Peck’s colt expected
to muscle its way
to the front in Hambletonian
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Surprise, surprise.
Newtown has one of its own training race horses.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Greg Peck of Clivedon Drive, has one of his trotters entered into the upcoming Hambletonian, a $1.5 million stakes race slated for Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Meadowlands.
Peck is planning on entering Muscle Hill in harness racing’s most prestigious event for 3-year-old trotting colts. The horse is a heavy favorite, making its debut by posting a time of 1:53.1 in round two of New Jersey Sire Stakes June 4 at the Big M.
"Physically, he's grown up and filled out," said driver Brian Sears. "I couldn't ask for anything more, he pretty much went on his own."
The 2008 Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year is a perfect three-for-three this season and reached millionaire status July 17 in his final prep for the Hambletonian, posting a career best 1:52.1 in one of two $185,250 Stanley Dancer Memorial divisions.
Peck trains Muscle Hill for Jerry Silva and Muscle Hill Racing of Long Beach, NY; Southwind Farm of Pennington; and TLP Stable of Kearny, NJ. Along with stablemate My Back Pages, Muscle Hill is one of two colts Peck will start in the Aug. 1 $70,000 Hambletonian eliminations.
The son of 1998 Hambletonian winner Muscles Yankee is vying to become the third freshman Dan Patch champion in as many years to win the Hambletonian. Both Donato Hanover (2007) and Deweycheatumnhowe (2008) were able to duplicate their freshman success and win the Hambletonian on their way to Trotter of the Year honors.
Two colts that could knock Muscle Hill from his perch in the Hambletonian are Federal Flex, also undefeated in three starts this season, and Explosive Matter.
In his first trip at the Meadowlands this summer, Federal Flex romped to a convincing victory in 1:53.3 in his Dancer Memorial division. Prior to arriving in New Jersey, the Jeff Gillis trainee swept the Goodtimes elimination and final at Mohawk.
Explosive Matter was one of the top colts of his freshman class last year, winning six of eight starts that earned it more than $360,000. The homebred son of Cantab Hall also finished second only to Muscle Hill in the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands. After winning a division of the Historic Dickerson Cup on July 3, Explosive Matter rebounded from an early mishap to finish second behind Muscle Hill again in their Dancer Memorial division.
Explosive Matter sits at the No. 1 post in the first of three $70,000 elimination races this Saturday at the Meadowlands. Federal Flex drew the seventh slot in the second race with Muscle Hill drawing the No. 2 post in race number three. My Back Pages races alongside Federal Flex in race two after drawing the No. 4 post.
Muscle Hill carries a formidable 11-race winning streak into the Hambletonian eliminations. To date, the colt has won $1,037,376 in his career, including $ 220,075 this year.
The top three finishers in each race, plus the fourth-place finisher with the highest overall earnings, will advance to harness racing's most prestigious event on Aug. 8.
Peck also has a Philly named Caviart Annie in the Hambletonian Oaks, the $750,000 filly division which drew the most entries in its 38-year history, with 32 fillies forcing four eliminations. All of those elims will also take place Saturday night at the Big M.
Peck isn’t the only Bucks County resident breeding trotters. Arlene and Jules Siegel, owners of New Hope’s Fashion Farms, are also in the high-stakes horse racing game. The Siegels recently had one of their trotters--Dial Or Nodial--finish fifth in the $1.4 million North America Cup that went off June 27 at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ontario.
Dial Or Nodial, which was 4-1 in the morning line and 7-2 at post, finished behind 3-1 winner Well Said, runner-up Art Colony, show horse and the favorite going in at 9-5 Keep it Real and fourth place Mr. Wiggles.
The Siegels will post Tomcango in the upcoming Hambletonian, one of the biggest stakes races for trotters in the world. The couple earned their place in the winners circle in 1995 when their horse, Tagliabue, named for the former NFL commissioner, won the race by 2 and 1/4 lengths.

Two area residents successfully completed the Lake Placid Ironman Triathlon last Sunday in the Empire State.
For those of you not familiar with ironman competitions, the athletic events consist of a 2.5-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, topped off with a running marathon, meaning another 26.2 miles.
Competing in her first ironman tri ever, Pennington resident Elizabeth Savino, 45, finished the grueling course in just over 14 hours (14:19). Hamilton resident Chris Draper, a 33-year-old conditioning specialist based at PEAC Health & Fitness, finished the event in under 12 hours (11:52).
Draper meanwhile has been on the ironman circuit before, turning in a time of 10-and-a-half hours in Ironman Florida last November.
At Lake Placid however, Mother Nature didn't smile on the ironmen. Early on in the event, it rained giving the swimmers an added challenge in the opening leg. When the rains stopped, the weather turned hot and humid, making parts two and three tough to stay hydrated.
"The Ironman was a great success for both Chris and me," stated Savino. "Our training really paid off and gave us what we needed to endure so many hours of both the physical and mental demands."
Savino is a long-time endurance runner, having completed marathon events in Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Scranton and Lake Placid.
About two years ago, Elizabeth grew weary of the distance runners' routine. She needed a new challenge. Draper suggested triathlon competitions.
Starting out by competing in sprint-tris, Savino built herself up to the point where she felt comfortable competing in Olympic distance triathlons. While sprint tris consist of 500-meter swims followed by 10 to 15 miles on the bike, capped off with a 5K run, the Olympic distance forces a competitor to swim 1,500 meters, bike 25 miles and run 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
In 2006, Elizabeth did so well in the Philadelphia Marathon that she qualified for the Boston Marathon. Her time of 3:49:48 was bested only by the pace of 3:43:19 that Savino posted in the Lake Placid Marathon a month ago. She credits her recent success to a new dietary regimen suggested to her by Draper.
“Diet is ongoing,” says Savino. “You have to eat right before, during and after the competition.”
Draper’s entrance into endurance events is even more dramatic than Savino’s. Chris was once a power-lifting bodybuilder who tipped the scale at more than 250 pounds. Inspired by the very same distance runners and Olympic hopefuls he trained in his work at PEAC, Chris began a conditioning quest that has the 33-year-old at 160 pounds now.
While the two ironmen found the Lake Placid course more challenging than any other triathlon course that they had previously entered, that didn't stop them from signing up to do next year's event.
"We had such a great experience that we both signed up for 2010," commented Savino. "That will give us some time to train specifically on our weak areas now that we are familiar with the course and its specific demands."
Draper plans to get back to the ironman circuit well before next summer, returning to Florida this fall. Elizabeth is planning to compete in October’s Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, where she hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon a third time.
Together, the pair plans to compete in a half-ironman in the spring. That's only a one-and-a-quarter mile swim followed by 56-miles of biking, capped off by a 13.1-mile half-marathon run.
Hmmm.
Should be a piece of cake, right?

