Jarred Saffren recaps all of Thursday’s SOL baseball action. Photos of the PW/Norristown game are courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
By Jarrad Saffren
Journalism students, gather round.
Today’s lesson is on the best way to get a coach to say absolutely nothing.
Watch, listen.
Matt Schram, Council Rock North baseball coach, you are maybe the most quotable coach in all three Suburban One League baseball conferences.
Your team is now 11-0 overall and 6-0 in SOL National play. With nine games left, you have a very real chance to finish the regular season undefeated, and you have earned the right to say, “We are the greatest team since the 1927 Yankees and I would be surprised if we lost.”
But instead, you sigh, slump your shoulders, and say, “Listen, you don’t want to lose a baseball game. You want to win every baseball game. There’s not one coach in the league who wouldn’t want to win every baseball game. Being undefeated is not my priority, but winning every baseball game is.”
Schram is a journey guy, not a destination guy.
What about you Ed Wall? Coach of the 7-0, 6-0 in SOL American play, Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals. Are you thinking about finishing the regular season undefeated?
“No way man,” Wall said after his team’s 11-4 win over Springfield. “There is no sense thinking about that. We are just focused on the next game in front of us. That’s all we care about.”
The comedian Hannibal Buress has a routine where he talks about people who say they are taking life, “Day by day.” “Of course you are. That’s just how time works,” Buress quips.
Game by game, that’s just how the schedule works.
You see students, the hard part is, you have to ask the undefeated question once a team is still lossless after half of its games. If you don’t, you are not doing your job.
Just keep asking the question after every win. I wish I had a better solution. When I come up with one, we’ll reconvene. But for now, lesson over. Class dismissed.
All but two SOL baseball teams played league games Thursday. The results and recaps are below.
SOL American
Upper Dublin 11, Springfield 4
The undefeated Cardinals took another step toward finishing the 2016 season without a loss.
Wall’s team fell behind 4-0 in its first game back from a five-day layoff for Upper Dublin’s senior class trip.
The seniors left for Disney World Saturday at 4 a.m. and got back late Tuesday night.
“A lot of them were still tired at practice yesterday,” Wall said. “We were not as sharp as usual. We had to get through the first couple innings.”
UD made four errors and all four Springfield runs were unearned.
“We misplayed some balls up the middle that are usually pretty routine,” Wall said.
But the Cardinals answered with a big inning of their own, plating four in the bottom of the fourth.
“That was huge,” Wall said. “That gave us momentum. And all sports are about momentum.”
“All sports are about momentum” might be the sportsiest sports quote of all-time.
Back from that brief tangent, Cole Swiger tied the game at four with a two-run single. Then Swiger the pitcher prevented Springfield from regaining the lead.
“He didn’t have his best stuff but he was able to keep us in a position to win,” Wall said.
Swiger pitched 5.2 innings and allowed four hits and no earned runs. The ace is now 3-0 with one save and a 0.45 ERA in 2016.
Upper Dublin took the lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. UD added four more in the sixth. JT Breslin got on base fives time (three hits, two walks) and scored two runs for the Cardinals.
“He’s coming up big for us,” Wall said. “He’s seeing the ball well and has a good plan at the plate. He’s also hitting behind runners and moving guys.”
Breslin, in his first varsity season, has four multi-hit games and is hitting .550 (11-20) with a .640 on-base percentage.
“He hits well with two strikes,” Wall said. “He’s an example of what we’re trying to do with our hitters.”
Last season, Breslin’s varsity path was blocked by three-year starter and leadoff man John Lee.
“He (Breslin) would have been up with us,” Wall said. “But we don’t like to have kids on varsity just to have them on varsity. We want them playing.”
Justin Horn had two hits and two runs scored for the Cardinals.
“Horn is hitting laser beam line drives all over the field,” Wall said. “It’s not just JT and Cole. A lot of guys are doing a great job in our lineup.”
For Springfield, Will Jamison knocked in two runs and Tim Dahme stroked three hits and scored a run.
Upper Dublin (7-0, 6-0 SOL) plays Souderton at Souderton Friday, and Wall has allowed himself to think at least one day ahead.
