SOL Baseball PIAA Preview (6-3-19)

Five SOL baseball teams will be in action in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA State Tournament. Check back for recaps of the games.

Class 6A
#1-1 NESHAMINY vs. #3-2 HEMPFIELD (Widener University, 4 p.m.)
Neshaminy

16-6 overall
7-5 SOL National Conference tied for third place
Won first District One championship since 1992
Senior shortstop Cory Joyce had a big district tournament, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with 5 RBIs. He is hitting .379 with 21 runs and 20 RBIs for the season. Dalton Turner and Tyler Jones both hit .500 in districts as well. Joe Kaleck (23-for-60, .383) continues to lead the team on the season.
Juniors Dan Errigo (6-1, 2.75 ERA) and Max Temple (5-1, 2.40 ERA) both went 2-0 in districts for a pitching staff that allowed just four runs in four playoff games.

How they got here: Neshaminy entered the District 1 6A Tournament as the seventh seed. After an opening round bye, the Redskins defeated #10 Hatboro-Horsham 5-1 and went on to down #2 Garnet Valley (8-1) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Neshaminy defeated #6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-3) and downed #17 Central Bucks South in the final (2-1).

Hempfield

21-5 overall
15-1 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1 regular season champions
Lost to Lampeter-Strasburg 3-0 in Lancaster-Lebanon title game
Led on the mound by Justin Lichtenwalner (8-3, 61 Ks, 7 BB) and Ty Vaughn (6-0).
Lichtenwalner, a Lock Haven commit, bats cleanup.

How they got here: Hempfield entered the District 3 6A Tournament as the number one seed and advanced to the title game with wins over #8 Cumberland Valley (9-7) and #5 Manheim Township (5-0, 4 ½ innings). In the title game, Hempfield fell to #7 Wilson 11-2.

Will face: The Neshaminy-Hempfield winner will play the Hazleton-Downingtown East winner in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

#1-2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH vs. #11-2 EMMAUS (Boyertown Bears Stadium, 7 p.m.)
Central Bucks South

16-7 overall
7-5 SOL Continental Conference tied for second place
Shortstop Joey Loynd, who missed most of the season with an injury, hit .471 (8-for-17) with 4 RBIs, 3 doubles and 1 HR in districts. Top hitters on the season include DH Jake Trachtenberg (30-for-68, .441, 11 runs, 22 RBIs, 8 doubles), center fielder/pitcher Brock Veit (25-for-71, .352, 19 runs, 10 RBIs, 5 extra base hits), and right fielder Jake McKeown (21-for-62, .339, 23 runs, 12 RBIs).
On the mound, lefty Ryan Rieber is now 6-3 with a 1.65 ERA, including 55 innings pitched. Owen Petrich (2-3, 3.03), Brock Veit (2-1, 3.11), Joe Martino (3-0, 1.91) and Ryan Zakrewski (1-0, 3.03) have all pitched valuable innings in the playoffs.

How they got here: The 17^th seed entering the District 1 6A Tournament, Central Bucks South – on the road the entire tournament – defeated #16 Coatesville 5-3 in an opening round game. In the second round, the Titans upset top-seeded Pennsbury 6-5 and went on to defeated #9 Bensalem (7-2). South upended #5 Downingtown East 5-3 in the semifinals before falling to #7 Neshaminy 2-1 in the district title game.

Emmaus

13-12 overall
4-6 East Penn Skyline Conference third place
Team batting average of .299
Led by senior Kellan Tulio (.429, 19 RBIs, 7 2B), junior Jude Negron (.329, 16 RBIs, 7 2B), senior Brandon Robinson (.329, 13 RBIs, 7 2B), junior Matthew Madigan (.323, 11 RBIs) and junior Wyatt Henseler (.311, 21 RBIs, 8 2B)
Led on the mound by sophomore Braden Waller (6-4, 1.84 ERA).

How they got here: Emmaus, the eighth seed in the eight-team District XI Tournament, upset top-seeded Northampton 5-3 in an opening round game. Behind the no-hitter of Braden Waller, the Green Hornet defeated #4 Easton 3-0 in the second round before falling to #2 Liberty 3-1 in the district title game.

Will face: The CB South-Emmaus winner will play the winner of Wilson (District Three) and Penn Trafford (District Seven) in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

#1-3 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH vs. #11-1 LIBERTY (DeSales University, 4:30 p.m.)

Plymouth Whitemarsh

15-8 overall
11-3 SOL American Conference champions
Junior catcher Kevin Reilly leads the offense at .410 (25-for-61) with 15 RBIs. He hit .500 with 4 RBIs in the playoffs, including the game-tying home run against Souderton. Joe Jaconski (23-for-69, .333, 23 runs, 7 RBIs, 9 doubles) sets the table at the top of the lineup, while Mike Orensky (19-for-59, .322, 13 runs, 12 RBIs, 6 doubles) has been very productive in the postseason as well.
After going 1-1 in the playoffs, Ben Mascio is 7-3 with a 1.35 ERA this season. He has thrown 67 1/3 innings this season and had 82 strikeouts. Brett Bottinger is 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA.

