Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Huntingdon Valley's Yannessa Wins American Legion League MVP as 10 Others Make All-League Team

Huntingdon Valley (HV) Senior Legion baseball had its best season in history this season. Setting marks with 16 total wins and 11 total players making the All-League team. What was lost from the great season was the "ultimate" goal of bringing home a championship.

"Yes it hurts to not win the championship this season" Head Coach Evan Horn said, "We had the best season in the teams history as far as wins and all-league players but as my Assistant Coach Mike Landes would say the only thing that matters is winning the final playoff game"

Coach Landes is right but what cant be lost from this record setting season is the team had the league MVP in Jake Yannessa. Yannessa had a batting average of .422 to go with 29 Hits, 27 Runs, 20 Walks and 17 Stolen Bases from the offensive side of the field but also was a gem on the mound compiling a 4-1 record 1.69 ERA and 42 Strikeouts. Yannessa was a First Team All League Pitcher and also a 2nd Team all League Shortstop

Jake Yannessa .422 BA 29 Hits 27 Runs 20 BB's 17SB Pitching 4-1 1.69 ERA 42 K's

"Ness (Yannessa) had an incedibleseason" Coach Horn continued, "He was a leader on the field and I feel honored to have coached him for one season. He really deserved this award. He comes to play every inning of every game and was a huge, and I mean huge, part of the teams success"

HV was also proud to have 4 other first team players. Leading the way was Team Captain Catcher Jake Madnick who was the backbone of the team. 1st Baseman Chris Ruhl, Outfielder Matt Meyers and DH Robert Hoffman.

Jake Madnick .293 BA 12 Doubles 14 RBI's

"When you talk about Huntingdon Valley baseball the name Jake Madnick has to be mentioned. This kid is everything you can ask for in a player and person. Jake leads with his heart and soul and with a tear in my eye I am so sad to see him play his last game in an HV uniform. I bet there are more then a few other teams that are super happy. Jake was my Coach on the field"

Chris Ruhl .429 BA 19 Hits 15 RBI's

"Chris (Ruhl) was a great kid to be around. He played so well after hurting his finger earlier in the season. When he was named 1st team I couldn't wait to notify him because I know how much it means to him"

Matt Meyers .588 BA 29 Hits 4 Homeruns 15 RBI's

"Matty had an MVP season as well for me this season. He had a huge Home run at Cedarbrook and also at The Morelanders which where both game changers. But the best part about the season Matt had this year was the fact that he grew up and became an all around baseball player. At the beginning of the season nobody knew who he was but towards the end he was pitched around. He let his Mr. Nasty bat do the talking"

Robert Hoffman .278 BA 12 RBI's

"Robert had a very good season for me. He played many different positions and was always ready to get into the game. He just loves to play the game. His highlight of the season was getting the winning hit against The Morelanders and also picked up the save in relief"

HV also was lucky to have 2 more players make the 2nd Team All League. Outfielder Lou Palmer and starting Pitcher Matt Lawlor.

Lou Palmer .323 BA .395 OBP 21 Hits 15 Runs Scored

"Lou had the kind of season that you can say was under the radar. Nothing to wow about just a season long of consistent play. Lou was the leadoff hitter who seemed to always be on base at times we needed him to be. Lou can come back for one more season and I expect him to bat leadoff next season as well"

Matt Lawlor 3-3 1.59 ERA 39 IP

"Matt was one of the 3 aces that I was lucky to have this season. He was given the nickname "Bulldog" because he was always good for over 100 pitches and never wanted to come out of any game. When Matt was off on his game he was mentally tough and fought his way through it. Matt is going to be the ace for 2 more seasons so the future looks great for him"

HV also placed 4 more players on the Honorable Mention list. 2nd basemen Rafael Fernandez, Pitchers Ross Goodman and Daniel Johnson. Paul Buckley made it for 2 positions 3rd base and pitcher.

Rafael Fernandez .323 BA 15 Hits 8 RBI's

"Raf was a huge plus for the team this season. He played a great 2nd base. I was told he had a tough high school year but from what I saw he was the best fielding 2nd basemen in the league. I am looking forward to him playing a full season as he missed 6 games due to breaking his foot. He will be with me for 2 more seasons so the sky is the limit"

Daniel Johnson 5-1 1.99 ERA 40 IP 48 K's

"Daniel was dropped into my lap. He moved into the township in the off season and when he said he wanted to play for us I was super excited. As the season when on he pitched better and with more confidence. Daniel was a joy to Coach and his numbers where incredible. I wish he could pitch for the next 5 seasons but it cant happen"

Ross Goodman 3-0 2 Saves 20 IP 10 Hits 24 K's

"Ross had the best season of his baseball career. He was put in the middle relief roll and just took it to another level. He was so reliable that when he left for a vacation I was lost in the playoffs without him there. He was the biggest part of the pitching staff and we only knew that when the season was over. Ross has another season left to pitch and if he decides to come back he will be a tough pitcher to hit"

