After Perkiomen School managed one run and four hits in its initial two games, both losses, Avery Smith broke the ice for the season with a key hit and Zach Mayza

Perkiomen School shortstop Gaven Feulner, left, lunges  towards second base duing his team's victory over Devon Prep last week.

delivered the dagger that lifted Perkiomen School to its initial win of the season, a 9-1 victory over Devon Prep last week.

            Both hits came during a seven-run outburst during a fifth-inning rally on Friday, March 28, at Baker Field. The win could give the Panthers some much-needed confidence, according to head coach Ken Baker.

            The outburst should allow the team to relax at the plate, the coach said.

            "We were having a lot of issues at the plate," Baker said. "We couldn't score any runs. It feels good to break through. Now, the guys can relax."

             Smith and Mayza, the Panthers' only two returning regulars, seemed like the most logical candidates to shake them from their early offensive doldrums. Baker described Smith, a senior catcher, as their most important offensive player."He's a stud," the coach said of Smith, an East Greenville native, who will continue playing at Penn State University. "Avery is going to have to be our go-to offensive guy."

            Smith's line drive homer to left came after Mayza worked a leadoff walk and Cole Tucholski's double. A throwing error on a ground ball by Ryan Sink, at the bottom of the batting order, allowed a run to score from third. Two hitters later, Mayza delivered his three-run hit to cap the rally.

            "Zach's swing has developed," Baker said. "We've been working on it since September."

             On Tuesday, Cole Tucholski and Angelo Reyes pitched the Panthers (2-2) to their second straight win. They tossed five no-hit innings and registered 13 strikeouts in a 10-0 victory over George School.
            Dino Liberi finished with two hits and three RBIs – including a game-ending, two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning – against Devon Prep. Angelo Reyes delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning to highlight a six-run rally.

            Reyes delivered three hits and scored two runs. Smith, a four-year starter, finished with three hits. Ian Perez scored two runs for Perkiomen School.

            Sink's two-run single in the second inning staked his team to a 2-0 advantage. Two errors by the Tide led to both runs.

            Justin Fryer, a post-graduate from Norristown, earned the mound victory. In his first start for the Panthers, the left-hander allowed one run on three hits in six innings while striking out 13.

            Fryer, who pitched last season for the Eagles in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, dominated Devon Prep with a fastball between 86 and 88 and two breaking pitches. He struck out the side in the third and fifth innings.

"I thought Justin was pretty effective," Baker said of Fryer, who committed last spring to continue his career at Northwestern University. "We've been trying to keep him from overthrowing, and I think he did what we were looking for."

            The team has a local feel. Only seven of the players are boarding students, according to Baker.

            "It's been trending that way," the coach said.

            Last week's starting lineup featured shortstop Gavin Feluner, from Douglass Township, Tucholski, a ninth grader from Quakertown who pitched the seventh inning, and first baseman Sink, a Pennsburg resident.

            The roster includes Robert Jerez, a junior from Pennsburg; Jackson Bixler, a sophomore outfielder from East Greenville, Zachary Smith, a Quakertown junior as well as Trent Kellogg and Pete Moser, two ninth graders from Pennsburg.