Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Friday. Pennsbury/Neshaminy photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. CB East/Souderton photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for galleries.
SOL Liberty Division
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4, Hatboro-Horsham 3 (9 innings)
After Hatboro-Horsham rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game, Plymouth Whitemarsh bounced back in extra innings as sophomore Luke Gartland picked up his first varsity hit, a single to right field that scored Jack Hildebrand in the bottom of the ninth.
“We are in the middle of a tough stretch in our schedule, playing six games in 10 days,” said Colonials coach Chris Manero. “So, a win like this definitely helps us to muscle through as we end the week.
“Joe Jaconski led off the bottom of the first with a home run, and on Wednesday he led off with a triple. Getting the lead early in both games has really helped our pitchers, and it is a formula we would like to keep using.
“We left some runners on base in a few key situations, so any time you do that, you are looking for a chance to make up for it. With the top of the order starting the ninth inning for us, I think we knew it would be our best chance to do so.”
Jaconski’s home run was the only run for the first three innings, but H-H tied it in the top of the fourth, as Cole Fisher led off with a double and ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly by Justin Kahrimanian.
The Colonials appeared to take control in the fifth, as they loaded the bases with one out, thanks to a Jesse Jaconski single and a pair of walks. Michael Miller followed with a double to left that scored two to make it a 3-1 game.
“Our catcher, Mike Miller, has been working hard to get his bat going, and his two-run double may have been the spark he needed,” Manero said. “His bat will be important if we want to keep scoring runs.”
The Hatters were down to the last out in the top of the seventh, when Jimmy Tooley drove in a pair with a bases loaded RBI single to center field, sending the game to extra innings.
Both teams received solid pitching.
PW’s Tom Yanoshik allowed just two runs (both unearned), one hit and scattered four walks in six-plus innings, before being pulled after 90 pitches in the seventh. Ray Tomassetti pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win, allowing just one run on the one hit by Tooley, walking two and striking out three.
“Tom Yanoshik got better as the game went on, and for the second game in a row Ray Tomassetti delivered a very strong performance out of the bullpen,” Manero said.
Jesse Jaconski went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Colonials offensively.
On the other side, Fisher went 4 1/3 strong innings to start the game for H-H, while Stephen Pletka also went 4 1/3 out of the bullpen, allowing just the one run in the ninth.
PW (3-0, 2-0) hosts Archbishop Wood in a nonleague game Saturday. Hatboro-Horsham (2-3, 1-1) next plays Monday in a home league game against Abington.
Hatboro-Horsham 000 100 200 – 3 2 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 100 020 001 – 4 8 2
Wissahickon 5, Abington 4
Seth Floyd’s double to left field scored Joe Hornig with the game-winning run as Wissahickon rallied from an four-run deficit to win its first game of the year in walk-off fashion on Friday.
Hornig led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, and he went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Aidan DeFeo. After a walk to Jackson Tappen, Floyd blasted a 2-1 pitch to left for the game-winner.
“Michael Fath and Ben Junker had some key quality at bats for us today to spark our offense,” said Trojans coach Andy Noga. “Seth Floyd has been locked in since Day 1, so it was great to see him get the walk-off hit.
“I’m proud of the way our guys responded after a tough loss on Wednesday to Hatboro-Horsham. We were facing a very tough pitcher in (Anthony) Ehly. Our guys battled and had quality at bats to work his pitch count up and get to their bullpen.”
Danny Camp came on to pitch in the fifth and allowed just one run (unearned) over three innings for the Trojans. He scattered four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one to end up as the winning pitcher. Starter Reed Bram allowed just one earned run over four innings.
“Danny Crump did a phenomenal job out of the bullpen, challenging their hitters and trusting our defense to make the plays,” Noga said. “He was able to give us quality innings and it gave our offense a chance to get back in the game.”
Abington jumped ahead in this one with a three-run third inning. A walk and an error got things started, and then Matt Worck made it 2-0 with a RBI double to left. Cody Frazier added a third run with a RBI double of his own.
