Check out the results for SOL baseball teams in action Wednesday. Photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos from the Pennsbury/Truamn game.
By Jarrad Saffren
It was upset Wednesday in the Suburban One League. Two baseball teams near the bottom of the standings—Central Bucks West and Abington—upset teams near the top—North Penn and Bensalem. Other developing stories from Wednesday’s slate of games: Central Bucks South is the team to beat in the Suburban One League Continental Conference. And Upper Merion can win games when Jarrett Quinn doesn’t pitch. The results and recaps from all seven games are below.
SOL Continental
Central Bucks South 4, Central Bucks East 2
Dan McCartin continues to be the best number two starting pitcher in the SOL.
He tossed six innings and gave up one earned run Wednesday, winning for the second straight start.
“He threw very well. He was up with his fastball early but he settled down,” Central Bucks South coach Brian Klumpp said. “He mixed in a nice slider and worked the zone a lot.”
Klumpp also credited his defense.
“The outfield made a lot of nice plays,” the Titans’ coach said. “And (Kyle) Rossi made three or four real nice plays at shortstop.”
Klumpp put Justin Mauz in as a defensive replacement at second base in the sixth inning. With one out and a man on first, Mauz turned a double play.
“Hey, that’s always how it works out right?” Klumpp said of his coaching decision. “That really killed their momentum late in the game.”
CB South took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a single by Andrew Dietz and an error. The Titans added two more runs in the fifth on a double by Kyle Rossi. He came up with runners on first and second and smoked the ball over the centerfielder’s head.
“He destroyed the ball,” Klumpp said.
Rossi was thrown out at third but CB South had all the runs it needed.
Alex Bendzlowicz pitched a scoreless seventh and fanned two, his second save for McCartin in league play. Klumpp loves his big three right now.
“Dan Klepchick has been filthy. Dan McCartin’s been great behind him. Alex Bendzlowicz has been good too in the games he’s closed,” Klumpp said.
Klumpp has not used any other pitchers in four league games.
“There are four or five guys we’d like to get into league play,” he said. “But Dan and Dan have just been carrying us deep into games. Bendzlowicz has done a good job shutting the door the two games we had to use him.”
He also credits his catcher.
“Eric Gross behind the plate has been tremendous,” Klumpp said.
Pitching wins. But the Titans have not scored more than four runs in a game this season.
“We joke all the time that we can’t get past four runs. We get to four and just stop,” Klumpp said. “I thought we’d score more the other day at Pennridge when we got three in the first.”
Klumpp is not yet worried.
“We are hitting balls hard, not striking out,” he said. “Balls have just been hit right at guys and hanging up. Our guys don’t have the best averages but they are putting great swings on the ball. We think they’ll start to fall.”
Andrew Collins drove in both runs for Central Bucks East. AJ Curran pitched a complete game and allowed three earned runs. Collin Sheehan had two hits for the Patriots.
CB South (5-1, 4-0 SOL) plays Souderton Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CB East (2-4, 0-4 SOL) takes on Quakertown at 3:45.
Central Bucks South 0-0-0-2-2-0-0 4
Central Bucks East 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 2
Central Bucks West 2, North Penn 1
Three Central Bucks West pitchers—Luke Irons, Jake Manca, and Matt Peralta—stifled a potent North Penn attack and led the Bucks to their first win of 2016.
Irons pitched seven shutout innings, struck out eight, and gave up three hits. Manca allowed one run in two innings. And Peralta fanned four in two scoreless frames.
North Penn’s pitchers were not bad either. Matt Stevenson tossed nine shutout innings, struck out six, and allowed three base runners. He took a perfect game into the sixth inning. Nick Evans broke up his no-hit bid with a one-out single.
Zach Thomas gave up two runs in two innings, including the winning run in the 11th, but only one was earned.
After the Bucks scored the go-ahead run on a miscue in the top of the 10th, the Knights tied the game at one in the bottom of the inning when Nate O’Donnell walked with the bases loaded. Peralta escaped a one-out bases loaded jam with the tie still in tact.
The Bucks won it with a run in the top of the 11th on a Thomas Philipps single, which scored Trevor D’Arcy.
CB West (1-4, 1-3 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham Thursday at 3:30 p.m. North Penn (5-3, 2-2 SOL) plays Pennridge on the same day and time.
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-1 2
North Penn 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0 1
Pennridge 4, Souderton 0
Nate Coyle pitched a no-hitter to lead Pennridge to a key league win over Souderton.
Both teams came into Wednesday 2-1 in league play. Pennridge is now alone in second in the SOL Continental behind CB South.
Coyle struck out six and walked two. The Rams scored a run in the first, two in the fifth, and another in the sixth.
Kyle Yoder drove in two runs and Ryan Gordon and Joe Robinson each knocked in one. Yoder also had three hits and scored a run. Seven Pennridge players got at least one hit.
Aaron Gulibon allowed eight hits and three runs in five innings. He also fanned eight.
The Indians dropped into a tie with North Penn for third-place in the SOL Continental.