“We are just focused on Souderton,” Wall said.
Naturally, but we’ll ask again if you win.
Springfield (1-5, 1-5 SOL) takes on Wissahickon Tuesday at 3:30.
Upper Dublin 0-4-3-0-0-4-X 11
Springfield 0-4-0-0-0-0-0 4
Upper Moreland 6, Upper Merion 0
Upper Moreland won its fourth straight game and stayed one game back of Upper Dublin in the SOL American standings.
Starting pitching was again the story for the Golden Bears. On Tuesday it was Brandon Kohn. On Thursday it was Joey Bates. The senior fanned 10, allowed two hits, and threw 76 pitches in seven innings.
Bates allowed one baserunner in the first three innings. He also started all but five hitters with a strike.
“He wasn’t hitting his spots against Cheltenham,” Upper Moreland coach Ken Irwin said. “Today he hit his spots.”
Irwin let his starting pitcher finish a game for the first time all season.
“I said in the fifth, ‘Do you want to go back out there?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said it again in the sixth. He said, ‘Yes.’ And again in the seventh,” Irwin said.
Bates topped Upper Merion ace Jarrett Quinn, who finished six innings, struck out eight, and gave up one earned run.
“That was big for Joey to do that. It was absolutely his best performance of the year,” Irwin said. “You don’t know how many runs you’re going to get off Jarrett.
“They saved Jarrett for us too. They pitched someone else against Springfield and lost. We knew we could put some distance between us and Upper Merion if we won.”
The Golden Bears are now two and a half games up on the Vikings. And Bates is starting to get the media attention that Quinn has gotten all season.
“The kids know Jarrett’s been getting a lot of press,” Irwin said. “But Joey’s been quietly moving along and getting wins.”
Bates improved to 4-0 in 2016, including three league wins. He has a 1.06 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 17 innings.
Upper Moreland (6-1, 5-1 SOL) plays Pennridge Friday afternoon. Upper Merion (3-8, 3-4 SOL) battles Cheltenham Tuesday.
The Golden Bears play Upper Dublin twice in the first week of May.
Upper Moreland 2-0-0-1-0-0-3 6
Upper Merion 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5, Norristown 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Chris Manero changed his batting order on Tuesday.
Manero moved Adam McKinlay to the leadoff spot because two other players had struggled from that spot. He also moved Andrew Kliesh to the two-hole and Luca Amoroso and Noah Goldstein to the seventh and eighth spots.
McKinlay, Kliesh, Amoroso, and Goldstein combined for nine hits, four RBIs, and three runs scored Thursday.
McKinlay was batting ninth before moving to the opposite end of the order.
“It was his turn,” Manero said. “He got off to a slow start but has picked it up lately. There’s a lot of similarities between guys who bat ninth and guys who bat first. He’ll stick for now. He’s 2-for-2 in terms of having good games.”
McKinlay had a hit and a run scored in PW’s win over Cheltenham Tuesday.
Kliesh moved up even though he’s a freshman.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on freshmen,” Manero said. “So you put them closer to the bottom of the order where hopefully they see better pitching. But he’s been hot. So he needs to be put in a spot that helps us more.”
Amoroso and Goldstein batted leadoff before McKinlay. But they hit better toward the bottom.
“They are seeing some better pitches,” Manero said. “Luca feels more comfortable down there. He doesn’t feel the pressure of starting off the game. But if they continue to produce I don’t know how long they can stay down there.” 
The Colonials scored one run in the first, three in the second, and one in the third.
Manero was as frustrated with his defense as he was happy with his lineup. The Colonials made seven errors and gave up three unearned runs. A lot of players were out of position.
Starting shortstop Anthony Tomassetti hurt his thumb in practice Wednesday and had to sit. Starting pitcher Matt Cooper normally plays second. Freshman Matt Disisto was called up from junior varsity to play short. McKinlay, who normally plays third, moved to second and John Pecharo, the usual first baseman, moved to third.
Don’t worry. It was confusing for Manero too.
