MEDIA, PA- It’s been a challenging stretch for Penncrest, but the Lions stopped the skid in dominant fashion on Monday, snapping a five-game losing streak with a blowout win over Upper Darby.

The home-field advantage kicked in early for Penncrest, and Upper Darby never found their footing. Aside from three scattered hits, it was all Lions in this one. Penncrest’s pitching trio—Jeremy Schneider, Zach Mullin, and Jack Jones—combined for a stellar performance, shutting the door on the Royals in six innings.

Schneider got the start and earned the win, striking out seven and allowing just one hit over four innings. Mullin and Jones handled the final two frames, giving up two more hits, but getting out of the game clean.

The Lions were just as successful at the plate. In the bottom of the first, Henry Murphy set the tone with a double that brought home Nash Grant and Lucas Punzo, who each reached on singles. That early spark put Penncrest up 2-0.

After a quiet second inning, the Lions broke things open in the third. A fielder’s choice off Schneider’s bat brought in another run, and with the bases loaded, a hit-by-pitch and a walk plated two more, quickly stretching the lead to 5-0.

The offensive power continued in the fourth. Following back-to-back baserunners, Schneider lifted a sac fly to drive in a run. Then Braden Davis delivered the knockout blow with a booming triple, pushing the score to 9-0. The Lions were held scoreless in the fifth but added a final insurance run in the sixth to officially put the game out of reach.

Nash Grant and Henry Murphy led the offense, combining for five RBI’s on the day, with Grant going 3/3.

It has definitely been a rebuilding year for a Penncrest team that has a new head coach in Austin Morgan and lost many key members like Ben Ettien, Nico Tozzi, Josh Kalinowski, and 2024 Delco player of the year Gavin Brown, but wins like these are crucial for a young core.

Penncrest (3-8) will be back at home on Wednesday at 3:45 against Harriton (3-8) in a Central League matchup looking for revenge from opening day.

Upper Darby (0-11) will continue on their quest for their first win on Wednesday at 3:45 at home against Ridley (5-6), they as well are looking for revenge after a very close opening day loss.

WALLINGFORD, PA- Just a few days after being taken down by #1 Haverford 9-1, Haven flipped the switch taking down Ridley today, 9-1.

It was a whole team effort for Haven, whether on the mound or at the plate. In a game that featured seven different pitchers, no arm threw more than three innings, giving both squads a chance to mix things up.

For Strath Haven, it was a welcome sight to see Luke D’Ancona make his first start since returning from a pec injury. He pitched two scoreless innings, striking out four. Caden Shuster and Jasper Halls followed over the next four innings, combining for seven strikeouts and allowing just one run — the only one Ridley would score on the day — and Rob Mattai would close things out, rounding out a productive day for Haven’s pitching staff.

For Ridley, the frequent pitching changes were less about experimentation and more out of necessity. After being limited to a single run in their previous game, Strath Haven came out swinging — and made it clear early they weren’t going to be held back, especially on their home turf.

Ridley’s starter Jake Mansfield held his own through the first two innings, but Haven’s offense exploded in the third. It all started with an Alex Selverian home run to break the ice, sparking a four-run surge. A Caden Shuster RBI single and a fly ball by Mattai, which reached on an error, extended the lead to 7-0 by the end of the inning, spelling the end of Mansfield’s outing.

Joey McGuire came in to stop the Panthers momentarily and recorded the final out of the third, but Haven picked up right where they left off in the fourth. Schuster added another RBI single, followed by another productive fly-out from Mattai, pushing the score to 9-0.

Ridley would avoid the shutout in the fifth, plating their only run of the game, but the win was never in question. Haven’s early offensive burst and deep pitching rotation sealed a commanding 9-1 win.

Strath Haven (7-4) will look to use this momentum in a huge Central League matchup at home on Wednesday against #2 Radnor (10-1).

Ridley (5-6) will fall a game below .500 in the Central League, but will visit Upper Darby (0-11) to hopefully gain back standing after today’s game.

GARNET VALLEY, PA- Despite coming off a tight 1-2 game yesterday to #2 ranked Radnor, Garnet got the bats swinging today against Harriton early and didnt look back.

