Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Monday’s SOL baseball action. CR North/Pennsbury photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery action photos…CLICK HERE to go directly to the Baseball gallery.
By Jarrad Saffren
Pitching was the story in the Suburban One League Monday.
One pitcher threw a no-hitter. Two earned their first varsity wins. Another got healthy and got going. Another upset one of the best teams in his league. Another bounced back after two rough outings. Still another pitched a gem and drove in the winning run.
Only loaded North Penn won predominantly with offense, and the Knights did it against one of the area’s best pitchers.
There were 10 games involving SOL teams Monday. Eight were league games. One was a non-league game that counted toward the power rankings. One was a non-league game that didn’t count toward the power rankings.
Read about all 10 results below, especially if your son played well.
SOL National
Neshaminy 10, Harry S. Truman 0 (5 innings)
Evan Matthews became the second Neshaminy pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 2017. Zach Boop no-hit Abington on April 10.
Matthews tossed five no-hit, no-run innings Monday. He only walked two. Neshaminy won in five innings because of the 10-run rule.
“He was mixing up all his pitches and locating very well today,” Neshaminy coach Dan Toner said.
Matthews, like Boop, has been great all season. He is now 2-2 with a 0.59 earned run average in 23.2 innings. He has allowed just 12 hits, pitching two one-hitters before Monday.
“Evan has been locked in pretty much every game,” Toner said. “But this was the first game we really gave him a nice cushion to work with.”
Neshaminy scored four runs in the first, two in the second and four in the fifth, clinching the 10-run rule. The Redskins slammed 12 hits.
“Even the outs we got were hard hits,” Toner said. “Every single guy contributed.”
Ben Raab knocked in three runs for Neshaminy. Jacob Jones drove in two. Eric Gale, Cory Joyce and Anthony Rapposelli all had one RBI. Brian Nicolas and Ed Parry both had two hits and two runs scored.
Neshaminy has scored 18 runs in its last two games, both wins. Toner’s club scored four runs or less in five of its previous seven games.
“The past two games have been nice for us. We saw number ones a bunch of times and weren’t scoring a ton,” Toner said. “Now we had a chance to open our swings and start hitting the ball.”
Neshaminy (9-2, 5-1 SOL) is tied in first-place with Pennsbury. The Redskins play Council Rock South Wednesday at 3:45. Harry S. Truman (1-7, 0-6 SOL) battles Pennsbury on the same day and time.
Harry S. Truman 0-0-0-0-0-X-X 0
Neshaminy 4-0-2-0-4-X-X 10
Pennsbury 6, Council Rock North 3
Pennsbury improved to 5-1 in league play and jumped back into first-place in the SOL National, a half game up on 5-2 Council Rock North, tied with 5-1 Neshaminy.
CR North took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Jason Walter grounded into a double play, scoring Kellen Pecuch.
Pennsbury answered with a three-run bottom of the second. Kyle Dear led off with a double to left-center. Dave Murphy followed by bunting toward the mound. North’s pitcher bobbled the ball, allowing Murphy to reach and Dear to move to third. Then Josh Tesarck chopped the ball to the pitcher, who turned and fired to second for the out, allowing Dear to score.
Tyrone Hodges stepped in and singled to right-center, advancing to second when the ball rolled under the right fielder’s glove. Tesarck ran to third. Then Vaughn Ward connected on the biggest hit of the game, lining the ball to right, scoring Tesarck and Hodges, putting Pennsbury up 3-1.
The Falcons never trailed again.
“Pretty much I was just swinging and got lucky, I guess,” Ward said. “I got a fastball up.”
Pennsbury tacked on two more in the fourth. Billy Bethel singled to center, plating Hodges. Justin Massielo scored from second on an overthrow down the right field line.
CR North cut Pennsbury’s lead to 5-3 in the sixth. Walter blooped a single to center. Cole Olshavsky and Joe Preciado raced home.
