Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action in Wednesday’ second round of the District One 6A Tournament. Hatboro-Horsham/D-town East photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Pennsbury/Quakertown photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District One Class 6A
#4 Souderton 1, #20 Council Rock North 0 (8 innings)
Souderton felt great about its chances on Wednesday with senior ace Will McCausland on the mound against a visiting CR North team that had to use its ace, Collin Williams, in the first round on Monday.
It turns out, it’s a good thing for Souderton that McCausland was pitching, because it didn’t have a whole lot of success with the bats itself against CR North lefty Jadon Tang.
McCausland and Tang traded zeros through seven innings, and then in the eighth, Souderton sophomore second baseman Chris McKenna came up with the big hit of the game, scoring Andrew Schatz from third with a single to left field for the thrilling walk-off victory.
“It was definitely a pitcher’s duel today,” said Souderton coach Mike Childs. “Their guy (Tang) threw very, very well. He kept us in check, and Will was his usual self. We even took him into the eighth. He was at 101 pitches, had four more (pitches) out there, let’s see what he can do. He even got us another out in the eighth.
“This is playoff baseball. The pitchers are better. The teams are better.”
CR North owned a 8-4 win over Souderton back on April 20, but since then, the teams have gone in different directions. Wednesday, they looked like a pair of teams not separated by a whole lot.
“Both teams capitalized on errors, but both defenses made great plays,” Childs said. “Hunter Weitzel throws a guy out at home plate in the sixth inning. If they scored that run, then we’re pressed in the sixth and seventh to come back and score.
“In the sixth, Carter Jiegela hits a hard line drive over the shortstop’s head. Their shortstop (Austin Stalker) is like 6-3 or 6-4, he jumps up and makes the catch and then throws to second to get a double play when we thought we had a good chance to score.
“Both sides played great defense and made plays. At the end, one of the teams was going to break, and thank goodness, we were the one to capitalize.”
The bottom of the eighth started with a walk to Souderton’s Schatz, who then stole second base and went to third on an error. Kaden Pasternak reached on a dropped third strike, and CR North then opted to intentionally walk Shanley Wall to load the bases with nobody out.
That brought up McKenna, who roped the first pitch to left to end the game in walk-off style.
“Chris McKenna, he’s been a great surprise for us,” Childs said. “He’s such a smart player. I knew I was going to give him one pitch, and then the next pitch I was going to put on a squeeze play.
“He said to me, ‘That’s why I swung at the first one, Coach.’ The infield was in and he just ripped it over their heads. It’s a great moment for a sophomore. Last night, he made first team all-league as a sophomore. Shanley Wall was first team at second base last year. For me to have the confidence to pull Shanley off second, says a lot about Chris. Now, I can throw Shanley to the outfield, which improves our outfield defense. He’s just been an awesome player all year for us.”
McCausland ended up going 7 ⅓ innings, allowing just four hits and one walk, while striking out 14. Jackson Morrisette threw just seven pitches and recorded two outs in the top of the seventh and ended up picking up the victory.
CR North’s Tang went seven innings, allowed four hits and didn’t walk a batter, while striking out nine.
With the win, Souderton (18-3) advances to Friday’s quarterfinal round, where it will host #5 Pennsbury at Harleysville Community Center at noon.
Council Rock North 000 000 00 – 0 4 4
Souderton 000 000 01 – 1 5 1
#5 Pennsbury 8, #12 Quakertown 2
Pennsbury did on Wednesday what it’s done for most of the season – really good pitching and a lot of timely hits.
And the result was an 8-2 playoff win over visiting Quakertown that sends the Falcons into a Friday district quarterfinal showdown with #4 Souderton.
Pennsbury senior right-hander Justin Mitrovich set the tone right off the bat in this one, striking out the side in the top of the first and then the first two of the second inning. He ended up going 5 ⅓ innings, allowing just two runs (both unearned) on four hits and one walk, while striking out eight.
Gavin Hawkes came out of the bullpen to record the final five outs to close out the game.
“Mitrovich came right out of the box and struck out the first five batters of the game,” said coach Joe Pesci. “He walked a kid, and then we threw him out. He had eight strikeouts today. You saw him get a little fatigued later in the game and we brought it Hawkes. But when we put a run on the board early, we had a lot of confidence.”
