The Central League is an absolute logjam in the middle after Haverford sits alone at 9-0, and things just got even more crowded with this one.
Garnet Valley fell to 4-4 after losses to Penncrest and Ridley last week, and they needed someone to step up to avoid going under .500.
Enter Ryan McGhee.
Garnet Valley 1, Radnor 0
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
If you’re a fan of good pitching and good defense, this is the matchup for you.
Both Garnet Valley’s Ryan McGhee and Radnor’s Austin Havertine were First Team All-Delco selections for us last year, with McGhee earning the “breakout player of the year” award, and Havertine taking home Cy Young and MVP.
A throwing error from Havertine in the second inning on a pickoff attempt of Cole Hoffacker was the only run either team scored on the day after Hoffacker doubled with one out.
Ryan McGhee threw all seven innings, allowing just four hits with four strikeouts. Havertine allowed three hits and the one unearned run with eight strikeouts.
Cole Hoffacker and Kyle Klein both had doubles and Cole Lombardo added a single for Garnet Valley.
Matt Medina, Daniel Kellis, Charlie Ruggieri and Blake Fein had hits in the loss for Radnor.
That was a MASSIVE win for Garnet Valley. They now sit at 5-4 in the Central League and will head to Harriton on Wednesday for their next game.
As for Radnor, this loss now puts Haverford three games up on the rest of the field as they fall to 5-3. They will look to rebound on Wednesday when they host Upper Darby.
Lower Merion 3, Penncrest 1
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
With their season hanging in the balance, Lower Merion picked up a huge win over a very good team in Penncrest.
They had fallen to 3-5 in the Central League, but thanks to six excellent innings from Justin Heck, they get back in the win column.
Penncrest got on the board thanks to a Braden Davis RBI single in the top of the first with two outs to score Sergio Hernandez, who singled to start the game, but that was all they got on offense.
Lower Merion scored their first two runs in the bottom of the fourth after a Charlie Parsons RBI double followed by an error. They would also add a sac fly from Aidan O’Quinn in the fifth as well.
Justin Heck threw the first six innings and turned it over to Charlie Lovett, who threw a clean inning with two striikeouts. Nick Dragut had two of the four hits for Lower Merion and scored a run.
Braden Davis had two hits for Penncrest, Henry Murphy allowed three earned runs over six innings with nine strikeouts.
Lower Merion picks up a big time win to get to 4-5 in the Central League and will have another tough challenge when they head to Springfield.
Penncrest falls to 5-4 and will host Conestoga on Wednesday.
Haverford 7, Harriton 1
By: Bryson Ungar:
The Fords continue to deliver against Central League opponents with an impressive 7-1 win today over the Harriton Rams.
The offensive struggles have been a rough patch lately for the Rams as they’ve only managed seven hits and two runs across their last two games.
Things got going for the Fords in the bottom of the second, when Charlie Pusztay roped a leadoff triple, and then Max Livingston walked 3 straight batters ultimately giving the Fords a 1-0 lead. Owen Klick then brought in another run on a sac fly to right field.
Fast forward to the bottom of the third, the Fords’ kept on adding. Sam Sturman was hitby a pitch, and Pusztay walked, each of them scoring one run. From there on out the Fords never looked back developing a 7-0 lead. Harriton’s lone run occurred on an RBI single by Calvin Costello in the top of the sixth.
On the mound Lucas Rothstein earned the win for the Fords only giving up one hit and one run over 5.2 innings pitched. For the Rams, Max Livingston took the loss, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in only an inning of work.
Ted Heckman and Calvin Costello each collected one hit for the Rams, while Sturman led the Fords with a 2-2 day and 2 RBI’s.
We will see if the Rams can get hot again on Wednesday as they face the Garnet Valley Jags (5-4 in CL). For the Fords, they will face Strath Haven (5-3) also on Wednesday.
Conestoga 7, Marple Newtown 3
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Conestoga is another team that is fighting for their playoff lives like Lower Merion, and just like the Aces, they came up clutch to stay in the race.
