SOL Baseball PIAA 6A Preview (6-7-21)

Three SOL teams will be in action in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament.

#1-1 NESHAMINY vs. #11-2 PARKLAND (at Methacton High School, 4 p.m.)

Neshaminy

16-6 overall
10-6 SOL Patriot Division
Defended 2019 District One 6A title
Top hitters include Sr. Josh Martoccio (.355, 22-62, 11 R, 11 RBI, 3 2B, 7 SB), Jr. Gaige Ryan (.329, 25-76, 20 R, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 2 3B), Sr. Zach Bowman .313, 21-67, 15 R, 12 RBI, 4 2B), Sr. Mike Donato (.254, 17-67, 11 R, 14 RBI, 5 2B)
Top pitchers include Sr. Justus Agosto (6-2, 56.2 IP, 76 K, 28 BB, 2.10 ERA), Jr. Liam DelGuerico (5-1, 45.2 IP, 76 74 K, 17 BB, 1.38 ERA, 2 SV), Jr. Matt Mays (3-1, 28.2 IP, 29 K, 11 BB, 1.22 ERA, 2 SV)

How they got here: Neshaminy, the 11^th seed in the District One 6A Tournament, won four straight road games with wins at #6 Coatesville (5-2), #19 Central Bucks South (5-2), #7 Hatboro-Horsham (5-1) and #5 Boyertown (6-1).

Parkland

19-6 overall
14-2 EPC
Junior captain Blake Barthol – the MVP of the East Penn Conference Lehigh County Conference – leads the team in just about every offensive category (.471, 32-68, 33 R, 6 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 11 SB, 1.457 OPS, .852 SLG). He also has six saves in relief with a 0.78 ERA, allowing two earned runs in 15 innings with 17 strikeouts.
Sophomore outfielder Bo Barthol (.533, 24-45, 24 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 9 SB, 9 RBIs) and junior infielder Luke Meehan (.436, 24-55, 14 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 27 RBI, 1.103 OPS) also earned first team honors. Senior Bryce Ratliff (.408, 29-71, 21 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 23 RBI, 1.021 OPS) and junior outfielder Jesse Ruisch (.327, 18-55, 12 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, 13 RBI) earned second team honors.
Senior right-handed pitcher Joe Algard (8-1, 57.1 IP, 56 K, 32 BB, 1.77 ERA, 1 SV) is the pitching staff ace and earned first team all-EPC honors.

How they got here: Parkland, the District 11 6A second seed, defeated #6 Nazareth (4-0) and #2 Liberty (3-2) before falling to #1 Emmaus 7-6 in the district title game.

#1-3 NORTH PENN vs. #2-1 HAZLETON (at Mountain Top Legion Field, 4:30 p.m.)

North Penn

18-6 overall
11-5 SOL Colonial Division
Top offensive players include Sr. OF Jeff Sabater (.403, 25-62, 22 R, 12 RBIs), Sr. C Evin Sullivan (.330, 21-60, 13 R, 20 RBI, 4 2B, 3 HR), So. 3B Justin Egner (.362, 17-47, 10 R, 9 RBIs), So. Jack Picozzi (.300, 18-60, 15 R, 8 RBI, 4 2B), Sr. Steven Corrado (.269, 14-52, 14 R, 11 RBI, 3 HR)
Top pitchers include Sr. Mike Lennon (4-1, 42.67 IP, 1.80 ERA, 44 K, 12 BB), Sr. Eric Hamilton (4-1, 22.67 IP, 2.47 ERA, 21 K, 2 BB), Sr. Notre Dame commit Dylan Brown (4-1, 43.33 IP, 3.55 ERA, 60 K, 10 BB), Sr. Gavin Mikulski (2-1, 21 IP, 2.67 ERA)

How they got here: North Penn, seeded ninth in the District One 6A Tournament, defeated #8 Abington (6-1) and #1 Spring-Ford (8-2) before falling to #5 Boyertown (2-1) in the district semifinals. The Knights came back to defeat #7 Hatboro-Horsham (8-1) in the third place game.

