Rams Report: Coaches Time Out

sports are underway for the spring season, and we've already seen some excitement in all athletics. LRSC Patch and the spring coaches took a midweek break for its weekly Coaches Time Out.

Baseball 2-2, Finding Identity

The baseball team is 2-2 through four games thus far this season. The Rams defeated Pottsgrove and Pottstown, but suffered losses to Phoenixville and Perkiomen Valley.

"Phoenixville, we didn't play very well," said head coach Bruce Brobst of the 16-6 loss. "We had one bad inning where we did not pitch, nor did we field very well and it cost us the game."

The Rams defeated Pottsgrove 9-4 and Pottstown 1-0 consecutively.

"Pottsgrove, we played a good game," Brobst said. "It was well-pitched. We hit the ball well, got some runs, came out early in a deficit, but came back and scored some runs. Outstanding pitching, outstanding defense [in the Pottstown game]. We were able to get one run across. Krystian DeLuzio did a great job pitching."

On Monday, the Rams led 2-0 through six, but gave up two in the sixth and three in the seventh, losing to Perkiomen Valley, 5-2.

Spring-Ford plays today at 4 p.m. On paper, the matchup proves interesting, as the Panthers only lost by one run to the Phoenixville powerhouse. Brobst agreed the competition would be rough.

"Absolutely, it's a tough match even early in the season," Brobst said. "We're still trying to find ourselves and not sure where they're at. If we go out and play good baseball, we have a chance. We've got some things we're working on and learning. So, I told the guys, it's not where you start, it's where you finish. Hopefully we have this thing going in the right direction."

Softball Undefeated at 3-0

The girls are off to a 3-0 start after wins against Phoenixville, Pottsgrove and Pottstown.

"Phoenixville, it was pretty much a stalemate for a little bit," said head coach Tim Hughes. "We scored one, then we jumped on them for a few runs, then a few more. Late in the game, we came alive. They knocked in a couple of runs. It was a good win. Phoenixville is a good team."

The girls ended up being the Phantoms, 8-3. Then came Pottsgrove, which was the biggest battle of the three, so far.

"That was a fun one," Hughes said. "They're good. They've got some kids that can hit the ball. They had a girl hit a ball further than I've ever seen a girl hit one before. It was a shot."

The Rams were up 6-0, but lost the lead by the top of the seventh, down 8-7.

"Our kids responded and threw a five-spot on the board in the top of the seventh," Hughes said. "We were lucky enough to hold on, 12-8."

The Pottstown game ended in three due to the mercy rule. Spring-Ford won 20-0.

"They're young and they struggle at times," Hughes explained. "Their coach does a good job. That's a tough situation there. She only has nine kids, no J.V.'s. I'll take the win, but I'm thinking they'll get better."

The girls play Perkiomen Valley today at 4 p.m. It should be an interesting one.

"That's a big one," Hughes said. "I haven't seen them yet. I know it's a good team. They're winning and losing by one run. They're not making mistakes. They played hard against Owen J. [Roberts] the other day. They had a tough one against Methacton Monday. One of Methacton's kids hit a homerun late in the game to take the lead. We always had some good games with P.V. They field a quality team. There's really no breaks, there really isn't."

Overall, the girls are trying to keep it error-free and play good defense for early-season success.

"We're doing okay," Hughes said. "Pitching is doing good. I have two girls pitching, but defensively we're working on making them earn runs. Pottsgrove threw eight on us, but that's one of the key things. As long as our kids play defense. If they earn runs and beat us, they beat us and they're a better team than us. We're just trying to eliminate mistakes right now since it's still early in the season."

Tennis: Triolo Commits to Allegheney, Rough Non-League Schedule

The boys tennis team has surely faced some tough non-league competition. In nine matches this season, the Rams are 4-5; 1-4 in non-league matches and 3-1 in the PAC-10. The only PAC-10 loss came to Phoenixville, a known presence in the league.

"The kids learned a lot of things by playing against these really good teams in District One," said head coach John Brennan. "Tyler's had some really good wins playing these kids. District One should help him in the district seedings. He had a big win against the kid at Bayard Rustin and Council Rock North, which will help him out. And with that, we've been able to do some more in the PAC-10 here since Phoenixville, we've gone 3-0 in the league since then."

