Harry S Truman and Hatboro-Horsham were winners in SOL baseball action Thursday. Check out the recaps.
SOL National Conference
HARRY S TRUMAN 9, ABINGTON 1
Cam Culver was projected to be the Tigers’ ace or at least vying for that honor this season. That didn’t happen.
“He had an ankle injury when we started the season that lingered for a little bit, so today was his first start,” Truman coach Tim Monaghan said.
As first starts go, it was a very good one. Culver, who earned the win, allowed just two hits and one run in six strong innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.
“It was a good matchup for him on a tough day to pitch, to hit, to field,” Monaghan said. “Weather-wise it was a difficult day. For him to be around the strike zone consistently and get a lot of ground ball outs, a lot of soft outs, we were able to make the routine plays behind him.
“In conjunction with that, we had a really good day at the plate.”
The Tigers pounded out 12 hits, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to doubles by Evan Profy and Dylan Jackson (RBI). After the Ghosts – capitalizing on a leadoff double by Joey DiMaria –knotted the score in the bottom of the inning, Culver silenced them the rest of the way. Noah Helbling threw a scoreless seventh.
The Tigers scored all the runs they would need in a third inning that was highlighted by singles from Chris Lewis, Profy and Jackson (RBI). A four-run fifth featured four more hits, and the Tigers were cruising.
Jackson finished a productive day 3-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored.
“We’ve kind of had Dylan all over the middle of the order, and he’s been struggling,” Monaghan said. “He got a little bit of playing time as a freshman and missed his sophomore year with a torn ACL. He was struggling to have that breakout game, and he was able to have it today.”
Profy was 3-for-4 with three runs scored out of the leadoff spot.
“Evan Profy has been the most consistent player in our program this year,” Monaghan said of his sophomore rightfielder. “If he’s not hitting .700, he’s just a tick under .700.
“He’s been the one constant that we can depend on game in and game out. We’re excited for his future, and we like the fact that his consistency is something we can count on, and we’re hoping it will continue in the future.”
Chris Lewis was 2-for-3 with a double and run scored. Timmy Foley had one hit and two RBIs.
Thursday’s win came on the heels of three straight losses that saw the Tigers’ opponents score 10 or more runs.
“We had a few games in a row where we didn’t play our best baseball,” Monaghan said. “Our league is tough, and it can grind you down.
“Our schedule is so short and the season goes by so fast. I relate it to the kids like it’s a college football season where one or two losses can really derail the end goals. Sometimes if you have a really bad loss, you have to understand it’s only one loss, no matter how lopsided the loss may be, and you have to move on, pick yourself up and face adversity and be able to rise to the occasion the next day.”
Harry S Truman (3-5, 2-3 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Friday, and Abington (2-7, 0-4) will be on the road at Bensalem Friday.
Harry S Truman 103 040 1 9-9-2
Abington 100 000 0 1-2-1
SOL American Conference
HATBORO-HORSHAM 10, CHELTENHAM 3
The Hatboro-Horsham Hatters used a balanced offensive attack and a strong pitching performance by three sophomores to earn a 10-3 win over the Cheltenham Panthers on a cold Thursday afternoon at Hatboro-Horsham.
All nine of the Hatters in the line-up reached base safely, including seven players who recorded hits. Kevin Waeltz led the way for the offense. The senior leftfielder/third baseman was 2-for-4 with five RBI, including a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Hats their final margin of victory.
“He was outstanding for us today,” Moore said. “We were looking for somebody to pick up the offense and give us a boost, and he gave us really good at bats and did a nice job.
“One of his outs was a fly out to left field that was pretty deep as well, so he’s starting to see the ball, which is a good thing for us.”
Junior second baseman Josh Heebner was 2-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and an RBI. Junior designated hitter/third baseman Sean Gledhill was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
The Hatters got a solid start from sophomore Jackson Treski. Treski went five innings to earn the win. During his time on the hill he allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while striking out nine.
“Treski comes out and kind of repeats what he did against Quakertown where he gave us five innings, nine strikeouts,” Moore said. “Today he gave us five innings and nine strikeouts.”
Sophomore Eric Thron faced three hitters during a scoreless sixth inning and fellow sophomore Benny Wilson moved from behind the plate to the mound to close out the win for the Hatters, recording two strikeouts in the seventh inning.
“Eric Thron is outstanding every time we use him,” Moore said. “We use him in relief, we use him as a starter, and he just keeps giving us quality innings.
“Benny is our starting catcher right now. We had a senior, Matt Johnson, who was our catcher to start the year, and he suffered a leg injury last week at CB East and he’s not back yet. Benny has done a tremendous job behind the plate, and he’s also our closer. He came in and he’s been lights out throwing the ball for us.”
The win came on the heels of a 4-1 loss to Upper Dublin 24 hours earlier.
“We had a long talk after our loss yesterday,” Moore said. “Upper Dublin played well, and they deserved to beat us, but we weren’t happy with our effort.
“We didn’t feel like we played the way that we typically play as a program. There was a discussion about what we needed to do to get on the right track. It was good to see our guys come out today and just play the way we expect a Hatters’ baseball team to play.”
The Hatters started four sophomores on Thursday.
“We knew coming into this year that we had a lot to replace from last year and we have a talented group of kids, but the reality is they haven’t had the experience at the varsity level before this year,” Moore said. “There really couldn’t be a worse year for us to not be able to get onto a field and practice because we’d love to be able to do more with these kids that need to get caught up to the speed of the game.
“But the best way to get caught up is just by playing, coming out and competing. You look out on the field, and we had three seniors on our field, and all three did their part, but the underclassmen really had good days as well.”
Hatboro-Horsham (3-6, 3-3 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Saturday at 2 p.m., and Cheltenham (3-7, 0-5) will travel to Wissahickon on Saturday for a 10 a.m. contest.
Cheltenham 010 020 0 3-2-0
Hatboro-Horsham 032 005 x 10-10-4
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