Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Friday.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 4, NESHAMINY 3
In a crossover battle between a pair of teams with lofty expectations, it was the Patriots – behind the strong arm of Aidan Weaver and a timely home run by Joey Wilga – eking out the win.
“First and foremost, Aidan Weaver made the start today, and he’s been electric for us all year and just done a phenomenal job competing,” East coach Kyle Dennis said. “He pitched through some adversity today. A lot of guys were throwing their hands at barrels, and they got a few hits.
“We booted a ball or two in the infield, and he pitched through it. He did a great job, pitching us out of some trouble. He’s just unflappable, really competes out there, throwing the baseball hard and executing his pitches.”
The Redskins struck first, benefitting from an error, walk and hit batter to load the bases. Chris James delivered a two-out RBI single, and the Redskins led 1-0. In the third inning, Josh Martoccio, who singled to lead off the inning, scored when Jake Oberholtzer collected a two-out single.
In the top of the fourth, Reece Moody collected a leadoff single, and Jack Nugent drew a walk, setting the stage for Wilga to give the Patriots a 3-2 lead with one sweet swing of his bat.
“Joey Wilga has been tremendous for us all year offensively in the middle of our order,” Dennis said. “When you go down 2-0, and you get a couple guys on base and you bring up your four hitter, you’re really hoping for something great to happen.
“Joey absolutely crushed a ball to left center and gave us the lead. We were able to hold that lead throughout the game.”
That 3-2 lead stood until the top of the seventh.
“Reese Moody drew a walk and ended up on third on a dirt ball read and then Tony Rossi, a senior third baseman, hit a sac fly to right field,” Dennis said. “That run proved to be very important because we ended up giving up another run in the seventh.”
In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out Patriot error was followed by a walk and a hit batter, allowing the Redskins to load the bases. A run scored on a wild pitch, but sophomore Xavier Sjostedt, who relieved Weaver in the sixth, came up with a huge strikeout to slam the door on the Redskins’ comeback threat.
“Xavier did a great job pitching through adversity,” Dennis said. “He had some struggles in the seventh and ended up with the bases loaded, two outs, and he ended up working his way out of it, and we were excited for him
“Pitching-wise, both of our guys did great. Offensively, our guys made some good adjustments.”
Weaver, who earned the win, allowed four hits and two runs (one earned) in 5.2 innings while striking out eight and walking one. Sjostedt allowed one run (unearned) and no hits in 1.1 innings, striking out three and walking two.
Neshaminy’s Don Fus and Matt Mays were equally impressive. Fus threw the first four innings, allowing three hits and three runs while striking out seven and walking two. Mays allowed one hit and one run (unearned) in three innings, striking out two and walking one.
“Their starting pitcher had a really nice breaking ball that kept us off balance the first time or two through the lineup,” Dennis said. “I’m really proud of the guys for making adjustments at the plate.
“We changed our approach a little bit the second time through the lineup, and they really executed.”
East’s Max McGrady was the lone player from either side to collect two hits.
“This is the kind of game we expect to see for the remainder of our season – really good pitching that we’re going to face throughout the rest of the regular season and hopefully well into the postseason,” Dennis said. “These last couple of games we’ve been able to manufacture some runs. We haven’t been getting the offensive production that we were getting a little bit earlier, but it’s nice to see we can score runs in different ways and execute situational stuff.”
Central Bucks East (11-3, 4-1 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Monday, and Neshaminy (9-4, 4-1) will host Pennsbury on Monday.
Central Bucks East 000 300 1 4-4-3
Neshaminy 011 000 1 3-4-4
UPPER DUBLIN 8, PENNSBURY 6
The Flying Cardinals notched their ninth win in as many games, and in a non-league contest that gave both coaches the opportunity to give a lot of players game time, UD starter Karan Acharya was a bright spot for coach Ed Wall.
“Pennsbury is a great team with a lot of talent, and Karan did a great job,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “He didn’t face more than four batters in any inning until the sixth when he gave up two runs.
“Between a couple strikeouts here and there and the defense played really well behind him – we took advantage of some big plays. We had another outfield assist (by David Sharp) cutting down a runner trying to stretch a single into a double. The defense set the tone early on. Everyone stepped up and got to work.”
For a while, it looked as though it was going to be easy as the Cardinals opened up an 8-0 lead after five innings only to see the Falcons come roaring back.
“At the end, I made some moves,” Wall said. “We had some guys that don’t typically start starting today. I brought in Aidan McCarthy at the end because Karan’s pitch count was getting up there, and he hasn’t pitched with that volume for a decent amount of time.
“We brought Aidan in and threw him in the fire. By that time, (Pennsbury coach) Joe (Pesci) was putting in his normal starters, so he was facing some good competition. We had some young guys in there because we had an 8-2 lead going into that inning. I was trying to give them some experience going forward, and we found our way out of it. It was tough, it was scary, but the boys figured it out and got the job done. It was pretty exciting.”
The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the second and added four runs in the fourth. After the Cardinals drew a pair of walks, Tristan Caires delivered a two-run single. Ethan Madnick followed with a single, and Tyler Lizell’s double plated a pair and put the Cardinals on top 6-0. That lead ballooned to 8-0 before the Falcons got on the board.
