Posted on 18 September 2016 by giontam.
Phoenixville 1, Upper Merion 0 >> Phil Meszaros scored the game’s lone goal off a feed from Patricio Perez to lift the Phantoms past the Vikings in PAC play.
Meszaros placed a shot in the far corner from the top of the box for the decider. Phoenixville keeper Mitchell Coll made six saves in the shutout.
http://papreplive.com/2016/09/15/mercury-area-boys-soccer-roundup-meszaros-phoenixville-down-upper-merion/
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Posted on 18 September 2016 by giontam.
Phoenixville 178, Boyertown 187 >> Grace Simenson shot a 39 to secure low-score honors and lead the Phantoms past the Bears at Twin Ponds.
Savanna Haas was low for Boyertown with a 43.
http://papreplive.com/2016/09/13/simensons-39-paces-phoenixville-past-boyertown/
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Posted on 09 April 2016 by giontam.
COURTESY OF BARRY SANKEY
http://papreplive.com/blog/2016/04/08/phoenixville-cedes-lead-edges-pottsgrove-9-7-in-10-innings/
LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Phoenixville had regrets. Seeing a 6-0 lead disappear will do that.
But after watching Pottsgrove’s baseball team plate six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning – highlighted by Mike Gantert’s grand slam – Friday afternoon to knot the score and ultimately send the Pioneer Athletic Conference game into extra innings, the Phantoms then scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning to come away with a 9-7 victory over the Falcons.
Kevin Cushing (six innings), Morgan Bennyhoff (three) and Zack Masalski combined on the pitching victory for Phoenixville (2-2 PAC-10, 2-4 overall). The Phantoms took their early lead with the help of a four-run outburst in the third inning. Nick Opalkowski, Cushing and Matt Palubinsky (triple) helped trigger the offense for the Phantoms.
“Obviously, a win is a win,” said Phoenixville first-year head coach Neil Herman. “It doesn’t matter how you win, just so you get it. We made some mistakes. We have to learn how to finish the game. We got a little comfortable, and we weren’t as intense as we needed to be.
“But give credit to Pottsgrove. They battled the whole game. This is the first year for (coach) Jamie (Nash) and they will build that program.”
In Phoenixville’s top of the 10th inning, catcher Opalkowski (two hits, two RBI) walked with one out before Cushing singled. With two down, Kyle Bennick singled to right field to plate courtesy runner Freddy Bieler with the go-ahead run. Bennyhoff followed with a two-run single through the middle for a pair of insurance runs.
In the bottom of the frame, Pottsgrove had two outs before Bailey Delp, Garrett Bleakley and starting pitcher Dean Fiorini provided three straight singles to account for one run. Alex Stump followed with another single to load the bases, but Gantert, whose grand slam over the left-field fence tied the game at 6 in the sixth inning, flied out to Bennick in right field to end the game.
“I can’t say enough about Nick Opalkowski,” said Herman. “He did a great job at the plate every time up.
“We are 2-2 right now and right in the hunt for the Final Four and district playoffs. We got the win over Methacton when Matt Osisek-Byrne pitched his **** off. That was a confidence-builder that we can play with anybody in the league.”
Cushing was in complete control of the Falcons through the first five innings, allowing just three hits and no runs before Pottsgrove batted around in the sixth to tie it. Gantert got a ball up into the wind with the bases loaded and two outs, and the wind helped carry it out of the ballpark for the homer. Cushing had six strikeouts and no walks. Bennyhoff pitched three innings and gave up one hit and no runs with four strikeouts. Masalski came on to pitch the final inning.
Fiorini and Alex Stump each pitched five innings for the Falcons.
“I was extremely unhappy with our first five innings,” said Nash. “We were very mentally poor. But I was extremely happy and extremely proud of the way we battled back. We have an inexperienced team, and it is a big learning curve. At this point we have to learn how to win.
“I told Gantert when he came up he was the right man in the right spot. He is a great kid. He is a captain and gives up great leadership. I have great confidence in him as a leader.”
Bailey Delp and Garrett Bleakley each had three hits for the Falcons while Fiorini had two hits. Max Stump and Alex Stump each chipped in with an RBI.
