan S, Hudson C, Sam N, and Collin P all had two hits for Boyertown, while Hudson and Collin shared the pitching duties in the victory.
The championship game started well for Boyertown when Brendan S tripled to left and then scored on an error by the left fielder. Pensbury answered with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead and extended their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third. Boyertown rallied to close the deficit to 5-3 in the top of the fourth, but the bats fell silent in the top of the fifth and they were unable to get any closer. Pensbury ended up winning 13-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Brendan S and Isaac S each had two hits for the Bears in the championship game.