(photo of Austin Dean courtesy of Matteo Rivera/Delco Baseball Now)
After spending a while in the 5A classification, Interboro dropped down to 4A for the 2025 season.
That move came with another playoff appearance. The Bucs went 10-7 overall and 9-3 in the Del Val to snag the fourth and final spot in the 4A playoffs.
Interboro’s opponent will be top seed Springfield Township HS (Montco). The Spartans had a great year, going 17-3 overall and 14-1 in the Suburban One Freedom, winning the league.
It’s a tough matchup for Interboro. This is a strong, veteran-heavy team with some really good top end pitching.
The ace of this staff looks to be Nolan Kidwell. He’s a left-handed pitcher and outfielder committed to Millersville. Kidwell leads the team in innings pitched and is 4-0 with a miniscule 0.79 ERA.
If Springfield decides to save Kidwell for a potential district final, Max May or Bobby Hartman could be the ones taking the mound. Hartman, a Catholic football commit, and May have both had really solid seasons and will be tough assignments for the Interboro offense.
Hartman, Kidwell, and May also make up part of what looks like a strong Spartan offense. Senior Matt Caruso leads the lineup in batting average and is one of six Springfield starters hitting over .300. Jon Matthews and Chris Cahill join the four previously mentioned players hitting above that mark.
Springfield has a lot of experience in the 4A playoffs. This is their third-straight year in the tournament; the Spartans made a run to the championship game last year.
Interboro will most likely take a committee approach to keeping Springfield off the board. Tyler Green, Mike McLaughlin, Jaxson Munro, and Shane West all have thrown a similar amount of innings and have been pretty successful. We saw Green and McLaughlin throw against Chichester back in April and both were solid on the mound.
We’ve also seen a lot of Bucs get a good amount of at-bats. Statistically, their best hitter this year is actually a freshman. Austin Dean has done a great job out of the leadoff spot and is hitting .351 on the year.
Scott Poluchuck has split time in the outfield all year but has been starting recently and hitting well, posting a .458 average in 24 at-bats. JJ Nelson has also had a good year, hitting .333.
You always have to watch out for a few other seniors at the top of this Interboro lineup. Andrew Barbera, Nick Rivera, Evan Thomas, and West are all experienced players with a lot of success in their careers. They have been key parts of some pretty crazy offensive outputs over the years.
Interboro will punish you if you take them lightly and Springfield, a team seemingly with hopes for a district title and beyond, could really find themselves in trouble if they look past the Bucs.
A win for Interboro would be a massive upset, but it’s far from impossible. This is a tough team led by a veteran core looking to pick up a career-defining win. It will be fun to see what this group can do on the road on Tuesday.