Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action on Friday. Truman, CR South, Bensalem, Souderton, North Penn, CB South, Quakertown & Council Rock North were winners.
SOL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
HARRY S. TRUMAN 3, PENNSBURY 2
Chris Haer came on as an injury replacement for Dylan Jackson, then delivered the biggest hit of Truman’s season.
Haer’s two-run double in the visiting sixth turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead at Pennsbury, and the pitching duo of starter Tyler Chew and reliever Michael Finsel did the rest.
“Chris came to bat right as they changed pitchers with two on and no outs, and it was an obvious bunt situation,” Truman head coach Tim Monaghan said. “Chris took the first pitch for a strike, and with the way the defense was set up, we teach our guys to attack the defense a certain way. After a pickoff attempt, we stuck with it, and we teach the kids to be aggressive and try to hit a ground ball through the middle of a vacated infield. Sometimes, you get lucky with an even better swing on the ball, and Chris put a sting into one and got every bit of it for a two-run double.”
TJ Braisier added two hits and an RBI for Truman.
Chew went the first six for the Tigers, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out two and walking none. Finsel picked up the save, working around a walk and a hit to go along with a pair of strikeouts.
“Tyler absolutely stepped up in a big situation,” Monaghan said. “He really wanted it. He was in the strike zone with no walks and made Pennsbury beat him by challenging their hitters with fastballs on the outer half of the plate. He got a lot of soft outs, left his pitch count down and gave us a chance to win by being very efficient.
“And Mike has pitched in some of the most important spots of the season in relief. He came in in a tough situation and is never going to quit. He bared down after a hit and a questionable call on a walk and got a called third strike for the last out of the game. It was his first career save after he just got his first career win. He’s been money for us. Both of those guys put us in the best position to win the game.”
Gary Minnes had two hits for Pennsbury while Justin Massielo had an RBI for the Falcons. Sean Hochhausler went the first five for Pennsbury, giving up three runs (two earned) while striking out four and walking one. Ricky Palmer pitched the final two innings in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out two.
“Pennsbury is a really good team that has accomplished a lot,” Monaghan said. “Even though they lost key players, they bring back a lot of experience and are a very well-coached team. They’re not going to give it to you, so you have to go out and beat them. We went toe to toe with them, and when they got the momentum, we created our own. Our league is so tough, so to squeeze out a late run against a team like that does wonders for our confidence and future.”
Harry S Truman (4-5, 3-3 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland for a non-league game on Saturday at 10 a.m. Pennsbury (6-4, 3-3) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Saturday at noon.
Truman 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3-4-1
Pennsbury 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2-6-2
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 11, NESHAMINY 1 — 5 innings
For Council Rock South, it was one of those days where everything went right.
Brendon Carter threw five sparkling innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out six and walking none. It was a much-needed strong outing for the Golden Hawks’ hurler.
“This win was good for the team and for Brendon’s psyche,” South head coach Ted Kirner said. “He broke his pitching hand in the offseason, so he needed this game to do his thing and boost his confidence. He’s committed to play at Mercer County Community College, which is essentially a Division-I junior college, and I think he feels the pressure of being a senior. It hasn’t been going as well as he’d want with the late start, and he’s been on a pitch count. I’m proud of him, he’s got a bright future this season and beyond.”
On offense, South banged out 11 hits in five innings. Luke Gregory homered and scored two runs, while Evan Fisher (2-for-2, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 3 runs) and Kevin Jurewicz (2-for-3, 2 RBI) had multi-hit games. Matt Smith scored twice for the victors, who had four doubles, a triple and Gregory’s home run. Rich Dembowski, Emilio Pallante and Jared Ennis each had a double.
“Today was one of those days,” Kirner said. “We got runners in scoring position and made them uncomfortable. We had timely hits, and we’ve been missing that. We moved runners around all day, and the guys had a desire to be prepared. We’re hoping this game acts as a springboard for us.”
Council Rock South (3-5, 2-3 SOL) will host Abington on Tuesday, and Neshaminy (5-4, 3-3) will be on the road at Central Bucks South on Monday.
CR South 2 5 4 0 0 11-11-3
Neshaminy 0 0 0 0 1 1-3-3
BENSALEM 5, ABINGTON 0
On the heels of their first loss of the season on Wednesday, the Owls followed a simple formula to return to victory: hand the ball to Stephen Aldrich.
Aldrich fired a complete game, three-hit shutout, striking out 12 Abington batters and walking just two. All three of the hits for the Ghosts were singles.
On offense for Bensalem, three players produced multi-hit games: leadoff hitter Brian Swentkowski (2-for-3, 2 RBI, run), three-hole batter Nicholas Dean (2-for-3, RBI, run) and Dominic Grady (2-for-3, run) out of the eight spot. Damon Lavender had a sacrifice fly, while Jon Revell (1-for-3, run) and Nickolas Kiesling (1-for-2, RBI, run) also contributed with the bats.
