Scott Huff recaps all of Thursday’s SOL baseball action.
By Scott Huff
And the beat goes on…
SOL National Conference
Pennsbury Falcons 7, Council Rock Golden Hawks 1
Pennsbury (10-3) moved into a first place conference tie with Council Rock North (10-3) as the Falcons soared to the victory over Council Rock South, while Rock North dropped a 4-3 contest to Abington.
“My wife kept trying to tell me during the game about the Council Rock North game,” said Pennsbury head coach Joe Pesci. “I kept telling her I didn’t want to know – we still had a game to concentrate on.
“But in the bottom of the sixth inning, we were up six runs and she told me that Abington won,” added Pesci. “I guess I owe both (Abington head coach) Dave Torresani and (Truman head coach) Tim Monaghan a fruit basket for beating North this week.
“We have a tough game coming up with Tennent (6-7) next week,” continued Pesci. “And Bensalem (5-7) played North tough the first time. You never know how this will turn out.”
Pennsbury took care of business by scoring seven runs on just three hits against an improved Rock South team.
“We didn’t hit the ball real well, but I still felt that we played good baseball,” said Pesci. “We had some quality at-bats that moved runners and we stole some bases. We took advantage of some errors (four), they hit some batters (four) and walked some players (three).”
Josh Tesarck had the big blow for the Falcons with a two-run double, while Tyrone Hodges, Justin Ward and Justin Massielo also had RBI. Junior Nick Price collected the win throwing 5.1 innings with four strikeouts.
“Nick is a great kid – he hasn’t taken a play off all season,” said Pesci. “He throws for us and he had played almost every position on the field.
“We will have everyone available for us on Tuesday,” added Pesci. “Zach Conley will get the start and we’re excited to be playing for at least a share of the conference championship.”
Council Rock South (2-9) will host Bensalem (5-7) tomorrow (weather permitting).
Council Rock South Hawks 0000010 * 1 5 4
Pennsbury Falcons 041110x * 7 3 2
Abington Ghosts 4, Council Rock North Indians 3
Abington (6-6) was playing for its playoff life against first place CR North (10-3) and the Ghosts will have to hope that 8-6 will with a pair of wins in their final two conference games will be good enough to earn a spot in districts.
“To be able to beat North has to help us quite a bit with power points,” said Abington head coach Dave Torresani. “You never know if 8-6 is enough, but all we can do is go out and win our last two games.”
Abington will host Council Rock South (2-9) and conclude its conference season with an away game against Harry S Truman (3-10).
“I was talking with (Council Rock head coach) Matt Schram about how well we seem to play them at home,” said Torresani. “They usually 10-run us at their place, but for some reason we play them well at home.”
Abington received a gem from Greg Troyer for fired a complete game and allowed just a single hit against a potent Indian offense.
“Greg was great – he retired 10 of the last 11 hitters – and the one guy that got on reached on an error,” said Torresani. “He pitches to contact – but teams never seem to make good contact against him.”
The Ghost offense was fueled by Aiden Coyle who had two hits that included what proved to be the game winning single in the fifth inning.
Abington will host Hatboro-Horsham in a non-league night game tomorrow (weather permitting), while CR North will face Bensalem next Tuesday.
Council Rock North Indians 0003000 * 3 1 2
Abington Ghosts 030010x * 4 7 2
Neshaminy Redskins 10, Harry S Truman Tigers 3
Neshaminy (8-5) is quickly closing in on the postseason, and the Redskins collected a huge win over the 
Tigers (3-10).
“Usually nine wins is the magic number and we can get that if we beat Council Rock South (2-9) on Tuesday,” said Neshaminy head coach Chris Tenaglia. “We had four tough league games this week, and we came through it in a good position.
“The goals you set at the beginning of the season includes winning a league championship, and getting into the (district) playoffs,” added Tenaglia. “We can’t win the league – but we can get into the playoffs.”
Matt Grudza was the winning pitcher for the Skins in the win over Truman. Gruzda – who also had two hits – threw six innings and did not allow an earned run.
The Neshaminy offense was fueled by Bill Ritchey who collected three RBI, while Ed Parry had two RBI for the winners.
“We play Upper Moreland in a non-league game tomorrow (weather permitting),” said Tenaglia. “We will play a lot of our seniors in that game and then focus on getting it done on Tuesday against CR South.”
Truman will play a non-league game today (weather permitting) against Hopewell Valley Central.
Harry S Truman Tigers 0120000 * 3 5 6
Neshaminy Redskins 321040x * 10 9 3
Bensalem Owls 5, William Tennent Panthers 3
Bensalem (5-7) most likely delivered the postseason blow to William Tennent (6-7) in its conference victory.
Joey Benedetti sparked the Owl offense with two hits and two RBI that included a homerun. His two-run home run highighted a three-run fifth inning that gave the Owls a lead they would not lose. Shawn Puskar also had two hits for the Blue and White.
Dom Grady was excellent on the bump for the Owls as he fired a complete game and did not allow an earned run.
Nick Cataldi had two hits and two RBI for the Panthers, while Paul MeElroy had two hits for WT.
Bensalem will play @ Council Rock South (2-9) today (weather permitting), while Tennent will play Pennsbury (10-3) on Tuesday.
William Tennent Panthers 1000200 * 3 7 4
Bensalem Owls 000230x * 5 7 3
SOL Continental Conference
North Penn Knights 6, Souderton Indians 5
North Penn (7-5) is the defending PIAA Quad-A state champion – and there were those who counted the Knights out after falling below .500 in conference play. With the walk-off win against Souderton (7-5), North Penn can see its way back to the district playoffs.
