LOWER GWYNEDD — Philadelphia went 4-0-1 across its final five games of the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League regular season. One of those games was a 14-run win over Spring-Ford last Wednesday. That result helped the Dirt Dawgs jump Spring-Ford for the No. 4 spot in the standings and earn homefield advantage for the first-round playoff series between the two clubs.
Five days after the dominant win in the regular season, Philadelphia did it again in the playoffs.
The Dirt Dawgs won Game 1 of the best-of-five quarterfinal series, 12-1, over No. 5 Spring-Ford Monday evening at Gwynedd Mercy University.
Jack Carver earned the win on the mound. The right-hander allowed two baserunners in five shutout innings of work. He struck out five batters to one walk and surrendered one hit.
“I was throwing a lot of strikes today, so that was nice,” Carver said. “Got ahead a lot. They were swinging early, so got a lot of weak contact, which was nice.”
Ben Junker threw the final two innings in relief. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out two batters to one walk.
Philadelphia’s offense got on the board in the bottom of the first inning and led the entire way. Tyler Beaulier worked a one-out walk, advanced to third on Kevin Schmidt’s single to right field and scored on Aidan Bretschneider’s sacrifice fly to center.
“We put on one in the first and just kept adding on,” Bretschneider said, “and Carver just shoved.”
Philadelphia’s Aidan Bretschneider, right, celebrates with Tyler Beaulier after hitting a sacrifice fly against Spring-Ford during Game 1 of a Perkiomen Valley Twilight League quarterfinal series, Monday, July 20, 2026. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)
The Dirt Dawgs added two more runs in the third inning. Schmidt scored on and error and Nate Kress knocked in Bretschneider with an RBI double to center field.
They took full control of the game in the fourth inning, scoring six runs to extend the advantage to 9-0.
Beaulier knocked in the first run of the inning when everyone was safe on a bases-loaded chopper in no man’s land between the first and second basemen. Schmidt followed with an RBI on a walk before Bretschneider hit a two-run single to right field to knock Spring-Ford’s starter out of the game.
“Everyone is putting it all together right now,” Bretschneider, who knocked in three runs in the game, said. “People were tired from school ball, tired from high school and college. Now, everyone has their legs under them and hitting well.”
Two batters later, Andrew Noone made it 9-0 with a two-run double that deflected off of the pitcher and into left field.
That score held until the sixth inning, when Philadelphia added three more runs. Kyle McKernan, Ronnie Raby and Caden Schmidt tallied RBIs to get the difference to a dozen, 12-0.
Spring-Ford got its run in the top of the seventh when Ryan Cecconi singled, advanced to third on Luke Terlesky’s single and scored on a double play.
Nate Romberger reached base three times for Spring-Ford. He walked twice and tripled in the fourth inning – the only hit allowed by Carver.
Garrett Wible took the loss on the mound. He surrendered nine runs on seven hits across 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters to five walks. Aiden Sgarra threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, striking out two batters to two walks and allowing two hits. Joe Stein threw the seventh, giving up three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Spring-Ford’s Garrett Wible pitches against Philadelphia during Game 1 of a Perkiomen Valley Twilight League quarterfinal series, Monday, July 20, 2026. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)