Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Monday’s SOL baseball games.
By Jarrad Saffren
Sunny, 75 degrees, no wind, no humidity. It was close to perfect weather on Monday, finally.
Suburban One League baseball teams took full advantage. All 22 played league games.
So far, through about two weeks, the SOL National is the strongest at the top. Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Council Rock South and Council Rock North, in that order, all look really good.
The SOL Continental, as usual, in every sport, is the deepest SOL league, but also the most jumbled. Although North Penn does look like the clear favorite.
No clear favorite has emerged in the SOL American. Two-time defending champion Upper Dublin is only 2-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. Wissahickon has the SOL’s best player by far, University of Virginia recruit Alex Tappen. But the Trojans are only 3-2 and 1-1 themselves. The surprise teams are the story in the American so far. Newcomer Quakertown is undefeated. Upper Moreland, with a new coach, is also undefeated. And Springfield Township, the smallest SOL school by far, is 4-1.
It’s getting interesting, especially now that the sun has decided to come out this spring. Here’s what happened on the first of hopefully many perfect spring days…
SOL National
Neshaminy 6, Abington 0
Zach Boop no-hit Abington on Monday, striking out 12 and walking one. Boop threw 65 strikes in 90 pitches. He also threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 24 batters he faced.
“He’s just been fantastic, completely dominant in his games. He just locates his fastball, and he has a very good change-up and slider that he can throw at any part of the count at any time for strikes,” Neshaminy coach Dan Toner said. “It doesn’t hurt throwing high 80s, low 90s. They hit maybe one or two balls hard, but they were right at our guys.”
Boop is now 3-0 with a 0.00 earned run average in 19 innings. He has allowed two hits. His first two starts were one-hitters.
“In both of his last two games, he had runners on second and third with less than two outs. Both against Council Rock North and the same situation here, and he was able to get every guy out every time,” Toner said. “He keeps tremendous poise. Situations don’t affect him. He knew he had a no-hitter going, and you wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s like he was just coming out for any other inning.”
Neshaminy’s prolific offense backed up its dominant starter, scoring in four of six innings. Cory Joyce had a big game for the Redskins, with three RBIs, two hits and a run. Brian Nicolas had two hits and two runs. Ed Parry and Owen Foraker each drove in a run. Anthony Rapposelli had a hit and a run. Evan Matthews and Jerry Scavone both scored a run.
Neshaminy (4-1, 2-0 SOL) plays Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday at 11 a.m. Abington (1-5, 0-3 SOL) hosts Central Bucks East Wednesday at 3:30.
Neshaminy 1-1-0-0-3-1 6
Abington 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Council Rock South 10, Harry S. Truman 2
The Golden Hawks matched their 2016 win totals, overall and in conference play, with this win.
CR South improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play Monday. South went 4-15 and 2-12 last year.
“Things went radically wrong in so many ways. We would find a way to lose, to give it away. Winning is a mindset,” South coach Ted Kirner said. “There’s been a vibe of the returners that we have what it takes. The guys have been saying we have everything we need to get where we need to go. Guys are starting to embrace roles. We have guys that just run the bags, that bunt, that are defensive replacements. It’s important for any team that guys accept roles.”
South junior Brendon Carter gave up no earned runs and one hit in six innings. He also struck out nine.
“Brendon got ahead of batters. Once he was ahead, he had his way. We also played solid defense behind him. That is usually a recipe for a winning day,” Kirner said. “He got ahead with his fastball. His slider was also really nice today.”
Carter, like South, struggled a lot last year.
“He struggled last year when he would hit a batter. Then he’d hit another and walk another, and so many freebies. He’s doing a better job with that this year,” Kirner said. “He’s not a power pitcher like Boop or Ferrandino. He throws in the low to mid 80s. He’s finding off speed stuff this year, so that’s nice.
“The key for him is throwing strikes, pitching to contact. We’ve always known he had the stuff. It’s nice to see him get ahead in his first start in a league game. The year of experience helped. Anytime you start a sophomore, sometimes expectations are too high. The game slows down after that.”