Pennridge (5-3, 3-1 SOL) buses to North Penn Thursday for a 3:45 p.m. start. Souderton (2-3, 2-2 SOL) plays CB South.
Pennridge 1-0-0-0-2-1-X 4
Souderton 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
SOL American
Upper Moreland 6, Springfield 0
Upper Moreland starting pitcher Brandon Kohn was not overpowering. He tossed six shutout innings by pitching to contact.
“There were first pitch strikes. A lot of them,” Upper Moreland coach Ken Irwin said. “All of his pitches were working and he was using them all. He was trying to pitch to contact and did a great job.”
Kohn struck out four, allowed two hits, walked one, and hit a batter. He also needed just 71 pitches to finish six frames.
“He was very efficient,” Irwin said.
Kohn faced nine batters in his last three innings. Upper Moreland turned double plays in the sixth and seventh.
In the top of the third, with the score 0-0, Springfield’s leadoff hitter stroked a single. Then he was caught stealing.
“That was the turning point in the game,” Irwin said.
A Springfield hit later in the inning would have scored the leadoff man.
In the bottom of the third, one Upper Moreland runner tried to steal second and the other raced home. Springfield’s catcher threw to second and the runner at third scored easily.
“We practice that and we can’t stop it in practice when we know it’s coming,” Irwin said.
The Golden Bears scored two runs in the inning. The second run scored on a groundout. “As much as you hate to say a 2-0 game is over, it was just the way it happened,” Irwin said.
That was all Kohn needed.
“Brandon was great for us today,” Irwin said. “He’s been great all year.”
Kohn only pitched because Joey Bates was unavailable. Bates got back from Upper Moreland’s senior trip today and Irwin wanted to give him another day.
“He’ll pitch tomorrow against Cheltenham,” Irwin said.
Tom Jacob pitched a scoreless seventh. He allowed a hit but the Golden Bears turned a double play to end the game.
Randy Meehl went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Ryan Lowry was 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Three of Upper Moreland’s six runs were unearned.
Irwin praised Springfield starting pitcher Nick Pave, who struck out five.
“He threw well. He’s a really good pitcher,” Irwin said. “We had seven hits. Some were balls that were misplayed. The scorekeeper might have been generous. We didn’t play a great game to be honest. But we were playing behind a pitcher who was that good.”
Irwin said his team’s offense needs to improve.
“We have to get more consistent,” he said.
Upper Moreland (3-1, 2-1 SOL) goes to Cheltenham Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. start. Springfield (0-3, 0-3 SOL) travels to Plymouth Whitemarsh for a 3:30 p.m. game.
Upper Merion 3, Wissahickon 1
The Vikings won for the first time in 2016 without starting Jarrett Quinn on the mound.
Mike Hutchinson threw a complete game, allowing one unearned run, two hits, and two walks. He also struck out five.
The Vikings scored one run in the first, one in the fifth, and one in the sixth. Hutchinson also had two doubles and an RBI. Matt Choi rocked two hits. Jonathan Eyer added an RBI.
Upper Merion is now alone in second-place in the SOL American behind Upper Dublin. Wissahickon has lost two straight and fallen into fourth-place.
Upper Merion (3-4, 3-1 SOL) buses to Upper Dublin Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. game. Wissahickon (2-5, 2-2 SOL) plays Norristown on the same day and time.
Upper Merion 1-0-0-0-1-1-0 3
Wissahickon 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1
SOL National
Abington 6, Bensalem 0
Abington was picked by many to make the district playoffs before the season. Bensalem was not.
But the Owls started 6-0 and the Ghosts lost their first two league games. But on Wednesday, two Abington pitchers shut down the hottest offense in the SOL over the first three weeks of the season.
Bensalem came in averaging 10.5 runs per game. Abington starter Paul Poppert surrendered two hits and two walks in six scoreless innings. He also fanned seven. Brian Close closed the game with a scoreless seventh.
Bensalem made five errors and gave up four unearned runs. Starting pitcher Joey Benedetti surrendered three runs, none earned. Reliever Tiernan Ryan also allowed an unearned run. Only one of Bensalem’s four pitchers allowed an earned run.
Chris Clewell and Josh Pershing each had two RBIs for Abington. Matt Close and Poppert both added one. Poppert stroked two hits.
Abington (3-2, 1-2 SOL) will go for two straight league wins against William Tennent Thursday afternoon. Bensalem will try to bounce back versus Harry S. Truman at 3:30 p.m.
Abington 0-0-3-2-1-0-0 6
Bensalem 0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Pennsbury 2, Harry S. Truman 0
Billy Bethel pitched six shutout innings and the Falcons earned a much-needed win after two straight losses.
Alec Wilson picked up his second save in relief. Jake Martell drove in a run.
At 2-2 in league play, Pennsbury is tied in third-place in the SOL National with Neshaminy. The Falcons have allowed two or fewer runs in four of six games. But they have scored more than three runs in just one game.
Truman has lost five straight since opening its season with a win over Council Rock South.
Pennsbury (3-3, 2-2 SOL) battles Neshaminy Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Harry S. Truman (1-5, 1-3 SOL) takes on Bensalem on the same day and time.
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