I would like to start off by saying that I know having the PAISAA semifinal games back to back at the same location only happened because of the weather, but this is awesome and they should do it every year if possible.
#1 Malvern Prep will welcome in Inter-Ac foe #5 Germantown Academy for the first semifinal game at 12:00, and #3 Episcopal will take on #2 Perkiomen School in the second game will likely start around 3:00.
Malvern Prep is 30-5 on the season and won the Inter-Ac title with a 9-1 record. They are led by Chase Ecker, a senior William & Mary recruit who was named Inter-Ac MVP for his contributions both at the plate and on the mound.
The Friars took down Penn Charter 11-1 in the first round after having a bye. Collin Romanczuk threw 3.1 innings and Taig McErlane threw 2.2, so there’s a good chance this is Ecker’s game on the mound. It’s also likely we could see Jack Herbein at some point as well.
Offensively, outside of Ecker, Andrew Pellicciotta has been a mainstay in this lineup for the last few seasons. Pellicciotta, who will be heading to Duke to play football, went 3/3 with a HR, 2B, and 5 RBI in that Penn Charter game. Brady Abate (Virginia Tech) is a junior right fielder who hits leadoff and has been on varsity since he was a freshman.
Jackson Melconian (Vanderbilt) typically hits right behind him in the order with Pellicciotta hitting third.
Tommy Sergio, Owen Hammond, and Jake Bauer are also regular lineup locks.
For Germantown Academy, they took down nearby Germantown Friends 6-2 in the first round before winning a great 3-0 game with Shipley in the second round.
The Patriots will have to win this game without ace Sean McGettigan, who threw 78 pitches on Tuesday against Shipley. He allowed just three hits and had 7 K’s.
Based on looking at GA’s regular season, it looks like they could throw a couple of different pitches to try and keep Malvern Prep off-balanced. One of those being Holt Record, who has a ton of relief appearances. Charlie Morris and Colin Minehan have a a bunch of appearances as well.
Tyler Nolan had a big year offensively for GA hitting .410 and will pace the offense. Lucas Albert hit .387 and will also be a big piece of the puzzle.
The winner of this game will head to Ursinus on Saturday. We are told that game will be at 10:30, but I have also heard some say the game time could be changed if it is Perkiomen School as the opponent because of their graduation. We’ll see.