Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Wednesday. Bensalem/CR North photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery. NP photo courtesy of Cindy Manero.
SOL Liberty
Upper Dublin 8, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
The first time Upper Dublin played Plymouth Whitemarsh, the Flying Cardinals were blown out 15-3.
Two games and two more losses later, UD was 0-7 on the season.
Wednesday, coach Ed Wall’s team won its 11th game in a row, handing first-place Plymouth Whitemarsh its second loss of the week with a dominating 8-1 effort.
“We still have room to grow and improve on both sides of the ball, but this was an enormous win for us,” Wall said.
UD pitcher Griffin Johnson was dominant on the mound, allowing just four hits and one run (unearned), going the distance in a 98-point effort. The top four hitters in the PW lineup went 1-for-13.
“The key today was Griffin Johnson and the defense,” Wall said. “They kept picking each other up. If one made a mistake, or two made a mistake, the other was there to get us out of the jam.
“On the other side of the game, Tyler Lizell and Ethan Madnick had some key two0-out knocks and broke the game open for us offensively.”
Madnick and Lizell had two hits and three RBIs as well, with both knocking doubles as well. Leo Soriano also had two hits.
UD (11-7, 3-5 SOL) hosts rival Wissahickon on Friday. PW (15-2, 6-2 SOL) hosts Abington
Upper Dublin 104 003 0 – 8 8 6
Plymouth Whitemarsh 000 100 0 – 1 4 2
Abington 9, Hatboro-Horsham 6
It took 11 innings, but Wednesday’s game couldn’t have ended any better for the Galloping Ghosts.
Anthony Ehly’s three-run home run with one out in the bottom of the 11th gave Abington the dramatic win in a battle between two teams battling for high seeds in the upcoming District One Class 6A Tournament.
The win was the 11th in the last 12 games for Abington, which at one point was 1-3. The Ghosts (11-5, 5-3 SOL) are unofficially sixth in the District One power rankings. Hatboro-Horsham (10-7, 4-4 SOL) saw its seven-game win streak snapped, and currently sits at No. 13 in the rankings.
This one was back-and-forth throughout. Abington grabbed the early lead with a run in the first. H-H answered with three in the second and three in the fourth, only to see Abington tie it with three runs in the fifth. And then neither team scored for five straight innings.
Ehly finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Henry Tyler went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored an RBI for Abington, while Jameson Giannattasio was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
On the mound, Ehly was likewise the story for the Ghosts. He came on in the seventh and pitched five scoreless innings, working out of jams and scattering five hits and four walks, while striking out four.
The Hatters had 13 hits, all singles, nine walks, one hit-by-pitch and eight stolen bases. Cole Fisher was 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while Jack Elwell was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three steals, and Ryan Toporowski and Will Bruner had two hits each.
Logan Fischer was the hard-luck losing pitcher, throwing the last 5 2/3 innings and not allowing a run until Ehly’s dramatic homer in the 11th.
Second-place Abington has another big game at first-place Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday, trailing the Colonials by just a game in the standings.
H-H concludes the week with a home game against Quakertown on Friday.
Hatboro-Horsham 030 300 000 00 – 6 13 2
Abington 110 130 000 03 – 9 10 2
SOL Freedom Division
Lower Moreland 9, Cheltenham 6
It took six runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lions found a way to get the win, despite being outhit 17-9 by the winless Panthers.
Trailing 6-3 to start the seventh, Aidan Ricciardi led off the inning with a triple. He would score on batter later as a flyball was dropped for an error. A sac fly by Robbie Link made it 6-5. Mason Tammaro would tie it up with an RBI single.
A Jack Doneker double scored two runs and Matt Haggerty followed with an RBI single and just like that the Lions had the 9-6 win.
Bryce Fazio threw the final 1 1/3 inning for Lower Moreland, not allowing a run, while striking out two.
Lower Moreland (6-9, 5-3 SOL) remains two games back of first place Springfield in the SOL Freedom standings. It plays at Springfield Friday. Cheltenham (0-14, 0-8 SOL) hosts New Hope-Solebury.
