Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Tuesday. PW/William Tennent photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for BASEBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Colonial/Patriot
Bensalem 3, North Penn 2
After three straight losses by a total of four runs, Bensalem picked up a much-needed win Tuesday, edging North Penn with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, including Jalen Soberal’s walk-off single to score Evan Crowell.
“Well, I had to serve a suspension for an ejection on Saturday, so my team really stepped up and played well without me,” said first-year Owls coach Kurt Sowa. “I was really proud of them. My assistant coaches, Harry Daut III and Dave Tighe, made sure the kids were focused and had them chipping away at the deficit all game long.”
This one was a pitchers’ duel between North Penn’s Dylan Brown and Bensalem’s Sean Nelson.
The Knights struck first, with an RBI sac fly by Brian Neal in the top of the second, and then an RBI single by Mario Sgro in the third.
Starter Dylan Brown was lights out, allowing just one hit through the first four innings.
In the fifth, Ryan Brown led off for the Owls with a double, and after a sacrifice scored on an RBI groundout by Mike Kramer.
In the seventh, Nelson led off with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice bunt by Crowell. After an intentional walk to Brown, Jon Ridge sacrificed the runners into scoring position, setting the stage for Soberal’s infield single that scored Crowell and gave Bensalem the come-from-behind win.
Nelson allowed just one earned run over 5 2/3 innings on the mound, striking out 11, before giving way to Kyle Rubin, who struck out a pair and recorded the final four outs to pick up the win.
“Sean Nelson had another great performance on the mound,” Sowa said. “He’s a true competitor. He also started the seventh inning with a double and scored the tying run. Kyle Rubin came in relief and kept the game close for us.”
Bensalem (6-6, 4-5 SOL) plays at Pennridge on Thursday. North Penn (5-4, 3-4 SOL) hosts Council Rock North Thursday.
North Penn 011 000 0 – 2 5 2
Bensalem 000 010 2 – 3 4 1
Central Bucks East 8, Harry S Truman 0
Senior Tyler Behm pitched a complete-game one-hitter and he had plenty of run support, as Central Bucks East put it together for the second straight day, shutting out visiting Harry S. Truman 8-0 in a crossover division game.
“Our pitchers have done their jobs, the defense has done their jobs, and the bats are doing what we always kind of knew we could do,” said Patriots coach Kyle Dennis. “The first five games, we faced four Division I (pitchers). That was a big adjustment for our guys, but it’s paying off now.”
Behm allowed a one-out single in the first inning and then retired 18 straight batters until a hit-by-pitch in the seventh. He promptly retired the next two batters to finish the game off. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out nine.
“Tyler Behm, I can’t say enough about the way he pitched today,” Dennis said. “He’s a senior going to Thomas Jefferson University. He was awesome today. As a junior last year, we didn’t have a lot of innings for him. He pitched a lot of JV games. The amount of time he put in over the offseason to get stronger was incredible. He’s a detail-oriented kid. He loves the mechanics of pitching. It’s pretty cool to work with him.”
The Patriots went right to work to get him run support in the bottom of the first inning. Reece Moody led off with a single, Chase Fulford walked, Chase Harlan hit an RBI single, Jack Mislan drove in two with a double and Max McGrady later drove in the fourth run with a sacrifice fly.
McGrady later added a two-run home run. Mislan finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs. Moody was 2-for-4 as well. CB East pounded out 12 hits as a team.
“Max McGrady hit his second home run in two games out of the DH spot,” Dennis said. “His bat is waking up, which is great to see. Jack Mislan continues to see the ball really well. He had a home run yesterday and two doubles today. He’s catching a lot of barrels, which is really great to see.
“We got 12 hits, and eight guys got hits, so there was a smattering up and down the lineup. Guys are hitting baseballs hard.”
CB East (7-3, 4-3 SOL) plays at Pennsbury on Thursday. Truman (4-6, 3-5 SOL) hosts CB West on Wednesday.
Harry S. Truman 000 000 0 – 0 1 1
CB East 402 110 x – 8 12 0
Pennsbury 7, Central Bucks South 4
The Falcons rallied from a 3-0 deficit late in the game and got out of Warrington with the three-run win over hosts CB South on Tuesday.
“Luckily, this week we just have (games) Tuesday-Thursday,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci. “(Kayden) Faulcon started. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he still gave us four good innings. He had seven Ks and three walks, and all three of those walks scored, so we ended up pulling him after four. We were down 3-0, we brought in (Callan) Fang and he got the win for us in relief.”
