Boyertown boys golf falls to Phoenixville, tops Upper Merion

Mike Ellis was a busy man throughout the summer sharpening up on both his golf and tennis skills as he prepared for his senior year at Phoenixville Area High School.

Ellis is a number-one caliber player in both sports for the Phantoms. He demonstrated his skills in golf on Tuesday afternoon at Pickering Valley Golf Club against Boyertown in a Pioneer Athletic Conference match.

Ellis shot a 2-over-par 38 as Phoenixville defeated Boyertown, 210-223.

Ellis combined a birdie on No. 8 with five pars and three bogeys for the round to lead the Phantoms (1-1) over the Bears (0-2).

Coach Steve Winnick feels the Phantoms have the best squad they’ve fielded in the past four or five years.

“It’s been a good season so far,” said Ellis, who has been playing golf for most of his life. “The veterans have been stepping up and the young kids also. That’s been helping our scoring a lot this year.”

Phoenixville also got a 40 from senior Max Farbstein, 44’s from freshman Parker Stevens and junior Jon Kettelle and 46’s from sophomore Mitch Schwartz and senior Christian Legning.

Senior Kyle Green topped the Boyertown scorecard with a 39 while senior James Gassner checked in with a 41 on yet another day of sizzling heat and humidity.

Ellis said he really felt the heat the past two days at Pickering Valley with practice Monday and the match Tuesday, both in playing the course and walking the hills.

“Our course is one of the toughest, but the heat has just been brutal for everyone,” said Ellis.

“Boyertown is always tough,” said Winnick, “but the home course is an advantage for us. This year it is really going to be because we have our tough matches here.”

Veteran Boyertown coach Mark Takacs talked about the match.

“We always play close down here,” said Takacs. “It is just a matter of making the kids be consistent with the golf ball. They overanalyze and sometimes they just have poor shot selection. They have to manage the course much better.” BOYERTOWN 227, UPPER

MERION 270 >> Connor Fellin secured low-man honors while leading the Bears past the Vikings in a PAC match at Hickory Valley.

Fellin shots four-over 40 on the Presidential Course, three strokes better than teammate Jim Gassner. Boyertown’s Kyle Green and Bryan Bilanin followed with 47s ahead of UM leader Alex Kvetan’s 49.

Girls golf

HATBORO-HORSHAM 189, BOYERTOWN 215 >> Cassidy Gavaghan outshot the field in a big way, carding the match’s lone sub40 score to lead the Hatters’ PAC victory over the Bears at Talamore Country Club.

Savanna Haas had Boyertown’s low score of 48, ahead of teammate Katie Goida’s 54. BOYERTOWN 185, METHACTON 189 >> Savanna Haas and Katie Goida each tied for the low-round with a pair of 42’s as the Bears downed the Warriors in a Pioneer Athletic Conference match at Twin Ponds Golf Course (Par 35).

Emma Lawrie paced Methacton with a 43 followed by Ashley Liu with a 46. Natalie Stabilito (48) and Emily Bradley (53) rounded out the scoring for Boyertown.

Boys Soccer

BOYERTOWN 3, METHACTON 1>> Will Schul scored twice and Nik Verma added the Bears’ final tally in a PAC Liberty Division win in each team’s opener.

Alex Kidwell registered two assists and Sal Marciante had one for the defending PAC champions. Methacton’s lone goal came from Kevin Conrad.

Field Hockey

BOYERTOWN 5, DANIEL BOONE 1 >> Sydney Fox scored twice and added an assist as the Bears used a second-half surge to down the Blazers in non-conference action.

Jen O’Connor added a pair of goals while Ashley Dierolf scored once and Tiffany Diachynsky had an assist. Boyertown broke a 1-1 tie at the half with a 4-0 advantage in the second half. Hailey Levengood finished with five saves in goal.

Girls Tennis

UPPER MERION 5, BOYERTOWN 2 >> A sweep of the singles bracket proved key for the Vikings in their PAC win over the Bears.

Boyertown’s points came from Jillian Leary and Sarah McCafferty (first doubles) and Jessica Kerr/Morgan Cvetkovic (fourth doubles), both in two sets.