The Galloping Ghosts added to their lead with a run in the top of the fifth. Alex Dadaris doubled and later scored on a two-out RBI single by Goodson.
Trailing 4-0, Wissahickon made its move in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a pair as a ground ball went for an error. The Trojans then tied it up in the sixth, as two base runners – Grayson Lovitz and Kasey Weiss – scored on a wild pitch.
That set the stage for the heroics in the seventh.
Dadaris and Worck led Abington with two hits a piece. Ehly was strong on the mound, allowing just two runs (unearned) on two hits and one walk, while striking out seven over five innings, before being removed from the game after 79 pitches.
Wissahickon (1-3, 1-1 SOL) is back in action Saturday at Harry S. Truman in a nonleague game. Abington (also 1-3, 1-1) plays at Hatboro-Horsham.
Abington 003 010 0 – 4 8 4
Wissahickon 000 022 1 – 5 6 2
Quakertown 10, Upper Dublin 7
A quick start helped and Quakertown took advantage of 10 errors and six walks to post its first win of the season.
Three runs in the first and another in the second gave the Panthers an early lead that it wouldn’t relinquish. They also held leads of 7-1, 9-2 and 10-3, before a late Upper Dublin rally plated four in the bottom of the seventh but that proved too little, too late.
On the mound, Vinny Pellegrini went the first four innings for Quakertown to pick up the win, allowing just one run (unearned), scattering three walks and three hits and striking out five. Tyler Neilson, Anthony Rostick and Jack Qualteria pitched one inning each out of the bullpen.
“It was a nice bounce-back win today,” said Quakertown coach Jon Pallone. “Vinny Pellegrini pitched well and helped himself with the bat. Anthony Rostick and Peyton Kochel got their bats going today as well.
“Today, we did a much better job adjusting our approach with two strikes and making things happen.”
Rostick led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on a Brandon Pierce RBI single. Two errors in the first led to two more runs, and another defensive miscue set up a fielder’s choice RBI groundout for Justin Butler in the second.
Peyton Kochel had an RBI single and Tyler Woodman had a sac fly to score another in the three-run fifth and Pellegrini added an RBI double in the sixth.
Upper Dublin was led by Kyle Rizzo, who went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and a RBI. Tristan Carnes and Shane Monaghan added doubles, while Jared Levis had a triple.
Quakertown (1-3, 1-1) returns to division play Monday at home against Wissahickon.
Upper Dublin (0-4, 0-2) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Quakertown 310 032 1 – 10 7 6
Upper Dublin 001 011 4 – 7 5 10
SOL Freedom Division
Springfield Township 7, William Tennent 6
Dan Matthews hit an RBI single to cap a four-run bottom of the seventh, as the Spartans rallied from three runs down to edge Tennent in this SOL Freedom Division game.
The Spartans trailed 6-3 heading into the seventh with the top of their lineup due up.
“The top of the order so far in two games – the first four or five guys in the order – right now they’re hitting the ball,” said Springfield coach Dennis Primavera. “They’re doing very well. In a normal situation being down three runs, I would have had these kids take a pitch and not swing at the first strike. I walked up to them said, ‘You like the pitch, you go.’
“The first two guys got up, they hit the ball when they saw it, and they got on base. I had confidence in them, and they came through in the last inning.”
Gabe Franczyk and Nate Dennis opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Franczyk would score on a wild pitch, Will Conlin tied it up with a two-run double to left, and Matthews delivered up the middle to win it for the Spartans.
“I’m pleased with the way they came back,” Primavera said. “I still have some kids that are timid. We squeeze a lot, we do small ball. I have a lot of hitters this year and combined with small ball, we can wreak havoc. That’s how we scored our three runs in the fourth. We’re trying to use all phases of the game.
“I am pleased the kids stayed in the game. I don’t have quitters. I have kids that understand I have a lot of changing parts on the team. I don’t have any clear nine starters. I have 18 kids, and there’s 14 or 15 of them I can put in at any time. That’s what I did today. It’s just that some of the kids don’t recognize the situation and they don’t perform, and that’s just a matter of
practice and a matter of games.
