Check out the recaps for SOL baseball teams in action Friday. CR North/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. CB South/NP photos courtesy of Cindy Manero.
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks South 2, North Penn 0
A crazy week for CB South ended in style, as Noah Collier and Joe Rooney combined on a two-hit shutout on the road for the Titans second win over North Penn this season.
The win improved CB South to 7-8 in SOL play this season with just a Tuesday home game against Pennridge remaining. Unofficially, the team is ranked No. 18 in the District One power rankings after Friday, so a win in the finale would likely earn it a spot in the 20-team playoffs.
“It’s been a long week, an emotional week for our ballclub,” said CB South coach Kevin Bray. “It was nice to get a big win in our division to end the week.”
After giving up a seven-run lead in the seventh inning Wednesday against CB East, the Titans bounced back in a big way.
“It was unique,” Bray said. “I got down to the field (Thursday), and the guys were ready to go. They hit the field, had (batting practice), energy was high and their demeanor was very focussed. They were loose. At the end of the practice, I brought them together and we talked. We stressed how important it was to bounce back today against a really good opponent in North Penn.”
Collier, a senior, threw 104 pitches over six innings, allowing two hits and three walks, while striking out three.
“We definitely thought Noah would be in the mix in the preseason,” Bray said. “He’s been behind Alex (Balint) and Robbie Porco, and both of them have pitched very well, but we’ve been trying to find a spot for Noah to succeed. We knew he could perform. He’s a really good competitor. I was really pleased with his performance today.”
Offensively, the Titans didn’t score a lot, but did just enough to squeak across a pair of runs.
In the top of the third, Owen Petrich opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single. An inning later, Dakota Beck led off with a triple and scored on a double-steal to make it a 2-0 game.
Neither team did much after that, and in the seventh, Titans reliever Rooney worked around a leadoff walk to finish the Knights off.
North Penn (11-5, 9-5 SOL) is unofficially 10th in the District One rankings, and can add a division title with two wins this week – home against Pennsbury Monday and at CB East on Tuesday.
CB South 001 100 0 – 2 7 0
North Penn 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
Central Bucks West 3, Central Bucks East 2
Needing a win to keep its District One Class 6A playoff hopes alive, the Bucks came up with a big one – their second over CB East this season – at Haunesy Park on Friday night.
“The atmosphere was electric,” West coach Brian Weaver said. “We’re fighting for first place with them, we’ve got students out from each school, a ton of people from the community, a Senior Night celebration for them, it’s a fierce rivalry.
“All of that meant a great night for baseball, and honestly it’s about as normal as life has felt in a year. I’m really glad the guys on both sides got to be in a game like this, with that setting.”
The pitching was outstanding in this one, especially after the third, as neither team scored a run over the final four innings.
CB West’s Cole Fehrman earned his second win over East this season, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits, working around six walks and striking out eight. Julio Ermigiotti went the final 1 1/3 innings and didn’t allow a run or a hit, walked one and struck out a pair to earn the save.
For CB East, Aidan Weaver went the first five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and five walks, striking out six. Jack Hamilton struck out three, walked one and didn’t allow a hit in two scoreless innings of relief.
The Bucks opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the top of the first, as Aidan Quinn drew a walk, went to third on an error and then scored on an RBI single by Mike Bukowski.
“Pitching was the story tonight,” Weaver said. “With Fehrman and Weaver going again, we knew runs would be at a premium. We were lucky to get out early. Mike Bukowski got the scoring going in the first with an RBI single. That one was poetic.
“Two years ago as a sophomore he ended a 3-2 loss in this same game, under the lights, at this field, with a line shot that just happened to be right at the shortstop. So for him to come out and jump one in the first, there was some emotion behind that for us.”
CB East, which had only two hits on the night, scored two runs in the bottom of the second. The first three batters walked – Max McGrady, Tyler Rossi and Andrew Whinney. Tyler DeMichael scored one with a fielder’s choice ground out and a bases loaded walk to Reece Moody briefly put the Patriots in front 2-1.
