(cover photo of Ryan Friel via sirr.prodd on Instagram)

WYNDMOOR, PA – The Monsignor Bonner Friars, champions of District 12 6A, are facing off against the Coatesville Red Raiders, the District 1 third-seed, in the first round of the PIAA 6A playoffs.

Senior Mikey Klawanksy will likely take the hill for the Friars. The Alvernia commit was outstanding in the PCL championship, firing six shutout innings and striking out six.

The Red Raiders will likely give the ball to sophomore Jayden Guiseppe. The lefty had a solid outing in Coatesville’s loss to North Penn last week, allowing one run in 5.2 innings while striking out seven. Guiseppe will not light up the radar gun, probably remaining in the low 80s with his fastball, but his command has been excellent.

Danny Buckton has been superb in his relief role this year, including back-to-back great outings against Father Judge. If Klawansky does not reach the fifth or sixth inning, the junior will likely be the first out of the pen.

Senior Cory Sheridan may come in late in the game for Bonner. Although the Rutgers commit has not been able to pitch much this year, he went out for a 1-2-3 inning to close the PCL championship game and could be available again.

East Carolina commit Shane Monaghan has had a fantastic year at shortstop for the Red Raiders. Some multi-hit games from the junior have propelled Coatesville to some big wins over Quakertown and Downingtown East.

Junior Adam Clark was the hero for Coatesville in their win over Neshaminy last week. In the bottom of the seventh, the catcher singled to left field to walk off the game.

Coatesville has a head coach that has seen just about everything as Hal Zeigler has the most titles in District 1 history with five, most recently back in 2013 according to Dave Burman. He is 418-282 overall.

Steve DeBarberie has not been around quite as long but he does have two PCL championships to his name and has made four straight state semifinals.

Bonner’s offense has been a force to be reckoned with recently. In their eleven-run win over Central on Saturday, junior Ryan Friel totalled seven bases, including a double and a home run, while sophomore Gavin DiRita tripled to record his fourth total base.

Friel is 12/17 in the playoffs so far, good for a staggering .706 average.

Gettysburg commit Michael Coleman had a three-hit game, collecting two RBIs.

This game is being played at La Salle College High School at 1 pm. The winner will face off against the winner of Parkland and Neshaminy in the quarterfinals.