Paul Buckley Batting .333 11 Hit 7RBI's 4 2b's         
Pitching 2-0, 8 Saves 22 IP 17 K's

"Buck had a career year this season. He was the closer and when he was on the hill to close a game out it was over. He was a great player to Coach. Buck can also play next season for me and I am praying that he comes back to play. His bat was a plus for us and the commitment of making every game also was a great thing"

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Huntingdon Valley 2012 All-League Selections

Congrats to the following players for being voted onto the 2012 American Legion All-League Team
 
League MVP: Jake Yannessa (Jake Madnick came in 3rd)
 
1st Team
Jake Madnick-Catcher
Chris Ruhl-1st Base
Matt Meyers-Outfield
Robert Hoffman-DH
Jake Yannessa-Pitcher
 
2nd Team
Jake Yannessa-Shortstop
Lou Palmer-Outfield
Matt Lawlor-Pitcher
 
Honorable Mention  
Rafael Fernandez-2nd Base
Paul Buckley-3rd Base
Paul Buckley-Pitcher
Ross Goodman-Pitcher
Paul Buckley-Pitcher
Daniel Johnson-Pitcher

Friday, July 13, 2012

Roslyn edges Huntingdon Valley in 10 innings

The playoffs are fuelled by drama, and if a walk-off balk in the 10th inning doesn’t fit into that category, I don’t know what does.

That is what it took for Roslyn to put itself in the winner’s bracket, defeating Huntington Valley, 5-4, in 10 innings. It was all Huntington Valley all the time at the beginning of the game, but a big two-run rally in the top of the seventh knotted things up and eventually sent the game into extras.

“My team never gave up, these kids just don’t give up,” Roslyn coach Jim Brett. “I’ve told the guys all year that we are a band of misfits. I’ve got kids on my team for four different high schools, not one of them had a winning record during the school season. But, when they come together, they play really well.”

Huntington Valley was the first to push runs across the plate, getting two on a Chris Ruhl single. Valley increased the lead with an RBI single from Nick Rittler in the fourth, giving them a 3-0 with starting pitcher Matt Lawlor cruising.

The tide began to turn a bit in the top half of the fifth. Trey Goglianona and Sean Gallagher led off with a single each, which allowed Mike Collins to knock in both runs on an error. Not only were the bats coming to life, but starter Christian Salem had settled down and took over control of the game.

Huntington Valley got one back in the bottom half of the fifth with Matt Meyers’ RBI single, giving it a little extra cushion heading into the final two innings. But as they found out, two runs were not going be enough to hold down a feisty Roslyn squad.

The top of the seventh rolled around and it looked as if the game was in the bag, but the Roslyn bats had something to say about that. Gallagher and CJ Brennan led off the inning with singles, which set up Collins’ RBI single and Eric Tidwell’s RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4 and eventually send it into extras.

“I told them before the last inning to just refuse to get out,” Brett said. “These guys are playing loose because no one expects them to be here and they take that attitude and stand behind each other like crazy.”

A big reason why Roslyn stayed in the game was the relief pitching of Sean Gallagher, who held down Valley from the seventh inning on, allowing his team’s lineup to play for a win. Through those three innings, Valley barely had any legit scoring chances.

“We typically use [Gallagher] as a closer for one inning,” Brett said. “But, he came up to me at one point and told me that he didn’t care if the game went nine more innings, he wasn’t coming out of the game. He just kept going.”

With the 10th inning came an end to the deadlock. Salem led off with a single and ended up on third after Gallagher served a single threw the middle. Before Brennan got to swing at a pitch, Valley’s relief pitcher balked, bringing home what would be the winning run after Gallagher shut Valley down in the bottom half.

Huntington Valley coach Evan Horn was fine with his team’s performance overall, but knew what they could have done better to hold on and get the win.

“If we had better base running, we could have won by a couple runs,” Horn said. “I thought we were going to win the game. Lawlor did not have his best stuff today, but with Buckley in the bullpen I thought we had the best chance to win. It just didn’t work out that way.”

That being said, Horn believes his team is not near down and out.

“The captain of our team, Jake Madnick, told the guys ‘we are going to come out hitting tomorrow with our backs against the wall,” Horn said. “I don’t expect anything other than a win.”

Roslyn plays Fort Washington in the winner’s bracket, while Valley goes up against Morelanders in the loser’s bracket.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Huntingdon Valley pitchers shut down Morelanders

There’s no such thing as too much pitching.

Huntington Valley’s three-headed monster of Dan Johnson, Chris Ruhl and Rob Hoffman combined to shut out the Morelanders 1-0 while allowing only two hitsin Sunday’s Lower Montco American Legion action.

