Check out the recaps of SOL baseball teams in action Tuesday. CR South/Truman photos provided courtesy of Diana Leferovich. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National
Bensalem 5, Neshaminy 4
Ryan Rooney’s ground ball to shortstop scored Nick Dean, who beat the throw home, capping off an improbable 5-4 win for Bensalem over visiting Neshaminy.
Bensalem trailed 4-0 heading in the sixth against a Neshaminy team that entered Tuesday unbeaten in league play. The loss forced a first-place tie with Neshaminy and Pennsbury both now one game ahead of defending champion Bensalem.
“They’re coming around,” said Bensalem coach Harry Daut. “They scrapped. It wasn’t looking good, especially with (Neshaminy’s) pitching and they’re well-coached, but our kids, they didn’t give up.”
The other story of the day for the Owls was on the mound. Starter Dom Grady went the first inning, allowing two runs but also throwing 34 pitches. Ryan McLaughlin came in to give coach Harry Daut four huge innings, allowing just two runs. Then Matt McShane and Logan Young each threw scoreless innings, as well.
Neshaminy’s starter Dan Errigo was excellent himself, going five innings and allowing just one hit and three walks. When Errigo left the game, his team had a 4-0 advantage.
In the Bensalem sixth, Matt Silano and Dean both had singles, and Damon Lavender followed with an RBI double. A sac fly by Grady made it 4-2. An error and then a RBI double by David Barnett tied the game at four going into the seventh.
Young pitched a scoreless inning and ended up earning the win, as Dean reached on a one-out single and stole second base. Both Lavender and Grady were intentionally walked, followed by Rooney’s hard grounder to shortstop, which resulted in Dean scoring from third.
Rooney’s 3-for-4 effort led the Owls while Dean added a pair of hits.
Neshaminy (9-2, 6-1 SOL) looks to snap a two-game losing streak at home against CR South on Thursday. Bensalem (7-2, 4-2 SOL) plays at William Tennent on Thursday.
Neshaminy 201 100 0- 4 5 0
Bensalem 000 004 1-5 9 0
Pennsbury 5, Council Rock North 3
Shane Marlin and Sam Ruta each had two-out RBI doubles in the top of the sixth, as Pennsbury broke open a tie game and went on to a 5-3 win over host Council Rock North Tuesday.
The top three hitters in the Pennsbury batting order – Marlin, Ruta and Justin Massielo – went 7-for-11 on the day with four doubles and four RBIs.
“We came out and scored three runs in the first inning against one of their young pitchers, (Alex) Estrada,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci. “After that, he kind of shut us down until the sixth inning.
“We didn’t capitalize. We had 10 hits on the day.”
RBI doubles by Ruta and Massielo gave the Falcons the early lead, and Massielo would end up scoring on a balk for the third run of the first inning.
CR North tied it up with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, as a RBI single by Estrada scored one, another came across on a wild pitch, and Ryan Stalker tied the game with an RBI single.
Then, in the sixth, Drew Hensor reached on a two-out single for Pennsbury, followed by the doubles by Marlin and Massielo.
Sean Hochhausler came of the bullpen and threw 2 1/3 innings pitched and did not allowing a run to pick up the victory for the Falcons.
Ruta’s 3-for-4 effort led the Falcons while Marline was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Massielo was 2-for-4.
CR North was led by Collin Manel and Estrada with two hits each.
Pennsbury (9-3, 6-1 SOL) is back home against North Penn on Thursday.CR North (3-6, 0-4 SOL) will host Harry S. Truman on Thursday.
Pennsbury 300 002 0- 5 10 1
CR North 000 300 0- 3 5 0
Council Rock South 2, Harry S. Truman 1
A two-run single by Jared Ennis in the bottom of the seventh gave Council Rock South the 2-1 win over Harry S. Truman in a classic SOL National Conference pitchers’ duel.
CR South’s Jake Barder went 6 1/3 and didn’t give up an earned run, allowing just five hits and a walk, while striking out six.