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Posted on 05 April 2016 by giontam.
COURTESY OF Sam Stewart – Digital First Media
PHOENIXVILLE >> Phoenixville just could not figure out the puzzle that was Pope John Paul II pitcher Ashley Remmington.
Off-balance swings, chasing pitches and not controlling the count yielded five frustrating frames that had the Phantoms dangerously close to another PAC loss.
In the sixth, however, the Phantoms finally broke through.
Susan Duncan accounted for the game-tying RBI while the Phantoms added two more insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning to secure a 3-1 victory over visiting Pope John Paul II Tuesday afternoon.
“We weren’t helping ourself at all,” Phoenixville head coach Jennie Anderson said. “Our plate discipline was not good throughout the first five innings. We were going up with the count 0-0 and we were swinging at balls high.
“It was frustrating but we kept at it and made some adjustments. (Remmington) was throwing a lot of outside curveballs so we tried to take it to right field more often and change our batting style.”
Needless to say, the adjustments worked.
Duncan’s RBI single in the sixth that scored Lainey Michaud served as a dose of instant healing for a team that had collected two hits in the first five frames and had stranded a runner at third in the first three innings.
Hitting and discipline became infectious as the Phantoms scratched two more runs across the board via a Katie Rutledge hit by pitch (scoring Jamie Deni) and a wild pitch that scored Duncan a batter later. The three-spot in the sixth was enough to garner the Phantoms their first PAC-10 victory of the young season, and overshadow a budding pitcher’s duel between Remmington and Phoenixville’s Jess Eldridge.
Duncan finished the game 3-for-3 from the plate. Kelly Knapp and Michaud also collected a hit, Michaud’s double in the sixth helping spark the Phantoms’ tide-turning inning.
“We just had one or two hits and then everyone started to get behind it,” Eldridge said.
“The snowball effect,” Duncan added. “I just wanted to get the ball in play and get the runs over and get on base.”
“It’s one inning that we tend to make a couple of errors and we pile them on each other,” PJP head coach Amanda Knight said. “But I told them, they win that inning it’s a different game.”
Remmington, backed by the early run support that came via an Amanda Butera triple that scored Gabby Simms in the first, showed flashes of brilliance in her first start of the season. The righthander kept the Phantoms’ hitters off balance through the first five innings, working in her curveball and devastating change-up to get six batters down via strikeout while allowing two hits in the first five frames.
“Ashley is a great pitcher, I’ve always been able to use her,” Knight said. “She’s confident this year so it’s really helping her on the mound.”
Eldrige was not to be outmatched, however.
Settling in after her bumpy first inning, the righthander turned on cruise control, allowing three hits the rest of the way while registering six strikeouts in the final six innings. Eldridge finished with eight strikeouts and improved her ERA to 1.75, good for fourth in the PAC-10.
“Jess has really become a top-notch pitcher for us,” Anderson said. “From freshman year to now, she’s improved vastly. It’ great to see. At the beginning, their (PJP) top 3 was hitting the ball real well and then Butera hit that long one. But she settled in and that’s what she had to do. One thing about her is that she doesn’t let anything get to her. She just goes with it. That’s a good quality for a pitcher to have.”
“Something always seems to happen in the first inning and then I start to settle down,” Eldridge said. “I just have to eliminate that (going forward).”
NOTES >> Simms led PJP with two hits in the loss. … Phoenixville left seven runners on base to PJP’s five.
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Posted on 16 January 2016 by giontam.
BARRY SANKEY, POTTSTOWN MERCURY/PHOENIX REPORTER & ITEM
HOENIXVILLE >> Defense has been a trademark of the Phoenixville boys basketball team throughout this fine season, and it played a major role again during Friday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference victory over Pottstown.
The host Phantoms trailed the Trojans 12-8 after the first period, but Phoenixville turned up the energy in the second quarter. Phoenixville outscored Pottstown 18-6 during the second period en route to a 26-18 halftime lead and then expanded that in the second half, resulting in a 54-32 Phoenixville victory.
