Jarrad Saffren recaps Friday’s SOL baseball action.
By Jarrad Saffren
The rain only picked on the Central Bucks area on Friday.
Central Bucks South and Lansdale Catholic postponed their game. Central Bucks West and Pennridge did the same.
It may be time to petition school boards for retractable roofs. No. Just kidding. That would be so un-baseball. Though I would love to see the looks on board members’ faces.
Who knows? They might even consider it. Sports are well on their way to ruling the country. They already rule college campuses. High schools may be next. I can easily envision a world where high school stadiums have retractable roofs, solar panels, and gaudy, Globo-Gym-like training facilities.
So, that’s my tangent tonight, and I am truly sorry that it included dystopia. I am even more sorry for laying out a vision for unscrupulous money-seekers to exploit high school athletes. Hopefully that never happens. Stay pure, high school athletics. Do not go the way of college athletics.
But on the roof point, there is no need to eliminate rain delays and rainouts and rain suspensions. They are as baseball as Cracker Jacks and trading cards. Quite often, they lead to epic, multi-pitcher battles over two, three days.
Eliminating rain would be akin to adding a clock. Baseball purists (Everyone who has ever enjoyed baseball) would sooner bring back the dead ball than add a clock.
So keep the rain. It is fun sometimes, a lot of times.
Six Suburban One League baseball teams played league games Friday. Eight others played non-league games.
One game was totally insane (See if you can figure it out). The others were, well, seven innings long. That is saying something this week.
The results and recaps are below.
SOL National
Pennsbury 7, Council Rock North 6 (12 innings)
Yes, you read that right. Council Rock North is on the right, meaning it lost, meaning it is no longer undefeated.
Pennsbury knocked off CR North in an epic rivalry game that lasted five hours, 12 innings, and two days.
The Falcons took a 4-1 lead Thursday. Billy Bethel broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double to left-center in the third. Zach Conley walked two, hit a batter, and gave up a run in the first. But he struck out two North hitters with the bases loaded to limit the damage.
Then he morphed back into Zach Conley, retiring 11 of North’s next 12 batters. But manager Joe Pesci had to take him out after rain suspended the game until Friday.
Since Conley finished four innings, he had to rest for two days, by PIAA rule.
“You don’t want the weather to take that game away from us, or them,” Pesci said. “It’s tough. We are up, everyone’s screaming and yelling. Conley is pitching. We are in a great position. Then they come out and are angry and want to preserve their undefeated season.”
North scored four runs to take a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth, its first inning at the plate Friday. Matt Shenot chopped the ball through the hole into right field, scoring the first run. Two batters later, Tyler Nowmos belted the ball over the left fielder’s head, clearing the bases.
North’s Seth Leuz scored the go-ahead run and let out a primal yell. “Let’s go!” Leuz shouted. Pennsbury’s dugout went silent.
But then it got loud again, and the Falcons responded. In the sixth, Ryan McCarty rocketed an RBI single up the middle. Then Bethel and Leuz matched each other inning for inning. Neither team scored again until the 11th, when North took a 6-5 lead on Shenot’s single to right.
But, in the bottom of the 11th, with two outs, Justin Ward roped an RBI single up the middle.
In the top of the 12th, with men on first and second, Cavan Tully smoked a single to right. Ward fielded the ball and fired home. Josh Tesarck tagged out Jackson Parker to end the inning.
“I was focusing on looking the ball into my glove and throwing through the cutoff man,” Ward said. “I was surprised they sent him.”
In the bottom, Pennsbury had a man on second for pinch-hitter Bryan Nagy. In his fourth plate appearance of the season, Nagy smashed a double to right-center. McCarty raced home with the winning run and the Falcons piled on Nagy near second base.
“I don’t get a lot of shots but I came out here and did what I had to do,” Nagy said. “I put the ball in play and it dropped. Right place, right time.”
“I’m just so happy right now,” Nagy said. “I can’t believe that even happened.”
Nagy sat behind senior third baseman Bryen Kimbrough for most of the season. He is not indignant about it.
“I come out here and when they call on me I have to do my job,” Nagy said. “Today it just happened to work out. Kimbrough’s playing great right now. If he’s playing well, keep him in there.”
“We thought it was Bryan’s opportunity and we wanted to see what he could do,” Pesci said. “And he performed. That’s all you can ask from a kid.”
The Falcons won their fourth straight league game and are tied in second-place with Neshaminy. But Pesci, oozer of confidence, is still thinking league title.
“If they lose two and we can win out, we can share a league title here,” Pesci said. “But if we don’t get that, at least we get a big win against a team with a good winning percentage. That boosts our playoff opportunities.”
