Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Thursday. Neshaminy/Pennsbury photo provided courtesy of Jesse Garber (http://jsgarber.zenfolio.com/p673709110)
By Craig Ostroff
SOL National Conference
Council Rock North 5, Abington 3
Sophomore Matt Roda pitched five innings of one-hit, one-run ball, striking out six, as Council Rock North rebounded from Tuesday’s tough loss to Bensalem by downing National Conference foe Abington on Thursday.
“Matt Roda was the star of the day on the mound,” North coach Matt Schram said. “That was huge. Losing Tuesday to Bensalem was heartbreaking, and we needed to win today.”
The Indians scored two in the second inning on a Griffin Peterson double that scored Ryan Stalker. Peterson came home safely on a Tim Gibson groundout. North added three runs in the sixth, highlighted by Cavan Tully’s two-run home run.
“That was huge,” Schram said. “That put us up 5-0, and we needed every run."
The Indians held off a late Abington charge via a three-run sixth inning. Roda picked up the victory, with Pete Sodano pitching two shutout innings with four strikeouts for the save.
“There aren’t too many coaches in our league that would say they enjoy playing Abington at Abington—it’s the hardest field to play at,” Schram said. “It’s a tough game. Records aside, they never quit, they’re always in every game. They had opportunities to win the baseball game today. We were just happy to walk away with a W.”
George Jacob drove in all of Abington’s runs on a three-run double in the bottom of the sixth. Stephen Vogl had the Ghosts’ other hit.
Council Rock North (10-4, 7-3 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday, and Abington (2-13, 0-10) will host Upper Dublin in a non-league game Friday.
Council Rock North 020 003 0 5-10-1
Abington 000 003 0 3-2-2
Bensalem 11, Harry S Truman 7
National Conference frontrunner Bensalem posted a four-run first inning to jump out to a lead it would never relinquish, then held off a furious comeback that saw Harry S Truman plate six runs in the fifth inning, as the Owls topped Truman.
With two outs in the first frame, Bensalem scored four, including a Keith Parrish steal of home and RBI singles from Damon Lavender and Dominic Grady. Lavender led the hit parade for the Owls—who scored in five innings—going 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored. Grady popped a pair of hits (2 RBI, 1 run) and Nicholas Dean added two hits and two runs scored. Scott Rooney and Stephen Aldrich each added a hit and 2 RBI among Bensalem’s 11 hits.
A two-run TJ Braiser home run and Chris Haer’s two-run double highlighted a six-run fifth for Truman, which trimmed the deficit from 10-1 to 10-7. Seven different Tigers each contributed one hit, including 1-for-1 efforts from Justin Kelly (RBI) and Richie Wimmersberger.
Dean picked up the win on the mound for Bensalem, allowing just two hits and one run (0 ER) while striking out three in three innings of work.
Bensalem (12-1, 9-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (5-10, 4-5) will travel to La Salle on Saturday for a non-league game.
Bensalem 402 221 0 11-11-2
Harry S Truman 100 060 0 7-8-2
Neshaminy 5, Pennsbury 3 (8 innings)
It’s not often that a bunted ball makes its way past the infield. For Neshaminy, that rare feat could not have come at a better time.
With two men on base in the top of the eighth inning, pinch hitter Jake Fehrle bunted a ball over the head of Pennsbury’s third baseman to bring home the eventual game-winning run from third base. A Gus Natelli RBI single brought home an insurance run as the Redskins topped Pennsbury, 5-3, in extra innings.
The victory was critical for Neshaminy, which came into the game seeded 20th for the rapidly approaching 20-team District One 6A playoffs.
“We’re pretty much in a do-or-die situation right now trying to get into the playoffs,” said Neshaminy coach Dan Toner. “We were 21st before (Tuesday’s game against Abington), and we beat Abington and moved up to 20. We know if we want to make the playoffs, we have to put some games together and win them. We kind of control our own destiny if we’re getting in or not, so we have to keep winning. Our guys know what’s on the line, and they’re bringing it every day.”
Pitcher Kyle Rovny certainly understood Neshaminy’s position, and did his best to help improve it. Rovny pitched a complete game, striking out six while allowing five hits and three runs across eight innings.
“Kyle pitched an incredible game, attacking the strike zone,” Toner said. “He took it all the way down to the last hitter on his pitch count. That was his last guy of the game, and he ended up striking out the guy on the last play of the game. He’s our number one, and he was getting stronger as that game went on, so that was really good to see."
The game was knotted at 2-2 after the first inning. Brian Nicolas put the Redskins up with a two-run single to left, and Pennsbury answered in the bottom of the inning with RBI singles from Justin Massielo and Kyle Dear. The Falcons took the lead in the third when Jake Martell scored on a Sam Ruta single, but Neshaminy tied the game two innings later when Gus Natelli scored on Nicolas’ fielder’s choice groundout.
