This week’s baseball notebook highlights CB East and Truman as well as some of the week’s top pitching performances.
By Scott Huff
Central Bucks East is king of the Suburban One League Continental Conference Mountain after the initial week of the season – and it really does not come as a huge surprise. The Patriots completed the first week of the season with conference wins over Hatboro-Horsham (8-6), Central Bucks West (9-0), and North Penn (13-12).
“We knew coming into the season that we were going to have good experienced pitching and be strong up the middle defensively,” said sixth year head coach Kyle Dennis. “Any time that you can bring back your best three pitchers, and you add another good pitcher to the mix, things could go you way.”
CB East brought back three seniors that included ace Blair Killough along with Anthony Barilla and Robert Welhaf. Junior Brandon Birkhead – a transfer from Pennsbury – will also make critical appearances on the mound for the Patriots.
“Blair was a hard-luck loser last year, but he is a tremendous competitor and is our main guy again this year,” said Dennis. He has the ability to mix all three of his pitches for strikes, and he always challenges the hitters.
“In fact, all of our pitchers go out with the idea of throwing strikes and making the other team put the ball in play,” added Dennis. “Robert is our velocity guy, and we expect good things from all of our pitchers.”
The battery mate for the talented Patriot pitching staff is senior Ben Hauser. Hauser played first base last season for CB East, but the powerful clean-up hitter is behind the dish this season.
“It really isn’t a transisition for Ben – catcher is his natural position,” said Dennis. “Last year he hit with a varsity bat, but we had Clay Sebesky catching. Sebesky (Kutztown University) was going to be the catcher – but we wanted Ben in the lineup so he played first base. Ben is an excellent catcher.”
Hauser is also an excellent hitter as evidenced by his monster three-run homerun against Central Bucks West at West.
“Ben hit a homerun there that was one of the longest balls I have ever seen hit,” said Dennis. “I gave him a green light at 3-0 in the count, and he smoked that ball.”
Central Bucks East has also received fine performances thus far from its underclassmen – namely, junior second baseman Pat Reilly and sophomore shortstop David Yanni.
“We have Pat batting fifth in our lineup, and he already has 10 RBI in three games,” said Dennis. “And Dave Yanni hits second for us and has a good on-base percentage. He is going to be a very special player.”
The Patriots – who lost a number of close games last season – has shown the ability this season to come from behind to win. In its wins over Hatboro-Horsham and North Penn, CB East trailed by 6-2 scores early in the game.
“We didn’t panic – we just played the game pitch by pitch,” said Dennis. “We kept our composure and showed that we had the ability to come back. To be 3-0 in this league is something the players set a goal to do. This is a great league, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
And for right now, the Patriots are on top of that Suburban One League Continental Conference Mountain.
The success of the Truman Tigers will center on the talents of a pair of seniors – Shane Monahan and Scott Jensen. Monahan and Jensen are the 1-2 punch in the lineup as the third and fourth hitters – and the pair is the 1-2 pitchers in the starting rotation – and the 1-2 closers.
“Our season is pretty much tied to how well the both of them play,” said Truman head coach Jeff Vitale. “When Shane starts the game – Scott is the closer. When Scott starts the game – Shane is the closer. We hope to get five or six innings out of the starter, and an inning or two out of the closer.
“Plus, the two of them are our best two hitters in the lineup – along with (senior catcher) Devin McDermott,” added Vitale. “We are going to have to manufacture some runs.”
Truman received a superlative pitching performance in a non-league win over Holy Ghost Prep as junior lefthander Tim Hild tossed a no-hitter in the Tigers 4-0 win.
“That was a real pleasant surprise,” said Vitale. “Tim had struggled with command this year, but that obviously was not a problem in that game. This will be a huge confidence builder for him, and it gives me another way to piece together the games. (Sophomore-lefty) Matt Walcyck was our third pitcher, and now with Tim we have four arms to use.
“This team is going to have to win games with great pitching, good defense, and timely hitting,” added Vitale. “This conference is going to be very competitive this year with the top tier teams like Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Council Rock North, and Council Rock South. Every conference game is going to be huge – and you have to make sure that you don’t stumble against the teams that you should beat.”
