Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Saturday. North Penn/Hazleton photos provided courtesy of Cindy Manero/NP Baseball. Hatboro-Horsham/ Wissahickon photos provided by Dan Beck.
SOL Patriot Division
NESHAMINY 5, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1
Liam DelGuerico and Matt Mays were key pieces of last year’s Redskin pitching staff and figure to play even more prominent roles this season. If Saturday’s performances are any indication, the Redskins are in good hands.
“Justus Agosto is the only one that left from the main three that we had last year,” said coach Dan Toner of the righthanded pitcher who is now playing at the University of New Orleans. “We had a couple of other guys too, but most of our innings were ate up by Agosto and DelGuerico last year, and Mays was our closer. He was incredible in the closer role, and now he is a starter, and he picked up exactly where he left off last year.
“Mays started the game for us, and we were just looking at pitch count and all those things, and we knew we were going to bring in Liam also. Liam is obviously a proven player, a proven senior. We’re pretty excited about those two guys.”
Mays, who notched the win, allowed just one hit – a solo home run by Matthew Camp in the fifth – in six solid innings, fanning five and walking one. DelGuerico did not allow a hit in two scoreless innings to close it out, striking out five and walking two.
The Redskins benefitted from four straight walks to put a run on the board in the second inning without collecting a hit. They all but sealed the Golden Hawks’ fate with four runs in the third to go on top 5-0.
In the third, Jake Kozlowski lined a double to left in between a pair of Golden Hawk miscues. With one out, Joel Bonner roped an RBI double to center, and Bobby Hansen followed with a single to drive in a pair. Camp’s solo home run accounted for the game’s final run.
The Redskins collected six hits off a duo of Rock South pitchers.
Trey Sajeski threw 2.1 innings to open the game for the Golden Hawks, allowing three hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out five and walking four. Chase Ennis scattered three hits in 3.2 strong innings of scoreless relief, striking out six and walking one.
“Hitting is not our main focus,” Toner said. “Anything we do with hitting is a bonus for us. It’s pitching, defense and baserunning, and that’s how we created a lot of runs today.
“They gave us some free passes with walks, and we took advantage of any little mistake that they made, and that’s where we scored a lot of our runs. We also had (Jake) Kozlowski come up with a double, Joel Bonner, who’s a sophomore, came up and hit a double. We had clutch hitting in the right scenarios.
“I was nervous because it was our first game out. I didn’t get any non-league games in before our league season. I was a little nervous. I knew South was pretty good this year. Luckily, it worked out in our favor.”
Neshaminy (1-0 SOL) will host Pennsbury in an early season rivalry game on Tuesday, and Council Rock South (1-1, 0-1) will have a rivalry game of its own when the Golden Hawks travel to Council Rock North on Tuesday.
Council Rock South 000 100 0 1-1-4
Neshaminy 014 000 x 5-4-0
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
In a battle of marquee pitchers – Rock North’s Collin Williams, a Radford commit, and South’s Robby Porco, a West Virginia University commit, it was Williams with the edge in Saturday’s SOL contest.
“I would call it one of those SOL heavyweight matches between two great pitchers,” CRN coach Matt Schram said. “It was awesome, it was a lot of fun.”
Williams turned in a dazzling four-hit complete game shutout, striking out 16 and walking one. Sixty-six of his 91 pitches were for strikes.
“He had a great day,” Schram said. “His command was the best it’s ever been. He just attacked the strike zone. He was ahead in every count practically. That was the best I’ve ever seen him throw.
“When I heard about the 16 strikeouts at the end of the game – it didn’t feel like that type of game. CB South is a good team. They battled every at-bat, but when you think back at it – Collin was at his best at an early time in the season, but Porco was equally impressive.”
This was one of those rare games where neither pitcher deserved to lose. Porco threw 90 pitches in six standout innings – 60 for strikes. He scattered five hits, allowed two runs (only one earned) while striking out 11 and walking one.
“This is the first time I’ve seen him throw,” Schram said. “He’s real big, he throws hard, he’s on top of you. Our league has so many good pitchers.”
