Bensalem and Council Rock North were winners in Friday's quarterfinal round of the District One 6A Tournament. Jarrad Saffren recaps the action and includes his 'Top Five Studs.'
By Jarrad Saffren
I am doing something special for this district playoff edition of SOL baseball wraps. This idea did not get approval beforehand from my editor, Mary Jane Souder. But if you are reading this, it survived to see the light of the Internet.
(You probably think it’s something crazy and inappropriate now. It’s not. Mary Jane would never allow that! This is a family site! And I just want to highlight your sons, brothers, and friends! Ok, enough rambling, Saffren! Just give the people what they didn’t ask for! Exclamation points!)
“Something special” (quoting myself, cocky) is a list of the top five studs from Friday’s games. Three SOL teams—Bensalem, Souderton, and Council Rock North—played in District One Class 6A quarterfinal games. Another—Wissahickon—played in a District One Class 5A semifinal.
Bensalem and CR North clinched state tournament spots and advanced to the semifinals. Souderton moved to the four-team playback bracket, which it has to win to make states. Wissahickon lost its semifinal, but the Trojans are already in the state tournament because they made it that far.
All three results and recaps are below. But first, that top five list you didn’t ask for, but that you knew, deep down in your subconscious, that you wanted.
The Top Five Studs
5. Brian Hynes, Wissahickon—The sophomore has been Wissahickon’s closer all season. He made his first high school start on Friday, in a district semifinal. No big deal. Hynes pitched admirably, allowing three runs in five innings and keeping Wissahickon in the game. “For the first start of his high school career, at this stage, against a good hitting team, to pitch how he pitched, I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from Brian,” said Wissahickon coach Andy Noga. “I’m so excited to have him for the next two years.”
4. Blaise Sclafani, Souderton—The senior blasted a two-run homer over the left field fence in the top of the first. Souderton looked ready to upset Bensalem at Bensalem. But the Owls rallied and the Indians stopped hitting. Still, a playoff home run is swag. Rappers make raps about that kind of thing. Plus it was the only SOL home run of the day. Sclafani deserves to make the stud list for that reason alone.
3. Brian Swentkowski, Bensalem—Swentkowski started Bensalem’s decisive three-run rally in the bottom of the third. The Owls had not yet hit a ball hard against Souderton starter Aaron Groller, a Division I recruit. Swentkowski turned on an inside fastball and rocketed the ball over the centerfielder’s head. A runner scored from first and Bensalem was off. It was the big hit the Owls needed.
2. Eric Hoefer/Nolan Hartwell, CR North—When you win 2-1, as North did, your pitchers carried you. Hoefer, North’s starter, allowed one run and fanned seven in six innings. Hartwell closed the game in the seventh, striking out two. Together, they led the #roadwarriors to another road win and a state tournament berth, North’s third in four years.
1. Nicholas Dean/Nick Fossile, Bensalem—Bensalem’s pitching tandem led the Owls to the same accomplishment. Only Bensalem never made the state tournament before 2018. Neither was perfect. Dean allowed the two-run bomb to Sclafani, and Fossile gave up a run in the seventh. But Dean shut out Souderton after the homer, and Fossile retired the Indians in order in his first two innings, allowing Bensalem to extend its lead. For leading the Owls into history, Dean and Fossile are the studs of the day.
Now on to the recaps…
District One Class 6A Quarterfinals
#5 Bensalem 6, #13 Souderton 3
Bensalem clinched the first state tournament berth in school history. The Owls are also two wins away from their first district title. Yet, true to their nature, they are still treating these playoff games like regular season games. They are still gathering against the fence, cheering loudly, and having fun.
“I’m not sure if it’s our first state tournament berth, but I think so?” said Bensalem coach Harry Daut after the win.
Yeah, safe to say these Owls aren’t feeling the pressure. They are just playing ball.
Daut’s boys could have easily felt the pressure on Friday, after Sclafani’s first inning blast. It even looked like they did for a couple innings. Souderton starter Aaron Groller allowed one baserunner in the first two frames.
But then, with a man on first, Swentkowski struck that triple to center. The proverbial floodgates opened. Keith Parrish followed with a squeeze bunt to the mound. Swentkowski sprinted home and slid, beating the tag and tying the game.
After a Nicholas Dean single to center, Stephen Aldrich chopped the ball onto the grass in front of home. Souderton’s catcher picked it up and fired it off Aldrich’s elbow. It skipped into right. Austin Shay raced home. Bensalem had a 3-2 lead and would never trail again.
That was because Dean settled down after the homer, pitching three shutout innings, striking out six. Fossile relieved him and promptly fanned four of six batters. The lefty was a changeup to Dean’s fastball.
“That pitching combination, with Dean and then Fossile coming in with the off-speed stuff, is tough to handle,” said Souderton coach Michael Childs. “So you have to give credit to them for mixing it up. Fossile’s off-speed stuff is a good 12-mile-per-hour difference (from Dean).”
In the fifth and sixth, Dean and Scott Rooney worked RBI walks to extend Bensalem’s lead to 6-2. Souderton slammed two singles off Fossile to start the seventh. Then Jordan Morales drove in Hogan Despain by grounding out to short. Fossile retired the next two batters to end the threat.
