Prep Baseball Report

Game Recap: Abington Heights at Malvern Prep



By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

Abington Heights 9, Malvern Prep 8

A sloppy game that featured nine errors, eleven walks, and three hit batters went the way of the visitors as 3A #3 Abington Heights survived a late rally by top-ranked independent school Malvern Prep. The teams combined to score in ten of fourteen half-innings, while only recording two 1-2-3 innings during the contest.

The Comets started the scoring in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit. '14 SS Matt Heckman led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Three batters later, Heckman stole third and scored as the throw got away. Malvern countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame. With one out, '15 OF Brendan Inglis walked, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt, and scored on a single from '14 1B Dan Grandieri that the swirling wind made tough for the defense to corral.

After the Friars took the lead with a solo run in the bottom of the second, the Comets surged ahead with two in the third, pushed another run across in the fourth, and then saw Malvern tie the game at four at the end of the fourth. The visitors took the lead for good in the top half of the fifth, posting a four-run rally after starting the inning with two quick outs. Another run in the sixth pushed the Comets lead to five, but Malvern closed the gap on a pinch-hit, three-run home run from '14 Mike Styer.

Malvern mounted another rally in the bottom of the seventh. After the first two hitters reached and were sacrificed to second and third, a groundout from Inglis cut the deficit to one before '16 RHP Sam Arnold induced an infield pop out to end the game.

Tim QuinnIn the second game of the double-header, Inglis took to the hill (4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K) and let his offense do the heavy lifting in an 11-1, five-inning victory to earn a split on the day.


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