Phoenixville remained undefeated in the PAC-10 and atop the Frontier Division at 9-0 (14-2 overall). Pottstown slipped to 4-5 in the circuit and 5-9 overall.
Avery Close scored a game-high 18 points with one 3-pointer, and Matt McLaughlin finished with 10 for Phoenixville’s two players to reach double figures. Jeff Conboy finished with eight, and Marquise McDuffee had six. The Phantoms used 11 players in the contest with all of them contributing in some way and nine of them denting the scoring column.
Larry Wingo was the high scorer for Pottstown with 11 points while Malik Brown and Shamir Edwards each finished with six. Brandon Tinson and Anthony Brown also buried treys for the Trojans.
Phoenixville coach Eric Burnett was most pleased about the Phantoms’ energy and defense. He cited four offensive fouls (charges) that the Phantoms drew with Close drawing two of them. In the previous game against Boyertown, it was guard Phil Meszaros who drew three charges.
“We talk about playing with energy and we work really hard,” said Burnett. “We work hard on taking charges and tonight we had four in seven attempts. We had energy there and kept it in the rotation from there on for the rest of the game. Defense has been paying off. We went on a nice little run in the second quarter. Our defense generates our offense. Then we were able to use defensive pressure for the rest of the game. Our rotation in the second half was doing what we are trying to do defensively. We got a big effort on the charges.”
Shyheim Abernathy grabbed a rebound and canned two free throws with 6:03 left in the second period to tie the game and then give the Phantoms their first lead at 13-12. That continued what became a 13-2 run at the outset of the second quarter that gave Phoenixville a 21-14 lead before the Trojans called a timeout with 2:30 remaining in the first half.
Burnett liked the 10 big points he got inside from McLaughlin as well as a key 3-pointer in the third quarter by Hunter Herschell, as well as his all-around play, as well as the defensive pressure of Nasir Green, Meszaros, Abernathy and Close with his scoring, rebounding and defense.
Leading scorer Christian Kelly sat out most of the game while resting a hand injury. He finished with one field goal and two points.
“We can’t compete with their size and their depth,” said Pottstown coach Cal Benfield. “We are seven deep and they are 10 deep. We turned the ball over way too much. We always play with that fight, but after that third quarter, we lost that. We’re disappointed that we didn’t fight back like we usually do.”
Benfield said basketball is a game of runs, and Pottstown was not able to maintain much consistency.
“We stopped them a couple times, but it was a snowball,” said Benfield. “In the fourth quarter, it never ended. That (Phoenixville) is a nice team.”
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Posted on 06 December 2015 by giontam.
Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
COURTESY OF WWW.CITYOFBASKETBALLLOVE.COM
At the end of last season, the Phoenixville Phantoms were left with a bitter taste in their mouths after meeting the speeding bullet that was the Downingtown West Whippets, who were fresh off a conference title–in the first round of district one play-backs.
The Whippets ran away with that one on their home floor, effectively ending Phoenixville’s season with a 67-44 rout.
With those same teams and a lot of the same players meeting on the exact same floor ten long months later, it was only to be expected the Phantoms would be out for blood and prepared to get revenge, and they did just that against the highly-talented Whippets, taking home a hard-fought, gutsy 61-52 victory.
“We knew coming in this was going to be a really tough game, obviously Downingtown is very good experienced, they have very good players, and they’re very well coached,” said Phoenixville head coach Eric Burnett. “This was a great game, it was an emotional game for us; they ended our season last year, and that was certainly in our minds going into this game. We’re a year older, we’re a year more experienced, and we were prepared for a game like this.”
When West started the game on an 11-2 run and forced four Phoenixville turnovers, it looked like a remake of last year’s playoff matchup. The Phantoms answered with an 8-0 run of their own, and the remainder of the half was neck-and-neck with Phoenixville taking a 29-26 lead into the break.
Things began getting chippy in the second half when, after the two starting centers, Downingtown’s 6-7 Josh Warren and Phoenixville’s 6-5 Jeff Conboy got tangled fighting for a rebound.
What seemed to be an inadvertent knee to Conboy’s face sent him to the ground, and the stadium erupted from both sides.
