FOOTBALL: Blast from the past

Perkiomen Valley takes on Boyertown in a Week 8 PAC-10 football matchup Friday. Here's a look back at a wild ending from 2011, when Clay Domine hit Ezra Ranco for the game-winning two-point conversion pass with 1:06 left in regulation to give the Vikings a 22-21 victory over the Bears.

Click here for game story and video

MERCURY SPORTS: WEDNESDAY RECAP

Spring-Ford pitcher Tyler Eckman (Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

Spring-Ford's David O'Such wins the 100 meters Wednesday. 

 

Wednesday featured a full slate of local sports including coverage of rematches of last season's Pioneer Athletic Conference championship between Spring-Ford and Boyertown in baseball and Spring-Ford and Owen J. Roberts in boys lacrosse. Also Wednesday, the Mercury covered the track and field double dual meet between Boyertown, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen and girls lacrosse action between Methacton and Perkiomen Valley.

BASEBALL: Clutch Klemann, Eckman carry Spring-Ford over Boyertown, 3-2 in 8 innings

BOYS LACROSSE: Owen J. Roberts rallies past Spring-Ford

 TRACK AND FIELD: Spring-Ford boys and girls sweep Boyertown, Upper Perkiomen

GIRLS LACROSSE: Fast-starting Methacton tops Perkiomen Valley, 10-5

WEDNESDAY’S ROUNDUP: Perkiomen Valley softball freshman duo one-hits Boyertown

Mercury Sports: Saturday Recap

Mercury file photo Sue Benfield stepped down before this season after 41 years in charge of the Boyertown softball program.

Pick up Sunday's Mercury, which includes a profile of longtime Boyertown softball coach Sue Benfield, coverage of Perkiomen Valley/Methacton boys lacrosse, and our 2013 softball previews.


SOFTBALL: Benfield leaves quite a legacy at Boyertown

BOYS LACROSSE: Perkiomen Valley beats Methacton in "Rivalry Day" showdown

SOFTBALL: 2013 Season Preview Capsules

LOCAL ROUNDUP: Spring-Ford, Methacton combine for 5 firsts in track and field classic

BASEBALL: Boyertown rallies past Perkiomen Valley to win PAC-10 opener

Perkiomen Valley’s Chase Ott, right, steals second base as Boyertown’s Tony Casper awaits the throw in the top of the second during Wednesday’s PAC-10 baseball game at Bear Stadium. (John Strickler/The Mercury)

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

BOYERTOWN — The challenge for the Boyertown baseball team this year will be to score some runs to go along with what will undoubtedly be a strong pitching staff. And though it took the Bear batters a while to get on the board in Wednesday afternoon’s season and Pioneer Athletic Conference opener at Bear Stadium, three runs in the fifth inning turned out to be enough to supplement the pitching of A.J. Bogucki, Dan Woodley, and Tyler Bauman in a 3-2 win over Perkiomen Valley.
Bogucki struck out eight through four innings and also knocked in the Bears’ first run with a line single to center, Woodley picked up the win after allowing only an unearned run in the fifth, and Bauman earned a save with two scoreless frames. Jay Jabs pitched well in a losing effort for the Vikings (0-1, 1-1).

(For complete story, click here ...)

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Boyertown’s Jordan Wood and Spring-Ford’s Courtney Hinnant

Boyertown's Jordan Wood

Spring-Ford's Courtney Hinnant.

By Mercury Staff
sports@pottsmerc.com

BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Jordan Wood
Boyertown
Wrestling

What he has done
Freshman 220-pounder advanced to the title bout of the PIAA-AAA Championships at Hershey’s Giant Center Saturday before falling to Solacno’s Thomas Haines via 7-2 decision. Wood, who finished 46-2 on the year, had won 32 straight bouts heading into the state final, including a 7-4 semifinal decision over Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Zach DeLucia.

What he says
“I knew about him and I went out knowing I had to wrestle a two-time defending state champion in my head. I’m not mad about losing, I’m just mad about the way I wrestled. (Haines) wrestled a lot better. I wrestled defensively, and that can’t be your mindset when you go out there for any match.”