JP Nolan pitched the first four innings for Abington, surrendering five runs on eight hits while striking out five and issuing two free passes.
Bensalem (7-1, 5-1 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday, and Abington (2-8, 0-5) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Monday.
Abington 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-3-2
Bensalem 1 1 0 2 1 0 x 5-8-0
SOL CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
NORTH PENN 5, PENNRIDGE 0
Another day, another win for North Penn.
The Knights remained unbeaten in SOL Continental play with a dominant pitching performance from Joey Valenti. They broke through for four late runs with strong, fundamental baseball.
Valenti fired a complete game, two-hit shutout for the victors, striking out eight and walking two.
“Joey did a great job getting ahead today and threw three different pitches for strikes,” North Penn head coach Kevin Manero said of his junior lefthander. “He’s not an overpowering pitcher, but he moves the ball around the zone. He moved it in and out of the zone, changed speeds and went after hitters. He only threw 75 pitches, and that’s what we want: complete games with low pitch counts, and he did all of that today.”
Atlee Hasson went 3-for-4 for North Penn, including a well-executed hit-and-run in the fifth inning and a two-out, two-strike hit to plate the Knights’ fifth run in the seventh. Ryan Bealer added two hits for North Penn, and Billy Collins added a sacrifice fly.
“We had good station-to-station execution,” Manero said. “We bunted for a run to make it 1-0 on a day where runs were tough to come by. It was nothing flashy today, we just did the little things, executed on offense and played good, fundamental baseball.”
Despite the torrid start, Manero knows how quickly things can change in this league. Not that he’s not thrilled by the way his team is playing, mind you, but at the same time he knows a lot can change in a short amount of time.
“Obviously, we like the end result,” he said. “We like it even more that we’ve won in different ways. Some days we’ve hit well, but lately we’ve had to execute fundamentally in close games, and that stuff will carry over for the long haul.
“We played clean defense with no errors today and we threw strikes, and those are the things that will keep us where we want to stay as other teams get hot. We know this league is tough, and things are only going to get tougher in the second half. But as long as we’re throwing strikes, our starters are pitching deep into games and we make routine plays, we’ll give ourselves a chance. One pitch at a time, one day at a time.”
Alex Podraza pitched four solid innings in defeat for Pennridge win defeat.
North Penn (9-2, 6-0 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Monday, and Pennridge (2-5, 1-5) will host Neshaminy in a crossover game on Tuesday.
North Penn 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 5-9-0
Pennridge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-2-2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
On Friday, CB South’s one through four hitters had themselves a day. In fact, that would almost qualify as an understatement.
Ben Berger (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 runs, HR, 2B), Zach Steinberg (4-for-5, RBI, 2 runs), Joey Loynd (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and Connor McKeown (3-for-3, RBI, 2 runs) had 12 of the Titans’ 16 hits.
“Those first four, they’ve all been locked in,” South head coach Brian Klumpp said. “Even Jake McKeown, our number nine hitter, had two hits with a run and RBI today, and he’s basically been another leadoff hitter in the nine hole. The lineup worked well for us today.”
Ryan Rieber got the start for the Titans and pitched the first five innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out six and walking one. CB East scratched out four runs off reliever Owen Petrich before South’s third pitcher, Kevin Gillard, came on and pitched a scoreless final two frames.
“In his first outing of the season, Ryan had a lot of walks, which is not his M.O.,” Klumpp said. “In his last two starts and one bullpen outing, he’s been really good for us. He pounded the mitt today and is now 3-0 for us in league play. He’s really been able to get ahead of hitters.”
Nick Bitsko (2-for-3, 3 runs) and Sean E’Nama (2-for-3, RBI) had multi-hit games for the Patriots, while Colin Weber and Tyler Young each knocked in a pair of runs in the losing effort.
“Any win in league play is huge,” Klumpp said. “We’re coming off a tough loss to North Penn, and there was no hangover from that. We came back and did what we’ve been doing all year: hit balls hard and pitched well. Our guys came back and we’re ready to go from inning one.”
Central Bucks South (4-4, 4-1 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Monday in a non-league contest, and Central Bucks East (6-6, 2-5) will travel to North Penn on Tuesday.
CB South 1 5 1 5 0 0 1 13-16-2
CB East 1 0 1 0 1 4 0 7-10-7
SOUDERTON 9, WILLIAM TENNENT 2
Greg Delgado hit his seventh home run of the season in the first inning off Souderton starter Blaise Sclafani, but the Indians buckled down and scored three runs of their own in the first and never looked back.
Sclafani pitched the first four innings for Souderton, allowing one run on four hits while striking out nine and walking just one. Andrew Curran pitched the final three frames, giving up just one hit and one run, striking out two and walking two.
Conlan Wall went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot for Souderton, while David Guilbon went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI, Luke Shank was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and Aaron Groller was 2-for-3 and crossed the plate three times.
Souderton (7-2, 4-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday, and Tennent (5-4, 3-3) will host Central Bucks West on Tuesday.
