Check out the fourth group of Nokes’ Stars of the Week for the week ending May 10. Nokes is a contributing writer to SuburbanOnesSports.com. His selections are based on the nominations of coaches.
About Dominic:
I am Dominic Nokes and I was born and raised in north Philadelphia. I will be graduating from Kutztown University on May 18, 2013, with a degree in Sports Management. I am a huge fan of the game of baseball as I am of football, basketball, and hockey as well. With that being said, it is almost a no brainer that my favorite baseball team is the Philadelphia Phillies. I started watching baseball just shortly before the Phils moved out of Veterans Stadium into 
Citizens Bank Park, and that’s when I really started to take interest in and learn more about the game. I played baseball my sophomore year in high school where I was voted by my coaches “Most Dedicated Player” so indeed know something about the game.
My selection process for this is plain and simple. I’ll reach out to coaches and ask for the name and numbers of their most productive player from the previous week. After I have received the player’s names and their statistics, I will compare and contrast them to all other players within their conference until I believe that I have narrowed it down to the ‘star’ player in each conference. When it comes to the offensive side of the ball, I believe that having a good batting average and driving in runs is beyond HUGE, so that is something that I key in on. When it comes to pitching, a low hit total is good but a lower number of earned runs is even better.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
NOKES’ STAR OF THE WEEK
(May 6-10)
OH NO HE DIDN’T
Senior Eric Tidwell approached coach David Torresani and requested to be the starting pitcher on Senior Night for the Abington Ghosts. Torresani was more than happy to hand him the ball. Although Tidwell is the starting shortstop, he was also the team’s closer and pitched pretty well for the club in limited innings, but no one knew 
what to expect out of him as the starter. What Torresani, the team, the fans, the school, and everyone else in attendance got in return was a memory that will last a lifetime. In seven innings of work, Tidwell gave up 0 earned runs, while walking two batters, hitting one, and striking out five. Silly me, I forgot to mention that he DIDN’T GIVE UP A SINGLE HIT!!!!! Yes, you read it correctly. The kid threw a no-hitter on Senior Night. He left the hitters from Hatboro Horsham in denial and feeling rejected as they simply could not touch his stuff. The only run that Hatters were able to put up on the board came off of an error, but it was through no fault of this young man.
As it was written about and posted last week in the baseball wrap, coach Torresani had this to say about the performance he received from Eric, “We didn’t know how long he could go, but his pitch count was very low, and that’s why he was able to go seven innings. He was really around the plate, and he got a lot of ground balls, which is the kind of pitcher he is. He really did an awesome and, quite frankly, unexpected job. You don’t expect a kid to come out and be able to pitch a no-hitter and pitch the way he did against a very good team.” He went on to say, “It was awesome. When we play our Senior Night, we play under the lights at Roslyn Park, and there are tons of people there and lots of kids. It’s just fantastic for baseball when you can get people to come out and watch baseball on a Friday night. It’s really great for our kids and the Hatboro-Horsham kids to play in that environment, and for Eric to do that on that kind of night is even more special.”
There are indeed some (but not many) starting pitchers who can say that they pitched a no hitter while in high school, but I’m willing to bet that there is only one starting shortstop to pitch a no-hitter on Senior Night (the biggest stage there is for a regular season baseball game), and his name is Eric Tidwell.
CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
NOKES’ STAR OF THE WEEK
(May 6-10)
The Continental Conference co-stars of the week were dominant on the mound and delivered big outings for the teams. Robbie Welhaf of the Central Bucks East Patriots pitched out of his mind when he and his team took on and shut out the Quakertown Panthers. Not only did Welhaf pick up the win, but he did it but he did it surrendering only one hit and 0 runs to the Panthers. Many of the batters that Welhaf faced were forced to take that walk of shame back to the dugout, and when they got there, they could do nothing but sit and watch many of their teammates suffer the same fate. In his seven innings of work (besides the one hit), he only surrendered two walks while striking out eight.
Brian Maher of the North Penn Knights did the job on the mound as he and his 
teammates were able to shut out the Central Bucks West Bucks. Maher pitched a complete game and provided his team with a Senior Night showing that everyone was more than pleased with. Maher only surrendered three hits and one walk in the contest while striking out four. When your starting pitcher is on his game the way Maher was against the Bucks, it makes everyone’s life a whole lot easier on the defensive and offensive side of the ball.
Honorable Mention
Central Bucks East Bucks
IP H ER BB K
Blair Killough 7 6 0 1 2
AB H RBI 2B BB
Zach Matthews 10 6 4 2 2
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
NOKES’ STAR OF THE WEEK
(May 6-10)
The American Conference star of the week was a tough out for every pitcher that he faced. The fact that he reached base seven times in seven plate appearances tells us that he was locked in all week and had it going on. Austin DiBonaventure of the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials knows a thing or two about the guy I just mentioned because they are indeed one and the same. Against Norristown, DiBonaventure went 3-for-3 at the plate with three singles and two stolen bases. DiBonaventure then provided his teammates and coaches with an encore performance against Upper Dublin. In that game, DiBonaventure, went 2-for-2 with one of those hits being a triple while scoring two runs and drawling two walks.
Honorable Mention
Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals:
AB H RBI R
Morey Hershgordon: 11 5 6 3
Bryn D’ Andrea 11 7 3 4
Wissahickon Trojans
IP H R K
Randy Frnakenfield 6 1 0 8
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