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Pa. Boys: Enterlin fires no-hitter as Strath Haven advances

Jake Enterlin inserted himself into Strath Haven baseball lore Wednesday. The junior righthander tossed his first no-hitter and led the Panthers past Central League champion Marple Newtown, 3-1, in a District 1 Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Glen Mills.

Jake Enterlin inserted himself into Strath Haven baseball lore Wednesday.

The junior righthander tossed his first no-hitter and led the Panthers past Central League champion Marple Newtown, 3-1, in a District 1 Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Glen Mills.

The Tigers (18-4), seeded second, beat No. 3 seed Strath Haven (14-7) twice during the regular season, but did not face Enterlin as a starter. Enterlin struck out eight and walked two over seven innings and boosted the Panthers into their first district championship game against top-seed Holy Ghost Prep on June 2 at a site and time to be determined. A win there will send Strath Haven to the PIAA Class AAA state tournament.

Anthony Gerace powered the offense when he belted an RBI single to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. He also hit an RBI single in the seventh inning while Mike Raimo cracked a solo homer to tie the game in the third inning.

In the other semifinal at Upper Dublin, James McDade crushed a solo homer to lead off the fifth inning and helped Holy Ghost Prep beat No. 4 seed Upper Moreland.

McDade also hit a pair of singles as did teammate John Salvatore.

District 1 Class AAAA. Wissahickon, seeded third in the North, squeezed four hits into a six-run third inning and handled the South No. 6 seed and visiting Warriors, 8-4.

In the third inning, Alec Linebarger hit an RBI double, J.T. Crits cracked a run-scoring single, Billy McFarland chipped in with a two-run double and Michael Kropnick contributed an RBI single.

Rob McKenna secured the win from the mound, allowing five hits during his seventh complete game of the season.

In other second-round games:

Pinch runner Brad Solomon scored from second on a single by Steve Piskai in the bottom of the seventh inning and handed South No. 2 seed Owen J. Roberts a 13-12 win over visiting North No. 7 seed Pennridge.

South No. 3 seed Great Valley jumped out to a 7-0 lead and cruised past visiting North No. 6 seed Harry S Truman, 7-3.

Senior shortstop Mike Douglas sparked a five-run Patriots' outburst in the third inning with a three-run homer over the fence in left-center field. Brian Pommerer added a single, a double, a run scored and two runs batted in and Ryan Duclos struck out seven en route to the complete-game victory.

South No. 5 seed Avon Grove blitzed host and North No. 4 seed Plymouth Whitemarsh for six runs in the top of the seventh inning and stunned the Colonials, 7-1.

The Red Devils got three strikeouts and one walk from Colin Taylor in a complete-game effort.

North No. 2 seed Neshaminy made good use of the long ball and pummeled visiting North No. 10 seed Central Bucks West, 14-4.

Darren Heisse cracked a three-run homer in the first inning when the Redskins grabbed a 5-0 lead, and Rick Brebner added a two-run shot in the second inning when Neshaminy was taking an 8-1 lead. John Burns added two singles and a double, scored twice and knocked in a pair of runs.

Ryan Stradley hit a pair of doubles, a homer and finished with six runs batted in for South No. 1 seed West Chester Henderson dispatched visiting North No. 8 seed Central Bucks South, 12-6.

Stradley hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and scored twice while teammate Mike Nugent belted a solo home run and collected three runs batted in.

Tom Sarpen went 3 for 4 with two doubles and knocked in two runs to lift South No. 4 seed Downingtown East to a 10-5 win over visiting South No. 14 seed Garnet Valley.

District 1 Class A. Eric Wade and Kelvin Ortiz each drove in two runs to lead No. 2 seed Bristol past No. 3 seed Faith Christian, 9-3, in a semifinal playoff game at Council Rock South.

Ortiz picked up two singles and scored a run and Wade added a single and scored twice for the Warriors.

In the other semifinal at Conestoga, top seed Christopher Dock got a complete-game three-hitter from Brandon Reichart and downed No. 5 seed Church Farm, 3-1.

Reichart struck out five, walked two and helped himself with two singles.

The Pioneers will play Bristol for the district title on June 2 at a site and time to be determined, with the winner advancing to the PIAA Class A state tournament.

Baseball Champions

Catholic League

2009: Neumann-Goretti

2008: St. Joseph's Prep

2007: St. Joseph's Prep

2006: Conwell-Egan

2005: La Salle

2004: Archbishop Carroll

2003: Cardinal O'Hara

2002: Archbishop Carroll

2001: Archbishop Carroll