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<p>It&#8217;s not always easy to get a good scouting report at this time of year.</p><p>Take Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s next opponent in the state tournament, Boyertown. What&#8217;s a more accurate picture of the Bears &#8212; the team that was shut out twice in a row at the end of the District 1 tournament, or the one that dismantled District 12 champ Olney Charter 18-0 in the PIAA opener?</p><p>The Spartans won&#8217;t find out for sure until they square off against the Bears in Thursday&#8217;s PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals in Pottsville. The field is next to Clarke Elementary Center, two blocks from Pottsville Area High School, with a start time of 5:30 p.m.</p><p>One person who has a good perspective on the matchup is Chris Hole. That would be the coach of the Governor Mifflin squad that Valley West ousted 3-1 in Monday&#8217;s first round.</p><p>As it so happens, Hole&#8217;s Mustangs also played Boyertown back in April, beating the Bears 4-3 on the road in what the coach called &#8220;a very competitive non-league game.&#8221;</p><p>Hole gave his thoughts on what should be a close contest.</p><p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s going to be a very competitive game,&#8221; Hole said. &#8220;Boyertown does a lot of little things well. They will bunt well. They will run the bases hard and well. With Wyoming Valley West, I was very impressed with their leads, and it seemed like they ran the bases pretty hard and effective as well.</p><p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s going to be a good matchup.&#8221;</p><p>A few faces in the opposite dugout may be familiar to the Spartans as Boyertown is known more for its Legion ball than varsity, though both have been competitive.</p><p>&#8220;Legion&#8217;s different down there. It&#8217;s a different neck of the woods,&#8221; Spartans senior Tyler Yankosky said. &#8220;Our high school ball up here is their Legion ball down there &#8212; that&#8217;s the more serious part.&#8221;</p><p>Many at Valley West have also played Legion for Swoyersville. When that team won the state championship in 2014, it happened with Boyertown hosting the tournament and handing Swoyersville its only loss in the double-elimination bracket.</p><p>But that was two years ago and there&#8217;s only a few people on each side who are still playing in high school.</p><p>Spartans coach John Milius said he had someone scouting Boyertown&#8217;s five-inning victory on Monday, as is the norm. Though there&#8217;s only so much information to be taken from a blowout that saw the Bears use 19 different players, every little bit helps.</p><p>&#8220;We get a little bit about each player,&#8221; Yankosky said. &#8220;We have some people go scout for us. Pretty much just &#8212; which guys take first-pitch curveballs, what guys chase and where they hit the ball to. That&#8217;s pretty much all we go by. Just play it by ear during the game.&#8221;</p><p>That much helped Yankosky against Mifflin when he took the mound on Monday, turning in one of his best performances in a Valley West uniform, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out 12 without a walk.</p><p>It&#8217;ll have to be a different arm going against the Bears, most likely lefty Grant Powell. Milius said it would come down to either Powell or fellow senior Eric Raitter, though Raitter did not play on Monday as he recovered from an illness.</p><p>&#8220;Raitter&#8217;s been under the weather,&#8221; Milius said. &#8220;He lost like 12 or 14 pounds. Hopefully we get him ready by Thursday. If he&#8217;s not, somebody else is going to have to step up.&#8221;</p><p>Freshman Nate Baranski took Raitter&#8217;s spot at first base on Monday without issue, though Yankosky would be in line to play there Thursday regardless of who&#8217;s on the mound.</p><p>Boyertown also threw its ace in the first round and the next man up is likely junior right-hander Pat Hohlfeld.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;ll be quality,&#8221; said Hole, whose Mustangs saw Hohlfeld pitch in relief in their meeting.</p><p>Boyertown last appeared in states in 2014, losing their opener to the La Salle College team that knocked out Hazleton Area in the quarterfinals en route to a state championship. Monday was the Bears&#8217; first PIAA victory since the field expanded to four classifications in 2005.</p><p>This year, the Bears were the No. 5 seed in the 26-team District 1 Class 4A tournament, winning their first two playoff games by a run before losing 3-0 and 2-0 to finish fourth.</p><p>Those memories were quickly erased at states when they put up five runs in the top of the first against Olney and scored 18 runs on 11 hits. Mitchell Peers led the way with a pair of doubles and four RBI.</p><p>District 2 champ Valley West counters with plenty of experience from last year&#8217;s run to the state finals. The 2015 squad got over the second-round hump that had stopped the Spartans in their three previous trips to the quarterfinals.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re confident,&#8221; Milius said. &#8220;Sometimes maybe a little too confident. Too laid back. But when they do get fired up &#8212; look out. It&#8217;s like stirring a swarm of bees. Then look out.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Grant Powell served as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s No. 2 pitcher in the regular season and could get the start on the mound in Thursday&#8217;s state quarterfinals. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_wvw-2-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Grant Powell served as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s No. 2 pitcher in the regular season and could get the start on the mound in Thursday&#8217;s state quarterfinals. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p><strong>Class 4A quarterfinals</strong></p><p>Valley West vs. Boyertown</p><p>5:30 p.m., Thursday</p><p>Pottsville Area&#8217;s Clarke Elementary Center</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Valley West baseball ready for PIAA showdown with Boyertown