Rams Report: Coaches Time Out

With league titles on the line this and next week, the action is really heating up at . The coaches took a midweek break to chat with us about the post season.

Baseball Action Postponed

With PAC-10 seeding on the line, the baseball team will have to wait another few days... Last night's Boyertown game was suspended due to poor field conditions in the bottom of the fifth. Angelo Kelly is on base with one out and Tom Grablewski at bat. Grablewski faces a 2-2 count. Boyertown leads in the game, 1-0. The game resumes on Friday at 6 p.m.

Tuesday's game against Methacton was not played due to rain.

The Rams currently hold third place in the league with an 11-5 record. The last win came over Owen J. Roberts, which was called in the fifth inning. The Rams were crowned victorious with a 5-0 lead.

Other teams in the Final Four will be Boyertown, Methacton and Phoenixville. Spring-Ford has wins over Boyertown and Phoenixville, but lost to Methacton earlier in the season.

Head coach Bruce Brobst was not available for comment.

Softball Has Important Week, Drops Another to Methacton

The softball team registered its second loss of the season on Wednesday evening in a 5-0 loss to Methacton. The Warriors had the Rams' number this season, as they have been the only team able to beat the strong Spring-Ford squad.

Methacton opened up strong in the first inning, scoring three runs, and added two more in the fourth. Spring-Ford did not score a single run in the game, leaving the final score at 5-0.

"Methacton's a good team," said head coach Tim Hughes before the game. "These last few games for us are both fun for the girls and stressful for me. Our fans are loving to watch it. You want to see good quality softball and we definitely have it with these next few games. If we don't play our best, we're going to get beat."

Despite the loss, the girls celebrated their senior night during the game, honoring seniors , , Becca James, , Deme Kanakis, Marisha Bates and Danielle Miles.

The loss will have an impact on district seeding, which is May 17. The girls take on Boyertown tonight. The Final Four begins next week, which the Rams have already qualified for.

"I honestly and wholeheartedly can't tell you who I'd like to see first," Hughes said. "The five teams in this right now all have the capability to win any game. It's really hit or miss. With Boyertown, it has no impact on Final Four, but we'd sure like to go down to district seeding with [that win]."

The teams in the race for the Final Four are Spring-Ford, Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts and Perkiomen Valley. OJR has six losses and PV has five losses, so one of the two will not make it to the big dance. The Rams play May 15 at Pine Forge. Semifinals are at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The girls started the week with Pope John Paul on Saturday. After blowing out the Panthers in their first matchup, Spring-Ford was able to pick up a second victory - this time in extra innings, 9-8.

"We jumped on them quick 8-0 and it was probably some bad coaching by me, because no major changes, but I let us get too comfortable," said Hughes. "You know they start making things happen, sometimes it's tough to get back on that horse and start smacking away heading down the stretch. They had a couple of nice hits at the right time."

The girls followed up in a come-from-behind victory against Owen J. Roberts on Monday. Behind 4-2 after four innings, the girls scored four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead. They won the game, 8-6 when it was all said and done.

"We had to minimize our mistakes in the field," Hughes said. "We made some errors and that is definitely not something that is going to give you the bright side of a win. Owen J. didn't have a typical game either. They do a great job there."

Hughes praised his assistant coaches for the incredible work they have done. The assistants are Shawn Corropolese and Dan Miscavage.

"They do a heck of a job for us," said Hughes. "They help us out a whole lot. They're just as much a part of it as anyone."

Boys Tennis Awaiting the Good Weather

The PAC-10 Doubles Tournament was not played last Thursday due to poor court conditions. Most of the action was played on Friday, with and making it to the finals after defeating Boyertown, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Phoenixville has yet to play their first match due to prior obligations, so the championship has not been scheduled yet.

Spring-Ford's first doubles team John Gracie and Seth Ryberg made it to the quarterfinals in the tournament, as well.

Triolo and Graziadei will be the number one seed out of the PAC-10 for the district tournament.

Boys Lacrosse Faces Owen J. Roberts for PAC-10 Title Tonight

Spring-Ford defeated Perkiomen Valley, 12-7 in the PAC-10 semifinals on Tuesday night. They will move on to face Owen J. Roberts for the title tonight at 6 p.m. at Phoenixville High School.

"We don't really change a whole lot of what we do for any other team," said head coach Kevin Donnelly. "We just try to play the way we play and hopefully that works out. We've been relatively successful at this point, trying to get up and down the field quickly, playing steady defense and letting our playmakers make the plays."

Playmakers Zach Monzo and Paul Major certainly did make the plays on Tuesday night. They each scored five goals. Stephen Bock had the other two. Contributing assists were Christian McCormick, Bock and Justin Kelly.

Sophomore goalie saved 17, with 39 shots being taken on the Rams.

