Jarrad Saffren recaps Tuesday’s SOL baseball action.
By Jarrad Saffren
Twenty-four Suburban One League baseball teams played league games Tuesday.
That is all. No weather, no tangents about coach-speak, and especially no new lessons for young journalism students.
School is out for the summer. Baseball is in.
Enjoy readers.
The results and recaps are below.
SOL Continental
Souderton 6, Central Bucks South 2
Aces stop losing streaks. Souderton came into Tuesday on a two-gamer in league play.
Ace Aaron Gulibon stopped it cold. Gulibon gave up three hits and two unearned runs in seven innings. He also fanned eight.
“Gulibon again. Our leader steps up,” Souderton coach Michael Childs said. “His power was decent. His curveball was not on. But he placed his fastball well. He was moving it in and out and keeping it low. Wherever we ask him to throw it, he throws it.”
Gulibon improved to 3-3 with a 0.66 ERA. His strikeout to walk ratio should push PIAA officials to lower the mound: 64 strikeouts, 12 walks in 42 innings.
Souderton scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Blake Gular grounded into a fielder’s choice to knock in the first run. Then Brett Moyer singled home the second.
In the bottom of the third, Luke Barnum lined a two-run double to right, putting the Indians up 5-0. Barnum hit the double with two strikes.
“Nothing phases him. It doesn’t matter if you throw curveballs or fastballs,” Childs said. “He’s locked in most times and doesn’t strike out too much.”
Souderton improved to 7-4 in league play.
“If we win two, I think that will get us in. But we want to make sure it’s definite, as opposed to 8-6, which is a maybe,” Childs said. “10-4 we’re in and have a chance to win the league. We have North Penn next. They just beat Pennridge by 11. That’s our next test. We have to stay grounded.”
Souderton (10-6, 7-4 SOL) plays North Penn Thursday at 4:30. Central Bucks South (9-4, 7-3 SOL) takes on Quakertown Thursday at 3:30.
Souderton 2-1-3-0-0-0-X 6
Central Bucks South 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 2
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Central Bucks West 0
This is how Hatboro-Horsham coach Pete Moore drew it up before the season: Colin Kennedy one day, Brian Edgington the next.
Kennedy pitched nine scoreless innings in HH’s 2-1 win over Central Bucks East Monday. On Tuesday, Edgington gave up five hits and no runs in seven innings.
“Coming into the season, we knew pitching would be our strength with those two at the top. Both this week gave us what we expected,” Moore said. “Brian was outstanding. I can’t say enough about what he did today.”
Edgington shut out an SOL Continental team for the third time in 2016. His ERA in league play dropped to 0.51. Edgington came out of the bullpen in 2015.
“We had a senior-laden team. He was very good out of the pen,” Moore said. “But he has taken a nice step forward this year. He has gained better control of his curve and added some velocity.”
Moore clocked Edgington’s fastball at 87 miles per hour earlier in the season. Edgington is only a junior. But St. Joseph’s and La Salle have been in touch. St. Joe’s coach Fritz Hamburg came to watch Edgington Tuesday for the second time in 2016.
Shaun Thomas had two hits for the Hatters.
Central Bucks West’s Luke Irons allowed three hits and one earned run in six innings.
Hatboro-Horsham (7-8, 5-6 SOL) plays Pennridge Wednesday. Central Bucks West (6-8, 5-5 SOL) battles Central Bucks East on the same day.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-2-0-0-X 2
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Quakertown 2, Central Bucks East 1
This is crazy: Quakertown starter Tyler Guidos threw 71 pitches in seven innings.
“He was using his teammates and letting them field. They made plays and kept the game moving,” Quakertown coach Jon Pallone said. “He has a good fastball he can locate and a good curveball. And he’s not afraid to pitch to contact. He didn’t give up too many hard hit balls. His ball moves enough that they can hit it but not solid.”
Guidos improved to 1-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.90. He has walked four in 25.2 innings pitched. But Pallone is always reluctant to put Guidos on the bump.
“He’s such a good catcher too. It’s tough to pull him out from behind the plate,” Pallone said. “But we have three league games this week. So we needed him out there.”
Quakertown’s Aaron Besch hit his second home run of the season. The ball traveled more than 330 feet over the left-centerfield fence. Besch also has 10 RBIs.
