Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action in Monday’s opening round of the District 1 Tournament. Wissahickon/CR North photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko, and Pennsbury/Boyertown photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f899671345 (North Penn/Ridley photos courtesy of Cindy Manero/NP baseball)
Class 6A
#9 Wissahickon 6, #24 Council Rock North 5 (8 innings)
Wissahickon was definitely battle-tested in the regular season, playing seven games decided by one run.
Monday, in the first round of the district playoffs, the Trojans had another nailbiter, rallying from two runs down late, tying the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh, and then countering a CR North run in the
top of the eight with two of their own for the thrilling, walk-off win at home.
“This was one of the best high school baseball games I’ve been a part of,” said Trojans coach Andy Noga. “I thought it was reflective of the type of team we are, a gritty, never-say-die type of scrappy team.”
There were a lot of big moments for Noga’s squad.
In the seventh, Wissahickon was down to its last two outs, when Jonnie Klinger reached on an error. He then advanced to second on a passed ball to get into scoring position, and with two outs, Justin Miller singled to right to tie the game at 4 and force extra innings.
“Justin Miller was at the plate when our season ended last year and came up when we were down to our final out today and came through to force extra innings,” Noga said. “I was so proud of him for stepping up to the moment and having a mature, senior at-bat in that moment.”
CR North bounced back from that disappointment, plating a run in the top of the eighth on a sac fly by sophomore Jude Hamilton.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Indians set the first two batters down on a ground out and a pop up.
Jarret Federer doubled to left to keep the inning alive, and Brayden Ryan and Josh Stonesifer drew walks to load the bases. The next batter, Mark Selverian, roped an 0-2 pitch to left field for a double that would plate the tying and winning runs, setting off the post-game celebration for the Trojans. 
“Mark Selverian played the hero for us today, and I thought he focused up and didn’t shy away from the moment with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth down a run,” Noga said.
“We didn’t let the setbacks or the moment become too big for us in multiple situations in the 7th inning and extras, and I think that type of grit and coolness under pressure will help us moving forward in the district tournament.”
Miller (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, R), Federer (2-for-4, 2B, R), Ryan (2-for-2, R) and Selverian (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, R) each had two-hit days for Wissahickon.
Adam Hajdak pitched the first six innings, Gavin Malloy went 1 2/3 inning, and Jake Fuhrmeister recorded the final out of the top of the eighth and earned the victory.
“Adam Hajdak didn’t have his best stuff to start, but I thought he battled really well and minimized in big spots to keep up in the game and give us a chance to come back in the late innings,” Noga said. “Finn Olszewski and Jonnie Klinger did a great job keeping the ball in the infield in two big infield-in situations.”
CR North, which finished the season with an 11-10 record, was led by Will Seiler, who went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Will Scibona and Preston Martin had two hits each, as well.
Wissahickon (15-6) next plays at #8 Downingtown East in the second round on Wednesday.
CR North 300 100 01 – 5 10 2
Wissahickon 200 010 12 – 6 9 2
#14 North Penn 3, #19 Ridley 2
Nick Palovich earned the opening-round start on the mound for North Penn Monday, and he more than delivered.
Palovich allowed just a pair of early runs and ended up going six strong innings, striking out six in leading the Knights to the one-run victory over visiting Ridley.
Then, sophomore lefty Trevor Lugara came in and set Ridley down in the seventh to pick up the save and finish off the game.
“We know we have to use two of our top guys if we want to survive and get to Friday,” said North Penn coach Kevin Manero. “Both Nick Palovich and Trevor Lugara have to pitch. We decided Palovich was the better matchup today and he stepped up for us.
“He threw a high percentage of strikes, competed and settled down (after Ridley jumped up 2-0 after three innings) and put up zeros in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. That was the key.
“It was a little bit of a gamble, but he did a great job. Trevor threw 10 pitches in the last inning and will be ready to go on Wednesday. That’s kind of how we drew it up.”
At the plate, it took North Penn a while to get going, but in the bottom of the fourth, Josh Martinell and Luke Chartrand hit back-to-back doubles to
plate a run.