You would have never known by looking at the final report, but at one point this game was 3-1 Harriton. Granted, it didnt last long, but interesting to say the least. Garnet got one run in the first, and then it was quiet. But as the final score predicts, not for long.

Harriton would shock the Jaguars quickly in the third scoring three, not necessarily with their bats, but with the help of errors by the Jaguars. One error resulted in all three runs coming home, yay free stuff.

But all good things come to an end, and unfortunately for Harriton, Garnet was about to rain all over their parade. Except they didnt just rain. They poured.

After an error resulted in three runs for Harriton to score, Garnet knew they had to settle the score, and they did just that. An error by the Rams in the field would get the game started as the leadoff batter would reach base, and news flash, so would the next three. A Kyle Klein single would bring in the first runner, and a ground ball and a Cole Hoffacker single later, would make this game 5-3.

With the score at 5-3, Garnet Valley was clinging to a two-run lead—but that was about to change in a big way. After Harriton came up empty in the top of the fourth, the Jaguars seized the moment. Leadoff hitter Nolan Carroll jump-started the inning with a triple, and from there, the floodgates opened. A sac fly brought Carroll home, and the hits kept coming—McGhee knocked a single, followed by a double from Klein to stretch the lead to 9-3.

But Garnet Valley wasn’t done yet. With two outs, Joe Anzalone ripped a double to bring in another run, pushing the score to 10-3 and putting the game firmly out of reach.

Usually, a seven-run lead in the fourth is enough, but Garnet wasn’t satisfied yet. To put the icing on the cake, in the bottom of the sixth, the Jaguars tacked on three more runs and ended the game in a single-double-single sequence to REALLY put this game out of reach to the final score of 13-3, ending this game in just six innings.

Even though this was a full team effort, the Jaguars were led by Kyle Klein who on the day went 2/2 2B, 2R, 3BI.

Garnet Valley (6-4) will take their bounce back win today to Springfield (1-9) next Monday to hopefully extend their win streak to two.

Harriton (3-7) will take the loss but will have to rebound quick as they visit Lower Merion (7-3) next Monday for a rivalry game.

FOLSOM, PA — After a rocky stretch where they lost five Central League games in a row, Ridley appears to be hitting their stride, notching their second win in two days with a 5-3 victory over Marple Newtown.

The offense got going early, as Ridley’s top three in the lineup each contributed at the plate, setting the tone for a 1-0 lead highlighted by a double from Jake Mansfield.

Marple Newtown wasn’t going down quietly though. After falling behind 1-0, they quickly answered. A single from Kevin Agger, followed by a series of groundouts, brought him around to score and evened things up at 1-1.

With the game tied, momentum was up for grabs. But Ridley didn’t waste any time reclaiming it in the second inning. Pitcher Brendan Soper sparked the offense with a single, and was soon followed by Logan Bubb and recent Widener commit Bobby Doherty, who each chipped in with singles of their own. And just like that, Ridley surged ahead 3-1.

With a two-run cushion, Ridley leaned on Soper to settle in on the mound—and he delivered. Over 5.1 innings, he struck out two and allowed three runs (two earned), keeping the Green Raiders in control as the game wore on.

Neither team would score again until the fourth, when Ridley added some insurance. A string of walks and groundouts pushed two more runs across, giving them a comfortable 5-1 lead.

However, Marple pressured with a late push in the sixth. An Agger double and a Jack Maholick single cut the deficit to 5-3, but that’s as close as they’d get. John Teehan came in to shut the door, securing Ridley’s second straight win and a promising sign that the team is on the up and up.

Ridley (5-5) will take this win to move back to .500 in the Central League and hope to continue the streak on Friday in yet another home game against a non-conference opponent in Chichester (6-0 in Del Val).

Marple (5-5) will look to move forward from after taking their third loss in a row, but it will be a high task as their next game is next Monday against Central League #1 Haverford (10-0).

MEDIA, PA- The final score of this one is slightly deceiving to say the least. Until the fifth inning, this was a complete shutout by Lower Merion to the score of 9-1 to the point I left during the fourth expecting to be writing about a blowout, and here we are.

The first four innings of work for the Aces were going as good as you could possibly hope for a high school team. After scoring just one run in the first and allowing one run in the bottom of the first, the Aces were cruising.

