(photo via Shelby Kauffman/DBN)

COATESVILLE, PA — The depth of the West Chester Rustin lineup was just too much for Springfield.

Rustin, who is heading to the state semifinals for the first time in program history, had five combined hits, two walks, and three runs batted in from the bottom three hitters in their order.

The teams traded runs in the first inning to get things going with a bang.

TJ Valletti’s RBI double scored Owen Keough, who singled, to start the scoring in the top of the first. Keegan McShea tied it up for Rustin in the bottom of the first with a sac fly, which scored Jackson Roche.

Springfield caught a bit of a break in the top of the second inning, and they capitalized on it. What looked to be an inning ending double play on a line drive to first base was overturned, as a call of catcher’s interference was made.

Instead of the inning ending, the bases became loaded with one out. After a strikeout, Danny Meakim singled in Sean O’Reilly and Shane McCaffrey to put Springfield ahead 3-1.

The game really took a turn in the bottom of the fourth, when Rustin scored four runs to open up a 6-3 lead. That included a two-run single from nine hole hitter Ryan Wood, and another two-run single from Jackson Roche.

The first of those two singles knocked out Springfield starter Nolan Dulski, who allowed four earned runs in 3.1 innings with four strikeouts.

Jack Rae came in and was quickly welcomed by Roche to make it 6-3 Rustin.

Springfield got one back in the fifth on a Johnny Hopkins RBI single, but Rustin really put the game away with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Drew Kraus threw two scoreless innings of relief for Springfield, as he continued a dominant run in the playoffs. The sophomore will be a big part of this Springfield rotation for the next two years.

Another sophomore, Rustin’s Aidan Cugini, started this game for the Golden Knights. He threw 4.2 innings allowing seven hits, two earned runs and had six strikeouts.

Brady Shuffler and Brogan Walsh combined to record the final seven outs to lock down the win for Rustin. Jackson Roche and Ryan Wood both had two hits, while Cole Hoffmayer went 3/4.

The Rustin infield defense was outstanding as well. Jackson Roche and Xavier Wood are as clean as a middle infield pair as I have seen all season along with Cole Lombardo and Harrison Maull at Garnet Valley, and Wood is still just a sophomore. These guys aren’t going away anytime soon.

Rustin will take on District 3’s Greencastle-Antrim on Monday at 2:00 PM at Millersville University for a trip to the state title game. Hollidaysburg out of District 6 and DuBois out of District 9 are on the other side of the bracket.

For Springfield, this is a tough ending, but there is so much to be proud of for this group. These guys were 3-13 in the Central League last season, and this senior class really helped turn this thing around. Two guys especially, Jake Lennon and Nick Corse, who were on varsity all four years.

Lennon unfortunately left this game with an injury, a tough ending to his Cougar career, but he left a great legacy.

Springfield ends the season at 17-9 and will return a ton of talent next year, including Danny Meakim and TJ Valletti on offense, and Drew Kraus and Nolan Dulski on the mound. Freshman Dylan Sheridan was thrown into the fire as the starting catcher this season as well and held down the fort.

That will be it for our Delco High School baseball coverage in 2026. Thank you everyone for following along, and for the support all season long! Special shoutout to the Springfield Boosters, Longen Group Insurance, and the Delco Beer Stop for helping us get the stream going.

Stay tuned for updates on our All-Delco teams as we head into summer ball coverage.

Check out the full broadcast from today’s game:

(photo of Muhlenberg’s Cole Moody via Shelby Kauffman/DBN)

READING, PA — In playoff baseball, the team that does the little things right typically wins, and that was the case in this game.

Despite outhitting Muhlenberg 9-2, Haverford’s season comes to an end with a 2-1 road loss under the lights at Muhlenberg High School. All three runs in this game were scored in the first inning, with both Muhlenberg runs scoring on an Andrew Brown error.

The Fords came out of the game hot, with Jimmy Boyle singling to start the game. After courtesy runner Pete Manaras came in, Shane Durkan knocked him in all the way from first base to put the Fords up 1-0. Durkan was then picked off third base, which would come back to play a huge factor.

