The 2026 Bonner Friars are starting to look awfully look the 2025 Bonner Friars of late on offense.
Last season, Bonner started off slow out of the gate before entering the PCL Tournament as the #6 seed where they ultimately ran the table and beat Ryan 10-0 in the title game.
Just last week, Bonner was sitting at 4-9 on the season after a loss to Neumann-Goretti. Since then, they’ve won four straight games, three of which they scored 10+ runs in.
They are currently the #6 seed in the PCL playoff bracket once again with two games to play.
Bonner 11, The Haverford School 2
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
While it is true that this was not a conference game for Bonner, the confidence seems to keep growing for this group of late.
Before we even get into the offense, we have to start with Jake Gorman, who threw five hitless innings in the win for Bonner. He struck out seven while allowing one unearned run in the process before Michael Murphy and Sean Dugan closed it out.
On offense, Gavin DiRita and Ryan Friel look like they are ready to go on a run like they did last postseason. DiRita reached base four times and scored all four times as well. He had two hits and two walks. Friel had two hits including a double and drove in two runs.
Owen Lockhart had the biggest day of all, going 3/3 with 4 RBI.
This game was just 3-1 Bonner going into the bottom of the fifth before the Friars opened it up with three in the fifth and five in the sixth to put this one out of reach.
Danny Getz, Braydon Scanlan and Aiden Zwilling had hits in the loss for the Fords, who have now lost six in a row after a 12-4 start to the season.
Bonner improves to 8-9 with his win and will host Lansdale Catholic on Monday for their next game.
As for Haverford School, they fall to 12-10 and will travel to Germantown Academy on Tuesday looking to end their skid.
O’Hara 9, Conestoga 6
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
After a six-game losing streak in the middle of the season, O’Hara has started to shake that off, winning three of their last four.
This time it was a home non-conference win over Conestoga, using five pitchers in the process to get the win:
- Colin Thomas: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 K
- Jack Quinn: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K
- Michael Brown: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K
- Sean Vaughn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 K
- John Welde: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
Quinn also led the way offensively with two hits and a walk while driving in two runs and scoring two runs. Vinny Mancini had a two-run double as well.
With the game tied 3-3, O’Hara put up four in the bottom of the fourth to take control of this game and added two insurance runs in the sixth as well.
For Conestoga, they had a well-balanced offense with eight different players having at least one hit with Mikey Evitts driving in a run. This game was a bit sloppy defensively as each team had four errors, so a lot of runs were unearned.
With the win, O’Hara sits at 7-10 and 4-7 in the PCL. Their playoff fate is still undetermined for now, but they will play their last PCL game on Wednesday when they host La Salle. First, they will travel to Sterling for a non-conference game on Monday.
Conestoga falls to 6-10 in the loss and is hanging around the district playoff picture at 5-8, but will likely need to go 3-0 the rest of the way to find themselves in. That starts with a road game at Garnet Valley on Monday.
Devon Prep 8, Central 2
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Bonner isn’t the only PCL in this newsletter who has been playing much better baseball in the second half, as Devon Prep has now won four of their last five games.
This time a home non-conference game over Central behind six excellent innings on the mound by Colin Carey and a clean seventh from Caleb Tesfaye.
The Tide scored four in the bottom of the first and kept it rolling with one in the second, two in the third and one in the sixth to win this one.
Freshman Joe Gabrielle came from out of nowhere to become arguably the most consistent hitter in the Devon Prep lineup of late as he added another two hits and drove in two runs. Austin Conaty also had two hits and a walk while Ryan Wheeler and Stephen Land had a hit and an RBI.
The Tide improve to 7-7 on the year as a whole and are sitting at 4-6 in the PCL. They have a tough non-conference game at home against St. Joe’s Prep on Monday as they look to make the playoffs for the second straight year.
Malvern Prep 14, St. Joe’s Prep 1
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Malvern Prep scored two in the second, five in the third, and took this game over fully with seven in the fourth to bring home a mercy rule non-conference win.
Kayden Wallace threw the first four innings with three hits and one earned run allowed while striking out four, while Jason Kay threw a clean fifth to wrap it up.
It was a well-balanced offensive attack for the Friars, who had 11 hits from 10 different players. Sutton (not Scott, sorry about that) Dvorak was the only Malvern player with multiple hits as he had two. Luke Moore drove in three runs while Gabe Naylor and Grady Forsberg drove in two.
Forsberg, Moore, Dvorak, Nick Schmitt and Brady Abate all had doubles.
Malvern improves to 26-4 while sitting at 7-1 in the Inter-Ac. They can win the league title outright at home against Penn Charter on Tuesday.
Friends Central 6, Lansdale Catholic 1
By: Jonah Casel:
In their final home game of the 2026 season, Friends’ Central was victorious over a PCL opponent and they controlled the game all the way through.
The Phoenix only failed to score runs in one inning, and their pitching staff was excellent. Lucas Abreu started, threw three innings, and allowed only one hit and no runs. Zac Canterino pitched in relief and gave up one run, and David Manfre got a five-out save.
Friends’ Central was fantastic in the clutch, scoring five of their six runs with two outs. Caleb Bachman was on base in all four of his plate appearances, Vaughn Jones hit a single and a double, and Gavin Yeager hit a two-RBI double to extend the lead to five in the bottom of the sixth.
Freshman Miles Mammele played behind the dish today and was excellent for the Phoenix. Caleb Bachman has been a consistent catcher for as long as he’s been on the team, and Mammele has big shoes to fill once Bachman graduates.
For Lansdale Catholic, Luke Maholick drove in their only run as a pinch hitter on a double blasted to center field. Nick Wilkin started the game and went four innings while allowing one earned run and two unearned runs.
The Phoenix needed this win heading into their FSL playoff matchup against Westtown on Tuesday. Friends’ Central looks for revenge after Westtown upset them earlier this season for the first time in nearly seven years. That matchup is one to look out for, and it’s anyone’s game.
Sun Valley 8, Interboro 3
By: Nick Mazzarella:
ROLL ‘GUARDS.
The Vanguards pick up their fourth straight win, and this is coming off a 11-game losing streak, so talk about never losing confidence.
Sun Valley kept up the hot hitting, as they scored two in the first inning after an error scored Logan Howe and Ryan Messick.
In the third, Sun Valley tacked on more. With no outs and two men on, Messick doubled home Jax Casamento and Howe, and was followed by Luke Williams driving in Messick for a quick three runs.
In the fourth, Howe came home to score on a passed ball to extend the lead to six runs. And in the fifth, they did it again, driving home another two for a real comfortable lead.
On the bump, Austin Miazza was through five shutout innings to help the offense keep the lead. In the sixth, Miazza allowed singles to Scott Poluchuck and Joel Sheridan which made it a five run game. But Miazza dug deep and struck out the next two guys to limit the damage.
Miazza went six innings, three runs (two earned), eight hits, and six punchouts.
Howe came in to close out the game in the seventh and sat them down with two strikeouts.
Interboro is now 10-6 (7-2 Del-Val), and will face Chichester (10-0 Del-Val) who sits atop the Del-Val at home on Tuesday at 3:30.
Sun Valley has now doubled on their win total from last year, and now sit at 6-11 and are 4-11 in the Ches-Mont as they will face Oxford (2-11 Ches-Mont) on the road on Wednesday at 4:00. The Vanguards chances at the 5A bracket may be slim, but they could pull a Flyers and make the playoffs when it seemed over.