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com
Big time pitching wins big time games. And when the stars, or, in this game, the rainbow is aligned, both the winner and loser of a big time battle put up big time pitching.
With the sixth inning view from behind home plate revealing a rainbow that ended at the Warrington dugout, Warrington seemingly co-opted the karma to decision Langhorne, 1-0, as both teams’ pitchers threw barely-touchable three-hitters.
The decisive hit was rung up by Warrington clutch offense instigator-of-late J.M. Clauss who smacked an infield chopper up the middle in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Jared Conroy (on board with a single), earning Warrington its first Cal Ripken 11-year-old Pennsylvania State Championship.
Walking away with the title, this represented Warrington’s latest addition to their 2009 wall of state championship banners, as Warrington’s 8s, 9s, 10s, and now 11s, have grabbed first place in Pennsylvania (the 12s had to settle for a semifinal state appearance).
In an amazingly bizarre and exciting turn of events, the title tilt, like the tournament’s two semifinal games, was decided in a wild walk-off win. And, just like this tournament’s semifinal games, the winner never held the lead until the winning run crossed the plate.
Gritty hard-luck hurler Timmy Mulhern, who pitched the complete game three-hitter for Langhorne, had a no-hitter in progress, as he sent down Warrington 1-2-3 in each of the first three frames.
Warrington’s Will Moller was just as stingy, as his no-hitter was disrupted in the third inning when Timmy Mulhern singled to right off of his counterpart. Mulhern reached as right fielder J.M. Clauss’ sliding effort was just inches short of enough to reach the sinking liner.
Nolan Jones then poked an opposite field single. However, even though Moller, who allowed only these two hits in four innings, faced runners on first and second and the vaunted top end of the Langhorne batting order, he fought back to end the inning undamaged.
The Lions surged again in the top of the fourth. Zach Winkler reached on an error, and Danny Bishop and Eric Chapman walked to load the bases. After striking out the next batter, Moller relied on his defense, just as every pitcher has to at some point. Thwarting the next batter in what may well have been a game-decider, Ky “Special K” Rossi made a sliding snag at short on a hard hit grounder, then threw to second base to his brother Ty, who relayed to Zach Dennis at first to record a critical double play that ended the inning.
Meanwhile, though Brendan Parker broke up Mulhern’s no-hitter with a single in the top of the fourth inning for Warrington, he was stranded, as Mulhern kept Warrington’s offense eerily quiet.
In between the fifth and sixth innings, a short rain delay was called. As play resumed to start the sixth, the rainbow that bowed over the Warrington dugout when viewed from behind home plate seemed to indicate championship gold ahead for Warrington. With what followed, one might start to believe in such omens.
In the top of the sixth, Langhorne’s Bishop walked. He stole second, and then third. “Big Z” Dennis turned down the next two batters, but, with the game on the line, the Langhorne batter lofted a soft fly into the gap between second and center in shallow center.
Even with both Rossis running back full tilt, the ball seemed sure to land. But center fielder Tommy Funk, legs churning, came from nowhere to make a title-saving diving catch, and was greeted by swarms of high-fives and backslaps from his teammates before he could even get back to the infield on his way to the dugout.
Once again, as it had the night before, the Wolf Pack entered the bottom of the sixth without a lead but with a steely focus. Jared Conroy reached on a watery field-aided single past third that the shortstop kept in the infield. Conroy stole second and third, giving the next batter J.M. Clauss the chance to win the game for his team.
Clauss came through too, smacking a chopping grounder straight to second base, and though the ball was miraculously kept in the infield, the desperate throw home was not in time. Players piled on Clauss and Conroy. Fans piled over the yellow-rimmed fence in right in celebration of the new Cal Ripken State Champions, the Warrington Wolf Pack.
So, with yet another big game between the two teams decided by one key hit, the latest chapter of Warrington-Langhorne rivalry was somehow even better than its enthralling predecessors this season. In this instance, the state championship was decided on an infield chopper, no less.
As Warrington looks ahead to the Cal Ripken Regional Championships in New Jersey next week, they are quietly confident in that they showed all tournament that they could stay more than composed when behind, and knowing they can come through when pressed to the very last batter’s last swing.
In the end, both teams gave their fans quality baseball, entertaining spectators from both sides with their grit and determination. Both squads should be proud of themselves, as everyone who played or watched has a lot of great memories to savor this winter and for years to come.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com
Riding a dramatic walk-off home run by Brendan Parker and lights-out relief pitching by Zach Dennis, Warrington fought its way to the Pennsylvania Cal Ripken State Championship game in Central Perkiomen.
Mirroring Langhorne’s win the night before, Warrington trailed until the bottom of the sixth, tying it, and then winning it in the seventh with the Parker smash. Appropriately, Warrington will meet Langhorne for the state title on Wednesday night in a rematch of the Cal Ripken River League Championship.
As happens when teams close in on championship games, another pitchers’ duel set the background for the Warrington-Central Perkiomen semifinal. The bats were still for both teams in the first two innings. Central Perk’s starting pitcher, Adam Gaines, allowed three walks, but he sent down the Warrington bats 1-2-3 in the second inning.
For Warrington, T.J. Anthony dominated the first two innings, as Central Perkiomen went down 1-2-3 in each of the initial frames.
However, in the third inning, both offenses pushed back. Gabe Kolb blooped in a single for Central Perk, and Matt Perrin followed with a two-run home run to left-center field, over the ATI Entertainment (which provided the audio for the tournament) sign.
In the bottom of the frame, Warrington’s T.J. Anthony walked and Ray Maletz took first for Anthony, pinch-running for his starting pitcher and the offense was in motion. Tommy Funk crushed a long single off of the right field wall, scoring Maletz. The 2-1 Central Perk lead would hold for quite a while.
In the fourth inning, Adam Grosshanten relieved Gaines for Central Perkiomen and the pace quickened, as he threw smoke and set Warrington down with gusto. In the fifth, Grosshanten flirted with misfortune when he walked Brendan Parker and Tommy Funk, but got key strikeouts to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
As teams strapped in for the sixth inning of a 2-1 thriller, a relief pitchers’ duel was locked and loaded. Zach Dennis entered for Warrington, bringing his own branding iron fastball. Dennis found his touch, but not before he walked lead batter Adam Gaines, who, in executing a perfect hit and run, sailed to third on a Grosshanten line single to the left field wall.
Nail-biter in full force, Dennis shut down the next three Central Perk batters in order to escape without allowing a run.
The game and in turn each teams’ championship hopes were in the hands of Warrington’s batters. In the bottom of the sixth, trailing 2-1, Connor Moffat walked to leadoff the inning. Not willing to leave Moffat and his team’s season stranded on the bases, Will Moller turned on a fastball and crushed a double to left, scoring the “Moffat Man” and tying the game.
Extra innings ensued and what nails were left were being bitten off by the fans when Zach Dennis allowed a leadoff walk, before “Big Z” exerted control and struck out the side, including big-hitter Matt Perrin.
With Warrington fans on their feet for the bottom of the seventh, J.M. Clauss walked, yet again, to further ignite the bench and fans. Reaching for a knee-high fastball, next batter Brendan Parker “parked” a two-run, line drive home run 10 feet in from the right field foul pole, a virtual mirror image shot of the walk-off home run that sent Langhorne to the championship game the night before.
And, like the night before, crazy joyful celebrations by teammates and families erupted in a happiness that didn’t want to stop.
With fate marching on through the weekend (and the whole season), it seemed inevitable that Langhorne and Warrington would meet for the Pennsylvania Cal Ripken State Championship. And fate would have it that Warrington and Langhorne would get there in exactly the same fashion, with 4-2 come-from-behind-in-games-they-never-lead, walk-off wins.
With only a few key hits separating the two teams in the River League championship and the District III semifinals, no doubt, the championship game was destined to be a great one.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
About the hottest thing going this summer--besides the temperature--is an area U15 boys basketball team, the PA Playaz.
This year’s AAU Mid-Atlantic Division I champion, the Playaz is a squad comprised mostly of athletes from Bucks County. Virtually all of the players hail from Council Rock North and Neshaminy High Schools including ‘Skins sophomore scoring sensation Ryan Arcidiacono and Indian forward Arron Goodman.
Last week in the Adidas Super 64 Tournament that took place in Las Vegas, the duo combined to help the Playaz eliminate Dreamvisions--an elite AAU team from San Diego that won the tourney as a U14 squad in 2008.
Among the players competing for Dreamvisions this summer are Shabazz Muhammad and Winston Shepard.
Muhammad is a 6-4 sophomore from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High. Muhammad is one of the most talked about names in AAU hoops; he’s drawn comparisons to James Harden, a 6-5 shooting guard recently selected by Oklahoma City with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. One of the top prospects in the class of 2012, Muhammad has already been offered a scholarship by UNLV.
Shepard is a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore out of Houston now playing high school hoops at Findlay Prep, a team that went 33-0 last season in varsity play, capping its campaign off in April with a win in ESPN’s first National High School Invitational. HoopScoopOnline declared Shepard “the best player in the rising sophomore division.”
When the Playaz took on Dreamvisions July 25 at Rancho High School, ESPN.com was there ready to report another big win for the California hoopsters. According to Coach Rice, college basketball coaches including Phil Martelli (St. Joe’s), Lon Kruger (UNLV), and John Thompson III (Georgetown) came from all corners of the nation to witness the defending champions’ title quest.
It never came.
The Playaz ruined the San Diego team’s party, outpacing Dreamvisions, 67-62. Arcidiacono led the boys from Bucks County with 17 points. Goodman came through for the Playaz defensively as well, limiting Shepard to just 11 points. On offense, Goodman contributed 15 points while hauling down 14 rebounds.
Neshaminy High’s Dwight Williams was next with 16 points. More importantly, he held Muhammad to 15 points.
“Dreamvisions is like a traveling all-star team; they have 10 kids from five different states,” stated Coach Rice. We have [11] kids from two schools within three miles of each other—and we beat them.”
Earlier in the day, the Playaz defeated the Bay Area Hoosiers, 72-59. Arcidiacono led the offensive effort with 15 points, Rice and Katz chipped in with 12 points each. Morgan did his part pouring in 12 points.
The team’s Adidas Super 64 win streak--a tear that totaled six games--began July 22 when it outpaced Oregon, 56-35. Arcidiacono led the Playaz with 16 points and Neshaminy High’s Tyler Katz came through with 15. Owen Rice--of CR North and Dan Brown--of CB South each poured in 11.
Goodman chipped in with 14 rebounds and Williams pitched in with six steals.
“This is an extremely talented group of players,” stated head coach Gene Rice, who doubles as an executive recruiter from Yardley when he’s not coaching hoops. “There’s never been a group of Bucks County kids playing together that are this good.”
Also suiting up for the Playaz this summer are Billy McAllister, Matt McCloskey and Dan Schmidt. All three play for the Rock during the varsity season. McCloskey and Schmidt serve as the team’s defensive leaders.
Also contributing to the effort this summer are Brown and Brendan Kilpatrick of Malvern Prep School. Both are big contributors on offense.
After capturing the division title, the Playaz went on a tear, taking first place in the Carrierdome Classic in Syracuse, winning the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament at Temple University then taking the Team Philly Championship.
Memorial Day weekend, the team went to the Final Four in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions held at Duke University. At the Spring Fling tourney held at Rutgers University, the team finished in the Final Four in a 32-team field. The Playaz also finished in the top four at the Providence College Jam Fest, a tournament comprised of 54 teams.
In late July, the Playaz also went to the Final Four in the West Virginia Invitational before heading to Las Vegas. Back in March, the team won Philly's Finest March Madness Invitational at Girard College, defeating Hoop Heaven, 75-67, in overtime in the championship. Arcidiacono paced the Playaz with 33 points. Tyler Katz contributed five points in overtime. Goodman blocked six shots.
“There’s never been an AAU team--boys or girls--from Bucks County that has played at this level,” stated Coach Rice. “There’s never been as many talented kids from Bucks County playing this sport-that’s what’s unique about this group.”
Back in Vegas, the team’s hot streak came to a grinding halt when it fell 71-68 to DC Assault Gold 71-68. Ahead by four points at the break and by seven in the second half, the Playaz players simply ran out of gas, said Coach Rice.
“It was our third game that day so it caught up to us by then,” stated Rice. “The Dreamvisions game was such an emotional win it was hard to get the kids up for that next game.”
***
NOTES: In May, the Playaz captured the Mid-Atlantic AAU Division I championship by defeating Chester.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com
The 2009 season has been a landmark, historic year for the Upper Makefield Youth Baseball League (UMYBL). For the first time in its 32 year existence, the township has placed three teams (its 9-, 11-, and 12-year-olds) in the Pennsylvania State Championship tournaments, specifically, within the highly competitive Cal Ripken league.
If its 2009 season was a movie, UMYBL’s baseball might land on the far side of credible as it has not one, but three, Hoosiers-like state playoff streaks in the same season. Except that it’s real and it’s now for the Upper Makefield Mavericks.
This was actually the year converging paths of hard work came together for UMYBL. A very focused few years of player development has paralleled a very focused few years of facility development - and major upgrades have come in both areas.
UMYBL president Mike Sullivan reflected, “A lot of people have put in a great deal of effort to make this truly proud moment for the league a reality. More important though, our players and parents should be proud of what they have accomplished.”
Two years ago, the Lookout Park softball and youth baseball fields were added, as well as major improvements in the Senior baseball field. Over the past two years, the baseball complex by Sol Feinstone School has also seen dramatic improvements. Grand scoreboards grace each field now. The Senior Field’s warm-up pitching area, field, fence and foul pole quality have been dramatically upgraded.
The league went forward and spent considerably this past season to make the American and George’s Fields top-grade, Cal Ripken-quality (UMYBL elected to align itself with the Cal Ripken youth program during this period), and that has resulted in a breath-taking baseball campus.
New fences have been moved back and raised relative to their predecessors, creating interesting alleys and “monster” walls that are great fun for the kids and offer more interesting baseball. The “Mavs’s” stampeding horse logo snarls threateningly, its oversized image imprinted on the outfield fence screens and opponents’ psyches. Improved batting cages, soft-toss targets, batting tees, and an “Iron Mike” pitching machine get Mavs players ready now, virtually all year round now.
All of this laid the groundwork for Mavericks players and coaches to step up. And step-up they did.
Coaches Paul Thompson and Manager Bill McAlister’s 9-year-old team qualified for the State Championship tournament, taking a tough road.
After a 7-5 regular season that lead into the regular season playoffs, the Mavs beat a very tough Middletown squad before losing to Levittown Continental in The Suburban League Quarterfinals.
Big wins over major Bucks County powers Doylestown and Langhorne in the district tournament gave Upper Makefield their shot at state supremacy.
Coach Thompson said that, "we set a goal back in December to make it to States, and we were able to accomplish that very goal. It was especially rewarding considering the route we took in District championships.... having to fight our way back through the losers bracket in the toughest district in the state." He added, "We have had different players step up each game, which is a key ingredient in any championship run."
Coach John Parker, assisted by Bob Roda, Gary Roberts, and Peter Greubel have taken their eleven year olds from mid-level players to a top regional team this past year. The team won twenty games, starting in Maryland last March.
In the regular season they went 11-3, 10-1 after losing two of their opening three. They also went undefeated in a regional spring tournament in Rehobeth Beach, in May, and took second in the PONY State Championships earlier this month.
Coach Parker says he is most proud of the fact that “the boys have come together to make a very good team, combining their individual talents into a team that is competitive with the best teams in the State.
He adds, “they have so often succeeded when executing our core strategy: throw strikes, make the other team throw strikes, and only give the other team three outs per inning.”
Coach Rich Brunetti, and Matt Glenn, and Chuck Charlton have taken the twelve year-olds to new heights this season. They enjoyed great success in the regular season, league and district tournaments, compiling a 20-9 overall record, heading in the State Championship tournament.
Reflecting on how these boys have come together this year and over the past few years, Brunetti said he “found it most rewarding to see the boys grow up together and become a family.” He expanded on the sentiment to note, “the coaches really enjoyed seeing all thirteen players make significant contributions to the teams success.”
Looking at this year in the context of the past 32 years, George Strachan, one of UMYBL’s inspirations and founders, has been pleased at the transformation, commenting, “The strides we have made in the last few seasons should be very gratifying to all the people and players associated with our league.”
Strachan added, “Improved facilities and improved play are obvious to all, but, more importantly, we have continued to do things within the greatest spirit of competition and sportsmanship. Winning is important to us, but not at the expense of our core values. Those values allow all of our players and members to stand proud.”
While the sun sets on this historic season, all signs are for blue skies ahead for the Upper Makefield Mavericks and UMYBL. Things are looking up, way up for these local, modern-day baseball Hoosiers.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com
For the second time in two days, the Warrington team was caught in a predicament. They were trailing big after an inning. Undaunted, they steadily and assuredly chipped away at the margin. Will Moller and Jared Conroy each scored in the second inning. And Zach Dennis scored in the third in what was the first of what would be two large shoes he would drop in what would become yet another Warrington win.
After Warrington inevitably tied the game at 4, and with his teammates chanting “Big Z” as he stepped to the plate, Zach Dennis slammed a two-run single that put Harleysville in a 6-4 baseball tar pit, trailing for the first time in the game. Harleysville scored a run late to make it 6-5, but, like all games in which they have played in this tournament, this game was to go Warrington’s way. Dennis, along with T.J. Anthony and Ky Rossi, pitched great baseball working for the clamp down. Harleysville’s Nate Luscombe, pitched a complete game in the tough loss.
It was the end of the day on Sunday. The sign at the snack shed said, “No More Meatballs,” and so did the umpires, as they called the ten-run “mercy” rule to close out the Warrington-Towamencin game. No, the Towamencin hurlers weren’t throwing meatball pitches. Warrington just made it seem that way as they won 11-1.
Ray Maletz and Jake Fitts each went 2-for-3 with two singles and two runs scored. Eight of Warrington’s nine starters scored runs. In the third inning, Will Moller drilled a two-run bank shot that dented the State of Pennsylvanis’s flag pole in left center field. For Towamencin, Dalton Baum hit a double and scored the lone run off of a Jared Gorman single.
As they have all tournament, Warrington baffled their opponents with lights-out pitching. Will Moller and Brendan Parker combined to allow a mere, single run and only two hits, in Warrington’s 11-1 win. Warrington went through the qualifications rounds as the only undefeated team, carrying unbridled momentum into the State Championship semi-finals.
Like Ricky Henderson (who was being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on this day) so often did in his hey-day, Nolan Jones hit a yet another leadoff home run in this tournament, this time giving host Central Perkiomen a rude welcome to the game. Jones’s home run was his fifth of the tournament.
Overall, the whole Langhorne team was in a pretty “offensive” mood versus the tournament host as they won, 14-6. Tyler Galazin hit a two-run homer in the fourth, which was his third in two days. Joel Thibodeau, Zach Winkler, Anthony Titano, Eric Chapman and James Lehman each scored two runs, and Tyler Galazin threw five innings for the Lions.
For Central Perkiomen, Sonny Rennard hit two homers in the game. His solo shot came in the 2nd, and his two-run blast was hit in the 5th. The other runs were scored by Dave Terry, Liam Strausser and Adam Grosshanten. David Terry, the starter for Central Perkiomen, pitched the first five innings for his team before being relieved by Matt Rice.
In the first game of the Cal Ripken State Tournament that required extra innings, Tri-Township walked off of the field with beaming smiles. A tied, tight battle after six innings resulted from Tri-Township’s Nick Rodstrom’s home run as well as Chris Woolslayer’s score while Towamencin’s Justin Campanella, Eric Beideman and Matt Pizzo scored runs in the teeter-totter affair. But this all served as a precursor to the Big Play when Carter Usowski absolutely demolished the ball in the seventh inning, a dead red shot to center that sent parents running for cover, and Tri-Township to a dramatic win to start their day.
All of the other teams had long gone home, but Carter Usowski was still getting warmed up for Tri-Township. Following a walk-off jack in the previous game, Usowski crushed a home run to dead centerfield and helped boost Tri-Township to a 2-0 lead after one inning. Robbie Fasciocco scored in the third off of an Alec Thompson single. In the 5th and 6th, Jack Hogan scored as Tri-Township fought back to put the game away.
Harleysville scored three runs in the 2nd inning, as Connor Lennon and Mitch Amenta spanked singles and were hit home by Blake Gular, who jacked a three-run homerun. In the bottom of the sixth, attempting to make a walk-off comeback bid of their own, Blake Gular singled and Chris Toler smashed an opposite field two-run homerun for Harleysville. But Alec Thompson, the Tri-Township pitcher, hunkered down and got the final out, as his team triumphed 6-5 to end the day.
BYC, for the second day in a row, showed it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, in these Cal Ripken State Championships. After going up on 4-0 on Warrington yesterday, but losing, 7-6, BYC reversed those roles today, falling behind 4-0 in the first, but coming back to win 5-4 against Upper Makefield.
Upper Makefield flexed their considerable long ball muscles in the first inning, on two monster-shots by Andrew Greubel and Juliano Kovalcik. Both players turned on fastballs and drove them 230-plus feet to dead center. Overall, the Mavs played outstanding baseball through the first three innings.
Though no other players crossed home, Upper Makefield made up for that by executing flawless defense and pitching. Starter Andrew Greubel was cruising with five strikeouts through three-plus innings pitched, but then seemed to start to run out of gas, still building stamina after overcoming a mid-season leg injury.
After BYC chipped in a run using a small ball approach, and with the score now 4-1, their big hitter Andrew Chobany stepped into the box with runners on second and third. Chobany took a high fastball out of the park in deep right-center. His three-run smash scored Nicholas Vandervere and Ryan McCrossan, who each walked earlier in the inning. Just like that the game now belonged to either team, tied at 4-4.
The winning run saw BYC go back to small ball in the top of the sixth. An innocuous error, a few stolen bases, and a score on a ground out ended up putting BYC back on top, 5-4. With the win almost in their grasp, BYC’s flame-throwing Andrew Chobany, who had taken the mound for Nick Talley, and who threw the final two innings to the tune of a 1-2-3 beat, shut down any possible Mavs comeback.
Capitalizing on their chances and winning a game that was too precious to let slip away, BYC was in the driver’s seat to move onto the States semi-finals as they headed into a game versus the hosts, Central Perkiomen while Upper Makefield reflected on what slipped away, knowing a big win versus Langhorne and other cooperative factors would need to fall into place for them to make the state’s final four.

Hit well, pitch well, and field well. Hard as that is to do, that’s all you have to do to win competitive baseball games, and that is all that Upper Makefield did in their last game of their season – ending on a high note with all feeling good.
In a game that was purely for fun for Langhorne from the start (they had already qualified for the semi-finals) and became that way for Upper Makefield by the halfway point, the Mavs beat the Langhorne Lions, 15-7.
With urgency, Upper Makefield jumped out and scored three runs in the first. With less urgency, but as much determination, Langhorne counteracted the surge. The Lions’ lead four batters, the Fantastic Four one might call them in this tournament, bit back as Zach Winkler smashed a three-run homer to score Nolan Jones and Tyler Galazin. Joel Thibodeau also scored later in the inning.
However, the Mavs were not ready to step down and sag shoulders, fighting for their tournament lives. They collected five runs in a second inning to show their own toughness. Their five run inning was powered by simple “small ball,” as Riley Thompson and Nick Roda hit singles, drove in runs and then scored on walks and steals. Brett Miller also scored in the inning, as he and Thompson each had three runs in the game.
In the fourth inning, Upper Makefield scored twice as Chase D’Arcangelo and Brett Miller scampered to tally runs. The two runs made the game 10-4 for the Mavs, and they gave them space to effectively end the game as a competitive endeavor.
Never ones to quit though, in the bottom of the fifth Langhorne scraped out two runs. Evan Kelbaugh cracked a solo shot to left center, closing the deficit to four runs. In the top of the sixth, the Mavs lived up to “when it rains, it pours” syndrome, cranking up their offense again.
Upper Makefield had yet another 5-run inning. Chase D’Arcangelo, who was 4-for-4 on the day, had a towering ground-rule double and three RBI. Fellow partner in crime, Drew Burschlag, also had a ground-rule double right behind him. Burschlag was a solid contributor, going 3-for-3 with 5 RBI.
To shut down the game and the season, Chase D’Arcangelo took the mound and kept the Fantastic Four’s Jones, Galazin, and Thibodeau off balance as he popped them up and grounded them out, finishing off what T.J. Roberts and Brett Miller had started. Though they are going home with their season finished, the Upper Makefield Mavericks look forward to next season while District III champ Langhorne looks forward to a run at the state championship.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com
Pitchers’ dual or, for batters, “pitchers cruel” at Central Perkiomen’s fields during the Cal Ripken State Tournament as Langhorne locked horns with Tri-Township. For Langhorne, Nolan Jones threw a complete game two-hitter, slightly besting Alec Thompson’s complete game, three-hitter. Langhorne’s Nolan Jones helped himself to the tune of a solo home run, and Josh Lehman scored the other run in a 2-1 victory. The hard-luck Tri-Township Titans’ only run came from the bat of Alex Bariahtaris, who crushed a solo home run of his own.
The scouting report of Nolan Jones: the kid can throw – oh, and he can hit a bit too. Fresh off of throwing a two-hitter, lead-off batter Nolan Jones’s white-hot state championship tournament got even hotter as he jacked three home runs against Towamencin. Jones’ teammate, and following him in the line-up batting second, Tyler Galazin, hit two of his own. Langhorne got an extra push from pitcher Timmy Mulhern, who threw a two-run complete game in an 11-2 win.
Central Perkiomen, the host for this year’s Cal Ripken State Tournament, edged Tri-Township in a wild game, winning 6-5. Tri-Township had a 3-0 lead after three innings, only to have “Central Perk” tie the game up at three in their half of the fifth.
But, in their fifth, Tri-Township took the lead on runs scored by Alec Thompson and Carter Usowski, who each had two runs on the day. Central Perkiomen ended up winning, off of runs scored by David Terry, Jonuer Nieves and Adam Grosshanten, in an exciting game-closing performance.
Jumping out fast and scoring four in the first inning, BYC couldn’t tame the baseball beast called Warrington with Andrew Chobany crossing the plate for two runs. Warrington jumped out to a 6-4 lead in the second inning, as Ty Rossi, Ky Rossi, Connor Moffat, Jared Conroy, T.J. Anthony and Will Moller came home. In the third, their lead was upped to 7-4, as Jake Fitts scored.
BYC climbed up the comeback ladder a short time later as Nicholas Talley made the score 7-6. But Zach Dennis took the mound and threw two 1-2-3 innings, preserving the slim lead and giving the Warrington Wolf Pack a dramatic 7-6 win.
***

