Wissahickon and Souderton were winners in Monday’s opening round games of the District One Tournament. Jarrad Saffren recaps all the games involving SOL teams. PW/Avon Grove photos provided courtesy of Cindy Manero.
By Jarrad Saffren
Six Suburban One League baseball teams opened the District One playoffs on Monday. Five played in the 6A field, and Wissahickon played in the 5A tournament.
Since Souderton and Neshaminy played each other, there were five games involving SOL teams. Those five results and recaps are below.
District One Class 5A Playoffs
#7 Wissahickon 3, #10 Harriton 1
Wissahickon took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. That was enough for starter Quinn Rovner, who allowed one run in 6.2 innings. Mike Gorman got the final out of the game on one pitch.
“It was really important to score first to give Quinn a little bit of a comfort zone,” said Wissahickon coach Andy Noga. “Quinn pounded the zone, challenged guys, made them earn their way on. He’s a competitor and he competes every time he gets the ball.”
In that first inning, Michael Steitz led off with a single to left. Steitz then stole second and advanced to third on a grounder to deep short. Eddie Fortescue followed with a sacrifice fly to right. Later in the inning, Brian Mendhart singled, scoring Steve Loden.
“We came out and stuck to our aggressive style of baseball with putting pressure on the defense,” Noga said.
The Trojans added another run in the fifth, when Fortescue again drove in Steitz, this time with a single.
“We had some outstanding defensive plays too, by Brian Hynes and Mendhart,” Noga said. “It was a team effort and a gritty win, which we’re known for.”
Mendhart was 3-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Trojans. Fortescue was 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
Wissahickon (14-5, 10-3 SOL) will play second seed Interboro in the second round on Wednesday. The Trojans need to win two more games and reach the semifinals to qualify for states.
Harriton 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 1
Wissahickon 2-0-0-0-1-0-X 3
District One Class 6A Playoffs
#13 Souderton 8, #20 Neshaminy 6
Souderton built a 7-0 lead in the first three innings. So even though Neshaminy won the last four innings 6-1, Souderton still held on for its first district playoff win since 2007, when it reached the state title game.
“People are reminding me that we haven’t won a playoff game since 2007, our state run. The kids were a little nervous the last two years, but we have a great bunch,” said Souderton coach Michael Childs. “We lost a tough one last year and wanted this one back. They feel confident, beating a good Neshaminy team. Now the monkey has been lifted off our back.”
Conlan Wall and Luke Shank did a lot of the heavy lifting. Wall was 3-for-3 and scored three runs. Shank, who was 2-for-2, scored one and drove in three.
“Conlan Wall doing that as a sophomore in his first playoff game, that’s phenomenal. He was a spark for us in the first inning when he got on with a line drive,” Childs said. “Shank did his thing. He’s our three hitter. He’s not a typical three hitter. He sprays the ball the opposite way and he pulls the ball. He’s also a good bunter, which is rare for a three hitter. He’s not the typical big three hitter who hits balls out of the park. But he gets the job done.”
Luke Barnum and Blaise Sclafani both scored a run and drove in a run. Sclafoni had a double. David Gulibon (2-for-3, 2B) and Aaron Groller (1-for-2) each had an RBI. Zach Brown and Jordan Morales both scored. Morales (seven strikeouts in three innings) and Groller (eight in four) combined for 15 strikeouts on the bump.
“Jordan did great out of the gate. We were looking good and we went a little flat, got a little tight. They kept chiseling away,” Childs said. “I talked to them and said, ‘We gotta settle in.’ Groller came back at the end and did very well.”
Brian Nicolas was 2-for-3 and scored three of Neshaminy’s six runs. Harold Landman knocked in two of them. Cory Joyce, Gus Natelli, and Joe Kaleck all scored. Dalton Turner had an RBI.
“We kicked the ball around in the first three innings. We had trouble fielding bunts,” said Neshaminy coach Dan Toner, referring to Neshaminy’s five errors that led to four unearned runs. “Once we got through those innings, we played a better game. It’s just hard to come back from down seven, especially with the pitchers they have.”
Toner was still happy that Neshaminy made the playoffs.
“A staple in our program is playoffs. You have to make playoffs every year. We took it down to our last game and gave ourselves a chance,” Toner said. “We faced a ton of adversity and had a lot of young guys in the lineup, which bodes well for the future.
“To play how we did, with the inexperience we have, I was happy with it. It will hurt to lose the seniors, especially Brian Nicolas, but hopefully the young guys learned from him.”
Souderton (15-6, 8-4 SOL) moves on to play four seed Quakertown on Wednesday. “They aren’t a crosstown rival necessarily, but they were in our league a few years ago, so we know them,” Childs said. “So that will be fun.”