One inning later, Chase Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Ben Farley singled and then Kevin Brace was hit by a pitch to load the bases. AJ Briggs stepped up with a single to center field to score two runs, giving the Knights a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
“AJ Briggs has been doing a great job for us as our DH,” Manero said. “He’s the kind of kid who has put the time in. Last year, we sent him to JV because we didn’t have playing time for him on varsity. This year, he started in left field, we took him out, and then put him in at DH and he hasn’t come out of the lineup since.”
Briggs (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs) and Farley (2-for-4, R) had two hits each to lead an eight-hit attack for North Penn.
The Knights (14-6) move on to Wednesday’s second round at #3 Methacton.
“We know they have a good No. 1, Evan Jones,” Manero said. “He’s going to Wake Forest. We assume we’ll see him. But we’re not strangers to seeing big-time arms in the playoffs. Last year, when we played Hazelton (in states), we saw the kid going to Texas A&M.
“We’ll prepare for that, and hope we put together tough at-bats and make them make plays behind him.”
Ridley 011 000 0 – 2 6 1
North Penn 000 120 x- 3 8 2
#16 Avon Grove 1, #17 Souderton 0 (9 innings)
It was apparent pretty early that runs were going to be hard to come by for both teams.
Souderton pitchers Jeremy Fallon and Greyson Norris were dominant through the first seven innings, and Tyler Lutz put up zeros in extra innings, but the offense couldn’t string the necessary hits together for any sort of run support.
Host Avon Grove was able to come up with the big hit in the bottom of the ninth, plating the winning run in walk-off style, to advance on to the second round on Wednesday.
“Definitely a tough way to end a season,” said coach Mike Childs. “Once again, the pitchers threw great, and we couldn’t put a run across for them. This is how our season has gone this year, losing close ones by only one run.”
Fallon pitched the first four innings for the Indians, allowing two hits and one walk, while striking out five.
Norris came out of the bullpen and went three innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.
Offensively, however, Souderton managed just five hits, all singles. Two of those hits came with two outs in the first inning and didn’t produce any damage. The team had two more two-out baserunners in the second and again came up empty.
The Indians best chance was in the sixth, as Tyler Deery and Evan Divens drew one-out walks. Jeremy Nace then singled to center to load the bases. But a ground ball to first resulted in the lead runner forced out at home, and then a strikeout ended the threat.
In all, Souderton left 12 runners on base.
“The bad thing about this one is we don’t get another chance,” Childs said. “I was proud of how we battled to get into the playoffs, winning our last eight out of nine. We battled again, just ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.”
Souderton finished its season with a 11-10 final record.
Avon Grove will play #1 seed Quakertown in the second round on Wednesday.
Souderton 000 000 000 – 0 5 1
Avon Grove 000 000 001 – 1 7 0
#15 Haverford 4, #18 Pennridge 3 (11 innings)
On the road in the postseason, Pennridge did exactly what it needed to early Monday, scoring three runs in the second inning against Haverford. Unfortunately, the Rams didn’t get much going offensively the rest of the way.
And the Fords chipped away, tying the game with three singles in the bottom of the seventh, and then emerged from a four-inning, extra-inning stalemate with a sacrifice fly to score the winning run in the bottom of the 11th.
“We did a great job of throwing the first punch and getting out to an early lead,” said Pennridge coach Danny Long. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to add on in the middle of the game.”
Ryder Olson allowed just two runs on two hits, striking out six in the first five innings. Connor Murray went 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs.
“Both Ryder and Connor were awesome on the mound today,” Long said. “They gave us every chance to win today’s game.”
The second inning couldn’t have gone much better. Murray was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Joey Gregoire smashed a two-run home run to left.
Tommy Gianetti later drove in another run with an RBI single, and just like that Pennridge was up 3-0.
Unfortunately, the Rams would manage just one hit, a Noah Keating single in the fifth, the rest of the way. They had just one baserunner in extra innings.
Pennridge ends the season with a 12-9 record, ending a seven-year postseason drought.
“This group has battled all season and they continued that today,” Long said. “I am extremely proud of their efforts.”
Pennridge 030 000 000 00 – 3 4 3
Haverford 010 100 100 01 – 4 9 3
#10 Garnet Valley 11, #23 Council Rock South 6
Nine-run innings are never easy to overcome.
Monday, Garnet Valley scored nine times in the second inning to erase what had been a quick start and an early two-run lead for CR South, as the Golden Hawks saw their season come to an end on the road Monday.
