(image of Episcopal’s Spencer Schuh via Max Boyko)

This is the third consecutive year that we have had a Game of The Week at Episcopal with the Churchmen taking on The Haverford School.

The first, back in 2024, was a 2-0 Haverford School win. The second in 2025 was a 2-1 Episcopal win.

The third round of this Game of The Week went a little differently than the first two to say the least.

Episcopal 10, Haverford School 6

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

This game was hectic from start to finish, as more half innings included runs than half innings without runs.

Episcopal scored twice in the first inning on back-to-back bases loaded walks off of Haverford starter Owen Murphy, and that 2-0 lead held until the third. Haverford got their first run on a Braydon Scanlan sac fly, but any momentum quickly went away when Episcopal responded for two more on a wild pitch that scored Reggie King and a Baxter Schuh RBI double to score Dillon Walls.

Ty Cohen placed a picture perfect two-out bunt single in the bottom of the third to make it 5-1 Churchmen as well.

While Episcopal led the majority of the game, Haverford kept chipping away. They scored on a fielder’s choice and a sac bunt in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-3 before Episcopal got that run back on a Trey Schwaninger RBI single in the fifth.

Now the real fun began.

Haverford started their half of the sixth with Nicky Vanni reaching on an error and Ethan Stern ripping a ground rule double to left field to put the tying run at the plate. Mike Noone followed that up with a base hit to make it 6-4, and later in the inning, Danny Getz came up clutch from the #9 spot to tie it up with a two-run single to score Stern and Noone and we had a brand new ballgame.

With the score now tied at 6-6, EA looked to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Matt LaTour and JD Amoroso were walked, setting the stage for Spencer Schuh to be the hero. He took full advantage of that, singling to center field to score LaTour and put the Churchmen ahead 7-6.

They were not done yet.

Reggie King then added an RBI single to make it 8-6, and then a two-run Dillon Walls double really blew the game open. Roman Notaro retired the side in order to wrap up the win.

Episcopal junior ace and Duke recruit Hunter West started the game and threw the first four innings. He didn’t have the best command of his pitches like he did last week against Malvern, but he still battled really well and allowed just three earned runs and struck out two while keeping them in the game. That’s what the elite guys do when they aren’t at their best on a given day, all you can ask for.

Roman Notaro threw the next three innings and allowed two earned runs with three strikeouts.

Episcopal improves to 3-2 in the Inter-Ac and will head to Westtown for a non-conference game on Wednesday for their next game.

As for Haverford, they fall to 3-2 in the Inter-Ac and and will head to Springside Chestnut Hill on Thursday for their next game. The Fords defeated them 10-3 on Inter-Ac Opening Day.

Malvern Prep 11, Springside Chesnut Hill 1

By: Nick Mazzarella:

A great day on both sides of the ball for the Friars as they rack up their 21st win of the season.

Jack Herbein (Lafayette commit) threw a complete game* allowing only three baserunners and one run, and punching out seven guys over six innings.

The Friars got on early in the first inning, as they scored five runs, highlighted by Jalen Bowman’s leadoff homer to start the game off with a bang.

In the third, Malvern Prep tacked on more, scoring four runs to make it a 9-0 game after only three innings, this time the inning was highlighted by Tommy Sergio’s bases clearing double to drive in three.

In the fourth, the Blue Devils scored their lone run, as Joe Piezynski drove in Joey Markey on a fielder’s choice. Markey tripled to lead off the inning, and was the Blue Devils only hit of the game.

Malvern Prep scored another two in the fifth to bring the game to an end via mercy rule. The Friars tacked on another win with a final score of 11-1.

SCHA moves to 9-7 on the season, and 1-4 in the Inter-Ac.

The Friars tack on their 21st win of the year, and now sit at 21-3, and sit atop the Inter-Ac at 4-1.

Chester 4, Penn Wood 2

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Juan Martinez did it all in this one for the Clippers.

Not only did he strike out 11 over 5.2 innings pitched, he also had two hits, drove in a run and stole three bases.

