CB South, Souderton, PW, Bensalem and Neshaminy were winners in Wednesday’s District 1 6A second round. Pennsbury/CB South photos provided by John Gleeson; Souderton/Spring-Ford photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District One Class 6A Second Round
#1-3 Souderton 2, #1-14 Spring-Ford 1
After being subbed out of the game earlier for defensive purposes, Moses Clemens was reinserted into the Souderton lineup in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game. And Clemens delivered big time, as his double to center field scored Andrew Curran with what turned out to be the winning run in a 2-1 win for the third-seeded Indians over No. 14 Spring-Ford at Harleysville Community Center.
“We took him out, which we’ve been doing a lot this year, for defensive purposes,” Childs said. “He’s a converted catcher we have playing in the outfield. He does a good job for us, but we sometimes take him out for defense.
“We needed his bat back in the lineup and put him back into that. For him to get that double, that’s huge. Especially late in the game, with two outs. If we don’t get that, it’s 1-1 and who knows what happens in the seventh and after that.”
The other story of the game was on the mound, where left-hander Jordan Morales and Spring-Ford righty Zach Male engaged in a classic pitchers’ duel.
Morales allowed just one earned run in the third, on four hits and three walks, while striking out 10. The win improved his record to 7-1 on the season.
“After the game, I asked Jordan about his pitching performance and he said it was not his best day,” Childs said. “I thought he did pretty well, but in his eyes he can do better. He settled in and got us the win. Going into the seventh, he said, ‘Coach, I’m closing this out.’ Unfortunately, he ran out of pitches.”
Senior Luke Taylor came on to pitch with one on and nobody out in the seventh and got out of the inning to earn the save. The Indians’ No. 2 starter, he’s is projected to get the ball against PW on Friday.
Taylor also had a key role offensively, as his RBI double in the first scored Conlan Wall and gave Souderton an early 1-0 lead. Spring-Ford answered with one in the third, but from that point, it was all about pitching and defense until the bottom of the sixth.
“It’s definitely a huge win for us against a good team,” said Souderton coach Mike Childs. “They’re definitely better than a (14 seed). They battled us all game. I’m happy we were the winners in the end.”
Souderton (18-3, 12-0 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in Friday’s quarterfinal game at 1:30 p.m.
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Souderton 100 001 x-2 4 1
#1-6 Plymouth Whitemarsh 4, #1-11 Avon Grove 1
A home run by Joe Jaconski, great pitching from Ben Mascio and a lot of good defense throughout were the formula for Plymouth Whitemarsh and it was a winning one, as the sixth-seeded Colonials defeated No. 11 Avon Grove 4-1 to advance to Friday’s district quarterfinals.
“Three guys have consistently been big for us all year,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “Ben on the mound, Joe – starting at shortstop getting really big hits, making a ton of plays defensively and being a secret weapon for us out of the bullpen – and Kevin Reilly our catcher. He threw a runner out early in the game and that set the tone for us to get out of a jam. He’s also the guy catching Ben.
“And, we have a lot of other guys contributing too.”
The win sends PW (13-7 overall) into a quarterfinal game Friday (1:30 p.m.) at No. 3 Souderton.
Mascio was sharp again for the Colonials on Wednesday. He pitched 6 2/3 innings before hitting the pitch count limit, allowed just one earned run on four hits and three walks, while striking out nine. He is now 7-2 on the season.
“Everything starts on the mound and he was great again for us today,” Manero said. “He threw the ball up a little bit more than he normally does, but he got hitters to chase and took advantage of that. He looked strong either way, and the defense made some great plays behind him. That arguably was the best defensive game we played all year.”
Jaconski moved to the mound in the seventh to record the final out and pick up the save.
Like he did against Hatboro-Horsham in PW’s clinching win to take the SOL American Conference title in the final game of the regular season, Jaconski put his team in front early with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first inning.
