These 10 sizzle at the hot corner

As 15 area teams prepare to begin their quest for state gold, we present our ranking of Southeastern Pennsylvania's top third basemen.

1. Frank Saviski, Bonner-Prendergast, senior. The hard-slugging cleanup man earned first-team all-Catholic League Blue Division honors. Also a pitcher for the Friars, he is considering Harford Community College, in Bel Air, Md., and Gwynedd-Mercy.

2. Matt Rowland, Springside Chestnut Hill, senior. From the No. 5 spot in the batting order, the Louisville recruit batted .449 with 17 RBIs and 11 runs.

3. Jordan Pocrass, Lower Moreland, junior. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder hit .436 with 18 RBIs and 13 runs for the Lions.

4. Brett Newman, Council Rock North, senior. With the aid of Newman, also a solid pitcher, the Indians placed third in the District 1 Class AAAA tournament.

5. Donovan Davis, Strath Haven, senior. A three-hole hitter, Davis helped lead the Panthers to a 20-1 record. On the mound, he went 9-0 with a 1.55 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 541/3 innings.

6. Grant Opalisky, Hatboro-Horsham, senior. A second-team all-Suburban One League Continental Conference pick and Bloomsburg recruit, Opalisky batted .397 with 14 RBIs and 11 runs.

7. Sean Udris, Neshaminy, junior. From the No. 3 spot, Udris hit .397 with 21 RBIs and 15 runs for the Suburban One National champs.

8. Tom Benek, Central, senior. Also a first baseman, Benek batted .455 with 29 RBIs, 16 runs, and eight doubles. He was a first-team all-Public League Division A pick.

9. Sean Gallagher, Abington, senior. A dependable cleanup man for the Ghosts, he hit .397 with 17 runs and eight RBIs.

10. Josh Teson, Father Judge, senior. He was a first-team all-Catholic League Red Division choice and also pitched for the Crusaders.

Twenty others to watch, listed alphabetically: Brad Bertucci, North Penn, senior; Brian Bradley, Franklin Towne Charter, junior; Ben Burman, Episcopal Academy, sophomore; Jake Burrell, Sun Valley, senior; Brandon Davis, Central Bucks West, senior; Alec Dollard, Holy Ghost Prep, senior; Nick Falso, Wissahickon, sophomore; Mark Gentilotti, Malvern Prep, sophomore; Emmett Hunt, Coatesville, senior; Brandon Iorio, Norristown, senior; Jay Jabs, Perkiomen Valley, senior; Connor Klemann, Spring-Ford, sophomore; Will Latcham, Cardinal O'Hara, junior; George Long, George School, senior; Kyle Lowery, Methacton, junior; Chris Martin, St. Joseph's Prep, junior; Ben Morina, Pennridge, senior; Nick Simon, Neumann-Goretti, senior; Colt Smith, Archbishop Wood, senior; Luke Stong, Boyertown, senior.

Mea culpa. In our ranking of the top middle infielders earlier this week, Coatesville's C.J. Young, a shortstop, was inadvertently omitted from the list.

For the District 1 Class AAAA champions, the 6-foot, 155-pound senior and leadoff man is batting .449 with 33 runs and 11 RBIs. He will continue his career at Harford.

Young's brother, Tyler, starred at shortstop for Malvern Prep and is a junior third baseman at Louisville. There is talk of the 20-year-old's being selected between the fourth and 10th rounds of Major League Baseball's first-year player draft, which will begin Thursday.

C.J. Young, who went 2 for 4 in Thursday's 5-4 triumph over Pennridge in the district final, spent two years at Malvern Prep before transferring to Coatesville.

Team Rec.

Last week's rankings in parentheses.

1. La Salle (1) 21-4

2. Coatesville (9) 20-6

3. Pennridge (10) 19-7

4. C.B. East (2) 16-4

5. Malvern Prep (4) 27-9

6. Haverford Sch. (NR) 24-10

7. Neshaminy (5) 15-5

8. C.R. North (NR) 15-8

9. North Penn (NR) 13-10

10. Strath Haven (1) 20-1

Under consideration (listed alphabetically): Bonner-Prendergast (17-5), Boyertown (16-9), Holy Ghost Prep (19-4), Methacton (17-7), St. Joseph's Prep (14-12), Unionville (17-4).

- Rick O'Brien
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