“He has gotten clutch hits and hit a lot of deep fly balls for runners to tag up and score,” Pallone said.
Besch missed the 2015 season after undergoing ACL surgery. “He started off this year cold but he’s been heating up,” Pallone said.
Quakertown (8-9, 6-6 SOL) goes to Central Bucks South Thursday for a 3:30 start. Central Bucks East (6-9, 1-9 SOL) plays Central Bucks West Wednesday at 6.
Quakertown 0-0-1-1-0-0-X 2
Central Bucks East 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1
North Penn 11, Pennridge 0
North Penn has outscored its last two opponents 22-2. The Knights were 35th in the last District One Class AAAA Power Rankings. They may need to win out to make the 26-team playoff field.
“We probably do need to win out. Our approach now is just to win the one that we’re playing,” North Penn coach Kevin Manero said. “We have an uphill battle. Everybody in our league is fighting for the same thing in the middle of the standings.”
On Tuesday, the Knights scored one run in the first, four in the third, and six in the fourth. Corey Stouffer had two hits, two runs scored, and three RBIs. Alex Peterson had two RBIs and two runs scored.
“We are getting more comfortable and confident,” Manero said. “We continue to put together good at-bats and good innings.
“We have to stay consistent. We can’t go cool again like in the middle of the season.”
Jared Gorman fanned four in five shutout innings.
North Penn (10-6, 6-5 SOL) hosts Souderton Thursday at 4:30. Pennridge (10-7, 6-5 SOL) welcomes Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday at 3:30.
North Penn 1-0-4-6-0-0 11
Pennridge 0-0-0-0-0 0
SOL National
William Tennent 2, Abington 1
William Tennent won its third straight league game and fourth straight overall.
“Before we’d play one good game, then one bad game,” William Tennent coach Rick Penecale said. “Now we have everybody healthy and have found our rhythm.”
Leading hitter Paul McElroy, catcher Dylan Mannon, and number two starter Nick Cataldi all missed time early in the season. All are back now.
Ace Ryan Lucas started for Tennent and pitched a gem. Lucas gave up three hits and one run in seven 
innings. The righty had four days rest between appearances.
“He was nice and fresh. He was ready to go,” Penecale said. “He threw everything well. His slider was working. His fastball was working. He was throwing hard. It was what you’d expect out of a senior pitcher, to come out and give you a big game.”
McElroy, a senior, badly wants to make the district playoffs for the first time. Lucas, also a senior, feels the same way. But he does not show it like McElroy.
“Ryan’s more reserved. He doesn’t talk a whole lot,” Penecale said. “But it means something to him. He wants it. He is putting the team on his back and leading by example.”
The Panthers scored two runs in the fourth. CJ Goodz and Cole Browne drove in the runs.
Paul Poppert knocked in Abington’s run. He also gave up four hits and two runs in six innings.
William Tennent (8-7, 6-5 SOL) plays Neshaminy Wednesday, Bensalem Thursday, and Pennsbury next Tuesday. The Panthers need all three games. Cataldi will pitch Wednesday.
Abington (9-6, 5-6 SOL) plays Council Rock North Thursday.
William Tennent 0-0-0-2-0-0-0
Abington 0-0-0-0-0-1-0 1
Council Rock North 2, Council Rock South 1 (10 innings)
In the top of the 10th, Cavan Tully walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball. Matt Shenot brought him home with a sacrifice fly, putting Council Rock North up 2-1.
CJ Kilgarriff held the lead in the bottom of the 10th.
“We squeaked one out,” CR North coach Matt Schram said.
The Indians got two hits against Council Rock South starter Zach Mayer.
“He was right on the plate. He painted corners and moved it in and out,” Schram said. “He has a good changeup. But every time we hit the ball on the barrel, it was right to somebody. We were swinging at first pitches too. So the game was moving quick.”
North starter Gavin Ferrandino exited after four innings down 1-0. Seth Leuz tossed a scoreless fifth and sixth to keep the Indians close. In the top of the seventh, North tied the game on a wild pitch.
Leuz kept the score tied in the bottom. Kilgarriff followed with three shutout innings.
Tully’s winning run was his 17th run of 2016. The sophomore has almost done the impossible: Made the Indians forget about their old leadoff man, Brandon McIlwain.
