The best time of the college baseball season has arrived.
The cold weather grind games of February are long in the past, and the playoff pushes in May have arrived. It certainly looks like at all levels we will have a little bit less Delco representation than we had last year, but we still have plenty of players/teams that have legit chances to do some damage and lift some trophies.
The D3 conference tournaments have either started or are getting started this week. D2 tournaments get started this week as well, and D1 regular season still has two weeks left before conference tournaments get started there.
Let’s take a look at some of our best performers from the area this past week, and as always, our college roundup is brought to you by Five Star Hiring, where the real world and sports world connect.
Find out how James Grugan and his team can help you transition into life after sports today.
Mike Valente, Cal U PA (Strath Haven)
Mike Valente has made our job easy here at Delco Baseball Now as we don’t even have to make a new graphic each week, we just have to change the stats for his outing each week.
The perfect regular season for the Strath Haven alum has come to a close, and it was one for the ages. Not only was Valente an undefeated 10-0, but he picked up the win in every single start that he made.
That means no no-decisions at all, just every time he went out on the mound, he left with the win.
Of course, he’ll tell you none of that matters now as Valente and Cal U are set to face West Chester in a single elimination game in the first round of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday. While we don’t know for a fact Valente and his 2.31 ERA will start, he will be on full rest and will very likely get the nod.
There’s also a chance that Bonner’s Kyle Lazer starts that game for the Golden Rams as well, giving us a Delco-on-Delco matchup. Julian Costa has played the role of the #1 pitcher for West Chester this year, but Lazer has been their best true arm. We’ll see what happens there, but either way, someone from Delco is moving on.
Jon Quici, Randolph-Macon (Conestoga)
Jon Quici is the only member of this list who has actually began their postseason runs.
If this is any indication, we are in for a great playoff as he got out of the gate with an 8/12 first round series against Hampton-Sydney.
Randolph-Macon, a D3 school located in Ashland, Virginia, made the NCAA Tournament last season and are 27-13 overall and 15-7 in their conference.
Quici has had a great season overall as he is hitting .329 as a sophomore, but this past week was easily his most dominant as he went 8/12 while driving in eight runs. Quici’s squad competes in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, or “ODAC”, and they advanced to the four team double elimination championship tournament starting Thursday after winning the best-of-three quarterfinals.
They will take on Bridgewater on Thursday for their next game at 6:30 at Capital One Park in Virginia. I think there is a good chance they make the NCAA Tournament either way, but if they were to upset #1 Lynchburg and win the conference, they will get the automatic bid.
Quici now has a hit in 13 straight games and will look to keep it rolling.
Tim Dickinson, St. Joe’s (Malvern Prep)
What looked like a nightmare season brewing just a month ago has turned into a really strong sophomore showing for the Glen Mills native.
Dickinson has raised his average from .198 on April 6th all the way up to .270 on May 6th. He now has 7 HR on the season after two last week and two during his whole freshman season in 2024.
He went 6/13 and had his fourth three-hit game of the season against Villanova.
St. Joe’s is 21-23 overall and 14-10 in the A10, meaning they will have to win the conference tournament if they want to advance to the NCAA Tournament. They still have to play two more conference series before the A10 tournament begins on 5/20 at Capital One Park in Virginia, which is also where Jon Quici and Randolph-Macon play this week.
Jayce Tharnish, St. Bonnie’s (Conestoga)
Jayce Tharnish leads the entire country with five leadoff home runs.
That’s even more impressive when you consider that he has six total homers on the season. Five of those have led off the game which makes you think that coaches quickly realize “hey don’t throw another strike to that guy” afterwards.
Tharnish has been one of if not the best local hitter at the college level this year as he is hitting .401 through 39 games. He has been remarkably consistent this year and really hasn’t had any slumps, and is currently riding an 11 game hit streak.
Oh, and he’s also stolen 27 bases.
Tharnish and St. Bonnie’s are in a similar spot to St. Joe’s where they will need to win the A10 tournament if they want to make the NCAA Tournament this spring.
As for Tharnish, don’t be surprised if he is either wearing a professional uniform next year or wearing a different college jersey next year. After showing he can stay healthy for a season, there’s a good bet that he will continue to rise.
Roman Tozzi, Catholic (Carroll)
2025 hasn’t been quite as kind to Roman Tozzi as 2024 was, but he pitching his best in the most important time of the year.
Tozzi’s three best starts of the year have been in his last four starts, including this gem vs Drew.
He now has a 3.90 ERA on the season and has 46 K’s compared to 16 BB’s. Catholic is having a decent season overall at 23-16 with a 14-10 record, but they will likely need to win the Landmark Conference Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
In fact, that game is probably happening as you read this article. That game is a 1:30 Tuesday afternoon start for the Cardinals. Tozzi will not be starting this game, but hopefully we see him at some point in the tournament.
Mark Quatrani, Cornell (The Haverford School)
Mark Quatrani has done nothing but laugh at anyone who may have thought his power numbers in high school were because of a small field at Haverford.
Quatrani launched his 16th and 17th career HR’s as just a sophomore last week against Princeton. He had 11 as a freshman last year and now has six this year while hitting .318 with an OPS of .966.
It was a tough season for Cornell as they went 12-22 and 7-14 in the Ivy League, and it does not appear Quatrani will have any more at bats this season.
Alex Barrist, Lafayette (Episcopal)
Alex Barrist had about as solid of a freshman season as you could ask for.
Really, getting any playing time at all as a freshman is great. Barrist hit .298 in 171 AB’s and has been a regular starter at second base for the Leopards.
He has two homers and five triples this season to go along with seven doubles. He struggled a bit out of the gate but has really been consistent in the last 2/3 of the season, adding his second four-hit game against Bucknell.
It appears that Lafeyette did not qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, so there season has come to a close. That’s a great first year for Barrist to build off of heading into the offseason.
Logan Nelson, Alvernia (Garnet Valley)
Logan Nelson has been a remarkably consistent hitter since he arrived at Alvernia.
After hitting .328 as a freshman, Nelson is hitting .323 as a sophomore. That comes after a 7/12 week last week with 4 RBI as well.
Alvernia went 24-18 overall and 14-7 in their conference this year. Unfortunately, they were knocked out in the first round of the conference playoffs, so it’s probably unlikely that Nelson will play again this season.
Nelson drove in 33 runs in 38 games and still has two years left to keep building off of a great start to his college career.
Andrew Healy, Duke (Penn Charter)
I know what you are thinking…
“I had no idea this guy was from Delco”
You would not be alone in that as it is pretty rare to see Delco guys go to Penn Charter, but Healy is listed as a Glen Mills native, so we can claim him.
Healy has struggled a bit in 2025 after excellent seasons in 2023 and 2024. His last two starts have both been scoreless, though, which is a good sign with the ACC Tournament coming up soon for Duke.
Healy let up just one hit and no runs for Duke in his last outing against Radford. He struck out five for the Blue Devils in that one.
Duke is 32-15 and 14-10 in the ACC. They will surely make the NCAA Tournament, it’s just a matter of what seed they are. They still have two more conference series left before the ACC Tournament gets going.
Casey Murphy, Holy Family (Lower Merion)
I wrote last week that Casey Murphy may have thrown his final game, and he went out on a great note.
It turned out he still had one more start left, and he still went out on a great note. The Lower Merion alum allowed just five hits with one earned run over seven innings, striking out four.
Murphy ended with a career 3.05 ERA at the Division II level after spending his undergraduate career at Ursinus, very strong numbers and a great college career.