After Hunter Petrich and Jordan Chui walked in the second, Eric Damico had an RBI double for CB South. Matt Boyce then scored a run with a sacrifice fly to left.
In the fourth, Damico walked with one out, stole second and scored on a Logan Hinds RBI single.
Hinds, Owen Wheeler and Jack Carver all had two hits on the day for the Titans.
Pennsbury’s rally started with two runs in the top of the fifth. Joe Tiroly singled, Jackson Freeman walked, and both scored on a James Schaffer two-run double.
One inning later, the first two batters reached on errors, Tiroly tied it with an RBI single, Reese Hirsh had an RBI and Freeman scored two with a double to make it a 6-3 game.
Tiroly added an RBI sac fly in the seventh, capping a day that saw the third baseman go 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Hirsh also had two hits.
“Their pitcher, (Justin Marraccini), the lefty, was good,” Pesci said. “He had seven strikeouts going into the fifth inning. We just started putting the ball in play and hitting the ball hard. We started to figure the kid out a little bit, his pitching patterns and we just started putting the ball in play.”
With the win, Pennsbury is now tied for first with CR North with 6-3 records in the SOL (10-3 overall). It hosts CB East on Thursday. CB South (5-6, 4-5 SOL) looks to bounce back Thursday at Neshaminy.
Pennsbury 000 024 1 – 7 7 1
CB South 020 100 1 – 4 8 3
Central Bucks West 4, Council Rock North 3
CB West jumped ahead 3-0 and led throughout against Council Rock North and did so without so much as one base hit against CR North ace Collin Williams.
However, five errors and five walks opened the door for the Bucks, and they took advantage of almost every opportunity and edged the host Indians 4-3 in a cross-division game on Tuesday.
“Collin Williams is as good as his record indicates,” said CB West coach Brian Weaver. “He mixes (his pitches) well, he can absolutely pound the zone, and he gives his team a chance every time they go out there.
“And (Nick) Focella came in and threw two strong innings, as well. So, we got no-hit. We went from throwing a no-hitter two weeks ago and getting no-hit today. Good one for the Elias Sports Bureau.
“Our guys did everything else right, though. We ran the bases well, and we took advantage of openings to get some runs. Our infield played a really strong game, as well. And Max McGlone is the real thing behind the dish. He threw out a runner to start the game, and that really set the tone.”
On the mound, Julio Ermigiotti went five innings for West, allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. Max Slaymaker pitched the final two innings to pick up the save.
“Julio Ermigiotti matched Williams blow for blow,” Weaver said. “He made a run of big pitches, and he competed every at bat. We had a rain delay early on while we were at bat and then we put a rally together. Even sitting for an extended period of time, he came back out sharp. It’s easy to overlook the job he did today, but he was outstanding. And Max Slaymaker did his job and shut the door again.
“(CR North) pulled a lot of the right levers. They put a lot of pressure on with bunts, they moved guys around when they needed to. (Coach) Matt (Schram) has them really locked in. Every spot in their lineup is dangerous, and they’re selfless hitters.”
With the win, CB West is now 5-1 in the SOL (7-3 overall) and will play its third game in as many days Wednesday at Harry S. Truman Wednesday. CR North (8-3, 6-3 SOL) looks to bounce back from two straight losses Thursday at North Penn.
CB West 003 010 0 – 4 0 1
CR North 000 201 0 – 3 9 5
Souderton 2, Neshaminy 1 (11 innings)
It took 11 innings, and a lot of excellent pitching on both sides, but Souderton found a way to win this one as Ethan Warner scored from second on an error in the bottom of the 11th.
“We can’t do anything easy,” said Souderton coach Mike Childs. “I made the mistake of saying this might be the fastest high school baseball (game) I have ever been involved with in 30 years.
“Great, efficient pitching on both sides of the ball today. We went through 6 2/3 innings in 55 minutes and took, approximately, over an hour and a half to finish the next five until we got the win in the 11th.”
Souderton’s Will McCausland started and allowed just one run (unearned) on one hit and three walks through 7 2/3 innings, striking out 13. Jackson Morrisette threw 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief, striking out five.
Neshaminy’s Evan Krippel allowed a run in the bottom of the first, but was lights out through seven, scattering three hits and two walks, and striking out six. Ryan Fox went 3 2/3 innings, allowing just the unearned run in the 11th, striking out four.
“Will was legendary on the mound today, striking 13 which included the first eight out of nine batters,” Childs said. “I witnessed my first live high school ‘immaculate inning’ when Will threw it in the third – all swinging. He had a no-hitter going into the 7th.
