Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Tuesday. Wissahickon/UM photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. (NP/Hazleton photos provided courtesy of Cindy Manero/NP Baseball)
SOL Liberty Division
WISSAHICKON 7, UPPER MORELAND 3
The Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first only to watch the Trojans jump out to a 5-1 lead after two innings. UM pulled to within two but would get no closer as the trio of Adam Hajdak, Jake Fuhrmeister and Gavin Malloy limited them to just four hits.
“Hajdak did a nice job battling through despite not having his best stuff,” Wissahickon coach Andy Noga said. “He found his way out of jams he created in early innings.
“Fuhrmeister and Malloy did a great job in relief, pounding the zone with fastballs and breaking balls.”
The Golden Bears put a run on the board in the top of the first without a hit, and the Trojans took a lead they would not lose with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Josh Palutis and Jack O’Donnell opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and the bases were loaded when Justin Miller was hit by a pitch. Palutis scored on Shane Henrick’s sacrifice fly, and a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch accounted for the other two runs.
In the second inning, Palutis and O’Donnell (RBI) were once again in the middle of the action after collecting back-to-back singles.
UM scored a pair in the top of the third. Shawn Townsend led off the inning with a double to right and scored on Nate Kelly’s single. Patrick Kilgus followed with a single, and Jimmy Torpey’s sacrifice fly brought home the Bears’ final run.
Palutis (2-for-3, 3R), O’Donnell (2-for-4, RBI, 2R) and Justin Miller (2-for-3, 2B, 2R) led the Trojans’ eight-hit attack.
“Josh Palutis, Justin Miller, and Jack O’Donnell paced our offense, and 1-9 we did a great job of hitting with two strikes and running the bases aggressively,” Noga said.
Hajdak started and earned the win, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) in five innings while striking out two and walking three. Fuhrmeister threw a scorelesss sixth and Malloy tossed a scoreless seventh, striking out three and walking one. Neither Fuhrmeister or Malloy allowed a hit.
Wissahickon (4-1, 2-1 SOL) will host Quakertown on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (3-3, 2-2) will be on the road at Springfield Township Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 102 000 0 3-4-1
Wissahickon 320 200 x 7-8-2
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 12, QUAKERTOWN 5
The Colonials scored three runs in the third inning and added six more in the fourth on their way to a win in Tuesday’s division contest at Quakertown.
“It was definitely a full team effort today,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “We had a bunch of extra base hits that propelled our offense. And, while we put together a really big fourth inning, I think the two runs we scored in the sixth after the game got a little closer may have been even more important. It is good to see some of our bigger bats get going.”
The Colonials led 9-2 after two-and-a-half innings, but the Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 9-5 game. In the Trojans’ two-run sixth, Luke Gartland was safe on an error to lead off the inning, and Luke Caucci doubled to center, putting a pair on board. Gartland scored on a wild pitch, and Johnny Giordano’s sacrifice fly gave the Colonials a 12-5 lead. They went on to win by that score.
Matt Krawitz earned the starting nod and threw 3.2 innings to earn the win, allowing eight hits and five runs while striking out two and walking two. Chase Fisher allowed one hit in three-and-a-third scoreless innings in relief, striking out four and walking two.
“We went to the bullpen a little earlier today than we’d normally want to, but it was a nice combined effort on the mound,” Manero said.
The Colonials were without a key player in Tuesday’s win.
“Our starting catcher, Chase Olszyk, who also hits in the middle of our order, was sick today and couldn’t play,” Manero said. “(Sam) Stolzer stepped up and did his job, but then had to come out of the game after getting hit in the hand by a pitch.
“So, sophomore Christian Strunk got his first varsity call and took us the rest of the way behind the plate. Certainly not how we drew it up, but it’s why we always say that the next guy has to be ready.”
The Colonials had 11 hits off a pair of Quakertown pitchers. Caucci was 2-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Gavin Rocks was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run.
Giordano’s two-run triple highlighted PW’s three-run third. The six-run fourth included doubles from Lincoln Sharpe, Caucci (RBI) and Rocks.
For the Panthers, Matt Marsten was 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Dan Qualteria was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, and Cooper Natisin was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-0, 2-0 SOL) will be on the road Thursday at Perkiomen School for a non-league contest, and Quakertown (1-3, 0-2) will travel to Parkland for a non-league game Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 103 602 0 12-11-0
Quakertown 011 300 0 5-9-1
Non-league
HARRY S TRUMAN 6, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 4
The Tigers – trailing 3-0 when their game against Wood was halted last Tuesday with one out in the fourth inning – saved their best for last, erupting for five runs in the top of the seventh to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead on their way to the non-league win.
“Our bats finally woke up,” Truman coach Brian Sinkiewicz said. “We’ve been on the cusp. We lost 1-0 to (Council Rock) North in a really tight game and then we lost 6-3 to Pennsbury. We just were coming up a hit or two short, and today we just kind of exploded in the seventh inning and got some really good team at-bats. The kids really believed.
“This was a huge win for our team. We have a good core of seniors, but we have some young guys that haven’t played varsity before and have struggled a little bit. You could just see the confidence today. This was a huge morale win and a big confidence builder going into next week.”
