Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Tuesday. CB West/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. NP/CR North photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f12122253
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
Central Bucks South 5, Council Rock South 0
Some days, pitchers are just on.
That was the case for CB South’s Owen Wheeler on Tuesday, and when his team’s game at Council Rock South was over, Wheeler had earned a complete-game, no-hitter on the way to the 6-0 victory.
“We think highly of Owen as a pitcher, a teammate and a person,” said Titans coach Kevin Bray. “Everything worked out real well for us this afternoon. It was a special day for our team and a really special day for Owen Wheeler.”
Wheeler threw 96 pitches over seven innings, walking just two, while 15 of the 21 outs he recorded were strikeouts.
“It’s something Owen is capable of doing, but I wouldn’t say we expect him to throw a no-hitter every time out,” Bray said. “But he has really good stuff. The first two innings – Owen and Trey (Sajeski) for CR South were both lights out – were over in like 20 minutes. I had a sense it was going to be a pretty good pitchers’ duel the rest of the way.
“We scratched two runs in the third, and the defense and Owen continued to get stronger as the game went on. His breaking stuff at the end of the game was, hands down, the best stuff we’ve seen him throw all year. And his fastball was electric.
“It was awesome to see our guys celebrate with him after he got the final out.”
Sajeski went the first five innings for the Golden Hawks, and both of the runs he allowed were unearned.
Jake Yang led off the third for South with a single, but then catcher Connor Wojciechowski reached on an error, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Logan Hinds later drove in both runs with a two-run single.
The Titans tacked on three more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Hinds and Colin Flynn both had two hits and two RBIs.
CB South (5-5, 4-4 SOL) is back on the road Wednesday at Bensalem.
CR South (5-5, 4-4 SOL) plays at North Penn on Wednesday.
CB South 002 000 3 – 5 7 1
CR South 000 000 0 – 0 0 1
North Penn 9, Council Rock North 6
Visiting North Penn fell behind early in this one but battled back in the middle innings to take command of the game, only to see CR North make a seventh-inning charge before the Knights could hold the Indians off for the 9-6 win.
It was the fifth straight win for North Penn.
“It was definitely not our cleanest game and we know we have to play better to win in the league consistently, but we stayed with it, put together a big inning and managed to do enough to win the game at hand,” said coach Kevin Manero.
The Knights had seven hits in the game by seven different players. Left fielder James Magione had a sac fly in the second and a two-run double in the fifth for a three-RBI game.
CR North scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the first, as an error kept the inning alive, the next batter was hit by a pitch and another error loaded the bases. Lukas Mullen followed with a two-run single for the Indians.
After cutting it to 2-1 in the second, North Penn took the lead for good with three in the fourth. The first two batters reached on a hit by pitch and an error, and then Kevin Brace singled to drive in a run and two runs scored on an error in the outfield.
Mangione’s double highlighted a five-run fifth, which also saw Mario Sgro deliver with an RBI single and Justin Egner with a sac fly.
CR North scored one in the sixth and got within striking distance with three in the seventh before reliever Nate Palovich recorded the final out of the game with a pop out with runners on first and second.
Jack Picozzi went the first five innings for North Penn, allowing just the two unearned runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out five.
“This is a pretty tough stretch for us, with three of four on the road,” Manero said. “But that’s SOL baseball. It’s never easy. Some days, you just have to bear down and learn from every pitch and hope that you learn from it in the long run.
“I think the biggest takeaway today is that we’re finding ways to win instead of finding ways to lose. We know what we did well and didn’t do well, but we are also finding spots to be big when we have to. We can’t discount the importance of that.”
Quinn Erlandsen, Leor Kedar and Brian Curry each had two hits for CR North.
North Penn (9-1, 7-1 SOL) is back home Thursday against Council Rock South.
CR North (3-7, 2-6 SOL) plays at Pennridge Thursday.
North Penn 010 350 0 – 9 7 3
CR North 200 001 3 – 6 10 3
Central Bucks West 7, Bensalem 4
The Bucks led this one 7-1 after five innings and then withstood a charge from Bensalem in the late innings to post the victory, the team’s ninth straight, dating back to a March 30 loss to North Penn.