In their half of the first, Muhlenberg loaded the bases with two outs, and a hard ground ball with some slicing spin on it was misplayed which allowed two runs to score.

Both pitchers in this game limit their opposing, as we expected coming in. Jimmy Boyle allowed just two hits and two unearned runs with seven strikeouts over his six innings. For Muhlenberg, Cole Moody had some traffic on the bases with eight hits allowed, but just allowed that one run with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings.

Haverford certainly had some opportunities. They stranded the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, and left a runner on second in the fifth.

The real chaos in this game was in the top of the seventh.

After a strikeout to start the inning, Cole Moody hit the pitch count and Ryan Rosenberry came on in relief. Boyle worked a one-out walk to welcome him into the game. Pete Manaras again came on to run, and he was able to advance to second on a wild pitch.

Shane Durkan then slapped his third hit of the game into right field, and Pete Manaras came barreling home only to be met with a picture perfect throw from freshman right fielder Carter Burr. On the live broadcast I thought there was no shot he was going to be out, but Berr delivered a perfect strike and catcher Carlos Castillo made a great tag on a tough short hop recorded the second out.

The juice in the Haverford dugout certainly went down after that, and Rosenberry recorded a strikeout to end the game.

It was a very entertaining ballgame, but the difference really was that error on the Haverford defense and the two runners that they had picked off in scoring position in a game like this.

Shane Durkan had three hits while Sam Sturman had two for the Fords.

Haverford ends the season at 19-6 with so much to be proud of. They made states for the first time in program history, and the senior class with guys like Jimmy Boyle, Shane Durkan, Lucas Rothstein, Sam Sturman, Rocco Kelleher and plenty more truly turned this program around along with Head Coach Brian Miller.

They went from 6-10 in the Central League in 2023 to 10-6 in 2024, 15-1 in 2025, and 16-0 in 2026. Two Central League titles.

I especially want to shoutout Boyle, who you could argue has been the best pitcher in Delco when you combine the last three years. He had not been the losing pitcher in a game since 2024 before today. I have no doubts that he will crush it at D2 Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and would not all be surprised if we see him at the D1 level someday.

Star first baseman and Pitt recruit Cam McCormack, who missed most of the season with a torn meniscus, will be back next season to bring some more thump back into the middle of the order. On paper, they might not be quite as dominant as they were the last two years, but they should still have a heck of a team and compete in a wide open central league.

That leaves Springfield as the last team standing in Delco, as they are in the 5A quarterfinals after a 2-0 win over Southern Lehigh. They will take on Rustin on Thursday at a time and place that is TBD.

MALVERN, PA — It’s just what they do.

Four straight state championships. Eight of the last nine. 13 since 2006 when they won their first.

Upper Darby alum Freddy Hilliard has turned this program into an absolute juggernaut, as the Friars defeated Germantown Academy 2-0 at the Malvern Prep turf to end their season at 34-4.

As has been the theme all season, starting pitching led the way for the Friars. Malvern Prep had a plan that they executed perfectly as Lafayette recruit Jack Herbein threw the first 5.1 innings, allowing just a hit by pitch and a walk with five strikeouts. It was a bit surprising to see Herbein come out of the game at just 67 pitches, but it was clear that the plan was to have him go two times through the order, and in came Northwestern commit Collin Romanczuk to retire the last five hitters.

The game was deadlocked at 0-0 going into the bottom of the sixth, as Germantown Academy pitcher and Monmouth recruit Sean McGettigan threw extremely well. That is an absolutely brutal lineup to face, and he allowed just three hits and two earned runs over six innings.

Jalen Bowman led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Brady Abate did his job with a groundout to move him over.

Following walks to Jackson Melconian and Grady Forsberg, the bases were juiced with one out. Malvern continued to do the little things right as Cole Scarbinsky didn’t try and do too much, hitting a fly ball to center field to score Bowman as the game’s first run.

Malvern got an extra insurance run when Bryan Cogliano’s RBI double scored Melconian to make it 2-0 heading into the game’s final frame.