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com

Yet another meeting between the Warrington and Upper Makefield, teams which have met four times previously this year. Another game between these River League foes. It was only two weeks ago when they last met, in the Cal Ripken District 3 Tournament, and Warrington came out on top with a 12-0 shutout at the Cal Ripken PA State Championships hosted by Central Perkiomen.
Well, if one reads into scores, not a whole lot changed in the last few weeks.
Warrington outdistanced the Mavericks, just as they had a fortnight ago, and it would seem that Warrington has gotten deep in the Mavericks’ heads. It started in the second inning when J.M. Clauss tallied a double and Ky Rossi smashed a single and Warrington went up 3-0. But for a few Upper Makefield clutch defensive plays, Warrington could have doubled that lead.
The Mavs came off the field feeling relatively good, and they looked determined to build some momentum of their own to answer. And they did set the table for a comeback. Upper Makefield loaded the bases off of a Chase D’Arcangelo deep single to left and a couple of early walks. They got plenty of runners on, but Warrington stopped them from cashing in on their opportunity. “Close, but not close enough” was the phrase that summed up Upper Makefield’s offense in this game.
But they did not give in. Warrington stacked the bases in their half of the third inning, but couldn’t get any men across home, as the Mavericks answered with a stop of their own. The score remained 3-0 for two innings, until the fifth, which, unfortunately for Upper Makefield, resembled the third…squared. Jared Conroy bombed a two-run home run, scoring Zach Dennis, who had walked. Earlier in the game, Conroy took a pitch to the head, but he took this pitch the bleachers. Conroy’s going yard sent Warrington off to a win going away.
In that fifth inning, every Warrington player in the line-up both batted and scored as Warrington jacked the lead from 3-0 to 12-0. Tommy Funk went 3-for-4 with three singles. Jared Conroy, the offensive M.V.P. of the game for Warrington, went 2-for-3 with his towering two-run home run and a double, leading to four R.B.I.
As it was back in mid-July, the arms for Warrington were lights-out. T.J. Anthony started, with Ky Rossi and Brendan Parker relieving him to throw shutout baseball. This game was won in typical Warrington fashion – they pitched hard, they hit harder, and they fielded with soft hands. While the Mavs contemplate a rematch down the road in this tournament, Warrington’s play left their fans thinking they just well might be good enough to win the state championship.
***

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com

Crack. Crack. Pop. Crack. No, it’s not the Fourth of July. Fireworks were exploding off of the Mavs’ bats. The fireworks didn’t light up the sky, but they sure lit up the scoreboard. Upper Makfield rode the long ball to a 12-6 win over Harleysville.
Coming off of a tough loss to Warrington, Upper Makefield looked like a different team, one that really wanted to prove itself here in the Cal Ripken State Championship Tournament. Prove themselves, they did.
It only took two outs for the Mavs bats to wake up as slugger Andrew Greubel snapped into action. First-pitch swinging, he rocketed a ball to left-center, crashing into fans’ tents 20 feet beyond the fence. Nick Roda, first baseman for the Mavs, crushed his first of the tournament in the second inning. Though it was only 2-0, these home runs gave U.M. the confidence they needed to play a “complete” game against Harleysville.
Chase D’Arcangelo scored Juliano Kovalcik with a double to left field, and Brett Miller scored off of a Riley Thompson single in the same inning. With the score 4-0, the Mavs had a whole new energy of a seemingly whole new day.
Miller scored Kovalcik in the third inning with an opposite field grounder the snuck past the shortstop. An inning later, Miller and D’Arcangelo scored on Andrew Greubel’s liner up the middle. Jackson Parker scored Kovalcik with his own single up the middle, and Drew Burschlag sacrificed a run in with a groundout.
Juliano Kovalcik was superior, once again, as starting pitcher for Upper Makefield. He helped himself out, scoring four of the Mavs’ runs, while slamming two singles. Kovalcik mixed well-placed fastballs with his bat-freezing changeup, receiving much-deserved applause as he was relieved by Joey Rutkowski in the fifth inning.
Harleysville scratched out runs late to make it interesting, including a Nate Luscombe home run in the bottom of the sixth, but it was too little, too late. The Mavs darted from the bench to congratulate themselves and their teammates, with a great “team win” under their belts. More “cracks” and “pops” are sure to be still left in those Mavs bats as they move deeper into the State Championship tournament.

Yardley Post 317 catcher Doug Fleming has been selected to compete in the Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball East West Showcase game that’s taking place at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 26 at the Commerce Bank Park in Harrisburg.
A recent graduate of Penn Charter High School from Hulmeville, this is Doug’s third consecutive appearance in the contest.
In his team’s Lower Bucks Legion playoff opener against Bristol, Fleming worked a full count and drew a walk with the bases loaded to give Post 317 the lead for good at 3-2 in a game that Western eventually went on to win 6-5.
Fleming also pushed a run across in Western’s semifinal opening 15-7 win over Yardley-Morrisville and the team’s series clinching 4-3 triumph.
Compiled by Sports Editor Steve Sherman

Natalie Kalibat, of Princeton, placed first at the 109th annual Eastern Interscholastic Diving Championships held recently at LaSalle University. Kalibat, who represented The Lewis School, defeated 23 other contestants to win the Women’s 1-Meter Diving Division. The competition consisted of five voluntary and six optional dives, which included forward, back, reverse, inward and twist dives.
Hosted by Germantown Academy, the Easterns is one of the most prestigious and competitive high school meets in the country. It’s the largest Prep School aquatic event in the US for both men’s and women’s swimming and diving competitions. More national and prep school records are set during this competition than any other meet in the nation.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

The FC Bucks Vipers (E-PA) made history last Sunday, July 26 in girls soccer. This year’s U.S. Youth Soccer Region I Champion, the Vipers capped their national tour off with a 1-0 victory over Ohio Elite.
In so doing, the group became the first girls soccer team in Pennsylvania to claim a USYS national championship.
In a national tourney that began July 21 at Citizens Bank Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts, FC Bucks posted a 3-0-1 mark.
On Sunday morning, the Vipers took on Ohio Elite, a Cincinnati team that won Region II this year. Ohio entered the finale with an identical 2-0-1 mark, having battled FC Bucks to a 2-2 deadlock last Friday, July 24.
In the championship however, after the sides battled to a scoreless standoff in the first half, Vipers midfielder Maddie Evans of Abington scored the game’s only goal in the 70th minute, sending the girls home with the Francis J. Kelly Cup.
The quest for the cup this season was completed in honor of head coach Eddie Leigh’s son-in-law--fallen Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawloski.
In February, the policeman was gunned down in the middle of breaking up an altercation between a cab driver and his assailant that took place in the city’s Olney section.
“The kids were just devastated at everything that happened,” stated Leigh, whose daughter Kim was married to Pawloski. “This was just something they wanted to do.”
***
Last year, FC Bucks beat the Cincinnati team twice--once in Ohio’s Blue Chip Classic and another time in the Nashville Invitational.
In last Friday’s game, with her team trailing 1-0, Kaitlin Kerr, a soon-to-be-senior at the Pennington School, scored first for FC Bucks, taking the feed from Pennsbury High School alum Yvonne Moyer, who is headed to Penn. Kerr’s goal came two minutes after Ohio’s first strike.
The opponent took the lead once again with a goal that came in the 53rd minute of play but Holland’s own Erin Galen (Villa Jo) reached the back of the net off a feed from Colleen Williams, of Titusville in the 72nd minute, locking the final tally at 2-all.
The Vipers kicked off the tournament July 22 by defeating Pleasanton Rage, 3-1 on two goals scored by Evans, a center-midfielder from Abington who is headed to Penn State. Evans scored on feeds from Hoy and Kerr. Goal number three was tallied by Heidi Sabatura off a feed from Alexa Carugati, of Newtown. Ironically, both are Pennington School grads who are headed to Villanova in the fall.
Splitting time in goal for FC Bucks was Tara Murphy, a Council Rock South alum who is headed to Rhode Island and Kate Heim, of West Windsor, NJ. Murphy made four saves in preserving the win.
The Rage is this year’s Region IV champion from California.
“The game we played against California could have been the best we’ve played all year,” stated Leigh. “They are a very good possession-oriented team; we were fortunate to get them to turn the ball over a few times.”
As an encore, FC Bucks blanked Edmond Soccer Club (ESC), 2-0, Thursday, July 23. Hoy opened up the scoring for the Vipers and Sabatura finished things off with her goal that came off a feed from Kerr.
ESC is this year’s Region III champion from Oklahoma.
“Oklahoma was the kind of team that stood by in the back and waited for us to make a mistake,” explained Leigh. “Luckily, we didn’t make any and were fortunate enough to get a pair of goals by them.”
Playing between the pipes in all three Viper wins was Gabrielle Pakhtigian, of North Wales. Gabby made seven saves in the opening win and three more in the shutout victory. Headed to LaSalle University in September, she captured the Golden Glove award, surrendering a lone goal on a penalty kick
This year’s Under-18 Girls champion for Region I, the Vipers captured the title on July 7 for the second straight year in the final minutes of the championship.
Of the 10 defending US Youth Soccer Region I Champions, only four repeated as champs at regionals which took place July 2-7 at the Barboursville Soccer Complex in West Virginia.
In the regional title tilt, the Vipers won the match against Montclair United (NJ) when Evans scored the game's only goal in the 89th minute of play.
For their efforts, the Vipers advanced to their second straight appearance at nationals. FC Bucks made it to the national semifinals last year, though this was their first trip to the finale.
The group of girls who make up the Viper roster are a veritable who's who among Bucks County girls soccer players, including Neshaminy alum Lyndsay Pierson of Langhorne, Pennsbury graduate Yvonne Moyer of Levittown, and Council Rock North alum Clare Roche, of Washington Crossing. All are committed to Division I soccer programs in the fall. A forward for the Vipers this summer, Moyer will play her soccer at Penn in the fall. Both defenders, Pierson is headed to Pitt and Roche is going to George Washington.
The list doesn't end there though. It also includes defender Alysha Mallon, of Newtown, and midfielder Colleen Williams, of Titusville. Mallon is a Villa Jo grad and Williams is from Hopewell Valley Central. Both are headed to Dayton University to play soccer this fall. Galen, a Villa Jo Marie alum from Holland, is headed to West Chester.
Carugati is a defender from Newtown and Sabatura is a forward from Lawrencville. Kerr hails from Bensalem and has a year left at Pennington before she heads to Duke in 2010. According to Leigh, Kerr keys the offense along with Evans.
And Taylor Houck, a CB South graduate from Chalfont, is committed to play soccer at Nebraska. Coach says, she and Carugati helped keep opponents off the scoreboard throughout nationals.

The Warrington Youth Baseball 10-year-old tournament team won the Pennsylvania Cal Ripken State Championship which was held July 23 at the Barness fields, home of the Warrington Diamond Dawgs. The Dawgs captured the title by beating Central Perk, 5-4. Warrington advances to regional play which will take place in Monroe, NJ at the end of July. Pictured in the first row, from left: Cole Meenan, Kevin Berntsen, and Andrew Dietz. Middle row: Colin Green, Kevin Dorozinsky, Jack Cucinotta, Devin Farrell, Alex Bendzlowicz, Danny Klepchick, Alex Karras, Dan McCartin, and Tyler Watson. Back row: Coaches Jay Watson, John Cucinotta, Ciaran Farrell and Matt Bendzlowicz.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports

Boom-boom and then out went the lights on Warrington and Doylestown in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Cal Ripken 12-year-old State Tournament, hosted recently at Upper Makefield Youth Baseball League (UMYBL) complex.
First Central Perkiomen ousted Warrington, posting a 6-1 triumph on the wings of a second inning three-run homer, then Harleysville rode a fourth-inning grand slam to upset Doylestown, 5-4.
Central Perk's pitching dictated their game, shutting down heavy-hitting Warrington. Matt Kellar threw the first four, stellar innings, allowing two hits and one run. And James Bleming, after allowing Warrington to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth to make the game more interesting, closed out the game with two blazing strike outs, igniting the fans, his coaches and teammates’ celebrations. He let up only one hit in his two innings.
Though Warrington struck first, they were then silenced after they scored in the first. Mike Kupers walked and he later scored on a Steve Trachtenberg double for Warrington’s lone run.
When it came to hitting, C.P. thought it was B.P. In clutch moments, Central Perkiomen stroked key doubles, lined significant singles, and even threw in a towering home run. Central Perkiomen effectively clinched the game in the second inning on the back of a three-run homer to right by Evan Myers, who knocked in James Bleming and Matt Kellar. Bleming had doubled and Kellar who had singled. Central Perk splintered in runs in the third, fourth and sixth (mostly on singles) to close out Warrington.
Across the baseball complex at Georges’ Field, Harleysville was “home” against Doylestown and they would readily attest that the "Big Bang" theory is at the genesis of their playing in the state championship game. A fourth inning, towering grand slam by Tim Markow broke open the barn door on a pitchers' duel and sent the elated underdogs into the title game Tuesday.
Doylestown scored first as Will Taylor walked and scored on an error. In the third, Doylestown scored again, as Brian Browne's single scored A.J. Grezeszak and they held a 2-0 lead into the fourth.
The fourth of the game was like the Fourth of July for Harleysville. Chase Koffel led off with a long, high home run (would have been second deck if there was a second deck) to left finally get Harleysville on the board.
Koffel’s jack looked as if it were a high pop-up, but it carried and carried until it landed beyond the scoreboard in left field. Then, Jimmy Herron singled, and Doylestown allowed an error and a walk to load the bases.
Markow's moon shot to right probably would have been out in the new Yankee Stadium, and it stunned the large Doylestown crowd and the largely favored Doylestown team.
But Doylestown was too good and too tough to go down quietly. A James Moran single, followed by a Matt Malatesta home run, brought Doylestown to the edge of full comeback in the sixth. But Harleysville clamped down and closed out the game, and they move on.
Central Perkiomen and Harleysville each showed what it takes to be a championship team on Monday night. Each team laid out the law, made a statement, and hung in there until the end. With the games they have played, whether it be shut-down pitching, or launching home runs into the trees, the championship game at the Cal Ripken 12-year-old State Tournament on Tuesday night is sure to be a good one.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
The fourth annual Missy Flynn Challenge is set for Sunday, Aug. 9. It’s a running, biking and swimming fundraiser aimed at gathering funds used to help in the recovery effort of the 50-year-old Newtown resident who suffered a brain injury more than three years ago.
For those of you not familiar with the name Missy Flynn, she was once an area triathlete who competed in ironman triathlons including the Ironman World Championship that takes place annually in Hawaii. That’s a 2 1/2 mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, capped off with a 26.2-mile running marathon.
But that was before December 2005. Two days before Christmas, Flynn suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that initially rendered her bound to a wheelchair and unable to speak. Family and friends, especially significant other Brian Wong, had a difficult time seeing someone they remembered as bursting with energy sitting there almost lifeless.
That is how Flynn remained for over six months after the injury. It took her eight months before she could return home from the hospital and rehabilitation center.
There was a time when she worked for the Doylestown Intelligencer doing promotion work and marketing. After that, she held a similar post for the New Jersey Press Association. In between, she found time to run a jewelry business on the side and work out—running, biking and swimming were routine parts of Flynn’s day.
Now, it takes her three hours to get out the door in the morning.
“What we do and what we have to do take up quite a large part of the day,” said Wong, matter-of-factly.
And though she’s learned to speak once again, Flynn requires constant attention, care that she gets from Wong, who revamped his entire life to accommodate Missy.
Now, remarkably, Flynn is able to speak out loud and can stand, things she could not do in 2008. She’s also eating better and has regained much of the weight she lost after the injury.
“I’m always happy with the progress she makes because I know there’s a chance there’s not going to be any more,” said Wong.
More recently, Missy started riding an exercise bike. She and Brian have talked about the possibility of cycling outdoors and riding a tandem bike together. Still, that’s off in the distance and not something either of them know is doable.
Through it all, the pair have shown remarkable resilience coupled together with tremendous patience. While Brian is encouraged at Missy’s recent progress, he seems willing to accept whatever cards he and Flynn are dealt.
“This type of injury doesn’t lend itself to many breakthroughs,” said Wong. “You don’t get too many aha moments.”
The couple is grateful to members of the community who have came through in support of the care that Missy requires, which is round the clock. While Brian took on all of that for the first two-and-a-half years, he’s relented more recently and allowed a home health care aid to come into the couple’s home four times a week.
The funds used to pay for the nurse come from the moneys raised by many in the community. To date, that figure is up over $55,000 but it’s more than just the money.
Brian says some folks have been bringing cooked meals to the couple’s home for over three years now. That helps, says Wong, one—because he’s admittedly not the greatest cook and two—it gives him more time to spend with Missy.
“It’s things like that that make it possible for Missy to be home,” said Brian.
Wong knows that some people might choose to put someone like Missy in a nursing home. He doesn’t mince words on the topic.
“She doesn’t need to be in a nursing home, she doesn’t deserve to be in a nursing home and I don’t want her in one,” he says firmly.
“She won’t get the help that she needs there anyway.”
Support for Flynn’s recovery effort has come from all corners of the community--people like Courier Times sports writer Wayne Fish and former Bucks County Road Runners (BCRR) president Bob Curci. The pair have brought the BCRR into the mix. Now the runners organization directs the running part of the Challenge.
Newtown Bike Shop owner Harry Betz gets busy bringing the biking world and organizations like the Central Bucks Bike Club into the fold. The Newtown Athletic Club (NAC) helps by donating its facilities in the form of pool time for the swimming segment of the Challenge and also the space needed to conduct an auction and hold the award ceremony after the event is finished.
Though she's since moved away, Mary Johnson comes back to help organize the swim portion of the Challenge. Gwen Smith brings it all together—the Newtown physical therapist coordinates all the fundraising efforts for the couple.
Wong is overwhelmed by the strength of the support.
“The most amazing thing is I didn’t ask,” said Brian. “They do it on their own because they know we need the help.”
The dramatic changes in Missy described by those who don’t see the former triathlete everyday are not as extraordinary to Wong. He says he foresaw her being able to get back onto a bicycle, even if it is a standing bike. One suspects it’s much like a mother who doesn’t notice the changes in her own baby as much as friends and relatives do—it’s hard to see transformations in someone you never take your eyes off of.
"The changes I see in her are good things but they’re much more subtle to me,” he says.
What Wong does notice is that between January and the present time, Missy is laughing more when she’s watching television or speaking with friends on the phone, all of which is brand new behavior in the post-brain injury world of Flynn.
“It’s a little thing but it’s a big thing,” said Wong.
“It lets me know that she’s enjoying something whereas before I wouldn’t know one way or the other.”
When Missy started speaking in a full voice in January, Brian made sure one of the first things she did was call people to let them know.
“I knew everyone would be stunned and happy to get a call from Missy,” he says.
Flynn still has a long way to go or so the hope goes. The longest distance she can walk is 40 to 50 feet, at most. But for the first time, she’s able to do things while standing on her feet—something she couldn’t do this time last year.
“The biggest thing for me is that she is still making progress," said Brian. "It means she still has somewhere to go.”
***
Marking Missy’s past performance in the triathletic world, the Challenge is a swimming, biking and running fundraiser.
There are four rides this year starting at 10 miles and capping off at fifty. The entry fee is $20. ($25 after July 24). The ride begins at the NAC, located at the Newtown Bypass and Penn’s Trail. Riders can register between 7 and 10 a.m.
The swimming competition (400- 800 meters) starts at 6 a.m. The 5K run starts at 8:30 a.m. in front of the NAC.
For more information, contact the Newtown Bike Shop at (215) 968-3200 or visit online at www.newtownbike.com/to/missyflynn.

