PW and CB East notched wins in SOL baseball action Saturday. Pennsbury/PW photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Non-league
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 4, PENNSBURY 1
In a game that featured strong pitching on both sides, it was PW seniors Joe Rauscher and Tom Yanoshik combining for the win. The duo allowed just five hits and one run, but most impressive was their control on the mound as they combined for nine strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
“Sometimes in these early games, especially the non-league games, you try and plan your pitching somewhat, and those guys did exactly what we wanted them to do,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “If this had been a week or so later, we probably would have left Rauscher throw a little bit longer.
“They’re both seniors, so they’re both guys we’re counting on. They went in there and they threw strikes. Nine strikeouts and no walks between the two of them – I think there were two hit by pitches, but to be that effective, that was what we needed them to do for us.”
Rauscher, who earned the win, started and threw four strong innings, allowing three hits and one run while fanning seven. Yanoshik closed it out with two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and striking out a pair.
“We’re still trying to figure things out like a lot of teams are because we just don’t have a lot of guys with very much varsity experience,” Manero said. “We’re trying to see who can best compete at this level. We want answers to those questions as soon as possible, so when somebody goes out there and has a good performance and looks like they’re ready, it just helps us to maybe answer a couple questions sooner than we had hoped.
“For those two guys on the mound to do that, it was really important. It’s just one game and just the beginning, but for two seniors to step up like that, that was good to see.”
In the top of the first, Luke Caucci doubled to left to lead off the inning, and he scored when Joe Jaconski followed with a double to right, spotting the Colonials a 1-0 lead.
“We jumped out really quick,” Manero said. “Luke Caucci led the game off with a double. It looked like it was to be a leadoff home run – it was to the fence. Then (Joe) Jaconski backed that up with back-to-back doubles to start the game and scored a run right away.
“We always talk about the importance of scoring first, but we’ve seen a lot of good pitching. Their pitchers were good, and in the two scrimmages we had, we’ve seen a lot of good pitching. You have to take an opportunity when you get it, and sometimes it might just be right away. Really for both teams, it was a well-played game defensively, it was a well-pitched game. Especially for this early in the season, it was just a real clean high school baseball game.”
The Falcons collected two of their three hits off Rauscher in the second inning. Justin Mitrovich led off with a single to center, and one out later, he scored when Eric Stradling singled to left field.
In the top of the third, the Colonials put a pair of runs on the board to take a lead they would not lose. Joe Jaconski drew a one-out walk, and Jesse Jaconski followed with a single. Jack Hildebrand’s single to right plated Joe Jaconski, and Jesse Jaconski stole home on a successful double steal.
For good measure, the Colonials tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when Caucci, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, scored on a sacrifice fly by Jesse Jaconski.
“What was really nice to see was there have been areas of focus we have been working on in practice,” Manero said. “We’re now in the third week of the season – two weeks plus tryouts, and we’ve definitely set an agenda, ‘We need to be this type of team and do these things well.’
“Whether it was a couple of plays on the bases, our base running, whether it was our pitchers and how they approached hitters, some of our approaches at the plate in key situations – just to see us sort of translating. We’ve had really good practices.
“It’s a group of guys – they’re very reliable, they really get into routines well, and seeing good practices result in good performances – for the first game to go out there after having a couple of scrimmages where we didn’t fare as well as we’d hoped, it was good to see that.”
Justin Mitrovich absorbed the loss for the Falcons. Gavin Hawkes closed out the game with four solid innings. He allowed the Colonials’ final run but did not allow a hit, striking out four and walking none.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-0) will host Quakertown on Wednesday, and Pennsbury (0-1) will host New Hope-Solebury on Monday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 102 010 0 4-4-1
Pennsbury 010 000 0 1-5-0
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 10, ABINGTON 0
The Patriots blew open a scoreless game with 10 runs over the final three innings that began with a five-run outburst in the fifth.
Four East pitchers combined for the shutout. Aidan Weaver started and allowed two hits while striking out six and walking one in three shutout inning. Gabe Marshall, who notched the win, also allowed just two hits in three shutout frames. He walked one and struck out four. Jack Hamilton, who allowed two hits, and Xavier Sjostedt combined to toss a scoreless seventh. All told, the East pitchers combined to allow six hits while fanning 11 and walking three.
Quinn Moody had a productive day at the plate out of the leadoff spot for the Patriots, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs, two runs and a stolen base. Max McGrady also had a big day, going 3-for-3 with a pair of triples, one RBI and two runs.
Brett Young was 2-for-5 with a run scored, and sophomore Joey Wilga was impressive in his varsity debut with a 2-for-3 effort that included a double and RBI. Jack Nugent doubled, drove in a pair of runs and scored one run.
No one had more than one hit for Abington. Ryan Van Buren was charged with the loss. He threw four shutout innings to start the game but gave up five runs (two earned) in the fifth.
Central Bucks East (1-0) will host Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Abington (0-1) will travel to Souderton on Monday.
Central Bucks East 000 052 3 10-11-0
Abington 000 000 0 0-6-3
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