High School Baseball: Preseason Top Players and Teams

By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter for The Lansdale Reporter

Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515

Welcome to the wonderful world of spring sports. It means school is almost over and I get to cover my favorite sport -  baseball.

High School Baseball, in my opinion, is at its best in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The teams that The Lansdale Reporter, The Mercury, The Times Herald, and Montgomery Media cover always seem to be in the mix for district and even state championships. There are always a handful of players that commit to Division-One schools and more than you can count that go on to play Division Two and Three.

So without further adieu...Here is one man's opinion on the best teams and the best players in a specific coverage area prior to the 2013 season.

Check back to this blog all season for stats and scores. Go to www.thereporteronline.com/section/sports for stories everyday.

JRC Philly Area's Top 10 Pre-Season Teams

Chris Melillo

1. LaSalle Explorers - Don't get your hopes up Pennsylvania anytime soon because the Explorers are not satisfied with one state championship. Head Coach Joe Parisi just did a little rinse and repeat. The offense is headlined by Notre Dame commit Chris Melillo and the Explorers might be even deeper on the mound. If you think they forget they missed out on a league title, Nuemann-Goretti among others in the PCL will be sorely mistaken.

2. Hatboro-Horsham Hatters - Coach Pete Moore is building some kind of program off Horsham Road and it feels like feeders system could save an underprivileged country from starving. That is if they were hungry for ballplayers. The Hatters seem to graduate big time players and place them at big time college programs only to come back for more. Last year the Hatters finally put it all together with a deep postseason run and they looked poised to do so again.

3. North Penn Knights -  Speaking of feeder systems. Good luck starting for more than two years with the Knights. There always is a youngster in the waiting. But this year the senior class led by catcher Eddie Posavec and four-year starter Bryce Mengel on the bump, they could make serious noise. The Knights are a mercy-rule game waiting to happen.

4. Germantown Academy Patriots - The Patriots pack plenty of power on the pitching mound. Led by sophomore John Aiello the Inter-Ac squad is built to win today, tomorrow and for the next few years. The Pats have hard working seniors and jaw-dropping youngsters.

Robert Knox

5. Upper Moreland Golden Bears - Complacency is not in the Golden Bears vocabulary and while they lost a few valuable pieces to graduation a pair of returning players, Robert Knox and Charlie Hooker shine in the respective roles. Knox, a speedster in the outfielder and a tough out at the plate could hit first or third for this lineup. Hooker emerged as the ace last year and should only get better.

6. Methacton Warriors - I feel bad for the PAC-10 pitching because the Warriors lineup is going to light up the scoreboard. A trio of seniors are signed, sealed are set for college and focusing on graduating with  a bang. Coach Paul Spiewak's squad wants a league title, a district championship, and who knows what else.

7.  Spring-Ford Rams  - Right up at the top of the PAC-10 picture is the Rams who have had their fair share of success in recent seasons. Though they might have lost one of their most talented crops yet to graduation, coach Bruce Brobst won't settle for anything less than a fundamentally sound sqaud. They will find way to wins ball games.

Anthony Scafidi

8. Springfield Spartans - The Spartans are about to spice up the Suburban One American Conference. Coach Chris Shelly's team has played a lot of meaningful playoffs games over the last three seasons and they are not scared of the big Class AAAA schools. And with senior Seton Hall commit Anthony Scafidi taking the ball every chance he gets, the Spartans are bound to be in league title contention with another Class AA state playoff run.

9. Pope John Paul II Golden Panthers - In coach Tom Sergio's third season at the helm PJP is starting to take shape. They have enough pitching to contend and enough offense to make the pitching not feel like they have to a throw a no-hitter every time they take the hill. Look for the Panthers to make noise in Class AAA District One playoffs.

10. Pennridge Rams - The Rams took their lumps last season, but they return all but one starter. The trio of sophomores (Danny Shane, David Tatoian, Joe Unangst) are impact players and senior catcher Mike Kacergis is one of the most underrated players in the area. The DeSales commit will keep his pitching staff in line, as well as any potential base-stealers. Not to mention he will hit in the middle of the order and help the Rams return to the district playoff picture, even if they do not win a league title.

Other possible title contenders: Archbishop Wood, Upper Dublin, Lower Moreland, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Souderton, Wissahickon

Pre-Season All-Area
FIRST TEAM

Chris Melillo (LaSalle)
Anthony Scafidi (Springfield)
Zach Prendergast (Hatboro-Horsham)
John Aiello (Germantown Academy)
Dom Cuoci (LaSalle)





SECOND TEAM

Eddie Posavec (North Penn)
Charlie Hooker (Upper Moreland)
John Santospago (Archbishop Wood)
Jordan Procrass (Lower Moreland)
Ryan Kelly (Hatboro-Horsham)

THIRD TEAM
Nick Falso (Wissahickon)
Robert Knox (Upper Moreland)
Bryce Mengel (North Penn)
John Santoianni (Souderton)
Matt Meyers (Cheltenham)

HONORABLE MENTION
Greg McDonough (Wissahickon)
Tyler Kirkpatrick (Methacton)
Mike Kacergis (Pennridge)
Jackson Martin (Perkiomen Valley)
Kyle Wenger (Souderton)