Garnet Valley had already clinched their spot in the PIAA District 1 playoffs, but they had a non-conference game vs West Chester East that was scheduled for Wednesday and moved to today as a tune up game.
The Jags have been playing really good baseball lately, winning their last four going into this game and finishing the season in third place in the Central League at 11-5.
With their second extra inning win in the last two days, Garnet Valley feels good heading back into the playoffs.
Garnet Valley 4, West Chester East 3
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Not only did Garnet Valley win this game in extra innings, but they erased a 2-0 deficit in the top of the seventh to do so.
The Jaguars saw their first six runners of the inning reach base in the top of the seventh. Ashton Yau reached on an error, while Garret Hosterman and Connor Criswell singled.
Branden Capone followed that up with a single to score Yau and Hosterman to tie the game up at 2-2. Next up was Kevin Coleman, who added another single to score pinch runner Evan Harris to make it 3-2.
Garnet surely would have liked some more insurance run, but they settled for a 3-2 lead, and West Chester East tied it on a sac fly in the seventh.
Cole Hoffacker led off the bottom of the eighth and wasted no time, ripping an inside the parker to center field to take the lead on the first pitch. Now leading once again, a rare pitching appearance from Harrison Maull ended with the win as he allowed just a walk in the eighth to finish it off.
Asher Weingarten was stellar on the mound for the first four innings, allowing just three hits and a run while striking out four. Connor Criswell allowed a run over two innings with a strikeout in relief.
Branden Capone, Monday’s walk-off hero, had two hits including that two-run single. Harrison Maull had two hits while Zach Gordon also had a hit.
Garnet Valley finishes a stellar regular season at 14-6. We don’t know who their first round matchup will officially be against just yet, but we do know that Ryan McGhee and the Jaguars will host a first round playoff game in the District 1 6A bracket next Monday, May 18th.
They are currently the #12 seed, and if the current rankings stay the same, they will play #21 Central Bucks West. That is still subject to change, but based on the rankings, they appear locked into a home game at the very least.
Springfield 7, Unionville 1
By: Gabe Danisi:
Springfield came out swinging Tuesday, putting up 14 hits in a 7-1 win over Unionville that was never really in doubt after the third inning.
Unionville actually drew first blood in the second. Indy Riggs singled, stole second, and came around to score on a Gavin Griffith double to left — though Griffith got thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. Longhorns up 1-0 early.
Springfield answered right back in the third. Jake Lennon singled to lead things off, and after a sac bunt moved him to second, Danny Meakim lined one to center to tie it at 1-1. Then TJ Valletti followed with another single to center to flip the lead, 2-1 Cougars.
The fifth inning was where Springfield really put it away. Owen Keough singled, Danny Meakim singled, and Nick Corse dropped down a bunt single — but a first baseman’s error let Keough score and put two runners in scoring position. Then Valletti stepped up and crushed a triple to center to clear the bases, pushing the lead to 5-1. Just like that, Unionville was cooked.
Springfield tacked on another in the sixth when Meakim doubled, and Valletti came through again — this time grounding into a fielder’s choice that scored Lennon to make it 6-1. A seventh-inning single by Jake Lehman brought home the final run for the 7-1 final.
Meakim was everywhere — 4-for-5 with a single, double, and two more singles, doing damage all over the lineup. Valletti did the heavy lifting with four RBI, going 2-for-4 with the big triple. Keough and Lennon each had multiple hits as Springfield spread it around all day.
On the mound, Denny Monastra was sharp to start, going three innings and allowing just one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Jack Rae took over from there and was dominant, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out four while surrendering just one hit. Valletti closed it out in the seventh, retiring the side to finish things off. For Unionville, Brendan Heyer took the loss, giving up five runs on 10 hits across four innings with three strikeouts. Alex Gonzalez came on in relief and went two innings, allowing one run while striking out five, but the damage was already done.
Springfield takes the win and finishes their regular season at 13-7 after going just 5-15 last year, a remarkable turnaround. The Cougars will also be hosting a playoff game next Monday, though the opponent has yet to be determined.
As of right now, they are the #7 seed and would host the reigning state champion Upper Dublin Cardinals who are #10.
Sun Valley 5, Oxford 2
By: Jaidyn Rivera:
In their last game of the season, the Sun Valley Vanguards looked to end on a good one, and they came through with a 5-2 win over Oxford on this wonderful Tuesday afternoon.
The Vanguards opened up the scoring at the top of the first inning after Ryan Messick tripled down the right field line, scoring Jaden Comisiak.
Oxford then tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first on a single to center field.
Messick singled, giving him his second RBI of the game, giving Sun Valley the lead once again, 2-1, in the top of the third.
With an error in the bottom of the fifth by the Vanguards, Oxford tied the game up at two with little game left.
The Vanguard took the lead in the top of the seventh, 5-2, with three runs. Luke Williams drove in Logan Howe with a single, Jaden Comisiak scored on a wild pitch which made Williams advance to third, and Daniel Miller scored Luke Williams on a single to right field.
On the bump for the vanguards was Austin Miazza and was he lights out. Miazza went 7 innings allowing only 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs (1 earned) and 7 strikeouts.
Messick led the ways for the Vanguards collecting 2 RBI’s and went 2-3 on the day at the plate. Jaden Comisiak and Luke Williams also collected two hits each at the plate for the Vanguards. Austin Jennings collected 3 walks today for the Vanguards. The Vangurds had a great eye at the plate in todays game collecting 7 walks.
The Vanguards end their season on a good one finishing 7-13 on the year. Sun Valley went just 3-15-1 last year, so that is a great step in the right direction with a young core.