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING: Unparalleled season doesn’t lessen pain of Wood missing golden dream

Solanco’s Thomas Haines, left, wrestles Boyertown’s Jordan Wood in the 220-pound final at the PIAA Class AAA high school wrestling championships Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Hershey. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

If there’s one thing each and every little fella or gal involved in sports has in common it’s dreams … dreams of hitting that game-winning home run, dreams of swishing the game-winning shot; dreams of catching the game-winning pass.
Dreams of being in the headlines.
Dreams of being in the spotlight.
Dreams of being the best there is.
No one knows for sure when Jordan Wood first dreamt of winning a state wrestling title … when he imagined jumping into his coaches’ arms, stepping up onto the top step of the awards podium with a gold medal around his neck, then being mobbed by youngsters begging for his autograph.
Last Saturday night during the PIAA Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey, in front of 8,000-plus fans watching his every move in what is arguably the most challenging state tournament of its kind in the entire nation, the Boyertown freshman nearly got to live his dream.
Few do, of course. Even fewer come as close as Wood did with his second-place finish.

(For complete story, click here ...)

GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Eisenhard, Watson close out standout careers

By Darryl Grumling

Boyertown's Kaitlyn Eisenhard

dgrumling@pottsmerc.com; @MercSmokinD

Methacton's Kelsey Watson

For the past two years, Methacton and Boyertown have been somewhat obscured by the giant shadow Spring-Ford’s girls basketball team has cast over the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

That didn’t stop either the Warriors or Bears from enjoying rewarding campaigns this winter, nor did it stop Kelsey Watson and Kaitlyn Eisenhard from making their presence felt in their final scholastic seasons.

The end of the road for each standout player came Friday night, when Watson and Methacton fell to Cardinal O’Hara, 46-34, and Eisenhard and Boyertown were defeated 57-37 by Central Dauphin in a pair of PIAA-AAAA Tournament openers.

By the time the final horn had sounded in both games, though, Watson and Eisenhard had already cemented their legacies as two of the best in their respective schools’ histories.

( To read the complete story, click here )

WRESTLING: Boyertown’s Jordan Wood finishes second at states

Photo by Nate Heckenberger Boyertown’s Jordan Wood battles with Solanco’s Thomas Haines in the 220-pound final on Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Jordan Wood came oh so close to being where Thomas Haines was two years ago.
The Boyertown 220-pounder, arguably the best freshman upperweight in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s 27-year history and absolutely one of the best upperweights in District 1’s eightysome-year history, lost a 7-2 decision to Haines during Saturday night’s final round of the PIAA-Class AAA Championships ... and that’s the same Thomas Haines who was touted as one of the best freshman upperweights in the Lancaster-Lebanon League and in all of District 3 when he won his first state title in 2011.

(For complete story, click here ... )

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Central Dauphin catches fire, eliminates Boyertown, 57-39

Kaitlyn Eisenhard, right, and the Boyertown girls basketball team saw their season come to an end Friday night in a PIAA Class AAAA Tournament opening round loss to Central Dauphin. (Mercury file photo)

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

DERRY — Despite getting off to a typical slow start, the Boyertown girls were happy with where they were at halftime after rallying for a three-point lead in Friday night’s opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA Basketball Tournament.
But the Bears trailed again after turning the ball over too many times in the third quarter and then fell victim to nearly perfect shooting in the final quarter by Central Dauphin in a season-ending 57-39 loss at Milton Hershey School’s Spartan Center.

(For complete story, click here ...)