Seven different players each had one hit for Neshaminy. Natelli scored a pair of runs for the Redskins, while Cory Joyce, Brandon Belton, and Harold Landman each crossed the plate once.
Ruta, Massielo, and Dear each had one RBI for the Falcons. Martell scored twice with Massielo accounting for Pennsbury’s other run. Christian Buchler pitched seven strong innings for the Falcons, fanning five while allowing five hits and three runs (1 ER).
Neshaminy (8-7, 5-4 SOL) will host Conwell-Egan in its Senior Night game on Friday, and Pennsbury (8-7, 4-5) will host Council Rock South on Friday.
Neshaminy 200 010 02 5-7-0
Pennsbury 201 000 00 3-5-2
SOL American Conference
Wissahickon 6, Hatboro-Horsham 2
(By Michael Steitz, Wissahickon baseball)
Hatboro Horsham traveled to Wissahickon on Thursday to play the back end of the two-game season series. The Trojans edged the Hatters in a thrilling game on the road, and they would take game two at home in a less suspenseful affair. The Trojans gathered an early two-run lead for their starter Mike Gorman. Michael Steitz led off the game with a double to right and, after stealing third, was driven in on a fly ball to center off the bat of Brian Mendhart. With two outs in the inning, Andrew Booth kept things alive with a double of his own, followed up by an RBI single from Eddie Fortescue. Another run on a sacrifice fly in the second extended the lead to three, and that was all Mike Gorman needed.
Gorman did allow two runs in the third, an inning highlighted by a Jimmy Tooley RBI base knock. However, the Trojans responded to the Hatters’ comeback with another two-run inning of their own when Tyler Caso smashed a two-run double into the left-center field gap. Gorman found his rhythm down the stretch and cruised to a complete game win, accompanied by six strikeouts. The 6-2 win was the Trojans’ third of the week, advancing their league record to 9-2. Wissahickon will prepare to travel to Cheltenham next Tuesday, and the Hatters will look to regain momentum on their season when they visit Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday as well.
********
Michael Steitz and Tyler Caso each went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Mike Gorman picked up a complete-game victory as the Trojans downed the Hatters.
Caso’s two-run double in the fourth inning broke open a close game and gave the Trojans a 5-2 lead. Steitz singled home Antonio Bova in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Gorman allowed eight hits and two runs (0 ER) while striking out six. He stepped up once again for the Trojans—who are battling Quakertown for first place in the conference—and needed only 87 pitches to complete the game.
“Michael and Quinn (Rovner) are the aces of our staff, and they continue to take the ball and pound the strike zone, which is exactly what we want them to do,” said Wissahickon coach Andy Noga, who coached under H-H coach Pete Moore. “He didn’t walk anyone—he challenged guys. Michael continues to take the ball—the bigger the game, the better he’s performed.
“We have a really good team in general, but we really trust our defense as a pitching staff to make the plays behind us, and they did that with a couple of clutch double plays. We had one in the first inning in a first-and-third situation. Later in the game, Steve Loden and Brian Hynes rolled a double play in the middle of the field.”
Steitz, Andrew Booth, Eddie Fortescue, and Bobby McFarland each cracked two hits in the victory.
The Hatters scored their two runs in the third inning to cut the Trojans’ lead to 3-2. Jake Mayson scored on Jimmy Tooley’s fielder’s choice, then Anthony Bruno doubled home Tooley two batters later. Mayson and Josh Heebner each had two hits for the Hatters.
“I think we’re starting to play our best baseball late, which is exactly what you want to do,” Noga said. “We have a ton of respect for the guys on the other side of the diamond, Pete Moore and (the Hatters), so we knew we were going to get their best effort today. We know Hatboro-Horsham hasn’t had the best year, but one thing they continue to do is compete every single game. We weren’t expecting them to come in and do anything but compete and give us a hard time getting a W.”
Wissahickon (11-3, 9-2 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (4-11, 4-7) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham 002 000 0 2-8-1
Wissahickon 210 201 X 6-12-1
Springfield Township 4, Upper Moreland 3
Springfield rallied from a 2-0 deficit, then pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to earn a huge 4-3 walk-off victory.
“We needed this one,” Springfield coach Dennis Primavera said. “We couldn’t let this one get away and we almost did, but the kids up and down the lineup, somebody is doing something to help the team, and that’s what happened tonight.”
Upper Moreland tied the game at 3-3 with a run on a two-out error in the top of the seventh. Undaunted, the Spartans saw Macleod Farley single and steal second, then beat the throw to the plate after a Tim Dahme single to right field.
“(Dahme’s) been hitting the ball well recently,” Primavera said. “He smashed the ball and Farley, who’s pretty quick, was able to score from second.”
In addition to his late-game heroics, Farley hit a double and pitched four innings to pick up the win in relief of Ethan Hamilton.