Truman’s seventh inning rally began when Wyatt Spinks collected a one-out single, and Ryan Cavanaugh followed and drew a walk. Both players scored when Andrew Armstrong stroked a double to right field. It looked as the though their rally might end there as the second out was recorded on a strikeout, but Caleb Wright kept the inning alive with a single that plated Armstrong with the tying run. A costly Wood miscue set the stage for a two-run double to center field by Nathan Gibson that gave the Tigers the 6-4 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Vikings collected back-to-back one-out singles, but a line drive double play brought an end to the contest.
The Tigers actually trailed 4-0 after the Vikings added a run in the bottom of the fifth, but they got that one back in the sixth, benefitting from a leadoff single by Gabe Marrero as well as a Wood miscue. He scored on a groundout by Gibson to make it a 4-1 game heading into the seventh.
“It was 4-1 with three outs to go,” Sinkiewicz said. “Our leadoff guy got out, so we have one out and we’re down three runs. Our guys were just resilient and just battled. It was a really exciting win.”
Spinks notched the win in relief, allowing two hits in two shutout innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.
“Bradley Allen, one of our seniors, got five outs for us today, which was huge to keep us in the game,” Sinkiewicz said.
The Tigers managed just six hits in the contest that stretched over two days. Gibson was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and Armstrong was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Harry S Truman (1-2, 0-2 SOL) will host Neshaminy next Tuesday.
Harry S Truman 000 001 5 6-6-1
Archbishop Wood 002 110 0 4-9-2
SOUDERTON 2, UPPER DUBLIN 1
Runs were hard to come by for both sides in Tuesday’s non-league game. The Indians broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the third inning, and their pitchers did the rest. Both coaches used the opportunity to go deep down their benches.
“Seventeen players contributed to this win today,” Souderton coach Mike Childs said. “Our pitchers did a nice job holding them to one run with nine K’s.
“Even though we only scored two runs, it was good to see we had 10 hits. Chris McKenna and Ethan Warner are continuing to hit the ball well, combining for five of our hits.”
The visiting Indians took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Chris McKenna and Ethan Warner collected back-to-back one-out singles, and an error loaded the bases. A walk to Joey Crecca pushed the Indians first run across.
In the bottom of the inning, Brendan O’Brien drew a one-out walk, and Joe Levis singled. A two-out Souderton miscue allowed O’Brien to score the equalizer.
With one out in the third, Warner, Joey Nase and O’Brien (RBI) collected consecutive singles. That 2-1 lead held up the rest of the way.
McKenna (3-for-4) and Warner (2-for-4, R) led the Indians.
A quartet of Souderton hurlers did not allow an earned run. Liam O’Leary threw the first two innings, allowing one hit and one run (unearned) while striking out three and walking one. Tyler Lutz did not allow a hit in two scoreless innings. He struck out two and walked two. Brandon Bieler threw two shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out two and walking two. Jack Wright earned the save with a scoreless seventh. He did not allow a hit, struck out two and walked one.
The Cardinals five pitchers did not allow an earned run either. Chase Sunday (2IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 2K, 2BB), Jacob Cornbluth (2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 2K, 1BB), Brodie Wedholm (1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB), Brady Fogle (1IP, 2H, 0R, 1K) and Westley Gill (1IP, 1H 0R, 1K).
Souderton (2-2, 1-1 SOL) will host North Penn next Tuesday, and Upper Dublin (2-3, 2-1) will host Abington on Tuesday.
Souderton 101 000 0 2-10-3
Upper Dublin 100 000 0 1-3-2
NORTH PENN 3, HAZLETON 1
A Hazleton team with decidedly high expectations made the 90-minute trip to North Penn for Tuesday’s non-league game. Last year, the Cougars advanced to the PIAA 6A semifinals and hope to advance one step further this time around.
On Tuesday, it was the Knights erasing an early 1-0 Hazleton lead to earn the win.
“I know it’s a non-league game, but Russ Canzler has a great program up there, and we need to play games against teams like this early on,” NP coach Kevin Manero said. “If things work out… these are teams we see later on too.”
The Knights scored a pair in the bottom of the third to go on top 2-1. Picozzi drew a leadoff walk, and Chase Jones followed with a single. A free pass to Ben Farley loaded the bases. The Knights’ scored the equalizer on a double play, and Henry Wetzel singled home the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Knights tacked on an insurance run. Mario Sgro reached first on an error to open the inning and advanced to second on Justin Egner’s sacrifice bunt. That execution paid dividends when Kevin Brace grounded a single to right that plated Sgro.
Jack Picozzi was in command on the mound for the Knights, scattering five hits and allowing one run while striking out five and walking one in five strong innings to earn the win. He also was 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.
“Jack Picozzi really played like a senior today,” Manero said. “He was pounding the zone on the mound and had a great day at the plate.
“Fellow senior Justin Egner’s sixth inning bunt was equally as much of a senior leadership type moment.
“And on the other end of the spectrum, Kevin Brace, just a sophomore, had a great day at shortstop. Hazleton is a very strong team. You can’t give them bases, and our defense today, led by Brace, made every play.”
Jones was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Trevor Lugara allowed one hit in two scoreless innings in relief to earn the save. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
North Penn (4-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Tuesday.
Hazleton 010 000 0 1-6-2
North Penn 002 001 x 3-6-0
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