Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Tuesday. CB East/CB South photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. Quakertown photos provided courtesy of Quakertown baseball/Madie Honrado.
SOL Liberty Division
QUAKERTOWN 7, WISSAHICKON 2
The Panthers continued their 2021 stadium tour, and on Tuesday night, Coca Cola Park – home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs – was the sight for their division contest against the Trojans.
“They reached out to us a couple of weeks ago and said they had a couple of dates open,” Quakertown coach Jon Pallone said. “I reached out to Andy Noga at Wissahickon and said, ‘We’re supposed to play Wednesday. Do you want to move up a day?’”
Noga was happy to oblige, and it turned a late-season division game into a special event.
“We brought the JV team with us – we cancelled practice for them,” Pallone said. “They didn’t get to take infield-outfield with us because it was a little shorter than usual, but they could throw and catch and have a pitcher or two throw a bullpen and be around the game.
“The kids eat it up. It’s a great memory for them to have and experience for them to have.”
Both teams were looking for a win with the district playoffs on the horizon.
“We won a big game,” Pallone said. “It was a big bounce back from the (6-5) loss to Upper Dublin on Monday.”
Trevor Hurst turned in a gem for the Panthers, allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned) in six strong innings. He fanned 10 and walked four.
“Taylor Hurst was phenomenal,” Pallone said. “He struck out the first five kids he faced before he walked a kid.”
In the bottom of the first, a bases-loaded walk to Petyon Kochel spotted the Panthers a 1-0 lead, and in the second, they added a run. That 2-0 lead stood until the top of the sixth when the Trojans pushed a pair of runs across.
“They got a guy on base, and we made a mistake, and the next thing you know it’s 2-2,” Pallone said. “We let them hang around.”
The Panthers answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to all but seal the Trojans’ fate.
“Ty Woodman got hit, and (Tommy) Kozlusky put a bunt down, and we ended up getting a guy on third,” Pallone said. “Anthony Rostick came up, and he did the old slash – showed bunt and ripped a single, and boom – we got going from there.”
In the five-run sixth, Ty Everitt contributed an RBI single, and Hurst helped his own cause with a two-run double.
Rostick closed it out with a 1-2-3 seventh, striking out a pair.
“Anthony went in with a five-run lead, but he shuts the door,” Pallone said. “He had two strikeouts in the inning and had the big hit to take the lead in the game.
“Those guys on the mound did a phenomenal job.”
Quakertown (9-8, 3-5 SOL) – 16th in the latest District One 6A power rankings – will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Friday, and Wissahickon (9-9, 3-5) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Friday. The Trojans are ninth in the 5A power rankings.
Wissahickon 000 002 0 2-2-3
Quakertown 110 005 x 7-5-2
SOL Colonial Division
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 4, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3
Robby Porco couldn’t have picked a better time to deliver his best game of the season. The 6-8 junior threw 102 pitches in the complete game win, allowing three runs (none earned) while striking out 12 and walking a pair.
“They’re a really talented team, but we had who we wanted on the mound for a game against them, and he dazzled today,” South coach Kevin Bray said. “He was around the strike zone all day. It helps when he’s throwing 92, and he’s an imposing figure on the mound being 6-foot 8.
“He made his pitches. He was keeping the ball down for the most part. He executed the game plan of what we were talking about beforehand.”
The Titans actually fell behind 3-0 after the Patriots scored one in the second and two more in the third. In the second, Jack Nugent singled and stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored on a passed ball on a strikeout.
In the third inning, Derek Bound led off with a single, and the Patriots benefitted from a pair of walks as well as a costly error to plate a pair of runs.
The Titans got two of those back in the fifth inning, capitalizing on a Patriot error as well as a walk. Dakota Beck’s RBI single put the Titans on the board, and a second run crossed the plate on Colin Mitchell’s sacrifice fly.
In the sixth inning, the Titans added a pair of runs with JT Anderosky collecting an RBI on a sacrifice fly, and Josh Yang following with an RBI single that turned out to be the game-winner, putting the Titans on top 4-3.
“We actually had the bases loaded in the top of the first, and we couldn’t cash in,” Bray said. “Credit to them for getting out of a tough situation there.
“We had runners on base all day. We just couldn’t come up with the clutch hit until the fifth inning and then we followed up with two more runs in the sixth, and we shut them down in the seventh.”
The Patriots had a pair of base runners in the bottom of the seventh, but with runners on first and second, Porco came up with a huge strikeout and closed it out with a groundout to first.
“He’s still young, but he’s coming into his own,” Bray said. “His last couple of starts he’s really been impressive, culminating today. This was probably the best we’ve seen him throw all year.
“We’re back with them tomorrow night. It’s a unique situation. You want to enjoy the win, but they’re going to be coming for us tomorrow night for sure, so we have to be ready.”
Beck and Petrich both had two hits to lead the Titans.
Central Bucks South (9-7, 5-2 SOL) and Central Bucks East (11-5, 4-3) will do battle again on Wednesday when the Titans host the Patriots for their Senior Night contest. The Titans are 18th in the latest District One 6A power rankings, and the Patriots are 11th.
Central Bucks South 000 022 0 4
Central Bucks East 012 000 0 3
SOL Patriot Division
BENSALEM 1, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 (8 innings)
If ever there was a classic pitcher’s duel, this was it.
Matt McShane and Logan Young combined for the eight-inning shutout – the Owls’ eighth of the season – with both pitchers allowing just two hits and combining for 14 strikeouts. McShane fanned 11 and walked two in 6.1 innings while Young – in 1.2 innings of relief – struck out three and earned the win.
For the Golden Hawks, Matt Camp started and threw 5.1 shutout innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight and walking four. Brandon Purdy, who absorbed the loss, allowed two hits and one run in two innings, striking out a pair and walking two.
After the Golden Hawks – who drew a pair of walks – stranded a pair in the top of the eighth, the Owls pushed a run across in the bottom of the inning. Greg Phelan collected a one-out single and Ryan Rooney drew a walk. The bases were loaded when Nick Nush singled, and Phelan scored the game-winner when Logan Young was safe on an error – the first and only error of this classic battle.
Earlier, in the first inning, the Owls had a base runner thrown out attempting to steal second just prior to back-to-back singles by McShane and Phelan.
In the bottom of the third, Sean Nelson and McShane drew back-to-back one-out walks, but Rock South pitcher Matt Camp ended that threat with consecutive strikeouts to close out the inning.
In the fourth, the Golden Hawks put their first two runners on board, but McShane coaxed groundouts out of the next two batters he faced and picked up a strikeout for the innings’ final out. It was a trend that continued into the bottom of the eighth when the Owls won it.
Bensalem (14-1, 5-1 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North on Wednesday, and Council Rock South (6-8, 2-5) will host Pennsbury on Wednesday.
Council Rock South 000 000 00 0-4-0
Bensalem 000 000 01 1-6-1
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