It’s postseason time in the Centennial Conference, and what do we have on tap Thursday at 3 p.m.? Just a little neighborhood drama between two local rivals, as Haverford heads to Swarthmore in a battle of clubs that know each other all too well.
Let’s start with the No. 2 seed Garnet (23-16, 14-4), who’ve been a nightmare for visiting teams all year, going 13-2 at home — and oh, by the way, they just swept this same Haverford squad last week in two games that looked more like batting practice than baseball.
Swarthmore’s Brad Johnston? He’s been on another planet. Named this week to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week and Centennial Conference Player of the Week, Johnston went a sizzling 10-for-16 (.625), launched five home runs, drove in 14, scored 13 runs, drew four walks, posted a .727 on-base percentage, and slugged a videogame-like 1.563 over four games. He homered in every game. Oh, and he tossed in a couple of five-RBI performances for good measure.
As for the Fords (22-14, 10-8), they’ve got a pretty good trump card of their own in junior captain Sam Cohen. The right-hander was just named Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Week after delivering a clutch gem: eight scoreless innings, five hits, four strikeouts, one walk in a must-win 8-1 victory over Dickinson to secure the No. 3 seed. Cohen’s been the rock of Haverford’s staff, going 5-1 with a 3.44 ERA and 49 strikeouts over nearly 50 innings.
Now, about those two games last week — the Garnet didn’t just beat Haverford; they buried them. Scores of 23-6 and 18-6, with a total of 41 runs and 21 hits in the opener alone. Matthew Silvestre? Perfect 4-for-4 with a homer and five RBI. Leor Kedar? Three hits, a double shy of the cycle. And Johnston? A grand slam plus five RBI. In Game 2, Aidan Sullivan went 4-for-6, just missing the cycle by a home run, while Johnston added two more homers and five more RBI. Over the two games, Johnston alone had three homers and 10 RBI.
But here’s the wrinkle: Cohen didn’t pitch in that series. And he’s almost certainly getting the ball Thursday.
Swarthmore is expected to counter with senior lefty Liam Alpern (3-2, 4.54 ERA), hoping to keep the Garnet rolling into the weekend.
So, what’s at stake? A ticket deeper into the Centennial postseason. The winner advances to Saturday’s game against the McDaniel–Johns Hopkins winner, while the loser faces an elimination game against the McDaniel–Johns Hopkins loser.
The double-elimination tournament shifts to Baltimore for the weekend, with the championship wrapping up on Sunday.
