Several SOL baseball teams moved a step closer to conference titles on Friday. Check out all the results. To view photos of the CR North/CR South game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Council Rock South Clinches Share of Suburban One League National Conference Championship
The heated Council Rock South-Council Rock North game began on Tuesday – it ended on Friday with the visiting Golden Hawks (12-1) soaring to a 6-0 victory over the Indians (9-4). The game was suspended due to rain after four-plus innings on Tuesday with the two teams locked in a scoreless tie and was completed on Friday.
The game began on Tuesday – and it ended on Friday with CR South senior Brian Donnelly pitching a gem. The gifted right-hander shutdown the Rock North bats for seven innings over the course of 70-plus hours.
“I knew that when we got Donnelly on Tuesday, we were going to get him again on Friday,” said Council Rock North head coach Matt Schram. “He is both a great leader and a great athlete. I told (Council Rock South head coach) Greg Young after the game that I would take him any day of the week. He is a great competitor.”
“I took the same approach on Friday that I had on Tuesday,” said Donnelly. “I prepared to pitch with the mindset of staying focused on what I needed to do. I know that lineup pretty well, and I knew what I had to do to get them out.
“We have been a little complacent the last few games, and to play a team like Council Rock North is a great way to get us back in the right frame of mind,” added Donnelly. “The game was played in a playoff atmosphere, and it is no secret that the players on both teams really want to win this game.
“We have expectations of what we want to accomplish this year,” continued Donnelly. “I was on the mound last year when we lost to Spring-Ford in the state quarterfinals, and the seniors on this team remember that game. There are no do-overs in the playoffs.”
Council Rock South managed to break open a tight 2-0 game with a four-run sixth inning. Senior Steve Wright delivered the key hit in the frame with a two-run single to boost the lead to 4-0.
CR South can earn an outright title if the Golden Hawks can avenge an earlier 5-1 loss to second place Bensalem (10-2) on Monday. The Owls could tie Rock South for the championship with a win against the Hawks on Monday followed by a win over Neshaminy (7-5) in the conference finale on Tuesday.
“We want to carry the intensity we had to play Council Rock North into the game with Bensalem on Monday,” said Donnelly. “We have some unfinished business with them.”
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Council Rock North Indians 000 000 0 - 0
Upper Moreland and Upper Dublin Keep Upper Hand in the SOL American Conference
Upper Moreland (13-4) is the defending Suburban One League American Conference champion, and the Golden Bears took a huge step toward defending that title with a 4-1 victory Friday over visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-7).
Upper Moreland is currently in a first place knot at the top of the standings with Upper Dublin (13-4). The Flying Cardinals also was victorious on Friday with an 8-0 victory over host Norristown (3-13). Upper Moreland will travel to meet Wissahickon (10-6) on Monday, while Upper Dublin will close out its conference schedule with a home game against Upper Merion (4-12).
“We played the whole season with the goal of defending our title,” said Upper Moreland head coach Ernie Rehr. “We will be in a position on Monday to at the very least share the title with Upper Dublin, but we know that Wissahickon is a 10-win team and is very good. We just want to be 1-0 after the day is over and see what that gets us.”
In order to be able to defend the title, the Golden Bears had to take care of a solid Plymouth Whitemarsh team that has collected nine conference wins this season. Upper Moreland led 2-1 going into the last sixth inning when sophomore catcher Pat Driscoll came up with a huge hit to give the Bears some breathing room.
“Pat had a fantastic at-bat,” said Rehr. “We had two outs and he had two strikes on him with runners in scoring position. He shortened his swing and stroked a single to the opposite field. He has – especially for a sophomore – a great approach to hitting. He is batting eighth in our lineup, but I think he leads the team in RBI.
“Last year we had Dave McInerney catching, and he was one of the best around,” added Rehr of his all-league senior. “Dave took charge on the field, but as a sophomore, we have limited what we have Pat do defensively on the field. It has worked out well.”
Upper Moreland received a terrific outing from senior Kyle Walder in the win. Walder – 5-3 this season - threw a complete game for the Bears.
“All of Kyle’s losses have come to Upper Dublin,” said Rehr. “I feel bad for him in that we were not able to field a full lineup in any of those games. Steve Wallace pitched a good game for Plymouth Whitemarsh, and we need Kyle to be able to match him – and he did.”
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Upper Moreland Golden Bears 101 002 x - 4
Upper Dublin (13-4) kept pace with Upper Moreland (13-4) as the Flying Cardinals captured an 8-0 win over host Norristown (3-13).
Andrew Carber threw a masterpiece for Upper Dublin with a complete-game, two-hit performance. Jared Zarwin and Anthony Yekel sparked the Cardinal offense as both collected a pair of RBI.
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Norristown Eagles 000 000 0 - 0 2 1
Hatters Clinch Share of SOL Continental Conference Championship
Hatboro-Horsham (11-2) rallied from six runs down to stun host Souderton (5-6) by an 8-6 margin and secured at least a share of the conference title.
The Hatters close out the season Monday against North Penn (8-4) and a win would be a huge factor in Hatboro-Horsham gaining a bye in the first round of the PIAA District One Quad-A playoffs. And a win over the Knights would also give the Hatters the outright conference championship regardless of what second place Central Bucks West (9-3) does next week.
“We set goals at the beginning of the season that included a district playoff spot and a league championship,” said Hatboro-Horsham head coach Peter Moore. “And once certain goals are met, you reassess your goals and try to reach them. Beating North Penn on Monday will go a long way in helping us achieve certain goals that we now have.”
Hatboro-Horsham – which lost to Souderton by a 9-6 count in the first half of the season – trailed 6-0 after the first three innings. Senior Chris Hens clubbed a grand slam homer, and three innings later, the Hatters owned an 8-6 advantage.
“Chris has been amazing all season,” said Moore. “He has 24 RBI in our conference games, and the grand slam he hit today was huge. We went from six runs down to just two, and you can play aggressive baseball when you are only two runs down.”
Tyler Markovic threw two shutout innings to earn the win for the Hatters, while Connor Crookham threw two shutout innings to earn the save.
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Souderton Indians 321 000 0 - 6 10 1
Knights Remain In PIAA District Title Hunt
North Penn (8-4) is on almost every bubble imaginable as the Knights kept their hopes for a PIAA District One playoff berth alive with a 6-4 victory over visiting Quakertown (2-10).
“The possibilities are still wide open for us, there is a lot we can control,” said North Penn head coach Kevin Manero. “We can only worry about our next game, and we can’t control what other teams do. But we play teams on our schedule we have to catch, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season.”
North Penn would not be in the conference title conversation if the Knights had not beaten Quakertown on Friday. The Panthers – fresh off a 7-1 victory over Central Bucks East (3-10) on Thursday – jumped out to a 3-0 lead on North Penn. However, the Knights scored six unanswered runs to secure the win.
Alex Lashkevich was the winning pitcher for the Knights and fired the first five and two-third innings. Bobby Reddick – who saved the game Thursday for the Knights in a 2-1 win over Souderton – came on and closed out the game with his second save in as many days.
The North Penn offense featured a homerun off the bat of catcher Eddie Posavec, while Casey Clauss was 2-3 with a stolen base.
“We will have both Reed Shuttle and Bryce Mengel ready to throw against Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks West next week,” said Manero. “We just have to remain focused and play good baseball.”
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North Penn Knights 103 020 x - 6 7 3
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