Check out all of Friday’s SOL baseball action. To view photos of the Hatboro-Horsham/Pennridge game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Hatboro-Horsham (11-3, 8-2) nudged its way into a first place tie with idle Central Bucks West (11-3, 8-2) in the Suburban One Continental Conference as the Hatters topped host Pennridge (8-7, 3-7) – 7-2. The Hatters will host the Bucks next Tuesday with sole possession of first place on the line.
“We were up 3-0 and then West beat us in the first game on a last at-bat,” remembered Hatboro-Horsham head coach Peter Moore. “West is a team with good pitching and good defense, and in high school baseball that will win you a lot of games.
“There are no days off in this league,” added Moore. “We are 8-2 in our league, and in six of those wins were had to come from behind. We have had to battle almost every game.”
The Hatters win over Pennridge was one of those six come-from-behind victories. The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the third inning, but a pair of three-run innings in the fourth and fifth innings secured the win for Hatboro-Horsham. Senior Casey Saverio blasted a three-run homer to fuel the Hatter offense.
“I have been lucky to have a player like Casey the last four years,” said Moore. “He is one of the players on this team that can carry you, and he helped carry us today with that homerun.”
“I got a fast ball right down the middle of the plate,” said Saverio. “This field is the smallest one in the league, and sometimes you can get anxious to hit one out. (Pennridge starting pitcher Evan Myers) was really tough early in the game, but we got used to his pace as the game went on.
“We treat every game like a possible championship game,” added Saverio. “But now we have West, and we are pumped to play them.”
Hatboro-Horsham had an excellent game thrown by starter Tyler Zingle who threw six strong innings and allowed just four hits, Connor Crookham pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
“Hatboro-Horsham has a team that has seniors across the board,” said Pennridge head coach Tom Nuneviller as the Rams start three freshmen. “They have good players, and good players do good things.
“We are young, and we battle every game,” said Nuneviller. “We punch back – but sometimes we get punched back even harder.”
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 000 331 0 - 7 10 1
Pennridge Rams 002 000 0 - 2 5 1
Titan Performance by CB South’s Rick Dennis
Central Bucks South (8-5, 5-5) received a no-hit ‘masterpiece’ by senior Rick Dennis as the Titans captured a 6-0 SOL Continental Conference victory over ‘host’ North Penn (10-4, 6-4). The game was played at North Penn due to poor field conditions at CB South – the Titans were considered the ‘home team’ and batted last.
“Rick had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning, and I had no clue he had a no-hitter,” said Central Bucks South head coach Mike Schaefer. “It wasn’t like he was mowing them down. I can’t remember anyone ever throwing a no-hitter without getting a strikeout. He only threw 66 pitches and got nine fly ball outs to go along with 11 groundouts. We played well behind him and turned one double play.”
Dennis walked three Knight batters and hit one batter in his complete game effort.
The Titans – who defeated Souderton 13-3 in their last conference game – pounded out 10 hits. Dylan Glassmire singled home the lead run in the fourth inning and laced a double with the bases loaded to plate three more runs in a five-run fifth inning.
“We have to keep winning games,” said Schaefer. “I think the way we played against Souderton and North Penn is more reflective of how we can play the game.”
North Penn Knights 000 000 0 - 0 0 0
Central Bucks South Titans 000 150 x - 6 10 1
Council Rock North Wins SOL National Conference Classic
Council Rock North (10-4, 9-2) will advance to its Tuesday showdown with district rival Council Rock South (13-1, 10-1) as the Indians survived a 1-0 eight-inning victory over host Pennsbury (5-11, 4-7).
“This was one of the best high school games I have been involved in,” said Council Rock North head coach Matt Schram. “Both teams played their hearts out.”
Pennsbury starter Joe Sabatino was the hard luck loser for the Falcons with a complete game effort. The junior lefty held the potent Indian bats to just three hits.
Council Rock North scored what proved to be the only run of the game in the eighth inning. Phil Marks was safe on a fielder’s choice and with two outs and two strikes – Chris Ender scalded a triple to drive home Marks with the game winner.
Rock North received six shutout innings from starter Nate English who pitched on just three days rest. Sophomore Matt Renck earned the win with two strong shutout innings of relief.
“The kids call him ‘Renck the Tank’,” said Schram. “He might be a sophomore, but he sure doesn’t play like one and doesn’t act like one.
“The game with (CR) South is a game that is always played with emotion and excitement,” added Schram. “It is going to have a playoff atmosphere, and the players and coaches are really looking forward to the game.”
Council Rock North Indians 000 000 01 - 1 3 0
Pennsbury Falcons 000 000 00 - 0 3 3
Golden Hawks Soar to conference win
Council Rock South (13-1, 10-1) maintained its one game lead over both CR North (9-2) and Bensalem (9-2) as the Golden Hawks rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat host Abington (3-13, 2-9) – 6-3.
Jeff Miller collected the win for Rock South throwing the first five innings and striking out two hitters. Zak Gross had a pair of doubles for the Hawks, while Steve Wright and Brian Donnelly blasted triples for the winners.
Council Rock South Golden Hawks 001 410 0 - 6 6 3
Abington Ghosts 210 000 0 - 3 4 2
Vikings Sail to Second Straight SOL American Conference Victory
Upper Merion (5-10, 4-9) came back from a four run deficit and scored the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh inningas the Vikings stunned visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-7, 9-6) – 6-5. Upper Merion defeated Norristown 5-3 earlier in the week.
“We have played two good games in a row, and we seem to be playing very loose but focused,” said Upper Merion head coach Jason Darnell. “Right now we are playing with nothing to lose, and maybe that is why we have been playing baseball the way I thought we were going to play all season. It is exciting.”
Upper Merion spotted the Colonials a 4-0 lead but scored four runs in the second inning tie the game. PW scored a run in the top of the seventh to knot the score at 5-5, but an RBI single by senior Chris Loschiavo was the game winner. Senior Mike Shannon had opened the inning with a double for the Vikings and scored the winning run.
“It is great to see us hang in there and compete with the good teams in our league,” said Darnell. “We have respect for every single team in this league.”
Upper Merion will play four games in four days next week as the Vikings play Norristown (5/8), Upper Moreland (5/9), Wissahickon (5/10), and Cheltenham (5/11).
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 310 000 1 - 5 9 1
Upper Merion Vikings 040 010 1 - 6 10 3
The Rest of the Story in the SOL American Conference
Wissahickon (9-8, 9-6) blasted 14 hits and scored 14 runs as the Trojans routed host Norristown (2-13, 2-12) – 14-5.
Dan Chou was the winning pitcher for the Trojans throwing the first five innings. The offense was fueled by Brennan Weiss, JT Crits, and Matt Oruch with three RBI each.
Wissahickon Trojans 230 414 0 - 14 14 1
Norristown Eagles 000 032 0 - 5 5 3
Cheltenham (6-9, 5-8) knocked Upper Dublin (11-4, 10-4) percentage points out of first place as the Panthers clawed to a 5-1 victory. Upper Moreland (9-3) is back in first place in the conference.
Matt Lawlor was the winning pitcher for Cheltenham and threw a complete game and allowed just three hits. The Panthers have now won two consecutive conference games.
Cheltenham Panthers 301 000 1 - 5 4 1
Upper Dublin Cardinals 000 001 0 - 1 3 3
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