“It was Senior Day for us, so it was fitting that seniors played a big role in what we did today,” said coach Brian Weaver. “Julio Ermigiotti worked into the sixth and struck out 10 to help keep (Bensalem’s) bats at bay. When we broke it open a little bit in the second, it was singles by Julio and Luke Birkhead, then Kevin Bukowski doubled off the fence. Then in the fifth, Julio and Julian Kim walked to load the bases and set the stage for another important inning.
“Alex Valdes added some huge insurance in the fifth with a two-run double. That gave us a lot of breathing room and meant that when (Bensalem) loaded up the bases and then cleared them in the sixth, the situation wasn’t as urgent.”
Ermigiotti went 5 2/3 innings on the mound to pick up the win. He scattered five hits and one walk, and struck out 10, allowing just two earned runs before being pulled in the sixth as his pitch count reached 99.
Cayden Wentz recorded the final four outs to close the game out.
Offensively, the Bucks had just six hits as team, but three were doubles – by Bukowski, Sam Greer and Valdez – and they took advantage of six walks.
“We did a lot of little things right today that don’t necessarily make it into the boxscore,” Weaver said. “We ran the bases intelligently. Matt Carr made a Spiderman catch in the gap to shut down what could have been a bad inning early in the game.
“And Julio and Cayden were just missing on a handful of pitches and didn’t let it frustrate them. They kept battling. That kind of stuff is really small, sometimes forgettable when you’re just looking at the score. But it’s the kind of stuff that can make a big impact over the course of seven innings.”
CB West (10-1, 7-1 SOL) remained in a first-place tie with North Penn with the win. It plays at Harry S. Truman on Thursday.
Bensalem (4-7, 2-6 SOL) hosts CB South on Thursday.
Bensalem 010 003 0 – 4 5 1
CB West 140 020 x – 7 6 2
Harry S Truman 10, Central Bucks East 6
Red-hot Truman went on the road on Tuesday and picked up its fifth straight win, this time besting CB East 10-6.
“It was another really good outing from (pitcher) Andrew Armstrong today,” said Tigers coach Brian Sinkiewicz. “He came an out short of a complete game. He hit the pitch count, so we had to get him out of there. He gave up two runs early in the first inning and then kind of locked them down. He kept hitters off balance and (CB East’s) offense, 2 through 6 is really good.
“And offensively we showed up again with good team at bats. It’s been a good stretch for the Truman Tigers.”
Armstrong scattered five hits and four runs, while striking out seven. Alex Matlack recorded the final out to end the game and a late three-run rally by the host Patriots.
Offensively, the Tigers scored 10 runs on 11 hits. Armstrong did damage at the plate too, going 2-for-3 with a triple and five RBIs. Wyatt Spinks, Gabe Marrero, Luke Olivero and Aqual Chapman also had two hits each.
After Thomas Cano-Piszel’s two-run double in the bottom of the first put East in front 2-1, Truman answered with three in the second and never looked back. Spinks had a two-out RBI single, and two batters later, Armstrong drove in two more with a single.
A two-out error opened the door for two more in the fourth and Armstrong’s bases-loaded triple blew the game wide open in the fifth.
Chase Harlan had an RBI single, followed by a two-run double by Cano-Piszel for CB East, cutting the lead to 10-6, but the Patriots wouldn’t get any closer and Matlack induced a ground out to end the game.
East was led by the 2-for-4 effort of Cano-Piszel that included two doubles and four RBIs. Harlan was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored.
Truman (7-4, 5-3 SOL) has a big one Thursday at home against CB West.
CB East (2-9,2-5 SOL) plays at Pennsbury on Thursday.
Truman 130 240 0 – 10 11 0
CB East 200 100 3 -0 6 7 2
Neshaminy 8, Pennridge 3
Eight runs in the top of the third helped Neshaminy erase an early deficit and also provided all the run sports its pitchers would need in a 8-3 win over Pennridge and James Memorial Park on Thursday.