Triolo committed to Allegheney College on Thursday. Brennan noted he is one of the few kids in the program's history to go off to play collegiately. He will be awarded some scholarship money from the Division III school.

Another bright spot on the Rams squad is third singles player Ryan Schweiter, who is 5-4 thus far.

"He's definitely undersized," said Brennan. "He's maybe five feet tall, less than 100 pounds and he's playing some tough underclassmen. He beat the kids from PJP and PV. He's really starting to develop and make strides in his game."

Tennis does not resume play until April 11.

Donnelly Gets 100th Win

The Spring-Ford boys lacrosse team is off to a 4-1 start so far, with its only loss coming to Avon Grove on Friday night. Otherwise, the Rams have beaten Lower Merion, Pope John Paul II, Phoenixville, and Owen J. Roberts.

"Lower Merion was a good win for us," said head coach Kevin Donnelly. "They're generally pretty good in the Central League, and those wins are always big for us. They're the best conference around. Friday night, we didn't play as well as we were capable of [against Avon Grove] which attributed to the loss. We started slow and just didn't play our game."

Within the league, the Rams came out and pummeled the Panthers, 14-3, and the Phantoms 16-2. They then came out on Monday and defeated Owen J. Roberts, 14-10.

The Owen J. Roberts win marked Donnelly's 100th win with the program.

"It is good," Donnelly said. "It's really more of a tribute to the program than me personally. There's a lot of guys that put in a ton of time in our program. They really have exceeded our expectations every year. We always try to become better and better and our guys put the effort in. Nine years ago, we had a single victory, then we got it going from there."

The Rams went on through the years, progressing and building momentum to winning a PAC-10 title in 2011.

Spring-Ford plays Pottsgrove tonight and finishes the week on Saturday in the HEADstrong Rivalry Games against Perkiomen Valley.

"Pottsgrove is playing better than they have in the last couple of years," Donnelly said. "P.V. is always a game that's been interesting. They were the primetime team seven or eight years ago. It's always been a rivalry as well. It's neat to be able to benefit the HEADstrong foundation by playing that game and hopefully raise awareness of blood cancer and things like that."

Donnelly paid homage to senior leader Zach Monzo, who scored five goals in the OJR game most recently.

"He's been playing lights out," Donnelly said. "Paul Major has also opened a lot of things up offensively. Those two guys are our anchors and let other guys capitalize, as well. Ian Hare has been our anchor on defense in directing traffic and Matt Messerle is playing really well in goal."

Girls Lacrosse: .500 Through Six

Spring-Ford's girls lacrosse team is off to a 3-3 start after six games. They defeated Exeter, Methacton and x, and lost to Boyertown, Great Valley and West Chester Henderson.

"The first week was pretty rough," said head coach Amy Short. "We had a game Friday night against Exeter, ending up in overtime with a 13-12 win. The following Monday, we played Boyertown and they came out really strong, as always. That's what Boyertown does. We came out a little scared and not very confident. They beat us 14-4."

Next, the girls took on Methacton, which was a nice game for the girls.

"We finally started looking like we had things together," Short continued. "We showed confidence, a lot of people were scoring. Then, we hit Great Valley on Thursday and we played hard against them, but they played well. They're a phenomenal team and a great program."

The girls finished the week with Henderson on Friday and fell, losing by one in overtime. Exhausted, the girls were given the weekend off to prime for PAC-10 rival Owen J. Roberts. They ended up beating the Wildcats, 9-7.

"We came out slow," Short said. "I don't know if it was the two days off, or if it was just one of those games, but we won."

Sasha Wozniak played well over the six games. Short identified her as an aggressive goal-scorer who is able to compliment Maddie Ward.

Spring-Ford plays Perkiomen Valley today to finish the week.

"You never know," Short said. "It's all about the girls. They're teenagers, so you never know what's going on in their heads. It's an afternoon game on Spring Break. We could come out really strong and it could be a great game, or they could come out like they did against Owen J. and it would be a little bit more of a fight. P.V. beat Owen J. You never know with girls."

Track & Field

Track & Field Head Coach Ken DeAngelo did not submit a report this week.