“We had to reconfigure out entire infield and it resulted in real ugly defense,” Manero said. “We made a boatload of errors between third base and first. But we were bailed out by offense. That’s what a team does.”
Cooper allowed four runs, one earned, in five innings.
“He didn’t pitch bad. He was forced to throw more pitches than we’d have liked,” Manero said. “If we had made those plays behind him he would have thrown all seven innings.”
Pecharo tossed two scoreless innings in relief and earned the save. He has pitched four shutout innings this week out of the pen. But he was not as sharp on Thursday as he was earlier in the week.
“He didn’t have good command,” Manero said.
In the sixth, Pecharo retired the last two hitters with men on first and second. In the seventh, he forced a line drive double play to end the game.
“He pitched himself into jams and got himself out of them,” Manero said.
Manero did not want to use Pecharo.
“We had another guy lined up but once we got to the sixth we said, ‘John could probably give us two,’” the PW coach said. “Some days you’re sharper than others. He just had to work a little harder today.”
Tom Detwiler rocked three hits and two RBIs for Norristown. Charles Grello had two hits.
PW (4-6, 3-4 SOL) plays Upper Moreland Tuesday. Norristown (3-5, 2-4 SOL) buses to Cheltenham for a 3:30 start.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-3-1-0-0-0-X 5
Norristown 1-0-2-1-0-0-0 4
Wissahickon 10, Cheltenham 0
Logan Willans needed just 53 pitches to get through six innings and lead Wissahickon to its third straight win.
Willans gave up one hit, one walk, and struck out three.
He was also 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Alex Tappen belted two hits, including a two-run home run. Jeremy Spittle had two hits and an RBI. Eddie Fortescue also slammed two hits.
The Trojans are a half game back of second-place Upper Moreland and a game and a half back of first-place Upper Dublin.
Wissahickon (5-5, 5-2 SOL) takes on Springfield Tuesday at 3:30. Cheltenham (0-6, 0-5 SOL) hosts Jenkintown Friday.
Wissahickon 0-5-0-0-4-1 10
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0-0-0 0
SOL National
Council Rock North 3, Bensalem 2
CR North stayed undefeated and Bensalem continued to struggle.
In the first, Bensalem catcher Scott Rooney sailed the ball over the third baseman’s head, allowing Cavan Tully to score.
In the third, Seth Leuz skied a triple over the centerfielder’s head and Tyler Nowmos lifted a sacrifice fly to center. The Indians led 3-0 and the Owls pulled starter Trevor McGee, who had walked six and hit a batter in 2.2 innings.
But McGee’s struggles had an oddly destabilizing effect on the Indians’ offense.
“We are on our front foot, we’re popping balls up,” Schram said. “If you can be patient with a kid like him you’ll be successful.”
North was patient and successful against McGee, but anxious against his replacement, Dom Grady. The freshman righty shut out the Indians for the last 4.1 innings. But North left eight men on base against Grady and 13 in the game.
Bensalem’s offense left six men on. In the sixth, Joey Benedetti rocketed a two-out double to left-center that scored two runs and made it 3-2. But North reliever CJ Kilgarriff retired the next two Bensalem hitters.
Kilgarriff shut out the Owls in the sixth and seventh to preserve North’s one-run lead. He fanned four and repeatedly pumped his fist like the heavy-metal closer he has always wanted to be.
“I’ve always loved pitching late innings and closing games,” Kilgarriff said. “I like the pressure a lot. I like those moments a lot.”
Kilgarriff earned his second save of 2016. North starter Gavin Ferrandino hurled 4.1 innings and struck out nine. The tall, lanky sophomore impressed his coach and solidified the number two spot in the rotation behind ace Matt Hand.
“That’s the goal. That’s what I want to do,” Ferrandino said. “I thought I did well enough today.”
North is now two and a half games up on Bensalem, Neshaminy, and Pennsbury with a month left in the regular season.
Bensalem looked like North’s biggest challenger after starting 6-0. But the Owls have lost three of four league games, scoring a combined two runs in those losses.