“Up until January I thought Brandon would be our leadoff hitter. And Cavan would be in the eight or nine spot,” Schram said. “But once Brandon went to South Carolina, it opened the door for Cavan.”
Tully played on the freshmen team last season because North does not put rookies on junior varsity.
“That’s a school rule, not a Matt Schram rule,” Schram said.
Tully was not overmatched after making such a big jump.
“You always think a young kid will be overmatched. But his batting average has exceeded my expectations,” Schram said.
Tully is hitting .410.
“He’s quietly having an MVP season,” Schram said. “Part of the reason the middle guys have all these RBIs is because he’s on base. He’s setting the table and doing things a leadoff hitter should be doing.”
Schram coached Cavan’s older brother Aidan as well. He would love to have nine Tullys in his lineup.
“They have great baseball minds and are talented and athletic,” Schram said. “They play with an edge and do not get intimidated.”
Council Rock North (15-1, 10-1 SOL) plays Harry S. Truman Wednesday. Schram is leaning toward starting freshman Tyler Marlow on the hill.
“We have been protecting him a bit because he’s a freshman. But he has a starter’s mentality,” Schram said. “Plus we have four games. They all have to throw and he’s next.”
Council Rock South takes on Pennsbury Thursday.
Council Rock North 0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-1 2
Council Rock South 0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1
Harry S. Truman 3, Bensalem 2
Bensalem led 2-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and a man on first, Harry S. Truman’s Dylan Jackson doubled to right.
Kyle Goodwin scored to make it 2-1. Then Cameron Culver singled to right, scoring Nick Hopely. Matt Olsen singled and RJ Snyder walked to load the bases for Nate Erhard. Then the most exciting play in baseball happened: The walk-off walk. (Twitter Poll: Which is more baseball? The walk-off walk or the walk-off sac fly?)
Erhard’s walk-off walk (I can’t stop saying it) ended Truman’s nine-game league losing streak. The Tigers beat CR South on March 31, their league opener.
“We caught a few breaks today that we haven’t in a while,” Truman coach Tim Monaghan said. “Little things went our way. We’ve been struggling and small things went against us.”
“Matt Olsen was up with two outs and a runner on second in a tie game. Matt hits a ground ball to shortstop,” Monaghan said. “In the past, the shortstop makes a ridiculous play. Today Matt beat that play out.”
Truman led Bensalem 2-0 after five innings on April 14. But the Owls came back to win 5-2.
“We felt we deserved to win that day. But Bensalem probably deserved to win today,” Monaghan said. “The mojo evened out between the two schools. We’ve had six or seven of those types of games. A base hit here or there and it’s a completely different game.”
Starter Justin “Big Country” Kerner (Not Reeves) has been a bright spot all season for the Tigers. Kerner gave up four hits and two unearned runs in seven innings.
“It was a typical Kerner game,” Monaghan said. “He pitches to contact and works fast. He can get guys out on their front foot. Guys don’t hit the ball hard off him. There’s lots of soft contact. All season long he’s kept us in games.”
Kerner improved to 2-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.03. He has both of Truman’s league wins. The senior pitched on JV in 2015.
“He has far exceeded even his own expectations,” Monaghan said. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Harry S. Truman (4-11, 2-9 SOL) battles Council Rock North Wednesday. Bensalem (9-7, 4-7 SOL) hosts William Tennent Thursday.
Harry S. Truman 0-0-0-0-0-0-3 3
Bensalem 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 2
Pennsbury 7, Neshaminy 1
Zach Conley won for the third time in four starts. He allowed five hits and one run in six innings.
“Today was his best outing,” Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci said. “A couple times they had runners on but really no major threats. His changeup was good. And he was able to get his fastball by a lot of guys. He was cranking it up in certain situations.”
Conley improved to 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his last four starts. He is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA overall.
Pennsbury’s Justin Ward had three hits, two runs scored, and an RBI. Ward has thrived since Pesci dropped him from the leadoff spot to the seven-hole.
“He has really come on,” Pesci said. “He’s seeing a lot of pitches. The move gave him a better chance to succeed.”
Freshman Justin Massielo had two hits, an RBI, and a run scored. David Murphy walked twice to raise his on-base percentage to .750 in the last five games.
“There were a couple guys killing it in the first half and they have slowed down,” Pesci said. “Now the other half has picked it up.”