Following a line out to start the inning, Romanczuk hit Nathaniel Knapp with a pitch to put the tying run up to the plate. Romanczuk was able to bounce back from that, picking up a strikeout for the second out and a pop out to who else but Brady Abate, a starter on all four state title teams, to wrap it up.

There really isn’t much that hasn’t been said already about what this Malvern Prep program has become. There have been a lot of elite teams to come through Warren Ave the last two decades, but without having all the numbers in front of me, I’d argue this might be the most dominant pitching staff they have had.

To put it into perspective, Malvern ended the season with 19 consecutive games holding their opponents to three or fewer runs after losing 4-1 to Episcopal on April 14th. Only one of those games they even allowed three.

In their last 11 games, they only allowed more than one run ONE TIME, and it was a 9-2 win over SCH.

Jack Herbein and Collin Romanczuk get most of the love for starting the conference games, but they are so deep that they have plenty of talent to start those non-conference games. Kayden Wallace, Paul DiBona, Tyler Ryan, Cooper Romanczuk, the list goes on.

Collin Romanczuk will return as the ace of this staff in 2027 for the Friars, and there’s no doubt in my mind they will reload as usual as they look to win their fifth straight next spring.

(photo courtesy of Alex Geibel/DBN)

HAVERTOWN, PA — There were only runs scored on one swing in this game, but it was enough to send Neshaminy to the District 1 6A semifinals.

Neshaminy scored both of their runs for the game on a Chase Bonner two-run single in the top of the fifth to score Dylan Cloud and Mike Sassano.

Matthew Gryn was excellent on the mound for Neshaminy, threw 6.1 innings allowing just five hits and recorded six strikeouts. Jared Kligerman recorded the final two outs after Gryn hit the pitch count.

Bonner had two of the five hits for Neshaminy, with Mike Sassano, Sam Hitchen and Dylan Cloud having the others.

Lucas Rothstein started on the mound for Haverford and allowed five hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts over five innings. Rocco Kelleher threw two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts.

Jimmy Boyle had two of the five hits for the Fords. Shane Durkan, Owen Klick and Vinny Angelucci also had hits.

Neshaminy advances to take on Pennsbury in the semifinal round on Tuesday at Pennsbury. Both teams have already clinched their spots in the state tournament after Pennsbury defeated Garnet Valley 7-1 earlier Friday. On the other side it will be Owen J. Roberts vs Pennridge

Haverford still can qualify for the state tournament as well. They will host West Chester Henderson on Tuesday where the winner will head to states and the loser goes home. Garnet Valley will head to Downingtown West looking to do the same.

(picture of Malvern Prep’s Brady Abate via Shelby Kauffman/DBN)

MALVERN, PA — Malvern Prep put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first in this one and never really looked back.

The Friars, who are seeking their fourth straight PAISAA state title, are now 33-4 on the year and have not allowed more than three runs in a game since an April 14th 4-1 loss to Episcopal.

They have played 18 games since then.

After a scoreless top of the first from Collin Romanczuk, the Friars loaded the bases up with no one out after Jalen Bowman and Brady Abate walked, then Jackson Melconian reached on a bunt single.

Grady Forsberg was then hit by a pitch for the game’s first run. Cole Scarbinsky then followed that up with a single to make it 2-0. An error allowed a third run to score, and Luke Moore’s sac fly made it 4-0. Luke Capaldi’s base hit capped off the inning at 5-0.

From then on, the Friars scored one in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth to win this one in mercy rule fashion.

Cole Scarbinsky’s second RBI single made it 6-0 in the third, and Brady Abate sent out a titanic homer to start off the fourth inning.

Jalen Bowman’s two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth ended the game.

Not that it was necessarily needed, but Collin Romanczuk allowed just a base hit to Thomas Lawler as the only Haverford School baserunner of the day in his five innings.

Gabe Danisi allowed five earned runs over three innings to start the game for Haverford, and Jacob Horwitz allowed three in 1.1 innings of relief.