Joel Bonner led Neshaminy’s 13-attack, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, one run scored and one RBI.
“Joel Bonner was locked in at the plate today after returning from an injury after missing our last two games,” said coach Dan Toner. “We had a lot of hard hit balls today from multiple players in the lineup. Some fell and some didn’t, but it was nice to see line drives being hit to all parts of the field.”
Jake Kozlowski’s two-run home run was the highlight of the big third inning. Luke Hardnock also went 2-for-4. Eight different players had hits for Neshaminy.
On the mound, Ryan Fox pitched the first four innings, allowing just two earned runs and scattering two hits and three walks, to pick up the win. Steven Martin went three innings, allowing one earned run with three strikeouts to get the save.
Pennridge was led by Matt Atchley, who went 2-for-3 with a home run and one RBI.
Neshaminy (8-4, 5-4 SOL), which has won three of its last four games, plays at Souderton on Thursday.
Pennridge (0-12, 0-8 SOL) plays host to Council Rock North on Thursday.
Neshaminy 008 000 0 – 8 13 0
Pennridge 010 101 0 – 3 4 2
Pennsbury 9, Souderton 0
Kayden Faulcon bounced back from a rough outing last week against North Penn with a dominant performance on the road Tuesday at Souderton in what was a 9-0 victory for Pennsbury.
Faulcon allowed just one hit and four walks, while striking out five over six innings.
“He was really good today,” said coach Joe Pesci. “He had four walks, but those were great at-bats. He got behind a couple kids, close pitches went the other way. But he threw 89 pitches in six innings. He could’ve went another (inning), but I told him there’s no reason. I’d rather have him throw 100 in June than 10 more today.
“They didn’t really do much. He gave up one hit and nothing really was hit great. Some fly balls that my guys ran down.”
The third inning started innocently enough, as the first two batters popped out. Jordan Czerniak got the ball rolling with a double, followed by an error and two walks. Catcher Tyler Boraski followed with a two-run single to make it a 3-0 game.
James Schaffer followed with a single to load the bases for shortstop Ryan Zuckerman, who crushed a grand slam to blow the game wide open.
“His first two at-bats, he wasn’t fooled, but he was sitting on pitches,” Pesci said. “Anytime he comes up, he has a chance for a deep ball, and that one was huge.”
Schaffer was 3-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the offense, while Boraski was 2-for-3.
In all, the Falcons scored nine runs on 10 hits and 10 walks.
Pennsbury (9-2, 6-2 SOL) hosts Central Bucks East on Thursday.
Souderton (5-5, 4-4 SOL) looks to bounce back Thursday at home against Neshaminy.
Pennsbury 007 100 1 – 9 10 1
Souderton 000 000 0 – 0 1 1
SOL Liberty/Freedom Crossovers
Abington 5, New Hope-Solebury 2 (9 innings)
It took extra innings, but behind the pitching of Calvin Judge and Chase Wolf, along with three runs in the top of the ninth, Abington escaped New Hope with the 5-2 crossover win on Tuesday.
“It was a pitchers’ duel,” said Galloping Ghosts coach Bill Degan. “New Hope’s pitchers really kept us off balance. Calvin Judge was outstanding on the mound, throwing seven (innings) with nine (strikeouts). Chase Wolf shut the door.”
Judge allowed just five hits and didn’t walk a batter, giving up just a pair of runs in the third inning. He blanked the Lions from the fourth through the seventh to give his team a chance. Then in the eighth and ninth, Wolf scattered three walks, but didn’t allow a run or a hit, while striking out four to pick up the win in relief.
Likewise, New Hope starter John Whelan allowed just two earned runs in his 6 2/3 innings, before leaving the game after 104 pitches in the seventh.
And Abington’s first two runs came early. Alex Dardaris singled with two outs and then Logan Moss drove in the run with an RBI double in the first. In the second, shortstop Chase Goodson hit a solo home run to left field to make it 2-0.
New Hope battled back to tie it up in the third. Matt Rickarts singled with one out, and Brooks Saft followed with a two-run home run to center field.
