SOL Baseball District Preview (5-24-17)

Nine SOL baseball teams will be in action on Wednesday – eight at the Class 6A level and one in 5A. Check back for Jarrad Saffren’s recaps.

District One 6A

#18 Avon Grove at #2 Hatboro-Horsham
Hatboro-Horsham

15-4 overall
SOL American champions (12-2)
Score 4.2 runs per game and allow 1.6
Offense led by Eddie Schultz, Eric Jester and Ryan O’Donnell
0.28 earned run average in 14 league games
Pitching staff led by senior Brian Edgington (6-1, 0.30 ERA in 47 innings), senior Colin Kennedy (4-1, 0.33 ERA in 43 innings) and junior Alex Crim (2-0, 0.00 ERA in 10 innings)
Wins over #13 Central Bucks East (8-4) and #5 Quakertown (2-0)
Enter playoffs with 13 wins in last 14 games

Avon Grove

10-10 overall
Pat Campbell (.352) is the team’s top hitter, and freshman Shane Kelleher has a team-high 11 RBIs.
Senior catcher Tom Jacobs (Ursinus College) and pitcher Jake Good (Widener) will play at the collegiate level.

How they got here: In an opening round game, Avon Grove defeated #15 Conestoga in an abbreviated five-inning game. Jake Good allowed six hits in the shutout, striking out two and walking none. Andrew Brady was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, Tom Jacobs was 1-for-2 with a double and three RBIs, and Bryce Carey was 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs.

#13 Central Bucks East at #4 Pennsbury

14-6 overall
SOL National champions (10-2)
Score 5.1 runs per game and allow 2.7
Offense led by senior Tyrone Hodges, sophomore Justin Massielo, senior Dave Murphy and senior Vaughn Ward
Pitching staff led by seniors Billy Bethel, Nick Price and Ryan McCarty
Wins over #19 Bensalem (4-1), #9 Souderton (8-4) and #8 Neshaminy (6-1)
Swept season series with #16 Council Rock North (6-3, 14-3) and #17 Council Rock South (4-3, 1-0)
Enter playoffs on five-game winning streak

Central Bucks East

13-8 overall
7-5 in SOL Continental play (Finished third behind North Penn and Souderton)
Score 6.0 runs per game and allow 4.1
.292 team batting average and .399 team on-base percentage
Senior CJ Gillmer leads team in hits (24), RBIs (20) and runs (18)
Offense also led by seniors Cameron Komonchak (15 runs, 10 RBIs, six doubles), Jimmy Wiegers (.348, .434, 14 runs) and Collin Sheehan (.328, .451, 16 RBIs, five extra base hits)
2.56 team ERA
Pitching staff led by seniors Tyler Quinlan (5-2, 1.91 ERA in 36.2 innings), Zach Millar (2-1, 2.13 ERA in 23 innings) and Jared Thompson (1.77 ERA in 23.2 innings)
Beat #9 Souderton (9-8), #6 North Penn (6-1) and #17 CR South (18-7)
Enter playoffs on two-game winning streak

How they got here: Central Bucks East defeated #20 William Tennent 7-0 in an opening round game. CJ Gillmer’s bases-clearing double ignited the Patriots. Tyler Quinlan threw six shutout innings to earn the win, allowing five hits while striking out six and walking two. Jared Thompson closed it out with a scoreless inning in relief.

#12 Downingtown East at #5 Quakertown
Quakertown

15-5 overall
11-3 in SOL Continental play (Finished second to Hatboro-Horsham)
Score 5.4 runs per game and allow 2.8
Offense led by seniors Matt Bukavich, Lake Friday, Brian Robison and Jake Wooden
Pitching staff led by senior Viktor Morelock and junior Justin Guidos
Wins over #2 Hatboro-Horsham (2-0) and #20 William Tennent (5-0)
Enter playoffs on four-game winning streak

Downingtown East

13-7 overall
12-7 Ches-Mont National Division tied for second behind Downingtown West
Led at the plate by senior Kelsey Launi (.333, 12 RBIs) and juniors Connor Munnelly (.385, 14 RBIs), Joe Cestare (.333) and Tommy Hammet (.321, 10 RBIs)
Senior Will Peiffer (4-2, 1.17 ERA, 70 Ks, 48 IP) and Penn State-bound junior Hutch Gagnon (4-2, 2.40 ERA, 57 Ks, 36 IP) anchor the pitching staff.
Split season series with #1 Downingtown West (14-10, 2-3) and #18 Avon Grove (3-4, 4-0).

#11 Boyertown at #6 North Penn
North Penn

16-3 overall
SOL Continental champions (9-3)
Score 5.8 runs per game and allow 2.2
Offense led by junior Tyler Siddal, junior Ryan Bealer, sophomore Zack Miles and senior Corey Stouffer
Pitching staff led by junior Danny Kirwin and senior Matt Stevenson
Beat #13 Central Bucks East (6-1)
Swept season series with #20 William Tennent (5-1, 6-1) and #17 Council Rock South (7-1, 7-0)
Enter playoffs on three-game winning streak

Boyertown

13-8 overall
11-5 Pioneer Athletic Conference
Lost to Spring-Ford 4-1 in PAC title game
Boasted a .302 team batting average entering PAC title game, led by Jake Kelchner (.491, 20 RBIs), Conor Larkin (.408, 14 RBIs), Nick Brauer (.381, 11 RBIs), Ethan Hellberg (.326, 15 RBIs) and Sam Baretta (.375, 11 RBIs)
Split regular season series with #7 Perk Valley (12-2, 3-6) and swept regular season series with #14 Methacton (3-2, 2-0)
9-4 in last 13 games after a 4-4 start.

