Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Friday. Upper Dublin/Upper Moreland photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
BENSALEM 8, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2
Bensalem just keeps on rolling, winning for the 12th time in 13 games Friday. It was hardly the kind of streak coach Harry Daut could have imagined when his team was 1-2 out of the gate with losses to both Neshaminy (5-2) and Pennsbury (14-4).
Throw in the significant losses to graduation from last year’s District 1 6A championship and state runner-up squad, and it’s nothing short of remarkable.
“I didn’t expect this to be honest, especially after the first couple of games when we got beat up by Neshaminy and Pennsbury,” Daut said. “They were following in the shadow of last year’s team and now they’re claiming their own identity.
“This is their team, and it’s a confident group now. They’re playing great ball and having fun. The kids are pretty excited right now.”
Nick Dean has been a major contributor to the Owls’ success this season. The University of Maryland-bound senior just keeps hitting, and it’s hardly a coincidence that the Owls keep winning. In Friday’s conference win, Dean was a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, home run, four RBIs and three runs scored.
“It almost seems like he does that every game,” Daut said. “I don’t even know what his average is, but I expect a hit every time now.
“He’s been phenomenal. He’s been here four years. He’s a really, really good hitter, and he’s just a really good player and a really good kid too. He’s been unreal. I can’t say enough about that kid.”
While Dean was an impossible out at the plate, Ryan McLaughlin notched the complete game win on the mound, scattering 10 hits and allowing two runs while striking out five and walking one.
“McLaughlin is throwing well, he keeps kids off balance, and he’s really doing a great job for us,” Daut said.
The Owls scored all the runs McLaughlin would need in a three-run first. Austin Shay and Matt Silano drew back-to-back walks. Shay scored on Dean’s double to center, and Silano scored on a groundout by Damon Lavender. Dean scored on a passed ball, and the Owls led 3-0.
That lead grew to 4-0 in the third when Dean, who singled, scored on Ryan Rooney’s sacrifice fly. The Owls extended their lead to 6-0 in the fourth. The Indians got on the scoreboard in the fifth when Ryan Marlow, who singled, scored on Collin Manel’s double.
A two-run home run to left field by Dean put the Owls on top 8-1 in the top of the sixth. The Indians – thanks to Erik Miller’s RBI single – plated a run in the bottom of the frame to close out the scoring.
“Matt (Schram) is playing a lot of young kids, and they really played hard both games we saw them,” Daut said of the Indians. “It’s good to see players getting opportunities.”
Manel’s 3-for-4 effort led the Indians and included one RBI. Ryan Stalker was 2-for 3 with a triple and RBI.
Bensalem (13-3, 9-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East for a non-league game Tuesday, and Council Rock North (5-12, 2-8) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday.
Bensalem 301 202 0 8-7-1
Council Rock North 000 011 0 2-9-0
SOL American Conference
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 3, CHELTENHAM 1
Springfield Township celebrated Senior Day with an impressive win over the Panthers. Although it was a junior – Jackson Campbell – stealing the spotlight on the mound, this was a day to honor the team’s 10 seniors – Tyler Borowiec, Sean Cornely, Morgan D’Amico, Max Doll, Kevin Keown, Mitchell McCann, Joey McLaughlin, Brian Murphy, Max Perry and Jake Trader, eight of whom are starters.
“They’ve been with me for four years now, and at least a quarter or a third of them were on the varsity as freshmen,” coach Dennis Primavera said. “I’ve had most of these young men for three or four years.
“We’ve been in almost every game we’ve played this year and had a chance to win every game, and it’s because of them. There are three or four games we had won and lost in the seventh inning, but that’s baseball.”
In his complete game win, Campbell struck out four and walked one.
“Jackson spread the ball around,” Primavera said. “He had four Ks, he let the other hitters hit. There were no errors in the game by either team. It was a quick game.”
The Spartans scored all of their runs in the second inning. The inning opened with back-to-back singles by Ryan Deal and Campbell. Both runners advanced on a groundout, and with two outs, Max Perry smashed a two-run double.
“Max has been hitting the ball well,” Primavera said. “Then Kevin Keown came up and hit a single to score Max. All these guys have been part of the success of the last month.”
The Panthers scored their only run in the third.
“For the past three games, we’ve had our middle infielders – shortstop Ryan Deal and second baseman Joey McLaughlin – turn a double play, and in a seven-inning game, it eliminates a whole inning,” Primavera said. “That’s a big deal, and it helps the pitcher a lot.
“I’m sure every other team does this too, but we do an hour of defense every day and an hour of offense. It’s pretty much routine. If they catch the ball, which is the first order of business, things fly from there. They had a runner on first with no outs in the fifth, and we turned the double play and took them out of the inning.”
Michel McCann had a pair of hits, the lone Spartan with more than one hit.