After a lone run scored by Penncrest in the first, it was off to the races for the Aces for the next three innings. From the second to the fourth inning, Lower Merion would turn a 1-1 tie into a 9-1 deficit in a true full team effort.

Just about everyone went barrel to ball, and while we can’t highlight all contributions, there were plays of all types all over the field. In three innings, The Aces saw Ryan Scholz, and Nicholas Dragut double, a pair of triples by Dragut and Gus Wright, and not to be forgotten, inside0the-park HR by Charlie Parsons. There was no doubt LM was going to be finishing this game in under seven innings. Until there was.

In the bottom of the fifth Penncrest had their own rally, and this game was no longer cut and dry. After the leadoff batter was HBP, the Lions got a free base runner, and he would come in handy.

After a single and a double, the leadoff batter would score, and this game was 9-2. Still a hefty deficit but the Lions proved they still had life, and the next two sequences would only help their case. After going up 9-2 the Lions would benefit from an error and would build up to 9-4, the Aces would get the final two outs to end the inning, but there was more to come.

To make this game more interesting, the Aces would go down in order to start off the sixth, leaving Penncrest to build on their momentum, and they did just that. A single by Landon Graham and double by Harry Giles would get the Lions within two runs of the Aces in a game where they were previously down by 8.

At this point it was the seventh and although they were still in the lead, but Lower Merion had a whole different game plan than originally expected when you go up 9-1 early, but at the end of the day it would all work out.

The Aces would get rolling once more to add on three more runs with the help of a Parsons triple and a Leo Ufburg single and would hang on despite the Lions last hoorah run in the seventh to reach the final score of 12-8.

It was nothing short of a full team rally on the day for the Aces, but they pick up the win and move to (6-3) in the Central League and will be back in action tomorrow at home against Springfield (1-8).

Penncrest (2-7) will fall today but go on to visit surging Conestoga (5-4) tomorrow in a Central League matchup.

RADNOR, PA- Besides for Radnor’s singular loss of the year to undefeated Haverford, they have been knocking off Central League teams’ game by game, today’s victim? Fourth ranked Garnet Valley.

From this year to last year, the biggest change in this Radnor squad has been patience. Game by game, win by win, the results will come. Over the past weeks picking up eight central league wins now; they haven’t all come easy and today certainly did not.

On the mound, both teams had their aces up, and with both pitchers finishing the game for their respective teams, it was ultimately a pitcher’s duel. Austin Havertine took the Raptors through seven, with just 82 pitches on the day, striking out nine, and allowed just one run.

But as expected, Garnet brought their best to face the #2 ranked team in our rankings. On the bump for the Jaguars was reigning DBN pitcher of the week Ryan McGhee, who had himself a six-inning day, striking out three, allowing two runs.

Safe to say, the mound was a hot spot on the day, at least until the top of the second. Garnet struck first after a double by Harrison Maull that got the inning started and McGhee showed his skills off the mound, singling to bring in the sole run of the day for the Jaguars.

The next few innings went fast for both sides, but patience was key for the Raptors, and it would all pay off in the fourth inning. A Matt Szychulski single would get the ball rolling for Evan Hartman to find a gap and drop in another single, scoring Szychulski and before you could blink Radnor was right back in this game.

Tied 1-1 in the fourth, Joe Krasowski doubled, scoring Radnor’s second run on the day, and this game was 2-1, and that it would stay. After this point the game went quickly with both pitchers rallying behind their defense, but ultimately it’s the runs that win you close games, and today, Radnor won the battle.

Radnor (8-1) looks to continue the winning streak tomorrow in another Central League matchup against Upper Darby (0-8) away at 3:45.

Garnet Valley (5-4) will be back at home at 4:00pm tomorrow to face Harriton (3-6) in another Central League matchup.

MEDIA, PA- Despite playing three games in the past three days, Radnor took care of business against Penncrest to pick up their fourth straight win and move to 7-1 in the Central League.

After sneaking away from Springfield yesterday with a Joe Krasowski walk-off, Radnor started this one off with the same energy they ended with yesterday, quickly putting Penncrest away with five runs in the first three innings.

On just the first pitch of the game, the Raptors were ready to get to work. Teddy Monahan would lead off with a flyball that with the help of an error reached third base, and Zach Fein would knock him in for the first run of the day.