Pennsbury (7-5, 6-3 SOL) plays Archbishop Ryan Saturday at 4:30. Council Rock North (12-1, 7-1 SOL) takes on Council Rock South Saturday at noon.
Pennsbury 1-0-3-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-1-1 7
Council Rock North 1-0-0-0-4-0-0-0-0-0-1-0 6
William Tennent 7, Harry S. Truman 0
Pitching carried William Tennent once again. It has been that way all season.
Nick Cataldi pitched a complete game and struck out eight. He tossed the first two innings Thursday before the rain started.
“I wasn’t quite sure how he was going to respond,” Tennent manager Rick Penecale said. “He said he felt good and pitched real well. He didn’t have a real good curve day. But he had good command and velocity. He battled.”
Cataldi improved to 1-2 but has pitched well all season. The Panthers have not hit or fielded well when he pitches.
“For some reason,” Penecale said. “But today we did well. We also put the ball in play. Simple game, baseball.”
So true Rick. So true.
Mr. Dependable Paul McElroy scored three runs and walked twice. At 4-5, Tennent is right there in the SOL National standings.
“Yeah we’re there,” Penecale said. “We just need to be more consistent. We’ll play a good game, then a bad game, then a good game. We are not stringing a bunch of games together. Hopefully we can get on a little run here.”
Penecale said next week is the biggest of Tennent’s season. The Panthers (5-7, 4-5 SOL) play Neshaminy Tuesday and Council Rock South Thursday.
“The Neshaminy game is big,” Penecale said. “That could be the season for us. That third spot is where we need to get to make the playoffs. If we are going to be legitimate contenders, we need to win that game.”
Harry S. Truman has lost eight straight league games since beating CR South to open the season.
The Tigers (3-10, 1-8 SOL) play Council Rock North Tuesday.
William Tennent 0-0-2-0-4-1-X 7
Harry S. Truman 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
SOL American
Upper Moreland 8, Plymouth Whitemarsh 4
Upper Moreland won its sixth straight league game and set up two first-place showdowns with the Flying Cardinals of Upper Dublin next week.
We will get to that in a second.
Upper Moreland’s Brandon Kohn pitched four innings, gave up four hits and three runs, and struck out five. He earned the win and improved to 4-1 in 2016.
The Golden Bears rocked PW ace Dillon Famous. Christian Leighton went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He drove in one run on each hit. Two of the hits came with two outs.
Kohn went 2-for-3. Jon Searles had three RBIs. Nick DeLucas had one hit and three runs scored.
“I have never seen a kid get on more by errors because he hits the ball hard,” Upper Moreland manager Ken Irwin said.
Is that a back-handed compliment? Is your manager saying you are lucky, Nick? In a way, but he is also saying you are good. So take the compliment. This concludes Compliment Court.
Back to regularly scheduled programming.
Randy Meehl hit 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
“Nick and Randy have been tearing it up for us,” Irwin said. “They have been absolutely huge.”
That is definitely a compliment. No need to even take it to Compliment Court.
Tom Jacob hurled three innings and earned the save. Irwin foresees a bigger role for his closer henceforth.
“The next couple of weeks he’ll have to go more innings because we play more games,” Irwin said.
PW’s Dutch Reardon (Best baseball name ever. I would pay Honus Wagner-money for his baseball card) went 2-for-4. Noah Goldstein was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Now back to Upper Dublin. The Golden Bears (10-2, 7-1 SOL) and Flying Cardinals play on Tuesday and Friday next week. Upper Moreland also plays Springfield Thursday.
“We are looking forward to it. It’s a big week. I love that we are playing UD twice because we’ll get their one and two (pitchers),” Irwin said. “Springfield will be an interesting game too if Nick Pave pitches.”
Upper Dublin sent a scout to Upper Moreland’s game against Wissahickon Wednesday.
Irwin pulled that old reverse psychology coach trick where he praises his next opponent way too hard.
“They are a great team,” Irwin said. “Justin Horn, Cole Swiger, Thomas Juelke, Connor McFadden, they are all great.”
Upper Moreland’s Joey Bates will pitch Tuesday.
“Brandon has been the guy early in the week. Joey has been the guy late in the week. But we are going to switch,” Irwin said.
Kohn will either pitch Thursday against Springfield or Friday versus Upper Dublin. Irwin may have to go beyond his top two for the first time in league play.
“We went into the season thinking the great thing is we have a lot of depth. We have three or four guys we feel comfortable and confident in,” Irwin said. “But Joey and Brandon have been so good that it’s hard not to pitch them when they are available.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-8, 3-6 SOL) hosts Wissahickon Tuesday at 3:30.
