A pair of SOL baseball teams advanced to Wednesday's second round. To view photos of the Hatboro-Horsham/Haverford and CB East/Garnet Valley games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#15 Council Rock North 6, #18 Avon Grove 0
The Indians (13-7) made the most of their seven hits and received a superb pitching performance from Matt Hand as they advanced to the second round of districts where they will face American Conference co-champion Wissahickon, the tournament’s second-seeded team.
“This was a great win,” said Indians’ head coach Matt Schram. “We hit the ball decently today. We played a clean game. Our defense was flawless.”
All seven of the Indians hits went for singles and they scored four of its runs in the third and tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Jared Schram and Brandon Mcilwain led the offense with two hits apiece. Cole German, Matt Hand and Tyler Nowmos added to the hit parade with a hit each. Schram added three RBIs while German scored two runs.
“We got timely hitting,” Schram said. “That is the one thing we work on, the small things. We squeezed out every opportunity today.”
In the decisive fourth inning, Nowmos singled with one out to start things off. Mcilwain followed with a single, and a walk to German loaded the bases. With two outs, Hicks reached base on an error, scoring Nowmos, and then Schram singled to plate both Mcilwain and German. The final run of the inning came when Hicks stole home.
“That was a clutch hit for Jared,” said Schram. “It opened up the gates a little bit. Jared had a great at-bat. He saw a fastball and hit a line drive.”
In the fifth, CR North scored on an RBI single by Schram.
While the offense was clicking on all cylinders, so was starting pitcher Hand. Hand went the distance, throwing 105 pitches and allowing just three hits – all singles = and three walks, while fanning six.
“He threw a gem,” Schram said. “He gave up a couple of hits and walks that did not hurt us. He did a great job hitting his spots.”
Next up for the Indians on Wednesday afternoon is a date with the two seed, Wissahickon, another Suburban One League opponent.
“I think this is the first time we have ever played Wissahickon,” said Schram. “It will be an uphill battle facing a number two seed.”
Avon Grove 000 000 0 – 0 3 5
Council Rock North 004 011 X – 6 7 0
#13 Hatboro-Horsham 6, #20 Haverford 1
The Hatters (13-9) trailed for a good portion of Monday afternoon’s contest, but with just one swing of the bat, they went ahead and stayed in front the rest of the way.
In the top of the first, the Fords put a run on the board, collecting three straight singles after Eric Lane struck out the first batter he faced.
The Hatters, meanwhile, managed just three singles in their first four at-bats with two of them coming in the first inning when they loaded the bases but came up empty.
After getting comfortable at the plate, things began to go the Hatters’ way in a big fifth inning. With two outs, leadoff hitter Chris Crookham singled to center, Alex Kleidon drew a walk, and that brought Eric Lane to the plate. Lane hit a line drive 0-2 pitch to right field for a three run home run that put the Hatters ahead to stay.
“It gave me confidence when (Harverford) had multiple men on in the first and Lane got out of it,” said Hatters’ head coach Pete Moore. “I had confidence that we would put up a big inning. That has been our MO. Our guys were continuing to have good at bats.”
The Hatters added three more in the sixth, capitalizing on singles by Alec Blyler and Shaun Thomas as well as an error to go on top 6-1.
On the mound, Lane and Ryan Murphy combined on a four hitter. Lane, a senior headed to Kutztown next year, got the start and went six innings, surrendering one run on four hits while walking two and striking out eight. Murphy came on the pitch a one-two-three seventh.
“As great as Eric has been, we have a lot of confidence in our other guys,” Moore said. “Murphy will get the start Wednesday and we still have Brian Edgington and Colin Kennedy.”
Offensively, Crookham, Lane, Kevin Barron and Blyler had two hits each and Thomas had the other hit. Lane had all three RBIs and Crookham scored twice.
With the win, the Hatters get yet another crack at North Penn, the district’s fourth seed, on Wednesday afternoon.
“We split the regular season,” Moore said of facing conference foe North Penn. “It makes for a good matchup. Unfortunately there are only two Continental teams left and after Wednesday just one will remain.”
Haverford 100 000 0 – 1 4 1
Hatboro-Horsham 000 033 X – 6 9 1
#12 Perkiomen Valley 2, #21 Abington 0
The Galloping Ghosts (13-7) were in the District playoffs for the first time since 1988, and the hope was that they could make their stay one to remember. Unfortunately, the Ghosts’ playoff run came to an abrupt end on Monday afternoon.
Abington ran into a tough pitcher in PV’s Tyler Krause, who held the Ghosts in check all afternoon long as he tossed a complete game no-hitter.
“He really had us off balance,” said Abington head coach Dave Torresani. “He kept the ball down. It was the best pitching performance against us all year long.”
While Krause was keeping Abington in check, Greg Troyer was doing the same to the Vikings’ lineup. Troyer threw six innings and held the Vikings to two runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks while fanning one.
“Greg mixed his pitches real well today,” Torresani said. “He had them off balance.”
Both pitchers had a no hitter going until the fourth inning. The Vikings got their first hit in the fifth and scratched out two more in the sixth when they scored both of their runs.