“It was a shame we couldn’t get him the win instead of the no decision. Jackson Morrissette also pitched very well in relief.
“Neshaminy was a tough team with good pitching today. Their defense was very good, and I may have witnessed the greatest high school catch that I have seen in a long time when their left fielder robbed Carter Jagiela of a game-winning home run in the 10th.”
Shanley Wall was 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored in the first inning – on a Jagiela sacrifice fly to left.
Neshaminy’s lone run came in the seventh, as Luke Hardnock broke up McCausland’s no-hitter with an infield single. Joel Bonner later singled, and Hardnock scored on an error to tie the game at 1 and force extra innings.
Souderton (9-3, 7-2 SOL) won its fourth straight game. It will host Council Rock South on Thursday. Neshaminy (3-4, 3-4 SOL) hosts Central Bucks South on Thursday.
Neshaminy 000 000 100 00 – 1 3 2
Souderton 100 000 000 01 – 2 5 3
Pennridge 7, Council Rock South 4
After five straight losses, Pennridge coach Craig Whitten didn’t want his team to approach Tuesday’s road game at Council Rock South as a must-win. But he and his players knew it was an important one.
The Rams responded, spearheaded by six runs in the top of the fourth to pull out a 7-4 victory.
“I didn’t want to put the team in a must-win situation,” Whitten said. “I, more or less, said to the kids, ‘We’ve made it tough for ourselves and put our backs against the wall.’ Council Rock South was a big game for us because it’s the next game. We didn’t have to turn it into a must-win game to keep us alive.
“Our approach was good today. We had 16 base runners, nine hits, a few errors. We hit the ball. We had the one explosive inning, but that was just the inning balls actually landed on the grass. We had, at least, competitive at-bats every inning.”
Trailing 1-0, Pennridge tied it up on a Joey Calabretti solo home run to left to lead off the fourth.
“Joey Calabretti did Joey Calabretti things,” Whitten said. “He hit an opposite field 0-2 pitcher over the left field fence.
“Joey put a good swing on the ball, and he hit another opposite field single later too.”
Jared Morgan followed with a single and Ryan Hass brought him home with a one-out double. Ryan DeHaven, Matt Atchley and Calabretti all had RBI singles in the inning too, and just like that the Rams were in front 6-1.
“We had a big hit out of Ryan Hass,” Whitten said. “He’s a basketball guy, playing first base for us. He goes up and swings hard. He adjusted and hit it to the opposite field and put the ball in play.
“It’s a good feeling to get production one through nine. Everyone but one of our starters got a hit.”
Connor Flynn pitched the first 41/3 innings and picked up the win. Patrick Mill helped get the Rams out of a tight spot with two outs in the fifth, and then Calabretti shut the door with two shutout innings for the save.
Pennridge (4-5, 2-5 SOL) returns home to host Bensalem on Thursday. CR South (1-7, 0-7 SOL) plays at Souderton Thursday.
Pennridge 000 601 0 – 7 9 2
CR South 001 030 0 – 4 5 4
SOL Liberty/Freedom
Abington 19, Lower Moreland 2 (3 innings)
Luke Sydlowski hit a grand slam, scored four runs, had five RBIs and pitched all three innings on the mound, as Abington blasted Lower Moreland in a mercy-rule shortened, three-inning game on Tuesday afternoon.
The Galloping Ghosts scored four runs in the fourth, six in the second and nine in the third.
They had eight hits and took advantage of 11 bases on balls and four Lower Moreland errors as well.
Chase Goodwin went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and five RBIs. Anthony Ehly was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Colin Hamsher and Brendan Cabry both had two RBIs.
Donato Incollingo and Mason Tammaro had RBIs for Lower Moreland in the first inning, as the Lions briefly cut the lead to 4-2.
Abington (6-4, 4-4 SOL) plays at William Tennent on Thursday. Lower Moreland (3-7, 2-6 SOL) plays at Quakertown Thursday.
Abington 469 – 19 8 0
Lower Moreland 200 – 2 3 4
Wissahickon 10, Cheltenham 0 (6 innings)
It took a few innings to get going, but once the Trojans did, they rolled in this one, riding the pitching of Nate DeVincent to get past Cheltenham in six innings on Tuesday.
DeVincent allowed just two hits and two walks in six shutout innings on the mound. He struck out 12.
“Big time performance from Nate DeVincent on the mound and at the plate,” said Wissahickon coach Andy Noga. “Nate really set the tone for us as a team. We are very confident anytime we have Nate pitching, and we feel like if we can get him a lead to work with, then he will cruise to a win.