That’s where the score stood until the top of the ninth, when Mike Judge doubled to score a run with one out, and then scored himself on a Dardaris double. Jake Kaplan later singled home another run to make it 5-2.
Chase Moss then worked around a pair of walks to start the bottom of the ninth, as a base runner was caught stealing third, and then he finished New Hope off with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.
“Jaden Hernandez led off the ninth with a base hit, Matt Worek bunted him over and Mike Judge drove him in with a double down the left field line,” Degan said. “Dardaris was great behind the plate, throwing two guys out stealing.”
Now winners of five straight league games, Abington (7-5, 5-3 SOL) hosts Lower Moreland on Thursday.
New Hope (3-7, 2-6 SOL) plays at Wissahickon on Thursday.
Abington 110 000 003 – 5 13 0
New Hope 002 000 000 – 2 5 1
Hatboro-Horsham 12, Springfield Twp 3
After giving up a three-spot in the top of the first, Hatboro-Horsham battled back in the bottom of the first as left fielder Noah Schlosser, center fielder Trey Porter and DH Jackson Bumpus kicked off what would be a huge afternoon with four runs of their own.
And H-H never trailed again, pulling away from visiting Springfield for the 12-3 win, its third straight.
Schlosser, Porter and Bumpus were 7-for-8 at the plate with seven runs scored and eight RBIs.
“Right now I feel like the top of our order starts with our eight hole and nine hole hitters in Kenny Lutz and Dom Pedone,” said Hatters coach Pete Moore. “Two of them have really given us a boost to our offense by getting on base and driving runs in at the bottom of the order.
“Noah Schlosser was incredible today out of the leadoff spot. He reached base in all four plate appearances, stole five bases and was just a great presence for us at the top of the lineup. He plays with a dirty dog mentality that is infectious.
“Trey Porter smoked a home run in the first inning to tie the game up at three after we had a rough defensive first inning that allowed three unearned runs to score. Moving Trey to the 3-hole has allowed him to take some of the pressure off of other guys and to come up in more RBI situations for us.
“Jaxson Bumpus continues to be a presence in the middle of our order and did a great job of hitting the pitches that he was given today and not trying to do too much.”
In all, the Hatters scored 12 runs on 10 hits, walked seven times and stole 11 bases.
That also allowed them to overcome four fielding errors, two of which came in Springfield’s two-run first inning.
Sophomore Jamie O’Neill battled through that first inning and went five innings to pick up the win. All three runs allowed were unearned, while he also gave up just four hits and one walk, while striking out three.
Chase Canney pitched two scoreless innings to close the game out.
“We got another stellar pitching performance from Jamie O’Neill, who threw five innings without giving up an earned run,” Moore said. “We let him down defensively in the first inning, but he battled through that and was able to give us five solid innings without allowing another run after the first inning.
“He was followed up by freshman Chase Canney, who threw the ball extremely well in his two innings, which was exciting for us to see.
“We recognize the fact that we definitely still have room to improve, and we are going to go to work tomorrow at practice to get better with our goal of being a better baseball team every time we take the field than we were in the previous game.
H-H (8-3, 5-3 SOL) is back in action Thursday at William Tennent.
Springfield (4-5, 4-4 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.
Springfield 300 000 0 – 3 5 3
H-H 411 600 x – 12 10 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12, Lower Moreland 2 (5 innings)
Seven runs in the second inning and five more in the third made this a short one as Plymouth Whitemarsh won its fourth straight game with the mercy-rule shortened 12-2 win over visiting Lower Moreland.
Over the last four games, the Colonials have outscored their opponents 36-10.
“We feel like we are in a good spot at the halfway point of the regular season, but we know we need to keep challenging ourselves to play at the level we will need to in the second half,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “Today, we did a nice job offensively of correcting a few of the things that we were missing on Friday. We didn’t leave a lot of guys on base, and we got a ton of production from the top of our lineup.”