The Indians put an unearned run on the board in the bottom of the second. Josh Huddy lined a single to center to lead off the inning, and he advanced to third when J Tang was safe on an error. Huddy scored on an errant pickoff throw, spotting the Indians a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Indians added a run. Austin Stalker singled to lead off the inning, he stole second, moved up to third on Leor Kedar’s groundout to the right side and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead that held the rest of the way.
“It was one of those games where all the little things matter,” Schram said. “Our number three hitter hits a ball to the right side, we get a runner on third with two outs, and we get a wild pitch and scored. That was manufacturing a run. Both of them were hard fought runs.”
Williams was as strong at the end as he was in the beginning. In the seventh inning, the Titans had a runner on second after Hunter Petrich collected a one-out single and advanced to second on an error. Williams struck out the next two batters he faced and recorded all three outs in the inning on strikeouts.
“He’s been working his tail off,” Schram said of Williams. “I’m sure all the coaches are saying that about a lot of their guys.
“His offseason workout was unmatched. He was in the weight room, in the gym, running. He has done everything in his power to be in the best shape now. Some pitchers wait until the middle of the season until they get in baseball shape. He made sure that he was in baseball shape as soon as the season started.”
Huddy’s 2-for-3 day at the plate led the Indians. No one on CB South’s side had more than one hit.
Council Rock North (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman on Monday, and Central Bucks South (0-1) will host Central Bucks East on Thursday.
Central Bucks South 000 000 0 0-4-3
Council Rock North 011 000 x 2-5-0
SOL Liberty Division
HATBORO-HORSHAM 5, WISSAHICKON 0
Game one of an away/away doubleheader on Saturday morning could not have gone much better than it did for the Hatters. Much of the credit for that goes to pitcher Cole Fisher, who tossed a
complete game gem. He scattered just four hits in the seven-inning shutout, striking out 13 and walking two.
“We had just a dominant effort the first game from Cole Fisher – he was tremendous on the mound,” H-H coach Pete Moore said. “Thirteen strikeouts, two walks, four hits, no runs, a complete game effort.
“The thing about Cole is – not only does he have great stuff, but he is the epitome of a competitor. He’s going to get out on the mound and give everything he has. Last year, he was our number two, and he hadn’t pitched in over a year coming into it, but when you present Cole with a challenge, he’s going to grind, he’s going to find a way to get the job done and give you his best effort, no matter what’s going on. His competitive spirit is one thing, and the ability to pound the zone is pretty special.”
Moore also credited the play of Fisher’s batterymate.
“Zach Greenberg was tremendous behind the plate,” the Hatters’ coach said. “He really does an outstanding job defensively, and he was 1-for-3 at the plate.
“You have eight guys who always see the catcher, and he’s a great presence for guys to be looking at. He receives well, blocks well, throws extremely well. His emergence and his leadership over the first couple of games has been really nice.”
The Hatters put three runs – all unearned – on the board in the top of the first inning. Trey Porter led off with a ground single to center, and he scored on a passed ball. A pair of Trojan miscues set the stage for a two-out, two run double to center by Will Bruner.
In the second inning, the Hatters added a pair of runs. Noah Schlosser lined a double to right to lead off the frame, and Zach Greenberg legged out a bunt single. Schlosser, who moved up to third on a sac bunt, scored when Porter lofted a sacrifice fly to right. Courtesy runner Kyle Dittus stole second, and he scored when Jack Elwell singled to left, giving the Hatters a 5-0 lead that held the rest of the way.
“We’ve got experience up and down our lineup, and our goal this year is to grind out at-bats one through nine,” Moore said. “We want to put pressure on teams throughout the entire lineup, and I couldn’t have been more happy with the effort we got from one through nine today in both games.”
The Hatters managed just six hits off a pair of Trojan hurlers. Ben Junker threw the first six innings for the Trojans, allowing six hits and five runs (two earned) while walking one and striking out four. Nate DeVincent did not allow a hit in a scoreless seventh to close out the game. He struck out one.
Playing a doubleheader on Saturday was not in the Hatters’ plans until Friday’s game against Wissahickon was postponed due to wet field conditions at Hatboro-Horsham.
