Pa. Boys: Esperanza captures Public's AA crown

Felix Torraca-Dedos did some heavy lifting for host Esperanza, carrying his baseball team past visiting Prep Charter, 12-5, in the Public League's Class AA championship game Wednesday.

Torraca-Dedos pitched all seven innings and allowed no earned runs and added a 2-for-3 afternoon at the plate with a home run and three RBIs. Teammate Aderly Perez added three hits and three RBIs.

In a Class AAA semifinal, Steve McCollum had four hits in as many trips to the plate to pace a 12-hit attack and power host Philadelphia Electrical past Roxborough, 18-8. Lefthanded throwing and hitting catcher Thomas Hicks stroked a double and a triple for the Chargers, who will travel to Franklin Towne Charter for the title Thursday.

Catholic. La Salle rallied for three runs in the final two innings to post a 5-3 quarterfinal playoff win at Archbishop Ryan. The Explorers received three hits from Jules Arici and two apiece from P.J. Acierno, Corey Baiada, and Ryan Otis.

The win earned the Explorers a league semifinal date on Saturday (2 p.m.) against top seed Neumann-Goretti and the top hitter in the league, Mike Zolk.

Zolk improved his average to .720 with a 3-for-4 effort in a 13-3 quarterfinal win over visiting Lansdale Catholic. Zolk, a North Carolina recruit, drove in three runs and scored two more. Freshman Josh Ockimey went 2 for 3 with five RBIs for the Saints.

Host Monsignor Bonner made short work of Father Judge in a 10-0 quarterfinal win as Matt Dolan pitched a one-hitter. Dolan struck out five and received plenty of offensive support from Jim Haley, who went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

Bonner advances to a league semifinal against Archbishop Wood on Saturday (noon) at La Salle High.

Wood earned its spot with a 3-0 win over visiting Conwell-Egan, getting a three-hitter from Jeff Courter. Teammate Brady McNab was 2 for 2 with two RBIs.

District 1 Class AAAA. Bill Krebs got four first-inning runs to work with, courtesy of his own grand slam, and took care of the rest by earning the win on the mound as host West Chester East topped Truman, 12-2, in a second-round playoff game.

Krebs pitched the first three innings and Luke Laurence worked the last two, combining on a three-hitter.

The Vikings (18-2), the No. 2 seed out of the South, also received an inside-the-park homer from Tom Spitz. Truman was the No. 7 seed from the North.

In other second-round games:

South No. 1 seed Marple Newtown took advantage of three two-out errors by visiting North Penn, the North's No. 8 seed, to post a 9-6 second-round win. The key hits for the Tigers (18-3) were a Kurt Johnson double and a John Brogan triple.

Council Rock North, the top seed in the North, got a three-hitter from Darren Lauer in a 3-0 win over South No. 8 West Chester Rustin. Lauer struck out seven and walked one. Ryan Hartley went 2 for 2 with a single and double for the Indians (17-1).

Host Spring-Ford got four RBIs from Cody Clarke in an 11-1 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Rams, the South's No. 3 seed, received a complete-game effort from starter Mike Oczypok, who scattered six hits.

Conestoga's Jake Carr went 4 for 4 at the plate to lead his team past Boyertown, 10-4. The Pioneers, No. 4 out of the South, also got a 2-for-4 outing from Brendan O'Reilly, who homered.

Tim Ponto pitched a five-hitter and added a two-run homer to lift Owen J. Roberts to an 8-2 win at West Chester Henderson.

Tri-County. Perkiomen School topped visiting West-Mont Christian, 12-3, for its 16th consecutive league title. The Panthers received a pair of hits from Noah Kauffman. Kauffman also pitched a three-hitter.

Pa. Independent Schools. Drew Luzzi and Kevin Frost combined on a three-hitter as host Malvern Prep beat Solebury School, 10-0, in a first-round game. Luzzi pitched the first four innings, and Frost pitched the fifth and final inning.

Inter-Ac. Chestnut Hill registered its 20th win of the season on its final regular-season day, a 12-2 win over visiting Germantown Academy. Christian Salem pitched all five innings for the win. The schools will play again Thursday in a Pa. Independent Tournament game.

At Simon Gratz, Northeast took an early lead and never relinquished it, beating rival Washington, 6-3, in the Public League championship game.

Veasna Kim scored twice for the Vikings, while Matt Ragan, John Liebig, Ryan London and Nick Bromley also scored.

The defending-champion Eagles received two goals from Nick DiMartino.