“It was our third game this week, and we’re thin on pitching like everybody else,” Primavera said. “Ethan pitched well. He was in a jam every inning he pitched, but he seemed to get out of them.
“Macleod pitched very well, and it was important to get the win.”
Trevor McCaffrey went 2-for-3 for the Spartans and Nick Pave went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI. Jack Welsh added a key bunt in a two-run fifth inning for Springfield, which avenged a 7-6 loss to the Golden Bears earlier in the season.
Springfield Township (6-6, 6-4 SOL) will travel to William Penn Charter for a non-league game Saturday, and Upper Moreland (4-8, 3-7) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Monday for a non-league game.
Upper Moreland 101 000 1 3
Springfield Township 000 120 1 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5, Upper Dublin 1
There are few traits more admirable in pitchers than the ability to bury a subpar outing and follow it up with a strong performance.
Plymouth Whitemarsh sophomore ace Ben Mascio did just that on Thursday, earning the win with a complete-game five-hitter, striking out five, to lead the Colonials to a 5-1 victory over American Conference opponent Upper Dublin.
“It’s one of those things where you know when you have a number one pitcher you can rely on, it’s really nice that he can go out there and help you get out of a funk. I think he did that today,” PW coach Chris Manero said of Mascio, who lost his last start to Wissahickon. “One of the things we noticed about that (Wissahickon) game, there were a lot of runners on base. He pitched pretty good, but it seemed like he was always pitching in a pressure situation.
“Today it was different. He got the first hitter of the inning out a lot, he got strikeouts, he got ahead a lot. He pitched much more in command than he did in that Wissahickon game.”
Mascio pitched with a lead from the moment he stepped onto the mound. The Colonials scored one in the top of the first when Stephen Longo singled and eventually scored on an error. PW added four more, including Brad Krenicky’s two-run single (Mike Orensky, Longo score), in the fifth that gave the visitors a 4-1 lead.
“That was big obviously for us, especially when you have a guy like Ben on the mound and you can get a little bit of a cushion,” Manero said. “It helps everybody relax a little bit. It was also big for Brad because the last couple of games he had been scuffling a little bit. For him to come up and get that hit, that was good for him too and it was important. It was a big spot in a big situation.”
Upper Dublin plated its only run when Garrett Breslin scored on a balk in the second inning. Breslin had two hits for the Cardinals, who also saw Elijah Peck, Brian McPeak, and Mike Zicchinolfi reach base safely.
Seven different players recorded hits for the Colonials, who played excellent small ball to help take advantage of runners in scoring position.
“We were able to set ourselves up today with some really good bunts,” Manero said. “The small game has been important for us. Sometimes those big hits get all the glory, but it’s the bunts that set them up, and I thought we did that pretty well today."
Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-6, 6-5 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and Upper Dublin (3-7, 2-6) will travel to Abington for a non-league game Friday at 7 p.m.
Plymouth Whitemarsh100 121 0 5-7-2
Upper Dublin 010 000 0 1-5-
Quakertown 10, Cheltenham 2
Three Quakertown pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the Panther bats pounded out 13 hits as American Conference leader Quakertown cruised to a victory over the Panthers.
Matthew Ciarrocchi threw four innings of three-hit ball, fanning seven Cheltenham batters and allowing two runs (0 ER) to pick up the win. Samuel Rice (3 IP, 1 K) and Dennis Pierce (1 IP, 1 K) finished the gem for Quakertown.
Quakertown led 2-0 after one inning on a Brian Robison RBI single, then JJ Paul tripled home Robison. The visitors posted a seven-spot in the fourth inning, highlighted by a Sean Brennan two-run double, Mason Hicks’ RBI double, and RBI singles from Pierce, Robison, and Paul.
Robison led Quakertown’s offense with three hits (2 RBI, 2 runs). Paul added two RBI on 2-of-3 batting, and Pierce and Justin Butler each had multiple-hit games.
Cheltenham got its only two runs in the second inning. Dale Jacobs scored on a David Katzenberg fielder’s choice grounder, and Eddie Kelly scored after an error on the next play. Eric Asta accounted for two of Cheltenham’s three hits on the afternoon.
Quakertown (11-2, 10-1 SOL) will travel to Southern Lehigh for a non-league game on Saturday, and Cheltenham (4-11, 1-9) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Monday.
Quakertown 200 700 1 10-13-4
Cheltenham 020 000 0 2-3-0
SOL Continental Conference
Central Bucks South 16, William Tennent 11
It was the type of game that could give South coach Brian Klumpp grey hair. And it certainly will not be remembered as an example of fundamentally sound baseball. But all that really matters is the final score, and Klumpp was happy to take the win in Thursday’s slugfest that saw the two teams combine for 26 hits and 10 errors.