The critical hit of the game came in the top of the third, however, as Quinn belted a two-run home run to give the Bucks the lead back, and it was a lead it wouldn’t give up the rest of the way.
East had only one hit the rest of the game, and after a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, West was able to celebrate the victory.
“After they scored their runs in the second, our guys were completely unfazed,” Weaver said. “Six or seven weeks ago, that might have been enough to shut us down for the day.
“Instead, Andrew Kohl calmly works a walk, and Aidan Quinn crushes a homer to put us back on top. Cole did the job from there, and Julio Ermigiotti came in and saved another one for us. Our pitching has given us a chance to be competitive the last few weeks, and tonight we found a way to make that pay off.”
The Bucks (8-9, 8-8 SOL) unofficially are at No. 23 in the District One power rankings for the upcoming 20-team district playoffs. They need to win Tuesday against Souderton at home and hope for help.
CB East (12-6, 9-6 SOL) wraps up league play Tuesday at North Penn, but first play at Downingtown West in a nonleague game on Monday.
CB West 102 000 0 – 3 4 1
CB East 020 000 0 – 2 2 3
Souderton 3, Pennridge 1
Jacob Horton continued to dominate on the mound, Friday going six strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks, while striking out nine, leading the Indians to a narrow win over rival Pennridge.;
Gabe Rohrbach came out of the bullpen and tossed a scoreless seventh to record the save.
Pennridge’s Ryan DeHaven was strong on the hill too, as he allowed just one earned run on four hits over six innings.
Souderton struck in the first, as Horton picked up a two-out RBI single to score Shanley Wall. In the third, Isaac Frye led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Pollock to make it a 2-0 game.
Pennridge cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the fifth on a Jaden Morgan RBI double, but Souderton took advantage of an error to score a run right back in the bottom of the fifth and 3-1 lead held up for the win.
Souderton (8-10, 6-9 SOL) hosts Lansdale Catholic in a nonleague game Saturday. Pennridge (4-14, 2-13 SOL) closes out its season Tuesday at Central Bucks South.
Pennridge 000 010 0 – 1 6 1
Souderton 101 010 x – 3 4 0
SOL Patriot Division
Council Rock North 2, Neshaminy 0
Colin Williams and Alex Estrada combined on a five-hit shutout and struck out 14 Neshaminy batters on the way to a huge win for the Indians.
It was a must-win game for CR North, which is now 8-8 in SOL play and unofficially No. 24 in the District One Class 6A power rankings – 20 teams qualify for the postseason – with just a Tuesday home game against Pennsbury remaining on the schedule.
“We needed this win to continue to make this roller coaster season matter,” said North coach Matt Schram. “If there isn’t extended baseball in the cards for us after next week, at least these last few games with our rivalries in our incredibly tough league gives our guys that playoff feel.”
Williams went 5 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and two walks, while striking out 11 to pick up the win in a 101-pitch effort. Estrada came out of the bullpen for 1 2/3 innings, allowed two hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.
“Having Colin Williams continue his run of scoreless pitching with command of his fastball and mixing in off speed,” Schram said. “And having Alex Estrada back on the mound after an injury today was perfect timing.”
In the top of the seventh, Neshaminy threatened as Matt Edwards and Brandon Raven had back-to-back singles with one out. Estrada responded by inducing a pop out, and then ending the game with a strikeout to pick up the save.
Offensively, CR North didn’t have much luck against Neshaminy pitching either, but in the fourth did what it needed to, plating a pair of runs against starter Liam DelGuerico.
Leor Kedar was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Colin Manel walked to put the first two runners on. After a sacrifice bunt, a two-run single by Pat Kusters scored both baserunners for what would be the game’s only runs scored.
“This was our best played game to date,” Schram said. “We have had some self-inflicting losses this year, so getting some timely hitting with senior Pat Kusters, and executing little things like Josh Huddy’s sac bunt in the fourth inning on offense was just what we needed.
Matt Mays came out of the bullpen for Neshaminy, and tossed 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief, striking out three and allowing just one hit, but the damage had been done.