The Colonials were able to add to that lead with a Jacob Nunez RBI single in the fourth, and then two more in the fifth. In that inning, Jesse Jaconski led off with a walk, Mike Orensky singled, Richie Werner sacrificed both runners up a base.
Avon Grove then walked Joe Jaconski to load the bases. Dan Kleisch followed and reached base on an error, scoring another run, and a groundout by Reilly made it 4-0.
Now for PW it’s on to Souderton on Friday. The two teams played a nonleague game on April 29, with Souderton earning a 6-5 win. A whole lot more will be on the line with the rematch.
“I’m one of the coaches that love that nonleague games don’t count (toward playoff seeding) because you can play a lot of different guys and work on things,” Manero said. “When we played them, we knew there was a possibility that we’d be playing again. The tone of that game was calm, and we were trying to get everybody in. It’s definitely going to be a different atmosphere on Friday.
“It’s always a good game when we play Souderton. We play them every year. I have a ton of respect for Mike Childs and that program. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Avon Grove 000 001 0-1 4 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 101 200 x-4 4 0
#1-7 Neshaminy 5, #1-10 Hatboro-Horsham 1
Junior starter Dan Errigo and No. 7 Neshaminy were in early-season form on Wednesday as the Redskins rolled past visiting No. 10 seed Hatboro-Horsham 5-1 to earn a date in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Errigo, now 5-1 on the season, threw 6 1/3 innings, allowed just one earned run on three hits and two walks, and struck out seven. He worked ahead in the count and the Hatters never really put hits together or were able to threaten with a big inning.
“He’s right back to where he was in the beginning, being dominant,” said Neshaminy coach Dan Toner. “He pounded the strike zone, attacked the strike zone. He challenges guys, he doesn’t throw the ball all over, he has a second pitch that he throws in there for strikes, and when he gets 0-2, he can really move the ball around. His command was really excellent today. He had a little bit of velocity as well.”
Offensively, Neshaminy took control with two runs in the third, as a Chris James bunt was thrown away, allowing Tommy Pease to score from second. Cory Joyce, who had a pair of hits, followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Pease and James were a big part of the Neshaminy fourth inning as well. Gus Natelli led off with a walk and went to second on an error. Pease then singled and went to second with a stolen base. James followed with another bunt, this time a suicide squeeze that scored Natelli from third. One batter later, Matt Yauger reached on an error to score another run to make it 4-0.
Pease scored his third run of the day after a leadoff walk in the sixth, as a pick-off attempt went awry and Pease came all the way around to score.
In all, Neshaminy had just six hits but it made the most of each, and executed when it need to in big spots.
“We had the most confidence that you can have (going into the game),” Toner said. “Beating Souderton twice and beating Pennsbury (once). If you take a look, they have (a combined three league losses) and they’re all from us. We know what level we can play at. We lost it for a little bit, but these kids knew what they had to do to get it back.”
Ryley Robinson had two hits and an RBI for Hatboro-Horsham, which finished the season at 13-8.
Neshaminy (13-6) moves on to play at No. 2 Garnet Valley in the quarterfinals on Friday in a game that will start at 1 p.m.
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Neshaminy 002 201 x-5 6 1
#1-17 Central Bucks South 6, #1-1 Pennsbury 5
A six-run third inning was the difference, as 17th-seeded Central Bucks South pulled off the upset of the District One Class 6A Tournament so far with a 6-5 win at No. 1 Pennsbury on Wednesday.
“It’s a really big win,” said CB South coach Brian Klumpp. “For us to get past the second round in districts, for the first time under me, is big for our group of guys. My group of seniors started with me as freshmen four years ago, so this was special. We’re all really looking forward to Friday now.”
In the quarterfinals on Friday, the Titans will play at No. 9 Bensalem.
Justin Massielo gave Pennsbury the early 1-0 lead with a home run in the first.
CB South had early chances but didn’t cash in until the third, which started with a Zach Steinberg double. Jake McKeown tied the game with an RBI single, and scored the go-ahead run on Jake Trachtenberg double. Bryan Rossi singled to make it 3-1.