CR North (11-0, 6-0 SOL) plays Holy Ghost Prep Saturday at high noon. Bensalem (8-3, 4-3 SOL) hosts Morrisville Monday at 3:45.
Council Rock North 1-0-2-0-0-0-0 3
Bensalem 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 2
Pennsbury 7, William Tennent 2
“Good Vibrations” is the name of two different ridiculously popular songs, one by The Beach Boys, another by the even more iconic group, Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch. 
This has nothing to do with high school baseball, other than this extremely loose transition: Pennsbury is feeling good vibrations after two straight league wins.
For one, the Falcons are hitting, which they have not done all year. Tyrone Hodges went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. He also went 2-for-4 on Tuesday against Council Rock South. Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci moved Hodges to the leadoff spot before the win over South.
“He has the highest batting average and on-base percentage on the team, so I figured, let’s get him as many at-bats as possible,” Pesci said. “I thought if we at least have somebody on, you can bunt him over, you can steal him.”
Hodges started more than half of Pennsbury’s games last season as a sophomore. But he hit under .300. Pesci named him a captain before the 2016 season, and said Hodges felt the pressure early on.
“But he’s a kid who constantly works,” Pesci said.
Billy Bethel is another 2015 contributor who struggled early in 2016. Last season, Bethel batted second and made the All-SOL National Second Team. Pennsbury’s first, third, and fourth hitters made the First Team.
“He was surrounded by really good hitters and was asked to bunt a lot,” Pesci said. “Now he’s called upon to be one of the main producers. He had a slow start. Kids put pressure on themselves early in a year like that. But he’s hitting the ball better, giving better at-bats, and getting hits and RBIs out of it.”
Bethel stroked an RBI double against Tennent. He also pitched six innings, struck out eight, and earned the win. In his last start, Bethel shut out Truman and fanned six.
He is forming a nice tandem with healing ace Zach Conley.
“It’s nice to have Conley back and Billy in a groove,” Pesci said. “Now we have two starters and a bunch of other guys we can bring in.”
Josh Tesarck and Bryen Kimbrough each went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Pennsbury.
The Falcons pounded nine hits as a team.
“The past four games we’ve been striking out less,” Pesci said. “We’ve been telling the kids: Make progress each game. Early in the season we only had three or four or five hits in games.”
Pennsbury catapulted into a three-way tie for second-place with Bensalem and Neshaminy. William Tennent fell one game back of all three.
Pennsbury (5-4, 4-3 SOL) goes to Abington Tuesday at 3:30. William Tennent (4-6, 3-4 SOL) plays Council Rock North on the same day and time.
Council Rock South 10, Neshaminy 8
Council Rock South ended a four-game losing streak by pounding nine hits and nine runs against Neshaminy ace Matt Grudza.
“That’s a monkey off our back man,” CR South coach Ted Kirner said. “We’ve been beating ourselves. But it’s onward and upward now.”
The Hawks “finally got some timely hitting,” Kirner said. They scored in every other inning, seven in the first, one in the third, one in the fifth, and one in the seventh.
Josh Kim barreled three hits, three RBIs, and scored a run. Cody Kutler stroked three hits and an RBI. Keith Rieser had three RBIs, two hits, and a run scored.
Hawks starter Noah Davidson struck out six in 4.2 innings.
“Noah had a very good day,” Kirner said. “It was the first time he really got stretched out.”
Brendon Carter pitched a scoreless seventh and earned the save.
Neshaminy scored seven runs in the fifth and sixth to cut South’s lead to 9-8. Brian Nicolas had two RBIs. Bill Ritchey had two walks, one hit, and one RBI. Anthony Raposelli had two hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
Since Bensalem lost, Neshaminy missed a chance to take sole possession of second-place.
South really needed this one, and really needs to build on it.
“We have to be mentally tough and keep pressing on,” Kirner said. “If we do all the little things right, they add up to big things.”
Indubitably.
“We lost to Truman and had six free passes. That was such a winnable game. But you drop it and move on,” Kirner said. “We beat ourselves against Bensalem. We gave up timely walks and had no timely hitting. I think we got three hits in 15 at-bats with men in scoring position.”