Shortstop Luke Gartland (2-for-3, 3 RBIs, 2R), right fielder Johnny Giordano (2-for-3, RBI, 2R) and catcher Chase Olszyk (2-for-3, 3 RBIs, 1R) went a combined 6-for-9 with five runs scored and seven RBIs. Cleanup hitter Gavin Rocks went 3-for-3 with two double and two RBIs.
“Gavin Rocks has six hits in his last two games,” Manero said. “He hit into a ton of tough-luck outs early in the season, so it’s nice to his consistent approach now paying off.”
In all, the Colonials scored 12 runs on 11 hits, with six walks in just four innings.
Matt Krawitz picked up the win on the mound, going the first four innings for PW, while Cooper Jones recorded the final three outs in the fifth.
PW (9-2, 7-1 SOL) continues crossover play at Springfield on Thursday.
Lower Moreland (4-6, 2-6 SOL) plays at Abington on Thursday.
Lower Moreland 100 01 – 2 4 1
PW 075 0x – 12 11 2
Quakertown 6, William Tennent 1
Matthew Marsten pitched a complete-game two-hitter and also was 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate as Quakertown grabbed the lead in the fourth and never trailed on the way to the 6-1 road win over William Tennent.
“Matthew Marsten was only scheduled to throw a couple innings, but we couldn’t take him out three innings in with a no hitter and four Ks,” said Quakertown coach Jon Pallone. “Offensively, the team did a nice job up and down the order. Cooper Natisin had a nice day at the plate and on the bases, reaching back three times with an RBI, and stealing two bags.”
Marsten allowed just two hits and walked three, while striking out 10 in a seven-inning, 81-pitch outing. The one run allowed was unearned.
Natisin’s RBI single gave Quakertown the 1-0 lead in the third inning. Then, in the fourth, a single by Vinny Pellegrini and two hit batters loaded the bases, and Danny Qualteria drove in two with a single to make it 3-0.
Up 3-1, Quakertown blew the game open with three in the top of the seventh.
Cole Reich led off the inning with a double, followed by a Natisin single. A Marsten sac fly scored one run, another scored on an error and Carter Kochel drove in the final run with single.
Marsten then set Tennent down in order in the bottom of the seventh.
In addition Marsten, Natisin was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, Pellegrini was 2-for-4 and Kochel was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Quakertown (4-7, 3-5 SOL) is back in action Thursday at Upper Moreland.
Tennent (3-8, 2-6 SOL) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
Quakertown 001 200 3 – 6 10 1
Tennent 000 010 0 – 1 2 3
Wissahickon 11, Cheltenham 0 (5 innings)
This one was Wissahickon from start to finish, as the Trojans jumped up with three runs in the top of the first, scored 11 runs on 12 hits and pitchers Josh Palutis and Gavin Malloy combined for a one-hitter in an 11-0 win shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule.
“Good complete team wins are hard to come by in District One, and we were lucky enough to put two together back to back,” said Trojans coach Andy Noga. “I think we did a great job rolling the contagious hitting over from the William Tennent game into today. We had great, patient at bats and really took extra bases everywhere they were presented to us.”
Third baseman Shane Henrick led the offensive barrage by going 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and six RBIs.
“Shane Henrick seems like he’s finally breaking out for us, which is a huge boost in the middle of our lineup,” Noga said.”I thought he had good, patient at bats today, and his triple was a huge moment for us.
“Brayden Ryan did a great job stepping up today, both offensively and defensively, when we had to slide him to center field.”
Palutis and J Miller had two hits each for Wissahickon, as well.
Palutis also went the first four innings on the mound, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out six. Malloy struck out two in the fifth inning.
“Josh Palutis had his most complete outing on the bump of his season,” Noga said. “He kept his fastball down in the zone, tunneled his breaking ball well off of that, and kept hitters off balance all day. If he throws like that every outing, we have a chance to beat any team in the state.”
Wissahickon (7-3, 5-3 SOL) hosts New Hope-Solebury on Thursday.
Cheltenham (2-7, 1-7 SOL) next plays at Upper Dublin on Thursday.
Wissahickon 340 40 – 11 12 0
Cheltenham 000 00 – 0 1 4
About the Author