Mitrovich walked with one out in the bottom of the second, and Joe Tiroly followed with a double to put runners on second and third. A Reece Hirsh sac fly to center gave the Falcons the 1-0 advantage.
Callan Fang led off the fourth with a single, followed by a double by Ryan Zuckerman. An error scored two runs to make it 3-0.
The Falcons then blew the game open with five runs in the fifth. Zuckerman’s two-run triple to center was the big blow. Fang contributed a two-run single, and Mitrovich singled home a run in the inning. Overall, the Falcons finished with eight runs on 10 hits.
Zuckerman went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs. Fang was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Mitrovich had three RBIs, and Tiroly was 2-for-3.
“It was a great game,” Pesci said. “Mitrovich looked good, we turned a double play and played good defense. And we had some really good, two-strike hitting today.”
Pennsbury (18-3) plays at Souderton Friday in a game to be played at noon.
Quakertown ends it season at 10-8-1.
Quakertown 000 002 0 – 2 5 1
Pennsbury 010 250 x – 8 10 2
#2 Hatboro-Horsham 1, #18 Downingtown East 0
After dominating for most of the first half of the season, Hatboro-Horsham right-hander Cole Fisher hadn’t pitched much because of nagging injuries, and his last start against Plymouth Whitemarsh 
back on May 5 wasn’t a great one.
Wednesday, in the second round of the District One playoffs against a good Downingtown East squad, the Hatters needed Fisher to be Fisher and he was all that and a whole lot more.
The Hatters scored a run in the bottom of the first and then rode Fisher the rest of the game, as he ended up throwing a complete-game, one-hit shutout. He walked two and struck out nine.
“It was unbelievable,” said H-H coach Pete Moore. “Cole has been our ace this year, for sure, but he’s been battling through hip and hamstring injuries. This was the first game he’s thrown since the PW game two weeks ago. The fact that he threw 86 pitches and was able to get through a game like this was incredible.”
Fisher didn’t need much run support, but the normally high-scoring Hatters did start strong with a run in the bottom of the first.
Jack Elwell reached on a one-out single to right field and three pitches into the next batter, he stole second. An error put runners
on the corners, and Elwell scored on an RBI groundout by Will Bruner.
That was it, as the Hatters were limited to just two hits against Downingtown East’s Mike Devenney.
Fisher was backed up by stellar defense throughout as well.
“We average like eight runs a game,” Moore said. “It’s nice to see we could win a one-run game. Our defense was great today. Noah Schlosser made an incredible play in left field for us. Ryan Toporowski made a play I’ve never seen at shortstop. They bunted a ball, and it went over the head of the pitcher. Ryan, who was covering second, came up, fielded it bare-handed and got the kid out at first. It was an incredible play.”
The win sends H-H (18-3) to the quarterfinals on Friday. It will host #7 Coatesville at a time to be determined.
Downingtown East 000 000 0 – 0 1 3
Hatboro-Horsham 100 000 x – 1 2 1
#7 Coatesville 6, #10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Playing at Coatesville in a district playoff game is never easy. Falling behind early is less than ideal.
Plymouth Whitemarsh had an early chance but didn’t capitalize, and then watched the host Raiders score six runs in the first three innings and cruise to the 6-1 win from there.
Jesse Jaconski started the first inning off with a single for the Colonials. Luke Gartland then reached on an error to put runners on first and second. But Coatesville got out of the jam without any damage.
Then, in the bottom of the first, the Raiders saw their first two batters reach on a single and an error, and they capitalized with a pair of runs. They added another in the second and three in the third.
“I thought we entered this game today with the right mix of being loose, yet staying focused,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “When Jesse and Luke each got on base to start the game, it looked like we would have a chance to set the tone.
“Unfortunately, we just didn’t play at a postseason level in the field, and we put ourselves in a hole that was very difficult to climb out of against a very good pitcher.”
PW ended up committing six errors in the game, which didn’t help starter Alex Wilkie-Viscio. Reliever Lincoln Sharp did pitch 3 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief, with seven strikeouts.
Offensively, Jaconski went 3-for-3 with a double and a solo home run which accounted for PW’s only run of the game in the top of the fifth. As a team, the Colonials had four hits.