Johnson started the game, throwing four strong innings of two-hit ball, stymieing the Morelanders’ bats.

“Johnson is one of the best pitchers in this league,” Horn said. “He throws hard, he’s in control and doesn’t walk a lot of batters. All season long he has been pitching really well; anything other than the effort he put out today would have been a surprise.”

Although Huntington Valley’s pitchers were great, the Morelanders’ Mike Janas also shined, going the distance and allowing only one run on five hits, three of which were infield singles. Janas got in a bit of trouble in a couple innings due to errors or walks, but never lost control. It was unfortunate for him that he did not receive more run support.

“You have to tip your cap to Mike Janas,” Morelanders manager Rob Albert said. “He threw a heck of a game for us today. He kept batters off balance and did a nice job. We left a lot of guys on base and never got the big hit, which was our main issue. I thought we played pretty good defense, though.”

The pitching was so good that neither team had an extra base hit. The Morelanders had a tough time putting the ball on the ground through the holes, as only six outs in the game were recorded ground outs. Huntington Valley pitching forced the Morelanders’ lineup to get under the ball, making most of their outs in the air. Their only two hits came from singles by Pat Driscol and Tom Robinson.

After scratching and clawing all game, Huntington Valley finally broke the 0-0 deadlock for good in the fifth. After Matt Meyers and Cal Palmer got on with singles, Hoffman played the hero, knocking Meyers in with an RBI single.

Horn contributed his team’s resilience to having a deep bench.

“Every game we have 16 kids come to play and I play everyone every game no matter what the situation is,” Horn said. “I have as much confidence in my 15th or 16th guy as I do my top guys. It seems like that’s why we’re good this year. At some point in every game a kid who doesn’t normally get the hit is going to come up big. Depth is really important in this league.”

Albert did not seem to think his team played terrible, but with a potential playoff spot still up for grabs, it is important for his squad to keep its composure.

“We have two games to go and if we win both we’re in [the playoffs],” Albert said. “We just need to keep our heads up and come ready to play the next couple.”

As far as Huntington Valley goes, Horn is thrilled that his team beginning to check off its preseason to-do list.

“We had three goals coming into this season: win 15 games, make the playoffs and win a championship,” Horn said. “This was the last regular season game of the year and it was our 15th win, the kids wanted it really bad and they got it.”

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Huntingdon Valley Begins First Playoff Run in Over a Decade

Before the Lower Montco American Legion Baseball season began, Lower Moreland’s Jake Madnick had a decision to make.

Last year the Huntingdon Valley team finished a game under .500 and this year the former four-time Letter Winner at LM had a choice to stay and play locally or compete at Philadelphia University during the summer after just finishing up his freshman season.

Fast forward a couple of months later and Madnick couldn’t be happier with his pick. He’s helped lead Huntingdon Valley to a 15-5-1 record and its first playoff appearance in 14 years, which begins today at 5:30 p.m. at Lower Moreland High School against Roslyn.

“I was looking to take the summer off for college ball,” Madnick said. “Coach called me before the season about a couple new guys and basically told me he needed me on the team to put all the pieces together and we're going to win a championship together.”

While a championship is still a couple of victories away, coach Evan Horn’s vision of Madnick’s importance to the team was spot on. Madnick had a .289 average and was second on the team with 12 RBI’s, but it’s his leadership qualities that make him stand out and not the statistics.

“Jake has been a humongous leader on the team,” Horn said. “It's been incredible to watch this kid as a team leader. He’s been the backbone of the re-emergence of Huntingdon Valley baseball.”

With the playoffs on the horizon, Madnick’s decision to stay looks even better.

“I got chills up and down my body,” Madnick said. “I've never won a championship at any level. I’ve been in the organization since 2008. I'm so anxious to get the game started. This is the best team I’ve been on, the most fun team I’ve around.”

HV is led by a strong pitching staff and a couple of new faces that have a made a big impact. Newcomers Jake Yannessa and Dan Johnson each have four wins in their first season on the team while Matt Myers had a career year hitting .548 with three homers and driving in 16 runs.

Paul Buckley has also been a valuable asset as a relief pitcher recording eight saves and allowing just one earned run all season.

“Once we get to the 6th inning, I feel pretty confident that things will go our way. We have really good pitching,” Horn said.

Coming into the season the team had three goals: win 15 games, make the playoffs and eventually win a championship. So far the team has achieved two of those goals with a third in the near possible future.

Huntingdon Valley hasn’t won a title in 20 years, but the team looks to end that streak starting today in the double-elimination tournament.

