FIELD OF DREAMS: Bracket set for Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media Baseball Team of Decade Tournament

After compiling and evaluating all the results and accomplishments, the bracket is set to figure out the area’s top baseball squad of the last decade.

The 16-team field for The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media Team of the Decade Tournament showcases the collective success that local teams have accomplished over the previous 10 seasons. Along with numerous league and district titles, seven sides in the tournament claimed PIAA championships.

First-round matchups will begin next week which each of the eight contests decided by fan polling on The Reporter Sports’ twitter account (@ReporterSports).

(1) 2010 Germantown Academy >>  The Patriots, led by Sean Coyle – the 2010 PA Gatorade Player of the Year and third round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox – and eight other Division I commits, went 29-3 and finished ranked No. 8 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and No. 18 in the Maxpreps Xcellent 10 national rankings.

GA steamrolled through the PAISAA tournament, winning four games by a combined 52-5 – routing Germantown Friends 14-4 in the final.

(2) 2015 North Penn >> The Knights claimed their second PIAA-4A title in three years – and program’s third state crown – with a 4-3 eight-inning win over Wyoming Valley West that also included an hour-plus rain delay in State College.  SOL Continental champ North Penn (23-4, 12-2 conference) fell to Council Rock North in the District 1 title game but bounced back by shutting out Olney in the state first round, edged Pennsbury in the quarterfinals then beating Shaler in the semifinals on Mike Christy’s two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning.

3) 2019 Souderton >> The Indians avenged a pair of losses to reach the PIAA-6A final then rallied from a three run deficit to beat SOL Continental rival 6-3 to claim the program’s first state title.

The Indians (24-4, 12-0 SOL Continental), which won their first conference title since 2008, fell to Plymouth Whitemarsh in the District 1 quarters but topped Methacton and Garnet Valley in playbacks to earn a state bid. After beating La Salle 7-1 in its state opener, the Indians got back at PW with an 11-1 six-inning win the quarters then knocked off Neshaminy – who had defeated Big Red twice in the regular season – in the semis.

(4) 2012 La Salle >> The ’12 Explorers were the first PCL squad to reach a PIAA baseball final and the first the win the title with a 3-1 win over Council Rock South for the 4A Crown.  La Salle went 12-0 in the PCL Red Division and 24-3 overall. The Explorers won their last five contests – rolling past Frankford (14-1 in District 12 final) and Upper Dublin (10-1 in state first round) before winning close contests with Central Dauphin (7-6) and Hatboro-Horsham (7-5).

 (5) 2013 North Penn >> The Knights (17-10, 9-5 SOL Continental) squeaked into the District 1-4A playoffs and ended up earning the program’s second PIAA title in dramatic fashion – Bobby Scott’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 win over Lower Dauphin 6-5 in the 4A final. North Penn was the North’s 12 and last seed in the District 1 field but pulled off three straight upsets before falling to Pennridge in the semis. After placing fourth in districts, NP edged Pennsbury 1-0 in its state opener, blasted District 1 champ Coatesville 11-1 then blanked Pennridge 3-0 in the semis after losing its first three meetings with the Rams.

(6) 2014 La Salle >> The Explorers (21-6) were the top team PIAA Class 4A for the second time in three years, scoring twice in the top of the eighth to beat Conestoga 4-2 in the final. After taking first in the PCL Red with a 12-3 mark, La Salle missed out a second-straight Catholic League title but finished the season winning its final five games, bouncing a trio of District 1 sides in the state tournament. The Explorers opened PIAA play with a 6-0 shutout over Boyertown, beat District champ Hazleton 3-1 then blanked Spring-Ford 3-0 in the semis.

(7) 2014 Pope John Paul II >> The Golden Panthers (23-5, 14-4 PAC) secured the school’s first-ever PIAA championship with a 4-2 victory in the 3A final over Harrition – a rematch of the year’s District 1 final won by PJP. Pope John Paul II fell 1-0 to Methacton in the PAC final then won the District 1-3A title as the tournament’s fourth seed. PJP topped District 3 sides West Perry and Northeastern in the first two rounds of states before shutting out District 11 champ Tamaqua 1-0 in the semis.

 (8) 2010 Christopher Dock >> The Pioneers won the program’s third PIAA Class A title – and first since 2006 – in walk-off fashion in Altoona as Alex Summers’ two-out, two-strike single in the bottom of the seventh scored two runs for a 4-3 win over Serra Catholic. District 1 champ Dock, which finished 20-3, began states with two convincing wins over GAMP (15-5 in six) and Berks Christian (11-1 in six) before besting Pius X 4-2 in the semifinals.

(9) 2013 Upper Moreland >> The Golden Bears went 21-5 overall and took the SOL American Conference title with a 13-1 record. After falling to Holy Ghost Prep in the District 1-3A final, UM ripped off three straight wins to reach the program’s first-ever PIAA final, falling just shy of gold in a 2-1 loss to West York.

(10) 2018 La Salle >> The Explorers claimed its first Catholic League title since 2013 and was an eight-inning loss to Bensalem in the PIAA-6A semifinals for reaching the program’s third state final. La Salle finished 23-4 and 11-1 in the league and featured both the PCL’s Offensive (Andrew Cossetti) and Defensive (Eric Marasheski) Players of the Year.

(11) 2013 Pennridge >> The Rams (20-8, 9-5 SOL Continental) beat eventual state champ North Penn three times, including 4-3 in the District 1-4A semifinals. Pennridge fell 5-4 to Coatesville in the district final then bested La Salle and Wyoming Valley West in states before a fourth meeting with North Penn in the PIAA semis didn’t go the Rams way.

(12) 2012 Hatboro-Horsham >> The Hatters made a run to the PIAA-4A semifinals before their season came to an end against eventual champ La Salle 7-5 at Spring-Ford. Hatboro-Horsham went 22-5 on the season, place third in District 1 and claimed the SOL Continental title with a 12-2 record.

(13) 2018 Archbishop Carroll >> The Patriots (21-6, 10-2 PCL) took second to La Salle in both the Catholic League regular season and playoffs but bounced back to take the District 12-5A crown then made a run to the state semis. The Patriots topped West Chester Rustin (3-2) and Cedar Cliff (7-2) in the first two rounds of PIAA play before losing to Lower Dauphin 3-2.

(14) 2014 Methacton >> The North No. 7 seed in the District 1-4A tournament, the Warriors (22-7, 12-6 PAC) won five games to claim its first district crown, knocking off PAC rival Boyertown  7-3 in the title game. Methacton, who topped Pope John Paul II 1-0 for the PAC title, blanked George Washington 4-0 in the state first round but was edged by fellow conference member Spring-Ford 3-2 in the quarters.

(15) 2016 Pennridge >> The Rams (18-8, 9-5 SOL Continental) made a Cinderella run to the District 1-4A title. As the field’s 17 seed, Pennridge picked up the crown courtesy of five upsets – knocking off No. 1 Interboro in the second round and besting No. 6 Council Rock North 3-1 in the final. The Rams’ year ended with a first round loss to Cumberland Valley.

(16) 2015 Archbishop Wood >> Aided by Catholic League MVP Joey Lancellotti, the Vikings (17-5, 10-2 PCL) won their first Catholic League championship since 1993, topping defending champ Neumann-Goretti 3-2 in in the league final. Wood earned the District 12-3A title before its season ended with a PIAA first round loss to Twin Valley.