Springfield Township (7-10, 6-7 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin on Tuesday for its conference finale, and Cheltenham (5-10, 5-8) will host Abington on Tuesday.
Cheltenham 001 000 0 1-4-0
Springfield Twp 030 000 0 3-9-0
UPPER DUBLIN 10, UPPER MORELAND 0 (6 innings)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
That’s the way coach Ed Wall explained how the same Upper Dublin team that lost to Wissahickon 13-0 in five innings on Thursday came back 24 hours later and rolled to 10-0 mercy rule win over Upper Moreland.
“I talked to the team and said, ‘It’s frustrating, but I’m excited that we finished this way. We have one more game next week against Springfield, which is going to be a battle, but it’s a good job recovering from a tough loss against our rival in Wissahickon,’” Wall said. “We just came out today and from the first pitch we just attacked, and it was a lot of fun to watch.”
Playing a key role in the Cardinals’ quick turnaround was sophomore Karan Acharya, who allowed just one hit in five strong innings. He struck out two and walked four.
“Karan Acharya has really developed into a nice number two complement to Sean (Curran) and has been very consistent,” Wall said. “He had a tough outing against Hatboro-Horsham but still was battling, and Hatboro is a pretty good team.
“He’s faced some really stiff competition in his young career and has really stepped up to the challenge. This is a massive win for us, and he played a huge role in it.”
For good measure Acharya had a hit and three RBIs. He and Jacob Womelsdorf both had a sacrifice fly in the first, spotting the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead.
Sean Curran drew a leadoff walk in the second, and Elijah Peck singled. Brian McPeak was safe on an error, and the bases were loaded. Kyle Rizzo’s RBI single gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead, and another run scored when Acharya hit his second sacrifice fly in as many at-bats. Drew Stover followed with an RBI single, and two runs scored on a single by Jake Matz. Just like that, the Cardinals led 8-0. Single runs in the fifth and sixth brought an early end to the game.
“The bottom of our order was pretty fun to watch with Drew Stover and Jarrod Matz,” Wall said. “Jarrod probably hit the hardest ball I’ve ever seen him hit today to deep right center. It was fantastic.
“Sean Curran had two hits also, and he’s a guy that at the beginning of the season was only a PO (pitcher only). We got stuck in our game against Upper Moreland the first time – he ended up hitting and had one of the better at-bats out of the whole team. I think he laced a double to right center in that game, and we said we needed to use him more. We stuck him in there as a DH and gave Alex (Goldenberg) a rest and let him focus on catching today. It really worked out.”
Stover, Matz and Curran – UD’s seven, eight and nine hitters – were a combined 6-for-9 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Stover was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs, Matz was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Curran was 2-for-2 with a run scored.
“I said to (the team) – ‘We set new benchmarks, new expectation levels today. Now it’s time to develop some consistency. That’s what good teams are all about,’” Wall said. “Next week we have Springfield, and that’s the most important game right now. We’re excited.”
Upper Dublin (10-9, 7-6 SOL) will host Springfield Township in Tuesday’s regular season finale. The Cardinals are eighth in the latest District 1 5A rankings.
“If we win Tuesday, we’re hosting,” Wall said. “It’s been a few years since we’ve done that. Coming from a four-win season last year to hosting a playoff game this year – it’s a lot for this team to be proud of.”
Upper Moreland (7-8, 6-7) will host Lower Moreland in a non-league game on Monday (7 p.m.).
Upper Dublin 260 022 10-10-0
Upper Moreland 000 000 0-1-5
Non-league
NORTH PENN 9, HATBORO-HORSHAM 4
The weather gave North Penn a break, allowing the team's annual Community Knight to go off without delay at Hostelley Field.
Hatboro-Horsham looked on its way to spoiling the Knights' Hall of Fame induction under the lights with four runs in the top of the first inning. Anthony Bruno and Sean Gledhill hit RBI singles, Andrew Lastowka plated a third run on a sac fly and Gledhill swiped home plate on a double steal.
North Penn got a run back in the home half of the first, then turned the game around in the bottom of the second. Jake Drelick roped a two-run double to start the scoring in the frame and then scored on Kyle Schultze's RBI double to tie things up. Kolby Barrow drove in Schultze as the go-ahead run and the Knights never looked back.
Ethan Weber took over on the hill in the third and tossed five shutout innings for the Knights. Weber, who picked up the win, yielded just a single hit while striking out four batters.
Drelick had a strong game for the Knights, driving in two runs and scoring three times. The senior hit a sac fly as part of North Penn's four-run third inning and reached on an outfield error.
In total, North Penn racked up five hits in the third inning and cashed in on three Hatters errors. Barrow added another RBI single, scoring Drelick, to cap the scoring and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Colby Chan and Connor Ertel both added two hits for the Knights.
