North Penn and Neshaminy were winners in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament. Hatboro-Horsham/La Salle photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. Neshaminy/Parkland photos provided courtesy of Jesse Garber (https://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p978277036)
#1-1 NESHAMINY 7, #11-2 PARKLAND 5
It wasn’t a highlight reel performance by any stretch of the imagination, but twice the Redskins rallied from deficits to earn the opening round win. They also overcome an uncharacteristic five-error effort by their usually reliable defense.
“We didn’t play our best defensive game today,” Neshaminy coach Dan Toner said. “We gave them some runs early on, and it was not as clean defense as we’ve had all season. We were just kicking the ball around a little bit, and that’s very uncharacteristic of us.
“You kind of wait for it to happen at some point during the season, and we avoided it all year, so for it to come in the first round of states is tough, but for us to overcome that is a huge testament to our team as well.”
A pair of first inning errors opened the door for the Trojans – who also had three hits in the inning – to take an early 3-0 lead.
The Redskins got two of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Brandan Raven drew a leadoff walk but was erased on a forceout by Jake Oberholtzer. Tyler Warr followed with a single, and Mike Donato drew a walk to load the bases. Oberholtzer scored on a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly by Chris James plated Warr to make it a 3-2 game.
In the third inning, Jake Kozlowski, who singled, scored on a Parkland miscue, knotting the score 3-3. Parkland used three hits, a walk and an error to score two runs in the fourth inning.
Again, Neshaminy had an answer, scoring three runs in the fifth inning. Gaige Ryan led off the inning with a single, and Josh Martoccio drew a walk. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Kozlowsi’s single plated a run, and another run crossed the plate when Raven delivered a sacrifice fly to left field. Oberholtzer’s single drove in a run that gave the Redskins a 6-5 lead and turned out to be the game-winner.
In the sixth inning, Donato lined a double to center to open the inning, and he moved up to third on a sacrifice by James. Donato crossed the plate with an insurance run when Mortoccio singled to center.
Matt Mays was once again impressive in relief, tossing two scoreless frames. He did not allow a hit and struck out a pair. Justus Agosto allowed seven hits and five runs, but only two of those runs were earned. He fanned six and walked three.
“Justus Agosto pitched well,” Toner said. “It’s just hard to keep going when you’re throwing balls that are groundouts and we’re throwing the ball around a little bit.
“Matt Mays came in and closed it out. He’s been incredible, fantastic all year in tough situations coming in and slamming the door.”
Kozlowski’s 3-for-4 day with one RBI and two runs scored led Neshaminy’s eight-hit attack.
“He had some RBIs and some big-time hits,” Toner said of his sophomore, who bats out of the three hole. “Jake Oberholtzer came up in another big situation. He’s been coming through in those big situations all year long.
“Brandon Raven had a sacrifice fly and fielder’s choice that scored a run. He was able to put the ball exactly where he needed to put it. A bunch of guys stepped up in big situations, and with what our defense was today, it was good to have our offense step up and alleviate some of that.”
Neshaminy (17-6, 10-6 SOL) will face North Penn in a PIAA quarterfinal contest on Thursday at a site and time to be determined. The two teams met on May 3 in a crossover game with the Knights edging the Redskins 3-2.
“We were a little off in that game, and they played well,” Toner said. “It’s always fun to play against a team like North Penn who is always good, always fundamentally sound and coached well. It’s going to be fun playing against them.”
Parkland 300 200 0 5-7-1
Neshaminy 021 031 x 7-8-5
#1-3 NORTH PENN 3, #12-1 HAZLETON 1
They knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and it wasn’t, but the Knights rode the strong arm of Mike Lennon as well as some timely hitting to eke out the win over an undefeated Hazleton squad with a stable of strong arms and four Division 1 recruits on its roster.
The Cougars brought a dazzling 22-0 record into Monday’s game.
“Our kids really gutted it out – they just kept battling,” coach Kevin Manero said. “Mike Lennon was just big time today. It was a game that I think probably a lot of people figured we would have a hard time with because that’s a heck of a baseball team, and their record is not by accident. I was very impressed with the way they came out to play today.”
Lennon notched the complete game win, allowing eight hits and one run while striking out six and walking two.
“Mike Lennon was really good today,” Manero said. “He came up with really big strikeouts to end the fourth, fifth and sixth inning. They had men on base in all those innings, but he really bore down.”
The Knights put two runs on the board in the third inning. Ryan Sullivan led off with a single out of the nine spot, and with one out Jeffrey Sabater singled. Evin Sullivan’s single plated his brother, Ryan Sullivan. Sabater came home on a single by Justin Egner, and the Knights led 2-0.
Hazleton got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to make it a 2-1 game, but the Knights got an insurance run in the fourth. The inning didn’t look promising when the first two batters went down on strikes, but Ryan Sullivan drew a two-out walk. RJ Agriss drove a ball to right center that got by the center fielder, allowing Sullivan to score all the way from first. It was the second two-out run of the game for the Knights.
If there was a pivotal inning, it came in the bottom of the fifth when Hazleton – thanks to back-to-back singles and a balk – had runners on second and third with none out.
“They tried a squeeze and bunted it right back to Lennon, who flipped the ball to Sullivan, and they got the guy at the plate,” Manero said. “That put runners on first on third, they tried to steal, and Evin Sullivan threw that kid out, and then Lennon ended the inning by striking out their three hitter.
“That was a turning point because they had second and third with nobody out, and they didn’t score.”
Biasi, who absorbed the loss, threw three innings, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out six and walking one. Michael Kilker, signed to continue his career at West Virginia University, closed it out, allowing four hits and one run (unearned) while striking out six and walking two.
“The first kid was tough,” Manero said of Florida State commit Nick Biasi. “We were able to run a lot of deep counts, and on a hot day, we were able to make him work a little bit, but when they brought the second kid in, he was throwing absolute gas, and he was tough.
“We had our share of strikeouts, but we also managed to run some deep counts and put the ball in play and get some timely hits. Both of their pitchers were very tough, but I think the Suburban One League prepared us for games like this.”
Manero tipped his hat to the Cougars.
“They were a very classy team,” the Knights’ coach said. “The coach is a really nice guy, they had very classy fans – they had a lot of people there. There’s a lot of good people in upstate Pennsylvania, and a lot of them were at that game, but they were very nice people. It was just a really pleasurable baseball game to be part of for everyone that was there.”
North Penn (19-6, 11-5 SOL) will face Neshaminy in Thursday’s quarterfinal contest.
North Penn 002 100 0 3-10-1
Hazleton 001 000 0 1-8-2
#12-1 LA SALLE 14, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 (5 innings)
The Explorers erupted for six runs in both the third and fourth innings on their way to the mercy rule win over the Hatters.
La Salle scored two runs in the first, and it was still a 2-0 game heading into the fateful third.
The Hattters scored their only run of the game in the top of the fourth. Jack Elwell legged out a bunt single to open the inning and immediately stole second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a miscue by the La Salle catcher. By that time, the Explorers, who led 8-1, had the game well in hand.
Jimmy Tooley accounted for two of his team’s three hits. He was 2-for-3 with a double.
Hatboro-Horsham closed out its season with a 14-11 record overall. The Hatters were 11-5 in conference play.
Hatboro-Horsham 000 10 1-3-2
La Salle 206 6x 14-9-1
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