Tri-Township 12-year-old baseball team recently captured the Suburban Travel Baseball League crown for the second consecutive year with a commanding 9-4 triumph over the Solebury Spiders. This championship accents a season that also boasted a Monroe Tournament and a Hopewell Valley Bad Dawgs Tournament Championship.
"The wins are great," says coach Ken Hone, "but the most important thing is the winning attitude, commitment and sportsmanship these young boys show regardless of the victor or final score."
Tri-Township has continued its winning ways for the second year in a row in many ways. The team features exhibitted sportsmanship, teammate, and a collective approach to baseball that is unmatched elsewhere.
The boys and league boasted the largest roster because it wanted to give as many young players the opportunity to play as possible. Although this was predicted to cause a drop-off in ability and competitiveness because of increased play sharing time, the parents, players, and league committed to this inclusive approach and they not only won the hearts and minds of families and opponents, but they won ballgames.
In fact, more ballgames than anyone else in their division for the second consecutive year. Including the Suburban Travel, the Monroe, Mount Laurel and Hopewell Tournaments, the group went 42-7 over the past two years.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Area boys basketball team, the PA Playaz, is lighting things up this summer on the travel tournament circuit.
This year’s AAU Mid-Atlantic Division I champion, the Playaz are an AAU team comprised mostly of athletes from Bucks County. Most of the players hail from Council Rock North and Neshaminy High Schools including ‘skins sophomore scoring sensation Ryan Arcidiacono and Indian forward Arron Goodman.
In May, the Playaz captured the Division I championship by defeating Chester.
The team’s latest win came yesterday (July 22) in Las Vegas in the Adidas Super 64 Tournament when it outpaced Oregon, 56-35. Arcidiacono led the Playaz with 16 points and Owen Rice—of CR North—chipped in with 11. Goodman came through with 14 rebounds and Dwight Williams—of Neshaminy—pitched in with six steals.
“This is an extremely talented group of players,” stated head coach Gene Rice, who doubles as a Yardley businessman when he’s not coaching hoops. “There’s never been a group of Bucks County kids playing together that are this good.”
Also suiting up for the Playaz this summer are Billy McAllister, Matt McCloskey and Dan Schmidt. All three play for the Rock during the varsity season. McCloskey and Schmidt serve as the team’s defensive leaders.
Also contributing to the effort this summer are Dan Brown of CB South and Brandon Gilpatrick of Malvern Prep School. Both are big contributors on offense.
After capturing the division title, the Playaz went on a tear taking first place in the Carrierdome Classic in Syracuse, winning the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament at Temple University then taking the Team Philly Championship.
Memorial Day weekend, they took the top prize in the Bob Givens Tournament of Champions held at Duke University. At the Spring Fling tourney held at Rutgers University, the team finished in the Final Four in a 32-team field. The Playaz also finished in the top four at the Providence College Jam Fest, a tournament comprised of 54 teams.
Last week, the Playaz won the West Virginia Invitational outright before heading to Las Vegas. Back in March, the team won Philly's Finest March Madness Invitational at Girard College, defeating Hoop Heaven, 75-67, in overtime in the championship. Arcidiacono paced the Playaz with 33 points. Tyler Katz contributed five points in overtime. Goodman blocked six shots.

The Pennsbury Athletic Association (PAA) Classic 2009 baseball tournament concluded July 18 with the U-8 Upper Makefield Mavericks earning a second place finish.
The MAVS were the team to beat as they tore throught the tourney by defeating Tri-Township 16-11, followed by two additional clear victories over Pennsbury, 10-1, and Newtown, 16-7.
These decisive wins earned the Mavs a bye and entrance into the July 17 semifinals, where they battled Deep Run, coming up with an 8-7 win in extra innings. Giving it their all, the Mavs came up short as they lost 11-1 in the championship game against Northampton on July 18.
The tournament marked the end to an excellent first season together, under the exceptional direction of Head Coach Bob Johnson and Assistant Coach Bill Hoefer.

Draper, Savino to compete in ironman competition
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Two area residents are heading to Lake Placid this weekend to compete in the Ironman Triathlon there.
For those of you not familiar with ironman competitions, the athletic events consist of a 2.5-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, topped off with a running marathon, meaning another 26.2 miles.
For Pennington resident Elizabeth Savino, 45, it is her first ironman. Elizabeth is a long-time endurance runner, having completed marathon events in Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Scranton and Lake Placid.
Hamilton resident Chris Draper, a 33-year-old conditioning specialist based at PEAC Health & Fitness, meanwhile, has done the ironman before, competing in Ironman Florida last November.
The connection between the two athletes headed to New York this weekend is typical in the world of endurance sports.
About five years ago, Elizabeth hit a wall in the middle of competing in the Hartford Marathon and didn’t break four hours in the event like she usually did. Savino’s time in the event--4 hours, 19 minutes--suffered because she couldn’t run the last 5 miles and was forced to walk.
Afterward, she came to Chris, who discovered that Savino hadn’t prepared properly for the competition nutritionally. Draper spelled out a new dietary regimen for Savino that ignited the Pennington woman’s marathon performance.
In 2006, Elizabeth did so well in the Philadelphia Marathon that she qualified for the Boston Marathon. Her time of 3:49:48 was bested only by the time of 3:43:19 that Savino posted in the Lake Placid Marathon a month ago.
“Diet is ongoing,” says Savino, now. “You have to eat right before, during and after the competition.”
About two years ago, Elizabeth grew weary of the distance runners routine. She needed a new challenge. Draper suggested triathlon competitions.
Starting out by competing in sprint-tris, Savino built herself up to the point that she competed in Olympic distance triathlons. While sprint tris consist of 500-meter swims followed by 10 to 15-miles on the bike capped off with a 5K run, the Olympic distance forces a competitor to swim 1,500 meters, bike 25 miles and run 10 kilometers.
Draper’s entrance into endurance events is even more dramatic than Savino’s. Chris was once a power-lifting bodybuilder who tipped the scale at more than 250 pounds.
Inspired by the very same distance runners and Olympic hopefuls he trained in his work at PEAC, Chris began a conditioning quest that has the 33-year-old at 160 pounds as he prepares for his second ironman.
Last year, Chris turned in a time of 10-and-a-half hours in the Florida Ironman.
***
NOTES: Savino had to raise more than $1,200 to enter the Lake Placid Ironman competition. The money goes toward a community fund in the upstate New York area that assists underprivileged youths involved in sports.

Progress, steady progress.
That was the take for Upper Makefield as they were pleased, and at the same time disappointed, with their second place finish in the 11-year-old Pennsylvania PONY State Championships held July 18 and 19 in Monessen Township.
Representing Bucks County, the Upper Makefield Mavericks, which made the championship tournament last year but was knocked out in three games, ousted the host team Monessen, 7-4, in the semifinals before losing, 7-1, to defending champion Washington in the title tilt.
Though many of the Upper Makefield players had worked through the effects of a five-hour car ride to far-western Pennsylvania in their double-header split the day before, they still looked a little weary as they fell behind Monessen in the semifinal game, 3-0, in the first inning, then 4-0 in the second.
But the first of three double plays in the game seemed to ignite Upper Makefield, leading to a comeback in the bottom of the second. A leadoff single by Nick Roda and a reach-on-error for Drew Burschlag got their offense going, and Upper Makefield made the most of the opportunity as both runners scored on hits by Anthony Stefani and Matt Dellehy.
In the third inning, Riley Thompson’s leadoff single and steal resulted in a run when Nick Roda singled him in. Joe Rutkowski’s right field fence-banging single scored Roda, and Drew Burschlag’s infield hit then scored Rutkowski, who had stolen second and third.
Up 5-4, Upper Makefield put the game away in the sixth as Rutkowski skied a shot to the fence in dead center, Burschlag scratched out an infield hit, and TJ Roberts walked to load the bases. Riley Thompson hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 7-4 and assure that Upper Makefield would play for the state championship.
Rested and ready, pitching and defense-rich Washington was waiting to defend their crown. Aside from the considerable aforementioned strengths, the game was decided by the team--in this case, Washington--which took advantage of their scoring opportunities. Washington pitcher Cole Griffin threw a complete game as Upper Makefield left men on second and/or third in three innings, while Washington chipped in runs in each of their at bats.
The defending champs took a 2-0 lead in the first on a double to left by Christopher Gouin, an RBI infield chopper by Griffin, a double to center by Blake Rothbacher and an RBI on a fielder’s choice by Dakota Wilkinson. It was all they needed to close out Upper Makefield as Chase D’Arcangelo singled up the middle and scored his team’s lone run in the second while Washington used combinations of singles, steals, and smart behind-runner hitting to add a run or two each frame to create the game-winning space they needed to clinch the championship.
With the win, Washington took home the Pennsylvania PONY State Championship one more time and moves on to the North Carolina-based super regional, one step from the Virginia-based World Championship. Finalist Upper Makefield goes home to get ready for the Cal Ripken Pennsylvania State Championships next weekend when they get another shot at state supremacy.

A two-way pitchers’ duel opened the 11-year-old Pennsylvania PONY State Championships as the Upper Makefield Mavericks fell, 3-1, July 18 to reigning champ Washington Township.
Representing Bucks County, Upper Makefield rebounded with a 10-0 shut-out of Vesta in their second game, as the Mavs both stayed alive in the double-elimination tournament and ensured an appearance in the semifinals with the win.
The difference in the Upper Makefield-Washington Township game came in the first inning when the Bucks County team gave up two quick runs, while many of their players seemed to be still shaking off the effects of a five-hour car ride to far-western Pennsylvania. A thunder and frightening, epic rain delay pushed the rest of the game to Saturday morning, when the Mavericks were rested and equal to everything the Washington team had to throw at them.
Upper Makefield starter Juliano Kovalcik threw a three-hitter through four innings. He only allowed those two runs, which came in that two-hit, one-walk first inning. Michael Kalosky and Guy Markley scored the runs for Washington before the Mavs could loosen up their legs, backs and gloves that had seemed to stiffen up during the long trip west. Riley Thompson relieved Kovalcik, and allowed one run, scored by Christopher Gouin, in his two very solid innings.
Washington starter Christopher Gouin baffled the Mavs with sweeping sliders, cutting curveballs and fiery fastballs. Evan McDaniel and Cole Griffin, Washington relievers, shut down the Upper Makefield bats as well. That only one run was allowed by Washington could also be attributed to their tremendous defense. Upper Makefield crushed grounders through the game, but the Washington infielders ranged to play them consistently, notching 11 infield put-outs.
Washington Township looked as good at the start of the tournament this year as they did at the end of it last year. For Upper Makefield, the silver lining was that they played an extremely competitive game against the defending champs, much more so than last year.
But even with the silver lining, the forecast was cloudy as Upper Makefield could not lose another game in this double-elimination tournament without being ousted.
With their game legs underneath them, the Mavericks took the field primed and ready to play in its second game of the day, as they mercy-ruled Vesta, 10-0, in five innings. A complete game saw the Mavs’ hitting and pitching come together at once as they chipped away at Vesta with a small ball combination of walks, singles, and steals, in the first four innings.
Riley Thompson used his speed to score in the first, Nick Roda singled, stole second and third and scored on a past ball in the third, and TJ Roberts segued his line single down the third base line into a run after stealing second, and scoring on a shortstop error in the fourth. In the meantime, TJ Roberts and Brett Miller threw shut-out after shut-out inning.
The game was blown open in the fifth inning as Brett Miller singled, and Nick Roda and Joe Rutkowski walked to load the bases. After Drew Burschlag knocked in Miller with an infield single, Chase D’Arcangelo cleared the bases, crushing a line drive triple to the left field fence. TJ Roberts scored D’Arcangelo on an infield sacrifice, and Riley Thompson knocked in Anthony Stefani (who had walked) with a single to close out the game.
With the win, Upper Makefield assured itself of an appearance in the semi-final game, and no worse than a third place finish. So far, their trip to the PONY PA State Championships seems well worth the five hour drive and car-lag.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Looks like the men in blue have taken yet another baseball game from our boys in red.
This one hurt, however (don’t they all) as Big Blue all but handed a state title to Williamsport last week in Coatesville.
With a state championship on the line, umpires ejected Bristol’s leadoff hitter—twice—and called a walk-off game-winning run safe in extra innings, sending the red team down in defeat, 3-2, in the bottom of the eighth July 14 at Caln Park Little League ballfields
By then, Bristol had been playing with a severe disadvantage as it was down to its last 11 ballplayers. First, the home plate umpire ejected Bryan Dean, a Neshaminy High School senior, for tossing his helmet upon returning to the dugout in the third inning.
Dean was apparently upset after getting picked off first base. In his first at-bat, Dean hit a Williamsport pitch off the fence and scored a run. But after drawing a walk in the third inning, he was subsequently picked off the bag.
In place of Dean, Bristol head coach Al Pirollo inserted Anthony Yenette into the lineup. Yenette came up to bat in the fifth inning and was ejected soon after when the home plate umpire discovered that Anthony was wearing a chain, which is not allowed under league rules.
Despite leading twice in this game—1-0 and 2-1—Bristol eventually fell, 3-2. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Williamsport got runners on first and third then loaded the bases when Pirollo opted to intentionally walk a batter.
The next batter up hit a long fly ball to outfielder Mike Devane, a recent graduate of Bristol High School. A standout lefthander for Tony Mangiaracina’s Warriors during the varsity season, Devane threw a strike to catcher Chris Bechter, who had the ball in his glove and was awaiting the tag as the runner approached.
According to Pirollo, Bechter had the Williamsport runner in his sights and was ready to ring him up.
But alas, the umpire ruled the runner safe. After making the controversial call, the umpire drew a police escort and withdrew from the facility.
Game.
Set.
Match.
Police had been called to the scene when the home plate umpire got into a verbal altercation with a Bristol parent who made the trek to Coatesville to witness the skirmish.
At one point in the heat of the battle, the same umpire threatened to throw Big Al out of the contest (I’d like to see him try it).
“By that point, he’d obviously lost control of the game,” stated Big Al.
Obviously.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Winning a district title once is fabulous.
Repeating the feat is doubly nice.
Going for--and getting--the three-peat, well that’s just spectacular.
The Bristol Borough Little League U-10 softball team captured its third consecutive District 21 championship last Wednesday, July 15 at the Bristol Memorial baseball/softball complex.
To get to the title tilt, Bristol triumphed over Neshaminy, 8-3, on July 11 and Levittown-Continental, 14-0, on July 12.
The championship win wouldn’t come quite so easy against Fairless Hills, which downed Levittown Continental, 14-4, to get to the finale.
This title bout was a pitchers’ duel that lasted seven innings. In the circle for Bristol was Alyssa Adams, who was busy setting the opposition up then knocking ‘em down. Adams allowed only two hits in blanking the opposition, leading her team to its third straight D-21 title.
Tianna Brewington provided the offense for Bristol, slapping a one-out single in the seventh, then using some heads-up base-running to get herself into scoring position.
Tianna advanced to second base on a throwing error then on to third on a sac-fly. With two outs and Bryanna Vearling up at bat for Bristol, Brewington stole home on a passed ball, scoring the game’s only run.
Bristol captured D-21 titles in each of its two previous campaigns, defeating Neshaminy last year and Levittown-Continental the year before.
***
Meet Bristol

Pitcher Alyssa Adams has been outstanding in her work in the circle for Bristol, giving up only 4 runs in the two playoff games. Her coaches can't believe this 10-year-old can pitch as fast as she does.
Utility player Madison Bitting may be the smallest player on the team but what she lacks in size, she makes up for with lots of spunk and agility and can play anywhere on the field, even in the circle.
Tianna Brewington is a beast behind the plate. Nothing gets by her, defensively. She is the team's best base runner, power hitter and team clown.
Cara Fabiano almost pitched a no-hitter in a game against Continental, giving up one hit in their last up at-bat. Cara surrendered nary a run in that game.
Desiree Franchitte is a great bat that's fast as lighting with fantastic fielding skills. She went 3-for-4 against Continental.
Center fielder Demeria Jones is quick in the outfield and on the bases.
Third baseman Melissa Marchese has skills with the bat that are sure to impress.
Katie Morris is another small player but don't let that fool you. She is quick like lighting on the bases.
Alexis Mossbrook is another small player not to overlook - she had numerous key hits to produce runs for Bristol.
Shortstop Katie Santana has a great bat, great skills on the field and is an excellent base runner.
Outfielder Jade Stevens is a player with so much power, you wouldn't believe she is only 9 years old. Jade slapped a key 2-run hit against Neshaminy.
Bryanna Vearling is a player that can play infield and outfield, is quick on the bases and made a awesome diving catch in the dirt against Continental in the semifinal.
Haily Biglelow is the icing on the cake. Her dedication and skills are invaluable to the team.
Along with Head Coach Scott Fabiano, Bristol is guided by assistants Steve Bitting and John Scancella. Team Mom Luz Stevens also doubles as the scorekeeper.