The Haverford School ends their season at 15-13 overall. It was a great positive step in the right direction for Head Coach Jack McCann’s second season after they were 9-17 last year. They will return both the Lawler brothers, Thomas and Zack, who were the 1-2 hitters in the order. They also return Owen Murphy to lead their rotation for the next two years.

For Malvern Prep, they will await the winner of Friday afternoon’s Germantown Academy vs Shipley game to see who they will play in the state title. That game will be played on Wednesday at 4:00 PM at Malvern.

The Friars beat Shipley 6-0 back on March 24th, and beat Germantown Academy 8-2 on April 7th and 5-1 on April 24th.

(photo of Cole Lombardo via Josh Krautzel/DBN)

FAIRLESS HILLS, PA — It was a bit of a chaotic day for Garnet Valley.

They started off by resuming their District 1 6A second round game against Spring-Ford, so we’ll start there.

The first 5.5 innings were played on Wednesday, and they saw Garnet take a 4-2 lead into the weather delay.

Colton Turner allowed just two runs, both on a first inning homer, across 5.2 innings. Garnet Valley scored one in both the first and second inning. Cole Lombardo doubled and scored all the way from second on a groundout for their first run, and Lombardo drove in Ashton Yau on a single for their second run.

The game remained 2-2 until the top of the sixth, when a squeeze bunt from Ashton Yau scored Harrison Maull to put Garnet Valley back on top. They also got a Branden Capone base hit to double that lead to 4-2.

Things got real interesting in the bottom of the sixth.

Spring-Ford got runners on first and second with two outs when the game was called for weather. Since the winner played their next game at Pennsbury, the game was postponed for Friday morning at 10 AM at Pennsbury where the winner would just stay and play again.

Ryan McGhee, who started Monday’s game, was called on to record the final four outs. He got a strikeout to strand two runners in the sixth to get the resumption started.

Garnet Valley loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but was not able to get any insurance runs. That ultimately would not matter as McGhee allowed just a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to close out the win.

It’s pretty unusual to see this at the high school level since there are rarely two games on the same day, but Ryan McGhee also started the second game since he threw just 16 pitches in game one.

Game two was against Pennsbury, who may very well be the best team in District 1, and potentially even the state of Pennsylvania with the pitching that they have.

The Falcons scored two in the first, two in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth as they controlled this game from start to finish.

Quinton Shaffer was dominant on the mound for Pennsbury. He threw seven innings with just three hits allowed, one earned run and six strikeouts. He did not walk a single hitter and needed just 75 pitches to get the win.

Tyler Lee led the way on offense with three hits including a double while driving in two runs. Finn Burke also had two hits, while Brendan Zuckerman and Pierce Perry also drove in two runs.

Ashton Yau, Kevin Coleman and Garret Hosterman had hits in the loss for Garnet Valley, with Hosterman also driving in a run.

With the win, Pennsbury advances to the District 1 6A semifinals, where they will take on the winner of this afternoon’s Haverford/Neshaminy game. It would be at Haverford if Haverford wins, and at Pennsbury if Neshaminy wins.

Vanderbilt recruit Keller Bradley will likely start that game for the Falcons, as he pitched most recently on Wednesday. They could save him for Thursday’s title game, so you never know.

As for Garnet Valley, this loss does not end their season. They will play on Tuesday, where if they win, they will advance to the state tournament. If they lose that, they are out.

That is still TBD on who they will play. There’s actually a very real chance they head to Haverford should Haverford lose to Neshaminy. We’ll know more about that later tonight.

(photo of Springfield’s Drew Kraus via Christy_Pictures64 on IG)

SPRINGFIELD, PA — Springfield enjoyed winning their first playoff game since 2017 so much on Monday that they decided they’d like to add another.

The Cougars went on the road and dominated the #2 seed Upper Moreland Bears in every facet of the game. Drew Kraus was cruising through three innings when the weather delay hit on Wednesday, but that was no problem as Jack Rae came in relief and threw four shutout innings himself on Thursday to send Springfield to the district semifinals on Friday at Upper Perk.

