Photos/Video: Allie Riches
By: Mike Livingston, Archbishop Carroll
MALVERN, PA – You can’t ask for much more if you're Malvern Prep baseball right now.
Sitting at 15-1, the Friars are one of the best-rounded teams not just in the Inter-Ac and PAISSA but in the state following their 2-0 win over the Haverford School Tuesday afternoon.
Credit Collin Romanczuk with holding the Fords scoreless all afternoon. The sophomore right hander dealt a complete game shutout, while allowing just two runners to reach base and not issuing a walk.
“I just did what I did best,” said Romanczuk. “I just started throwing, and everything was working for me. My fastball was definitely riding and my changeup was working well too which definitely helped.”
Romanczuk holds firm at the top of the Friars rotation along with senior Duke commit Will Oschell.
As just a sophomore, the 6 '5 righty sat around the high 70s on the fastball working a pretty fluctuant palate of weak contact grounders and whiffs while never letting Haverford work him too far into counts. Romanczuk finished out the day with just 72 pitches.
“These wins are never easy,” said Malvern Prep head coach Freddy Hilliard, who recorded his 400th career victory earlier this season. “Thankfully we did enough today on offense to get across and obviously having Colin on the mound was huge, he shoved like an ace and took us to the end. We knew they weren’t going to go away.”
Hilliard’s club moves to 3-0 now on the Inter-Ac season following wins over Episcopal Academy, and Germantown Academy along with Tuesday’s victory.
Malvern Prep sophomore Collin Romanczuk pitched a complete game shutout vs. Haverford School - PSD Photo by Allie Riches
The one key difference in those two earlier wins was the offensive output. The Friars put up a combined 13 runs in those two games, while just two came across the plate on Tuesday.
That came to the credit of Haverford junior left-hander Jacob Horwitz who kept the Friars grounded for most of the contest.
Following two consecutive walks to open the second inning to junior Virginia Tech commit Brady Abate and junior Tommy Sergio, senior Owen Hammond knocked an RBI double over the right fielder's head to score both.
The Tufts commit brought across the game’s only two runs of the day.
“I mean we’re so talented offensively,” said Hammond. “And our pitching staff is so great as well, so when the bats do have those off days like we did today with the eight strikeouts - the fact we’re able to rely on our pitchers really can get us through.”
Malvern threatened a few more times in the fourth and sixth innings, but despite having two runners on and in scoring position both times, they couldn’t tack on. It came to pass however as Romanczuk pitched into the seventh without much trouble until he gave up a lead-off single to senior Patrick White in the final frame. After senior Zach Fuscaldo worked another at-bat against Romanczuk before a healthy flyout, Hilliard took to the mound to talk it over with his starter.
Nearly 70 pitches deep after letting up a couple healthy flyouts, it seemed quite possible Romanczuk could exit just an out to go.
“He just said to calm down,” said Romanzcuk. “My heart was definitely rushing a bit. He just told me to calm down and start throwing strikes.”
On the first pitch following the mound visit, Haverford freshman Zackary Lawler lined out on a rope to the first baseman, sealing the victory for the Friars.
Malvern Prep vs. Haverford School - PSD Gallery by Allie Riches
Malvern Prep vs. Haverford School - PSD Video by Allie Riches
The win brings Malvern to 15-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Inter-Ac. While Haverford falls to 5-8 and 0-2 in the IAC.
“I think we need to continue to hit,” said Romanczuk. “If we can play great defense with no errors then we will keep winning games like this.”
The Friars take on William Penn Charter on Thursday for a 4 p.m. first pitch as they put their undefeated Inter-Ac record on the line. Haverford will travel to Germantown Academy for a 4 p.m. start as well as they look to claim their first IAC victory of the year.