Non-League
Neshaminy 7, Archbishop Ryan 2
Another reliable starter emerged from Neshaminy’s bullpen Friday. Junior Jerry Scavone pitched seven innings and gave up two runs.
“He threw well. He has really competed every time he’s gotten in,” Neshaminy manager Chris Tenaglia said. “He is around the zone for the most part.”
Scavone has walked one batter in 15 innings this season.
“He has proven we can rely on him to keep us in games,” Tenaglia said.
Other bench players stepped in and stepped up for Neshaminy. Senior Andrew Dampman ripped two hits and two RBIs. Junior Evan Matthews stroked two hits and scored a run. Sophomore Harold Landman had a hit and a run scored.
“A lot of guys got opportunities that really haven’t had them,” Tenaglia said. “Guys that haven’t played every day or gotten consistent opportunities.”
Regular Bill Ritchey had a hit and an RBI for Neshaminy. Billy Meyer, who usually pitches, also had a hit and an RBI.
The Redskins have won five of six.
Neshaminy (8-6, 6-3 SOL) plays William Tennent Tuesday at 3:45. Archbishop Ryan, well, is completely irrelevant on a Suburban One Sports website.
Cheltenham 5, Hatboro-Horsham 3
Cheltenham won its third straight game after an 0-7 start.
In the seventh, Wes Giles hit a single to left, driving in the go-ahead run. Then Jacob Morrison grounded out to make it 5-3.
Cheltenham’s Josh Ryan had two RBIs. Isaac Blank had two hits.
“The kids are starting to hit, which we were struggling to do in the beginning,” Cheltenham manager Craig Stein said. “They are starting to relax a little. They are playing good defense too. We are starting to come together.”
Stein was also pumped that this team beat an SOL Continental program.
“It’s a very big deal. Hatboro-Horsham is a real good program,” Stein said. “The kids were very excited to get a win against them.”
Freshman Lukas Nakkula gave up four hits and two earned runs in seven innings. He started his first varsity game on Monday and his second on Friday.
“He came back today and had a really strong performance,” Stein said. “He’s a very mature kid. Nothing phases him out there.”
Nakkula will stay in the rotation.
“I expected to start him earlier. But we had a lot of rainouts early in the season,” Stein said. “The back end of our schedule is heavy. I knew we’d get him out on the mound sooner or later. The opportunity came up this week.”
Nakkula forms a nice little freshmen tandem with Kieran Versaw-Barnes.
“I am very happy for the future with those young kids,” Stein said.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Ryan O’Donnell, Kyle Katz, and Matt Lane drove in one run each. Brian Edgington, O’Donnell, and Shaun Thomas scored them.
Alex Crim pitched a scoreless inning for the Hatters.
Cheltenham (3-7, 2-5 SOL) hosts Springfield Tuesday at 3:30. Hatboro-Horsham (5-7, 3-5 SOL) will finish its suspended game against Central Bucks South Monday.
Cheltenham 0-1-0-2-0-0-2 5
Hatboro-Horsham 1-0-0-1-0-1-0 3
Abington 11, Upper Dublin 6
Abington scored five runs in the second and four in the third to open up a 9-4 lead.
Three Ghosts players—Paul Poppert (three), George Jacob (two), and Aidan Coyle (two)—knocked in multiple runs. Four—Colin Kelly (two), Matt Horn (two), Chris Clewell (two), and Matt Cluse (two)—scored multiple runs.
The Ghosts worked 10 walks. JP Nolan had three of Abington’s seven hits.
Upper Dublin’s Connor McFadden had two hits and two RBIs. Tommy Reilly had two hits, a run scored, and an RBI. Thomas Juelke had two hits and an RBI.
Andrew McDermott knocked in two runs. Cole Swiger scored two runs.
Enough stats? Enough stats.
Abington improved to 4-0 in non-league games. Upper Dublin dropped to 1-2 in such games.
The Ghosts (7-5, 3-5 SOL) take on Council Rock South Tuesday at 3:45. The Cardinals (8-2, 7-0 SOL) battle Upper Moreland on the same day. (In case you haven’t heard)
Abington 0-5-4-0-0-2-X 11
Upper Dublin 2-0-2-0-1-0-1 6
Emmaus 4, Souderton 2
Souderton lost its second straight game. The Indians led 2-1 after the first. But Emmaus tied the score in the fifth and took a two-run lead in the sixth.
Brett Moyer and Derek Freed drove in Souderton’s runs. Miles Minnick tossed two scoreless innings.
Souderton (8-5, 6-3 SOL) plays Central Bucks West Tuesday. Emmaus is…not in the SOL.
Emmaus 1-0-0-0-1-2-X 4
Souderton 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 2
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