Welcome back to another edition of the Delco Baseball Now newsletter, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of Delco summer ball.
At this point, everything going forward (except for the Phillies) will be playoff baseball as the long Delco League regular season has come to an end.
Make sure to tune into our Delco League Playoff Preview episode coming out on YouTube tonight at 8:00 PM where we will joined by a player or coach from all four teams playing in the first round of the playoffs.
In today’s edition we also have some legion updates, Cal Ripken, Mid-County playoffs, and a disappointing series finale from the Phillies.
As always, we appreciate anyone who subscribes to get this delivered every day:
Delco League:
As mentioned above, we will have more of a preview on our show tonight that will air on YouTube and streaming platforms at 8:00 PM tonight.
Barring any last second changes, we will have Aston Valley outfielder Vinny Proietto, Drexel Hill Head Coach Sean Mohollen, Springfield Head Coach Steve Trainor, and Chester catcher Ben Ettien to talk about their squads.
Upper Darby and Wayne have a bye, so we will hear from one of their players/coaches in our next episode.
Note: For anyone that wants to go out and watch, Springfield plays their games at Church Road Park, not Halderman Field. Aston Valley plays at Sun Valley HS, Chester plays at Chester HS, and Drexel Hill plays at Bonner HS.
All first round games will be 5:45 PM start time.
Mid-County:
Along with the MSBL, the Mid-County (formerly EDCO) league gives players another opportunity to play in a little less intense and talented setting than the Delco League.
Now that the Broomall Gators dynasty (five titles in six years) no longer exists, a new champion will be crowned this year. It looked like it would be Garnet Valley, but they were stunned in the first round. The Top Lumber Expos switched from MSBL to EDCO this year and are now two wins away from the finals.
Aston Valley will host Games 1 and 3 at Sun Valley on Monday and Thursday, Game 2 will be Tuesday at Penncrest.
Clifton and the Expos will actually be playing under the lights, with an 8:00 start Monday night at Dermond. Game 2 will be Wednesday at O’Hara with the if necessary Game 3 on Thursday at Dermond at 8:00 PM again.
Senior Legion:
Narberth’s Brian Heck threw six shutout innings on Friday morning, and his twin brother, Justin, had to outdo him with a complete game shutout over Upper Darby.
Justin allowed just two hits and a walk against Upper Darby, a brilliant performance. Lower Merion is going to be tough to beat once again with Justin and Brian at the top of the rotation next year.
It is a bit of a bizarre bracket format that legion chooses to do, but if Narberth wins, they will either be in the championship or playing to get in the championship. One way or another, they will need to win the next three games to win the title and advance to states.
Prep Legion:
Narberth came out of the gates red hot with a 14-0 win in their first game, but they were brought back down to earth with a 9-3 loss to Norchester.
They are still very much alive in this tournament, but the margin of error is much more slim now as they can not afford to lose another game.
Should they win against Berwick on Monday, they will again play at 11:00 AM on Tuesday.
Cal Ripken:
That wraps up our Cal Ripken coverage for the summer as the Nether-Swarthmore 9U squad was our last team standing.
As someone who grew up playing Little League for Media, I really did not have much knowledge on how the Cal Ripken system works, but I’m glad we were able to expand in that area this summer. Thank you to everyone who reached out to help us with our coverage.
We had two Southeast PA State Tournaments held in Delco, and we also had two champions (Nether-Swarthmore 9U and 12U) and will continue to expand on that next year.
Little League:
We typically don’t have the time our resources to cover any little league action that is not at the district level, but this group certainly deserves some love.
Ridley’s 8U team went undefeated, which is a really incredible accomplishment at any age and at any level. These guys still have two more years until districts (unless some play up next year), but this group looks like they can be special.
MLB:
That was bad.
It looked like the Phillies had the momentum after Saturday night’s thriller, but the Angels beat up on Ranger Suarez today and the offense did not really help out much.
The Phillies just announced that they have signed David Robertson for his third stint in Philadelphia. He may be getting up there age wise, but he had a fantastic season with the Rangers last year and his arm is fresh.
If this is the last move that Dave Dombrowski makes for the bullpen then that is an issue. But if he is just another piece of the puzzle, I think that is a very smart signing.