Neshaminy (11-5, 9-5 SOL), unofficially No. 12 in the power rankings, have a home-and-home against first-place Bensalem next week, starting on the road Monday.
Neshaminy 000 000 0 – 0 5 1
CR North 000 200 x – 2 3 1
Harry S. Truman 7, Pennsbury 2
Truman continued to be Pennsbury’s kryptonite as Friday the Tigers defeated the Falcons for the second time this season in what could be a crippling loss for Pennsbury’s District One Class 6A playoff hopes.
Friday, Christian Culver took the ball for Truman and twirled a masterpiece, allowing just two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out four in a 87-pitch performance that saw him earn the victory.
Offensively, the Tigers answered an early run by Pennsbury and then took control of the game with four runs in the bottom of the third and never looked back.
Mike Burns drove in a run with a double in the critical third, while James Baker and Will Brennan both had RBI singles in the inning.
Overall, Truman had 14 hits on the afternoon to just three for Pennsbury. The Tigers were led by Burns, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Maleki Jackson, Baker and Andrew Armstrong had two hits each.
Danny Ciotti had two of Pennsbury’s hits.
Truman (6-12, 6-9 SOL) will wrap up its schedule home against Council Rock South on Tuesday. Pennsbury (9-9, 7-7 SOL) plays at North Penn on Monday.
Pennsbury 100 010 0 – 2 3 1
Harry S. Truman 104 101 x – 7 14 1
Bensalem 7, Council Rock South 0
Matt McShane hit a three-run home run in the third and two innings later Jalen Soberal belted a two-run triple as Bensalem turned up the heat offensively and blanked Council Rock South.
McShane, who has been nearly unhittable on the mound for the Owls, lifted his squad up at the plate Friday. His homer to right field scored Nate Rice and Sean Nelson to break a scoreless tie in the third. A Nick Nush RBI single made it 4-0.
The Owls scored three times in the fifth to round out the scoring. Logan Young had an RBI single and then Soberal’s triple to center field scored Young and Tyler Fisher.
Young was the winning pitcher, going the first four innings, allowing three hits and walking four, while striking out six. Ryan McLaughlin came on in the fifth and tossed three shutout innings of relief, where he didn’t allow a hit or a walk and struck out five.
The Owls (16-1, 13-1 SOL) have already wrapped up the SOL Patriot title, and have two games remaining, a back-to-back with Neshaminy, starting at home on Monday. CR South (6-10, 5-10 SOL) plays at Harry S. Truman on Tuesday.
Bensalem 004 030 0 – 7 10 2
CR South 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
SOL Liberty Division
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11, Abington 1
The Colonials needed to brush off a two-game losing streak if they wanted to wrap up the SOL Liberty title, and senior shortstop Joe Jaconski got his team started the right away with a leadoff home run. That proved to be the catalyst as PW clinched the division championship with the convincing win in five innings.
PW scored eight runs in the first two innings.
“After a couple of tough losses, our guys were very focused today on erasing the rest of the week by winning the league title today,” said PW coach Chris Manero. “They seemed intent on doing that from the get go.”
After Joe Jaconski’s homer to lead off the bottom of the first, Jesse Jaconski, Luke Caucci and Mike Miller followed with singles to load the bases. Later, with two outs, Jack Hildebrand was hit by a pitch to score one run and Joe Redmond walked with the bases loaded to make it a 3-0 game.
“When Joe led off the bottom of the first with a home run, it seemed to help keep the rest of our lineup hungry,” Manero said.
The second inning saw both Jaconskis and Caucci all draw walks to lead off the inning. One run scored on a passed ball, another on a fielder’s choice grounder by Miller, one on a Luke Gartland RBI single and two more on bases loaded walks to Redmond and Joe Jaconski.
PW finished the game off with one on a Jesse Jaconski sacrifice fly in the fourth and then a two-run single by Anthony Viola in the bottom of the field.
Alex Wilkie-Viscio went all five innings on the mound for the Colonials to pick up the victory. He allowed one run on five hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.
“Alex pitched out of a jam in the top of the first after we made a couple of uncharacteristic errors behind him,” Manero said. “I think getting out of that inning unscathed really helped our confidence.