South jumped to a 7-0 lead and cruised through the late innings. Kyle Fleming had a big game for South, with four hits, two RBIs and one run. Matt Smith scored two runs. Trey Obarowski had two hits and a run. Nick Gallo, Bryan Rieser and Eric Jeronis each drove in a run for the Hawks.
Harry S. Truman reliever Wayne Pekarski gave up no runs in 2.2 innings.
Before Monday, Truman had beaten South in five of their last eight meetings.
“Truman has beaten us more than any other team in the National during my time here. More than North, more than anybody,” Kirner said. “They’ve had our number. My guys focused. They didn’t look ahead to North. Now we can get excited for that neighborhood game tomorrow.”
South (4-0, 2-0 SOL) plays CR North Tuesday at three. Truman (0-5, 0-3 SOL) takes on William Tennent Tuesday at 3:30.
Council Rock South 0-3-0-4-0-0-3 10
Harry S. Truman 0-0-0-0-0-1-1 2
Council Rock North 7, Bensalem 0 (Suspended)
The umpires suspended this game in the top of the sixth after a North base runner ran into Bensalem’s catcher, inciting a brawl.
“Emotions were elevated,” North coach Matt Schram said. “There had been some jawing.”
North and Bensalem will finish this game before their next meeting, on May 4 at North. The score and situation will remain the same.
Before the incident, North played a great game Monday. Starter Gavin Ferrandino gave up no runs and three hits in five innings. The Indians scored six runs in the first three innings, opening a big lead. They also did not make an error.
“We were playing really well. Gavin was throwing real well. And we got timely hitting early. It was nice to score in the first and second,” Schram said. “It’s nice to put Gavin on the mound. He didn’t have great stuff today. But he kept the ball down and induced ground balls.”
Ferrandino did not face more than four hitters in any inning, besides the fifth, when he faced five. Ferrandino, a junior, has not allowed an earned run in 14 innings this season. “He’s older and understands how to pace himself better. He’s been efficient, not wasting pitches,” Schram said. “He’s going 5-6 innings, and if I wanted to, I could run him all seven. Gavin pitched big games last year. That is priceless experience. He felt the pressure and knows what it takes. Now he wants to get there again. He’s a veteran out there now, and he’s still only a junior.”
Joe Preciado and Jason Walter both drove in two runs for the Indians. Preciado also had three hits and a run.
“Joe hit the ball real well today,” Schram said. “Joe is going to college next year to pitch. He’s mainly been a pitcher in his high school career. I never thought about giving him a bat. But he competes his tail off. Shame on me for not realizing that last year.”
Cole Olshavsky got on three times and scored two runs.
“Cole is another one who played last year. But he’s getting a lot more reps now,” Schram said. “He’s getting on a lot as the leadoff man. He has the speed and is a lot more selective at the plate. He’s going up with a plan. He was more of a free swinger last year.”
North’s Kellen Pecuch got on twice, a hit and a walk, and knocked in a run. Eric Hoefer and Cavan Tully each had a hit and a run.
“The lineup has a lot of moving parts. We are very inexperienced. We are literally just moving guys around who look like they are hitting well,” Schram said. “It’s been kind of fun. Something I haven’t had to do in a while. Guys are responding, too. They enjoy it.”
North (3-3, 1-1 SOL) hosts CR South Tuesday at three. Bensalem (1-1, 1-1 SOL) battles Upper Merion Tuesday at 3:30.
Council Rock North 1-4-1-0-0-1-X 7
Bensalem 0-0-0-0-0-X-X 0
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 6, Central Bucks South 5
Central Bucks West trailed 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh. Then the Bucks scored four runs and walked off.
Rhys Nicolas and Kai Masters started the inning with two straight singles. With two outs, Steven Gebre doubled home two runs to make it 5-4. South ace Dan Klepchick, who had reached the maximum number of pitches, was relieved on the mound. Things did not go well for South’s bullpen.
After a hit batsman and a walk, Chris Heller was hit by a pitch, scoring Gebre, tying the game. Then John Martindale was also hit by a pitch, scoring Thomas Philipps, the winning run.