Labels: Bristol, Bristol Softball

By Vince Paravecchia
Correspondent

Josh Magyar did a fist pump and waited for the pile-on.
And it came--quickly.
Nearly all the Bristol Post 382 players took part in a celebration that few would have thought possible a year ago, and not to mention, even a few days ago. This program, which last season won just three of 27 Lower Bucks American Legion League (LBALL) games, was celebrating a league title on perennial power Yardley-Western Post 317's field after winning the last two games of the 3-game championship series.
“I wasn’t looking for a league victory, but I knew we had a good team,” said third baseman Joe Tepper, about whether he thought a league title would have been possible after last year. “We just pulled it together, we got on a roll.”
“It’s awesome. I love this group of guys. We have a lot of fun; [we] just go out and play our hardest, and luckily, we came out of here with a championship today,” added second-year player Joey Brown, a Conwell-Egan Catholic graduate on his way to Bucks County Community College. “I just think we believed that we could win. We got a couple of wins early. We just kept rolling with it, just played our hardest [and] finally got here.”
When Bristol coach Tim Monaghan played for Post 382 in the mid-1990s, Post 317 was always the team to beat. Western won an American Legion national championship in 1996 and was always, at the very least, winning the league title, he recalled.
Monaghan also couldn’t remember the last time Bristol won the league championship, but one thing was sure: he hadn’t even had a playoff team in the two seasons leading up to this one.
“It’s a great turnaround,” he said of his 17-win team in league play. “I knew that last year, we were going to take our lumps and we were going to improve.”
Though they reached the postseason with a third place league finish, Post 382 staggered to the finish line after losing four of their last six games.
That’s another reason this championship was so special. Not only were most of the players back from last year’s squad, but they were considered underdogs on many fronts.
First up was Falls Post 834, which beat Bristol three times in the regular season. But Post 382 was not to be denied in the semifinal series, as it swept second-seeded Falls, which was also the defending league champion, by 6-3 and 5-2 scores.
That meant a date with top-seeded Yardley-Western, which put Neshaminy graduate Andrew Rushwick on the mound in game one and got a 6-5 victory, thanks to his efforts.
From there, the series went to Truman (Bristol’s home field) with Post 382's remarkable season on the line.
“In a sense, your back’s against the wall as far as your opposition goes there and it takes a lot to battle, and hats off to them because they came out, they did what they had to do,” said Post 317 coach Dave Vaccaro after losing game three. “They forced us to make mistakes. Either they forced us to or we found a way to make them the last two nights, and it came back and haunted us.”
Behind Mike McLeod’s one-run complete game to answer Rushwick’s performance in game one, Bristol earned a 6-1 victory that sent the series back to Conwell-Egan’s Vincent B. Carosella Field July 13 for a winner-take-all showdown.
“Yesterday, they had a little of difficulty in the field and stuff like that,” Monaghan said of his team’s game two win. “I thought if we could put up a lot of runs early that the pressure would mount on them and we could maybe force them into more mistakes.”
For a while, it looked like game three was going to be a thriller. Bristol jumped out first with a one-out, RBI hit from Joe Tepper. Post 317 starting pitcher Rick Brebner, however, got out of any further damage, and in the bottom of the first, he tied the game with an RBI groundout after his team had gotten the first two runners on base.
But that would be the last time Yardley-Western could say tie. Brown started for Bristol and got out of his own trouble, and his team would never look back. Truman graduate Ed Connelly led off the second inning with a double, and three batters later, Post 317 committed the third of their six errors on a ball hit by leadoff man Chris Fischer. Connelly scored on the gaffe, and following a strikeout, Post 317 opted to intentionally walk catcher Pat Sevick to load the bases for Tepper.
It was a move that would cost them. With two strikes, Tepper got a pitch to hit, and the possible soon-to-be Police Academy student belted a two-run hit to centerfield. That put Bristol on top, 4-1, and was followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Brown and Truman’s Dave Blount.
“I had complete confidence in Joe [Tepper] to make them pay,” said Sevick, who played for Bensalem’s legion team last year.
“We’re both pretty good hitters, but I came through with a nice single and two RBIs,” said Tepper, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. “That was big.”
That proved to be enough for Brown. The Post 382 hurler struck out five batters while yielding only three hits and two runs in six innings of work before Magyar closed things out. Both of those Post 317 tallies were also on sacrifices, with the second coming in the fourth on a fly ball by Neshaminy pitcher and second baseman Kevin Ballester.
“It’s been a long season and we just didn’t come through today,” said Yardley-Western catcher Doug Fleming. He went 1-for-4 in what will be his final American Legion game, but that lone hit was a three-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the Bristol lead to 12-5.
Fleming graduated from Penn Charter this year and will be attending Coastal Carolina University this fall, where he will continue his baseball career.
“It’s upsetting, of course, but they’ll come back next year,” he added. “Unfortunately I won’t be here, but they’re going to have a lot of great success next year. They’re just going to take what happened all in this game and [win the league playoffs] next year.”
Despite the loss, Western learned a lot about itself in winning the regular season title. There were times during the campaign that Post 317 had to play with just 11 players, but the lack of depth and ability to make moves didn’t hurt the team as the season progressed. Western still finished with the best regular season league record and made the postseason yet again. It wasn’t easy, but Post 317 then got through a three-game series defeating a never-say-die Yardley-Morrisville team, thanks to a 4-3 July 10 win that got them to the championship round.
In the beginning of the season, we weren’t hitting, we weren’t pitching, we weren’t doing anything, and then after half the season went by, we started picking everything up,” Fleming said. “I’m happy where we made it. I have no regrets [about] this year.”
He will leave the program, but only two others, namely Rushwick and fellow pitcher William Bresnahan, will as well. So, Post 317 will be more experienced next year, and on top of that, will have two young but emerging pitchers in juniors David Gaydula and Chris King.
“Guys put it behind them, enjoy the rest of their summer,” Vaccaro said. “It’s going to hurt them for a little while, but they’ll get over it and hopefully it’s a learning experience for them.”
Certainly, it seemed to be just one of those nights for Bristol, which kept the offense churning throughout. In the third, Sevick smacked a long two-run double to left center field that made it 8-1. Two innings later, Truman’s Adam Ashwell hit an RBI single after replacing Fischer, and Sevick continued his great night with another double to score Bristol’s eleventh run. Then, Brown capped his team’s scoring with an RBI triple.
By game’s end, Post 382 had racked up 14 hits and all starters had reached base.
“My first double, he just kept it up in the zone and I turned on it, and the second one was a curve ball that I had to go down and get,” said Sevick, who’s actually Monaghan’s cousin.
Sevick said he loved getting to be a part of this team this year, and the team’s certainly love having him, too. In the regular season, he batted .385 with 25 hits and 13 RBIs, but just as importantly, played lights-out defense.
“Doug’s [Doug Fleming] a great player and I don’t want to take anything away from him, but if Doug is No. 1, Pat is 1-A,” said Monaghan of the best catchers in the league this year.
He’ll be a key person in Bristol’s lineup for the upcoming regional tournament, which begins July 18 in Spring City. Post 382 will open play, which is double-elimination format, at 7:30 p.m. against Spring-Ford.
“As long as we keep hitting the ball and our pitching stays strong, we’ll be fine in regionals,” said Sevick about what the team needed to do to succeed.
“That’s one of the things we discussed when we went out into the outfield there, is that our season’s not over,” Monaghan added. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make the playoffs and obviously, as you reach that goal, you have to readjust.”

Labels: Bristol

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Yesterday, Tyler Cignarella was awarded this year’s Mercer County American Legion League (MCALL) Georgia Johnson memorial scholarship. It’s one of many academic accolades this Hopewell Valley athlete has had bestowed upon him recently.
“To be recognized for academics as well as athletics is always a great honor,” stated Tyler. “You work hard in the classroom, you really want it to pay off.
“It’s good to see when it does.”
In addition to the MCALL award given him at the annual MCALL picnic at Lawrence Legion Post 414, the recent Central High School graduate and Post 339 pitcher/ infielder has garnered the Hopewell Valley Soccer Association scholarship and the Jeanne Erickson Memorial Scholarship.
“Any kind of award is great but the good thing is it helps toward my education,” stated Cignarella, who is headed to the College of New Jersey.
On the varsity baseball field, he was named MVP as both a junior and a senior at HVC.
“Whatever Tyler does in life he’s going to be successful,” stated first-year Hopewell Legion coach Joe Fuhrman.
“He’s a bright kid and it shows on the field. His IQ on the baseball field is just as good as his GPA in the classroom.”
Cignarella was the staff ace for a Hopewell Valley varsity team that went 17-7 and played a similar role for a Post 339 team that needed to win its last game just to finish .500. While the Bulldogs punched their ticket to the Central Jersey Group II playoffs, there’d be no such postseason berth for the legion team.
No matter. Ciganarella approached his role for the post with the same zeal as he did for his varsity team. Fuhrman, for one, appreciated Tyler’s efforts. As a young first-year skipper, he was looking for a player who could step in and assume the role of leader.
Tyler did just that.
“As a player, he was straightforward and a hard worker,” stated Fuhrman. “He always reminded everyone of the situation and he got us the big play when we needed it.”
Still, Cignarella knew the difference between business and pleasure.
“Tyler knows there’s a time when you have to be serious and times when it’s time to have fun,” stated Fuhrman. “When it’s time to be serious, he was the best out there; when it was time to have fun, he’s the best person to be around.”
In varsity action, Cignarella hit .354, adding 4 home runs, 18 RBIs, 18 runs scored along with 5 doubles, a triple and 9 stolen bases.
At season’s end, he was named All-Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) first team and to the All-Area second team at second base, where he played on days when he was not pitching.
While the Bulldogs got off to a slow start, by the end of the campaign they stood that start on its head, went 17-7, won a few games in postseason action and were eliminated by eventual Sectional champion West Windsor-Plainsboro North. For a team that finished 11-12 just a year before, it was a varsity field of dreams, especially for the seniors.
“We won a lot of one-run games and really pulled it out so it really shaped up to be a pretty good season,” stated Cignarella.
“It was a great way to go out; everyday, you didn’t know who was going to come up big for the team.”
In addition to his work on the hill and at second base, Tyler played shortstop for Post 339. According to Fuhrman, he was a good one.
“At shortstop, he’s as good as there is--soft hands, great arm from the hole,” stated Fuhrman. “He was an all around leader out there. He kept the infield in line.”
A member of the National Honor Society, Tyler received a Hopewell Valley Testamur, which is awarded to students as evidence of completion of course requirements and a grade-point average far in excess of New Jersey State graduation requirements.
What stands out most about Cignarella is his willingness to stand tall--albeit quietly--in the face of adversity.
Two weeks into his legion season, Fuhrman said Cignarella hurt his wrist. Though the injury affected his play on the field, Tyler didn’t complain. Nor did he make excuses.
“He just battled and battled and battled—he fought through it,” stated Fuhrman.
“At the end of the season, he was there for us.”
On the field of play, Cignarella, who batted cleanup, was special for his ability to help win. Despite the injury he batted over .300 for his legion team this season.
“He was one of our leading hitters,” stated Fuhrman. “On the mound, he was as good a pitcher you can ask for in this league.”
“He had that knack that made him special—that knack to win ballgames.”
Come September, Cignarella will join Fuhrman at TCNJ (Joe is already a student there). But he won’t play baseball for the Lions, opting instead to play soccer at TCNJ.
One gets the feeling that what is Lions baseball coach Dean Glus’s loss is TCNJ men’ soccer coach George Nazario’s gain.
NOTES: The sons of the American Legion did all the cooking and the Post 414 Ladies Auxiliary did a great job once again with the annual MCALL picnic which is hosted every year at the Lawrence Legion Post.
Joe Logue Player of the Year — Nick Cifelli (Ewing Post 314)
Bus Saidt Most Valuable Player — Russ Stupienski (Bordentown Post 26)
John Shanders Manager of the Year — Jon Conant (Ewing Post 314)
Lou Massella Pitcher of the Year — Mike Murphy (Hamilton Post 31)
Ed McGlone Gold Glove — Mike Constantini (Hamilton Post 31)
Hap Puca Rookie of the Year — Alex Silagyi (Hamilton Post 31)
Bill Leary Memorial Batting Champion — Nick Cifelli (Ewing Post 314)
Fred Schmitt RBI Champion — Anthony Gambino (Hightstown Post 148)
Home Run Champion — Russ Stupienski (Bordentown Post 26)
Stolen Base Champions — Jose Garcia (Trenton Posts 93/182) and Kevin Kocsak (Broad St. Park Post 313)
ERA Champion — Anthony Gambino (Hightstown Post 148)
Strikeout Champion — Mike Murphy (Hamilton Post 31)
Sam Abraham Sportsmanship Award — Brian Witkowski (Ewing Post 314)
Team Sportsmanship Winners — Ahbi Chandel (Bordentown Post 26), Billy Barron (Hamilton Post 31), Claudio Espinal (Trenton Posts 93/182), Dan Westfall (Hightstown Post 148), Beau Horan (Princeton Post 218), Andrew Septer (Broad St. Park Post 313), Brian Witkowski (Ewing Post 314), Joe Mayes (Hopewell Post 339), Dom Capuano (Lawrence Post 414), Mark Rende (North Trenton Post 458), Sam Sparella (Robbinsville Post 530); Chet Otis (WW-P)
Chuck Giambelluca Dedication and Service to the MCALL Award — Warren C. Lewis
Ed McGlone $1,000 Scholarship — Matt Chotkowski (North Trenton Post 458)
John Shanders $500 Scholarship — Brian Witkowski (Ewing Post 314)
Georgia Johnson $500 Scholarship — Tyler Cignarella (Hopewell Post 339)
Mel Dempster $500 Scholarship — Mike O’Byrne (North Trenton Post 458)
2008 Joseph DiFante $500 State Baseball Scholarship — Matthew Hui (Plainsboro)

Competing for his Keystone Brawlers Wrestling Club, Council Rock South senior 140-pounder Josh Dziewa (pictured, right) posted a 4-1 record recently at the National High School Coaches Association's (NHSCA) 10th annual East Coast Wrestling Duals, falling in the final team bout to SEPA's Shane Springer on a disqualification. A former state qualifier for Pennsbury High School who transferred to South last year, Dziewa was not permitted to wrestle for the Golden Hawks last season.
Pennsylvania's Renegade Force took the High School Division title, with Shore Thing White of New Jersey taking the Middle School Division title and Central Pennsylvania the Elementary Division crown in the East Coast Duals May 22-25 at the Wicomico Youth Civic Center in Salisbury.
"The level of competition at this year's National Wrestling Duals was the best yet," NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro Jr. said. "The bracket round was outstanding. Every match had everybody on the edge of their seat. The matches were outstanding in all three divisions."
In his two seasons at Pennsbury, Josh complied over 90 vrasity wins going 47-4 as a 125-pound freshman and 44-2 as a 130-pound sophomore, making it to states in each of those campaigns. Now a grapplers for the Hawks, Dziewa is looking forward to capping off his career at CR South.
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Compiled by Sports Editor Steve Sherman