“He was able to help himself out today offensively with the triple and home run. We had guys hitting the ball hard up and down the lineup today which was nice to see.”
Wissahickon scored 10 runs on six hits and took advantage of five walks and four errors.
The Trojans broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the third inning, as Miller singled home a run, and then DeVincent hit a three-run homer.
They scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth and then three to finish things off and force the mercy rule in the sixth.
Aidan DeFeo also had a two-run home run for Wissahickon.
Wissahickon (5-5, 5-3 SOL) hosts New Hope-Solebury on Thursday. Cheltenham (2-8, 0-7 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin.
Wissahickon 004 123 – 10 6 0
Cheltenham 000 000 – 0 2 4
Hatboro-Horsham 10, New Hope-Solebury 0 (5 innings)
Noah Schlosser’s three-run home run in the first helped Hatboro-Horsham jump up big early, and he later added another big hit to help put this one away as the Hatters won in five innings, 10-0, over visiting New Hope-Solebury.
“Noah Schlosser was outstanding today,” said H-H coach Pete Moore. “He hit a three-run home run in the first inning and then hit a double off the fence in his second at bat.
“He is a kid who is one of the best, if not the best, athlete in the school. He’s going to play basketball in college, but he is one heck of a baseball player, a great competitor and a phenomenal teammate. He’s the type of kid that makes a team better because of how hard he plays the game.”
Will Bruner also had a three-run home run in the first and by the time the inning was over, the Hatters were up 6-0.
Overall, H-H pounded out 10 runs on 14 hits, including a 3-for-3 day by Cole Fisher and two hits each by Schlosser, Trey Porter, Jack Elwell and Nick Katherine.
“One of the things that I love about our team is how hard we run the bases,” Moore said. “If other teams make even the smallest mistake, we are taking advantage of it and getting an extra base out of it consistently right now.
“It starts at the top of our order with two of the best base runners that I have ever coached at the high school level in Trey Porter and Jack Elwell. They get us going, leading by example, and the rest of the guys are running as hard as they can all the time.”
On the mound, Cole Fisher and Stephen Plefka combined for the five-inning shutout, allowing just three hits and combining for eight strikeouts.
With the win, first-place H-H improved to 9-0 in the SOL (10-2 overall). It plays at Springfield on Thursday. New Hope (4-3, 3-3 SOL) plays at Wissahickon on Thursday.
New Hope-Solebury 000 00 – 0 3 1
Hatboro-Horsham 600 4x – 10 14
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12, William Tennent 1 (5 innings)
The Colonials won their sixth straight game with another dominant offensive effort, pounding out 12 runs on 11 hits in a game that was shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule.
PW has scored 62 runs in the last six games.
Tuesday, it actually fell behind as Tennent scored a run in the top of the first.
Mike Miller put PW up for good with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. Luke Caucci led off the second with a triple and scored on a Lincoln Sharpe RBI single. Colin Brady then scored Sharpe with an RBI single.
Sharpe hit a two-run home run in the third, and Jesse Jaconski had a two-run homer in the fourth.
Sharpe finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Brady, Miller and Ray Tomasetti had two hits each.
Alex Wilkie-Viscio pitched all five innings for the Colonials, scattering seven hits and one walk, while allowing just one run and striking out four.
PW (9-3, 6-3 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland on Thursday. Tennent (2-7, 2-6 SOL) hosts Abington on Thursday.
William Tennent 100 00 – 1 7 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 222 6x – 12 11 1
Quakertown 9, Upper Moreland 0
Six runs in the top of the second put Quakertown in command, and Carl Weis took over from there with the complete-game, three-hitter to give the Panthers the shutout victory on the road on Tuesday.
“Carl Weiss was excellent,” said Quakertown coach Jon Pallone. “He attacked the zone for 10 strikeouts and zero walks. We have four league games this week, so him pitching a (complete game shutout) was big for us.”
Danny Qualteria had a two-run single in the top of the second to jump-start the Panthers offense. Ty Everitt followed with a two-run triple, Peyton Kochel had an RBI single and another run scored on a passed ball.
For the game, Quakertown had nine runs on nine hits. Qualteria was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Kochel was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Weiss helped his own cause with two hits, Everitt finished with three RBIs
With the win, Quakertown is now 5-2 in SOL play (5-4 overall), with a home game against Lower Moreland on Thursday. Upper Moreland (2-5, 2-5 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.
Quakertown 060 001 2 – 9 9 1
Upper Moreland 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
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