Josh Tesarck drove in two runs for the Falcons.
Bill Ritchey drove in Neshaminy’s only run. Corey Joyce had two hits and a run scored.
Pennsbury was three spots behind Neshaminy in the latest power rankings. But Pennsbury has won three straight league games and Neshaminy has lost two straight.
Pennsbury (11-5, 9-3 SOL) plays Council Rock South Thursday. Jon Deiss will probably start on the mound.
“We have to determine it tomorrow at practice,” Pesci said. “We could either do a staff game or have someone try to throw five or six innings.” Conley will be off until at least Tuesday.
Neshaminy (8-8, 6-5 SOL) takes on red-hot William Tennent Wednesday.
Pennsbury 1-1-3-0-2-0-0 7
Neshaminy 0-0-1-0-0-0-0 1
SOL American
Upper Moreland 2, Cheltenham 1
Tuesday was senior night at Upper Moreland. Golden Bears coach Ken Irwin planned to throw senior ace Joey Bates.
But Bates wanted to pitch Monday against first place Upper Dublin. So Irwin turned to another senior, Sean O’Connor.
In his first start of 2016, O’Connor gave up three hits and one run in six innings.
“He’s been throwing bullpens every week waiting for a chance,” Irwin said. “But we have Joey and Brandon Kohn. So we haven’t had to use more than two guys in one week. Tonight he got his opportunity and took advantage.”
Kohn struck out the side in the seventh.
“Sean doesn’t throw hard,” Irwin said. “So Kohn looked like he was throwing 100 when he came in.”
O’Connor’s teammates dumped water onto his head after the game.
Kohn will start Wednesday’s game against Norristown.
The Golden Bears got just two hits off Cheltenham starter Joel White. But, in the fifth, they scored two runs on Randy Meehl’s squeeze bunt.
White struck out nine and drove in Cheltenham’s only run.
Upper Moreland (12-3, 9-2 SOL) plays Norristown Wednesday. Cheltenham (5-8, 4-6 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh Thursday.
Upper Moreland 0-0-0-0-2-0-X 2
Cheltenham 0-0-0-0-0-1-0 1
Upper Dublin 2, Upper Merion 0
Upper Dublin scored two runs in the top of the seventh to stay undefeated in league play.
Jason O’Gara doubled to centerfield, scoring JT Breslin and Thomas Juelke.
Upper Dublin’s Conor McFadden gave up two hits in seven innings. Upper Merion’s Mike Hutchinson allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings.
Justin Horn had two hits for the Flying Cardinals.
Upper Dublin (11-2, 10-0 SOL) clashes with Wissahickon Thursday. Upper Merion (4-11, 4-7 SOL) hosts Springfield on the same day.
Upper Dublin 0-0-0-0-0-0-2 2
Upper Merion 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
Wissahickon 4, Norristown 2
Whenever Wissahickon wins, I lead with Logan Willans.
Well, yes, Willans happened again on Tuesday. The junior gave up one hit in seven innings, to the first batter of the game. He struck out eight, walked two, and allowed two unearned runs.
Wissahickon scored three runs in the second and another in the fifth. Matt Shilling hit a two-run single in the second. Michael Steitz and Mike Schoenleber had one RBI each.
Reggie Collins knocked in a run for Norristown. The Eagles have lost seven straight games.
Wissahickon (8-7, 8-3 SOL) buses to Plymouth Whitemarsh Wednesday for a 3:30 start. The Trojans probably clinch a district playoff spot with a win.
Norristown (3-9, 2-8 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on the same day and time.
Wissahickon 0-3-0-0-1-0-0 4
Norristown 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 2
Springfield 1, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Springfield starter Matt Gauss needed just 90 pitches to finish seven innings. The senior captain gave up three hits and fanned four.
Plymouth Whitemarsh starter Jake Kuruc almost matched Gauss, giving up one unearned run in six innings. But in the bottom of the sixth, Nick Pave singled home Noah Franzyk.
Springfield (2-8, 2-8 SOL) is 0-0 in non-league games. The Spartans travel to Upper Merion Thursday for a 3:30 start. Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-10, 3-8 SOL) hosts Wissahickon Wednesday at 3:30.
Springfield 0-0-0-0-0-1-X 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
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