Labels: CR South, Wrestling

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Capturing a regional championship takes talent, hard work and good fortune. The task of taking same in back-to-back years is made more difficult when one considers the targets defending champions must wear while reigning atop a region that includes six states.
Of the 10 defending US Youth Soccer Region I Champions, only four repeated including the FC Bucks Vipers (E-PA), a Bucks County girls soccer team that won the Under-18 Girls title July 7 in the final minutes of the championship.
Defending their Region I title, the Vipers (E-PA) won the match against Montclair United (NJ) when Madlyn Evans scored the game's only goal in the 89th minute of play.
For their efforts, the Vipers move on to their second straight appearance at nationals.
The Region I Championships took place from July 2 to 7 at at the Barboursville Soccer Complex in West Virginia. The US Youth Soccer National Championships are slated to take place July 21-26 at Citizens Bank Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
The group of girls who make up the Viper roster are a veritable who's who among Bucks County girls soccer players, including Neshaminy alum Lyndsay Pierson of Langhorne, Pennsbury graduate Yvonne Moyer of Levittown, and Council Rock North alum Clare Roche, of Washington Crossing. All are committed to Division I soccer programs in the fall. A forward for the Vipers this summer, Moyer will play her soccer at Penn in the fall. Both defenders, Pierson is headed to Pitt and Roche is going to George Washington.
The list doesn't end there though. It also includes defender Alysha Mallon, of Newtown, and midfielder Colleen Williams, of Titusville. Both are headed to Dayton University to play soccer this fall. Forward Erin Galen, a Villa Jo Marie alum from Holland, is headed to West Chester.
A pair of Pennington School players--defender Alexa Carugati of Newtown and forward Heidi Sabatura of Lawrenceville--play to play their soccer ar Villanova. Kaitlyn Kerr of Bensalem has a year left at Pennington before she heads to Duke in 2010.
And Taylor Houck, a CB South graduate from Chalfont, is committed to play soccer at Nebraska.
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NOTES: Other repeat regional champs included the Under-14 Boys Dix Hill Thunder, Under-19 Girls FC Delco Fury II and the Under-17 Girls PDA Fire, who claimed a three-peat.
***
Vipers headed to NCAA Soccer programs
1 Alexa Carugati- VILLANOVA (Newtown) Defender
2 Carly Edgecomb– VILLANOVA ( Princeton) Defender
3 Madlyn Evans– PENN STATE (Abington) Central Midfielder
4 Erin Galen- WEST CHESTER (Holland) Winger
5 Caitlin Heim- WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (West Windsor) Goalkeeper
6 Taylor Houck- NEBRASKA (Chalfont) Defender
7 Jennifer Hoy- PRINCETON (Sellersville) Forward
8 Kaitlyn Kerr- DUKE 2010 (Bensalem) Central Midfielder
9 Alysha Mallon- DAYTON (Newtown) Defender
10 Yvonne Moyer- PENN (Levittown) Forward
11 Gabrielle Pakhtigian- LA SALLE (North Wales) Goalkeeper
12 Lyndsay Pierson- PITT (Langhorne) Defender
13 Clare Roche- GEORGE WASHINGTON (Washington Crossing) Defender
14 Heidi Sabatura- VILLANOVA (Lawrenceville) Forward
15 Rachael Sheehy- PRINCETON (Exton) Central Midfielder
16 Colleen Williams- DAYTON (Titusville) Central Midfielder

Bristol thumps Levittown-Pac in the D-21 title tilt
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
The Bristol 15-16 year-olds captured the District 21 baseball championship Monday night with a resounding win over Levittown-Pacific. Bristol thumped the opposition 15-3 July 13 at Williamson Park behind a strong effort from winning pitcher Kelvin Ortiz.
Offensively, for Bristol, shortstop Jason Gonzalez went 3-for-4 including two doubles. Outfielder James Petrino went 2-for-3 and outfielder Ryan Cullen hit 2-for-2 including a double.
Bristol began bracket play last Friday night with a 5-2 victory over Levittown International. Their winning ways continued Saturday with a 3-1 extra-inning triumph over Morrisville.
On Sunday night, Bristol punched its ticket to the championship with a 4-2 win Levittown-Pacific. The winning pitcher was righthander Kyle Weik, who also recorded the victory over Levittown-International. Kyle will be a senior this fall at Bristol Senior High School.
Bristol went two-and-out in this tourney last season. Two years ago, it made it all the way to the championship after dominating the losers’ bracket only to get crushed by Morrisville in the title tilt.
The closest Bristol came to letting the title get away from them this year was - you guessed it - in their battle with Morrisville. Trailing, 1-0, in the top of the seventh, soon-to-be-senior Carlos Rodriguez hit a double to drive in the tying run.
Bristol won the game with two runs in the top of the eighth on bases loaded walks drawn by Rodriguez and Weik.

Labels: Baseball, Bristol

Cal Ripken 11-year-olds
go undefeated,
head to states

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSport.com

Langhorne’s performance in the Cal Ripken District III Championship simply extended what it had done all week in the tournament - they just won, baby.
The 11-year-olds from Langhorne went undefeated, capping the tourney off with a 9-4 championship win over Doylestown July 12 at the Upper Makefield Youth Baseball Complex.
And though Doylestown repeatedly threatened, they were, perhaps, a little too fatigued to fully capitalize on all of the many opportunities they created in the game. In the end, like every other team Langhorne played, Doylestown could not stop the eventual champions' hitting-pitching freight train.
For the tournament, Langhorne showed that it could play long ball when it wanted to, pitch extremely well when it had to, and win when it needed to.
In the title tilt, Langhorne racked up its nine runs in rhythmic fashion, tallying three runs every other inning starting with the first. The winners hit three doubles into the outfield alleys (two by Danny Bishop and one by Joel Thibodeau), but it was Tyler Galazin’s slam to the 207-foot sign in left-centerfield (a very long single) that broke open a close game, turning a 4-2 tug of war (Doylestown had just scored two in the second, having loaded the bases twice that at bat) into a 6-2 slippery slope for the opponents.
Nolan Jones pitched another complete game, getting timely tough outs to contain Doylestown’s many chances. Doylestown had bases loaded on four different occasions, but rang up only two runs in those situations as Jones and his defense tightened up at critical times.
The best example of this was when Doylestown loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth, poised to come back yet again, only to have the would-be rally snuffed out by an unofficial triple play, hitting into a pitcher to home, home to first double play, followed by a first to short stop tag out of a straying runner at second.
Doylestown, for its part, looked like it had used all it had in the tank (and the auxiliary tank for that matter) in running through three top River League teams (Tri-Township, Upper Makefield, and Warrington) in the span of less than 24 hours, after having played Warrington and Pennsbury earlier in the week …only to then face Langhorne in the championship.
Langhorne’s unofficial triple play in the fifth was a soul-crushing blow for a team which had cruised the tournament with terminator-like determination and focus. On this day however, Doylestown fought, they put men on base, they played aggressively, but they just couldn’t pull off another comeback win.
A team that seemed to understand just how good it was, the Langhorne crew recorded the last out and, though overjoyed, had a business-like demeanor as they left the field, perhaps knowing a state championship is their next, bigger goal. Gracious winners, the champions went straight to the Doylestown dugout to shake hands with the opponents and see how Anthony Russo’s twisted ankle was feeling before accepting their championship trophies from Cal Ripken regional head Dave Tressler.
Langhorne takes a well-earned, quiet swagger and a lot of momentum into the upcoming Cal Ripken Pennsylvania State Championships. The competition had better get rested and ready.

Tyler Cignarella, of Hopewell Valley, has been awarded the American Legion Baseball Scholarship for 2009.
Tyler is a recent graduate of Hopewell Valley High School, where he was a varsity starting pitcher and all-purpose infielder for three years and was named MVP as both a junior and a senior on the squad.
Tyler was recently selected as Student-Athlete of the Year by the US Army ROTC, received the HV Soccer Association scholarship, the Jeanne Erickson Memorial Scholarship
A member of the National Honor Society, Tyler received a Hopewell Valley Testamur (awarded to students as evidence of completion of course requirements and a grade point average far in excess of New Jersey State graduation requirements).
Tyler was named to the All-CVC (Colonial Valley Conference) first team and All-Area second team. He played for two years with Hopewell Post 339 and one year for Ewing's Legion Post 314 last summer (when Hopewell Legion did not field a team).
Tyler was a member of the 15-year old District Baseball team which won the first-ever 15-year-old District title for HV, and a member of the American Legion All-Star team.
This summer, in addition to his play with Hopewell Post 339, Tyler was selected to play for the Mercer County team at the Carpenter Cup Baseball Tournament, along with other high school all-stars chosen to compete in this tournament, which is sponsored by the Philadelphia Phillies.
On June 16, in the opening round of the 24th annual Carpenter Cup at Meiklejohn Stadium on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, with Mercer trailing 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Tyler stepped up to the plate with two runners on and one out. He ripped a line drive into the right-field corner and raced around for a two-run triple to bring the Mercer County team ahead.
"With one out, I just wanted to be aggressive and hit the ball to the outfield and knock in at least one of the runs," Tyler was quoted as saying in an area news publication.
His at-bat pushed Mercer into the lead, which they maintained to win the game 8-1.
The son of Rich and Harriet Cignarella, Tyler will receive the American Legion Scholarship from Mercer County League Officials at a picnic this Wednesday, July 15 at 6 p.m. at the Lawrence Legion Hall.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
The Bristol Borough Little League U-10 softball team is going for its third consecutive District 21 championship at 6 p.m. this Wednesday, July 15 at the Bristol Memorial baseball/softball complex on Jefferson Ave.
According to manager Scott Fabiano, the same team captured D-21 titles in each of its two previous campaigns, defeating Neshaminy last year and Levittown-Continental the year before.
This year, Bristol is taking on Fairless Hills on Wednesday, July 15 as Fairless downed Levittown Continental Tuesday night, 14-4. Bristol triumphed over Neshaminy, 8-3, on Saturday and Levittown-Continental, 14-0, on Sunday to get to the title tilt.
Pitcher Alyssa Adams has been outstanding in her work in the circle for Bristol, giving up only 4 runs in the two playoff games. Her coaches can't believe this 10-year-old can pitch as fast as she does.
Utility player Madison Bitting may be the smallest player on the team but what she lacks in size, she makes up for with lots of spunk and agility and can play anywhere on the field, even in the circle.
Tianna Brewington is a beast behind the plate. Nothing gets by her, defensively. She is the team's best base runner, power hitter and team clown.
Cara Fabiano almost pitched a no-hitter in a game against Continental, giving up one hit in their last up at-bat. Cara surrendered nary a run in that game.
Desiree Franchitte is a great bat that's fast as lighting with fantastic fielding skills. She went 3-for-4 against Continental.
Center fielder Demeria Jones is quick in the outfield and on the bases.
Third baseman Melissa Marchese has skills with the bat that are sure to impress.
Katie Morris is another small player but don't let that fool you. She is quick like lighting on the bases.
Alexis Mossbrook is another small player not to overlook - she had numerous key hits to produce runs for Bristol.
Shortstop Katie Santana has a great bat, great skills on the field and is an excellent base runner.
Outfielder Jade Stevens is a player with so much power, you wouldn't believe she is only 9 years old. Jade slapped a key 2-run hit against Neshaminy.
Bryanna Vearling is a player that can play infield and outfield, is quick on the bases and made a awesome diving catch in the dirt against Continental in the semifinal.
Haily Biglelow is the icing on the cake. Her dedication and skills are invaluable to the team.
Along with Head Coach Scott Fabiano, Bristol is guided by assistants Steve Bitting and John Scancella. Team Mom Luz Stevens also doubles as the scorekeeper.

Bucks County Commissioner Charlie Martin (C) drops the puck in a ceremonial faceoff June 30 in the AAU Roller Hockey Junior Olympics that started that day at Feasterville's Sportsplex arena.

Bucks County Commissioner Charlie Martin, Executive Director of the Bucks County Conference & Visitors Bureau Jerry Lepping and TD Bank Branch Manager Joanne Schuck participated in a Ceremonial Puck Drop for the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Roller Hockey Junior Olympics.
An event that took place from June 30 to July 12 at Feasterville's Sportsplex arena, the Tournament kicked off more than two weeks ago with a battle between Mission Black Ice (Long Island, NY) and Team North Carolina. The tourney consisted of more than 165 teams competing in 462 games from over 40 states, Great Britan, Canada and Columbia.
Many teams, including Asia and Mexico, were not able to attend due to the Swine flu epidemic.
The local economy has benefited from the influx of teams in this lean tourism season due to the recession including hotels, local eateries, attractions and retail etc. Last year, this tournament brought in over 5,000 room nights to the area. This year, due to the swine flu epidemic, overnight room nights will probably total over 2,500. (about 50 percent) less.
The Sportsplex hosts many national, regional and state tournaments for Roller Hockey, Field Hockey, Roller Derby, lacrosse, Martial Arts and soccer.

The Delaware Valley Lifeguard Competition will be hosted by the Lower Makefield Township Pool on Edgewood Road at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The rain date is Aug. 6.
All aquatic facilities are welcome to enter the competition by contacting Betty Hess at 215-547-7974.
The competition consists of relay races using the 2005 American Red Cross Lifeguarding techniques. Compiling the most points competing in six relay events as the LMT Pool did last year will declare the organization as best lifeguards in the Delaware Valley.
The public is welcome to come and watch this exciting event.
For more information, contact Betty Hess, Director at 215-547-7974.
Look for more event information to follow.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports

Resiliency and grit showed as Doylestown and Upper Makefield worked their way to big wins as they reached the Final Four of the Bucks County Cal Ripken District Championships last night at the Upper Makefield baseball complex.
Shaking off the mental and physical fatigue that surely comes when multiple tense games are strung together inside of a week, Doylestown beat Tri-Township 10-1, while Upper Makefield ended Warminster’s mini-Cinderella run with a 12-1 win. The two teams earned the right to face each other Saturday morning, with the winner moving to the last step qualifier for playing in the tournament championship game Sunday.
Doylestown faced what has been, for the last month, a very hot Tri-Township team in what promised to be an extremely competitive game. And it was for three innings. The teams were tied in a 1-1 pitchers’ duel as Doylestown went to bat in the top of the fourth.
But fatigue may have caught up with Tri-Township, which played Langhorne the night before. Doylestown used their depth to wear down Tri-Township with four hits and five runs in that fourth inning. They added another run in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to close the game.
Blake Symanski led the Doylestown offense with two runs scored and three hits, including a game-changing line drive double that jump-started the team in that deciding fourth inning. Chris Palkovics and Anthony Russo combined to shut down Tri-Township’s potent offense.
Warminster, fresh off of its dramatic, draining, walk-off win over Plumstead the night before (in which the lead changed seven times), stepped in against a rested Upper Makefield team with something to prove after a lopsided loss to Warrington two nights before.
Sending up 13 batters, Upper Makefield jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first and cruised from there, adding three runs in the third and two in the fifth to close out the game.
All of Upper Makefield’s starters scored, while the top of the order catalysts, Anthony Stefani and Jackson Parker, had two hits and scored three runs each. Chase D’Arcangelo had the game’s big hit with a line drive double to the fence in right. Juliano Kovalcik and TJ Roberts combined to keep Warminster’s offense in check.
So it is Final Four time with Warrington, Langhorne, Upper Makefield and Doylestown fighting for the championship. The fatigue is there for all, but those who work through it dictate who wins. Show up Saturday morning in Upper Makefield if you want to see which teams serve up a heaping helping of grits with their baseball.
***
Cal Ripken D-III Tournament
ON DECK:

Saturday, July 11 – 10 a.m.
Upper Makefield Youth Baseball League Complex, 1090 Eagle Road, Newtown
Upper Makefield vs. Doylestown
Warrington vs. Langhorne
2PM – Winner of Upper Makefield vs. Doylestown vs. Loser of Warrington vs. Langhorne.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Kylee Rossi has always known how to reach the back of the net.
The Pennington native finished her high school career at the Pennington School with 98 goals and 64 assists, helping the Red Raiders capture state championships in both her junior and senior campaigns.
At Tennessee, where she played up top from 2005 to ‘08, she helped the Lady Volunteers win Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships in both her freshman and senior campaigns. Kylee recently finished her career in Knoxville as the school's all-time leader in points (97), goals (43), shots (329), game-winners (15) and golden goals (4).
The only thing that kept Rossi from reaching the back of the net at Tennessee was the hip injury she suffered late last season. It kept Rossi from the lineup in the last two week’s of the campaign, meaning she wasn’t on the field for the team’s SEC tournament wins over Auburn (2-1), LSU (4-2, PKs) or its conference title-winning 1-0 triumph over Georgia.
Despite suffering the injury that knocked her out of the lineup for the Vols’ last playoff run, Rossi made the most of her senior year.
After breaking the school record for career goals the previous year, Rossi entered her senior campaign needing just 14 points to surpass former Volunteer and Canadian Olympic Team member Rhian Wilkinson as the program’s all-time points leader.
Rossi recorded the record-setting goal in an October win over Arkansas, eclipsing Wilkinson's previous mark of 88 points.
Kylee finished her senior season with 13 goals to once again lead the team and the conference. After playing her last game for the Orange and White, Rossi earned a spot on the Soccer Buzz Magazine All-Central Region Second Team, the fourth such honor of her career.
***
While freshman typically don’t see a lot of action at Tennessee, Rossi played in all 23 games, starting 20 of them in 2005, her first year there.
Kylee scored her first collegiate goal in the Vols’ season opener against North Carolina, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation at that time. In so doing, she became just the seventh player in program history to score her first goal in their debut.
A little later that season, Rossi scored her first game-winner with 11 seconds to go in a 1-0 triumph over Virginia. In the postseason, Kylee showed no sign of first-year jitters, reaching the back of the net against LSU, helping Tennessee to a 2-0 victory in the first round of the SEC tournament.
In the SEC title tilt, after helping her team take a 1-0 victory over Auburn to win the conference crown and its accompanying automatic bid to NCAAs, she helped the Vols with a goal and an assist in the team’s NCAA tournament opening win over Wake Forest.
When that season came to a close, Rossi was showered with accolades, earning a spot on both the Soccer Buzz Central Region and SEC All-Freshman Teams. She was also named third-team All-Central Region by the NSCAA/Adidas.
In 2006--her sophomore campaign--Rossi tallied 10 goals and five assists and became just the third Volunteer to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back campaigns.
Her three game winners that season all came in crucial matches for the Lady Vols--at No. 20 Florida, in overtime against Vanderbilt and in a first round win over Auburn in the SEC Tournament, a game in which she reached the back of the net twice.
Rossi scored multiple goals in three games that year, finding the back of the net more than once against the Gators and in a win over Alabama. In league action, Rossi tallied 6 goals and 3 assists, helping the Vols to a second place tie in the Eastern Division.
At NCAAs, after tallying the team’s third strike in a 4-0 triumph over UAB, Rossi really came through when the pressure was on in a second round pairing against Duke. In a penalty kicks session--needed when neither side scored in regulation--Rossi came up to bat with the sides tied at 3 PK goals apiece. When her ball crossed the line in the 10th shot of the session, Kylee ended the Blue Devils hopes for good.
When the season ended, Rossi was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year. She was the first player ever at Tennessee bestowed with the honor and she’d go on to win it again the following season.
During the spring of 2007, Rossi earned a spot on the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team. She scored for that team, too. On a trip to England, the squad faced off against the top women's club teams in Britain. Rossi saw action in four games and reached the back of the net twice.
In her junior campaign, Rossi became the first player in program history to lead the team in scoring for three consecutive years tallying 30 points on 12 goals and six assists.
Kylee led the SEC in scoring notching nine goals and three assists for 21 points during league play.
Rossi couldn’t have picked a better time to become Tennessee's all-time leading goal scorer when she reached the back of the net in overtime in a second round NCAA Tournament win over Clemson. Kylee’s tally in the second extra session gave UT a 1-0 triumph, improved the Vols to 15-4-2 and put them in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Kylee notched six game winners that season, including five during SEC play and became the program's all-time leader in career game winners with 12.
For her efforts, Rossi was named Soccer Buzz Third-Team All-American and was named to the NSCAA All-Southeast Region Second Team.
Come time for the postseason, Rossi always came up big for Tennessee. In eight NCAA Tournament matches for the Lady Vols, Kylee tallied four goals while assisting on three others. After notching two goals and one assist during the 2007 tournament, she became Tennessee's all-time NCAA Tournament scoring leader.
And that is exactly where she remains today.
The girl can score goals—she always could.

The Langhorne 12-year-old tournament baseball team captured the Quakertown Invitation Tournament championship with five straight wins tallied over the July 4th weekend. The 12-year-olds capped the holiday weekend off by defeating Upper Merion in the championship game, 7-1.
For the tournament, Langhorne displayed outstanding defense, giving up only four runs over the five-game stretch, with strong pitching coming from Michael Ratner and Corey LaQuay, with Connor Lafferty and Kyle Skeels also getting wins.
Defensively, the tournament series included strong outfield performances by Ian Davis, Colin Cook and Kenny Lehman, with two perfect relay plays to catcher Mark Farley in the championship game to cut down attempts by Upper Merion to score.
The offense was led by the bats of Lafferty, Skeels and Nolan Jones while Matt Hessenthaler, Skeels, Lafferty, and Ratner led Langhorne in runs scored for the tournament. Farley homered twice, while Skeels, Lafferty and Jones also hit home runs. Cook and Brennan Carr also batted over .500 for the tournament.
A week prior to that in the Sacred Heart Invitational Tournament, Langhorne recorded a second place finish, dropping a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Montgomery in the championship.
From here, Langhorne is headed to the Pennsylvania State Cal Ripkin tournament slated to begin July 18.
***
Photo Caption:
Langhorne 12-year-old tournament baseball team captured the Quakertown Invitation Tournament championship with five straight wins recorded over the Fourth of July weekend. Pictured kneeling in the first row, from left: Nolan Jones, Michael Ratner, Kenny Lehman, Corey LaQuay, Ian Davis and Matt Hessenthaler. Second row: Colin Cook, Kyle Skeels, Michael Palmer, Conner Lafferty, Brennan Carr and Mark Farley. Third row: Coach Paul Lafferty, Manager Brian Hessenthaler and Coach Jeff Ratner.

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports

The opposite ends of the Upper Makefield Youth Baseball League (UMYBL) complex seemed like they were more like conflicting ends of the baseball world in the second round games of the Bucks County Cal Ripken District 3 Championship Thursday night, July 9.
At one end, Langhorne turned on a fire-hose torrent of runs in the top of the first, taking a 9-0 lead, to effectively quiet the crowds and settle the game before Tri-Township had even batted.
At the other end of the complex, Warminster and Plumstead fought back and forth each half inning like their baseball lives depended on it – and they did, for Warminster knocked Plumstead out of the tournament with a gut-wrenching, gut-checking, raucous walk-off 9-8 win.
One-sided triumphs, settled early, have been the norm in the tournament’s winners’ bracket so far. After Warrington beat Upper Makefield, 12-0, Wednesday night, Langhorne showed they could flash metal and score big as well. The 9-0 win brought to 23 the number of runs they’ve scored already in the tournament.
Langhorne batted around in the first, using combinations of walks and singles to fuel their win. Eight of their starting nine scored in the first inning, and Tyler Galazin scored twice in the frame. Tri-Township shut down Langhorne from there, but it was too late to save the game, especially given Nolan Jones’s four-hit shutout pitching gem.
In the other bracket, with one team going home in this double elimination tournament game, Warminster and Plumstead exchanged shots and runs, slams and volleys, leads and come-backs, all the way to the bottom of the sixth.
After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first, Warminster appeared to be cruising, until Plumstead kicked sand in their ice cream cone with a third- and fourth-inning rally to take a 4-3 lead.
After Warminster stepped it up to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth, Plumstead showed its resilience by coming back to snatch the lead, 6-4.
Warminster could have been upset and dejected, but they chose to make a statement of their own, riding three singles to put four runs up on the board in the bottom of the fifth and seemingly put an end to Plumstead’s season with an 8-6 lead after five.
But Plumstead smirked at the quandary, scoring two runs with two outs to tie the game. Warminster took the shot, and then took the game. With an anything-you-can-do,-I-can-do-better attitude, Warminster won 9-8 as Henry Swanson scorched a two-out, walk-off single to right with men on second and third.
For the game, Tom Hinks had three RBIs for Warminster.
The Langhorne win sets up a rematch of the Cal Ripken River League championship as they face Warrington Saturday (Warrington won that game).
Tri-Township will relight the burners to challenge Doylestown Friday night, while Warminster will try to carry the good feelings of this dramatic win into its game with Upper Makefield Friday night as well.
And Plumstead goes home, but with its head held high, strong and positive, aggressive and feisty to the end.
***
Cal Ripken District 3 Championships
Upper Makefield Youth Baseball League Complex
1090 Eagle Road, Newtown

On Deck:
Friday, July 10 – 6 p.m.
* Upper Makefield vs. Warminster
* Tri-Township vs. Doylestown

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

While Yardley-Morrisville made it into the Lower Bucks American Legion League (LBALL) playoffs, it may have emptied its tank getting there.
An eight-game late season losing streak marked by injuries and sloppy play put Morrisville's back to the wall and forced the team into a must-win situation. To its credit, the team that calls Philly Biblical College home won its final three games.
A twin killing of Newtown Post 440 July 3 gave the team new hope of making the playoffs. Y-M sealed the deal, using a 9-5 comeback win on Tuesday, July 7--in addition to a third tiebreaker that fell in its favor--in order to grab the fourth and final Lower Bucks Legion playoff berth.
In its 9-5 comeback win over third place Bristol Post 382 on the last day of the season, Y-M starter Dave Schilling (6-4) tossed six innings to record his sixth win and reliever Matt Godart came on in the seventh and picked his fifth save.
The next night when it came time to open its best of three series with regular season champion Yardley Post 317, Western had its ace. Morrisville did not.
Post 317 went with Neshaminy senior Kevin Ballester, who entered the game with a 7-1 record. The soon-to-be 12th-grader gave Western exactly what it needed, blanking Y-M through the first five innings while his offense was busy mounting a 9-0 edge.
Morrisville was forced to go with Sam Truelove, a University of Pittsburgh freshman, who finished 4-3 on the season including a win he picked up in the nightcap against Newtown.
After getting out of the first inning unscathed, Truelove got rocked for six runs in the second and three in the fifth before finally giving way after putting the first two runners on base with no outs in the home sixth.
While Morrisville did manage to rally with six runs of its own in the top of the inning, Western got all of those runs back off reliever Matt Godart and went on to a 15-7 triumph and a 1-0 playoff series lead last July 8 at Conwell-Egan Catholic’s Vince Carosella Field.
The series moves to Philly Biblical tonight at 5 p.m. It’s a must-win situation for Morrisville.
While Ballester got rocked for six runs in the sixth, to his credit, he hung in there and finally pitched out of the jam inducing a doubleplay ball slapped to second base by Y-M first baseman John Nisula.
“It’s a four team league now and you lose two games and you’re out,” stated Post 317 coach Dave Vaccaro. “You don’t want to your decision to come back and bite you just because you’re trying to save a kid and get him out of there early.”
While Kevin gave way on the hill to Chris King in the seventh, he managed to find a way to help his team in the inning after coming in as a defensive replacement for Y-W third baseman Kelsey Koellner.
King had put a pair of runners on base, surrendering a single and a walk respectively to Eddie Budnick and Chris Hunter. On a ball tapped to him at the hot corner by Phil Herring, Ballester recorded a doubleplay putout of his own, tagging Budnick before he got to third and knocking down Herring before he reached first.
Contrary to common baseball mantras, Vaccaro says the team with the biggest bats will advance in this tournament. Pitching resources throughout the league were decimated by a grueling late season schedule caused by early season rains and a latecomer to the party in Newtown. *
“You’re only going to go as far as your offense takes you,” stated Vaccaro. “We’re coming off a situation where everybody needed their arms right to the end including us.
“There’s nobody sitting on four or five days rest.”
While Western shortstop Rick Brebner (3-for-4, RBI) and outfielder Justin Pilchman (2-for-4, RBI) came through for Post 317 at the top of the order, it was second baseman and No. 9 hitter Bill Bresnahan who stood out most. The Neshaminy alum and Holy Family freshman helped his team with a pair of bases-loaded doubles, driving in 5 runs for the game.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” said Bresnahan. “Usually, when you just try to do that, good things happen.
“Today it did.”
The middle of the Western lineup fared nearly as well as Bresnahan. With outfielder John Burns and DH Cote Stover, 5- and 6-hitters respectively for Post 317, each hitting 2-for-3 for the game. Stover also drove in a pair of runs for Western.
Slapping multiple hits for Morrisville were rightfielder Ken McCormick, who went 3-for-4, including a pair of doubles and 2 RBIs, leftfielder Eddie Los (2-for-4) and second baseman Ed Budnick (2-for-4, double). Ryan Donovan also slapped a double and drove in a pair of runs.
***
UPDATE: In game two, Morrisville jumped all over Western starter Rick Brebner with five runs in the first July 8 at Philly Biblical College. Post 317 rallied, taking a 1-run edge with 6 runs of its own in the sixth. The teams traded 2-spots in the seventh and the sides stayed locked at 8-all until the home ninth.
That’s when Y-M centerfielder Mike Decembrino came through with an RBI single with runners at second and third, scoring Herring with the winning run and sending the teams back to CEC tonight (game time: 5 p.m.) tied at a game apiece.
The winner will face Bristol in the championship, which knocked off Falls July 9 in the other semifinal.
“We started the season feeling that we were one of the top three or four teams in the league,” stated Coach Decembrino. “I still think we are.”
NOTES: After finishing at 11-13 in legion play, Morrisville had been tied with Northampton at 10-12-2. The sides split their four game series at two apiece. But Y-M beat Northampton by 3 runs collectively in its two wins; Northampton won by 2 runs combined in its two triumphs.
Newtown Post 440 entered legion play more than a week after the season started because many of its players were busy mounting a state playoff run for Council Rock North.
***
Yardley Post 317 15, Yardley-Morrisville 7

Yardley-Morrisville 000 006 1 - 7 9 1
Yardley Post 317 060 036 x - 15 14 4
(July 8 at CEC)

WP: Kevin Ballester (1-0); LP: Sam Truelove (0-1)
Doubles: Y-M--Ken McCormick 2, Eddie Budnick, Ryan Donovan
Y- Bill Bresnahan 2
Triples: Y-W Rick Brebner
Multiple hits: Y-M--Ken McCormick 3-for-4, Eddie Los 2-for-4, Ed Budnick 2-for-4
Y-W Brebner 3-for-4, John Burns 2-for-3, Cote Stover 2-for-3, Justin Pilchman 2-for-4, Bill Bresnahan 2-for-4
RBIs: Y-M--Donovan 2, McCormick 2, Los

Yardley-Morrisville 9, Yardley 317 8
(July 9 at PBU)
Yardley Post 317 000 006 200 - 8 9 3
Yardley-Morrisville 500 001 201 - 9 12 1
***
WP: Dave Schilling. LP: Dave Gaydula
Doubles: Y-M--Mike Decembrino
Triples: Y-W--Rick Brebner
RBIs: Y-W--John Burns 2, Kelsey Koellner 2, Kevin Ballester 2, Doug Fleming; Y-M-Decembrino 2, Shane Coleman 2, Pat Herring 2, Ken McCormick, Eddie Los, Eddie Budnick
Multiple hits: Y-W--Bill Bresnahan 2-for-4. YM-DeCembrino 5-for-5, Phil Herring 2-for-3

Congratulations to the Pennsbury Athletic Association (PAA) U-10 Bandits softball team, who recently captured their league championship with a 3-2 win on Sunday, June 14.
The Bandits completed their campaign with a record of 10-1-1.
Special thanks to Bandits coaches Tim, Dave and Steve for a great season.

Langhorne and Tri-Township
lay the hammers down

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports

Arms and hammers.
The first two days at the Cal Ripken District 3 Championships at the Upper Makefield baseball complex have been dominated by pitching and hitting, respectively. On Monday, complete game pitching marked wins by Warrington and Upper Makefield in the tourney for 11-year-olds.
But on Tuesday night, it was all about steady pounding ‘hammers’ as Langhorne built momentum to eventually steamroll Plumstead, 14-4, while Tri-Township, with the strength and precision of an ironsmith, beat Warminster, 18-4.
Langhorne was patient but sure in its game against Plumstead. Always aggressive and feisty, Plumstead jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning, and held a 3-2 lead after two.
In the end, Langhorne’s batting strength would outlast Plumstead’s determination. Two dramatic line shots over the eight-foot fence in dead center by Connor McCracken first changed the game’s momentum in the second inning, and then wedged open a close game in the fifth inning when Langhorne scored eight runs. McCracken, Nolan Jones, Tyler Galazin, and Zach Winkler scored two runs each for Langhorne.
Tri-Township’s win over Warminster was a case of steady and true marksmanship. While Warminster pushed back the tide with some very solid pitching, it was Tri-Township’s depth at the plate that launched them away.
Scoring four runs in the first, three in the second, six in the third, and five in the fourth, Tri-Township’s batters were effective up and down their lineup. Tyler Andra scored four runs, while Carter Usowski knocked in six, the most dramatic of which resulted from a line drive double off the top of the left field fence.
When Langhorne and Tri-Township meet on Thursday night, July 9, more hitting fireworks are certain to light up the sky. On an early July summer evening, it’ll be worth the trip to Upper Makefield to see the glow of the rockets and feel the heat and burning embers in what is certain to be a memorable Bucks County youth baseball match-up.
***
Cal Ripken District 3 Tournament
Upper Makefield Baseball Complex
1090 Eagle Road
Newtown
***
On Deck:
Wednesday, July 8 – 6 p.m.
Upper Makefield vs. Warrington
Doylestown vs. Pennsbury

Regional champions of the under-14 through under-19 age groups were crowned earlier today at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships at the Barboursville Soccer Complex in Barboursville, West Virginia.
Of the 10 defending US Youth Soccer Region I Champions, only four repeated including the FC Bucks Vipers (E-PA), who won the Under-18 Girls title earlier today (July 7) in the final minutes of the championship.
Defending their Region I Championship, the Vipers (E-PA) won today’s match against Montclair United (NJ) when Madlyn Evans scored the game's only goal in the 89th minute of play.
For their efforts, the Vipers move on to their second appearance at nationals.
The 2009 US Youth Soccer National Championships to be played July 21-26, at Citizens Bank Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Other repeat regional champs today included the Under-14 Boys Dix Hill Thunder, Under-18 Girls FC Bucks Vipers and Under-19 Girls FC Delco Fury II are all back-to-back Region I Champions and the Under-17 Girls PDA Fire, who claimed a three-peat.