“Most games really do start and end on the mound. And, today, Alex Wilkie-Viscio gave us exactly what we needed. He threw a ton of strikes, he didn’t allow any walks, and he came up really big on a day when we needed him the most.”
PW (16-2, 13-2 SOL) is off until Tuesday when it plays at Wissahickon in its Liberty Division finale. Abington (11-6, 11-4 SOL) plays at Quakertown on Tuesday.
Abington 001 00 – 1 5 3
PW 350 12 – 11 9 2
Hatboro-Horsham 4, Quakertown 3
A one-out RBI single by senior Jimmy Tooley scored Logan Fischer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Hatters the thrilling extra inning win.
H-H’s big 10th inning came after it gave up a 3-0 lead, as Quakertown rallied to tie it with three runs in the top of the seventh.
“A lot of people these days talk about whether or not kids in this era have the same grit that kids in the past had,” said Hatters coach Pete Moore, “and I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that our kids have grit and have learned how to persevere and fight through adversity.”
Tooley had a huge game for H-H, going the first six innings on the mound, allowing just two hits and two walks, while striking out nine in a 101-pitch effort, leaving the game with a 3-0 lead.
Freshman Stephen Plefka helped get the Hatters out of the seventh inning without further damage, and he wound up going four innings and allowing one hit and two walks, to pick up the victory.
“We got an outstanding start from Jimmy Tooley again,” Moore said. “He went six innings, struck out nine and didn’t allow a run. Then we got a tremendous effort from our freshman Stephen Plefka who came in relief with the bases loaded in the seventh-inning and an error allowed all three runners to score, but he found a way to get out of it without allowing another run and then he put up three zeros after that.”
Cole Fisher had an RBI single to open the scoring in the H-H third inning, and then the Hatters added two more in the fourth on a two-run home run by Ryan Toporowski.
A single and a walk started the Quakertown seventh inning, and Ethan Beil put the Panthers on the scoreboard with an RBI double. Anthony Rostick later had an RBI single, and the tying run scored on an error.
The game remained deadlocked until the 10th, when Tooley’s heroics helped pull the game out for the Hatters.
“Defensively we made some key plays and then Trey Porter started off the rally for us,” Moore said. “He singled up the middle, Jack Elwell laid down a nice bunt that he reached on to make it first and second, and then Tooley came up big for us again, hitting the ball over the center fielder’s head to win the game.”
H-H (11-7, 10-5), currently ninth unofficially in the district power rankings, plays at Upper Dublin on Tuesday. Quakertown (9-9, 8-6), No. 15 in District One, hosts Abington on Tuesday.
Quakertown 000 000 300 0 – 3 5 1
Hatboro-Horsham 001 200 000 1 – 4 9 2
Upper Dublin 6, Wissahickon 5
Wissahickon made it interesting with five runs in the top of the fifth, but reliever Karan Acharya came out of the bullpen to toss two scoreless innings of relief as UD held off the Trojans for its 12th straight win.
Tristan Carnes picked up the win on the mound for the Flying Cardinals, going 4 1/3 inning, but he tired in the fifth. Justin Richman came in to help get UD out of the fifth, before turning the ball over to Acharya in the sixth. Acharya retired all six batters he faced, striking out one, to earn the save.
Offensively, UD scored four in the second and two in the fourth to go up 6-0.
Nick Lombardo finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Cardinals, while Brendan O’Brien was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Carnes and Tyler Lizell had two hits each as well.
Wissahickon was led by Joe Hornig, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Upper Dublin (12-7, 10-5 SOL) wraps up the regular season at home Tuesday against Hatboro-Horsham. Wissahickon (9-10, 8-7 SOL) plays Plymouth Whitemarsh at home Tuesday.
Wissahickon 000 050 0 – 5 7 5
Upper Dublin 040 200 x – 6 11 1
SOL Freedom Division
Springfield Twp 4, Lower Moreland 0
On Senior Day, Springfield made it a day to remember, clinching the program’s first league title in three decades with a shutout of the visiting Lions on Friday.
