Baseball

HGP baseball made history in 2022

The Holy Ghost Prep baseball team made history last spring—winning a third consecutive PIAA District 1 Class 4A title and then making it all the way to the program’s first-ever state championship game before falling, 10-9 to Montour at Penn State’s Medlar Field on June 16.

While the color of the state title game medals around the HGP players was silver rather than gold, Holy Ghost Prep coach Greg Olenski ’10 was so proud of his state runner-up Firebirds (18-6 record in 2022).

“This was a great run for us, no question about it,” said Olenski. “I’m tremendously proud of my boys and what they were able to accomplish. We accomplished a lot and take a lot of pride in talking about the things we were able to do.”

On April 27, Holy Ghost Prep lost to Pennsylvania powerhouse Malvern Prep, 13-11 to fall to 7-5 on the season. Following the loss to Malvern, Holy Ghost would go on an unprecedented run, going 6-0 and outscoring its last six regular season opponents by a whopping 71-19 margin.

In the PIAA District One Class 4A playoffs, the Firebirds completed the three-peat by defeating Collegium Charter and New Hope-Solebury without allowing a single run. HGP’s magic carpet ride continued with convincing victories over Littlestown and Saucon Valley in the first two rounds of states setting up a showdown with Monsignor Bonner, a nationally-ranked team who had beaten the Firebirds in states in 2021.

In a tightly contested affair, the Firebirds narrowly edged the Friars, 4-3. Junior standout Reese Acord went 1-for-2 in the afternoon with two RBIs. On the mound, senior Nick Henn picked up the victory as he pitched 4-1/3 innings without allowing a single earned run. That victory landed Olenski’s squad in the state title game, where they lost a hotly contested game to Montour.

The Firebirds graduated eight players from the state runner-up team, including the superb lefty starting pitcher Henn (8-2 record, .190 batting average against in 2022), starting catcher Zach DiMario (.328 average), and three guys who are playing college baseball in Tyler McCord (Amherst College), Dillon Rooney (Clarkson University), and Andrew Jones (Immaculata University).

Holy Ghost Prep’s magical run to the state final in Year 60 of the baseball program didn’t go unnoticed as The Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer named their annual all-area baseball last spring and five Holy Ghost Prep student-athletes earned spots on the all-area teams: first-teamers McCord (.265 average, two HRs, 15 RBIs) and Acord (.384 average with 8 HRs, 36 RBIs); second-teamers Henn (a whopping 902 pitches thrown last spring), Jones (.433 with five HRs, 27 RBIs), and Rooney.

HGP isn’t resting on its laurels. The Firebirds will build its 2023 team around three of the area’s best seniors in outfielders Aiden Robbins and Reese Acord as well as hard-throwing righty pitcher Matt Goldenbaum. Robbins (Seton Hall signee) and Goldenbaum (University of South Florida signee) are both Division One signees.