ALLENTOWN At school on Thursday Pleasant Valley baseball coach Karl Rentzheimer was asked by athletic director Jake Percey how he felt about his team's District 11 title game that night.
"I said 'I think we have to swing the bats early,'" Rentzheimer said. "'If we do that, with [Pat Kregeloh] on the mound, I think they're going to feel defeated a little bit and our guys are going to feel really, really confident.'"
The Bears followed that script. They took a 2-0 lead after an inning and made it 5-0 after three. Kregeloh threw a 2-hit shut out and the team hoisted its first district title trophy since 1984.
"That means so much to us," said second baseman Drew Borger. "Not only as a baseball team, but as a school. In our history we've had four district titles and to have three of them in baseball, it just means so much to the program."
Pleasant Valley's other title came in 1981.
"At the beginning of the season our coach brought us in front of the banner in our gym," said Kregeloh. "He said this year is our year to make our mark on history, which we did."
Just like their coach hoped, the Bears (22-3) jumped on Parkland starter Matt Smith early. Derek Walling led off the game w