“We were not able to host them today, and Jim DiGuiseppe from (Archbishop) Wood reached out and asked if I had any interest in playing today,” Moore said. “I wanted to get our guys on the field and get some work in. I thought, ‘Yes, let’s do it,’ and we set that up in the afternoon, and then I was talking to Andy Noga from Wissahickon, and he said that his field would be okay, and he was able to host.”
A conversation with Moore’s athletic director, Lou James, confirmed it was okay to play two games in one day, setting the wheels in motion.
“It was a great opportunity for us to get out and get a lot of at-bats in. Everybody on our roster played today,” Moore said. “It was a really good day for our program.”
Hatboro-Horsham (1-2, 1-0 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Wednesday, and Wissahickon (0-2) will be on the road at Abington on Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham 320 000 0 5-6-0
Wissaickon 000 000 0 0-4-3
Non-league
NORTH PENN 4, HAZLETON 1
North Penn coach Kevin Manero is a big believer that non-league games – considered meaningless by some outsiders – have a great deal of value even though they don’t count toward the District
One power rankings.
“Hazleton is a very good team,” the Knights’ coach said. “We want teams like that on our schedule early in the season.
“There’s a lot of things we have to find out about ourselves, and one of the things we need to find out is what we have for pitching depth, and today, we threw five pitchers. They all went out and competed. We played great defense. The winning pitcher was a sophomore that we just called up this week.”
Henry Wetzel, who notched the win, threw two innings in the middle of the game, allowing one run and one hit while striking out one and walking none.
“In these games, guys show us stuff,” Manero said. “Henry Wetzel threw a five-pitch inning, and then the next inning he went out, and he had the bases loaded with nobody out.
“He could have unraveled, it could have turned into a big inning. He kept his cool – sacrifice fly, and two outs later out of the inning, no problem. Seeing how young guys respond in those situations – that’s what these games are all about.”
Also delivering strong outings for the Knights were Joey Mendez (1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 BB, 1K), Christian Oh (1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 3K), Cris LaRosa (1 IP, 1 it, 0 runs, 0 BB, 1K) and Jack Picozzi (2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 BB, 1K).
The Knights put an unearned run on the board in the second. Quinn Marett hit a two-out double to center field, and he moved up to third on an error and score on a dropped third strike.
In the third inning, Ethan Cohen led off with a double to left. Two outs later, Zach Warner was hit by a pitch, and Tyler Bohn followed and single to right, plating Cohen. Marett lined a single to center that scored Warner and gave the Knights a 3-0 lead.
Hazleton plated a run in the top of the fourth, but the Knights got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Justin Egner led off with a single and advanced to second when Jack Picozzi drew a walk. He moved up to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sullivan for the final 4-1 final.
Marett was the lone Knights with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and one RBI.
North Penn (2-0) will travel to Pennridge on Tuesday for its SOL opener.
Hazleton 000 100 0 1-4-2
North Penn 012 100 x 4-7-1
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 15, HATBORO-HORSHAM 12
Pitching dominated game one of the Hatters’ away and away twinbill on Saturday, but hitting was the name of the game in the second contest, a non-league game at Archbishop Wood. The two teams used seven pitchers combined, four by the Hatters, and they combined for 21 hits and 27 runs.
The Hatters jumped out to a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs in each of the first three innings. The Vikings erupted for eight runs in the third to go on top 9-6 only to watch the Hatters regain the lead with five runs in the top of the fifth. No lead was safe in this one, and the Vikings erased a 12-11 Hatter lead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth for the 15-12 final.
Offensive highlights for the Hatters included a two-run home run by Cole Fisher in the top of the first, a two-run home run by Will Bruner in the third that gave the Hatters a 6-1 advantage. In the top of the fifth Trey Porter delivered a three-run home run to center that gave the Hatters an 11-9 advantage that was erased in the bottom of the inning.
Nick Katherine led the Hatters’ 10-hit attack, finishing 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Schlosser was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs score, and Porter was 2-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Ryan Toporowski was 0-for-2 but scored three runs.
Hatboro-Horsham 222 051 0 12-10-2
Archbishop Wood 018 024 x 15-11 2
SOUDERTON 9, DOCK MENNONITE ACADEMY 1
It’s always a spirited contest when the neighboring rivals do battle, but the Indians took the suspense out of this one early, scoring four runs in the first inning and taking a 5-0 lead with a run in the second inning. The Pioneers never threatened in Saturday’s non-league contest.