“If we win out and should get in at 9-5 – a loss means that we would be playing with fire at 8-6,” said North Penn head coach Kevin Manero as his Knights have conference games against Central Bucks East (1-10) and Hatboro-Horsham (5-7) next week. “We have had more than our share of one run losses this year – it was nice to get one this time against Souderton.”
North Penn led 5-2 going into the top of the seventh inning, but the Indians rallied for three runs to tie the game. The Knights won the game in the last of the seventh when Alex Peterson scored on a wild pitch.
“There are no easy games in this league,” said Manero. “The teams that find a way to win late in the game are going to be the successful teams.
“Every team in this league has good pitching,” added Manero. “You have to execute the entire game if you want to win games.”
Zach Thomas won the game in relief for North Penn, while Zack Miles (two hits) and Kadar Namey (two RBI) sparked the offense.
Souderton Indians 0001013 * 5 7 2
North Penn Knights 1200021 * 6 9 4
Pennridge Rams 2, Central Bucks West Bucks 0
Pennridge (8-5) continued to knock on the district playoff door with the win over CB West (6-6).
“We have to continue to win games if we want to get to that next (playoff) level,” said Pennridge head coach Tom Nuneviller. “It seems like we face good pitching every single game. We lost a couple of tough games early in the week, but we were able to come back and win the last two games of the week.
“We are going to have to hit if we want to keep playing,” added Nuneviller. “We have pitched very well.”
Ram senior Andrew Mayhew is coming back from injury and has impressed. Mayhew threw five strong innings in the win over the Bucks with nine strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. Dan Long came on in relief to record the save – striking out the side in the seventh inning to secure the win.
Joe Robinson and Jason Souder each collected RBI for the Rams.
Pennridge will face rival Quakertown (6-7) to close out the season.
“Pennridge and Quakertown is always a good game,” said Nuneviller. “But really, there isn’t a team that can’t play with any other team in the league.”
Central Bucks West Bucks 0000000 * 0 3 0
Pennridge Rams 001010x * 2 5 0
Central Bucks South Titans 6, Quakertown Panthers 2
Central Bucks South (8-3) held on to first place and at the same time jettisoned the Panthers (6-7) from any hope of playing in the post season.
The Titans scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to break up a scoreless contest. Tommy Dugan fueled the CB South offense with two hits and two RBI, while Kyle Rossi also drove home a pair of runs for the winners.
Chris Palkovics was impressive on the mound for the Titans. He hurled a complete game – allowed just three hits – no earned runs – and struck out six Panthers.
CB South will complete a game with Hatboro-Horsham (5-7) on Saturday – the Titans trail the Hatters 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning. CB South has runners on second and third with no outs.
The Titans will close out its possible championship run against CB East (1-10) and CB West (6-6) next week.
Quakertown Panthers 0001010 * 2 3 2
Central Bucks South Titans 005100x * 6 5 2
SOL American Conference
Springfield Spartans 11, Upper Merion Vikings 2
Springfield (3-8) entered the week with only a single win in the conference, but wins over both Plymouth Whitemarsh and Upper Merion have thrust the Spartans back into the PIAA Class AA playoffs.
“We almost beat Cheltenham (3-2 loss) earlier in the week and with the wins against PW and Upper Merion we’re back in the playoff picture,” said Springfield head coach Dennis Primavera. “We are playing better and getting good pitching.
“It was nice to get the seven runs in the sixth inning,” added Primavera. “That was by far our biggest inning of the season, and we were finally able to relax a little.
“Our league is much improved this year, and with the size of the schools we play it can be tough to compete,” continued Primavera. “But we have some games we could win coming up – Cheltenham (5-6), Norristown (2-9). And we always play okay against Upper Dublin (10-1) in our last game.”
In the win over the Vikings, Nick Pave recorded the win with a three hitter. Jackson Pauwels had three hits and two RBI, Chris Kelly had two hits and three RBI, and Noel Franzyk had two hits and two RBI.
Nick Marino and Mike Hutchinson drove home runs in a losing cause for the Vikings.
Upper Merion will host Norristown today (weather permitting) in its next game, while Springfield host Cheltenham today.
Springfield Spartans 0020072 * 11 9 0
Upper Merion Vikings 0020000 * 2 2 4
Wissahickon Trojans 9, Upper Dublin Cardinals 7 (9-innings)
Wissahickon (9-4) might have secured itself a playoff spot in handing the first loss of the conference season to Upper Dublin (10-1).
The Trojans iced the game with a four-run ninth inning after scoring two runs in the seventh inning to force extra innings. Matt Shilling had three hits and two RBI, Jeremey Spittle had two RBI, and Blake Rapoport had two hits. Spittle was the winning pitcher in relief.
Leading the Cardinal offense was a two-RBI performance by Max Weinberg, while Andrew McDermott had two hits and an RBI.
Roman Catholic will play at Upper Dublin today (weather permitting), while Wissahickon will close out its season next week against Cheltenham (5-6).
Wissahickon Trojans 000300204* 9 11 1
Upper Dublin Cardinals 010004002* 7 8 5
Cheltenham Panthers 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials
Cheltenham (5-6) received another fine pitching performance from Kiernan Versaw-Barnes as the Panthers clawed to the win over the Colonials (4-9).
Versaw-Barner hurled a complete game – allowed no earned runs – and punched out six PW hitters. Jack McHugh had three hits and two RBI, while Wes Giles chipped in with two hits.
Matt Cooper was the tough luck loser for PW. Cooper threw six strong innings and had six strikeouts, while John Pecharo led the offense with two hits.
Plymouth Whitemarsh will close out its conference season against Norristown, while Cheltenham is scheduled to play Springfield today (weather permitting).
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0000010 * 1 7 1
Cheltenham Panthers 010002x * 3 7 1
About the Author