“The only reason we were in a position to win towards the end of the game was because Jake had one heck of a game on the mound,” said Golden Hawks coach Ted Kirner. “We threatened throughout the game but couldn’t come up with that timely hit. Proud of my team for the never-say-die attitude.”
Truman’s Tyler Chew was equally as strong, as he didn’t allow an earned run in what would turn out to be 6 2/3 innings pitched, striking out seven.
The Tigers led 1-0 going into the seventh, thanks to a Joey Wright RBI single in the fourth.
After two strikeouts to start the inning, CR South’s Emilio Pallante singled and then after an error and a hit batter, Ennis ended the game with his single.
The winning pitcher was Mike Rabayda, who recorded the final two outs in relief of Barder in the top of the seventh.
CR South (3-3, 1-3 SOL) looks to make it two in a row Wednesday when it plays at William Tenent.Truman (3-7, 2-4 SOL) is next in action Thursday at Council Rock North
Truman 000 100 0-1 5 3
CR South 000 000 2-2 6 3
SOL American
Upper Moreland 12, Cheltenham 1 (5 innings)
Eight runs in the top of the third blew the game wide open as Upper Moreland won this one over rival Cheltenham in five innings via the mercy rule.
“Sophomore Greg Wiley threw a complete game allowing just one earned run on two hits,” said Golden Bears coach Dan Heiland. “He did a great job of staying ahead in counts, mixing pitches and keeping batters off balance all day.
“With solid defense behind Wiley, we were able to limit (Cheltenham’s) hitting and base runners.”
Center fielder Jack Drombrowski had a big game at the plate and in the field, as he was 1-for-2 but reached base three times and scored two runs. Defensively, he ended the game in the fifth by throwing out a runner at the plate.
Also for UM, Ben Paul went 2-for-2 and reached base in all four at-bats, scoring two runs. Ryan Gibbs was 1-for-2, including a sac fly in the top of the first that kicked off the scoring for the Bears.
Kevin Davis had a double and a run scored, Connor O’Donnell went 1-for-3 with a RBI, Thomas Longstreth had a RBI double in the third, Connor English had a two-run single and Wiley contributed to his own cause by an RBI as well.
Kieran Versaw-Barnes, Brennan Polk and Eddie Kelly had hits for Cheltenham.
Upper Moreland (4-4, 3-4 SOL) host Abington on Thursday, while Cheltenham (3-5, 3-4 SOL) is at Upper Dublin.
Upper Moreland 208 20- 12 9 3
Cheltenham 000 10- 1 3 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11, Wissahickon 1 (5 innings)
Ben Mascio continued to dazzle on the mound and Tuesday he also contributed in a big way with his bat, as Plymouth Whitemarsh remained one game out of first with an 11-1 win over Wissahickon on Tuesday.
On the mound, Mascio threw all five innings, allowing only one run on one hit. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight.
At the plate, he was 3-for-3 with a home run, double and five RBIs.
“He was incredibly efficient,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “But as good as he was on the mound, he may have overshadowed his own pitching performance with his day at the plate.
Mike Orenski was 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Joe Jaconski, Kevin Reilly, Jacob Nunez and Jesse Jaconski all drove in runs as well.
PW scored two in the first, and followed that up with four in the second to break the game open.
In the first, Joe Jaconski reached on a double and scored on Mascio single. Nunez then drove in another run with an RBI single.
Mascio added a three-run double in the second inning, while Jesse Jaconski’s RBI triple highlighted the third.
“Today was essentially the start of the second half of the season for us,” Manero said. “It was important for us to get off to a good start on the back end and set high expectations for ourselves for the rest of the season.”
PW (6-5, 6-2 SOL) next plays host to Springfield on Thursday.Wissahickon (4-7, 3-5 SOL) looks to rebound Thursday when it hosts Hatboro-Horsham.
Wissahickon 000 10- 1 1 0
PW 243 2x- 11 11 0
Hatboro-Horsham 8, Upper Dublin 1
A seven-run third inning broke this one wide open as first-place Hatboro-Horsham avenged its only league loss of the season with an 8-1 drubbing of Upper Dublin.
