true 1 | true 2 Tweet #GwyneddSports


Gwynedd Mercy 7, Neumann 3

BOX SCORE Game 1

Gwynedd Mercy 4, Neumann 3

BOX SCORE Game 2


ASTON, PA. -- The Griffins swept a CSAC Doubleheader at Neumann on Saturday, keeping their playoff hopes alive. Game one was a 7-3 final while game two saw Gwynedd score three runs in the top of the seventh to go on and win the second, 4-3.

Senior Rick Elfreth (Sicklerville, N.J./St. Augustine) delivered the go-ahead hit, scoring two on his two-out double. The Knights, who led 3-0 after two innings, would get two on in the bottom of the seventh, but junior Andrew Hill (Christiana, Pa./Octorara) would get the third out on a strikeout, his seventh on the day, which is a career high, in his five-plus innings of relief.

Held scoreless until the sixth, junior Beau Fleming (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan) hit a one-out solo homer to get GMercyU on the board. It was his third longball of the season.

Hill entered in the second for starter Nick DeRitis (Haddon Twp., N.J./Haddon Twp.), and would yield just three hits and one walk, going a season high 5.1 innings.

Trailing 3-1 going into the seventh, Gwynedd got a lead-off double from junior Christian Carmolingo (Sewell, N.J./St. Augustine). He would move up to third on a wild pitch and score on an infield RBI hit from freshman Brad Humski (North Wales, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham).  After a fly out for the second out of the frame, junior David Blount (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) kept the rally alive with his single to put runners on first and second for Elfreth, who delivered in a big, big way.

Elfreth would finish 3-for-4 while Blount, Fleming, Carmolingo, and Humski each had two hits.

In game one, senior Matt Rakus (Sewell, N.J./St. Augustine) tied a career-high with eight strikeouts, while allowing two earned runs on eight hits with no walks as he pitched into the seventh, as Gwynedd held on for a 7-3 win.

The Griffins got on the board in their first at-bat as junior Chris Hens (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) connected on a two-out, two-run home run for a 2-0 lead. After the Knights used a sac fly in the second, Gwynedd plated two more in the third, scoring on a wild pitch and later a double steal.

Leading 4-2 into the fifth, GMercyU took advantage of two Neumann errors to tack on two more runs. With runners on first and second, senior Elfreth hit a grounder to second, where the ball was flipped to short to get the out at second, but the throw to first was off the mark. That allowed freshman Jason Mulvey (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem), who earlier reached on an infield error, to score and Elfreth to move up to second. Hens would add his third RBI of the day, knocking in Elfreth with a single to right.

Mulvey would make it 7-3 in the sixth when his bunt single scored pinch runner Justin Forktus (Yardley, Pa./Conwell-Egan).

Rakus looked to notch his first complete game this season, but found himself in a jam in the seventh. Back-to-back singles plus a hit by pitch would load the bases. He would register his eighth K of the day for the second out to which Elfreth would come on and get the game-ending strikeout for his first career save.

Officially, Hens finished 2-for-4 while Elfreth was 0-for-2 with two walks as he and Mulvey scored two runs apiece. Blount was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases.

Matt Sheneman was 2-for-3 for Neumann (15-10-1. 8-7 CSAC).

The Griffins (8-17, 7-8 CSAC), who now trail Neumann by one game for the fourth an final playoff berth, return to action on Monday when Swarthmore visits for a non-conference tilt. Gwynedd will open a conference weekend series with Keystone on Friday in LaPlume, with a twinbill slated for Saturday in Gwynedd Valley. The Knights will square off with Cairn in their final series.