It wasn’t just the West fans getting loud in favor of their team, Phoenixville had an impressive contingent as well, almost to the point that it seemed like a neutral site at times.
The crowd swayed back and forth through a final quarter that was entirely controlled by Phoenixville in terms of the lead. West tied it at 46 on a strong score by Warren, but then spotted the Phantoms a five-point lead from which they were never able to recover, even with a Ryan Betley three pulling them back within two.
After the game was fully iced, Christian Kelly slammed home a fast-break dunk at the buzzer, sealing the emotional win and bringing out an uproar from the Phoenixville contingent.
“Everybody’s so supportive of our kids,” said Burnett. “They all work hard and they want to be a part of everything we do I’m just grateful for where I am as a coach with this program with such supportive families and players.”
Kelly dropped a game-high 21 points with two three pointers, while snatching 14 rebounds as part of a double-double. Conboy, a fellow senior, added 13.
Conboy and Kelly, both starters in last season’s showdown, were the spark the Phantoms needed to outplay their sizeable, athletic opponent, and played a large role in forcing thirteen turnovers off the experienced Whippets.
“They have great chemistry,” Burnett said of his senior leaders. “They’re getting better at playing together and they work hard every day.”
Granted, West’s senior duo played a phenomenal game as well, with Penn commit Betley dropping twenty points and the Cornell-bound Warren adding 16 of his own, but their efforts weren’t enough to overcome Phoenixville’s passionate and emotional performance.
This win marks more than just revenge for the Phantoms. Knocking off a team who not only won its conference last season, but also made the state tournament and has those two Ivy League-bound seniors was a statement victory and a testament to the growth and improvement of Burnett’s squad.
“Overall, it’s confidence,” said Burnett. “Our kids are playing with extreme confidence, we lost a tough one last night to Penncrest, but we schedule these games for a reason. Teams like Downingtown West, these really good schools at the beginning, to prepare us for a stretch run. Hopefully we’ll be in the final four of our league and further and beyond to districts.”
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Posted on 17 October 2015 by giontam.
COURTESY OF SAM STEWART, POTTSTOWN MERCURY
FULL ARTICLE – http://papreplive.com/blog/2015/10/17/garcias-big-game-helps-lift-phoenixville-over-pope-john-paul-ii/
UPPER PROVIDENCE >> Phoenixville’s rushing attack the past three games had been nonexistent.
It took Matt Garcia two quarters to bring it back to life.
The junior running back ran for a career-best 140 yards on 19 carries, scoring Phoenixville’s lone touchdown while effectively sealing it at the end in the Phantoms’ 10-7 victory over Pope John Paul II Saturday afternoon on the Golden Panthers’ Homecoming game.
“It was an excellent job by our kids to grind it out when we needed to grind it out,” Phoenixville head coach Evan Breisblatt said. “Having Matt Garcia back with two hands is certainly better than one.”
Garcia’s running came alive in the second half, racking up 126 of his total of 140 in the final two quarters. The back was pivotal in the Phantoms’ win, expanding a 3-0 lead with a 24-yard touchdown run, before dashing PJP’s comeback hopes with a 36-yard toss sweep that allowed the Phantoms to go into the victory formation two plays later.
His 140-yard total was nearly 100 yards more than Phoenixville had registered rushing in its past three losses (36). The team was limited to -26 yards rushing in a loss to Pottsgrove before rushing for 25 and 37 yards the next two weeks.
“Our line just created big holes and created big cut back holes for me to run through,” Garcia said. “Coach just told me to keep fighting, run through tacklers and keep moving.”
Garcia’s rejuvenation in the second half wasn’t alone as the offense registered 229 of its 283 yards in the second half. Division I recruit Matt Palubinsky, stymied for the majority of the first half by a persistent PJP defense, finished the game with 46 yards rushing on 16 carries and eight receptions for 57 yards as the Phantoms (2-4 PAC-10, 2-5 overall) doubled its win total from last season.
“In the locker room we thought we had it,” Palubinsky said. “We just had to start fresh in the second half. It was 0-0, two goose eggs on the board. We came out in the second half and took it to them.”