The last time Springfield won a game to advance to the district semifinals, I was in the other dugout playing against them with Strath Haven. I will be 27 in two weeks, so to say the Cougar fanbase deserves this win would be an understatement.

While the Springfield pitching recorded the shutout, the offense made life a hell of a lot easier for them right out of the gate.

Danny Meakim’s RBI double in the first scored Jake Lennon to get an early run, and then Meakim scored on a throwing error on a dropped third strike to make it 2-0.

Springfield really took control of this game by putting four more on the board in the second.

Jake Lehman walked and Shane McCaffrey singled to lead off the inning, and after a balk, Jake Lennon drove them both in to double that lead to 4-0. Following an Owen Keough double, Danny Meakim picked up his second RBI on a sac fly to score Lennon, and TJ Valletti stayed hot with an RBI single, and it was 6-0 just like that.

Springfield didn’t even allow Upper Moreland ace Nick Simons to get out of the second inning.

The scoring on the day wrapped up when Jake Lennon singled in Tamiem Mosely in the top of the third, and that is about when the weather started to take a turn for the worse.

The game was called in the top of the fourth inning on Wednesday, and the game was resumed on Thursday at Wissahickon High School’s turf field.

There really isn’t much to write about from the second half of this game thanks to Jack Rae. The Springfield reliever allowed just three hits with three strikeouts in his four innings.

Both Kraus and Rae put on a clinic of throwing strikes, as neither of them walked a single hitter and their defense committed zero errors as well.

With the win, Springfield will head to #3 Upper Perk on Friday, who had a first round bye then eliminated Strath Haven with a 4-0 win on Wednesday.

As far as we know, that game will be played at Upper Perk at 4, but I would not be surprised if it had to be moved to a turf field somewhere.

Winning this game was massive for Springfield, because they are not eliminated even if they lose to Upper Perk on Friday. The PIAA sends three teams from this bracket to states, so should Springfield lose to Upper Perk, they would play one of WC East, WC Rustin, or Radnor on Tuesday to try and make it to states as the third team in.

If Springfield beats Upper Perk, Tuesday’s game would give the Cougars the chance to win the first baseball district title in school history at Villanova Ballpark in Plymouth Metting.

CHICHESTER, PA — Chichester won a playoff game last season when they defeated Strath Haven in the second round, but they were not able to have the same fate in 2026.

The West Chester East bats came to play today, recording a whopping 18 hits over five innings. Every single starter had at least one hit for the Vikings, who scored one in the first, three in the second, two in the third, six in the fourth and three in the fifth to hit the mercy rule.

Derek Rozzi, Kevin Byrnes and Chris Costa all had three hits in the win for the Vikings. Danny Zytkowicz homered and drove in three runs, while Derek Rozzi also drove in three runs. Jonah Trueman and Sean Buckley had two hits.

Pitt recruit Owen Rozzi hit a two-run triple and was also walked three times. Sean Buckley and Kevin Byrnes drove in two runs.

With how good the bats were for West Chester East, it almost flew under the radar that the Vikings did not allow a hit either. Gabe Gianni threw the first four hitless innings with two walks allowed and five strikeouts. Dillon Mazzio recorded a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the game and the combined no-hitter.

Cole Sanford and Luke Werley’s walks were the baserunners for Chichester on the day. The Eagles will have a lot to replace as they graduate a large senior class, who won the Del Val title all four years they were there.

Chichester’s season comes to an end, while West Chester East advances to take on the winner of the Rustin/Radnor game this afternoon.

DEVON, PA — It was a back and forth game that took two days to finish due to weather, but Delco Christian falls in the semifinal round of the PIAA District 1 2A tournament to New Hope-Solebury.

New Hope-Solebury scored the first two runs of the game as they scored a run in both the first and second innings. Lucas Kevorkian drove in JT Bach on a sac fly in the first, and Joe Rickard hit an RBI double to score Charlie Plebani in the second.

Despite the slow start, Delco Christian would score the game’s next four runs. They finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Micah Dutton scored on a passed ball, and would take the lead with three in the bottom of the fifth.