WRESTLING: Wood wins his way into semifinals at PIAA Championships; four others make final day

Boyertown's Jordan Wood nears a first-period takedown against Parkland's Shaun Heist in a 6-1 victory in the 220-pound quarterfinals Friday at the PIAA Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. Wood was the lone PAC-10 wrestler to advance to the semifinals. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Jordan Wood is becoming a perfectionist ... at 14 years of age.
The Boyertown freshman wasn’t at all happy with his debut in Thursday’s opening round of the PIAA-Class AAA Wrestling Championships here at the Giant Center. He won, mind you, but beating a returning state qualifier two years his elder with over 100 career wins wasn’t good enough.
But his 6-1 win over Parkland’s Shaun Heist in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals was a bit more acceptable for the brawling, baby-faced 220-pounder.
“I didn’t like (Thursday’s win) at all,” Wood said after his otherwise dominating performance with Heist earned him a berth in this morning’s semifinals against Southwest Regional champion Zach DeLuca (40-7) and, regardless of the outcome, clinched a medal.
Owen J. Roberts’ Derek Gulotta (113), Colby Frank (126) and Gordon Bolig (182) all lost in Friday’s quarterfinals, as did Methacton’s Tracey Green (285). But all four regrouped in a hurry and came back with wins during the second round of consolations to clinch medals as well.
Boyertown 126-pounder Eddie Kriczky, who offset an opening round loss with a stunner over a regional champion and medal favorite on opening day, was eliminated one win shy of the medal rounds.

(For complete story, click here ... )

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford leads four area squads into PIAA tourney

Starters Sarah Payonk, left, Sammi Haas, second left, and the Spring-Ford girls basketball team begin their quest for a state title when the PIAA Championships get under way Friday. The Rams reached the semifinals a year ago. (File photo by Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

The whiteboard in the locker room of Spring-Ford’s girls basketball team, the one with a laundry list of goals for the season, has seen plenty of checkmarks over the past several weeks.
An unbeaten Pioneer Athletic Conference regular season? Done.
Second straight PAC-10 championship? Cross it off.
Back-to-back District 1-AAAA titles? Taken care of.
Tonight, Spring-Ford will begin the quest for its ultimate goal — PIAA gold — as the Rams (27-2) square off with District 3 No. 7 seed Hershey (21-5) in a Class AAAA opener at Norristown at 7:30 p.m.
Three other PAC-10 girls squads — Boyertown, Methacton and Pope John Paul II — are also set to begin state tourney play.
In other AAAA openers tonight, the District 1 No. 7 seed Bears (19-9) face District 3 runner-up Central Dauphin (20-6) at Milton Hershey at 8 p.m., and District 1 No. 9 seed Methacton (24-6) takes on District 12 champ Cardinal O’Hara (22-5) at Monsignor Bonner at 7:30 p.m.
In Class AAA first-round action Saturday, District 1 No. 3 seed Pope John Paul II (18-6) meets District 12 runner-up and three-time defending PIAA champ Archbishop Wood (16-8) at 5 p.m. at Archbishop Carroll.

(For complete story, click here ... )

COLLEGE SIGNING: Bears’ Lentz heading to Mansfield for soccer

Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury Boyertown’s Danielle Lentz signs a letter of intent to play soccer at Mansfield as her mother Paula Lentz and coach Bill Goddard look on.

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

BOYERTOWN — When the Boyertown girls soccer team recorded an incredible 16 straight shutouts on the way to the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship last fall, senior Danielle Lentz was right in the middle of everything in more ways than one.
The defense-minded center-midfielder was not only an integral part of that impenetrable defense, but she also showed that she could put the ball in the net. She knocked in the winning penalty kick in the PAC-10 final against Owen J. Roberts, giving the Bears a second straight title and third in her four years on the field.
And while her high school playing days may be over, Lentz is all ready to go at it again in the fall after signing a National Letter of Intent to continue her studies and play soccer at Mansfield University. She plans to major in psychology at the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference school of over 3,000 students in the north central part of the state, a half mile from the New York border.

(For complete story, click here ... )

BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Six area squads prepare for PIAA Tournament

Mercury file photo Spring-Ford’s Shelby Mueller (5) and Boyertown’s Kaitlyn DeHaven (4) will try to help their respective teams in the PIAA Class AAAA Girls Basketball Tournament, which begins Friday.

