Scott Huff recaps all of the SOL teams in action in Wednesday’s District One Tournament games. To view photos of the CB South/Spring-Ford game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
PIAA District One Quad-A Second Round Snapshots
Central Bucks West [N-8] earned a second round PIAA Quad-A date with top seeded [S-1] Interboro and the Bucks proved to be the superior team as the Bucks advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-0 victory over the host Bucs.
“We had more than a few chances to score runs – we left 10 men on base,” said Central Bucks West head coach Jim Ertel. “We had some bad at-bats, but we were able to score enough runs to win the game.”
CB West had a fine game tossed by Richie Ciarlante, who fired a two-hit shutout. Ciarlante was masterful with a 10-strikeout performance without a single walk.
“This was perhaps the best game that Richie has thrown all season,” said Ertel. “He located everything, and he was in control.”
Central Bucks West scored a single run in the third inning on an RBI by Marty Martens, added a solo run in the fourth inning on an RBI by Brennan Snyder, and the Bucks scored two runs in the seventh inning on an RBI by Jake Poeske and Pat Bradley.
“We were patient at the plate and got nine walks,” added Ertel. “That was a good thing, but we still should have been able to score a lot more runs.”
Central Bucks West will host a quarterfinal game against district rival Central Bucks South. The Titans advanced with a 10-4 victory over Spring-Ford in their second round game.
“I didn’t even know that we got a home game in the quarterfinals,” said Ertel. “South is playing great, and we’ll take the home game.”
Central Bucks West Bucks 001 100 2 - 4 5 2
Interboro Bucs 000 000 0 - 0 2 1
Central Bucks South [N-12] continues to be the # 12 seed nobody wants to play as the Titans moved to the PIAA District One quarterfinals with a 10-4 victory over [N-4] Spring-Ford. The game was delayed an hour and a half due to lightening.
“We got off to a good start in the game with a five-run first inning, played good defense, and got solid pitching,” said Central Bucks South head coach Mike Schaefer. “When you do that, you usually win baseball games. We are playing good baseball right now, and we have to focus on the next game.”
Ricky Dennis notched the victory for the Titans with a five-inning stint. Paul Zakrzewski came in to allow a single base runner over the final two innings to record the save.
With the game still competitive at 7-4 in South’s favor in the sixth inning, Brian Happ cranked a three-run homer after the delay to push the score to what proved to be the final at 10-4.
“I really feel that Brian might be one of the best hitters in the area,” said Schaefer. “When he comes up in a big situation, he almost always comes through with the big hit.
“Now we get CB West,” added Schaefer as the Bucks and Titans split the two games during the SOL Continental Conference season. A South-West game is always a lot of fun.”
Central Bucks South Titans 500 113 0 - 10 10 0
Spring-Ford Rams 102 100 0 - 4 5 2
Council Rock South [N-1] proved its # 1 seeding to be accurate as the Golden Hawks soared to a 4-1 victory over [N-9] North Penn. Rock South will host a quarterfinal contest against [S-12] Coatesville – an 11-8 winner over [S-4] Penncrest.
“This was an extremely well played game between two very good baseball teams,” said Council Rock head coach Greg Young. “The game was over in a little over an hour and forty minutes, and we were able to come up with some clutch hits to win the game.”
The Hawks scored a pair of runs in the second inning on a two-run single by Steve Wright, and a sac-fly off the bat of James Kane in the sixth inning gave Rock South a comfortable three run lead.
“Steve got that big hit with two outs, and James hit that sac-fly with two strikes,” said Young. “Those runs were huge.”
Council Rock South had a terrific game thrown by Bret DiStefano who fired a complete game. DiStefano yielded just six hits and had five strikeouts.
“Bret threw well in a big game for us, and he changed speeds very well,” said Young. “He had great location”
North Penn Knights 001 000 0 - 1 6 0
Council Rock South Hawks 021 010 x - 4 10 2
Hatboro-Horsham [N-2] needed some seventh inning magic to score four runs and escape with a 5-4 victory over visiting [S-7] West Chester Rustin.
“We entered the bottom of the seventh inning down three runs, but I reminded the players that we had been there before,” said Hatboro-Horsham head coach Peter Moore. “We were very patient in the last inning, and we took advantage of some mistakes.”
The Hatters scored four runs with one hit. The inning went – error – single – walk – strikeout – walk – hit batter – strikeout – and game winning walk-off walk.
“Our goal was to simply win the game, and we showed some discipline in that final inning to move on,” said Moore as the Hatters will host [S-3] Downingtown West – West thumped Bensalem 10-0. “It wasn’t pretty, but we battled and earned the win.”
Connor Crookham earned the win in relief of starter Casey O’Donnell, and Tyler Zingle blasted a homerun to give the Hatters a 1-0 first inning lead.
West Chester Rustin Knights 000 103 0 - 4 10 1
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 100 000 4 - 5 9 0
Bensalem [N-6] was shown the district playoff exit door as the Owls were routed by host [S-3] Downingtown West – 10-0 – in a mercy-rule game that ended in the fifth inning. Ironically, Bensalem won its opening round playoff game by the mercy-rule – 13-0 – over Glen Mills.
“If you had told me that this team would end the season with 16 wins and advance to the second round of the district playoffs, I would say you’re nuts,” said Bensalem head coach Rick Lee. “The seniors on this team won one game as sophomores, seven games as juniors, and 16 games this year. You can’t ask for any more than that.
“We were down 2-0 and we had the bases loaded in the third inning,” added Lee. “We had a ball that was called foul that might have changed the game, but we didn’t get the call and things went real bad after that.”
West scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 8-0, and won the game in the last of the fifth inning by scoring another pair of runs.
“Giver them credit, they hit the ball hard and we didn’t make plays,” said Lee. “This team had a lot of fun this year – we just wish we could have had some more.”
Bensalem Owls 000 00 - 0
Downingtown West 200 62 - 10
Host Upper Dublin [N-3] and visiting Wissahickon [N-11] are knotted 3-3 in a suspended game that will resume Thursday with Upper Dublin batting in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first base. The game was suspended first due to lightning and later due to a rainstorm that made the field unplayable.
“We got down 3-0 and it seemed like we were waiting for some clutch hits,” said Upper Dublin head coach Ed Wall. “We felt we had a huge inning coming – we scored the two runs – and then came the downpour.”
The game will resume at 3:30 p.m.
Wissahickon Trojans 102 000 - 3 6 0
Upper Dublin Cardinals 000 01(2) - 3 9 2
Upper Moreland Advances to Class AAA Semi-Finals
Upper Moreland [#1] won its opening round district game as the Golden Bears clawed [#8] Sun Valley – 3-1. Upper Moreland will now face Pope John Paul II @ Glen Mills in a Thursday semifinal contest. [#5] Pope John Paul II thumped [#4] Lower Moreland – 16-3 – in its opening round game.
“We can’t let them score in double figures if we want to win the game, we have to find a way to quiet their bats,” said Upper Moreland head coach Ernie Rehr. “We have (sophomore pitcher) Charlie Hooker ready to go.”
Senior pitcher Kyle Walder was ready to go against Sun Valley with the complete game – three-hit performance.
“The seniors were back from their Disney World trip on Monday night, and Kyle hadn’t touch a baseball for a few days,” said Rehr. “I asked him if he was ready, and he said to me ‘give me the ball’. He had great location and spotted his curveball well.”
Robert Knox opened the game for the Golden Bears with a homerun – and Upper Moreland never trailed in the game.
Sun Valley 000 100 0 - 1 3 3
Upper Moreland 110 010 x - 3 5 0
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