Nathan Burd’s two-run single scored Matteo DeBellis and Justin Ma, and Josey Lyren’s RBI single scored Burd to make it 4-2.

The see-saw contined in the top of the sixth, when NHS scored on an error and a double play, tying to game back up at 4-4.

Justin Ma had what looked to be the swing of the day, when he hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth to score Luke D’Antonio and DeBellis and put the Knights ahead with just three outs to go for NHS.

However, the Lions would load the bases up with no outs in the top of the seventh. A fielder’s choice scored one run, but a strikeout had Delco Christian one out away from advancing. Jack Matro came up clutch with two outs, singling to left field to tie the game up.

The next two innings were scoreless, and a lightning delay in the top of the ninth caused this game to be resumed on Wednesday.

New Hope-Solebury clearly got a good night of sleep, because they scored six runs in the top of the ninth after scoring just six in the first eight innings of the game to run away with this one.

Anthony Whelan threw three scoreless innings for NHS to begin the game. JT Bach allowed five earned runs over 4.2 innings of relief, and Blake McCagg recorded the final four outs.

McCagg had three hits and drove in two runs for NHS, while JT Bach, Jack Matro and Joe Rickard all had two hits.

For Delco Christian, Matteo DeBellis allowed three earned runs over six innings to start the game. DeBellis also had three hits, while Izaac Amann had three as well. Justin Ma had two hits and drove in two runs, while Nathan Burd also drove in two runs.

Delco Christian finishes the season at 10-11, but will have a ton of returning talent in their junior class in 2027.

(image of Haverford School’s Gabe Danisi via Shelby Kauffman/DBN)

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA — Episcopal won both of the regular season meetings between these two teams, but when it mattered the most, it was The Haverford School who came out on top.

The Fords used three pitchers to combine for nine shutout innings with 13 K’s to defeat Episcopal 2-0. With the win, Haverford advances to the PAISAA semifinals where they will take on Malvern Prep at Malvern Prep on Thursday at 4:00.

Gabe Danisi threw the first three innings, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts. Jacob Horwitz was next, recording all five of his outs via the strikeouts.

Owen Murphy threw the final 4.1 innings, and that was the best that I have ever seen him look. The towering sophomore threw 4.1 innings with just one hit allowed, striking out six in the process. Less than a month ago, he let up five runs in 2.1 innings on this same field, so the growth is remarkable.

Michael Schaffer was also dominant in the loss for Episcopal. The sophomore threw eight shutout innings, allowing five hits with five strikeouts. He was a monster all season both on the mound and at the plate and will be a huge part of this team for the next two years.

Charlie Smith came on in the top of the ninth for the Churchmen, and he walked Zack Lawler to lead off the inning. Thomas Lawler singled to follow that up, and they both advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch.

That set the stage for Braydon Scanlan, who pulled something out of his bag of tricks that you don’t see too often anymore. Scanlan squared for a squeeze bunt, pulled it back, and then ripped a single up the middle to score pinch runner Aidan Zwilling and Thomas Lawler for the game’s first runs.

Haverford did not put any more runs on the board, but Owen Murphy struck out all three Episcopal hitters that he faced in the bottom of the ninth to close out an excellent win for Haverford.

Thomas Lawler led the way with two hits, while Scanlan, Danny Getz, Nicky Vanni and Harrison Bongiovanni also had hits for the Fords. Spencer Schuh, JD Amoroso, and Michael Schaffer had hits in the loss for EA.

The Haverford School is still the last team to beat Malvern Prep in a playoff game, when Jac Campbell threw a gem to beat the Friars in the 2022 PAISAA State Championship. Malvern is seeking their fourth straight state title.

I would guess that Collin Romanczuk would get the ball for Malvern with Jack Herbein throwing on Monday, but you never know since teams also have to plan for the state title the next morning at 11 AM. Gabe Danisi and Jacob Horwitz both threw under 50 pitches, so they should be good to go Thursday. Murphy threw 60 pitches, so it’s more likely we would see him on Friday should Haverford advance.

For Episcopal, it was a great season that ends with a sour taste in their mouths. They finish their season at 20-9 overall.