Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action on Saturday.
SOL Colonial Division
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2, PENNRIDGE 1 (8 innings)
The Patriots won in dramatic fashion in the eighth inning when Brett Young laced a two-out double to deep center field that plated Jack Mislan with the game-winner, bringing an end to a classic pitcher’s duel.
“It was pretty exciting,” East coach Kyle Dennis said. “That was a really nice way for us grind out a win. Jack Mislan worked a (leadoff) walk, and then we had a line out to center, then we struck out.
“(Mislan) stole second – you’ve got to get to second base with two outs. That’s the only way we were going to have a shot at it, so he did his job, stole second and put us in a position to score the winning run. We were able to walk off with a double. Brett put a great swing on it and put it over the centerfielder’s head.”
The eighth inning came on the heels of a Patriot comeback in the bottom of the seventh. They entered the seventh trailing 1-0. Senior Nick Carter greeted Rams’ reliever Joey Calabretti : by lining a single to center to lead off the inning and moved up to second on Tony DeMichael’s perfectly executed sacrifice bunt. Calabretti struck out the next batter he faced for the inning’s second out, but Chase Fulford lined a two out single to center to plate courtesy runner Ty Pan, who had stolen third, with the tying run.
“Ty is just dynamic on the base paths,” Dennis said. “The hero of the seventh was actually a freshman, Chase Fulford, who put a single up the middle with an 0-2 count to score the tying run, so that was pretty exciting as well.”
Early on, the Rams got on the scoreboard in the top of the first. Conor Flynn led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. With two outs, Jaden Morgan lined a single to center that plated Flynn.
“They got a couple of hits in the first, cashed in on them and took a run,” Dennis said. “It was pretty much a pitcher’s duel back and forth. We had guys on base in every inning but the fifth and sixth, and we just couldn’t punch through until the seventh inning.
“(Ryan) DeHaven did a really nice job, and whenever he did get into a little bit of trouble, he was able to shut us down. We had nine hits, and even when we got two guys on base or a guy on second, we just couldn’t punch through. He kept us off balance.”
East ace Aidan Weaver – after allowing a first inning run – was lights out, allowing just two hits over the next four innings. Weaver struck out six and walked one in five innings.
“He did a really, really nice job,” Dennis said. “He does what Aidan Weaver does. He commands the strike zone. He scattered four hits over five innings and struck out six. He did a great job.”
Max McGrady closed it out and earned the win, allowing two hits in three shutout innings while striking out four and walking one.
Young (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and McGrady (2-for-4) were the lone Patriots with more than one hit.
“We’ve been playing good baseball,” Dennis said. “We’ve been pitching really well, we’ve been defending really well, and we’ve been hitting really well.
“We didn’t play great against Pennsbury (in a 15-5 loss), and we recognize that, but we also recognize that you’re going to have those days. Fortunately, that was in the middle of the season and not late in the season. We can hopefully put that one behind us.”
For the Rams, DeHaven was outstanding in his start, allowing six hits in six shutout innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Ashton McCloskey was 2-for-3 to lead the Rams’ six-hit attack.
Central Bucks East (8-4, 5-4 SOL) will travel to Pennridge on Wednesday for the first game of the second go round in division play. Pennridge (5-6, 3-6) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Monday.
Pennridge 100 000 00 1-6-1
Central Bucks East 000 000 11 2-9-1
Non-league
ABINGTON 14, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 4 (5 innings)
The Ghosts celebrated the opportunity to play at Trenton Thunder Stadium with a decisive win in an SOL crossover contest. They erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning to bring an early end to the contest.
“Jared Biletz was huge today – he was 2-for-3 with two runs scored,” Abington coach Bill Degen said of his nine hole hitter. “We got triples from (Anthony) Ehly, Luke Sydlowski and Biletz. Ehly had three RBIs and earned the win.”
Colin Hamsher led off the bottom of the first with a ground single to center, and he scored when Ehly followed with a double to left field. A pair of walks loaded the bases for Chase Goodson, and his single brought two runs across the plate for a 3-0 Abington lead.
The Spartans scored an unearned run in the top of the second, but the Ghosts got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Biletz, who tripled to left to open the inning, scored on a single by Ehly. They added two more runs in the third to go on top 6-1 and then blew the game open in the fourth.
Highlights of the eight-run inning included an RBI triple to center by Sydlowski, a run-scoring double to right by Hamsher as well as an RBI triple to center by Ehly. Sydlowski also had an RBI single in the inning. Also contributing singles were Matt Worek, Goodson (RBI), Johnny Dzielawa (RBI) and Brendan Cabry. The Ghosts also benefitted from a Spartan error.
