HAVERTOWN, PA –Monday was business as usual for the undefeated Haverford Fords.

Another strong start from Jimmy Boyle and a four-run third inning gave them a comfortable eleventh win.

After a quiet start, Haverford’s bats woke up the second time through the order. Nine-hitter Ben Ishmael singled to flip things to the top of the order and the Fords got going from there.

Ryan Cassidy doubled, putting runners on second and third. Boyle then knocked in the game’s first run with a single. 

Shane Durkan made it 2-0, grounding into a fielder’s choice, and Nick Elvanian singled home two more. That gave Haverford a 4-0 lead that would really not be threatened.

The Fords’ pitching staff took it from there. Boyle struck out seven and worked around two hits and three walks over four shutout innings. He passed the ball to Cam McCormack who pitched two innings, giving up one run. Lucas Rothstein closed out the game with a clean seventh inning.

Jake Lennon gave Springfield a little life in the fifth. His two-out single scored Sean O’Reilly and cut their deficit to 4-1. The Cougars just couldn’t string enough together in this one, though.

Haverford’s fifth run came on Ishmael’s second hit of the day. An error was made that allowed Charlie Pusztay to score.

Sitting at 11-0, the Fords will now get to enjoy their spring break. Haverford is off until April 22nd, when they face Harriton (3-5) on the road.

This was the first leg of a pretty brutal two-day stretch for Springfield. After facing Delco’s top ranked team Monday, it doesn’t get much easier; they face number two Radnor (5-1) on the road Tuesday.

PHILADELPHIA — Bonner has gotten some great pitching performances when they needed it most this year.

Facing a 1-4 start in the PCL with a good amount of an already-depleted pitching staff unavailable, Danny Buckton took the mound for the Friars. Buckton was fantastic, hurling a nine-strikeout complete game and inspiring Bonner to a 5-3 win over Neumann-Goretti.

The Friar offense got themselves the lead in the second inning. Owen Lockhart led off with a single and advanced to second on a bunt. Buckton then helped himself out, getting the first run across with an RBI single.

A Sergio Hernandez single kept the inning going and Michael Coleman knocked home Bonner’s second run with a single of his own.

Coleman got the second RBI of his big day as Bonner doubled their lead in the fourth. Buckton led the inning off with a walk and pinch runner Josh Collado would come around and score on the Coleman single. Ryan Friel followed that up with a double that brought Coleman home and gave the Friars a 4-0 lead.

Neumann got two runs back on a Christian Meitzler home run in their half of the fourth, Owen Lockhart killed that momentum though. Leading off the top of the fifth, Lockhart drove a 1-2 pitch over the right field fence, putting Bonner up 5-2.

The Saints would get one more run back, but that was all they could muster against Buckton. He closed out the huge victory with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

This puts Bonner at 2-3 in the PCL heading into Monday’s matchup against undefeated, defending champions La Salle. The Friars will have an intriguing out-of-league game before that; they travel to the Haverford School for a game on Saturday.

Luckily the Haverford School does have turf, but the forecast doesn’t look incredible either way.

PLUMSTEADVILLE, PA — We’ve seen our fair share of no-hitters so far this season.

On Thursday, Beau Lyren, Reid Darnall, and their Delco Christian teammates added to that tally. Lyren started and pitched six hitless innings. Darnall closed out the 12-2 victory over Plumstead Christian in already the fourth no-hitter this county has seen.

Strath Haven threw back-to-back no-hitters with Rob Mattai/Caden Shuster and Luke D’Ancona/Jasper Hals while Jack Redding went all seven on his own.

The Knights took a lot of pressure off their pitching staff early, getting out to a 5-0 lead. Sam Dixon led off the top of the second inning with a double. Darnall doubled as well with one out, bringing home Dixon with the opening run.

Darnall advanced to third on a Justin Ma single and scored on a passed ball. Porter Roberts then singled home Ma to make it 3-0. Roberts put some pressure on the Plumstead defense, stealing second and advancing to third. He would eventually score on a Nathan Burd single.

Dixon was active again in the third. He singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on an error, giving Delco Christian a commanding 5-0 lead.

Usually, when you hear no-hitter, you think of a shutout. Plumstead Christian was actually able to scratch across a couple in this contest. In the bottom of the fourth, a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch gave them their only runs of the day.