“They worked him (Central Bucks South starter Dan Klepchick), made him throw pitches, and both of them, Rhys and Kai, put together great at-bats and singled to start the rally. We got to the top of our order, and our guys continued putting together good at-bats against him,” CB West coach Brad Tracy said. “We got to our number three guy (Gebre), who had struggled all game long against Klep. I had told him earlier in the game, ‘You’re going to come up at some point in the game with runners in scoring position, and you’re going to come through for us. You’ve got to believe in yourself and believe in what we’ve been doing,’ and he did. He ended up getting two strikes on him, and then he lined one off the left field fence that scored two runs.”
The finish was anti-climactic. But Tracy did not mind.
“We’re trying to get these guys to be tough in the batter’s box and take what the pitcher gives you,” Tracy said. “If that’s what the pitcher gives you in that situation, absolutely, we’ll take it.”
Tracy was also really proud of his players for their approach against Klepchick, CB South’s ace.
“Even though we came back to win that game in the seventh inning, we had good at-bats all along against a kid who just pounds the strike zone with four different pitches. We worked him all game long, and we were able to get his pitch count up and make him work,” Tracy said. “I think last week he pitched a game where his average was three pitches per batter. We wanted to make him work, and we went in with an approach. Our kids were able to do it all game long.”
Tracy also thought his team started to develop an identity Monday.
”One thing we’ve been talking about as a coaching staff to the kids is we’re going to have to find out what type of team we are, and we’re hoping this is the type of team we are,” Tracy said. “We want to go out, never quit, be hard nosed, play good defense and situational hitting, get the hits when you need them, and we did that today. We had a lot of people come up big, not just in that seventh inning. We had good at-bats all game long.”
Trevor D’Arcy had two hits and a run for the Bucks. Daniel Clayton had two runs, two hits and an RBI.
Chris Farrell had three hits, two runs and an RBI for the Titans. Alex Bendzlowicz stroked a hit and two RBIs. Joey Loynd and Andrew Dietz each had a hit and an RBI. Tyler Watson and Tommy Dugan both had a run and a hit.
CB West bounced back after losing its first league game.
“It’s huge. It’s a CB game, and that makes it that much more intense for everyone involved. We started out rocky against Tennent the other day. We’ve had a couple injuries, we’ve had a couple people missing,” Tracy said. “It’s been really rough to get any sort of momentum or routine going with the schedule we’ve had with the rain and snow. I talked to Brian (Klumpp) before the game. They’ve played five games already and this is our third game.”
West (2-2, 1-1 SOL) plays Pennsbury Wednesday at 3:45. CB South (4-2, 1-2 SOL) battles William Tennent next Tuesday at 3:30.
Central Bucks South 1-0-1-0-0-2-1 5
Central Bucks West 1-0-0-0-1-0-4 6
North Penn 5, William Tennent 1
North Penn won its first league game of 2016. Before Monday, the Knights had not played since late March.
“That is a while,” North Penn coach Kevin Manero said. “It was good to get out and get one under our belts.”
North Penn starter Danny Kirwin gave up one run in seven innings, striking out eight. He got into one three-ball count all game.
“It was exactly what we needed. He pitched a little bit last year. But Jared Gorman and Matt Stevenson threw 80 percent of our conference innings,” Manero said. “Danny had a start in Myrtle (Beach, South Carolina) where the game was over in one hour and 18 minutes. He’s been very efficient, 12-13 pitch innings. It helps when he can be economical.”
Zack Miles, Tyler Siddal and Nate O’Donnell all stroked two hits for North Penn. Siddal and Miles each had a double.
“(They) hit well. They did a good job squaring balls up in key spots,” Manero said. “O’Donnell has done a good job hitting to the middle of the field. Zack has been staying behind the ball and really driving it.”
Dan Drop, John Lester and Trace Colter all drove in one run for North Penn. Colter and Ryan Bealer both had a double.
North Penn (4-0, 1-0 SOL) plays Spring-Ford Tuesday night at seven. Tennent (1-3, 1-1 SOL) takes on Truman Tuesday at 3:30.