How they got here: After an opening round bye, Plymouth Whitemarsh, the sixth seed in District 1 6A, defeated #11 Avon Grove (4-1) in the second round and then upset #3 Souderton (6-3) in the quarterfinals before falling to #7 Neshaminy in the semifinals (3-1). The Colonials defeated #5 Downingtown East in the third place game (5-3).

Liberty

23-3 overall
16-0 East Penn Conference Steel Division regular season champions
Lost to Northampton 3-1 in the EPC title game
Won second District XI title in three years
Team batting average of .347
Hurricanes led by senior Ben Piripavel (.429, 13 SB), sophomore Jack Rothenhausler (.406, 8 2B, 36 RBIs), senior Marcus Nales (.386, 21 RBIs), senior Todd Erney (.383, 24 RBIs) and senior Caleb Tereska (.373, 29 RBIs, 11 2B). Nales and Piripavel both earned first team EPC all-league honors.
Senior Jack Kraihanzel is 7-1 with a 1.71 ERA, and Rothenhausler is 6-1 with a 1.83 earned run average.

How they got here: Liberty was the second seed behind Northampton entering the District XI Tournament. Northampton was upset by eighth-seeded Emmaus in the opening round. Liberty defeated #7 Nazareth 4-0 in the opening round and downed third-seeded Parkland 11-4 in the second round. The Hurricanes defeated #8 Emmaus 3-1 in the district title game.

Will face: The PW-Liberty winner plays the Souderton-La Salle winner in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

#1-5 SOUDERTON vs. #12-1 LA SALLE (Archbishop Wood High School, 4 p.m.)
Souderton

20-4 overall
12-0 SOL Continental Conference champions
First trip to the state tournament since 2007
The offense has been led by the top two hitters in the Indians’ lineup, junior shortstop Conlan Wall (22-for-63, .349, 17 runs, 7 RBIs, 4 doubles) and senior first baseman/pitcher Luke Taylor (23-for-61, .377, 11 runs, 8 RBIs, 4 doubles). Junior third baseman Jake Horton (.247, 17 runs, 22 RBIs, 5 HR) has been the team’s top run-producer. First baseman Frank Pollock is hitting .310 with 9 runs and 8 RBIs, while outfielder/pitcher Jordan Morales is hitting .280 with 14 RBIs.
Senior lefty Jordan Morales continues to sizzle after two dominant starts in districts, improving his record to 8-1 with an 0.41 ERA. He has 74 strikeouts and 13 RBIs in 51 1/3 innings pitched. Luke Taylor is now 6-1 with a 1.30 ERA, and is coming off a big effort in playback win over Garnet Valley.

How they got here: Souderton, the District 1 6A third seed, had an opening round bye and then defeated #14 Spring-Ford (2-1) before falling to #7 Plymouth Whitemarsh in a quarterfinal game (6-3). In playback games for the fifth seed, the Indians defeated #4 Methacton (2-1) and #2 Garnet Valley (15-1).

La Salle

18-6 overall
11-2 PCL tied with Roman for regular season championship
Won the program’s 10^th PCL title with a 4-1 win over Cardinal O’Hara
Led by PCL MVP and Kutztown commit Gavin Moretski, who boasts a 7-1 record on the mound. Junior Colin McVeigh is also 7-1 on the mound.
Owen Miles (18 RBIs), Jake Whitlinger (17 RBIs) and Charlie Yanoshik (16 RBIs) have been the Explorers top run producers.

How they got here: Top-seeded La Salle defeated Archbishop Ryan 3-0 in a PCL quarterfinal contest and then downed fourth-seeded Father Judge 3-2 in 13 innings in the semifinals. In the title game, defending champion La Salle downed second-seeded Cardinal O’Hara 4-1. In the District XII title game, the Explorers defeated Olney 10-0.

Will face: The Souderton-La Salle winner plays the Plymouth Whitemarsh-Liberty winner Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Class 4A
#1-1 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP vs. #12-2 Nueva Esperanza (Methacton High School, 4 p.m.)
Springfield Township

9-11 overall
6-8 SOL American Conference
First trip to states since 2014
The lone Class 4A school in the Suburban One League.
After starting the league season 1-7, the Spartans were 5-1 in their last six league games.
Top hitters include senior Morgan D’Amico (.379, 11 RBIs), senior Max Perry (.322, 13 RBIs), senior Mitchell McCann (.269, 6 RBIs) and senior Kevin Keown (.258).
Juniors Ethan Hamilton (4-3, 2.32 ERA, 54.1 IP, 37 Ks, 6 BB) and Jackson Campbell (2-2, 2:08 ERA, 30.1 IP, 18 Ks, 5 BB) have been effective on the mound.

How they got here: Springfield Township, the second-seeded team in District 1 4A, rolled to a 10-1 win over #3 Pope John Paul II in its opening round game. The Spartans defeated top-seeded Lower Moreland 7-1 in the district title game.

Nueva Esperanza

11-9 overall
9-5 Philadelphia Public League third place
Senior dominated team led by first team All-Independence outfielder Ray Arias, second team infielder Justin Toledo and second team pitcher Bryant Baez.

How they got here: Nueva Esperanza fell to Cardinal O’Hara 10-0 in the District XII title game.

Will face: The Springfield Township/Nueva Esperanza winner plays winner of the 4-1 Selinsgrove vs. 3-3 Kennard Dale contest in the quarterfinals.