The deficit only grew from there for Plumstead. Dixon reached on an error in the fifth and managed to score on yet another error while he was stealing third.

With a 6-2 lead, Delco Christian delivered the knockout blow in the sixth. Matteo DeBellis led off with a double, stole third, and came home on a sac fly from Josiah Lyren. Dixon continued his huge day, hitting a two-run home run that made it 9-2.

DeBellis, Ma, and Roberts added RBI hits in the seventh, capping off a great day for both the Knights’ hitting and pitching.

Starter Beau Lyren finished the day with six innings pitched, two unearned runs, and nine strikeouts. Darnall struck out two in the seventh, finishing the dominant performance.

Delco Christian moves to 4-5 and 3-0 in the Bicentennial – Presidents league. They go back on the road and play Chichester on Friday if the weather allows it.

PHILADELPHIA — After a tough 0-4 start, Delco Christian looked to get their second straight win against MAST Charter.

Matteo DeBellis led the way with three hits, and Reid Darnall struck out eight in six innings as the Knights earned their second-straight win.

DeBellis got the game started with a double and stole third. With two outs Peter Certo was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and third. MAST attempted to pick off Certo, but the ball got away, allowing DeBellis to score the opening run.

MAST’s leadoff batter provided some fireworks as well in their half of the first. David Kondravy blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field fence, tying the game at one.

The top of the second saw more of Matteo DeBellis’ heroics. Justin Ma walked, stole second, and advanced to third before scoring on a RBI single by DeBellis. 

DeBellis then showed off the baserunning, stealing second, third, and home to give the Knights a 3-1 lead.

Darnall helped himself out in the top of the third. He walked, stole second, and scored on an error on Josiah Lyren’s fly ball.

Delco Christian put the game away in the fifth. Nathan Burd led off with a walk, then Darnall and Lyren followed up with singles, loading the bases. Gabe Digregorio drew a walk with one out to score the Knights’ fifth run.

Things then got sloppy for MAST. Darnall scored on a wild pitch that made it 6-1. It would only get worse, with Lyren and pinch runner Porter Roberts both scoring on passed balls. That gave Delco Christian an 8-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

MAST was able to plate a couple runs against Darnall and DeBellis, who pitched the seventh inning, but not enough to make it a game, as the Delco Christian finished off an 8-1 win.

Delco Christian is back in conference action on Friday as they host Renaissance Academy.

LEVITTOWN, PA — Cardinal O’Hara entered Wednesday on a hot streak in the PCL and with a chance to move to 3-0 in the league. The Lion offense did its job in keeping the win streak going, pouring in fourteen runs in an emphatic victory over Conwell-Egan.

Despite the 14-4 final scoreline, Conwell-Egan found themselves ahead early. A single and a double with runners on put them up 3-0 in the bottom of the third.

The O’Hara offense woke up in their next at-bat. Jason Coury and Sean Vaughn both singled with one out and eventually came around to score on two wild pitches, cutting the deficit to 3-2. 

Brendan Till and Jack Coleman got things going with one out again in the fifth. Both also singled, with Till scoring on a ground ball from Jack Quinn.

Jake Steigerwalt put the Lions ahead for the first time with a double. Coleman and Quinn both scored and O’Hara got a 5-3 lead that they only added to.

Still with one out, Coury walked, then Vaughn, Sean MacGillivary, and Thomas Flynn came through with three straight RBI singles. When all was said and done in the O’Hara half of the fifth, the Lions led 8-3.

They were not done though. After Egan got another run across, three walks in the sixth loaded the bases with one out for MacGillivary. He picked up another RBI with a single to left. Two more would score on an error during the same play to put O’Hara up 11-4.

Coleman, Quinn, and Steigerwalt all picked up RBI’s in the seventh, putting an exclamation point on a great day. Coleman and Quinn both singled, while Steigerwalt got a run across with a groundout.

Adam Schreiber had a solid bounce back on the mound after last week’s opener against Judge. Schreiber went 4.1 innings, scattering seven hits and giving up four earned runs. His six strikeouts to one walk was very encouraging and if he can keep that up, the High Point commit could be a serious weapon for the Lions.