“It’s a good win. We’ll come back and try and fix some of the things we did wrong. We really shot ourselves in the foot today, and things could have gone the other way very easily.”
Conlin, Brett Smith and Joe Smith had two hits each for Springfield, while Nate Dennis added an RBI. On the mound, starter Jack O’Malley threw 91 pitches and pitched into the fifth inning, before giving way to Alex Nguyen and Nick Kirby, who picked up the win.
DJ Dickson went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Tennent, while Josh Nydick was 2-for-4. Dickson also pitched the first four innings, allowing three runs (all unearned) on four hits, while striking out seven.
Springfield (2-1, 2-0) is back in action on Monday against Upper Moreland, while Tennent (1-2-1, 1-1) plays at New Hope-Solebury.
William Tennent 200 022 0 6-6-2
Springfield Twp 000 300 4 7-11-2
Upper Moreland 14, Cheltenham 1 (5 innings)
Two days after being held to just one run against Lower Moreland, the bats came to live for Upper Moreland on Friday, belting out 14 runs on 16 hits in a game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule.
Greg Wiley had a day at the plate and the mound for the Golden Bears, going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and striking out nine in three perfect innings to earn the victory.
Wiley was pulled after three innings and 44 pitches. Josh Henderson pitched the final two innings, allowing just one run (unearned) on one hit, while striking out three. In all, 12 of the 15 outs recorded against Cheltenham hitters were by strikeouts.
Upper Moreland took control of this one with four runs in the top of the first, starting with doubles by Sean McAfee and Wiley. Connor English then hit a two-out triple to right to drive in one, Henderson had an RBI single and then scored himself on an error.
Sean Dallahan, Kevin Davis, and Henderson all had doubles for UM. McAfee, Henderson and Shawn Townsend had two hits each.
UM (1-3, 1-1 SOL) is back in action on Monday at home against Springfield. Cheltenham (0-2, 0-2 SOL) hosts Lower Moreland on Monday.
Upper Moreland 420 35 – 14 16 4
Cheltenham 000 10 – 1 1 3
New Hope-Solebury 5, Lower Moreland 0
Liam Griffin pitched a complete-game, four-hitter as the Lions picked up a key early season win over previously unbeaten Lower Moreland.
Griffin went the distance in a 85-pitch outing, allowing just four hits and two walks, while striking out seven.
“Liam Griffith threw a gem today,” said NH-S coach Tony Vlahovic. “An 85-pitch complete game with (two walks). He worked ahead of 18 hitters.
“Lower Moreland is a well-coached team and had some great catches in the outfield to save us from scoring any additional runs. (It was) our first conference win versus a solid team. If we play defensem we can compete. A win like this early in the season is a confidence booster.”
New Hope, coming off a 14-4 loss to Springfield in the league opener, needed a quick start Friday and got it with two runs in the top of the first and three more in the top of the second.
Josh Shiller had a two-out RBI single in the first for the Lions and three batters later Brooks Saft made it 2-0 with an RBI single of his own.
One inning later, three walks and a wild pitch plated one run, while two more walks plated another to make it 4-0, before another RBI single by Saft closed out the scoring.
And that was more than enough for Griffin.
Jack Doneker, Donato Incollingo, Mason Tammaro and Kenny Wieczorek had singles for Lower Moreland, who had two runners on in the seventh, before Griffin finished the game with a groundout to second and a fly ball to shortstop.
New Hope (2-2, 1-1) is back in action Saturday with a nonleague game at MaST Charter. Lower Moreland (2-1, 1-1) plays at Cheltenham on Monday.
New Hope-Solebury 230 000 0 – 5 5 1
Lower Moreland 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
SOL Colonial Division
Pennridge 5, North Penn 4
Five runs in the top of the fifth broke up a scoreless tie, and then the Rams were able to hold on for the exciting road win, the program’s first since 2013 against North Penn.
The game wasn’t without drama at the end either. North Penn rallied with two in the fifth and two in the sixth to pull within one, and then in the seventh Pennridge put the game away as a controversial double play call ended it.