Then Kirner made like former Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler and explained the complex sport of baseball.
“It’s a simple game,” the Hawks’ coach said. “No free passes, pound the zone, get on base, get them in.”
The young coach does not buy the argument that his team has “potential.” Go ahead Ted, tell everybody how much you despise that word.
“Potential is just a fancy word to say you haven’t done a (darn) thing yet,” Kirner said. Quick aside: That is the leader in the clubhouse for quote of the season.
CR South (2-4, 1-4 SOL) battles Archbishop Wood Saturday morning. Neshaminy (5-6, 4-3 SOL) plays Bensalem Tuesday at 3:30.
Council Rock South 7-0-1-0-1-0-1 10
Neshaminy 1-0-0-0-4-3-0 8
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 10, Central Bucks South 9
Central Bucks West won its fourth straight league game by one run, and I will continue to write this lead until the Bucks win by two or three or four or 10.
“I keep telling the guys you don’t have to win by one,” CB West coach Brad Tracy said. “They all count the same. I’m losing more hair by the day.”
Me too buddy, me too (But for entirely different, mostly genetic reasons).
The first and third wins during the streak were pitcher’s duels. CB West beat North Penn 2-1 and Central Bucks East 1-0. The second and fourth wins were Nintendo 64 slugfests. The Bucks topped Hatboro-Horsham 9-8 and CB South by the score you see above.
This may have been the most impressive win during the streak, as it came against the team that has led the SOL Continental for most of the season, a team that had not allowed more than two runs in six previous league games.
“We had pretty good at-bats all game long,” Tracy said. “We were really focused at the end and put the ball in play. The hops went our way.”
CB West scored six runs in the last two innings to overcome an 8-4 deficit. In the fifth, Drew Sypawka singled to left, scoring Thomas Philipps to make it 8-5.
Then CB South coach Brian Klumpp brought closer Alex Bendzlowicz. After Bendzlowicz hit a batter to load the bases, Nick Evans singled home Luke Irons and Sypawka.
In the top of sixth, Tommy Dugan bopped a solo homer to give the Titans a two-run lead. But in the bottom, Philipps doubled home Steven Gebre, Sypawka singled home Philipps, and Evans took one for the team to force in the go-ahead run.
It was CB West’s first and only lead, the only lead they needed.
“It was a real team effort,” Tracy said. “We coaches were saying all along, ‘We think this can be a pretty good hitting team.’ Today it came together. We rely a lot on Thomas Philipps. Luke Irons has been having great at-bats all year too. He continued to impress today.”
Philipps had three hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Irons had two hits and two runs scored. Sypawka and Evans each had three RBIs. Trevor D’Arcy belted three hits.
Four players—Will Moller, Dugan, Andrew Dietz, and Casey Sloms—smoked multiple hits for CB South. Moller scored three runs. Dietz knocked in four runs and Dugan knocked in three.
CB West moved into a second-place tie with North Penn. CB South dropped into a first-place tie with Pennridge and Souderton.
The Bucks (4-5, 4-3 SOL) play Wissahickon Saturday at 1. The Titans (7-3, 5-2 SOL) take on North Penn Tuesday.
Central Bucks West 1-0-3-0-3-3-X 10
Central Bucks South 2-2-1-3-0-1-0 9
Souderton 8, Central Bucks East 1
It’s a question that Souderton coach Michael Childs probably falls asleep to now: How good can the Indians be?
The Big Red already had an ace, and his name is…wait for it…Gulibon. In the last week, Souderton found a powerful offense and a dominant number two starter.
Souderton has won four straight games and scored a season-high eight runs in two of them. The offense mashed 11 hits against CB East. Luke Barnum, Brett Moyer, and Thylar (I am very curious about the origin of this spelling) Summerall combined for seven RBIs, six runs scored, and six hits.
Moyer and Summerall both launched two-run home runs.
They did most of this against CB East ace Eric Chase.
“We were hitting the ball hard right at guys before,” Childs said. “Today we did a great job getting on and hitting for power. It was nice to see guys hit the ball hard for power.”