The lefty was a truly modern reliever on Friday, using funky pitches, a slow fastball, a looping curve, at random times, and earning a save by getting more than three outs.
“He knows his place on our team,” said Bensalem catcher Scott Rooney. “And he loves the moment.” “He’s our quiet MVP,” said Bensalem coach Harry Daut.
Souderton’s season is not over. The Indians need to win the four-team playback bracket to earn the last state tournament spot from District One. They have not made the state tournament since 2007.
Bensalem (17-3) plays #16 Conestoga on Tuesday, in a semifinal. Souderton (15-7) meets #8 Boyertown on Tuesday, in a playback semifinal.
Souderton 2-0-0-0-0-0-1 3
Bensalem 0-0-3-1-1-1-X 6
#11 Council Rock North 2, #3 Downingtown West 1
Nicknaming yourself can be a perilous exercise. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it’s egocentric in a darkly comedic, Kanye West sort of way. But it appears CR North has pulled it off, in a completely fun and innocent way.
The Indians have traveled a lot this playoff season. They have played two road games, one at Oxford, a two and a half hour trip, and one at Downingtown West, a 60-70 minute ride, both up route 202. Coach Matt Schram and his players have taken to calling themselves, in 21st century fashion, the #roadwarriors.
The nickname wouldn’t work if the Indians weren’t winning, but they are, beating Oxford 5-1 in the second round and Downingtown West by a run in the quarterfinals. Friday’s win clinched North’s third state tournament appearance in four years (2015, 2016, 2018).
“It felt great, man. We’ve marked more miles traveling to these games than any team in this tournament. There’s a sense of camaraderie. You spent that much time on the bus - it would almost be odd to have a home game. These guys are so used to their spots on the bus, their music,” said North coach Matt Schram. “States is a nice accomplishment. The feeling that you have after these two baseball games, it is a real sense of accomplishment. And it’s almost a relief now that we clinched it.”
Pitching carried North to those 2015 and ’16 state tournaments. It did again on Friday. Hoefer was far from perfect, surrendering six hits and three walks. But, as the baseball folks say, “He battled.”
“Hoefer is one of our aces. He’s our horse. He struggled in the beginning, got out of a bases-loaded jam. Once he got out of that, he was able to locate some pitches, find his cutter, which was really nice,” Schram said. “He shut them down after the third.”
Hartwell relieved Hoefer and, in a huge spot, did his thing.
“Hartwell hasn’t pitched in a while, but he’s a strike thrower,” Schram said. “He did exactly what we asked, hit his spots, induced ground balls, and made quick work.”
North trailed 1-0 after two innings. But in the third, the Indians plated the equalizer without collecting a hit. Cavan Tully, who was hit by a pitch, scored on Matt Shenot’s groundout to second.
In the sixth, Shenot led off with a single. Schram put in Matt Kinney to run for Shenot, who fell on his ankle in an earlier plate appearance.
“I’m still a little cautious with him after he missed last season,” Schram said. “Sometimes when guys rattle that area a little, it’s good to get someone in to run. And Kinney can really run.”
Kinney stole second. Then he scored on Griffin Peterson’s single to center.
“He did a great job getting into scoring position and coming around. That has been his role,” Schram said. “We have guys playing their roles right now.”
Peterson was on Downingtown starter Adam Grintz, a Tulane recruit, all game. He just didn’t, as the baseball folks say, “straighten one out” until that hit, the biggest of North’s season.
“The kid we faced, there’s talk he’s got some Major League scouts looking at him. But Griffin was not getting fooled. He was fouling balls off with good barrel. You could tell he was on him,” Schram said. “We had the right guy up at the right time.”
CR North (15-6) plays #7 Downingtown East on Tuesday, in a district semifinal at Downingtown East, another hour-plus ride up 202.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way at this point,” Schram said.
Council Rock North 0-0-1-0-0-1-0 2
Downingtown East 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 1
District One Class 5A Semifinal
#3 Marple Newtown 3, #7 Wissahickon 1
Wissahickon has already qualified for the state tournament. But that fact brought no solace to the Trojans after this loss. They wanted a district championship.
“It was disappointing obviously. We felt really confident with Hynes on the mound. We felt like we had a real good opportunity and let it slip,” said Wissahickon coach Andy Noga. “Our guys were pretty upset but at the end of the day, we reminded them that we have another game for seeding and we accomplished our goal of making the state tournament. We try not to hang our heads, but it definitely hurt that we lost this game.”
It hurt that much more because Wissahickon left a lot of runners on base.
“We had our opportunities. In the first three innings they threw a kid who we thought we should have scored more off of. Then they brought in their ace and he took the ball and ran with it,” Noga said. “We should have capitalized on opportunities earlier in the game. But at this stage of the district playoffs, you face good pitching game in and game out. It’s no excuse. Our offense should have done better.”
Hynes pitched well in his first high school start. So did Quinn Rovner, who tossed a scoreless sixth. Hynes also scored Wissahickon’s only run. Bobby McFarland drove him in with a single.
Wissahickon (14-7) meets #12 West Chester Rustin on Tuesday, in the third place game. Noga is approaching the seeding game like any other game. “We play to win the game,” Noga said. “I believe we play at home, and if we do, we’ll try to defend our turf and come away with a victory.”
Wissahickon 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 1
Marple Newtown 0-0-0-0-3-0-X 3
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