In the second, Garnet Valley had seven hits – two home runs and two doubles – three walks and another batter reached on an error. By the time the inning was over, 14 hitters came to the plate, and the Hawks were in deep trouble.
They kept battling, getting as close as 10-6 in the fifth, but they’d get no closer.
Catcher Tyler Harper went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Billy O’Neill also went 3-for-3, while Chase Ennis and Joey Pirone had two hits each.
“Tough loss to a solid Garnet Valley team,” said coach Greg Paprocki. “I am so proud of these seniors who fought every pitch throughout the season.
“While it was not the result we wanted, I know these seniors will go on to do great things.”
CR South ends its season with a 9-12 record.
Garnet Valley moves on to play at #7 CB East in the second round on Wednesday.
CR South 200 130 0 – 6 11 1
Garnet Valley 091 010 x – 11 11 3
#22 Boyertown 3, #11 Pennsbury 1
Sometimes in baseball, especially postseason baseball, winning and losing is a matter of which team finds the most holes and does the little things to plate runs and take advantage of chances.
Pennsbury found itself on the short end of that scenario Monday, and as a result saw its season come to an end at the hands of visiting Boyertown, 3-1.
“They had nine hits, we had seven,” said Falcons coach Joe Pesci. “They found a lot of holes, and we didn’t. They hit a lot of balls that were close to being fielded. They had an infield single, a bunt single and we threw the ball away on a bunt.
“I always say, if you can keep a team under four runs, you should win, but we couldn’t string hits together.”
Boyertown scored runs in the first, second and fourth innings to go up 3-0 against tough-luck Pennsbury starter Connor McCloskey.
Keller Bradley came out of the bullpen and threw four scoreless innings for the Falcons.
“It’s hard, because it wasn’t a bad day for us,” Pesci said. “We started Connor McCloskey, and I even told him when I took him out, ‘They’re not crushing you, they’re just finding all the spots.’
“We brought Keller in, and he threw four scoreless innings. If we had to play the game over again, I’d do it again.”
The top two in the Pennsbury batting order, Charlie Cordisco and Tyler Boraski each had two hits, and then teamed up in the fifth for their team’s only run. Cordisco reached on a one-out single, and Boraski drove him in with a double to center field.
The Falcons had base runners in both the sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t cash in.
“They did a good job of keeping us off balance,” Pesci said. “We swung at quite a few breaking balls in the dirt.
“When your pitchers give up three runs or less, you should win. This is our fourth loss where we gave up three runs or less. That’s tough. You ask guys to do that, but we didn’t push any runs across.”
Pennsbury finished its season with a 15-6 record.
Boyertown plays at Downingtown West in the second round on Wednesday.
Boyertown 110 100 0 – 3 9 2
Pennsbury 000 010 0 – 1 7 1
Class 5A
#5 Penncrest 2, #12 Upper Moreland 1
Nick Simons threw a gem for five innings for Upper Moreland, which was looking for the first-round upset against fifth-seeded Penncrest on Monday.
But with a clutch one-out single and then double in the sixth, Penncrest plated two runs and picked up the win in a classic postseason pitchers’ duel.
“(I’m) proud of the energy from our guys, the way we competed, and our starting pitching performance by Nick Simons was incredible,” said UM coach Jim Fasano.
“Penncrest is a well-coached team and they out executed us in big spots. We had a lot of chances with runners on base and less than two outs, we just couldn’t drive them in with a big hit. Ten (left of base) and three hits make it tough to score runs, but give Penncrest a ton of credit for rallying in the sixth to score two.”
Simons allowed just one hit through the first five innings and scattered four walks.
The Golden Bears went up 1-0 in the fifth, as Pat Kilgus was hit by a pitch, Jackson Townsend singled with one out and the run scored on a two-out error on a ground ball.
But after Penncrest rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, UM couldn’t get anything going in the seventh, going down 1-2-3.
“Their pitcher, Gavin Brown, has had a fabulous season and we had traffic on the bases all day, just couldn’t capitalize,” Fasano said. “We have a ton of returning players next year and some guys who had very good JV seasons. Our future is bright, and I am proud of our boys.”
UM finished the season with a 9-11 record.
Penncrest moves on to Wednesday’s quarterfinal round against #4 Strath Haven.
Upper Moreland 000 010 0 – 1 3 0
Penncrest 000 002 x – 2 3 3
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