#9 Souderton at #8 Neshaminy
Neshaminy

15-4 overall
9-3 in SOL National play (Finished second to Pennsbury)
Score 5.5 runs per game and allow 2.2
1.41 team ERA
Pitching staff led senior Zach Boop (6-2, 1.00 ERA in 49 innings) and senior Evan Matthews (5-3, 0.87 ERA in 48.1 innings)
Offense led by Ben Raab (.341 batting average, .455 on-base percentage, 11 runs batted in, four doubles), Ed Parry (Team-leading 19 RBIs), Brian Nicolas (.333, 19 runs, 14 RBIs, eight doubles), Anthony Rapposelli (.323, .392, 14 runs, 21 hits) and Zach Tredway (.405, .447, 10 runs)
Wins over #16 Council Rock North (3-0), #2 Hatboro-Horsham (9-6), #4 Pennsbury (1-0), #20 William Tennent (8-4), #17 Council Rock South (3-2) and #13 Central Bucks East (3-2)
Swept season series with #19 Bensalem (4-0, 7-1)
2-2 in last four regular season games

Souderton

13-7 overall
8-4 in SOL Continental play (Finished second to North Penn)
Score 5.3 runs per game and allow 3.9
Offense led by seniors Thylar Summarell, Jack Despain, Derek Freed and Brett Moyer and junior Luke Barnum
Pitching staff led by junior Blaise Sclafani, sophomore Jordan Morales and senior Dan Knechel
Wins over #16 Council Rock North (3-2), #7 Perkiomen Valley (10-6), #13 Central Bucks East (10-3), #4 Pennsbury (3-2) and #20 William Tennent (10-2)
Swept season series with #6 North Penn (9-8, 4-2)
12-2 in last 14 games

#17 Council Rock South at #1 Downingtown West

Council Rock South
12-9 overall
7-5 in SOL National play (Finished third behind Pennsbury and Neshaminy)
Score 4.9 runs per game and allow 4.6
Offense led by senior Josh Kim, junior Matt Smith, senior John Crane, senior Eric Jeronis and sophomore Trey Obarowski
Pitching staff led by senior Zach Mayer and junior Brendon Carter
Wins over #9 Souderton (7-3), #20 William Tennent (6-4), #16 Council Rock North (2-1) and #8 Neshaminy (5-1)
Swept season series with #19 Bensalem (3-2, 4-3)
Entered playoffs on two-game winning streak

How they got here: In an opening round game, Council Rock South defeated archrival Council Rock North 10-2 in the fourth meeting between the neighboring schools. Zach Mayer threw five shutout innings to earn the win, allowing four hits while striking out two and walking none. Josh Kim was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and a run scored while Matt Smith was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs. Bryan Rieser was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Evan Fisher had two RBIs.

Downingtown West

16-3 overall
Ches-Mont National Division champion
Third straight conference title
Mike Mollenhauer (Widener), Nick Campagna (Monmouth University) and pitcher Drew Britt lead the Whippets
Swept regular season series with #18 Avon Grove (9-1, 4-2) and split with #12 Downingtown East (3-2, 10-14).

District One Class 5A Quarterfinal Round

#10 Upper Moreland at #2 Holy Ghost Prep
Upper Moreland

13-6 overall
9-5 in SOL American play (Finished third behind Hatboro-Horsham and Quakertown)
Score 4.1 runs per game and allow 2.1
Offense led by seniors Randy Meehl and Ryan Lowry
Pitching staff led by senior Brandon Kohn and junior Dawson Ruggles
6-5 in last 11 games

How they got here: In an opening round game, Upper Moreland defeated #7 West Chester Henderson 3-0 behind the strong performance of Brandon Kohn, who struck out seven in 6.1 shutout innings. Tommy Jacob collected the final two outs. Jacob was 2-for-3 to lead the Bears at the plate.

Holy Ghost Prep

15-4-1 overall
14-2 in Bicentennial Athletic League play (Won BAL Independence Division; Finished third in BAL behind Dock Mennonite and Plumstead Christian)
Score 6.7 runs per game and allow 1.9
Offense led by freshman Will Binder, junior Sean Kerrigan, junior Mark Seibert, junior Brett Sternberg and sophomore Phil Stahl
Pitching staff led by seniors Peyton Birch and John McCrane and sophomore Ryan Staropoli
Did not play a District One 5A playoff team in regular season
4-3 in last six games

How they got here: In an opening round game, Holy Ghost Prep defeated #15 Wissahickon 5-1 behind the strong arm of Peyton Birch, who allowed just three hits while striking out 11 and walking two. Mark Seibert was 3-for-3 with a two-run double to lead the attack.