Jack Coleman closed the game out in stellar fashion. He gave up no hits and struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings.

Cardinal O’Hara has been off to a heck of a start, going 3-0 to begin the PCL season. That’s huge for their playoff hopes as avoiding that play in game will significantly benefit their pitching in the league tournament.

In terms of all Delco teams, I think they have an argument towards being one of the best here in early April. There’s a good chance you start seeing them on our Starting 9.

The Lions are back in action on Monday. They will try to get to 4-0 in the PCL on the road against Roman Catholic (0-2).

Delaware County has some great baseball competitions.

From Little League and Cal Ripken district tournaments, to Legion, to the High School leagues, to the Delco League and beyond, there’s a lot to play for as players advance through their careers.

Being the sicko that I am, I decided to make another, somewhat imaginary, competition.

There are seven NCAA D3 baseball programs in Delco alone and most of those seven play at least a handful of the other teams in the county.

Why not create some kind of championship?

Philadelphia basketball has the Big 5, Delco Baseball can have the Small 7. That name’s still being workshopped, I really can’t think of anything good off the top of my head.

I tried to put together something inspired by the pre-tournament Big 5 competition, but with some measures to account for the fact that teams don’t play the same amount of games or the same teams. The result wasn’t perfect, but has been really fun to follow as the college baseball season progresses.

It’s basically a league table format, with teams ranked on in-Delco wins multiplied by in-Delco win percentage. The idea was to reward teams that play a lot of in-Delco games and win most or all of them. Head to head and overall record will be used in any tiebreakers.

We’re a good amount into the D3 season; every team has played an in-Delco game and some teams are even done with their Delco schedules. It seemed like a good time for our first look into the current standings.

So without further ado, here’s our first even Delco D3 Baseball Championship Table:

Team/Rank	Points	In-Delco	Overall
1 – Widener	3.2	4-1	13-12
2 – Swarthmore	3	3-0	11-12
3 – Neumann	1	1-0	11-6
4 – Haverford	0.5	1-1	11-8
5 – PSU Brandywine	0.5	1-1	4-18
6 – Rosemont	0.333	1-2	7-16
7 – Eastern	0.125	1-7	9-15

Eastern and Penn State Brandywine have both finished their in-Delco schedules and are eliminated from the 2025 competition. Brandywine went .500 but only scheduled two Delco games, a doubleheader against Rosemont this past weekend. Eastern had eight games scheduled and a really good opportunity to compete for the title, but lost some tough ones to good teams, finishing 1-7.

The main title race is between Widener and Swarthmore. Swarthmore beat Widener head-to-head early in the year but because the Pride have four wins in five games, they get the current first-place nod. 

It will be an interesting finish; both teams have two Delco matchups remaining. Widener plays Neumann on 4/2 and Rosemont on 4/14. They could seal the first ever title with two wins in those games. Swarthmore plays Haverford on 4/22 and 4/25 and would be in prime position if Widener were to lose any games.

Haverford, Neumann, and Rosemont are all still in contention, but would need a little help from the teams at the top. 

Neumann is undefeated but limited by the amount of in-Delco games they play. The Knights are still yet to play Rosemont and Widener but at best can only finish with three points.

Rosemont is still mathematically in, but would need to win their last three games and have pretty much everyone above them lose-out. Even then, I think they would need some sort of tiebreaker to win, but never say never. The Ravens play Widener, Neumann, and Haverford to finish out their Delco schedule.

Haverford probably has the best shot of these three. They have three games remaining, two of them against Swarthmore. Two wins there could eliminate their rivals and put them in a good place if Widener were to slip up.

Again, this isn’t perfect, but I thought it was fun. With so many teams in close quarters here, it’s been cool finding a way to put them all up against each other.

We’ll have an exciting race to the finish with so many teams still in contention for Delco’s newest baseball crown.

BERWYN, PA — If you have an offense and pitching staff like the Haverford Fords, you feel pretty good about your chances going into almost any game.

When that offense puts up five runs in the first inning for that pitching staff, you feel fantastic.

That was the story in Haverford’s win over Conestoga. The Fords got up early and kept adding, eventually cruising to an easy 11-2 victory to remain undefeated.

Haverford struck quickly in the top of the 1st, courtesy of a Shane Durkan double. Ryan Cassidy walked and Jimmy Boyle reached on an error before coming in on Durkan’s line drive to center.