North Penn 0-0-3-1-0-0-1 5
William Tennent 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1
Pennridge 4, Central Bucks East 3
In the bottom of the sixth, Pennridge’s Jim Petrik grounded out to first, driving home Oliver Jervis. The run put Pennridge up 4-1. It ended up being the winning run, after Central Bucks East scored two runs in the top of the seventh.
Pennridge pitchers Ian Kacergis and Andrew Mayhew fanned 10 batters in the win. Kacergis struck out six in five innings, allowing one run. Mayhew struck out four in two innings.
Joe Robinson knocked in two runs for the Rams. Kyle Yoder had a hit and a run scored. So did Andrew Fantaskey.
CJ Gillmer had two hits and two runs for the Patriots. Grant Meiers stroked two hits. Collin Sheehan had a hit and an RBI. Cameron Komonchak ripped two hits and scored a run.
Pennridge (3-1, 2-0 SOL) hosts Upper Perkiomen Tuesday at 3:45. CB East (1-1, 0-1 SOL) plays Abington Wednesday at 3:45.
Central Bucks East 0-0-0-0-1-0-2 3
Pennridge 0-0-1-0-1-2-X 4
SOL American
Quakertown 2, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Quakertown scored two runs in the top of the fourth, which was enough for starter Matt Bukavich.
Quakertown’s Dennis Pierce was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Pierce raced to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Then Bukavich slammed the ball up the middle, scoring Pierce. Bukavich stole second and moved to third on Lake Friday’s grounder to the right side. Viktor Morelock’s single plated Bukavich.
Bukavich tossed a complete game two-hitter, striking out 11.
“He was phenomenal out there. Matt has been the guy this year. He threw a fair number of innings for us last year, but we had a few seniors that stepped up and pitched well for us. He had 10 or 20 innings or something like that, and he had a real strong summer for our legion team that went deep into the state playoffs,” Panthers’ coach Jon Pallone said. “I watched him progress a lot over the summer. He had a good fall and signed with Philadelphia University. He’s been the workhorse this year.”
Bukavich pitched to contact all game.
“He is not afraid to pitch to contact, but he’s been doing a much better job of expanding the zone, getting ahead on the guys. If they want to swing at a pitch early, they didn’t hit it solid today early in the count,” Pallone said. “He did get a couple of one-pitch outs, which are huge with this new pitch-count rule. He challenged them. If they wanted to hit him early, that’s fine, and if not, he’d get them with two strikes and make them chase something.”
Bukavich has started both of Quakertown’s league games, both wins.
"Because of all the rain, he’s been able to start both league games. Normally, you don’t have the same guy start the first two. Who knows, he might even throw the next league game too because that’s not until Monday,” Pallone said. “It’s fortunate, but at the same time, I obviously am extremely biased, but I feel like we have a very deep pitching staff. Devyn Bard was our number two-three pitcher last year, and he hasn’t even thrown in a league game this year. We have another guy—Justin Guidos—we brought up as a sophomore to pitch some non-league games, and he threw 10 innings without an earned run last year. He’s ripping and ready to go, and he hasn’t thrown a game yet either. Those innings are going to come though. We play three league games next week and three league games the week after that. We have another guy—Viktor Morelock—who pitched in the Wissahickon game, and he looked good. We go on from there. It’s a good problem to have.”
Colin Kennedy pitched a complete game for Hatboro-Horsham, allowing just two hits while striking out 10 and walking one.
Quakertown (4-0, 2-0 SOL) plays the Perkiomen School Thursday at four. Hatboro-Horsham (2-1, 2-1 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland Tuesday at 3:45.
Quakertown 0-0-0-2-0-0-0 2
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Springfield Township 4, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2
Springfield ace Nick Pave pitched seven innings, struck out nine and allowed two runs.
“Nick, he was Nick,” Springfield coach Dennis Primavera said. “He threw 87 pitches, and he controlled the game. I would have liked our offense to be a little more aggressive. We had a lot of situations with men on base, but they shut us down.”
Four Springfield players—Will Jamison, Tim Dahme, Macleod Farley and Jake Welsh—drove in a run. Robert Demerlis had three hits and a run. Noel Franczyk had a hit and a run. He started Springfield’s two-run fourth with a double. Chris Kelly also had a hit and a run.