“This team won 15 games this year and seemed to approach every game with a certain tenacity and desire to get better each day,” Manero said. “We had a lot of guys move around and play a lot of different roles this season. Their flexibility and willingness to do whatever it took to help guided us through a real strong second half.
“Jesse has been a cornerstone of this team for four years and he was outstanding tonight. He produced nearly all of our offense and just looked like he did not want to see this season end. He is a special player and a special person, and we are so fortunate that he was here to be a part of this.
“Lincoln Sharpe came in to his own this season, day by day and week by week. Tonight, he absolutely dominated for three-plus innings out of the bullpen. There is a lot to being excited about with him for next season, and tonight was just another big step for him toward even bigger things.
“There is only one way to finish a season without at least a little bit of disappointment, but these guys can hold their heads high and be proud of what they put in the books for our program in 2022.”
PW finished the season with a 15-6 final record.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 000 010 0 – 1 4 6
Coatesville 213 000 x – 6 8 1
#1 West Chester Henderson 5, #17 Central Bucks West 1
Coming off of a huge first-round playoff win at Neshaminy on Monday, CB West was looking to make it two straight, but that proved to be a tall task against the No. 1 seed in the tournament – Ches-Mont League champ West Chester Henderson
In the end, the Bucks fell behind 4-0 after five innings and couldn’t battle back in a season-ending defeat.
“We didn’t play a bad game overall, but they’re just a good team with very few holes,” said West coach Brian Weaver. “Connor Dobos has been one of our unsung heroes the last two seasons, with a record that doesn’t reflect how important he’s been in giving us a chance to win every time he starts.
“So today we had no fear putting him on the bump, and he battled one of the best lineups around. He gave us a chance in this game.”
After CB West lost a chance to go up in the top of the third after a Jackson Cunnane double, Henderson took advantage of a double and then a two-out single to plate a run in the bottom half of the inning.
In the fifth, the Warriors had four straight hits, including an RBI double and a two-run single to up that advantage to 4-0.
West did score a run, thanks to back-to-back errors in the sixth, but could get no closer against tough Henderson starter Jackson Snyder, who didn’t allow an earned run and struck out eight in 5 ⅓ innings. Reliever Eric Lintelman struck out three more to close out the game.
“For them, though, Snyder did a real nice job of spotting up his fastball, and we weren’t able to string anything together off of him,” Weaver said. “Jackson Cunnane has had a huge last two weeks for us, and he led off the third with a double to center. But we went down 1-2-3 after that without scoring the run.
“Kevin Bukowski also came close to putting one out to left that might have changed the game, but their left fielder made a big catch up against the fence.
“If something different happens in those situations, it might change how the game unfolds. But Henderson got out of those, and they found a way on base and got a job done in almost every inning. They’re a competitive team, and there’s a reason they’re the 1 seed.
“It’s not the way you want to end the season, but that’s the double-edged sword of the postseason: you either win the state championship, or your season ends with a loss. It’s nice to be in a position where it’s a loss that knocks us out of playoffs that ends the run.
“It’s been about a decade since we made districts or won a playoff game, so I was incredibly happy for the seniors to get to experience the atmosphere. The turnaround that they’ve spearheaded to get from a team that won three games the year before they started at West to a team that finishes up in the district playoffs four years later is a testament to their character and their abilities.
“When you look at the DNA of just about every rally or every clutch pitching performance, you’ve got one of our seniors in there getting a job done. They’re leaving the jersey better than they found it, and it’s been my good fortune to be around for a small part of their journey.”
CB West finishes the season with a 12-10 record.
CB West 000 001 0 – 1 4 1
West Chester Henderson 001 031 x – 5 10 2
#3 Owen J. Roberts 11, #19 Central Bucks South 8
On Monday, CB South went on the road and won its seventh straight game, jumping up early and closing it out with good pitching.
That was the formula for Wednesday too, and through four innings, it was working to similar success. Then, the wheels fell off.
Third-seeded Owen J. Roberts scored nine runs on 10 hits, one hit batter, one walk and one error and that was a blow the visiting Titans couldn’t recover form.
“We did exactly what we set out to do,” said CB South coach Kevin Bray. “Our game plan was to jump on them early and that’s what we did. The game plan was working in our favor, Robby (Porco) was controlling the game on the mound, we were getting guys on base and they were coming around to score.