“We lost to them in our first league game of the year,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Pete Moore. “We just came back from Florida two days before, we played Thursday, the Senior Prom was on Friday. And (Upper Dublin’s pitcher) threw well. We didn’t play well and I think that has been on our kids’ minds. Today, we got a chance at redemption against a good baseball team.”
Trailing 1-0, the Hatters’ Benny Wilson put his team in front for good with a bases-loaded single that scored two. Anthony Liott had a RBI groundout, and Bradan Mallon followed with a two-run double. By the time the inning was over, H-H pitchers had a big cushion to work with.
Jackson Treski pitched very well again for the Hatters allowing only one run (unearned) on three hits and two walks. He struck out four, before giving way to Ran Krishanamoorthy, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
“Pitching, this year, is a little bit different for us,” Moore said. “We swing better, we have more depth, but the pitching still sets the tone for us.”
Upper Dublin was led by Brian McPeak, who went 2-for-4, and Jacob Womelsdorf, who had the RBI single to score Kyle Rizzo in the top of the second.
Hatboro-Horsham (11-3, 7-1 SOL) next plays at Wissahickon on Thursday.Upper Dublin (7-5, 5-3 SOL) looks to rebound Thursday at home against Cheltenham.
UD 010 000 0-1 3 0
Hatboro-Horsham 007 100 0-8 6 4
Springfield 7, Abington 6
Max Perry walked and later scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh, capping Springfield’s come-from-behind 7-6 win over Abington on Tuesday.
Abington led the game 6-3 heading into the sixth inning. Griffin Wittenberg went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Joey DiMaria, Jamie Burkhart and Michael Angiolillo all had RBIs.
But it fell apart for the Ghosts in the bottom of the seventh, as Springfield scored three times to tie it up, including RBI singles by Ryan Deal and Max Doll.
Morgan D’Amico came out of the bullpen in relief of starter Jackson Campbell, and shut down Abington in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the dramatics in the bottom half of the inning.
After Perry, who hit a three-run home run to briefly give Springfield a lead in the third inning, led off the seventh with a walk, he was bunted to second by Kevin Keown and went to third on an error. The game ended as Perry scored on an ensuing wild pitch.
Springfield (3-7, 2-5) snapped a six-game losing streak with the win, and will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.Abington (3-10, 2-7) is back in action Thursday at Upper Morleand.
Abington 110 112 0- 6 6 2
Springfield 003 003 1-7 7 5
SOL Continental
Souderton 2, North Penn 0
Luke Taylor was brilliant on the mound for Souderton, twirling a complete-game two-hitter as the Indians maintained their firm grip on first place in the SOL Continental with a 2-0 win over North Penn.
Taylor allowed only a pair of singles to Jake Drelick in the fourth and Connor Ertel in the fifth, but he was otherwise unhittable.
“Luke Taylor pitched great today,” said Souderton coach Mike Childs. “He wanted the ball, we gave it to him and he stepped up.”
North Penn’s Joe Valenti was nearly as dominant, as he also went seven innings, allowing just one earned run, and scattering six hits and a walk.
Souderton took the lead in the third inning, as Conlan Wall singled and went to second on a groundout. Jake Horton followed with a two-out RBI single.
Then in the seventh, the Indians tacked on an insurance run, as Moses Clemens reached on an error and pinch-runner Dean Shaw would score on a wild pitch.
Souderton (9-2, 7-0 SOL) still leads the conference by two games and will play at CB West on Thursday.North Penn (5-6, 3-4 SOL) has a non-conference cross-over game Thursday at Pennsbury.
Souderton 001 000 1- 2 6 1
North Penn 000 000 0-0 2 1
Central Bucks East 3, Central Bucks West 2
Nick Bitsko allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings and didn’t walk a batter, while striking out 13, in leading CB East to the narrow win over CB West in a game played Tuesday night at Hanusey Park in Plumstead.