Senior quarterback Matt Duff led the way for PJP (0-6 PAC-10, 0-7 overall), throwing for 189 yards on 15-of-28 passing with one touchdown and one interception while running back Dan Cirino made the most of his 14 carries, finishing with 72 yards.
The Golden Panthers had long drives throughout the contest, but were denied on each one, missing a field goal to cap a 15-play, 67-yard drive on their first possession, failing to score with the ball at the Phoenixville 1-yard line with 10 seconds left in the first half, and throwing an interception after a seven-play drive got the team down to the PHX 24.
The defensive effort in the first half, however, was a bright spot in the loss as it limited Phoenixville to just 54 yards of total offense.
“Every loss is tough but this was a real good opportunity for us,” Pope John Paul II head coach Rory Graver said. “I’m proud of our guys’ effort. They faced some serious adversity this week and they responded.
“We played great on the defensive side of the ball, our offense moved the ball between the 20s. Once we got inside the 20s we couldn’t make enough plays.”
Coming out of the half after stopping PJP at the 1-yard line, the Phantoms made the most of their first drive, going on a 15-play drive that yielded a Garcia Ramirez 42-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Following an interception by Nasir Green, the Phantoms went on the scoring march again. Quarterback Troy Rossman (11-of-17 for 99 yards) connected with Green, who hauled in a pass in traffic along the sideline for a 32-yard gain. That set up Garcia’s run, as he took a handoff, was stuffed inside, bounced out, got the edge and raced for the aforementioned 24-yard touchdown to make it 10-0.
Duff then connected with Sean Brennan for a 17-yard score to make it 10-7 before leading the team down inside the Phantom 30 with three minutes remaining. That, however, was the closest PJP got to scoring. Jon Miller and Durron Johnson came up with momentous back-to-back sacks that forced a PJP punt. Garcia then finished it off with the 36-yard toss sweep on 3rd and 14 to cue the pending Phantoms celebration.
“The sacks were huge,” Breisblatt said. “Things were getting dicey with our injuries and Dorran comes up with a huge sack out of nowhere. Jon, a sophomore, also came up big.
“I don’t think anyone would have said that this would be a 10-7 ballgame going into it, but both teams played really well defensively.”
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Posted on 14 October 2015 by giontam.
By Mark Macyk, Philadelphia Inquirer
Its team is called the Phantoms, but thanks to a comeback victory Tuesday afternoon, Phoenixville’s girls soccer team is still alive.
Gabrielle Perrotto scored two goals in three minutes in the second half and the visiting Phantoms rallied to top Pope John Paul II, 3-1, in Pioneer Athletic Conference play.
Leeza Galli added a goal and an assist. Kayla Mesaros scored in the first half to give Pope John Paul a 1-0 lead at the break.
A loss would likely have knocked Phoenixville, ranked 28th in the District 1 power rankings, from the 28-team district tournament.
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Posted on 02 October 2015 by giontam.
COURTESTY OF www.Pac10Sports.com
PHOENIXVILLE – Tony Silva deposited a pair of goals and Mitchell Coll stopped five shots for the shutout to power Phoenixville to a 2-0 Pioneer Athletic Conference boys soccer victory over Perkiomen Valley Friday.
Also for the Phantoms (5-4, 6-6), Phil Meszaros chipped in with an assist. The loss drops the Vikings to 3-5-1, 3-9-1.
– See more at: http://www.pac-10sports.com/article/content/boys-soccer-silva-coll-power-phoenixville-past-perkiomen-valley-0022832#sthash.lSA24BCq.dpuf
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Posted on 29 September 2015 by giontam.
The Phoenixville Girls Golf team has had a big week. First, the Phantoms knocked off PAC leader Hatboro-Horsham 180-182 on Monday on Senior Day at Turtle Creek. On Tuesday, three Phantoms qualified for the District One Girls Golf tournament with strong showings at the PAC Tournament.
Grace Simenson finished with a team-low 86, followed by Maddie Davis (89) and Allison Bradley (94). Nineteen players from the PAC Tournament qualified for the District One tournament, which will be held at Gilbertsville Golf Club on October 12 & October 13.
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