“I’m a pitching guy, so games like these are killing me,” Klumpp said. “They’re definitely making it interesting, but they’re a lot more stressful.
“I said to the guys (after the game), it was an ugly win, but a win is a win. Those are the kind of games that good teams win because you never really take yourself out of it. You stay up even when you have the bad innings defensively. Just the confidence we have at the plate right now is tremendous.”
The Titans opened the scoring early, with John McSweeny (1-for-4, 4 RBI, 2 runs) crushing a three-run home run as part of a five-run first inning. Connor McKeown (2-for-4) and Bryan Rossi (4-for-5) each added three RBI. Ben Berger had three hits (2 runs) and Justin Mauz (run) had a pair.
Of note, Joey Loynd, who entered the game batting a ridiculous .535, was held hitless on the day—he was intentionally walked all five times he came to the plate. Loynd still found a way to hurt Tennent, scoring three runs on the day.
“Joey was pretty much taken out of the game, but the team player that he is, he took it in stride and looked at it as just another base runner for us to get a run,” Klumpp said. “He had faith in the guys behind him to knock him in. He has scored over 25 runs, which is crazy, so when he gets walked, we’re hitting him in, which is helping us a ton."
Despite falling behind 6-0, Tennent kept the game within reach. The Panthers scored five in the bottom of the third to make it a one-run game, then answered South’s three-run fourth inning with three of their own before South gained some breathing room with a five-run fifth inning. After Loynd was walked to load the bases, Jake Trachtenberg’s single to leftfield was misplayed, and three runs crossed the plate on the play.
“That was a big turning point,” Klumpp said. “That opened it back up for us.”
Xavier Delgado (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Joe Shannon (2-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI) led the Tennent offense. Patrick McCauley scored three runs for the Panthers.
Central buks South (9-5, 7-2 SOL) will host Souderton on Friday, and William Tennent (6-7, 3-6) will be on the road at Reading High School for a non-league game Friday.
Central Bucks South 501 350 2 16-16-6
William Tennent 005 301 2 11-10-4
Souderton 12, Pennridge 1
Blaise Sclafani and Luke Barnum each drove in three runs as Souderton rolled to a 12-1 victory over the Rams.
Nine batters combined for 10 hits for the Indians, who scored four runs in the first, fourth, and fifth innings. Sclafani’s RBI double highlighted the first inning. Hogan Despain and Luke Barnum each cracked two-run doubles to cap off the scoring in the fifth.
Andrew Curran struck out eight and allowed three hits and one run in four innings to pick up the victory.
The Rams held a lead after the top of the first inning when Evan Freed collected an RBI single. Jimmy Petrik and Ray Knight had the other hits for Pennridge.
Souderton (9-5, 5-3 SOL) will be on the road at Central Bucks South, and Pennridge (4-8, 2-7) will travel to Palisades for a non-league game on Friday.
Pennridge 100 00X X 1-3-2
Souderton 400 44X X 12-10-0
Non-League
North Penn 10, Council Rock South 2
Sometimes “almost” is more than good enough.
North Penn pitcher Danny Kerwin almost tossed a no-hitter—Council Rock South finally notched its only hit in the seventh inning. Kerwin also almost threw a complete game—he pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, striking out seven and allowing two runs (0 ER).
But Kerwin’s outstanding effort was more than enough for the Knights to roll to a 10-2 victory over the Golden Hawks in Thursday’s crossover game.
“Danny pitched such a gutsy game, and despite a little adversity in the last couple of innings, he just went up on that mound and shoved the ball in the strike zone and was just as strong at the end of the game as he was in the beginning,” said North Penn coach Kevin Manero.
Kerwin recorded at least one strikeout in all but one inning and retired a pair of batters looking to end the second inning. After topping his pitch limit after 103 throws, Kerwin was replaced by Joe Valenti, who struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.
“Danny deserved every bit of that one-hitter,” Manero said. “Best game of the year and just a gutsy, big-time performance by a senior.”
North Penn was aided by a seven-run fifth inning that was sparked by a terrific at-bat by nine-hole hitter Rob Weiss, who fell behind 0-2 in the count with a runner on first and one out.
“He worked the count back to full and hit a line drive RBI single to right, and that changed the entire inning,” Manero said. “It was our nine hitter putting together this tremendous at-bat, getting a great two-strike RBI, and the inning went from there. We got back to the top of the order, and we started to put together good at-bats."
Tyler Siddal, Joe Picozzi, and Billy Collins each connected on two hits to lead the Knights’ 10-hit effort. Seven players contributed 1 RBI each, Weiss chipped in with a pair.
Bryan Rieser broke up Kerwin’s no-hit bid with a single in the final frame.
North Penn (13-2, 9-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Tuesday, and Council Rock South (5-8, 3-5) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday.
North Penn 101 700 1 10-10-5
Council Rock South 000 002 0 2-1-6
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