The next two innings would look pretty similar for the Raptors. In the second, Kyle Miltenberger would double, scoring Will Selbach. Just a few pitches later, Teddy Monahan would knock in a single and this was the beginning of the end for a potential Penncrest comeback.

The third came just as quickly as the second did for Radnor offensively with the help of Daniel Kellis on the mound taking Penncrest down inning by inning. On the day, Kellis took the Raptors through five, striking out eight and allowing no hits.

His offense would pick up his 1-2-3 bottom of the second scoring two more runs coming from a double by Evan Hartman and a groundout by Kyle Miltenberger to bring this one to 5-0 early.

For the next four, the Raptors would cruise with their 5-0 lead until the seventh, when Penncrest would be met with Austin Havertine, but not on the mound. (hint: he’s a dual threat, Central League). After a double by Hayden Goldenberg got runners in scoring position, Austin Havertine hit an inside the park homer to put this game away. In a perfectly quoted moment from the Radnor dugout, “OUR PITCHERS CAN HIT HOMERUNS TOO”- Senior Matt Szychulski.

Penncrest would go up against Blake Havertine to end the game, and in one last hoorah scored a run to make this game 7-1 but Radnor would cruise through to become 7-1 in the Central League and win their fourth straight.

Radnor was led by Daniel Kellis on the mound and Matt Szychulski going 2/2 on the day driving in a run as well as Austin Havertine’s with his inside-the-park homer.

Radnor will finally catch a break this week but will be back to a tough Central League matchup next Tuesday when they take on Garnet Valley (5-5) at home at 4:15.

Penncrest (2-6) will be off the rest of the week as well, but will return at home next Tuesday against Lower Merion (5-3) at 3:45.

FLOURTOWN, PA- In the earliest slate of games Delco (sorta?) saw today, the Aces found themselves on the winning side of this one, bouncing back after a 6-1 loss to Radnor yesterday.

On spring break, the Aces didn’t have much time to re-cooperate from yesterday (their game started at noon), but they found their way in this one.

The key for the Aces today? Getting the early lead and keeping the bats consistent. Leadoff hitter Ryan Scholz got the game started off with a walk and would be batted in after a single by Nicholas Dragut, quickly putting the Aces up 1-0.

Without an answer from Springfield in their bottom of the first, the Aces picked up right where they left off.

In a weird sequence, Toby Myers would single to start off the inning and Peyton Spiegler would ground into a fielder’s choice, but due to an error, Spiegler would still reach second and a double by James Given, would give the Aces a promising 2-0 lead.

On the very next play though, the top of the lineup would be due bringing up Scholz, and a single would quickly make this game 3-0, a much different narrative from less than 24 hours before.

The Spartans would go down in order again in the second at the hands of pitcher Peyton Spiegler who in two innings of work kept Springfield scoreless. Unfortunately for Springfield however, the hole they dug was about to get one run deeper after a single by Ryan Scholz scored another run, making the game 4-0.

Down 4-0 in the third Springfield was either about to make this game interesting or hand the Aces all the confidence they needed to run away with this one. The inning started off positive for LM, eight pitches, two outs. But after a player was hit by a pitch and a single, Springfield added two runs on a double to cut the lead to 4-2.

The fourth would be quick for the Aces offensively going down in order, and for a moment it looked like the Aces were slowing down. Springfield took advantage of this adding on one more run, but at the end of the day, three runs was all the Spartans had to offer on the day.

With the score 4-3, the Aces looked to add insurance, and the next two innings would see them add on three runs to make the space. The first run would be the result of a Scholz single in the bottom of the fifth, and the final two runs of the game would come in the sixth as a result of a Dragut single bringing home a runner and finally Spiegler being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing us to the final score of 7-3.

Lower Merion was led today by Ryan Scholz (3/4, 3RBI, R, BB), Nicholas Dragut (2/4, R, RBI) and Brody Slensky (2/4,RBI, R)

This game was considered an out of league matchup, so it won’t affect either teams League record.

The Lower Merion Aces (5-3 in Central League) however will move back to league play on April 22nd AWAY at Penncrest (2-5) at 3:45.

RADNOR, PA- Despite Radnor being the second seed in the Central League and Springfield being the eleventh seed, today was a prime example of on any given day, any team can show up and compete.