Neshaminy (6-6- SOL) closed out it season with a 9-11 record.
Neshaminy 0-0-0-2-2-0-2 6
Souderton 3-1-3-0-0-1-X 8
#16 Conestoga 6, #17 Harry S. Truman 3
Truman took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, when Dylan Jackson singled, scoring Evan Profy. But Conestoga responded with six straight runs and never trailed again.
“We didn’t hit enough. We only had three hits. That’s not going to get it done in the playoffs,” said Truman coach Tim Monaghan. “We played well but we didn’t play our best game, so it didn’t add up for us today.”
Jackson and RJ Snyder also scored runs for Truman. Cameron Culver and Wayne Pekarski both had an RBI. Mike Finsel pitched a scoreless inning.
Monaghan showed a lot of perspective after the loss. He understood that while the loss was disappointing, making the playoffs was an accomplishment.
“We had a roller coaster regular season but we overcame some adversity. I’m proud of our guys for our late season push and grinding it out on the road since we didn’t have a home field,” Monaghan said. “To get one-run wins against South and Neshaminy was great. Our guys showed a lot of character. Our plan was to win today, but I think when we have a chance to sit back and look at it, we’ll be proud of what we accomplished.”
Harry S Truman (7-5 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-12 record.
Harry S. Truman 1-0-0-0-0-1-1 3
Conestoga 0-1-1-0-3-1-X 6
#15 Avon Grove 5, #18 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3
PW’s Stephen Longo led off the game with a homer to left. The Colonials took a 2-0 lead in the second when Mike Orensky walked with the bases loaded.
But Avon Grove answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. PW tied the game one inning later, but then Avon Grove regained the lead and never gave it back.
Anthony Tomassetti and Richie Werner scored PW’s other runs. Steve Gallagher pitched a shutout inning.
“We had a 2-0 lead, but it was one of those days where we knew it was going to be a close game. An 18 versus 15 game is going to be close. The bats went quiet mid-game. Sometimes you can point to one specific thing. But we didn’t play a bad game, so I don’t know. We got beat,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “I didn’t think we had bad at-bats and we had a couple big hits. We had good base running and we got pretty good pitching.
“Ben Mascio pitched well enough to win most games. It wasn’t any one glaring thing, maybe a play here, a runner left on here, a big hit for them here, a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
Despite the first round loss, PW did make the playoffs this year for the first time since 2014.
“It was a good year for us. Sometimes you look back and you look at how far we’ve come. Another way to look at it is how far we have to go,” Manero said. “We can say we came a long way, but we also have a lot of room to grow next year. We have a lot of pitching coming back. We’ll be a veteran team that got a taste of winning this year. With some hard work in the offseason, we should be able to build on where we are now.”
Longo (2-for-4, RBI, run) and Kevin Reilly (2-for-3) led the Colonials.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-6 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-9 record.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-1-0-0-1-0-0 3
Avon Grove 0-0-0-3-1-1-X 5
#14 Perkiomen Valley 5, #19 Council Rock South 4
Perkiomen Valley took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After PV added a run in the fourth, CR South’s late comeback attempt wasn’t enough.
Nick Gallo slammed a two-run homer to left to make it 5-4 in the seventh. But the next two South batters made outs, ending the game.
Evan Fisher scored two of South’s four runs. Matt Smith had a run and an RBI. Jake Barder pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.
“We gave up four runs in the first, so we can start there. It just sort of unfolded very rapidly. A poke single here, a deep-count walk there, and before you know it Brendan (Carter) is facing his 10th batter,” said South coach Ted Kirner. “To his credit though, he settled down and dominated the next three innings. We just couldn’t scratch out enough runs to overcome that early deficit.
"We were facing a good pitcher, throwing in the high 80s, and he threw a good game. We knew we had to play a clean game and we did not. It wasn’t our best day offensively, pitching wise, and defensively, and when you add all those up, you end up losing by one.
“At the end of the day I have no regrets. And I hope my boys have no regrets. We dealt with a lot this year. We weren’t dominant but we were scrappy. North Penn and Bensalem had four league losses, and we accounted for three of them. We just never clicked on all cylinders. We won some one-run games and did certain things really well at times, but it’s a little bittersweet, especially since we have 10 seniors. It’s always tough when these seasons end.”
Smith (2-for-4, RBI, run), Kevin Jurewicz (2-for-3) and Luke Gregory (2-for-2) led the Golden Hawks.
Council Rock South (5-7 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-11 record.
Council Rock South 0-0-0-1-1-0-2 4
Perkiomen Valley 4-0-0-1-0-0-X 5
About the Author