Durkan then stole third and advanced home on a wild pitch, making it a 3-0 game. Sam Sturman put the Fords up 4-0 with a triple and Ben Ishmael pushed the lead to five with a sac fly.

Sturman continued his big day, leading off the fourth with a double. Like Durkan in the first inning, he then stole third base and scored on a wild pitch. Boyle, who was also the starting pitcher for Haverford, then helped his cause with a two-RBI single that made it 8-0.

Conestoga got two runs back in their half of the fourth, but Cassidy opened the lead right back up. His two-out, two-RBI double to right gave Haverford a 10-2 lead and pretty much sealed the victory.

Durkan reached on an error to lead off the top of the sixth. He eventually scored on an error as Conestoga just had a brutal day in the field. The Pioneers made six errors in total.

Haverford’s pitching staff was more-or-less on cruise control with the early cushion the offense gave them. Jimmy Boyle only needed 71 pitches to get through six innings of work.

Boyle gave up three hits and two runs (one earned) over that time, earning the win for the Fords. Lucas Rothstein closed out the game, striking out three and surrendering one hit in a scoreless seventh inning.

The Fords remain undefeated in both the Central League (4-0) and overall (6-0). They’ll head home and look to continue the hot start against Ridley (3-2) on Wednesday.

It has been a bit of a different story for Conestoga. The Pioneers are 0-4 in the Central League and 0-5 overall. There’s definitely been some growing pains for a team with a lot of new faces and a new coach, but there’s still time to turn things around.

Conestoga plays Upper Darby (0-4) on Wednesday. The Pioneers will be away.

BRYN MAWR, PA — Marple Newtown has had a flair for the dramatic so far this season. That would not change on Monday against a tough Harriton squad.

The Tigers faced a 4-0 deficit after five innings but staged a dramatic comeback, eventually winning the game 8-4 in extra innings.

Harriton got on the board early. Bryce Siegel and Sam Bohnenkamp both had RBI singles to put the Rams up 2-0 in the first inning.

Cole Chodkowski added to that lead in the third. His double scored Nate Swalley and gave Harriton a 3-0 lead.

Siegel got things going again in the bottom of the fifth. He came through with his second hit of the day, a leadoff single. Siegel stole second and came home on an RBI single from Eli Bloch.

It seemed like Harriton was in prime position to pull off one of the bigger upsets we’ve seen this spring, with starting pitcher Will Gallagher cruising on the mound. However, Marple Newtown had other ideas.

With one out in the top of the sixth, Cole Buckley got hit by a pitch. Buckley advanced to second on a fly out and managed to score following an error on a Jack Maholick ground ball.

John Matthews kept the at-bat going, drawing a two-out walk. This brought up Sean Grogan with a chance to get the Tigers even closer.

Grogan would do more than just chip away though; he would tie the game with one swing. Grogan got a pitch to hit in a 2-0 count and blasted it over the left field wall, squaring this game up at four.

The Tiger defense turned a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth. Gallagher and Marple reliever Kevin Wigo both turned in clean seventh innings as the game headed to extras.

Marple Newtown got out to their first lead in the eighth. Finally getting Gallagher out of the game, the bats took advantage against the Harriton bullpen.

Justin DiSantis led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a single from Matthews, giving the Tigers a 5-4 lead.

That wouldn’t be all, though. Grogan reached on an error, Jackson Burger walked to load the bases, and Jordan DiPinto brought everyone home with a bases-clearing double.

Kevin Wigo was excellent out of the bullpen for the Tigers. With a chance to close it out in the bottom of the eighth, Wigo rolled a double play and got a ground out, sealing Marple Newtown’s 8-4 win.

Wigo’s final line was 5.2 innings pitched, two hits, three strikeouts, and one earned run. He earned the win for the Tigers.

Marple Newtown is now 3-1 in the Central League and 3-2 overall. Their bats seemed to have woken up a bit after a slow day in Saturday’s loss to Bonner. The Tigers will need some offense in their next matchup; they’ll face Luke D’Ancona and Strath Haven (3-1) on the road on Wednesday.