Chichester 17, Academy Park 2
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Chichester has not lost a Del Val league game since before the pandemic, and if that streak is ever going to end, it won’t be in 2026.
Chichester finishes off a 12-0 Del Val season with a home win over Academy Park. The Eagles scored two in the first inning, but fully took over this one with 12 in the bottom of the second.
Five different players on Chichester had 2+ hits. Zach Murray (2), Evan Valentine (2), Cole Sanford (2), Luke Werley (2), and Gavin Derrickson (3). In addition to that, six players drove in two or more runs. All of those players above, and Logan Werley (2).
On the mound, Dominic Ricco threw the first 2.1 innings with one earned run while Braydon Sweigart threw the final 1.2 with no hits and no runs along with three strikeouts.
Lucas Gilbert had the lone hit on the day for Academy Park.
Chichester finishes their regular season 14-6 overall and will be the #1 seed in the District 1 5A bracket. We don’t know who they will be playing just yet, but they will be playing the winner of the #8 and #9 seed and their game will be at Chichester next Wednesday, 5/20.
As of right now, they would play the winner of #8 West Chester East and #9 Upper Merion.
Interboro 15, Penn Wood 0
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Interboro was pretty much locked into their playoff seed already, but this win certainly won’t hurt their confidence.
The Bucs scored 12 runs in the first inning and coasted to a three-inning mercy rule win. Nicholas Daino and Chase Norbeck drove in nearly half the runs in this game for the Bucs; Daino drove in four on two hits and Norbeck drove in three on two hits.
Nate Vazquez also drove in two runs while Austin Dean had two hits and drove in a run. On the mound, Jaxson Munro threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, while Joel Schimpf retired all six hitters he faced with five strikeouts in relief.
Interboro finishes their regular season at 13-7, and it looks highly likely that they will head to Holy Ghost on Tuesday, 5/19 for the first round of the District 1 4A bracket. That bracket only has four teams, so a win over Holy Ghost would mean a trip to the district title against either Pope John Paul II or Springfield Montco.
Delco Christian 10, Renaissance Academy 1
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
Delco Christian clinched their playoff spot when they beat Dock Mennonite on a walk-off Monday afternoon, but they handled business against Renaissance Academy in this one anyway.
The Knights controlled this game as they scored two in the first and three in the third, but really put the exclamation point on with five in the fourth. Matteo DeBellis and Izaac Amann both had two hits, with Amann driving in two runs and DeBellis driving in one. Micah Dutton also drove in two runs, while Nathan Burd and Josey Lyren drove in one.
On the mound, Cyrus Mulder was marvelous. He allowed just two hits and one unearned run over seven dominant innings, striking out seven.
As of right now, Delco Christian will be the #3 seed and would face #2 Calvary Christian in the first round of the District 1 2A bracket next Tuesday. An interesting note is that these two teams are both 8-3 in their conference and play each other tomorrow, so it sure seems like the winner of that game will be the #2 seed while the loser will either be #3 or even #4.
That game against Calvary Christian on Wednesday will be the last regular season game for the Knights.
Friends Central 10, Roman Catholic 1
By: Jonah Casel:
In their final home games, Friends’ Central seniors Caleb Bachman and Lucas Abreu each hit very impressive milestones in their high school careers.
Bachman led off for the Phoenix, lacing a single to right field for his 110th career varsity hit, one more than any other Friends’ Central baseball player had ever collected. Bachman’s high school career has been an incredible success, ever since his Freshman year when he walked off Westtown in extra innings to send his team to their first of a four-peat championship run.
The lefty catcher will play his college baseball at Lafayette, but not before leaving everything out on the field on Friday at Penn Charter in the first round of the PAISAA playoffs.
Abreu, a senior pitcher and utility player, blasted his first career home run to right field in the bottom of the second. Great timing by Abreu to get his first in his final home game! He’s had a breakthrough season for Friends’ Central and his heroics were appreciated today.
In addition to the home run, Abreu started the game at pitcher and allowed no hits, no runs, only one walk, and struck out seven in four innings of dominance. Abreu will bring his hot streak to college baseball at Chesapeake next season.
Friends’ Central controlled the game completely from the start. The Phoenix batted 14 different players including subs, and 13 of them reached base successfully at least once.
Shane Zakrzewski, Peter Buonadonna, and Luis Selles each collected a hit, but their efforts were too little too late for Roman Catholic.
Friends’ Central looks to get past Penn Charter on Friday for the chance to play their rivals, Shipley, in the second round. Roman Catholic’s season is over, they finished with a 5-14-1 record overall.
Downingtown East 3, Conestoga 0
By: Brendan Ricciardi:
It was a struggle for the Conestoga offense against a Downingtown East team that will be heading to the District 1 6A playoffs and looks to be hosting a game as well.
The Cougars scored two in the fourth and one in the fifth, which was plenty of runs to beat a Conestoga team that had just three hits on the day. Brendan Soura, John Bauer and Sam Kissinger all had hits on the senior day for the Pioneers.
It was a pretty cool start to the game as Ryan Bauer, who missed the season with an injury, threw out the first pitch of the game on senior day before coming out.
Brendan Soura then allowed just one hit across three shutout innings of relief. Liam Scheffer also was great in relief, with just one unearned run across three innings with five strikeouts.
It was a tough year for Conestoga, as their expected top three pitchers in Luke Hunter, Ryan Bauer, and John Bauer all either did not pitch or barely pitched this season due to injury. No team can really expect to rebound from that.
Conestoga finishes the season at 7-13 and will not be postseason bound in 2026 in year two under Anthony Greco after an appearance in 2025.