In the top of the sixth, Dan Ciotti led off with a double, and Jake Schilling’s RBI single plated Ciotti. Justin Mitrovich also had an RBI single. Highlights of the Falcons’ four-run seventh included singles by Ryan Zuckerman, Schilling (RBI), Alex Martin (RBI) and Jackson Freeman.
Leading the Falcons at the plate in Friday’s contest were Ciotti (2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 runs) and Schilling (2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 1 run).
For the Cardinals, Tyler Lizell was 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. David Sharpe and Tristan Cairnes both drove in a pair of runs.
“Tyler Lizell had a really good day at the plate,” Wall said. “This is his third multiple hit game in four games, so he’s seeing the ball really well.”
For the Cardinals, the win came on the heels of a 10-0 win over Abington one day earlier.
“We’ve had the benefit of some big innings, and we had a big inning today,” Wall said. “It was nice to work through some adversity at the end to get us ready for next week because next week’s big with Quakertown, PW and Wiss, but we’re ready. The boys are really doing a great job. Their at-bats are really good, and our defense and pitching both have picked up in a big way. We’re playing really confidently, so it’s exciting.”
Upper Dublin (9-7, 1-5 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Monday, and Pennsbury (8-7, 2-4) will be on the road at Neshaminy.
Pennsbury 000 002 4 6-10-2
Upper Dublin 024 020 x 8-7-2
ABINGTON 5, UPPER MORELAND 3
A trio of Abington pitchers combined for a three-hitter in Friday’s crossover game. Henry Tyler started and threw two innings, allowing one hit and two runs (both unearned) while striking out four and walking one. Pat McCallister followed with 3.2 shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out one and walking two.
“Pat McCallister was outstanding in relief,” Abington coach Bill Degen said.
McCallister notched the win while Luke Sydlowski earned the save, allowing one hit and one run in one inning of relief.
The Golden Bears scored a pair of runs in the first without collecting a hit. The Ghosts got one of those back in the top of the third, thanks to an RBI single by Cody Frazier. They still trailed 2-1 heading into the top of the sixth when they scored three runs to take a lead they would not lose. The inning was highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Alex Dardaris and Ryan Van Buren (RBI).
“Cody Frazier was 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs,” said Degen. “He was strong defensively also.”
Abington (9-5 3-3 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Monday, and Upper Moreland (4-10, 2-4) will host Cheltenham on Monday.
Abington 001 003 1 5-6-3
Upper Moreland 200 000 1 3-3-3
PENNRIDGE 7, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 1
Harry Haeflein threw a four-hit gem and did not allow an earned run in the complete game non-league win, striking out eight and walking none.
The Crusaders scored an unearned run in the first. It turned out to be their last hurrah, although they took that 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth when the Rams exploded for seven runs.
Bobby Croyle led off the inning with a single, and after a walk to Joey Calabretti, Matt Dubyk delivered an RBI single. Back-to-back walks to Ashton McCloskey and Carson Wells (RBI) were followed by a sacrifice fly from Ryan DeHaven. Another walk to Timmy Mastrogiovanni was followed by Matt Atchley’s two-run single. RBI singles by Nic Chellew and Calabretti closed out the inning with the Rams on top 7-1.
Haeflein put an exclamation point on a standout effort with a 1-2-3 seventh that included a pair of strikeouts.
Calabretti’s 2-for-3 effort at the plate with a double, RBI and run scored led the Rams.
Pennridge (4-11, 1-5 SOL) will host North Penn on Monday at 5 p.m.
Lansdale Catholic 100 000 0 1-4-0
Pennridge 000 007 x 7-8-2
SOUDERTON 7, DOCK MENNONITE ACADEMY 2
Zach Crouthamel turned in a stellar outing for the Indians on the mound, allowing just one hit and one run (unearned) in five strong innings, striking out nine and walking one.
The Indians broke a 1-1 tie in the third, plating a pair of runs without collecting a hit. They took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth when they iced the win with three runs. Highlighting the inning was a two-run double by Alex Morales.
The Indians had just five hits but benefitted from four walks, four hit batters and three Dock errors.
Shanley Wall closed it out, allowing two hits and one run in two innings while striking out five and walking one.
Souderton (6-9, 2-4 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Monday.
Dock Mennonite 010 001 0 2-3-3
Souderton 012 103 x 7-5-2
BENSALEM 17, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 2 (4 innings)
The Owls remained perfect on the season, notching a mercy rule win over the visiting Spartans.
The Spartans put a run on the board in the top of the first on Billy Smith’s RBI double. The Owls answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning with Logan Young’s two-run double the big blow. A 10-run second inning put the game out of reach.
Young (3-for-3, 2 2B, 4 RBIs, 1 run) and Ryan Rooney (3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) led the Owls 13-hit attack. Also collecting multiple hits were Greg Phelan (2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) and Tyler Fisher (2-for-3, RBI, 1 run). Sean Nelson doubled and drove in a run. Jalen Soberal scored three runs out of the leadoff spot and also had one RBI.
Ryan Brown, Nick Nush, Nate Rice and Sean Swentkowski each had one RBI.
Kyle Rubin earned the win, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned) in four innings while striking out six and walking three.
Bensalem (13-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Saturday at 3 p.m., and Springfield Township (5-10, 5-1) will travel to William Tennent on Monday.
Springfield Twp 100 1 2-5-5
Bensalem 3 10 0 4 17-13-1
About the Author