Cheltenham 010 023 0 – 6 17 2
Lower Moreland 100 206 x – 9 9 1
Springfield 3, Upper Moreland 2
Tyler Whatley gave Springfield the boost it needed on Wednesday, going the distance in a seven-inning outing for this SOL Freedom win.
With the win, the Spartans are now 7-1 in the Freedom (7-10 overall), with a two game lead over the closest competition, Lower Moreland and William Tennent.
Whatley threw 99 pitches in seven innings, allowing six hits and walking one, while striking out seven batters.
“Springfield has always struggled with UM for some reason,” said Springfield coach Dennis Primavera. “This is definitely the best hittint team that Springfield has had in a long, long time, but pitching is a challenge. This afternoon, Tyler Whatley went the distance with seven Ks and one walk, and our offense wasn’t as potent.
“Good defense by both teams. We were fortunate to have a couple of timely steals followed by two timely hits. Our catcher, Gave Franzyck had two RBIs and threw out three runners.”
Eberhardt and Mathews had RBIs for Springfield.
Kaleb Powell led UM hitters by going 2-for-3 with a walk and a RBI.
Springfield (7-10, 7-1 SOL) hosts Lower Moreland on Friday. Upper Moreland plays host to William Tenent.”
Upper Moreland 001 000 1 – 2 6 1
Springfield 001 110 x – 3 3 0
New Hope-Solebury 19, William Tennent 7
A 10-run third inning lifted New Hope in this one, as the Lions snapped a six-game losing streak on the road Wednesday.
The Lions scored 19 runs on 15 hits, 11 walks, three hit-bats and nine Tennent errors.
“Our scoring slump finally ended and our gloves found the ball today,” said NH-S coach Tony Vlahovic.
Josh Shiller went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs to lead the way, while Justin Lehman went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs.
Brooks Saft had two hits and three RBIs, while Adam Aquaro also had three RBIs.
The game was tied at 3 heading into the third. New Hope sent 16 batters to the plate in the inning, with the first 10 runners reaching base on five hits, three walks, one hit batter and one error.
The Lions would add one run in the fifth and five in the top of the seventh.
Liam Griffith pitched the first three innings to pick up the win, followed by Jason Kloss with three innings, and Michael Janora with one inning.
Carter Crawford had two hits for Tennent, while Aiden Larsen had a triple and Josh Nydick a double.
New Hope (7-11, 4-4 SOL) plays at Cheltenham on Friday. Tennent (5-10, 5-3 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland.
New Hope-Solebury 21 (10) 010 5 – 19 15 3
William Tennent 301 012 0 – 7 7 9
SOL Patriot Division
Bensalem 7, Council Rock North 5
Offensively, the Owls needed a breakout day having scored just four runs in their last three league games. They got it Wednesday, bouncing back from an early deficit and then hanging on late for the two-run win on the road.
Ryan Rooney went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs to lead the Bensalem offensive attack, while Nick Nush was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Nush got the Owls started with a two-out RBI single in the first, only to see Council Rock North answer with three runs in the bottom of the first with five singles, with Pat Kusters drive in two and Shane Anhalt also picking up an RBI.
Bensalem came right back with three in the second as Jalen Soberal had an RBI single, and Rooney drove in a pair with a single two batters later.
The Indians scored one in the bottom of the second on a Colin Manel RBI double, so after two it was a 4-4 game.
In the fourth, Sean Swentowski and Rooney both scored on wild pitches to put Bensalem back in front. Manel then drove home Reece Abbe with a single in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-5.
At that point, the pitching settled down, with the lone run coming as Nush scored from third on another CR North wild pitch.
Sean Nelson settled down after the rough start and picked up the win on the mound for Bensalem, while Kyle Rubin tossed two shutout innings of relief to earn the save.
“Our young pitchers really stepped up today,” Bensalem coach Harry Daut said. “Nelson gave us five good innings, and Rubin pitched real well for the same.
“Rooney, Nush and Soberal provided the RBIs with some key hits.”