Coming off a 6-1 win over Lower Merion yesterday, Radnor came into this one with a slightly different perspective than Springfield, coming off a 5-1 loss to #1 ranked Haverford.

Nonetheless, neither team would get the bats swinging quickly as they had hoped to do, and the first strike would come from Radnor’s Hayden Goldenberg in the bottom of the third. With a 1-1 count Goldenberg crushed a ball to center, tripling and with the help of a single by Teddy Monahan would score bringing this one to 1-0.

For the next three, the Raptors cruised with Ryan McWilliams on the bump. On the day McWilliams pitched all seven for the Raptors striking out seven and allowing just four hits and the Cougars’ lone run of the day.

Just as Radnor thought they were cruising to 6-1 in the CL, the Cougars decided this game was still in reach, which it very much was. In the top of the sixth Springfield started the inning with a walk followed by a single, and just as quickly as this game was 1-0 this game was now 1-1 after a John Hopkins sac fly scored a runner.

Tied 1-1 the Raptors went into the bottom of the sixth looking for a spark but instead went down in order. Luckily for them, Springfield would do the same in their top of the seventh, but that could only mean one thing.

It was walk off time.

After a leadoff strikeout, the Raptors were down on the count in the bottom of the seventh, but Daniel Kellis would bring them back up with a single. A pop out would make this game one on two out, but it wasn’t going to matter in a minute. A single by Kyle Miltenberger would set up Joe Krasowski to walk off with a single, and the game hat was thrown on Krasowski and this one was over.

Small ball wins big games.

With the win, Radnor will move to (6-1) in the Central League and will visit Penncrest (2-5) tomorrow away at 3:45pm to hopefully win their third game this week.

Springfield (1-6) will take the loss but will be back at home next Monday to face Ridley (3-5) at 3:45pm.

GARNET VALLEY, PA- It was a great day to play baseball, and an even better day to be a Jaguars fan.

From the start, this game became difficult for Penncrest quickly. To start off the first, pitcher Ryan McGhee went right to work. With the exception of a leadoff single, the Lions would go down in order and the tone of the game would ultimately be set.

Garnet on the other hand was ready to strike and they took no time to get started. In the bottom of the first after just five pitches, Garnet tacked on the first run after a walk and a single by Chris Schaller allowed a runner to score. This wouldn’t last long though. With runners on first and third, Kevin Klein would single scoring the second run, and after a fielder’s choice, Brady Thompson would cross home and quickly this game was 3-0.

Looking for a spark in the second, Penncrest was immediately shut down by McGhee once again. On the day, McGhee would allow just two hits from this Penncrest team striking out nine of them and completed the start to finish effort for the Jags.

With McGhee taking them from start to finish, the Jags offense took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first and quickly turned it into a 6-0 lead within just a few minutes. On just the second pitch of the inning Zach Gordon would smash a double into left field to get the rally started and with the help of a walk and an error later, the bases would be loaded. (whoops). At this point, Penncrest pulled starting pitcher Liam Wray after just 1.1 innings of work, and he was replaced by Connor Finan.

In a tough spot with just one out and the bases loaded, Finan would get the Lions out of the inning, but it would come with a cost. Thompson would have a sacrifice fly scoring Garret Hosterman. One run on the bases loaded, good deal, right? That was until Harrison Maull had something to say about that, with a single two more runs would come home and this game was 6-0.

All good things (scoring) must come to an end at some point though. Garnet Valley would score two more in this one, once more in the third after a Gordon single brought in a run, and to put the icing on the cake one last time in the sixth, with a groundout scoring Cole Lombardo but nothing like the rallies in the first and second.

Although this was a whole team effort for Garnet, they had three guys leading the way in starting pitcher Ryan McGhee 7IP, 2H, 9K’s, Chris Schaller 2/4 2B, 2R, RBI, and Zach Gordon 2/3, RBI, 2B to help lead the way.

This win will get Garnet (5-3 in Central League) back to .500 on the year overall (5-5) and back in the win column in preparation for their next game tomorrow in an early morning matchup against Upper Dublin AWAY at 12:00pm.

Penncrest (2-5 in Central League) on the other hand will host Radnor (5-1) at 3:45 on Wednesday for another Central League matchup.