Inside pitch: Owen J. Roberts' Shannon Clemens

Darryl Grumling gets the inside pitch on Owen J. Roberts senior Shannon Clemens.

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

Mercury Sports: Thursday recap

Perkiomen School's Jose Marce (5) advances to third after tagging up on a fly ball in the bottom of the second inning Thursday. Upper Perkiomen third baseman Ryan Harris tries to apply the late tag. (John Strickler/The Mercury)

Pick up Friday's edition of The Mercury, which includes coverage of Perkiomen School/Upper Perkiomen and Perkiomen Valley/Phoenixville baseball and Perkiomen Valley/Phoenixville softball.

BASEBALL: Phoenixville outlasts Perkiomen Valley in 8 innings

BASEBALL: Perkiomen School doubles up Upper Perkiomen

SOFTBALL: Minnick seizes chance, leads Perkiomen Valley past Phoenixville


Also in Friday's Mercury: A special commemorative section on the Spring-Ford girls basketball state championship

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 ...)

BOYS LACROSSE: Perkiomen Valley handles Phoenixville in PAC-10 opener

Phoenixville's Rob Miller attempts to run around the defense of Perkiomen Valley's Ben Minardi during Wednesday's PAC-10 boys lacrosse game. (Photo by Barry Taglieber)

By Barry Sankey
bsankey@journalregister.com

PHOENIXVILLE — It is early in the spring sports season, and coaches are still hunting for the right combination of players along with the search for hard work and improvement with each practice session and game.
Perkiomen Valley first-year coach Bryan Churchey also sought a complete game from his players during Wednesday afternoon’s Pioneer Athletic Conference contest against Phoenixville.
The Vikings found both their offense and defense clicking that led to an 11-2 victory over the Phantoms at their new multi-purpose turf field.

(For complete story, click here ... )

BOYS TENNIS: Doubles teams key as Perkiomen Valley tops Owen J. Roberts

John Strickler/The Mercury Perkiomen Valley’s Vash Singh follows through during Tuesday’s No. 1 singles match against Owen J. Roberts’ Utkarsh Pandey. Singh won, 6-2, 6-4.

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

GRATERFORD — Some good young players have jumped into the Perkiomen Valley singles spots, leaving the veterans at doubles. And that has been a winning combination for the Vikings so far in the early stages of the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys tennis schedule. The Vikings won their second straight match Tuesday afternoon, 5-2, over visiting Owen J. Roberts.
Yash Singh won at No. 1 singles for PV (2-0, 2-0) and Evan Newbill was victorious in the No. 3 spot. The second, third and fourth doubles teams also came out on top for Perk Valley, just as they had in a surprising 4-3 win over defending champion Phoenixville last week. Ethan Gelting won at second singles and Drew Brown and Tim Craybill at No. 2 doubles for the Wildcats (1-1, 1-2).

(For complete story, click here ... )

SPRING-FORD WINS STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Game highlights, including post-game medal ceremony (video by Darryl Grumling/edited by Frank Otto)

By Mercury Staff

sports@pottsmerc.com

Spring-Ford's girls basketball team is golden.

The Rams beat Cumberland Valley, Friday night, 60-45, for the PIAA Class AAAA championship.

It was the first basketball title for an area school since the Pottstown boys in 1993. It was the Rams' first ever trip to the title game.

For complete coverage by Don Seeley, Austin Hertzog and Darryl Grumling, click on the below links:

Spring-Ford wins first state championship

Dynamic defense lifts Rams to PIAA crown

Superb, selfless seniors carry Spring-Ford to PIAA title

Future looks bright for Rams

There is plenty of video here and on our YouTube page at youtube.com/pottsmercsports.

Don't miss Saturday's print edition of The Mercury, which includes a full photo page as part of five full pages of coverage.

Spring-Ford players receive their gold medals (video by Darryl Grumling)

Spring-Ford wins the PIAA Class AAAA Championship (Video by Darryl Grumling)

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Below is video from tonight's game as it happened, courtesy of Darryl Grumling (@MercSmokinD), Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) and Don Seeley (@DonSeeley1). Some clips are posted here, and all are available on our YouTube page at youtube.com/pottsmercsports.

After the jump you can find even more video.