North Penn (8-10, 5-6 SOL) will host Pennridge in Tuesday’s conference finale, and Hatboro-Horsham (14-6, 10-3) – seventh in the District 1 6A power rankings – will host Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday in a battle for the conference’s top spot. Both teams have identical 10-3 records.
Hatboro-Horsham 400 000 0 4-5-4
North Penn 144 000 x 9-13-1
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 11, HARRY S TRUMAN 9
The Titans were down 12 players Friday with their seniors all away at prom, but the underclassmen stepped up.
Joe McSweeney belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning as part of a four-run rally that put South in front for good. McSweeney had a monster game for the Titans, ripping a pair of home runs and driving in four runs.
"It was good win by our underclassmen as we didn’t have any of our 12 seniors due to prom,” South coach Brian Klumpp said. “They did a a great job of battling after going down 9-2 early.
"Offense was powered by Joe McSweeney, Dakota Beck and Carter Hinds. Ryan Zakrewski did a great job of securing the win in his three innings by not allowing a hit. I was really proud of this group today."
South took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Beck getting an RBI single to start the scoring. Beck went 3-for-3 on the day with three RBIs and two runs scored while Carter Hinds went 2-for-4.
After that, it was all Truman. Evan Profy hit a three-run double in the second to stake the Tigers to a 4-2 lead. Profy led the Tigers with three RBI while Dylan Jackson, Timmy Foley and Mike Finsel all had two hits.
The Tigers added four more runs in the fourth inning, pushing their lead to 9-2. Finsel added two RBIs for Truman.
South responded in force with five runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Beck led off with a solo home run, then McSweeney popped a solo shot with two outs. A hit batsman, an error and a single loaded the bases before Colin Mauz walked in a run and an error brought home another run.
McSweeney then belted a 1-2 pitch with one out to center field, plating three runs and erasing all of Truman's lead. South added an insurance run on a wild pitch.
Zakrewski took over in the fifth and locked the door, allowing the Titans to work their way back into the game and preventing Truman from regaining the advantage.
Central Bucks South (13-6, 6-5 SOL) will host Central Bucks West Tuesday in its regular season finale. The Titans are ranked 18th in the District 1 6A rankings.
Harry S Truman 041 400 0 9-10-6
Central Bucks South 200 540 x 11-8-1
SOUDERTON 4, DOCK MENNONITE ACADEMY 1
The Indians have more seniors than starting lineup spots this spring.
Friday, Souderton celebrated its Senior Day by giving some of its less-heralded seniors a chance to shine. One of them, Dean Shaw, made it a day to remember.
Primarily a runner off the bench this spring, Shaw got the start at second base and crushed the first home run of his high school career for all the offense the Indians needed. Evan Bromley led off the second with a double, then following two fly outs, senior Danny Pineda was hit by a pitch to bring up Shaw.
Shaw got all of his swing, depositing the ball at the base of the scoreboard in left-center field for a three-run shot.
Andrew Curran got the start, allowing one unearned run in three innings. Senior Aaron Groller pitched the fifth and sixth innings, facing a total of eight batters and striking out four of them.
Senior Moses Clemens added an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Souderton (16-3, 11-0 SOL) will close out its conference season on Monday against Quakertown at DeSales University. The Indians are fourth in the latest District 1 6A rankings.
Dock Mennonite 001 000 0 1-1-1
Souderton 030 010 x 4-4-1
NESHAMINY 8, ARCHBISHOP RYAN 2
A day after picking up a win over Souderton that had major implications for the District I postseason, Neshaminy stayed hot in nonleague play.
The Redskins used four-run innings in the third and fourth to put away the Raiders while the trio of Liam DelGuerico, Andrew Kleppinger and Cory Joyce kept Ryan's offense quiet. Neshaminy's pitchers struck out 12 and scattered eight hits, but limited their impact to just two runs. DelGuerico, who allowed three hits and one run in four innings, earned the win. He struck out six and walked one.
Joyce also added a two-run double as part of Neshaminy's four-run fourth inning.
Joe Kaleck put Neshaminy on the board with a third inning RBI single, a pair of Ryan errors brought in two more runs and Maguire Fein singled in the fourth run of the frame.
An error on Gus Natelli's ground ball started the fourth inning scoring, with Joyce depositing his two-run double right after. Joyce then scored on Tyler Jones' RBI single.
Fein (2-for-3, RBI) and Joyce (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) led Redskins’ nine-hit attack.
Neshaminy (12-5, 7-4 SOL) will take on Harry S Truman Sunday (7 p.m.) at Trenton Thunder’s Arm & Hammer Stadium.
Archbishop Ryan 000 100 1 2-8-4
Neshaminy 004 400 x 8-9-1
METHACTON 4, WISSAHICKON 1
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