Springfield did not make an error.
“There weren’t that many tough plays, but that’s not what the problem was in the last game we played (against Hatboro-Horsham),” Primavera said. “Making the routine plays is what we need to do, and we didn’t do that. Today we did. Even fly balls we couldn’t seem to catch last game. I think that was an aberration. It’s really not like us. I don’t know if they were nervous because it was the first league game, but it didn’t happen today. They made the plays they had to make.”
Brad Krenicky and John Pecharo each knocked in a run for Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Springfield (4-1, 1-1 SOL) hosts Cheltenham Tuesday at 3:45. PW (2-4, 1-3 SOL) plays Upper Dublin next Tuesday at 3:45.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1-0-0-0-1-0 2
Springfield Township 1-0-0-2-1-0-X 4
Wissahickon 9, Upper Dublin 2
Wissahickon blew the game open by scoring seven runs in the second inning. The Trojans led 9-0 after three innings.
Trey France had a big game for Wissahickon, with three hits, three RBIs and a run. Alex Tappen added two runs, two RBIs and a hit. Matt Shilling had three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Justin Horn knocked in both of Upper Dublin’s runs. Tommy Reilly had two hits.
Logan Willans struck out 13 in six innings for Wissahickon, allowing two runs. Quinn Rovner pitched a scoreless seventh.
Wissahickon (3-2, 1-1 SOL) plays Phoenixville next Monday at 3:30. Upper Dublin (2-2, 1-1 SOL) battles Quakertown on the same day and time.
Upper Dublin 0-0-0-0-0-2-0 2
Wissahickon 0-7-2-0-0-0-X 9
Upper Moreland 10, Cheltenham 1
Upper Moreland’s Nick Pagano, Tommy Jacob and Shawn Casey drove in four, three and two runs, respectively, leading the Golden Bears to a big win.
The trio also combined for seven hits. UM’s Matt Wister had two hits and an RBI. Brandon Kohn stroked two hits.
Upper Moreland starter Dawson Ruggles and Pagano allowed no earned runs in seven innings. Ruggles pitched the first five, Pagano the last two.
Kieran Versaw-Barnes and Alex Haasz both had two hits for Cheltenham.
Upper Moreland (3-0, 2-0 SOL) plays Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday at three. Cheltenham (0-5, 0-3 SOL) plays Springfield on the same day and time.
Upper Moreland 0-1-3-3-3-0-0 10
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1
SOL National vs. Continental Non-League Game
Pennsbury 8, Souderton 4
The bottom of Pennsbury’s order sparked an eight-run outburst. Sixth batter Tyrone Hodges (one), seventh batter Josh Tesarck (one) and ninth batter Vaughn Ward (four) combined for six RBIs. Hodges (two), Tesarck (three) and Ward (one) also combined for six hits. Hodges also scored three runs.
“In the last game we only had four hits. Today we came up with clutch hits, including three doubles,” Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci said. “It was nice. We put the ball in play a lot.”
Pesci was impressed with Tesarck and Hodges.
“Josh did a really good job staying the other way. He hit the ball hard the other way three times. Tyrone worked the count,” Pesci said. “In his third at-bat, I gave him a bunt sign. Then I called time, changed it and he hit an RBI single. I got that feeling. He was swinging the bat well.”
Pennsbury reliever Alec Wilson pitched a scoreless seventh. “Our pitching was good today but it was nice to see we could jump out offensively and score some runs,” Pesci said.
Luke Barnum pounded three hits and an RBI for Souderton. Jack Despain had two hits and an RBI. Kyle Lennon scored two runs. Blaise Sclafani drove in two runs. Souderton’s Dan Knechel pitched a scoreless inning.
Pennsbury (4-1, 3-0 SOL) plays CB West Wednesday at 3:45. Souderton (1-4, 0-2 SOL) battles PW Wednesday at 3:30.
Pennsbury 0-3-0-2-3-0-0 8
Souderton 0-1-0-1-0-2-0 4
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