This game was tied 2-2 late before Israel Figueroa and Emil Smith Jr. both drove in runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the Clippers ahead for good. Jacoby Roman threw a scoreless seventh inning to wrap up the win.

Outside of the two hits by Martinez, Kevin Logan also had a hit for Chester in the win,

For Penn Wood, Jaiden Davis also struck out 11 on the mound and allowed three runs over five innings. Jasai Hailey and Bryan Romero both had two hits in the win, with Romero and Ishamel Torres driving in a run.

With the win, Chester improves to 4-4 in the Del Val and will be off until next week when they travel to first place Chichester.

As for Penn Wood, they fall to 1-6 and are back at home vs Interboro on Thursday.

Interboro 10, Academy Park 0

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Interboro scored six runs in the first inning, which was more than enough to lead them to a Del Val win.

Austin Dean led the way with three hits out of the leadoff spot, while scoring two runs.

Noah Vazquez had two hits and scored two runs, while John Cartlidge drove in two runs. Chase Norbeck, Anthony Gentile, Tyler Green, Joel Schimpf and Trent Siebenaler all drove in runs for the Bucs.

On the mound, Tyler Green, Joel Sheridan and Jayden Pffaf all threw two shutout innings, with Sheridan striking out six.

Sean Murphy, Chase Clark and Quran Harris had hits in the loss for Academy Park.

With the win, Interboro improves to 6-2 in the Del Val and will head to Penn Wood for their next game on Thursday.

Academy Park falls to 1-6 with the loss and will host Chichester on Thursday.

Friends Central 10, Germantown Friends 0

By: Jonah Casel:

Friends’ Central has been getting back into their groove, and a dominant win over Germantown Friends School keeps the ball rolling.

The defense played lights out behind Fisher Haggerty with no errors, and Haggerty was extremely efficient in his third dominant start in a row.

The sophomore pitcher had a rough outing against Springside Chestnut Hill at the beginning of April, but since then, everything has clicked. Today, he threw 51 pitches in five innings, allowed only two hits, and struck out four. He has allowed no earned runs since that day at Springside Chestnut Hill.

For a Phoenix pitching staff that has been battered by the injury to Michael Mamaluy, Haggerty’s hot streak has been huge.

The ball was flying off the bats of the Phoenix today, aiding Haggerty’s pitching effort. Five different Phoenix collected at least two hits. Caleb Bachman homered and singled, collecting three runs batted in. Lucas Abreu had two doubles. Zac Canterino hit two singles, stole two bases, and knocked in two runners. 

The Phoenix will take on Shipley, another Friends League rival, on Friday. Gavin Yeager is expected to start against the team who defeated the Phoenix in the league championship last season.

To say it is the biggest game of Friends’ Central’s season so far is an understatement. If Friends’ Central can take Shipley down, they would cement themselves once again as a team that the Friends League doesn’t want to mess with.

Pope John Paul II 12, Bonner 11

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

It turns out Haverford/EA wasn’t the biggest slugfest of the day, as PJP and Bonner combined for 23 runs and 27 hits.

PJP lead 8-3 going into the bottom of the fifth before Bonner stormed back for five more. This game had some crazy drama as PJP scored three in the top of the seventh to take the lead, just to see Bonner storm back for three in the bottom of the seventh including a homer from Jayden Raffensperger, a Jack Coleman RBI double and a Ryan Friel game-tying single.

PJP would go on to score one in the top of the eighth to win this one in extras.

Ryan Friel had three hits, two walks and drove in two runs in the loss for Bonner. Luke Albarano, Jack Coleman and Gavin DiRita all had two hits as well. Friel, Cole Romano and Sean Erickson all drove in two runs, with Erickson homering as well.

Sean Dugan threw two innings with no earned runs and three strikeouts in relief for Bonner.

This was a non-conference game for Bonner, so they remain 3-4 in the PCL, but fall to 4-8 overall on the year. They will host Neumann-Goretti on Wednesday for their next game.