The arms have it!
Pitching, pitching, and more pitching ruled the day as the Cal Ripken District 3 (covering virtually all of Bucks County) 11-year-old Championships opened last night (July 6) at the Upper Makefield baseball complex.
Warrington shut down Doylestown, 5-0, using a dominant complete game two-hitter by Zack Dennis. On the other side of the complex, Upper Makefield worked past Pennsbury, 5-3, as Juliano Kovalcik also went the distance, surrendering just four hits while striking out three.
Using a small ball strategy and aggressive base-running, Warrington jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning and then rode Dennis’s pitching and very solid defense the rest of the way. Connor Moffat slapped three hits to lead the way while Ty Rossi added two hits and two runs scored .
Providing the rest of the offense for Warrington were Willie Moller and Zach Dennis, who poked a double in the sixth inning. Doylestown’s T.J. Garvin and Anthony Russo had the tough luck of pitching solid games against Dennis, as they allowed only seven hits, combined, in their three innings each.
Juliano Kovalvik controlled the game as he overcame a rough fourth inning (in which he gave up two runs on two hits) to provide Upper Makefield with the steady outing it needed while its team-spread offense gelled.
For UM, Andrew Gruebel had two hits in the clean-up spot, while Jackson Parker scored two runs. Riley Thompson and Nick Roda each had a hit and scored a run.
For Pennsbury, Nick Tenilucci picked up two RBIs, scoring Fred Schrandt and Joe Braun, on a line drive hit in the gap in right-center during the fourth inning.
Like their Doylestown counterparts across the complex, Rob Daly and Tim Clarke pitched well for Pennsbury, but fell just short on a night when their team faced a very talented, composed pitching opponent.
No one wants to open a double elimination tournament with a loss and two pitchers enabled both Upper Makefield and Warrington to open on a positive note. As neither Dennis nor Kovalcik will be available to pitch when Warrington faces Upper Makefield Wednesday night in the winner’s bracket, pitching depth would appear to be the determining factor for the victor.
With Warrington having won two of the previous three outings against Upper Makefield this year, and with no less than 15 runs having been scored by the teams in any previous game, the only thing certain is that the battle will be very entertaining.
***
Submitted by James D’Arcangelo

While Yardley-Western Post 317 clinched the Lower Bucks American Legion League (LBALL) regular season championship on Monday, the rest of the league is still up for grabs.
Yardley-Western, Falls Legion Post 834 and Bristol Post 382 have three of the league's playoff spots locked up, Falls and Bristol are still battling for second place. Both have identical 13-9-1 records and both are playing tonight.
The last playoff berth will go to either Yardley-Morrisville or Northampton. The teams are tied with 20 points each, though Y-M has an additional win at 10-13, compared to Northampton's record of 9-12-2.
After wrapping up the league title Monday night with a 5-3 win over Falls, Post 317 opens postseason play Wednesday, July 8 at Conwell-Egan Catholic against an undetermined opponent.
The league is awaiting results of tonight's games which pit Northampton vs. Newtown, Yardley-Morrisville vs. Bristol and Yardley-Western vs. Falls.
At 9-14 in league play, Newtown cannot get in but they can play spoiler by beating Northampton tonight at Council Rock North. Bristol plays host at Harry S Truman High, Falls at Pennsbury.
Yardley-Morrisville gave itself playoff life by beating Newtown last Friday in a doubleheader, edging Post 440 in a pair of 1-run games at Philly Biblical College. Newtown eliminated Lower Southampton, last year's regional runner-up, when it defeated LoSo twice in last Sunday's doubleheader. Post 440 also defeated Bristol on Saturday.
Yardley-Morrisville would own the tiebreaker in a lock with Newtown, having defeated Post 440 in all four games this season. Y-M split its four-game series with Northampton.
--Steve Sherman

The Warrington Diamond Dawgs 10-year-old boys baseball travel team won the Suburban Travel Championship game by beating Newtown, 2-1. The Diamond Dawgs finished with a perfect 18-0 record in their travel season. Pictured kneeling, from left: Andrew Dietz, Cole Meenan, Jack Cucinotta, Tyler Watson, Alex Karras, Kevin Berntsen, Tim Radwanski and Colin Green. Standing in the back row: Coach Jay Watson, Coach John Cucinotta, Kevin Dorozinsky, Alex Bendzlowicz, Coach Matt Bendzlowicz, Devin Farrell, Danny Klepchick, Coach Ciaran Farrell and Dan McCartin.

The Yardley Makefield Soccer (YMS) Xplosion U-17 boys team blanked all four foes they met at regionals including a 2-0 shutout they posted this morning over Seacoast United Maine. The team has once again qualified for nationals slated for later this month in Massachusetts.

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

There’s more than one way to skin a cat as they say, or more directly, more than one way to reach your goal.
Such is the case for the Yardley Makefield Soccer (YMS) Xplosion U-17 boys team whose road to nationals less than a week ago looked much tougher this year than last.
But that was before the boys from Bucks County outpaced four opponents at regionals, blanking all four in the process including a 2-0 shutout in the championship July 7 in West Virginia.
All of a sudden, the Xplosion is back in the US Youth Soccer National Championships slated for later this month in Massachusetts.
In the Region I (East) championship, YMS needed overtime to get past opponent past Seacoast United Maine but they did so using a pair of goals from Manolo Sanchez and Eddie Guerrero.
Sanchez broke the ice in the fifth minute of the extra session off a feed from Steve Neumann (Council Rock North). Guerrero scored in 10th minute of OT off a feed from Sanchez.
Keeper Drew Hutchins (Pennsbury) and the back four of Brian Powers (Pennsbury), Sepp Dasbach, Eric Schoenle (Pennsbury) and Ryan Tessler (CR North) held all four opponents off the scoreboard for the entire tournament.
To get to the title game, the Xplosion pulled off a pair of 1-goal wins over state champions from New Jersey and Virginia and a 4-0 semifinal triumph over Rhode Island champ Bruno.
Last summer, YMS qualified for nationals through its top two finish in the USYSA National League. This year, the Xplosion had its chance to sidestep regional qualifiers by winning a National League playoff with Lower Merion Velez in a mid-April matchup at Drexel University.
With both teams entering the battle with identical 4-0-2 records, Velez won that all-important game, 2-0, with a pair of goals in the last five minutes, finishing as the top team in the National League. The Dallas Texans–Houston Division punched the second ticket to nationals by claiming the runner-up slot with a 5-1-1 record.
In order for the Xplosion to make it to nationals this year, they had to take the top prize in the US Youth Soccer Region I (East) tournament which took place July 2 to 7 at Barboursville Soccer Complex, Huntington YMCA Kennedy Center and Scott Orthopedics Soccer Complex in Barboursville, West Virginia.
YMS qualified for regionals last month by defeating their old nemesis Lower Merion Velez, 2-0, in the finals of the Region 1 Premier League. A week later, the Xplosion followed with another 2-0 win over Lower Merion in the EPYSA State Cup finals.
At regionals however, YMS had an extremely difficult draw, says Coach Jim Powers, as it had to go up against TSF Academy Celtic--the state champs from New Jersey, Virginia state champ Great Falls 91 Elite in preliminaries.
The Xplosion passed the first two tests, kicking off the tourney July 3 with a 1-0 win over TSF Academy then following that up with a 1-0 win July 4 over Great Falls 91 Elite.
That put the Xplosion into the semifinals, where they trounced Rhode Island champion Bruno, 4-0, on a trio of goals by Pennsbury forward Eddie Adams and another by Chris Wysocki of Newtown.
In the opening win against TSF Academy, Brian Powers scored the game winner using a late-game penalty kick goal. Neumann put the ball into the back of the net against Great Falls.
YMS took off for West Virginia late last week as the Eastern PA representative to compete in the regional tourney, which kicked off at the Barboursville Soccer Complex, Huntington YMCA Kennedy Center and Scott Orthopedics Soccer Complex, in Huntington. Rains that pelted West Virginia Saturday night into Sunday forced the cancellation of a preliminary matchup between the Xplosion and Maryland champion Pachuca.
The US Youth Soccer National Championships are slated for July 21 to 26, at Citizens Bank Field at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Harness racing insiders say Dial or Nodial was injured after finishing fifth in last Saturday's North America Cup.
Reports say the homebred son of Western Ideal, who is owned by Arlene and Jules Siegel (pictured) of New Hope’s Fashion Farms, was transported to the University of Guelph after suffering a leg injury in the $1.4 million stakes race at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ontario.
The three-year old pacer, which was 4-1 in the morning line and 7-2 at post, finished behind 3-1 winner Well Said, runnerup Art Colony, show horse and the favorite going in at 9-5 Keep it Real and fourth place Mr. Wiggles.
After the race, insiders say the horse was seen favoring a hind leg in the paddock, and was later x-rayed at the track to determine the extent of the injury.
Trained by Jim Campbell and driven by Brian Sears, Dial or Nodial has banked in excess of $717,000 to date. A two-time New Jersey Sire Stakes champion, Dial Or Nodial has won 11 of 17 lifetime races. The horse last won the New Jersey Sires Stake Championship at the Meadowlands on May 30 before finishing third in the $500,000 New Jersey Classic. Last year, he won eight of 12 starts and claimed over $400,000.
In June 20 eliminations at Mohawk, Dial Or Nodial won his North America Cup elimination race by a length over OK Boromir in 1:50.2.
But in the big race last Saturday, Well Said, which had also beaten Keep it Real in eliminations, drew off late to win going away by 3 and 1/4 lengths in a new stakes, track, and Canadian record time of 1:48 1/5.
8-1 Art Colony rallied from 7th place early on to nose out pacesetter and favorite Keep It Real for second place money.
A week before in a driving rainstorm at Mohawk, after taking his time getting to the front in eliminations, however, it was heavily-favored Dial Or Nodial emerging the winner. Away rather tardily, Dial or Nodial came a second-over trip around the far turn and was four wide down the stretch, while furiously trying to catch the pacesetter Ideal Danny.
In the closing strides, Dial Or Nodial was up in time, in 1:50.2, holding off a charging OK Boromir for the win, while Bay Of Sharks finished third.
It was the third win in five starts this year for the son of Western Ideal.
"There was a lot of speed in the race," said Sears, who piloted Rock’nRoll Hanover to a Cup win in 2005. "They mixed it up pretty good. My horse really likes that kind of trip. He can come off cover. He was parked the whole mile, but it was a great effort. I was really happy with him. I had to three-deep him early, but it was just a really good effort."
In it’s elimination, Well Said, the winner of last year's Breeders Crown, took over after Lisagain had taken the field to the opening quarter in :27.2. The son of Western Hanover hit the half in 55.4 and the three-quarters in 1:23.3, then opened up a length on the field in mid-stretch.
Keep It Real, driven by Steve Condren, moved out from the pocket to mount a stiff late challenge and just missed in his first loss in seven starts. It was nonetheless a gallant effort after leaving from the 10-hole.
NOTES: The Siegels are the owners and operators of Fashion Farms, which is located on Street Road in New Hope. Next up for the horse breeders is the Hambletonian, a $1.5 million race held in August at the Meadowlands. They'll post Tomcango in one of the biggest stakes races for trotters in the world. The couple earned their place in the winners circle in 1995 when their horse Tagliabue, named for the former NFL commissioner, won the race by 2 and 1/4 lengths in 1995.
***
Compiled by Sports Editor Steve Sherman

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

The road ended Monday, June 29 for the SOL National/Bicentennial (BAL) in the fifth annual Carpenter Cup softball tournament.
The opportunity to work together with the opposition is what assistant coach Frank McSherry relishes about the tournament, which combines the Council Rocks, with Neshaminy, Pennsbury of the Suburban One League, with Bristol Morrisville and some other teams from the Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL).
“We get the opportunity to coach kids that we coach against all year long and some that we never see as coaches,” stated McSherry.
“When we see the kids the following year, they no longer see you as the enemy, which is really refreshing.”
The local girls would have fared much better in the tourney, said McSherry, if not for an infield-outfield collision in game three of opening day that led to a 6-5 loss to Delaware South.
What hurt the SOL National’s cause most, according to the coach, was losing hurlers Sarah McGowan, of Neshaminy, and Kiersten Cain, from Bristol, when the team took the field against Jersey Shore. Both pitchers headed out to Colorado Monday, June 29 to compete in a national showcase tournament out west.
Earlier in the tournament, McGowan had held the opposition scoreless in four of the seven innings she pitched in wins over Chester and DelCo. Cain didn’t give up any runs in those same matchups and was on her way to a win vs. Del-South when all hell broke loose.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, a gaffe made on a popup over second base scored both the tying and winning runs for Delaware South, which went on to win the championship.
“We could very well have walked away from Wednesday at three-and-oh,” said McSherry. “That would have put us in a better position to win.”
Before the locals were eliminated however, the girls from lower Bucks got another chance to show their stuff to the collegiate scouts who came to South Philadelphia’s FDR Park looking for their next big NCAA prospect.
The SOL National/BAL trailed early in their final game against Jersey Shore. Pennsbury junior hurler Kait Schilling got herself into trouble in the bottom of the first inning, putting a pair of baserunners on with no outs after surrendering a single to pitcher Kasey Bulman and issuing a walk to infielder Alisha Cumberton. Third baseman Leann Ventriglia got the big hit in the frame, slapping a triple that scored a pair of runs for Jersey Shore.
Schilling got the locals on the board in the top of the second inning, scoring Bristol sophomore Brooke Dugger from third base with a sac fly to centerfield. Dugger had gotten on base with a walk, went to second on a passed ball then to third on an error by opposition right fielder Ani Sasala.
Jersey Shore padded their edge in the bottom of the third inning however, getting three more runs off Schilling. Again, Kait put a pair of runners on base with no outs, giving up back to back singles to Danielle Raneri and Bulman.
Center fielder Nicole Saggiomo’s single did the most damage, pushing a pair of runs across the plate that put Jersey Shore up, 4-1. Taylor’s McDonough’s triple then put the team from the Garden State up 5-1.
From there, things got a little wild, though no further damage was done by Jersey Shore. After drawing a walk – still with no outs – Ventriglia stole second and went to third on a sacrifice before getting cut down at the plate on a ground ball tapped by Jill Martin.
Martin then stole second and went to third on an error before getting cut down at the plate going for run number six.
Cantiello came on in relief of Schilling in the fourth and got out of the inning in order even though a runner – Maggie Fermo – reached base with no outs on an error at third base by Truman freshman Tiffany Koenig. That’s because Cantiello got the first out on a sacrifice bunt by Jen Retzer and her teammates got the next when they snuffed Fermo out at third trying to grab two bases on the bunt.
The locals missed a huge opportunity in the fifth inning after putting a pair of runners on base with no outs on back to back singles by Cantiello and Jopko. Retzer got out of the jam however with no damage, striking out the side when she fanned Council Rock North junior Chloe Pinto, Calvary Christian sophomore Kelli Reichenbach (looking) and Neshaminy junior Erin Quense. The runners were left standing at second and third base when Retzer threw a wild pitch on an 0-1 count with Quense up to bat.
With one last chance to stay alive, the SOL National nearly pulled it off in the top of the seventh, scoring a pair of runs and loading the bases with just one out.
Pinto’s double scored the first run of the frame for the locals pushing home Cantiello, who’d gotten on base with a leadoff single. With one out, Reichenbach got on board on Fermo’s fielding error that also sent Pinto to third base. Jersey Shore’s next gaffe loaded the bases with Quense jamming the sacks on an error made by Bulman.
Pinto represented run number two for the locals as she scored on a shallow fly ball over second base by William Tennent sophomore Ashley Alden. But Reichenbach also tried to score on the play from second base and that was a big mistake.
She never made it, instead getting cut down at the plate ending this year’s run by the SOL National/Bicentennial.
Schilling took the loss for the locals. Cantiello pitched three scoreless innings in relief and also had a good day at the plate with a pair of singles and a run scored.
“She was a big offensive threat for us,” said McSherry. “She went 2-for-2 and she pitched three or four scoreless innings.”
Delaware South, which had edged the SOL National/BAL earlier in the tourney, went on to win the championship, downing previously undefeated Berks in a pair of 3-2 wins that both went to extra innings.
Berks had handed Del-South its only loss in a 1-0 win on Monday, June 29. But the girls from Delaware reversed the tide however on Tuesday, defeating Berks first in a 9-inning matchup then in an 8-inning battle that decided the championship.

Labels: CR North, Neshaminy, Pennsbury, softball, Truman