Then, third baseman Owen Petrich delivered a crushing blow, a three-run home run to make it 6-1.
“It was our second time seeing (Pennsbury starter Shayne) Ostrowsky,” Klumpp said. “I thought we had good at-bats the first time through. In the first inning, we had guys on first and second and didn’t get any runs. But the second time through, we had really good swings, hit the ball and Owen hit the big home run.”
Pennsbury didn’t go down without a fight, however, and was able to chip away.
In the bottom of the third, back-to-back doubles by Justin Fogel and R.J. Huth scored a pair of runs, and then Sean Doherty had a RBI single, and just like that, it was 6-4. The Falcons then left the bases loaded in the fourth, and managed one run as Huth scored on a dropped third strike in the fifth to cut the deficit to one run.
But at that point, the Titans turned to senior right-hander Brock Veit, who retired six of the seven batters he faced, working around a walk in the seventh, to close out the game.
“Before we sent him in in the sixth, we met as coaches and talked about it,” Klumpp said. “We decided to give the senior the ball. It was his opportunity. He struggled the last two times out, but he wanted the ball, he was focused and his stuff was really nasty.”
Veit also contributed at the plate, collecting a pair of hits. Joey Loynd was 2-for-4. For the Falcons, Huth was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Pennsbury, the SOL National Conference champs, finished its season at 16-5 overall.
CB South (14-6) moves on to face Bensalem.
“Harry (Daut) does an awesome job with them,” Klumpp said. “He’s a really good coach, a good guy and always has them playing hard. We know it’s going to be a great game.”
CB South 006 000 0-6 11 0
Pennsbury 103 010 0-5 9 2
Bensalem 8, Downingtown West 2
With two runs in the top of the first, No. 9 Bensalem was on its way as senior right-hander Dom Grady dominated on the mound and the Owls knocked off No. 8 Downingtown West 8-2 on Wednesday.
With the win, Bensalem (18-3) will host a District One Class 6A quarterfinal game Friday against No. 17 Central Bucks South, which upset Pennsbury on Wednesday.
Against Downingtown West, the Owls were matched up against one of the state’s best pitchers in Adam Grintz, who is headed to Tulane.
But they struck first, as Austin Shay led off with a single, and Nick Dean pounded a one-out double to put runners on second and third. A single by Grady scored both runs and just like that it was 2-0.
“That was big,” said Owls coach Harry Daut. “Their pitcher was really good – I think he was undefeated this year. That obviously was a big lift for us. We knew were facing a good pitcher, and we hung in there on him, we really did.”
Four runs in the fourth added to the lead as the first three runners reached to load the bases. David Barnett walked to drive in a run, Shay hit a two-run double and Matt Silano followed with a RBI single.
“Shay had an incredible game,” Daut said. “He led off the game. He got down a couple of strikes, and he got a nice base hit to left field and got us on the board early. He’s the one who came up with the big hit in the fourth.”
Bensalem added two more in the seventh.
Grady, who is now 6-1 on the season, dominated from the started. He allowed just two runs (unearned) in the seventh, on two hits and three walks. He struck out eight in 6 2/3 before being pulled for hitting the pitch count limit in the seventh. Logan Young struck out the final batter to end the game.
“Dom Grady had a phenomenal game,” Daut said. “He kept them off-balance all game. I can’t say enough about Dom. He was mixing in his curveball, and he was getting his curveball over for strikes. He basically threw strikes all day.
“He’s been there before. He’s been a four-year starter for me.”
Grady also had a huge day at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Shay was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and run scored out of the leadoff spot. Nicholas Dean was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Ryan Rooney was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Bensalem heads into Friday’s game on an eight-game winning streak, having won 15 of its last 16 games total.
“We have a couple of guys with experience like Grady and Nick Dean,” Daut said. “In the beginning, they surprised everybody, and now they’ve just been playing good ball.”
Bensalem 200 400 2-8 12 1
Downingtown West 000 000 2-2 3 0
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