It’s been an unfortunate start for Harriton. The Rams are 1-4 in the Central League and 1-6 overall, but have come up just short in a few really hard-fought games. They get a chance to get back in the win column on Wednesday at Springfield (0-3).

SPRINGFIELD, PA — Cardinal O’Hara got off to a rough start in their PCL opener. The Lions didn’t stay down long, though.

After falling behind 8-1 in the second inning, O’Hara scored eight unanswered runs to defeat Father Judge in a thriller.

Jack Quinn and Jason Coury got the comeback started in the third. Quinn singled with one out and advanced to third after a walk and a passed ball. Coury then got him in with a sacrifice fly.

The Lions made it a ballgame in the fourth. Sean MacGillivary led off with a walk and a Mike Brown single. A groundout moved them to second and third, setting the stage for Brendan Till.

As he has many times before, Till came through for O’Hara. On a 2-1 pitch, he ripped a triple to center to make it an 8-4 game. Till then scored on a passed ball, cutting the deficit to 3.

O’Hara completed the comeback in the fifth. Sean Vaughn walked, MacGillivary singled, and Brown walked, loading the bases with one out. The Lion bats would capitalize on the chance and then some.

Dom DiPietro hit a sacrifice fly that scored Vaughan and made it 8-6. Till then got the Lions within one with a two-out double.

That brought up Jack Coleman with an opportunity to give O’Hara their first lead of the day. Coleman took that opportunity and singled to center on the first pitch he saw, giving the Lions a 9-8 advantage they would hang onto the rest of the game.

While the offense gets a lot of the glory, O’Hara wouldn’t have even found themselves in this spot without their bullpen.

Jason Campuzano, Mike Brown, and Jack Quinn only let up one walk and one hit over their 5.2 scoreless innings of work. They did an incredible job keeping their team in the game.

I believe Brown earned the win and Quinn earned a save.

It was ultimately a losing effort, but Matt Marino had a great day at the plate for Father Judge. He was 3-4 with three RBI’s, including a two-run home run in the second inning.

O’Hara starts 1-0 in the always-challenging PCL and is 1-1 overall. They play a non-league game at Hatboro-Horsham on Friday and host Archbishop Carroll (0-1 in PCL) for their second PCL game on Monday the 31st.

BRYN MAWR, PA — After a difficult 2024 season, Harriton needed a good start in 2025.

They got it.

Sam Bohnenkamp pitched 6.1 solid innings in relief and Nate Swalley hit a late-game grand slam to give the Rams a 7-2 Opening Day win over Penncrest.

Things started a little dicey for Harriton; two two-out walks from Hudson Weissman loaded the bases in the top of the first. 

Harriton manager Scott Kuzinsky made the call to pull his starter in the first inning and it’s safe to say it paid off. Bohnenkamp came in, got out of the jam with a strikeout, and pitched the rest of the game.

Harriton broke through in their half of the second. Cole Chodkowski reached on an error, Bryce Siegel walked, and Colin Sullivan singled, loading the bases with no outs. Eli Kwait got two runs home, grounding into a double play that brought home Chodkowski and Siegel.

Trailing early, Penncrest chipped away. Two Lucas’, Lucas Dilenno and Lucas Punzo, singled to lead off the top of the fourth. Travis Younger made the most of the opportunity, hitting a two-out single that cut the deficit to 2-1.

Connor Finan came through in the fifth. He tied the game with a single that scored Asher Wynne, who had reached on an error.

The 2-2 scoreline wouldn’t last long; Harriton immediately threatened with back-to-back, no-out singles from Sullivan and Calvin Costello.

Max Belli put the Rams back in the driver’s seat, bringing in a run when he reached on an error. Eli Bloch then loaded the bases with a bunt-single to the pitcher.

With one out, the stage was set for Nate Swalley. He stepped to the plate and hammered a 2-0 pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam and the knockout blow in this game.

Bohnenkamp went 1-2-3 in both the top of the sixth and seventh, closing out the win and moving Harriton to 1-0 in the league. The Rams will be thrilled with that win but won’t have much time to rest. They’re back in Central League action on Friday against Ridley (1-0).

It was an early bump in the road for a Penncrest team that’s retooling after last year’s playoff run. Head Coach Austin Morgan will get another shot at his first league victory on Monday, the 24th, when the Lions visit Springfield (0-1).