Chadwicks’ title caps another year in GNABL
Back-to-back championships sends Chadwicks to Region 3 Tournament
The 2018 Greater Norristown American Legion Baseball League season was another memorable one.
Chadwicks and JP Mascaro were the top two teams from start to finish. Chadwicks got off to a 7-2-1 start while the Haulers jumped out at 7-2. They met in the winner’s bracket final, which Mascaro won, 5-1, and again in the championship. Chadwicks won Game 1, 6-5 in eight innings in arguably the best game of the year, to force Game 2, which they won 13-0 in five innings, to go back-to-back as league champions.
Perk Valley, Whitemarsh and Mt. Carmel all finished within 1.5 games of each other from third to fifth place in the standings.
Valley Forge and Whitpain had down years during the regular season, but the Generals more
than made up for it with a deep postseason run.
Chadwicks moves on to represent the GNALBL in the PA Region 3 Tournament. The playoffs get started Friday at Lionville in Downingtown at a time to be determined.
Here is an overview of every team this season:
Chadwicks
Chadwicks finished first in the regular season with a 13-4-1 record on their way to their second straight league championship.
They were just as dominant as those numbers suggest.
Eleven different players hit over .300 with Jack McQuaid leading the way at .667 in four games. For the everyday players, Jeremiah Levine hit .435, Matt Ahmad 4.34 and Tyler Pastella .421.
Ahmad led the team with 14 RBI. John Houser and Dominic Proietto were right behind him with 11.
Houser, Proietto and Nick Edling were as good of a pitching staff as anyone in the league. Houser went 4-0 with two complete games and a 0.89 ERA, Edling went 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA and Proietto 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA.
Chadwicks lost to JP Mascaro, 5-1, in the winner’s bracket final. They followed that with a 12-2 win over Valley Forge in the loser’s bracket finale and two wins against JP Mascaro to win the championship.
JP Mascaro
JP Mascaro had a huge turnaround season in 2018. The Haulers finished at the bottom of the league in 2016 and 2017. This year, they finished the regular season 11-7 and won the winner’s bracket in the playoffs before losing to Chadwicks in the championship.
Trevor Rambo led the team with a .423 average and Ryan McDonnell was second at .396.
McDonnell led the team with 19 hits and 17 runs. Chad Evans led the way in RBI with 12 and Gavin Wolfe and Josh Dubost each had 10.
Wolfe went 4-3 on the mound with a 1.05 ERA. Zachary Griffin went 3-0 with one save and posted a 0.00 ERA in five appearances.
Mt. Carmel
Mt. Carmel was eliminated from the playoffs with an 8-2 loss against Whitemarsh after finishing the regular season in fifth place with an 8-9-1 record.
Steve Blum led the team with a .345 batting average in 15 games with eight starts. Steve Longo, who started 17 games and played in 18, led the Mounties with 14 hits and nine RBI.
Mt. Carmel had a solid starting rotation with Jon Singer, Dan Green and John Pecharo. Pecharo went 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA and two complete games.
Perk Valley
Perk Valley, the 2015 and 2016 league champs, were eliminated from the playoffs with a 4-2 loss against Valley Forge.
The Raiders went 10-8 this season and finished third in the regular season.
Joe Gorla led the offense, hitting .684 in seven games.
Joe Giunta started four games on the mound for the Raiders and went 3-0 with two complete games. He had 16 strikeouts to three walks in 23 innings of work with a 1.83 ERA.
Valley Forge
After finishing the regular season in sixth place with a 6-11-2 record, the Generals won three playoff games to reach the loser’s bracket final before losing to Chadwicks, 12-2.
It was a big season for Luke and Mike Hutchinson. They tied for the team lead in hits — along with Marc Clayton — with 14. They both hit over .300 with Luke at .341 and Mike at .318. Mike led the team in RBI with 13 and doubles with seven.
Whitemarsh
Whitemarsh went 10-9 this season before losing to Valley Forge in the loser’s bracket semifinals, 7-4.
Jake Kuruc started the season hitting .500 over the first six games.
The Patriots hit their stride in the middle of the season, when they went 7-2 over a nine-game stretch. Following that, they lost three games to close out the regular season.
Whitpain
Whitpain had a down year after reaching the championship in 2017. The Pain Train finished this season in seventh place with a 4-14 record. They lost the play-in game to Valley Forge, 7-5.
Despite the poor record, Whitpain had some strong offensive players. Bobby McFarland hit .500, Michael Steitz .417, Asher Lovitz .412 and Taylor Friedman .333. Joel Bjordammen led the team with 12 RBI and Friedman had nine.
James Ferioli made five starts on the mound and went 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA. In 26.1 innings, he struck out 20 batters to 18 walks and surrendered 21 hits.
2018 Volpe Awards Chadwicks — Jimmy Dimitry JP Mascaro — Ryan McDonnell Mt. Carmel — Steve Blum Perk Valley — Matt Szczesny Valley Forge — Justin Tornetta Whitemarsh — Jake Kuruc Whitpain — Michael Steitz Most Valuable Player Matt Ahmad (Chadwicks) Richard Melito Pitcher of the Year Steven Gallagher (Whitemarsh) Batting Champion Matt Ahmad (Chadwicks) Manager of the Year Lucas Denczi (JP Mascaro)