The early theme so far of these playoffs in all conferences seems to be rivalry games early on.

O’Hara upset Bonner in the first round of the PCL Tournament, and Penncrest and Strath Haven will play in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Tournament on Monday.

And now, with The Haverford School taking down Abington Friends on Friday afternoon, they will head to Newtown Square to face rival Episcopal on Tuesday in the PAISAA quarterfinal round.

Episcopal took both of the regular season meetings. They won at home on April 21st for our game of the week 10-6 after four in the bottom of the sixth. They also won 5-4 last Friday, May 8th.

Anything can happen on Tuesday.

Haverford School 10, Abington Friends 0

(picture of Gabe Danisi via John Rayer/DBN)

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

The Haverford School set the tone early against Abington Friends, and never let the Kangaroos have a chance is one.

I would like to quickly make a side note that Kangaroos is an unreal high school team name. Let’s get more weird names like that.

Danny Getz hit a two-out, two-run single in the first to drive in Zack and Thomas Lawler. The real party came in the second, when the Fords scored seven runs.

That included a two-run Zack Lawler homer and a Nicky Vanni solo homer.

The Fords would add their tenth and final run on a Caleb Siever groundout to score Thomas Lawler, who went 3/3 with two doubles.

On the mound, Gabe Danisi threw three scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and three strikeouts. Jacob Horwitz threw a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts in the fourth, and Owen Murphy finished it off in the top of the fifth.

As mentioned above, Haverford School now plays Episcopal in the PAISAA quarterfinals, and the winner of that plays the winner of Malvern/SCHA on Thursday.

While we would assume that Episcopal ace Hunter West is pitching for the Churchmen, the Fords could turn to any one of Danisi, Horwitz or Murphy to start that game. It could be very similar plan to today, as no pitcher threw more than 33 pitches.

It’s a tough week to plan for because to become state champions, you will have to win Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

That game will be at 4:00 on Tuesday at Episcopal.

Penn Charter 10, Friends Central 0

(photo of Brice Staples via Bjorn Beck)

By; Jonah Casel:

Penn Charter had no trouble defeating Friends’ Central at home to advance to the second round of the PAISAA tournament.

Gavin Yeager started for the Phoenix, and had an efficient first inning, but Penn Charter blew the game open in the second by scoring five runs. The Quakers never looked back from there and continued to pile on, even when Yeager was replaced by Fisher Haggerty in the fourth inning.

Gavin Ruta led the way for Penn Charter, driving in three runs and walking off the game to clinch the mercy rule in the fifth inning. BJ Hall drove in two, and Brice Staples notably blasted a triple in the second inning.

Staples also started the game and was lights out. He only allowed one hit and three walks, while striking out seven in five innings. The injury-riddled Phoenix never stood a chance today.

Friends’ Central could not muster up any offense, and their only hit came off the bat of Senior DH Shane McGarry in his final high school baseball game. The Friends’ Central senior class will leave big shoes to fill for the returning players.

Penn Charter will say goodbye to their home field for the remainder of the PAISAA tournament, as they travel to second-seeded Shipley for a second round matchup. Friends’ Central’s season is over, and they can only hope for a healthier 2027.

Episcopal 12, The Hill School 0

(graphic via Episcopal Instagram)

By: Brendan Ricciardi:

Episcopal is scorching hot going into the playoffs, as they have now won seven in a row to hit the 20-win mark as they end the regular season at 20-8.

They have also now scored 9+ runs in each of the last four games, including double digits in three of those.

Under the lights at The Hill School, the Churchmen struck early and often, putting up four on the board in both the first and second innings.

It seems like the Churchmen let their whole roster get some work today, as every starter was replaced at some point. Dillon Walls was the only Churchmen with two hits. Michael Schaffer and Matt LaTour both drove in two runs, while Dan Castro, August Corcoran, Baxter Schuh, Ty Cohen, Reggie King and Dylan Gustafson all drove in one run.

On the mound, Ryan Lomas threw three perfect innings with a strikeout to start the game. Kyptyn Williams allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Baxter Schuh closed it out.

The Churchmen as mentioned end the regular season at 20-8. They will be the #4 seed in the PAISAA State Tournament, and will host The Haverford School on Tuesday.

Should they advance, they would play the winner of Tuesday’s Malvern Prep vs Springside Chestnut Hill game.