Ehly’s 3-for-4 effort with a double, triple, two runs scored and three RBIs led the Ghosts. Also collecting multiple hits were Hamsher (2-for-4, 2B, 2 runs, RBI), Worek (2-for-2, 2B, run), Sydlowski (2-for-3, 3B, run, 2 RBIs), Goodson (2-for-4, run, 3 RBIs) and Biletz (2-for-3, 3B, 2 runs).
In a winning effort on the mound, Ehly threw 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and four runs (one earned) while striking out five and walking four. Pat McCalister collected the final out in the fifth on a strikeout.
Abington (8-4, 6-4 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Monday, and Springfield Township (1-7, 1-6) host Wissahickon on Monday.
Springfield Twp 010 12 4-3-2
Abington 312 8x 14-15-4
HARRY S TRUMAN 11, WISSAHICKON 1
The Tigers rolled to a decisive win in Saturday’s non-league game at Wissahickon, and in the process, coach Tim Monaghan was able to go deep on his bench.
“I’m someone that likes to play a lot, so when they limit the number of games we’re able to play, it’s kind of frustrating because you want to have more opportunities to get guys in that don’t get the chance to play every day in league games,” the Tigers’ coach said. “We pretty much used everyone on our roster, so these games do provide chances to get different guys who are deeper on your bench some action.
“We had a freshman (Nate Gilson) come up and get an at-bat, and he got a sacrifice fly. Under normal circumstances, that’s probably not going to happen. The biggest thing is we want to keep the momentum going. We want to be sure we’re playing good baseball and we’re still winning at the same time. Maybe the secondary goal is getting guys some time, and if you can accomplish both of those things in a non-league game, that’s the best outcome you could have.”
The Tigers broke a scoreless tie in the fourth. With one out, Wil Brennan was hit by a pitch, and he scored when Gabe Marrero followed with a double. Marrero, who stole third, scored on Andrew Armstrong’s single. Ethan Helbling contributed an RBI single, and he scored when Caleb Wright tripled. Wyatt Spinks drew a walk and stole second. Wright went home on the play. Mike Burns hit an RBI triple, and the Tigers had what turned out to be a commanding 6-0 lead.
The Trojans plated their lone run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Shane Henrick but never threatened. The Tigers, meanwhile, scored three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh
“It took us a little bit to get the offense going, and then we had a big fourth inning,” Monaghan said. “Some of it was timely hits. We were aggressive, and we were able to get our best at-bats with runners in scoring position and made some hard contact to force them into mistakes.”
Helbling and Wright led the Tigers with two hits each.
“Ethan Helbling had been struggling coming into today, and he was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs,” Monaghan said. “Caleb Wright was 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs, and Mike Burns was 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.
“Other than those guys – I think we had four hit batters and (seven) walks, so we had almost 20 baserunners today, so we had guys on. We were able to be very aggressive. We had 10 stolen bases. We were able to run a lot, and it put us in some pretty favorable positions to score in a lot of different ways.”
The Trojans – who received a two-hit effort from Andy Yun – managed just five hits off of five Truman pitchers. Ryan Cavanaugh threw a scoreless first, striking out the only three batters he faced. Luke Olivera allowed one hit in two shutout innings. Alex Matlack, who earned the win, allowed three hits and one run while striking out three in two innings. Jeremy Kravcak gave up one hit in a scoreless sixth, and Helbling threw a scoreless seventh.
“We have the biggest week of the season coming up,” Monaghan said. “Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are three huge games for us. We wanted to build and keep that momentum going into probably the most important week of the season.
Harry S Truman (6-6, 4-5 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Monday and then will host Neshaminy on Tuesday and Council Rock North on Wednesday. Wissahickon (6-7, 6-4) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Monday.
Harry S Truman 000 603 2 11-7-2
Wissahickon 000 100 0 1-5-3
SPRING-FORD 13, NORTH PENN 1
The Knights managed just two hits in Saturday’s non-league contest at Spring-Ford – a double by Zach Warner and a single by Quinn Marett.
A trio of Knight hurlers allowed 14 hits and 13 runs in the abbreviated contest that featured an 11-run second inning.
North Penn (6-6, 4-5 SOL) will host Harry S Truman on Monday.
North Penn 010 00 1-2-4
Spring-Ford 1-11-0 1 13-14-1
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