Marple jumped ahead to a 3-0 lead after two innings on a Seth Pancoast sac fly and two Conestoga errors, but the Pioneers stuck around until the office could finally click in the fifth.
Conestoga put four on the board in the bottom of the fifth to totally flip the script. Kurt Tharnish scored on a wild pitch and then Chase Cherny scored on an error to tie it at 3-3. Brendan Soura’s sac fly put Conestoga ahead and then next batter saw another RBI single when Josh Lee’s infield single was thrown away.
Landon Jones provided the dagger, with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to ice it.
Nolan Campbell threw four solid innings with no hits, three runs (one earned), five walks and seven strikeouts. Liam Scheffer and Brendan Soura were massive in relief to keep the Pioneers in it.
For Marple Newtown, the offense really stalled after the first two innings. The Tigers did draw eight walks, but their only two hits came from Jackson Burger and Aidan Liberty.
Carter Patterson threw four innings with three nits, no earned runs and three strikeouts in the loss.
Conestoga keeps themselves in the playoff race as they improve to 4-5. They will head to Penncrest on Wednesday for their next game.
As for Marple Newtown, they fall to 3-5 in the Central League and will host Ridley on Wednesday for their next game.
Springfield 11, Ridley 1
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Springfield saw their seven game win streak snapped last week against Haverford, but they rebounded about as well as you could ask for.
The Cougars put five on the board right away to take control. They scored multiple runs in multiple innings as they also had three in the fifth and two in the seventh.
Danny Meakim and Shane McCaffrey both drove in three runs for the Cougars. Owen Keough went 3/4 and Jake Lennon added two hits.
The pitching was also sharp for Springfield. Jack Rae threw five innings with four hits allowed, one earned run and two strikeouts. Nick Russo threw two scoreless to close it out.
Nick Pollag went 2/2 with an RBI for Ridley in the loss. Ariol Cocaj threw five innings with three earned runs to limit the damage in the middle innings for Ridley.
Springfield moves into second place in the Central League at 6-3 and will host Lower Merion on Wednesday for their next game.
Ridley falls to 3-6 in the Central League and will travel to Marple on Wednesday for their next game.
Strath Haven 10, Upper Darby 0
By: Blake Karabin
After a week of beautiful days for baseball, we got a rude reminder of Pennsylvania weather. Today, on a chilly Monday afternoon, the Upper Darby Royals played host to the Strath Haven Panthers for a central league clash.
In this one, Haven got going early and never looked back. The Panthers scored five in the first, two in the third, and three in the fifth, leading to a 10-0 mercy rule win in 5 innings.
It was Atticus Bean and Eli Price propelling the offense today. Bean went 2-3, recording 2 hits, 3 RBI, 1 BB, and a run scored. Bean also got the offense rolling in the first inning, singling home Eli Price. As for Price, he went 1-3 with a 2-run double and a walk.
It was also a dominant game on the mound, with Jasper Hals starting and Travis McDonough coming in for relief. The two combined for a no-hitter in five innings.
Hals hurled a dominant 3.2 innings of work, striking out four, walking two, and allowing no one past first base. McDonough backed up his efforts this afternoon pitching 1.1 innings, striking out four, and allowing no runs to score.
As for Upper Darby, it was a lackluster showing at the plate and on the mound. The offensive positives were a first inning walk for Trask and a fourth inning walk for Chung.
On the mound it was David Cornett, Jack Trask, and Tommy Chung. Cornett was the starter this afternoon, but surrendered five runs on three hits and three walks. Following Cornett, Trask came in for three innings of work. Trask allowed three runs on two hits, he also walked five and struck out one.
Finally for Upper Darby, Chung threw an inning. He allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out one. In his inning of work, two runs were scored, but none were the fault of Chung.
After today, Haven improved to .500 on the year with a record of 6-6 and are 5-3 in the Central League. Upper Darby falls to 1-11 and 0-9 in Central League.
Looking to the future, Strath Haven will be hosting first place Haverford on Wednesday for what should be a fantastic battle. Upper Darby will be traveling to Radnor on Wednesday as they look to bounce back from a rough stretch and get their second win of the season.