Aidan Fretz was strong on the mound for Pennridge, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing the four runs, but all were unearned. He scattered three hits and three walks, and struck out five to pick up the win.
Nate Manuola recorded a big out to get out of the sixth inning, and Conor Flynn earned the save by throwing nine pitches in the scoreless seventh.
“Aidan Fretz started for us and he kept us in the game,” said Pennridge coach Craig Whitten. “He led off the (five-run fifth inning) for us with a huge double to right-center. We put up five and then we had to play defense and make some plays. I’ve known (North Penn coach) Kevin Manero for 20-some years now, and I knew he’d play small ball too to try to manufacture some runs, and that’s what they did.”
Offensively, Joey Calabretti went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead the Pennridge offense.
In the critical fifth, Fretz led off with a double, but most of the damage came with two outs. Bobby Croyle had an RBI single to score one, Calabretti followed with an RBI double and Haeflein then drove in two with a double.
North Penn had three hits as a team. Jeff Sabater had a RBI bunt single in the fifth and picked up an RBI in the sixth with a bases loaded walk. Evin Sullivan drove in a run with a sac fly in the fifth.
Pennridge (2-1, 1-1) plays at CB West on Monday, while North Penn (3-1, 1-1) looks to bounce back at home against Souderton.
“My assistant coach Riley Hager was talking to me and to the kids at practice,” Whitten said. “He said these first couple of conference games can make or break a season. When you’re playing into May, you may want to get these games back when you look at your record.
“CB East is definitely the team to beat. They knocked us off and they knocked Souderton off (Friday). We’re 1-1 and right in the middle of things. We have six games in 12 days coming up over the next two weeks. It’s going to be a grind.”
Pennridge 000 050 0 – 5 6 2
North Penn 000 022 0 – 4 3 2
Central Bucks East 8, Souderton 3
A slow start couldn’t deter the unbeaten Patriots, who pounded out eight runs on 10 hits to pull away from visiting Souderton on Friday.
Sophomore first baseman Joey Wilga went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for CB East, while junior shortstop Quinn Moody also went 2-for-3 with a double.
“We took a deficit early, with a defensive miscue in the first inning, but I liked how our guys had great approaches at the plate all day,” said CB East coach Kyle Dennis. “They were swinging at the right pitches. (Souderton’s) pitchers did a nice job keeping us off balance most of the game, but we stayed with our approach, stayed with the plan and we were able to get to (Souderton starter Zach Crouthamel).”
On the mound Gabe Marshall pitched three innings, allowed just one earned run on three hits, while striking out five, while Brett Young and Xavier Sjostedt pitched two and one innings out of the bullpen to finish the game off.
“We’re blessed to have some different arms,” Dennis said. “Brett Young pitched in relief today. It was his first varsity pitching experience and he did a great job. He’s usually our starting center fielder. To know he can come in and get outs for us, is another boost of confidence.
“Xavier Sjostedt is a sophomore. We’ve been putting him in there here and there and getting him experience. That’s important, because he’s our only lefty and we need him.
“Gabe Marshall was our starting pitcher and he’s a bulldog. He’s a senior, a JV kid as a sophomore, but was barely on the radar with the arms that we had last year (before the COVID-19 cancellation of the season), but he put in so much time over the quarantine. Gabe’s been phenomenal.”
Jacob Horton put Souderton up with an RBI single in the top of the first, and it took a few innings, but East eventually grabbed the lead with two runs in the third. A leadoff single by Moody was followed by a pair of walks to load the bases. A double play grounder nearly got the Indians out of it, but one batter later an error plated two Patriots runs.
East’s four-run fifth also started with a Moody hit, a double to center field. Back-to-back singles by Wilga and Tony Rossi made it 4-1, Max McGrady followed with an RBI double and another error made it 6-1.
Souderton cut it to 6-3 with two in the sixth, on a RBI single by Ryan Kagarise and a bases loaded walk by Matt Benner, but East answered right back with two of its own to put the game away. Jack Nugent and Wilga had back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the sixth.
