Olney seeks to build on breakthrough district title
Olney Charter hopes to follow a major breakthrough with a solid run in the PIAA Class 4A state tournament. With Thursday's 5-4 triumph over Father Judge, the Trojans became the first Public League member to defeat a Catholic League school in a District 12 baseball final since the Catholic League joined the PIAA in 2008-09.
Olney Charter hopes to follow a major breakthrough with a solid run in the PIAA Class 4A state tournament.
With Thursday's 5-4 triumph over Father Judge, the Trojans became the first Public League member to defeat a Catholic League school in a District 12 baseball final since the Catholic League joined the PIAA in 2008-09.
"It was pretty awesome," Olney coach Dan Karlyn said. "That was one of our goals coming into the year, to show we could compete with and beat teams outside the Public League."
Before true city championships were dropped in 1979, Southern was the last Public League team to earn top baseball honors. The Rams downed Cardinal O'Hara, 7-1, at Temple's Erny Field in 1975.
Olney's only other city title, also captured on the diamond, came when it beat La Salle, 6-4, at Shibe Park in 1951.
Against Judge, Olney gained a 5-0 advantage and chased Dan Hammer, a hard-throwing righthander and Pittsburgh recruit, in the third inning.
"We knew all about [Hammer] and the speed of his fastball," Karyln said. "It was about us getting our timing down and getting the bat through the zone quickly."
In suffering his first loss of the season, Hammer allowed four earned runs, four hits, and three walks in two innings. The Catholic League's most valuable player left after throwing 43 pitches.
The Trojans' 10-hit attack was sparked by Christian Gomez (3 for 3, run), Cesar Loya (2 for 4, RBI, run), and Giovanni Ortega (1 for 3, two RBIs).
Olney starter Joseph Gomez gave up six hits, four runs (three earned), and two walks in 41/3 innings. The Crusaders responded with three runs in the home third and cut the gap to 5-4 in the fourth.
The Trojans' Kenny Cruz fired 21/3 innings of scoreless relief, yielding two hits and whiffing five, to earn the save. "His splitter was really effective," Karlyn said. "He did a nice job of keeping their hitters off balance."
Olney (17-2) will take on Boyertown, District 1's fourth-place qualifier, at 4 p.m. Monday at George Washington. The Bears (20-6) won the Pioneer Athletic Conference title.
Last year, the Trojans bowed to eventual state champ North Penn, 5-0, in the first round of states.
"I think our guys, after beating Judge, believe they can hang with any team out there," Karlyn said.
Pitcher's duel. Judge looks to rebound when it faces District 1 runner-up Council Rock North (20-4) in a state opener at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Neumann University.
Hammer (8-1 with two saves) is expected to return for Judge, while fellow senior righthander Matt Hand is likely to start for the Indians.
Hand, who is ticketed for Lehigh, is 10-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 57 innings.
Extra bases. Judge designated hitter Christian Lutz went 4 for 4 with two RBIs in the loss to Olney. . . . Episcopal Academy junior righthander Kyle Virbitsky went 9-1 with a 1.76 ERA and 66 K's in 592/3 innings. . . . Haverford High was led on offense by Nick Cerelli (.390 batting average), Dylan Resnick (.387), and Kenny Kissinger (.359).
Haverford School's James McConnon and Tommy Toal each batted .402. McConnon (30), Justin Meyer (35), and Bryan Hyland (30) combined for 95 RBIs. The Fords' Cameron Miller went 6-2 with a 1.66 ERA and 60 K's in 542/3 innings. . . . La Salle sophomore catcher Andrew Cossetti batted .419 with 19 RBIs, seven doubles, and six home runs while earning first-team all-Catholic honors. . . . Central Bucks South junior righthander Dan Klepchick went 8-0 with a 0.49 ERA and 54 K's in 57 innings. . . . Conestoga's Tim Miller batted .553 with eight doubles and three homers. The Richmond recruit had a .650 on-base percentage.
Hatboro-Horsham's Brian Edgington went 4-3 with a 1.47 ERA and 47 K's in 521/3 innings. . . . Springside Chestnut Hill centerfielder Nick Rowland batted .464 with 14 runs and 10 RBIs in Inter-Ac League action. Teammate Aidan Frye, a sophomore righthander, went 4-1 overall with a 1.22 ERA. . . . Friends' Central shortstop Gil Dreyfuss hit .476 with 27 RBIs, 10 doubles, and three triples. He had a .562 on-base percentage.
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