Pennsbury added an insurance run in the home sixth. Massielo blazed a single to center, scoring Hodges, his third run of the game.
Bethel held the three-run lead by pitching a scoreless top of the seventh. The senior right hander pitched all seven innings for the Falcons. Bethel gave up six hits and three walks, but got out of jams with minimal damage.
North left five runners on.
“First-pitch strikes are always a thing for me. Get ahead early and get ground balls. I think I did that pretty well,” Bethel said. “I mixed first-pitch fastballs and first-pitch curveballs, so they were off-balanced, swinging ahead. I kept pounding the strike zone. That was the key for us.”
Pennsbury played a good all-around game. Four players drove in at least one run. Four players scored at least one run. The Falcons also did not make an error.
“You don’t have any standout, big-time commits, all that kind of stuff. You just have really good workers and really good players,” Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci said. “It was a team win today. We even had some productive outs, put down some good bunts, took advantage of their miscues and got some key two-out hits.”
Pennsbury (8-4, 5-1 SOL) plays Truman Wednesday at 3:45. CR North (7-5, 5-2 SOL) takes on Central Bucks West Wednesday at 3:30.
Council Rock North 0-1-0-0-0-2-0 3
Pennsbury 0-3-0-2-0-1-X 6
Council Rock South 3, Bensalem 2
Council Rock South trailed 2-1 going into the top of the seventh. Then the Golden Hawks rallied for two runs.
Here’s how they did it…
Bryan Rieser led off with a walk. Josh Kim followed by reaching on an error. Rieser advanced to third on the error, then scored on a wild pitch. Kim ran to third on the play. After two outs, Kim stole home to put South ahead.
Kim, South’s leadoff man, scored two runs in the game. John Crane had a hit and an RBI.
CR South starter Zach Mayer, who lost his previous two starts, earned the win Monday. He gave up two hits and no earned runs in seven innings. He also struck out six.
Bensalem starter Stephen Aldrich allowed two hits and one run in 5.2 innings. He also fanned five. Trevor McGee and Keith Parrish scored Bensalem’s runs.
CR South broke a four-game losing streak with this win. The Golden Hawks (5-4, 3-2 SOL) host Neshaminy Wednesday at 3:45. Bensalem (5-5, 2-4 SOL) plays Abington Wednesday at 3:30.
Council Rock South 1-0-0-0-0-0-2 3
Bensalem 0-0-0-0-0-2-0 2
SOL Continental
Souderton 5, Central Bucks West 0
Souderton’s Blaise Sclafani pitched a complete game shutout, earning his first varsity win. Sclafani allowed one hit, one walk and fanned six. He threw just 76 pitches.
“He did well today, threw strikes, kept them off-balanced and we played defense behind him. Today we stepped it up defensively. We had been making errors,” Souderton coach Michael Childs said. “He was throwing his slider for strikes, keeping them on their heels with that. He threw his fastball low and away and got them to chase. There were a lot of ground balls. They weren’t getting a whole lot of power on the ball.”
Sclafani is a 6-foot-5 junior who is already committed to pitch for Division I UMass-Lowell. He has the body and the potential. But he was not this dominant in his first few varsity outings.
“He’s been pretty good all year. He has realized he has to pitch on varsity. He can’t just depend on velocity,” Childs said. “When he’s hitting his spots, the sky is the limit for him.”
Souderton scored two runs in each of the first two innings Monday, taking what became an insurmountable 4-0 lead. Souderton’s Thylar Summarell had two RBIs. David Gulibon scored three runs.
Luke Barnum had another big offensive game for the Indians, with two hits, one run and one RBI.
Jack Despain also scored a run for Souderton. Sclafani and Derek Freed had one RBI each.
Central Bucks West reliever Chris Heller pitched a scoreless inning.
Souderton (6-4, 3-1 SOL) plays William Tennent Wednesday at 3:30. CB West (3-5, 1-4 SOL) hosts CR North Wednesday at 3:30.