With one game remaining, at Cheltenham on Tuesday, the Spartans 8-7 in SOL play (8-10 overall).
“It’s nice being in a division where we’re playing against comparable teams, and that’s what’s happening this year,” said Spartans coach Dennis Primavera. “We’re not always going to win the division, but at least I know I’m not going to get my head knocked in.”
Jack O’Malley pitched six shutout innings to pick up the win, allowing just two hits and one walk, while striking out nine. Nick Kirby closed out the game with a scoreless seventh.
“As usual at Springfield, they come together late, and that’s what’s happening,” Primavera said. “ Whoever I throw out there to pitch is giving me good games. Even the relief is doing a good job.
“It seems like every game recently somebody else is stepping up. Today Alex Wynne, who’s a senior, had a triple, a double and two RBIs, and he’s my fourth outfielder, so he doesn’t play every game.”
Springfield scored two runs in the bottom of the third, as Wynne led off with a triple and scored on a RBI groundout by Andrew Kennedy. Nate Dennis then doubled to make it a 2-0 game.
In the sixth, the Spartans added two insurance runs as two runs scored on an error.
Matt Dymowski, Jack Doneker and Bryce Fazio had singles for Lower Moreland.
The Lions (6-10, 5-10 SOL) finish its regular season Tuesday at William Tennent.
Lower Moreland 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Springfield 002 002 x – 4 7 0
Upper Moreland 15, William Tennent 5 (5 innings)
With 10 runs in the fourth and fifth inning, Upper Moreland broke open a 5-5 game and finished Tennent off in five innings due to the mercy rule.
This was a game that saw the Panthers grab a 3-0 lead with three in the top of the first, only to see the Golden Bears put up five in the second, and then Tennent answer right back with two in the third to tie the game at 5.
But UM scored three runs in the fourth on two errors, a walk and a Connor English RBI triple, and then seven more to completely blow the game wide open in the fifth. Greg Wiley’s RBI single ended the game with the 15th run.
English led the Bears at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and three RBIs. Wiley was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Sean McAfee and Shawn Townsend also had two hits each.
Josh Henderson pitched two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win on the mound.
UM (6-11, 6-9 SOL) finishes its SOL Freedom schedule Tuesday at New Hope-Solebury. Tennent (5-11, 5-9 SOL) wraps up its season Tuesday at Lower Moreland.
William Tennent 302 00 – 5 5 2
Upper Moreland 050 37 – 15 14 3
New Hope-Solebury 10, Cheltenham 4
The Lions, who snapped a six-game losing streak on Wednesday, made it two straight wins in a row with a convincing victory over Cheltenham on Friday.
Two runs in the second put New Hope up early, as Jon Wilson singled home a run and Adam Aquaro followed with an RBI double. But the game was closed for four innings, as the teams traded runs, and the Lions lead was just 3-2 heading into the fifth.
There, however, five runs blew the game wide open.
Mike Janora doubled to lead off the fifth, and Kyle Campbell batted him home with an RBI triple one batter later. Justin Lehman and Josh Shiller then followed with back-to-back RBI doubles, a run scored on an error and Brooks Saft picked up an RBI on a sac fly to make it an 8-2 game.
On the day, New Hope had 15 hits and eight extra base hits, led by Campbell, who went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBIs. Shiller and Matt Jermyn both had three hits as well, while Janora had two hits.
Shiller was also the winning pitcher, throwing the first 5 2/3 innings for the Lions, while Saul Carmenini threw 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen to close out the game.
“Josh Shiller pitched a great game commanding all four pitches,” said New Hope coach Tony Vlahovic. “The movement on his pitches today was excellent with (nine strikeouts and one walk).”
Sam Nakkula and Sam Batiancila at two hits each for Cheltenham, while scored four runs on 10 hits.
New Hope (8-11, 5-10 SOL) closes out its regular season at home Tuesday against Upper Moreland. Cheltenham (0-15, 0-15 SOL) hosts Springfield on Tuesday.
New Hope-Solebury 020 151 1 – 10 15 2
Cheltenham 001 102 0 – 4 10 4
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