"He just takes everything in stride," Donnelly said. "He's not a real emotional guy. He just prepares himself the same way every game and comes out ready. The neat thing to see with him is that all year he makes the saves he's supposed to save. About midway through, he started to make really nice saves in that regard. Now, he's maturing to the point where not only is he making the ones he should and really good ones like that, but also some difference makers. One-on-ones on the crease and things like that. His progression has just been great."

The PAC-10 title game has been the same matchup for the past five years. This will be the sixth. The Rams won last year, and split with Owen J. Roberts this year. That is the Rams' only league loss this season.

"That's a high tempo, high intensity team," said Donnelly. "They evenflow on their emotions. I'm hoping we're able to come out and just play a good steady game throughout and not allow their surges to affect us. It's always a great battle. It always has been."

District seeding is on Sunday and the Rams should make it in.

"The area's lacrosse this year is really all over the place," Donnelly concluded. "There's a couple of strong teams that have had ups and downs. Any given day, you've got a shot. It does depend a lot on Thursday. The higher seed going in to Sunday's seeding meeting will really have an impact on what goes on and what seed we get and what seed they get and all of that. Hopefully we take care of business and can do well there."

Girls Lacrosse Faces Boyertown for PAC-10 Title Tonight

Spring-Ford defeated Pottstown, 17-5 on Tuesday night in the PAC-10 semifinals. They advance to play Boyertown for the title tonight at 8 p.m. at Phoenixville High School.

"We focused a lot with the practice before with Pottstown trying to slow them down," said head coach Amy Short. "They're more of a run-and-gun type team. Out of their five goals, I would say three of them was probably Milan [White] coming down and zooming past us and getting it in."

Sophomore Kira Gensler was the star of the game, scoring six goals and leading the team in scoring. She had three assists in the contest. and Sasha Wozniak also contributed. Ward had three goals and four assists and Wozniak had two goals and one assist. Ward scored her 200th career goal in the game.

"[Kira] is just a very consistent player," Short said. "I think since North Penn, it sort of clicked between my midfield, specifically Kira, Sasha and Maddie. The three of them work so well together. Between Kira and Sasha, they kind of look for each other. They know where the other one is before they even see it. It's weird when they get those connections that are unbelievable.

"Kira is passionate and gets things working. For a sophomore to have those leadership skills is amazing. It's raw talent that you don't normally see. We're very fortunate."

The girls are ready to face the Bears and have proven they can score points against the dominant Boyertown force. After losing 14-4 the first time around, Spring-Ford came back out later in the season and scored nine. They lost that game 17-9. They'll have a third shot tonight.

"Boyertown's whole game is passing the ball and they don't drop the ball," Short said. "They can have confidence in each other and move the ball a lot quicker down the field by passing. My girls should realize they don't have to run-and-gun it. They can slow it down a little bit."

District seeding is on Sunday and Short is hoping the girls will make it. The first game would be May 15. Short paid homage this week to Erin Mensch.

"She needs to be mentioned for defense," Short concluded. "She's so steady back there and comes up with big plays and we know if she's crossing the 50, she's going to goal. That's what she does."

Track & Field Participating in PAC-10 Championships this Weekend

Track & Field will compete in the PAC-10 Championship on Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. After a great Henderson Invitational meet last Friday, more competitors are prepared to make a post season impact.

"We set three school records," said head coach Ken DeAngelo. " set the 800-meter record at 1:55.38. The old record belonged to Dave Bauman back in 1970 and was 1:55.7. broke Cole Legge's record of 4:25.97 set at Coatesville in May of 2004. broke her own record with a javelin toss of 112-feet-10."

Senior Audrey Burger also had a personal best time in the 1600-meter at 5:13.83. Senior placed third in the 100-meter with a time of 11.25.

As for the championship, DeAngelo is expecting big performances from his leaders.

"We will rely on our seniors to score points," he said. "That for the boys would be in the sprints, , Jesse Magolon, Xavier Ingram from the 400 on up. We'll also look for points from youngsters Ryan Pierson - pole vault, David O'Such - sprints, Yousef Lundi and Ryan Connelly in the hurdles."

Throws will feature John Manning, Ryan Grosshanten, Brandon Palaia, William Ramsey, Mike Gilmore and Brandon Palaia. Joe Bush and Mike Novarina will lead the jumps.

The girls have a variety of talent as well.

"The girls will look to Audrey Burger, and freshman Sam Christman for distance points. Hurdles will be led by , Nicole Cornell and . Nikki Lynch can be expected to compete anywhere as she is very talented. She is coming from last weekend with a personal best and district-qualifying time in the 400 meters at 58.30, placing eighth."

Jumpers for the girls include Natalie Thomas, Sam DiPietro, Nicole Rocchio and . Throwing will be Akunna Okere, Kaila Nogar, Jennifer Yeakle and Kerry Miller.

"Many Spring-ford athletes will be competing as many qualified by meeting PAC-10 standards," DeAngelo concluded.