If you had told me back on Monday that Springfield would be the headliner to this newsletter two days in a row, I would have called you crazy.

Despite the fact that I still have weekly nightmares about Springfield knocking me out of the playoffs with Strath Haven back in 2017 (thanks a lot Mike Smith and Andrew Todaro), it hasn’t been a great last few years for the Cougars.

Things seem like they could be a bit different in 2026.

Springfield 13, Radnor 8

By: Nick Mazzarella:

Nick Corse had another big game, helping the Cougars take down a tough Radnor team in an unbelievable comeback. 

Radnor scored first in the second on a base hit from Andrew Quigley to score Matt Medina.

The following inning, the Raptors tacked on two more, thanks to a two-run dinger from Caden Szychulski to put the Raptors up 3-0.

Springfield got one back right after, as Corse walked to drive in his first run of the game.

And yet again, the Raptors homered, this time it was Daniel Kellis hitting a three-run jack to break it open. Blake Havertine also doubled to make it a 8-1 game.

But, the following inning, things took a turn for the worse for Radnor.

After the first three batters of the inning reached for the Cougars, Sebastian Simone was plunked to drive one in and keep the bases juiced. Jake Lennon then walked, scoring another and the bases were still loaded. 

The Raptors got an out right before walking in another run to make it 8-4.

Corse then had a big swing, as he tripled to drive in all the runners, giving him four RBI on the day and making it 8-7.

Owen Keough hit a sac fly to drive in Corse and tie things up before the inning finally came to an end.

And in the bottom of the sixth, things got even worse for the Raptors. With two outs and the bases loaded, TJ Valletti hit a ball to the outfield that resulted in an error, and allowed all runners to score, giving the Cougars an 11-8 lead. 

Things didn’t end there. After another error and plunked batter, another two came home to score to give Springfield a 13-8 lead.

Nick Russo, who came into the game in the fifth, threw three shutout innings and secured the win for the Cougars.

Radnor gets their first loss of the season, and are now 2-1, and 2-1 in the Central League. They will play Penncrest (2-1 CL) on April 7th, giving them plenty of time to swallow this one.

Springfield wins back to back games and are now 2-3 after starting 0-3, and are now 2-2 in the Central League. They will play Kennett on Tuesday 3/31.

Game of The Week: Chichester 13, Interboro 2

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Interboro scored two runs in the top of the first, and for a little bit, it looked like they were ready to try and steal the Del Val back.

By the time the third inning finished up, Chichester had opened up an 11-2 lead, scoring five in the second and six in the third.

The big blow came from Cole Sanford, who ripped a three-run double when the game was 2-2 in the second. Sanford also threw all five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three.

Evan Valentine also had two hits, a walk and an RBI for Chichester in the win. Gavin Derrickson went 3/3 with a double and drove in two runs.

Joel Sheridan and Greg Ferrari both had two hits for Interboro in the loss.

Chichester improves to 3-0 in the Del Val and has a fun non-conference game next Tuesday when they host Penncrest. Interboro falls to 1-1 in the Del Val and will head to Academy Park next Tuesday for their next game.

The full broadcast from today’s game can be found below:

Strath Haven 8, Harriton 1

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Since we were streaming that game of the week, I did not get to follow along much with other games that were happening.

So as you can imagine, I was pretty shocked when I opened up the box score of the 8-1 Strath Haven game to find out that this game went to extra innings.

Patrick Burke was the star of the day, as he threw seven shutout innings IN RELIEF in this game. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a better performance out of a relief pitcher, he basically threw a complete game one-hit shutout.

With the game tied 1-1 going into the top of the tenth, Strath Haven and Coach Brian Fili did what they always do when struggling to hit, and pulled out the small ball.

After Zach Milligan led off the inning with a single, back-to-back bunts loaded up the bases. That kickstarted a rally that saw:

• Luke DeCarlo go-ahead single (2-1)
• Ralph Lardieri walk (3-1)
• Manny Pickup sac fly (4-1)
• Quinn Kell reached on an error (5-1)
• Lardieri scores on wild pitch (6-1)
• Zach Milligan second single of the inning (8-1)

Burke then closed things out in the seventh and gave Strath Haven their first Central League win of the year. Quinn Kell had his fifth, sixth and seventh hit of the last two days as he went 3/6. Milligan and Burke also had three hits. Asa D’Ancona allowed one run over three innings to get the game started.

For Harriton, Sam Bohnenkamp went 6.2 innings and struck out seven with one earned run in the loss.

Strath Haven improves to 1-1 in the Central League and will play Penncrest (2-1) on Monday for their next game.

Harriton will take some time off before they play Springfield (2-2) on Tuesday, April 7th.

Chester 9, Academy Park 3

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

It was a true two-man wrecking crew for Chester today.

Not only did Juan Martinez and Jacoby Roman combine for all six of the Clippers’ hits, they also combined for all seven innings on the mound as well.

Roman struck out 12 across six innings allowing three earned runs, and Martinez finished it off.

This game was tied at 3-3 up until the fifth inning, when Chester put three up in the fifth and three up in the sixth to run away with it.

Zahmir Latimore had two hits in the loss for Academy Park while Tristan Tomp drove in two runs.

Chester improves to 1-2 in the Del Val and will take on Penn Wood (0-2) next Tuesday on the road.

Academy Park falls to 1-2 in the Del Val and will host Interboro next Tuesday for their next game.

Delco Christian 17, Church Farm 0

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

That’s a nice bounce back win for the Knights after a tough loss to Faith Christian on Wednesday.

Delco Christian scored three in the first, seven in the second and seven in the third to win by mercy rule after three innings.

Nathan Burd led the way with three hits and drove in three runs. Justin Ma and Josiah Lyren also each had two hits, while Lyren threw all three innings as well. Petros Nelson drove in three runs off the bench.

Delco Christian will be off for a bit before they travel to High Point Baptist on Wednesday, April 8th.

Pennridge 7, Haverford School 5

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Haverford led for a good portion of this game, but Pennridge turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-5 lead in the top of the sixth inning to steal this one.

Haverford did put up a good fight at the end, with Zack Lawler hitting a two-run homer, but it was not quite enough to overcome the deficit.

Mike Noone also homered in the loss for the Fords. Caleb Siever had two hits as well and Thomas Lawler reached base all four times, singling once and walking three times.

Haverford will have a quick turnaround here as they host Father Judge for a non-conference game Friday afternoon.