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

Spring-Ford’s girls basketball team earned its second straight District 1-AAAA championship, the Methacton boys and Pope John Paul II girls qualified for states for the first time and the Pope John Paul II boys reached the 1-AAA final.
All told, six area squads — including the Methacton and Boyertown girls — reached the promised land that is the PIAA tourney.
Here’s a quick look back how they each got there, and look ahead to their opening-round state matchups.
CLASS AAA GIRLS
On a rampage: The Spring-Ford girls marched through their district opposition like Sherman through Georgia, waging a scorched net campaign in which their average margin of victory was 25.6 points.

(For complete story, click here ... )

SWIMMING: State qualifiers finalized

By Steve Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

The PIAA unveiled the state swimming psych sheets today. Some area swimmers already knew they were Bucknell-bound by finishing in the top 5 (AAA) or first place (AA) in their event at the District 1 Championships. Others had to wait for today to see if they earned a wild card berth.

Full entries can be seen on the PIAA website by clicking here.

See below for a rundown all the local qualifiers.

PIAA Basketball Sites, Times Announced (with driving directions)

By Steve Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

The PIAA unveiled its state playoff basketball brackets on Sunday. PAC-10 teams earned spots in Class AAAA and AAA Girls and Class AAAA and AAA boys.

The complete brackets can be found at the links above, and a rundown of the local teams can be found below.

Click on the name of each site for quick Google Map driving directions.

• AAAA GIRLS (FRIDAY)

• SPRING-FORD: District champion -- and potential state title favorite -- Spring-Ford (25-2) will host Hershey (21-5), the 7th-place team out of District 3, on Friday night at Norristown High School (7:30 p.m.)
• BOYERTOWN: The 7th-place team out of District 1, the Bears (19-8) will have to travel a little bit to face Central Dauphin (20-6), the second-place team out of District 3. That game is Friday at 8 p.m. at Milton Hershey High School.
• METHACTON: The Warriors (22-5) finished as the ninth-place team out of District 1, and will travel to Monsignor Bonner High in Drexel Hill to face District 12 champion Cardinal O'Hara (21-5).

• AAA GIRLS (SATURDAY)

• POPE JOHN PAUL II: The third-place team out of District 1, Pope John Paul (18-5) will face District 12 runner-up Archbishop Wood (17-9) on Saturday at Archbishop Carroll at 5 p.m.

• AAAA BOYS (SATURDAY)

• METHACTON: The Warriors (22-5) enter as the seventh seed out of District 1 and will face District 3 runner-up York (23-3) on Saturday at 6:30 at Dallastown High  in their first ever state playoff game.

• AAA BOYS (FRIDAY)

• POPE JOHN PAUL II: As the second seed out of District 1, the Golden Panthers (15-9) will face District 11 runner-up Bethlehem Catholic on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Freedom High School in Bethlehem.

WRESTLING: Boyertown freshman Wood living up to the hype

Boyertown freshman Jordan Wood entered the season to a great deal of expectation, expectation that he’s lived up to en route to a 40-1 record and titles at the PAC-10 Championships and District 1-AAA West Tournament. (John Strickler/The Mercury)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

There didn’t seem to be a wrestling soul anywhere in the area, or around the state for that matter, who hadn’t heard of Jordan Wood before he strolled into Boyertown’s practice room for the first time last November.
In other words, the 14-year-old freshman’s reputation preceded him… as did some rather lofty expectations, the result of his success in youth and junior high school wrestling.
Wood hasn’t disappointed anyone since, either.
Going into tonight’s opening round of the Class AAA Southeast Regional at Pottstown High School, the 220-pound phenom has proven time and time again there’s no noticeable chink in his wrestling armor. He has won 26 in a row since his only loss to Wyoming Seminary’s highly regarded Garrett Ryan during the Hurricane Classic at Bethlehem Liberty four days after Christmas. And that was no upset, mind you, not when considering InterMat’s No. 11 ranked Ryan was a state prep champion two weeks ago and the national prep runner-up to the almighty Kyle Snyder of Good Counsel (Md.) last weekend.