“His boxscore says everything you need to say about him,” said CB East coach Kyle Dennis. “His control was phenomenal. If you don’t walk anybody in a high school baseball, you’re going to be very effective.”
This was a pitchers’ duel all the way as CB West’s Brian Gilvary was very strong on the mound as well. He allowed just one earned run on six hits and one walk, while striking out four.
Offensively, CB East jumped out to a lead with single runs in the first and second inning. Tyler Young singled and later scored on a RBI groundout by Colin Weber in the first, while David Bloom smacked a RBI double in the second.
The Patriots scored their third run in the fifth, which saw Young single and come around to score on an error.
“Basically, we strung a couple of hits together,” Dennis said. “David Bloom, our No. 9 hitter, has been phenomenal the last couple of games. He’s been hitting balls hard.”
CB West’s lone hit against Bitsko was a bunt single by Matt McCarthy in the fourth, but the Bucks did rally in the top of the seventh against CB East reliever Blake Ravkin.
The first two CB West batters reached on errors and both ended up scoring on a third error with two outs. But Ravkin got out of the jam, as Young recorded the final out on a line drive to shortstop.
“This game was remarkable,” West coach Brian Weaver said. “Bitsko and Brian Gilvary were magnificent.
“It's one of the best high school pitching duels I've ever watched live. There were so few walks and errors. Kyle's guys, especially the bottom of the lineup, took advantage of a couple of miscues, and they manufactured runs. It's a credit to him and how he preps his team that when those few opportunities came, they capitalized on every one.”
Both teams are next in action on Thursday. CB East (7-6, 3-4 SOL) will host CB South, while CB West (5-7, 2-5 SOL) is also back at home against first-place Souderton.
CBW 000 000 2 -2 1 3
CBE 110 010 x- 3 6 4
Central Bucks South 10, Quakertown 3
Jake Trachtenberg went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs as CB South completed the season sweep with a 10-3 win over Quakertown at Memorial Park on Tuesday.
“This was a big game for us with Quakertown ahead of us in the District (One power rankings),” said CB South coach Brian Klumpp. “We did a great job staying focused after getting a big lead, and getting a good league win against a solid team.”
The Titans broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the third and then a huge, six-run fourth pushed their advantage to 9-0.
The third was highlighted by an RBI single by Brock Veit and then Trachtenberg’s two-run double. An inning later, Trachtenberg’s RBI single played a big part in his team’s six-run inning.
Zach Steinberg went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for CB South, while Owen Petrich had two RBIs,
On the mound, Ryan Rieber went 4 2/3 to pick up the win, while Ryan Zakrewski and Colin Mauz each pitched out of the bullpen.
“Ryan had another really good performance on the mound and our offense did a great job giving him run support,” Klumpp said. “I was very happy with our energy. This being our fourth road game in a row, you never know how the guys are going to come out.”
Quakertown was led by Ben Eichorn, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Dennis Pierce had a double and two RBIs, while Adam Ritter also drove in a run. Sean Brennan and Nolan Byrnes each had doubles.
CB South (7-3, 5-2 SOL), which remains two games behind first-place Souderton, will play at CB East on Thursday.Quakertown (8-3, 4-3 SOL) is off until Friday when it will host rival Pennridge at Memorial Park (7 p.m.).
CBS 003 601 0- 10 9 0
Quakertown 000 010 0- 3 7 2
Non-league
Pennridge 6, William Tennent 1
Jon Nase pitched a complete-game, four-hitter, as Pennridge snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 home win over William Tennent at Second Street Playground on Tuesday.
Nase struck out eight hitters.
Four Pennridge players had multiple hit games, including two each for Jason Petrick, Anthony Helbling, Paul Croyle and Hayden Maltby.
Pennridge (3-7, 0-6 SOL) has a nonleague game at home against Palisades on Wednesday.William Tennent (3-5, 0-4 SOL) will look to rebound at home Wednesday against Council Rock South in a league game.
Tennent 000 000 1- 1 4 0
Pennridge 100 221 x- 6 12 0
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