Hazleton

22-0 overall
14-0 Wyoming Valley Conference champions
Led by a quartet of Division 1 recruits, including senior captain Michael Kilker (West Virginia University). The right-handed pitcher throws in the low to mid-90s. In 22.1 innings, he has allowed seven hits while striking out 39 and walking eight. He has a 1.88 ERA. At the plate, he hit .382 (13-34, 8 RBIs).
Junior left-handed pitcher Nick Biasi, who has committed to Florida State University, has allowed 20 hits ins 28.2 innings and has a 0.73 ERA while striking out 62 and walking seven. Senior right-handed pitcher Marcus Labuda, who signed with Villanova University, has allowed six hits and one run in 17.1 innings with an ERA of 0.40 while striking out 27 and walking eight.
Junior shortstop Bryce Molinaro, who has committed to St. John’s University, is batting .544 (31-57) with nine doubles, two triples, five home runs, 28 runs scored and 35 RBIs (1.035 SLG, 1.675 OPS).
Hazleton boasts a team batting average of .391 and also includes senior captain Alex Schell (.342, 17 RBIs), sophomore infielder Brett Antolick (.368, 25-68, 22 R, 25 RBI), sophomore Jatnk Diaz (.411, 23-56, 23 R, 19 RBIs), sophomore Grant Russo (.500, 30-60, 32 R, 7 RBI), senior Ryan Verbonitz (.373, 22-59, 20 R, 26 RBIs) and junior Luke Russo (.349, 15-43, 22 R, 15 RBIs).

How they got here: In the District II/IV Sub-regional, Hazleton defeated Williamsport 10-0 in the semifinals and downed Wilkes-Barre 11-3 in the final.

#1-4 HATBORO-HORSHAM vs. #12-1 LA SALLE (at Archbishop Wood High School, 5 p.m.)

Hatboro-Horsham

14-10 overall
11-5 SOL Liberty Division
Top offensive players include Jr. OF Jack Elwell (.400, 23 H, 19 R, 11 RBIs), Jr. 2B Will Bruner (.419, 18 H, 7 R, 13 RBIs), So. OF Trey Porter (.396, 21 H, 20, R, 9 RBIs), Jr. IF Ryan Toporowski (.386, 22 H, 15 R, 9 RBIs), Jr. IF/P Cole Fisher (.379, 22 H, 22 RBIs, 5 doubles, 1 HR), Sr. OF/P Jimmy Tooley (.280, 14 H, 15 R, 13 RBIs)
Top pitchers include Sr. Jimmy Tooley (3-1, 1.46 ERA), Jr. Cole Fisher (4-0, 4.49 ERA), Fr. Stephen Plefka (2-2, 3.50 ERA)

How they got here: Hatboro-Horsham, the seventh seed in the District One 6A Tournament, defeated #10 Owen J Roberts (4-2) and #18 Garnet Valley (12-2) before falling to #11 Neshaminy (5-1) in the district semifinals. HH lost to #9 North Penn (8-1) in the third place game.

La Salle

17-0 overall
13-0 PCL regular season champions
Explorers won third consecutive PCL title
Led offensively by PCL first team co-offensive player of the year Mason Sermarini (.542, 26-48, 23 R, 5 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 1.429 OPS)
Shortstop and leadoff batter Jack Whitlinger (23-70, 31 R, 3 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 17 RBI), also earned first team All-PCL honors.
Outfielder Justin Machita (.302, 16-53, 14 R, 4 2B, 2 3B, 21 RBI) and outfielder Joe Cattie (.274, 17-62, 17 R, 7 2B, 2 HR, 21 RBI) also are key contributors.
Junior Kevin Kell (7-1, 35.2 IP, 1.77 ERA, 59 K, 27 BB) is the ace of the pitching staff and earned first team All-PCL

How they got here: La Salle rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning to tie Archbishop Wood in the PCL title game. The Explorers went on to eke out a 3-2 win in eight innings. In the District 12 title game, La Salle rolled to a 12-2 win over Central.