Four SOL teams will square off in Tuesday’s District One AAAA semifinals. Upper Moreland will play for the District One AAA title on Wednesday. Check Scott Huff’s preview.
By Scott Huff
It has been a pretty darn good year for Suburban One League baseball as all four of the final four teams in the Quad-A level of the PIAA District One playoffs – Council Rock South, Upper Dublin, Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks South - are members of the SOL. And Upper Moreland will play in the Class AAA district final against Phoenixville.
“I think it says a lot about how strong the Suburban One League has been this year- especially our (Continental) conference,” said Central Bucks South head coach Mike Schaefer. “We beat Central Bucks West to get to the district semifinals, and now we get to play Hatboro-Horsham in the semifinals – both are from our conference. And win or lose we are going to play another Suburban One League team in the next round.”
The sad thing about how District One sets up the tournament is that it allows a situation like the one that will exist on Tuesday. Both CB South and Hatboro-Horsham will have to travel over an hour to play a 4 pm game at Glen Mills. It makes it a very tough ‘see’ for parents and fans of both the Titans and the Hatters.
“I understand that the committee determines the sites of the games before the tournament begins, and they want to be able to fair to the teams in the other end of the district,” said Schaefer. “But it ends up being a long bus ride for both us and Hatboro-Horsham, but both teams are going to deal with it.”
Council Rock South and Upper Dublin will play their Tuesday semifinal game at Temple-Ambler. Ironically, that site was chosen to accommodate N-1 seed Rock South – and facts are that Upper Dublin is less than 10 minutes from the site.
“I surely am not going to complain,” said Upper Dublin head coach Ed Wall. “We had our first two district game at home, and now we get to play at Temple-Ambler. It all worked out well for us.”
The bottom line – as both Schafer and Wall know – is that it is ‘how’ you play and not ‘where’ you play that determines championships.
The winners of the semifinal games will play in the district final on Thursday at – are you kidding – Immaculata University.
Rev up the engines to make that trek to Chester County – 20 minutes outside the Philadelphia.
PIAA District One Quad-A Playoff Semifinals
@ Temple-Ambler – Tuesday – 4 pm
[N-3] Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals vs. [N-1] Council Rock South Golden Hawks
Upper Dublinfinished the season as the co-champion of the Suburban One League American Conference with a 14-4 conference record. The Flying Cardinals earned a bye in the first round of the district playoffs.
Upper Dublin trailed [N-11] Wissahickon 3-0 early after the third inning of its second round game before knotting the score at 3-3 after the sixth inning. The game was suspended at that point and was completed the following day with the Cardinals scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to snatch a 4-3 victory.
Upper Dublin used its comeback abilities just 24 hours later to collect an 8-5 quarterfinal win over [N-7] Methacton. The Cardinals trailed 5-4 going into the sixth inning, but UD rallied for four runs to secure the win. Zach Walsh picked up the win for the Cardinals throwing five and two-thirds innings of relief.
Council Rock South finished the season as the champion of the Suburban One League National Conference with a 13-1 conference record. The Golden Hawks earned a bye in the first round of the district playoffs.
Council Rock South opened its district play with a tough 4-1 victory over [N-9] North Penn. Bret DeStefano threw a complete game for Rock South in the win and had five strikeouts. Steve Wright and Brian Donnelly collected key hits in the win.
Council Rock South continued in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs with a 10-0 mercy rule victory over [S-12] Coatesville. In that game Bret DeStefano blasted a two-run homerun for the Hawks and sparked an 11-hit attack, while Brian Donnelly threw six shutout innings for the winners.
Upper Dublin head coach Ed Wall says – “To be able to beat Council Rock South is going to be quite a challenge. (CR South head coach) Greg Young has an awesome program. We go into the game with some momentum, but all the teams still playing in the playoffs go in with that same momentum.”
Council Rock South head coach Greg Young says – “We knew that by beating Coatesville that we were going to the state playoffs. But the seniors on this team believe that they have some unfinished business, and we will continue to play hard no matter which team we happen to be playing.”
PIAA District One Quad-A Playoff Semifinals
@ Glen Mills High School - Tuesday – 4 pm
[N-12] Central Bucks South Titans vs. [N-2] Hatboro-Horsham Hatters
Central Bucks South has worn the Cinderella slipper in the postseason playoffs as the lowest surviving seed. The Titans finished the season as the fourth place finisher in the Suburban One League Continental Conference with a conference record of 8-6.
Central Bucks South did not have a first round bye, and the Titans advanced to the second round with a 6-2 victory over defending state champion Conestoga [S-5]. CBS pounded out 13 hits in that victory and received a strong pitching performance from Bobby Witteman. Brian Happ led the offensive surge with three hits and two RBI.