Suburban One League Pitching Gems of the Week
- Tim Hild of Truman fired a no-hitter in a non-league game as the Tigers collected a 4-0 victory over Holy Ghost Prep. Hild – a junior lefty – struck out eight hitters and allowed three walks in his no-hit performance.
- In a magnificent pitching game last week, Shane Monahan of Truman out dueled Greg Paprocki of Council Rock South as the Tigers clawed out a 1-0 SOL National Conference victory over the Golden Hawks. Monahan – who also drove home the only run of the game on an RBI double – threw a complete game shutout and allowed just two hits a struck out four. Paprocki also fired an outstanding game for the Hawks with a complete game 5-hit effort with five strikeouts.
- In another pitching gem, Ricky Dennis and TJ Ohntrup of Central Bucks South combined to limit North Penn to a single run in the Titans 3-1 SOL Continental Conference victory. Dennis threw the first six innings and permitted just a single run, while Ohntrup fired a hitless seventh inning. The hard-luck loser for North Penn was senior Bryce Mengel who game up three runs in the first inning and kept South off the scoreboard for the final five innings. Mengel – who will attend Bloomsburg University next year - had six strikeouts in his six innings of work.
- Brandon Garrett of Pennsbury had another terrific outing as the lanky Falcon right-hander threw a complete game shutout as the Falcons soared to a 4-0 SOL National Conference victory over William Tennent. Garrett limited the Panthers to just three hits and collected seven strikeouts.
- Blair Killough of Central Bucks East fired a three hitter at Central Bucks West as the Patriots collected a 9-0 SOL Continental Conference victory. Killough registered the complete game shutout against the rival Bucks.
- Anthony Scafidi and Jeffrey Hammons of Springfield combined to throw a six hitter as the Spartans remained unbeaten for the season with a 3-2 SOL American Conference win over Wissahickon.
- Brandon Iorio of Norristown went the distance as the Eagles flew to a 3-2 SOL American Conference victory over Upper Dublin.
On Deck in the Suburban One League
SOL American Conference
Monday (4/8/13)– Upper Merion Vikings @ Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials
Tuesday (4/9/13) – Upper Moreland Golden Bears @ Norristown Eagles
Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals @ Cheltenham Panthers
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials @ Wissahickon Trojans
Upper Merion Vikings @ Springfield Spartans
Wednesday (4/10/13) – Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals @ Upper Moreland Golden Bears
Thursday (4/11/13) – Wissahickon Trojans @ Cheltenham Panthers
Springfield Spartans @ Norristown Eagles
SOL Continental Conference
Tuesday – (4/9/13) – Quakertown Panthers @ Central Bucks South Titans
Central Bucks West Bucks @ Souderton Indians
Pennridge Rams @ Hatboro-Horsham Hatters
Thursday – (4/11/13) – Pennridge Rams @ Central Bucks West Bucks
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters @ Central Bucks South Titans
North Penn Knights @ Quakertown Panthers
Souderton Indians @ Central Bucks East Patriots
SOL National Conference
Monday (4/8/13) – Pennsbury Falcons @ Council Rock South Golden Hawks
Council Rock North Indians @ Harry S Truman Tigers
Tuesday (4/9/13) – William Tennent Panthers @ Bensalem Owls
Neshaminy Redskins @ Abington Ghosts
Thursday – (4/11/13) – Pennsbury Falcons @ Council Rock North Indians
Council Rock South Golden Hawks @ Bensalem Owls
Neshaminy Redskins @ William Tennent Panthers
Truman Tigers @ Abington Ghosts
Suburban One Sports.com
Top Ten
1. Pennsbury Falcons (4-0, 3-0)
2. Central Bucks East Patriots (4-1, 3-0)
3. Central Bucks South Titans (3-1, 2-0)
4. Neshaminy Redskins (4-1, 1-1)
5. Pennridge Rams (3-1, 1-1)
6. Souderton Indians (3-1, 1-1)
7. Upper Moreland Golden Bears (4-1, 2-0)
8. Norristown Eagles (2-0, 2-0)
9. Council Rock North Indians (2-2, 2-1)
10. Springfield Spartans (3-0, 2-0)
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