“We were up 6-1 after the fourth inning, and we were feeling pretty good about where we were. Then, the fifth inning came up and bit us pretty hard.”
JT Anderosky and Porco had singles in the top of the first, which helped load the bases and back-to-back walks drove in two runs to put South up 2-0 early.
In the fourth, Anderosky had a two-run double, Porco scored a run with a sacrifice fly and Owen Wheeler drove in a run to make it 6-1.
Owen J. Roberts started the fifth with a hit batter and a single and after a groundout, a single scored a run to pull it to 6-2. After another groundout, OJR did a ton of damage with two outs, including back-to-back doubles to make it 6-5, an infield error tied it, and that was followed by five straight singles.
By the time the nightmare inning was over, the Titans trailed 10-6.
“In the end, (Owen J. Roberts) grinded out at-bats in that fifth inning,” Bray said. “They put balls in play, and we just couldn’t get out of the inning.”
South showed some grit of its own with a rally in the top of the sixth. Anderosky led off with his second double of the game, Joe Rooney singled, one run scored on an error and another on a groundout by Jack Carver.
But that’s where the rally would end, as the Titans loaded the bases but couldn’t score again in the sixth and then went down in the seventh.
“We had a long couple weeks there toward end of the season,” Bray said. “We ended up finishing the regular season with a six-game win streak. We got into the playoffs and one of our goals was to get into the playoffs and see what happens.
“We had success against Ridley and felt confident coming into this game. Owen J. was riding a 20-game win streak, or whatever it was, but we still felt good about it. In the end, it wasn’t enough, but I can’t say more about our seniors and the rest of our team, how hard they battled, from the beginning of the season to the end.
“Even after that nine-run inning, they came back with two in the sixth to give us a chance. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough, but our guys battled the entire day.”
Anderosky went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs. Porco was 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Titans ended up pounding out 11 hits on the day.
They finished the season with a 13-9 final record.
CB South 200 402 0 – 8 11 1
Owen J. Roberts 010 091 x – 11 16 1
District One Class 5A
#2 Upper Dublin 3, #10 Bishop Shanahan 2
Aidan McCarthy’s RBI double to left field in the bottom of the sixth scored David Sharp with the go-ahead run, as the Flying Cardinals earned this exciting Class 5A quarterfinal victory over Bishop Shanahan on Wednesday.
With the win, UD (14-6) advanced to Friday’s district semifinals against #3 Marple Newtown, which defeated Oxford with a walk-off home run in its quarterfinal game on Wednesday.
The Cardinals turned to ace Tristan Cairnes on the mound, and it paid off, as he allowed just two runs on five hits and two walks. He threw an economical 88 pitches and went the distance.
“I was really proud of the way our team battled today against a tough Bishop Shanahan team,” said UD coach Ed Wall. “The Cairnes and (Kyle) Rizzo battery did it again today, throwing a complete game in only 88 pitches.
“Their mission is to just get guys out. As the game moved on Tristan got better, swing and miss increased, and their contact softened as the game continued. It was fun to watch.”
Offensively, UD went up 1-0 in the second, as Jared Levis led off with a triple to right field and scored on an RBI groundout by Sharp.
After Bishop Shanahan scored two in the top of the third, UD answered to tie it up as Rizzo reached on an error and Leo Soriano and Ethan Mednick singled to load the bases. A walk to Levis plated the run.
The game stayed at 2-2 into the sixth.
Levis started the sixth with a walk, followed by a Sharp single to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout, McCarthy put the Cardinals in front with his clutch double.
Cairnes worked around a leadoff walk and induced three straight groundouts to end the game in the seventh.
“(Bishop Shanahan’s Andrew) Noone pitched a great game,” Wall said. “We worked some really tough ABs, got guys on here and there and he found a way out frequently.
“Our whole lineup got on at some point, in some way during the game and that’s what it took, all of us. Levis’ triple early lit the fire. Sharp’s knock and steal was big late. McCarthy just so happened to step up in a big moment to lace an opposite shot, plating Sharpy for the go ahead. He took advantage of a big opportunity.”
Bishop Shanahan 002 000 0 – 2 5 1
Upper Dublin 011 001 x – 3 7 1
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