“Things are rolling great right now,” Dennis said. “Things are going our way, but you don’t want to get too high, or too low if you lose a game. We just want to keep rolling and stay as even keel as possible. The guys are playing with confidence, and we’re getting wins early. It’s good to see.”
CB East (4-0, 2-0 SOL) hosts CB South on Monday in the first of a scheduled three-game week. Souderton (2-1, 1-1) looks to bounce back at home against North Penn on Monday.
Souderton 100 002 0 – 3 6 3
CB East 002 042 x – 8 10 0
Central Bucks South 7, Central Bucks West 1
Alex Balint allowed just one run and three hits over six innings and pitched the Titans to the six-run win over their rival Bucks at home under the lights on Friday night.
Balint walked four and struck out five, allowing only a third-inning solo home run by CB West’s Andrew Kohl. Justin Maccarrini pitched the seventh for CB South, striking out two of the three batters he faced, to finish off the game.
Offensively, Carter Hinds and Dakota Beck each had two hits and two RBIs for South.
After Kohl’s homer tied the game at 1 in the top of the third, the Titans took control with three runs in the bottom of the inning and never looked back. Matt Boyce and Hinds had back-to-back doubles in the inning, Hinds driving in two with his shot to right field. Beck drove in another with a sac fly later in the inning.
South added a run in the fourth on an error, and then Beck had an RBI single and another scored on bases loaded hit batter in the sixth.
Jimmy Kelly and Owen Petrich also had doubles for South
Mike Boyle and Aiden Quinn had the other hits for the Bucks.
CB South (2-1, 1-1 SOL) is back in action Monday at CB East. CB West (0-4, 0-2 SOL) hosts Pennridge Monday.
CB West 001 000 0 – 1 3 2
CB South 013 120 x – 7 8 0
SOL Patriot Division
Neshaminy 5, Pennsbury 4
Jake Oberholtzer’s two-out triple in the top of the seventh scored Mike Donato, and playing in its second one-run game in two days, Neshaminy emerged with the win over rival Pennsbury in a back-and-forth SOL Patriot Division game.
Donato, who doubled right before Oberholtzer’s game-winner, finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead the Neshaminy offense.
“We played a very good team game today,” said Neshaminy coach Dan Toner. “The top of our lineup did a fantastic job putting up runs. Mike Donato, Jake Oberholtzer, Zack Bowman and Gaige Ryan came up huge in some clutch situations.
“In our first couple games we weren’t coming through in those big moments and to get that feel early on in the season is important moving forward.”
Charlie Evans and Cailan Fang had two hits each for Pennsbury.
Both teams were coming off of losses on Wednesday, and as expected this rivalry battle was a close one throughout.
Donato had an RBI single in the top of the first to give Neshaminy the early lead, only to see the Falcons tie it in the bottom of the inning on a bases loaded sac fly by Justin Mitrovich
Pennsbury had a chance to take command in the second with three straight walks to lead off the inning, and later with two outs Jake Schilling scored two with a double to left.
Trailing 3-1, Neshaminy answered with three in the third to retake the lead, as Bowman had an RBI single and Donato scored two with a double to left.
There the lead stood as pitchers Justus Agosto and Mitrovich appeared to settle into a groove. Mitrovich ended up going six innings and struck out nine, while Agosto struck out five over six innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Evans was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Fang to tie the game up at 4.
After Neshaminy retook the lead in the top of the seventh, reliever Matt Mays pitched around a one-out double by Joe Limongelli and ended the game with a ground out and strikeout to pick up the win.
“Agosto and Mays did a nice job as well against a good hitting Pennsbury team,” Toner said.
Neshaminy (2-1, 1-1) hosts Harry S. Truman on Monday, while Pennsbury (2-3, 0-2 SOL) hosts Council Rock South.
Neshaminy 103 000 1 – 5 7 0
Pennsbury 120 001 0 – 4 7 2
Council Rock North 2, Council Rock South 2 (suspended 11th darkness, Saturday)
This game will resume in the 11tth inning on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Council Rock South.
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