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Souderton 2-2-0-1-0-0-X 5
North Penn 8, Central Bucks South 3
Tyler Siddal, Ryan Bealer and Zach Miles—the first three batters in North Penn’s order—led the Knights to an impressive conference win.
The trio combined to drive in five runs and score four. Miles led the Knights with three RBIs. Siddal and Bealer both scored two runs.
“The top of the order guys swung it real well today,” North Penn coach Kevin Manero said.
Matt Marino had two runs, a hit and an RBI. Corey Stouffer and Billy Collins drove in one run each. Joe Picozzi and Atlee Hasson both scored a run.
North Penn trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first. Then the Knights scored three runs in the top of the third, taking the lead for good.
North Penn did all of this hitting against Central Bucks South ace Dan Klepchick.
“We knew what we were up against. He’s one of the best we’ll face this year,” Manero said. “We had a good aggressive approach. We wanted to attack. We didn’t want to find ourselves in pitcher’s counts against a good pitcher.”
Junior right hander Danny Kirwin earned the win, allowing three runs in 6.2 innings, striking out seven.
Andrew Dietz and Alex Bendzlowicz both knocked in a run for CB South. Chris Farrell, Tommy Dugan and Joey Loynd all scored one.
CB South reliever Justin Mauz tossed a scoreless inning.
North Penn improved to 3-1 in league play, moving into a first-place tie with Souderton. The Knights (9-1, 3-1 SOL) host Pennridge Wednesday at 3:45. CB South (6-3, 2-3 SOL) battles Central Bucks East on the same day and time.
North Penn 0-0-3-0-2-3-0 8
Central Bucks South 1-0-0-0-0-0-2 3
William Tennent 7, Pennridge 3
William Tennent starter Nick Cataldi earned his first win of 2017, taking a shutout into the bottom of the sixth.
Cataldi had been battling shoulder inflammation since the start of the season.
“We started him with a couple innings, 40 pitches. Then he went up to 80. He went the full 100 today,” Tennent coach Rick Penecale said. “He pitched like a No. 1 guy today. Nick was on. He’s finally up to 100 percent. He got a little tired at the end. That’s when they strung an inning together. Other than that he was pretty dominant. He was spotting a curveball and fastball. We also played well defensively. It was one of those good all-around team wins.”
Tennent scored a run in the third and four more in the fifth, building a 5-0 lead. The Panthers slammed 10 hits and did not make an error.
Cole Browne and Xavier Delgado both knocked in two runs for Tennent. Greg Delgado and Chris Sliwka each had two hits.
Pennridge’s Brett Henofer drove in two runs. Kyle Yoder had one RBI.
Tennent (4-4, 3-2 SOL) hosts Souderton Wednesday at 3:30. Pennridge (5-6, 3-2 SOL) plays North Penn Wednesday at 3:45.
William Tennent 0-0-1-0-4-1-1 7
Pennridge 0-0-0-0-0-3-0 3
SOL American
Quakertown 3, Springfield Township 1
Quakertown was one ball away from losing in the bottom of the seventh. Springfield Township had the bases loaded with two outs. The score was tied at one.
Quakertown reliever Dennis Pierce ran a 3-0 count to Springfield’s batter. Then he threw two strikes. On the next pitch, the batter hit the ball to center. Matt Bukavich made a full extension diving catch to end the inning.
Quakertown scored two runs in the top of the eighth. Jake Reed led off with a single. Justin Guidos sacrifice bunted him to second.
“Jake Reed being Jake Reed, he went first to third,” Panthers’ coach Jon Pallone said. “He noticed that no one was covering.”
Bukavich stepped in and hit the go-ahead single, plating Reed. Then Bukavich stole second and Viktor Morelock stroked an RBI single.
Bukavich started on the mound for Quakertown. He gave up one run and four hits in six innings.