Twice, the Ghosts had a runner at second with two outs but never were they able to get that clutch hit to get a run across. Overall, Abington batters struck out six times, grounded out 14 times and popped up once.
“One of our strengths is the ability to score runs,” Torresani said. “It is credit to him. He was really that good. I have never seen us hit the ball that way.”
The Ghosts, who took their first step this year by making the playoffs, will graduate four seniors from the starting lineup and seven overall.
“They are great kids and will be tough to replace,” Torresani said of his seniors. “The future is bright. We took a big step getting into the playoffs. Hopefully, next season we will take bigger steps.”
Abington 000 000 0 – 0 0 2
Perkiomen Valley 000 002 X – 2 3 1
Garnet Valley 2, Central Bucks East 1
The ninth-seeded Patriots (13-7) came into the opening round of districts on Monday afternoon with a four-game winning streak, but the Jaguars brought that streak and the Patriots’ season to an end.
“They score a lot of runs,” said Patriots coach Kyle Dennis on Garnet Valley. “They are a pretty good hitting team. We match up well with them since we do not allow a lot of runs.”
Both teams got stellar pitching as the Patriots’ Michael Broderick allowed just the two earned runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out three. Broderick threw 89 pitches in seven innings with 62 of them going for strikes.
The Jaguars scored a run in the first and another in the second when they collected five of their eight hits. They managed just three hits over the final five innings.
“Our pitcher was 6-0 going into today,” Dennis said of Broderick. “I was pleased with how Michael played. He was phenomenal.”
On the offensive side, CB East was held to just four hits, one for extra bases.
David Yanni provided most of the offense as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and RBI. Carter Usowski and Eric Poppke had the other two hits.
Yanni’s big hit came in the fourth when he launched a full count pitch for a solo home run to lead off the inning and put the Patriots on the board.
“David is a great ball player,” Dennis said of his senior. “He will be missed.”
The Jaguars’ Mike Bechtold was on his game the rest of the way as the Patriots managed just two more hits the rest of the way.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Patriots loaded the bases with just one out as Yanni singled, Thomas Prato walked and Usowski singled, but Bechtold came up with a huge strikeout, one of his 10 on the day, for the inning’s second out. A groundout to second ended the inning and the threat.
“Unfortunately, their pitcher did a nice job getting a strikeout and groundout,” Dennis said.
The Patriots will graduate nine seniors but have some ball players back for next year. They will lose three-fourths of their infield and the three, four and five hitters in their lineup.
“We return some arms,” Dennis said. “The seniors set the tone for us.”
Garnet Valley 110 000 0 – 2 8 2
Central Bucks East 000 100 0 – 1 4 0
#11 Owen J Roberts 5, #22 Council Rock South 3
All season long, the Golden Hawks (10-9) were an up and down team. They would win a few then lose a few, but they ended the regular season with a couple of wins under their belt, which helped propel them into the district playoffs.
In Monday’s opening round district game, the Golden Hawks faced a tough test in the Owen J Roberts Wildcats.
“We were very prepared for them,” said Council Rock South head coach Ted Kirner. “We thought we drew a pretty good bracket. We came together as a team towards the end.”
A win over the Wildcats would have pitted the Golden Hawks against Upper Dublin, and a win there could have given them a rematch against conference foe and champion Pennsbury, a team they split with.
The game started off on a promising note as the Golden Hawks scored single runs in both the second and third innings. They took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Cody Kutler, who had singled, scored on a double by Nick Ponente.
In the third inning, Dean Obarowski singled and stole second. He scored when Josh Kim delivered an RBI single to put the Hawks on top 2-0.
“We are a scratch hit team,” said Kirner. “We scratch and claw. Today we left runners on.”
The Wildcats tied the game with a pair of runs in the third and took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth.
Jordan Silverman absorbed the loss.
“They got timely hits,” said Kirner. “They were not the prettiest of hits. He pitched a (heck) of a game, it was just not his best outing.”
The Golden Hawks had trouble all day long getting much of anything going against Cory Hennessey who ended up allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out two.
“We knew he threw very, very slow,” said Kirner. “We were prepared for it and we practiced for it. He allowed no free passes, which is pretty amazing.”
The Golden Hawks though did have a chance in the top of the seventh, when they loaded the bases with no outs but could bring just one run home.
“We had an infield popup and popup to right field,” said Kirner of the final two outs. “We had no excuses. Our guys battled.”
Offensively, Kutler and Mike Agasar collected two hits each. Obarowski, Kim, Ponente, Josh Blaustein and Shaun Stackhouse had a hit each. Kim, Ponente and Blaustein had an RBI each.
“We didn’t do what was necessary,” Kirner said. “It was a very frustrating game. We didn’t get beat, we just lost. It was a tough way to go out. This loss does not define us. It was a heck of a season.”
Council Rock South 011 000 1 – 3 9 0
Owen J. Roberts 002 300 X – 5 10 1
#8 West Chester Rustin 3, #25 Pennridge 1
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