Starter Dan Knechel allowed one unearned run in six innings. He has not given up a run in his high school career, 23 JV innings in 2015, 23 varsity innings so far in 2016.
“And this is a kid who’s not a power pitcher,” Childs said.
Summerall tossed a scoreless seventh.
“Knechel probably could have closed it out. But we wanted to see Summerall for an inning,” Childs said. “Knechel apologized to me. He was like, ‘Coach. I’m sorry it wasn’t my best day today.’ This is after 68 pitches in six innings. I said, ‘Knechel, no need to apologize buddy.’”
Come to think of it, Knechel is pretty fun to say too. Gulibon and Knechel. I’m not quite sure what that sounds like, but it’s certainly not a law firm or medical practice. It’s something much more fun.
Andrew Collins drove in the only CB East run. Tyler Quinlan pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief for the Patriots.
Souderton (6-3, 5-2 SOL) plays Upper Dublin Friday. CB East (4-7, 0-7 SOL) buses to Council Rock South Monday for a 3:45 start.
Souderton 0-2-3-0-1-2-0 8
Central Bucks East 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1
Pennridge 4, Quakertown 3 (8 innings)
Pennridge trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Yoder walked. Dan Long reached on a fielder’s choice. Ryan Gordon reached on an error. Long raced to third on said error.
Then Joe Robinson singled to left, scoring Long and forcing extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Luke Nuneviller led off with a walk. After two strikeouts, Nuneviller stole second. Then Yoder hit a single to left, plating Nuneviller with the winning run.
The Rams pulled even with CB South and Souderton for first-place.
Robinson had two hits and three RBIs. Jason Souder also had two hits.
Long relieved starter Ian Kacergis and hurled three shutout innings, fanning five. Matt Bukavich stroked three hits and two RBIs for Quakertown. Lake Friday (His real name) drove in the other run for Q-Town.
Pennridge (7-4, 5-2 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland Friday. Quakertown (3-8, 2-5 SOL) plays CB West Tuesday.
Pennridge 2-0-0-0-0-0-1-1 4
Quakertown 0-0-1-0-2-0-0-0 3
North Penn 4, Hatboro-Horsham 3
Jared Gorman out-dueled Brian Edgington and North Penn plated two runs in the fifth to take the lead for good.
Gorman pitched a complete game two-hitter, allowing one earned run. Edgington finished six innings and struck out seven, but gave up two earned runs.
The bottom of the first inning got off to an unusual start, according to Hatters' coach Pete Moore, when the first base umpire called the first two pitches balls for being illegal pitches.
"He cited the high school rule in which a pitcher's offset foot must have at least a heel in line with the rubber," Moore said. "(Our) starter, Brian Edgington, had his foot an inch in front of the rubber according to the umpire, and he called two illegal pitches and, therefore, forced Edgington to start the leadoff hitter with a 2-0 count.
"Rather than let it bother him, Edgington seemed to use it as motivation through the first two innings as he retired the first six nights he faced, four of them via strikeouts."
The Knights capitalized on some shaky defense by the Hatters to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. The Hatters came back with three runs in the top of the fifth. Highlights of the inning included singles by Kyle Katz and Edgington (bunt) and sacrifice flies by Eddie Schultz and Shaun Thomas.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mason Nadeau reached on an error as Matt Marino scored, tying the game at three. Then Jake Schuster singled to left, bringing home Alex Peterson with the go-ahead run.
Nadeau had two RBIs for the Knights. Nate O’Donnell, Marino, and Ryan Bealer, the seven through nine hitters for North Penn, all recorded one hit and one run scored.
Edgington, Shaun Thomas, and Eddie Schultz knocked in Hatboro-Horsham’s runs.
The Knights are tied in second with CB West. The Hatters sit alone in third. The top six teams in the SOL Continental are separated by two games.
North Penn (7-4, 4-3 SOL) plays Parkland Saturday at 11. Hatboro-Horsham (5-5, 3-4 SOL) takes on Souderton Tuesday
North Penn 0-0-2-0-2-0-X 4
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-0-3-0-0 3
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