“Bukavich threw strikes and made hitters try and make good contact. Only a couple guys did,” Pallone said. “He had good velocity and movement on it. You don’t have a lot of time to make decisions when it’s coming in hard.”
Springfield starter Nick Pave struck out nine and gave up one run in seven innings. “Pave from their side did a really good job, too,” Pallone said. “He’s real good.”
Jackson Pauwels drove in Springfield’s only run. Robert Demerlis scored it.
Quakertown (8-1, 6-0 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh Wednesday at seven. Springfield (6-3, 3-3 SOL) plays Wissahickon Wednesday at 3:30.
Quakertown 0-1-0-0-0-0-0-2 3
Springfield Township 0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1
Wissahickon 5, Upper Moreland 1
Wissahickon ace Logan Willans pitched the Trojans to an upset over Upper Moreland. Willans gave up three hits and one run in 6.2 innings.
Wissahickon’s Matt Shilling hit a two-run homer and an RBI double. Mike Schoenleber had two RBIs. Steve Loden had two hits.
The Trojans took a 2-0 lead in the first, extended it to 4-0 in the fifth and 5-0 in the sixth.
Wissahickon improved to 2-3 in league play. Upper Moreland dropped to 4-2.
Wissahickon (4-6, 2-3 SOL) hosts Springfield Wednesday at 3:30. Upper Moreland (7-3, 4-2 SOL) plays Upper Dublin on the same day and time.
Wissahickon 2-0-0-0-2-1-0 5
Upper Moreland 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 1
Non-League
Central Bucks East 7, Abington 1
Central Bucks East played a complete game, earning power points and a crossover win.
CB East starter Anthony Yermolov, a sophomore, earned his first varsity win, giving up four hits and no runs in 6.2 innings.
“He went out there and competed. He only came out because he reached 100 pitches,” Patriots’ coach Kyle Dennis said. “He threw strikes. And the defense played well behind him.”
Yermolov did not just earn his first win. Monday was his first varsity start.
“He’s been throwing great bullpens in practice. We have four games and three league games this week,” Dennis said. “He’s a guy we expect to use as a starter and out of the pen from time to time. He’s very versatile.”
CB East hit almost as well as Yermolov pitched, scoring two runs in three different innings. CJ Gillmer filled the box score for the Pats, with three runs, two hits, a walk and two RBIs. Collin Sheehan and Grant Meiers both had a hit and an RBI.
Jimmy Wiegers had two hits, an RBI and a run. Matt Ernst stroked two hits and scored a run. Jimmy Parrish stroked one hit and scored a run. Cameron Komonchak scored a run.
“We’ve been struggling offensively and today we got good production throughout the game,” Dennis said. “Timely hits and all and it was very nice.”
Colin Kelley knocked in Abington’s only run. Richard Rowley scored it.
CB East (3-5, 1-3 SOL) hosts CB South Wednesday at 3:45. Abington (3-9, 1-5 SOL) plays Bensalem Wednesday at 3:30.
Abington 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 1
Central Bucks East 0-0-2-2-2-1-X 7
Germantown Academy 7, Cheltenham 4
Cheltenham took a 3-0 lead in the first two innings.
In the first, Jack McHugh lined a single to right. Kieran Versaw-Barnes scored. Then Chad Johnson singled to right, scoring McHugh.
In the second, Lukas Nakkula hit a hard grounder to second and reached on an error. Versaw-Barnes scored again, making it 3-0.
But Germantown Academy came back, scoring one run in the fourth and five in the sixth, taking the lead for good. Cheltenham did score one more run in the bottom of the seventh, when Alex Haasz hit a hard grounder to third, scoring Joel White.
But the next three Cheltenham batters made outs, ending the game.
Cheltenham (1-9, 1-5 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday at 3:30.
Germantown Academy 0-0-0-1-0-5-1 7
Cheltenham 2-1-0-0-0-0-1 4
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