The Indians used a trio of pitchers, and all three were effective. Liam O’Leary allowed two hits in two shutout innings, striking out five and walking none. Garrett Moyer followed with two shutout innings of his own, allowing two hits while striking out one and walking none. Jack Wright threw the final three, allowing two hits and one run while striking out three and walking none.
“I was impressed with our pitching today,” Souderton coach Mike Childs said. “O’Leary, Moyer and Wright pitched really well today, and we played overall solid defense.
“It’s always fun to play Dock because a lot of our players know each other.”
Shanley Wall led off the first with a line drive double to right field. One out later, Luke Pollock collected an infield single. Five straight walks pushed four runs across. In the second inning, Chris McKenna led off with a single and advanced to third on a two-base error. He scored one out later when Carter Jagiela singled. The Indians led 5-0 on their way to the decisive win.
Eighteen different players had an at-bat in Saturday’s contest. The Indians had just six hits. Jagliela had a pair of RBIs while Andrew Trumbore, Ethan Warner, Justin Dicesare, Joey Crecca, Hunter Wetzel and Will McCausland each had an RBI.
Souderton (1-1) will travel to Central Bucks East for Tuesday’s SOL opener.
Dock Mennonite 000 000 1 1-6-1
Souderton 410 130 x 9-6-3
LIBERTY 10, HARRY S TRUMAN 3
Four Truman pitchers – Ryan Cavanaugh, James Baker, Alex Matlack and Andrew Armstrong – combined to allow just five hits and no earned runs in Saturday’s non-league game at Liberty. That was the good news. The bad news was the Tigers’ defense struggled, and Liberty put 10 runs on the board – not one of them earned.
The Tigers also had only five hits. Mike Burns was 2-for-4 with one run scored. James Baker had Truman’s lone RBI.
Harry S Truman (1-1) will host Council Rock North on Monday.
Harry S Truman 100 002 0 3
Liberty 041 212 x 10
Friday, April 1
SOL Freedom Division
UPPER MORELAND 11, LOWER MORELAND 8
Scoring runs was not a problem for either team in Friday’s SOL contest, and both teams scored in all seven innings with the exception of the bottom of the fourth when the Lions were held without a run.
“It was good to get a win, I’m happy for the kids,” UM first-year coach Jim Fasano said. “We showed some guts today, and we’re gonna need ‘em.
“Our pitchers have to get ahead in counts, and our defense needs to cut back on the errors, but we will work and improve. It’s a great group of boys and I’m proud to be a part of their lives.”
The Golden Bears took a lead they would not lose with a three-run uprising in the top of the fourth. Jimmy Torpey drew a leadoff walk and scored when Nate O’Connor followed and roped a double into center field. One out later, Jaryd Meehl was hit by a pitch, and two runs crossed the plate when Paul Meyers lined a double to left that gave the Golden Bears a 6-4 lead.
The Lions pulled to within one (7-6) with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Golden Bears added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to go on top 9-6, using singles by Meyers, Shawn Townsend, Jared McCellan (RBI) and Patrick Kilgus (RBI).
Lower Moreland plated a single run in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI double by Mike Pennisi.
For good measure, UM scored two runs in the top of the seventh. Meyers drove in a run with a double and Townsend’s RBI single put the Bears on top 11-7. The Lions scored a run in the bottom of the inning and left a pair on base, but the Golden Bears escaped with the win.
Townsend ignited the Golden Bears’ 13-hit attack out of the leadoff spot, finishing 3-for-4 with a solo home run to lead off the third inning. He scored three runs and had a pair of RBIs. O’Connor was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and one RBI, and Meyers was 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run and three RBIs. McCellan was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
For the Lions, Matt Dymowski (2-for-5, 1 run) and Donato Incollingo (2-for-3, 2 runs) had multiple hits.
Upper Moreland (1-1 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Wednesday, and Lower Moreland (1-2, 0-2) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Monday.
Upper Moreland 111 312 2 11-13-4
Lower Moreland 211 021 1 8-9-1
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