Bensalem (15-1, 6-1 SOL) remained in a first-place tie with Neshaminy in the SOL Patriot standings, and concludes the week Friday at Council Rock South.
CR North (8-9, 4-4 SOL) unofficially sits at No.22 in the district power rankings and needs wins from here out, starting with a big one at home against Neshaminy on Friday.
Bensalem 130 200 1 – 7 8 2
CR North 310 100 0 – 5 12 1
Pennsbury 6, Council Rock South 0
After seemingly a season of close games, both wins and losses, Pennsbury needed a win Wednesday and behind a stellar pitching outing from junior Justin Mitrovich, the Falcons blanked CR South.
Mitrovich threw just 88 pitches over seven innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out 14 batters in a dominant effort.
“Mitrovich was incredible today,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci. “I think he’s the best pitcher in the league. The kid has been absolutely phenomenal. He throws hard, has good off-speed stuff. He gets angry and channels it, channels it into focus. Today, he spotted his pitches.”
Pennsbury took control of the game early on offense too, with a run in the first and then three in the third. Cailan Fang drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the first. Charlie Evans had an RBI double in the third and Joe Limongelli drove in one with a sacrifice fly.
“Early on, we put the ball in play a lot,” Pesci said. “We had a lot of ground ball outs. We had productive outs today. We’ve had a string of games where we’ve struck out too much. We’ve been needing more productive outs. We totally did that today.”
Eric Stradling was 2-for-2 with two doubles and a RBI to lead the Pennsbury offensive attack Wednesday. Evans and Fang had two hits each as well.
“It was a good feeling, because we lost 1-0 to Neshaminy with a great pitching performance,” Pesci said. “We lose 1-0 to Bensalem. We lose 4-3 to CB east in the seventh inning. It’s nice to come out and control the game from the beginning. We put the ball in play every at bat. (Outfielder) Danny Ciotti threw a guy ot at the plate in the first inning. After that, we were in control.”
Pennsbury (9-8, 3-5 SOL), unofficially No. 19 in the District One power standings, plays at Truman on Friday.
CR South (6-9, 2-6 SOL) hosts first-place Bensalem on Friday.
Pennsbury 103 001 1 – 6 8 1
CR South 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Neshaminy 11, Harry S Truman 1
A four-run first inning set the tone early, and seven runs in the fifth put the bow tie on a dominant win for Neshaminy, as this one was called after five innings via the mercy rule.
Gaige Ryan, Josh Martoccio and Zack Bowman each had singles to lead off the top of the first, and Bowman’s hit drove in the game’s first run. Two runs would later score on a wild pitch and Calderbank Myles drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Truman scored one in the bottom of the first as Will Brennan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but that was pretty much it for the Tigers against Neshaminy starter Justus Agosto, who struck out 11 in five innings, allowing just three hits and two walks.
The rest of the Neshaminy offense came in the fifth. Brendan Raven had an RBI double, Myles another RBI single, Ryan with an RBI single, Mike Donato with an RBI sac fly and a two-run single by Josh Gibson.
Ryan, Martoccio, Bowman and Raven each finished with two hits for the game.
Mike Burns, Christian Culver and Ethan Hebling had Truman’s hits.
Neshaminy (11-4, 6-1 SOL) remained in a first-place tie with the win. It plays at Council Rock North on Friday. Truman (5-12, 2-6 SOL) hosts Pennsbury.
Neshaminy 400 07 – 11 10 1
Harry S. Truman 100 00 – 1 3 2
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 9, Central Bucks South 7
Some games can just prove the point that there’s no more unpredictable game then baseball.
For six innings Wednesday, CB East was bested by CB South pitcher Alex Balint, who was throwing a no-hitter with the Titans in front 7-0.
But the Patriots found a way to get guys on base, mostly via walks, and rallied to score nine times on just one hit to pull the game out.
“We had one hit – we were no hit going into the seventh,” said CB East coach Kyle Dennis. “Their pitcher did a really good job tonight, but he started to lose command. Our guys, credit to them, took it on themselves to be patient at the plate.