“I expect to have my team ready to rock and roll and put our best foot forward,” Horn said.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Hoffman's Big Day Gives Huntingdon Valley It's 8th Straight Victory to End Regular Season

Huntingdon Valley (HV) ended the regular season on a 8 game winning streak as it beat The Morelanders 1-0 on Sunday afternoon to end the season tied for first place at 15 wins 5 losses and 1 tie. Robert Hoffman (1 for 2, RBI) lead the way for HV as he drove in the games only run and to put the icing on the cake pitched the top of the 7th to record his 1st career save. HV's starting pitcher Daniel Johnson (4 IP, 3 Hits, 5 K's, 0 ER) held The Morelanders in check using 64 pitches over 4 innings while picking up his 4th victory of the season.

"This was Hoff's (Hoffman) day 100%" Head Coach Evan Horn said, "Hoff is a great teammate that loves the game. I was joking with Matt (Meyers) while he was on 3rd base before the game winning hit saying after his first at bat (strikeout) I would be happy for a fly out. Meyers said that this was a sure game winning single through the hole at short and 3rd and sure enough he was right. I felt great for him after the hit because I know how excited he was'

HV was lead on the offensive side of the ball getting 2 hits from Cal Palmer (2 for 2) and single hits by Hoffman, Chris Ruhl, Matt Meyers and Rafeal Fernandez.

HV goes into the playoffs on an 8 game winnign streak and a well rested pitching rotation.

"This is what we did all season" Horn continued, "We used a pitching rotation bulit for the playoffs. I am so very looking forward to this week and am counting down the minutes. The boys are excited as well but will make sure to keep them loose"

HV opens the plaoffs at home on either Wednesday or Thursday. Game time will be 5:30

Season Stats
Matt Meyers .548 3 HR 16 RBI
Chris Ruhl .433 13 Hits 9 RBI
Jake Yannessa .431 21 Runs Scored 16 Walks 12 Steals
Lou Palmer .340 11 Runs Scored
Paul Buckley .333 11 Hits 4 Doubles
Jake Madnick .289 17 Hits 9 Runs Scored 8 Doubles 12 RBI's

Pitching
Paul Buckley 1 Win 8 Saves 0.46 ERA
Ross Goodman 3 Wins 2 Saves 1.40 ERA 20 IP 10 Hits
Jake Yannessa 4 Wins 1.70 ERA 33 IP 18 Hits 36 K's
Matt Lawlor 3 Wins 1.80 ERA 35 IP 27 K's
Daniel Johnson 4 Wins 2.16 ERA 33 IP 29 K's

Goodman Saves Best For Last As Huntingdon Valley Wins 7th Straight

Ross Goodman saved his best performance of the season while pitching in his last game. Goodman (5 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 5 K's), who is leaving for a 2 week vacation, pitched a rain shortend complete game for Huntingdon Valley as they sweep the season series from Warminster on Saturday Evening. After the last out was recorded in the top of the 5th inning the rains came and the game was called with the score 6-1.

"Ross (Goodman) really pitched well this season for us" Coach Evan Horn said, "Ross will be missed for sure. At the beginning of the season Ross was almost the odd man out of the rotation that is really loaded. He took to his middle relief roll to the point that he was used just about every other game. He won 3 games and had 2 saves what else can you ask from a pitcher. He was very reliable and very aaffective"

HV was trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Warminster loaded the bases on walks. Robert Hoffman drove in the first run of the game for HV with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1.
HV put 2 more on the board in the home 3rd when with 1 out Jake Yannessa (1 for 2, 2 runs scored, RBI) walked and came around to score when Chris Ruhl (1 for 1, Walk, Run Scored, RBI) drove a single to the outfield. Jake Madnick (0 for 1, 2 Walks, Run Scored) scored the 2nd run on a wild pitch.

"Chris (Ruhl) has really played well this season after coming back from his finger injury" Coach Horn continued, "He is a team leader that I look to for advice when things are spinning in my head. Chris might be the best teammate any team can have, great character and always on the positive side. Im a lucky coach to have a player like him on my team"

HV put the game out of reach before the rains came when in the home 4th HV put a 3 spot on the board. The inning started with a Matt Lawlor (0 for 0, 2 Walks, Run Scored) walked. After 2 outs Lou Palmer (1 for 3, Run Scored) singled to make it 1st and 2nd. Yannessa drove in Lawlor with a single to make it 4-1. Paul Buckley (1 for 3, RBI) followed with an RBI single to make it 5-1. The scoring ended when Yannessa stole home to make it 6-1.

The rains came in the bottom of the 5th inning and the game was called. With the win HV sits in 1st place at 14-5-1 and sits and waits to see who it will open up against with in the 1st game of the playoffs.

"Well we still have a game tomorrow" Horn said, "I'm just so proud of my boys. To come into a season with a lot of questions and to be in this situation is great. I feel as if HV isn't looked at like a door mat any longer. I hope to continue to build this program to the point where other teams are a little scared to play us. Baby steps and I mean baby steps"

HV ends the regular season with a home game against The Morelanders on Sunday afternoon.