(For complete story, click here ... )

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Boyertown falls to North Penn in District 1 playback

North Penn’s Vicky Tumasz, 22, races past Boyertown defenders for a basket during second half action of their District 1 Class AAAA playoff contest at North Penn High School on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (Photo by Mark C. Psoras\The Reporter)

 

 

 

 

 

By Ben Reese
sports@pottsmerc.com

TOWAMENCIN — North Penn’s girls basketball team used some timely offense and stingy defense to move into the next round of the District 1 Class AAAA playoff playbacks.
The Maidens rallied from a sluggish first half to get past a sticky Boyertown, 53-45. North Penn advances to play Central Bucks West, a winner over Pennsbury, on Saturday at home.
Kaitlyn Eisenhard led the Bears with 12 points while Dee Terry and Olivia Cavallo each chipped in with nine apiece.

(For complete story, click here ... )

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Mount stifles Eisenhard, routs Boyertown

Kaitlin Eisenhard became the program's all-time leading scorer in Saturday's loss to The Mount.

 
By Steven Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

FLOURTOWN — About 90 seconds after watching his team completely shut down Boyertown during a 62-24 rout in Saturday’s District 1-AAAA girls basketball quarterfinal, Mount Saint Joseph Academy head coach John Miller was standing at midcourt, looking for someone to find a game ball for Kaitlyn Eisenhard’s mother.

It was a classy gesture from the Magic head coach, and a memorable moment for Kaitlyn Eisenhard and her family.

But with more work to do this season, the Bears are hoping to forget everything else about Saturday.

“This wasn’t just a loss, it was a embarrassing for us,” said Eisenhard, who scored just six points, but became the all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,374 points, one more than Wanda Moyer. “But if we can rebound and have a great game on Wednesday, that could really get us going for states. If we get a good seed in states we can make a deep run I think.”

Eisenhard was the main focus of the Magic defense, as the Mount’s top task was not only to double-team the Boyertown star, but deny her the ball on each and every possession.

(For the complete story, click here...)

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Boyertown tops Garnet Valley, earns PIAA bid

Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury Boyertown’s Marie Valenti brings the ball upcourt ahead of Garnet Valley’s Madison Ireland and Haley Warden. Valenti’s defensive effort contained Jaguars star Coley Ricci, who managed most of her 15 points after the outcome had long been decided.

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

BOYERTOWN — Boyertown’s Marie Valenti didn’t exactly enjoy an auspicious beginning to the girls basketball season — sitting out the first 10 games due to injury.
But the junior guard is certainly making her presence felt during the stretch run for the Bears.
Valenti earned her first start of the season in Wednesday’s District 1-AAAA second-round game against Garnet Valley, and helped key a strong defensive effort as Boyertown came away with a 47-38 victory to earn its second PIAA Tournament berth in the past three years.

(For complete story, click here ... )

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Eisenhard, DeHaven lead Boyertown past Wissahickon in district opener

Boyertown’s Alyssa Cotellese drives past Wissahickon’s Daria Earland during their District 1-AAAA playoff game Friday night at Boyertown. (Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

BOYERTOWN — Not qualifying for the Pioneer Athletic Conference Final Four girls basketball playoffs was not the way Kaitlyn Eisenhard and Kaitlyn DeHaven thought their senior seasons at Boyertown would unfold.
But the heartbreak of barely missing the PAC-10 postseason for the second straight season has given way to a sense of determination and motivation for Eisenhard, DeHaven and their teammates.
Friday night, the Bears bounced back from the disappointing end of their regular season to thump Wissahickon, 52-33, in a District 1-AAAA Tournament opener at BASH Gymnasium.
The 6-foot-1 Eisenhard had game-highs of 13 points and eight rebounds and the 5-foot-10 DeHaven scored 10 points and keyed a game-changing second-quarter run as the No. 7 seed Bears (17-7) advanced to Wednesday’s second-round contest (at home) against 10th seed Garnet Valley, a 50-48 victor over Downingtown East in double overtime.

(For complete story, click here ... )