“Early in the game, we were swinging at balls out of the zone. We strung together a few walks. They were very patient. Our guys didn’t swing at bad pitches.”
Jack Nugent had East’s only hit of the game, up the middle with the bases loaded to pick up one RBI. Six of the runs came on bases loaded walks.
Alex Stewart was the winning pitcher for the Patriots, allowing just one run in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
“We won a couple tight ball games in a row,” Dennis said. “We held on to win against Neshaminy last week. This week, we couldn’t close games out. We blew leads two games in a row. That’s frustrating for everybody involved. But I’m proud of our guys tonight. They did their job.”
Colin Mitchell went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for South, while Carter Hinds, Owen Petrich and JD Anderorsky had two hits each.
CB East (12-5, 5-3 SOL) hosts CB West Friday night, while CB South (9-8, 5-3 SOL) plays at North Penn.
CB East 000 000 9 – 9 1 1
CB South 202 201 0 – 7 10 3
Central Bucks West 4, Pennridge 2
A three-run third inning was all CB West starter Connor Dobos would need Wednesday.
Dobos allowed just two runs on two hits and three walks, while striking out three, before giving way to Julio Ermigiotti, who pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.
“Connor Dobos did his usual thing, scattered two hits over six innings,” said CB West coach Brian Weaver. “He’s been a critical piece for us all year, a guy who thrives with the pressure on.”
After Mike Boyle drove in the game’s first run in the third, the next batter, Andrew Kohl belted a two-run home run to left field to make it a 3-0 game.
Pennridge cut into that lead with an RBI single by Joey Calabretti, who later scored himself and just like that it was 3-2. But the Rams would have only two base runners and wouldn’t get another hit the rest of the way against West pitching.
Kevin Bukowski had an RBI double for an insurance run for West in the sixth.
“Kevin Bukowski was a dude today,” Weaver said. “He’s been one of our unsung heroes. Our middle infield couldn’t find a groove early on, but he came up and locked down shortstop for us. He’s here for his defense.
“But today he gets a single that starts a big inning in the third, and he yanks a double down the right field line to plate an insurance run in the sixth.
“Andrew Kohl added another homer. He was injured last week, and having him back is huge.”
CB West (7-9, 5-3 SOL) is now in a four-way logjam atop the SOL Colonial standings, and plays one of the other teams, CB East, on Friday night. Pennridge (4-13, 1-7 SOL) plays at Souderton.
Pennridge 000 200 0 – 2 2 1
CB West 003 001 x – 4 6 1
North Penn 5, Souderton 4
Seniors made things happen for the Knights on Wednesday, offensively, pitching and defensively, as they pulled out the one-run win with runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
“We had some big-time contributions from our seniors late in the game,” said North Penn coach Kevin Manero. “We’ve had a lot of younger players step up big for us this season, but tonight it was a little more about seniors stepping up and making sure we got this win.”
It was North Penn’s sixth straight win and puts it in a four-way logjam at the top of the SOL Colonial standings.
Trailing 4-3, Evin Sullivan belted a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs in the sixth, RJ Agriss singled home what would be the game-winning run.
Then, in the top of the seventh, after a leadoff single, right fielder Steven Corrado made a running catch and then doubled off the runner on first, essentially ending the Indians attempts at a rally in the final inning.
“RJ Agriss had the game-winning hit,” Manero said. “That was big for us, and real big for him. He’s been struggling to buy some hits lately, but that was a big moment for a senior to step up.
“Then, after Souderton’s leadoff man on, Steven Corrado, another senior, made an incredible running catch in right field and doubled off the guy on first.”
For good measure, senior Eric Hamilton pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Dylan Brown, and allowed just one hit the rest of the way.
North Penn (11-4, 5-3 SOL) hosts CB South on Friday. Souderton (7-10, 3-5 SOL) hosts Pennridge.
Souderton 010 120 0 – 4 8 4
North Penn 012 011 x – 5 8 3
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