Central Bucks South followed with a second round victory over defending District One champion [N-4] Spring-Ford – 10-4. The Titans scored five runs in the first inning and received a winning pitching performance from Ricky Dennis. CBS finished the game with 10 hits that included a three-run homerun by Brian Happ.
Central Bucks South advanced to the district semifinal game with a 3-2 victory over district rival [N-8] Central Bucks West. Bobby Witteman out dueled CB West senior Marty Martens to collect the win. The Titans scored the game-winning run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Matt Radwanski.
Hatboro-Horsham has now won 13 straight games and entered the postseason as champion of the Suburban One League Continental Conference with a record of 12-2. The Hatters received a first round bye in the district playoffs.
Hatboro-Horsham needed some seventh inning magic to defeat West Chester Rustin 5-4 in a second round game. The Hatters scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win. HH scored four runs with only one hit – four walks – and a hit batter. Tyler Zingle homered in the first inning for the winners.
Hatboro-Horsham needed more seventh inning magic to defeat Downingtown West – 8-7 in a quarterfinal game. Grant Opalisky collected the game winning RBI as the Hatters scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 7-6 deficit. Connor Crookham collected the victory for Hatboro-Horsham.
Central Bucks South and Hatboro-Horsham played twice during the regular SOL Continental Conference season with the Hatters winning both games. Hatboro-Horsham edged the Titans 6-4 on April 19th and the Hatters also defeated CB South on May 10th – 8-2.
Central Bucks South head coach Mike Schafer says – “We beat the defending state champion (Conestoga), the defending district champion (Spring-Ford), and a pitcher that no-hit us this year (CB West’s Marty Martens). Maybe this is just our year.”
Hatboro-Horsham head coach Peter Moore says – “We were able to beat them twice during the season, but what we did during the regular season doesn’t matter – it is what we do on Tuesday. Central Bucks South deserves to be in the playoffs, and we are going to have to beat an excellent baseball team.”
PIAA District One Class AAA Finals
@ Temple-Ambler – Wednesday – 4 pm
[# 2] Phoenixville Phantoms vs. [# 1] Upper Moreland Golden Bears
Phoenixvillefinished season tied for third place in the Pioner Athletic Conference behind both Boyertown and Spring-Ford and tied with Methacton. The Phantoms finished the conference schedule with a record of 12-6.
Phoenixville opened the playoffs with a 3-0 victory over [# 7] Holy Ghost Prep. The Phantoms scored all three runs in the sixth inning and finished the game with eight hits. Colin Ammon threw a complete game and yielded just one hit.
Phoenixville advanced to the district final with an 8-4 win over [# 3] Chichester in the semifinal round. The Phantoms scored four runs in the first inning to take the early lead and needed four runs in the sixth inning to wrap up the victory.
Upper Moreland finished the season tied with Upper Dublin for the Suburban One League American Conference with a conference record of 14-4.
Upper Moreland opened the district playoffs with a 3-1 victory over Sun Valley. Kyle Walder threw an excellent game for the Golden Bears with a complete game three hitter. Robert Knox led off the game with a homerun for Upper Moreland.
The Golden Bears edged [# 5] Pope John Paul II by a 2-1 score to advance to the district finals. Charlie Hooker stole the show for Upper Moreland with a brilliant 3-hit effort. Hooker scored the first Bear run and drove home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Upper Moreland head coach Ernie Rehr says – “We have two pitchers in Kyle Walder and Charlie Hooker that give me a tough – but great – decision to make as to who will start the game against Phoenixville. We have been able to come up with clutch hits all season, and we can’t wait for the finals on Wednesday.”
PIAA District One Quad-A Playback Game
@ Methacton High School – Tuesday – 4 pm
[N-8] Central Bucks West Bucks @ [N-7]Methacton Warriors
Methacton finished the season as tied for third place in the Pioneer Athletic Conference with a 12-6 regular season record.
The Warriors opened the playoffs with a 5-3 victory over [S-10] Radnor and followed with a 14-4 win over [S-2] Downington East. Methacton was knocked into the playback round for the fifth and final state playoff position when the Warriors were defeated by Upper Dublin – 8-5.
Central Bucks West finished the season as the second place finisher in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
The Bucks opened the playoffs with a 3-2 victory over [S-9] West Chester Henderson and followed with a 4-0 win over top seeded [S-1] Interboro. CB West was knocked into the playback round for the fifth and final state playoff position when the Bucks were defeated by district rival [N-12] Central Bucks South – 3-2.
The winner of the Methacton-Central Bucks West game will play the winner of the [S-12] Coatesville-Downingtown West [S-3] game – winners play for fifth place - losers go home.
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