Devon Prep 3, Bonner 1
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
It’s great to have you out there, Caleb Flannery.
The Devon Prep catcher, who recently returned from injury, went 3/4 with a double, triple and drove in two runs for the Tide in this one.
His RBI triple in the first scored Christian Leckman after his leadoff double to get things going. Fast forward to the bottom of the fourth, Liam Jung doubled with one out, and with two outs, Flannery’s double drove him in to put the Tide ahead 2-0.
Christian Leckman would add an insurance run for Devon with an RBI single to score Austin Conaty after a triple in the sixth.
Bonner scored their lone run after a Jack Brown single was misplayed in center field, allowing Brown to round the bases entirely to make it 3-1, but that’s as close as Bonner would get.
Johnny Doogan threw five shutout innings with seven hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. Billy Degler threw two scoreless in relief with just that one hit and unearned run.
Joe Gabrielle also had two hits in the win for Devon, as did Austin Conaty.
Jack Brown and Ryan Friel both had two hits in the loss for Bonner.
With the win, Devon Prep improves to 2-5 in the PCL and will host Father Judge on Wednesday for their next game.
As for Bonner, Jack Coleman threw the whole game and gave them a chance to win. They fall to 3-4 in the PCL with Neumann-Goretti coming to town on Wednesday.
Carroll 5, Ryan 3
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
The Carroll offense had really struggled during their six-game losing streak, but they found some power at the right time to stay in the playoff mix.
This game was scoreless through three until Max Barnes walked and Shane Panichi homered to left field to jump ahead 2-0.
Ryan got one back in the bottom of the fourth, but then Nick Gilroy added another long ball in the fourth to go ahead 3-1 in an eventual 5-3 win.
Jack Stadnicki through six excellent innings, allowing four hits with one earned run and eight strikeouts before Bennett Bishop closed it out.
Max Barnes and Ryan McGaughey both had two hits in the win for Carroll. Gilroy and Panichi both drove in two runs, and Gavin Moore also drove in a run on a sac fly.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say “season saving” win for Carroll, but 3-5 sounds a hell of a lot better than 2-6. The Patriots will face a very good Archbishop Wood team at home on Wednesday for their next game.
Delco Christian 16, MAST Charter 6
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Delco Christian scored eight runs in the second inning to blow this one open, and despite a late Mastery Charter push, Delco Christian pulled away late to win on a mercy rule.
Josiah Lyren had a monster day, going 2/5 with a triple and four runs batted in. Petros Nelson had two hits and drove in two runs while Nathan Burd also had two hits and drove in two runs.
Matteo DeBellis had two hits and an RBI out of the leadoff spot while also throwing two innings allowing one run. Justin Ma threw a scoreless sixth to close it out.
Delco Christian improves to 5-5 on the year and will head to Collegium Charter on Wednesday for their next game.
Neumann-Goretti 4, O’Hara 0
By: Brendan Ricciardi
The O’Hara offense could not get much going in this one in a road game at Neumann-Goretti.
They were putting the ball in play and only struck out one time, the Neuman-Goretti defense was just clean all game. Jack Quinn threw 4.2 innings with two hits and two earned runs to go with five strikeouts for O’Hara.
Jack Quinn, Michael Brown and Jayson Gniewoz had hits in the loss.
O’Hara falls to 3-5 in the PCL and will host Conwell-Egan on Wednesday for their next game.
Avon Grove 7, Sun Valley 2
By: Brendan Ricciardi
Avon Grove jumped ahead with two in the second and four in the third to pull away from Sun Valley in this one,
The Vanguards fought back in the top of the seventh with two runs on an RBI double from Alex Mai and an RBI groundout by Jaden Comisiak, but that’s all the offense that Sun Valley had today. Both Mai and Comisiak had two hits in the loss.
Austin Miazza threw well for Sun Valley, allowing just two earned runs in four innings with four strikeouts. Logan Howe allowed just one earned run in two innings of relief.
With the loss, Sun Valley falls to 1-10 in the Ches-Mont and will try to end their losing streak on Wednesday when they host Rustin.