Tennent 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2-5-5
Souderton 3 1 0 4 1 0 x 9-11-1
SOL AMERICAN CONFERENCE
QUAKERTOWN 5, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 0
Following its first league loss of the season on Wednesday, an extra innings home defeat at the hands of Springfield on Wednesday, Quakertown got back to its winning ways behind the strong arm of Justin Guidos.
Guidos went the first six innings for the Panthers, allowing just one hit while striking out nine and walking three. In a contest where both teams entered SOL American play with identical 4-1 records, Guidos’ gem was just what the doctor ordered.
“Justin was on, and he really rises to the challenge every time,” Quakertown head coach Jon Pallone said. “He came in and dialed it up, filled the zone with a lot of strikes. He’s on a mission this year. He feels he’s got a chip on his shoulder after not getting an all-league mention last year. He wants to prove it to people, and today he battled.”
On offense for the Panthers, the middle and bottom of the order did the majority of the damage. JJ Paul was 4-for-4 with two runs scored out of the five hole, cleanup hitter Brian Robison was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Mason Hicks went 2-for-3 with an RBI out of the six hole. This allowed the 7-8-9 trio of Nathaniel Barnes, Nolan Byrnes and Bradley Bryan to succeed, as each picked up a hit and an RBI.
“Two of JJ’s hits were with two strikes, and when a hitter is confident with two strikes he is dangerous,” Pallone said. “One of his other hits was on the first pitch, so it doesn’t matter where in the count it is, he just squares it up.
“Brian Robison had a good day, he had the game-tying double off the top of the fence against Springfield that was six inches from winning the game with a home run. Mason has had some timely hits and had a big double today. It’s as deep of a lineup as I’ve had here, and we feel our 7-8-9 hitters could just as easily bat first or second.”
The loss to Springfield was frustrating, no doubt, but Quakertown proved to have a short memory in Friday’s bounce-back win.
“We were not happy with the Springfield loss, but you’ve always got to turn the page and go on to the next one,” Pallone said. “Tomorrow is always a new day, and we came out today and rose to the challenge. When we arrived to the field, Wednesday was a thing of the past. It wasn’t even on our minds. Baseball is a tough sport, and you can’t let your memory become emotional.”
Anthony Tomassetti had a double for the Colonials, while starting pitcher Ben Mascio went the first five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out nine and walking just one in the losing effort.
Quakertown (5-2, 5-1 SOL) will be on the road at Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-3, 4-2) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.
Quakertown 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 5-11-0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-2-0
NON-CONFERENCE
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 10, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 7
In Friday’s lone crossover game, Council Rock North busted out for a big five-run fourth inning and then held off a late rally from the Bucks.
Eight of the nine starting hitters for the Indians collected at least one hit, with the headliners including Cavan Tully (1-for-3, 2 RBI, run), Matt Shenot (2-for-4, RBI, run), Jason Walter (1-for-4, 3 RBI), CJ Donofry (1-for-3, RBI, two runs) and Carson Shane (2-for-3, RBI). Top to bottom, the lineup produced 10 hits, as even nine-hole hitter Pat Kusters crossed the plate twice for the victors.
“We were below .500 last year, so there’s been a lot of positives with this group,” North head coach Matt Schram said. “The good news is that all of those runs in the fourth inning came with two outs, which indicates timely, clutch hitting. Guys are working deep counts and being selective, yet aggressive.
“I’ve been pleased with their approach, especially the second time through the order. Up and down the lineup, it’s deep. I feel like if I turned it upside down and had the bottom hit at the top, it’d still be just as productive. Guys are getting on and getting in, and that’s the recipe to scoring runs and winning games.”
Ryan Stalker, who had also pitched on Tuesday, went the first three innings for North, allowing two unearned runs and four hits to pair with three strikeouts and one walk. Gavin Ferrandino went the next 3.2, giving up five runs (three earned) with six punchouts and four walks. Nolan Hartwell came on to get the final out with the Bucks attempting a seventh-inning rally.
“Ryan is a strike thrower,” Schram said. “He’s really crafty moving the ball in and out of the zone, he just didn’t have his electric stuff today with it being windy and cold again.
“Gavin, he’s a big horse for us and he threw decent today. He struggled at first, then really settled in until they scored some runs at the end. One thing we have to work on is finishing innings and not booting the ball around, which we did with three innings today. Those things are fixable, but they can lose games for you as well.”
Tyler Dalzell (2-for-4, RBI, run), Luke Nitschke (2-for-4, RBI, run) and Rhys Nicholas (2-for-3, RBI, run) all had multi-hit games for the Bucks, while Brian Gilvary scored twice and knocked in two in the losing cause.
Council Rock North (6-3, 3-2 SOL) will host Abington Monday, and Central Bucks West (1-9, 1-5) will be on the road at William Tennent on Tuesday.
CR North 1 1 0 5 2 1 0 10-10-3
CB West 0 0 2 1 0 0 4 7-9-3
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