Neshaminy named Bucks County high school baseball team of year
· Yahoo Sports
Neshaminy saved its best for last.
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After finishing fourth in the District One Class 6A baseball playoffs, Neshaminy outscored the four district champions it defeated in the PIAA state tournament 16-6 – William Allen from District 11 (4-2), La Salle from District 12 (3-0), District One champ Pennsbury (2-1) and Butler from District 7 (7-3) in the title game.
The state championship was the first in school history after Neshaminy reached the final for the first time. It had made the semifinals in 1991, 2019 and 2025.
“It’s the best feeling,” said Neshaminy ninth-year head coach Dan Toner.
The title completed a three-year progression in which Neshaminy qualified for and won a game in the state playoffs in 2024 to reaching the semifinals a year ago to winning it all this season.
Neshaminy did it with strong pitching, opportunistic hitting and solid fielding at the state playoffs.
Neshaminy triumphed four times at states despite a total of 23 hits, including four against Allen and two vs. rival Pennsbury. It also allowed just six earned runs in 28 innings (a 1.50 ERA) and only committed one error in four state playoff games to the opponents’ 12.
“Just finding ways to win,” Toner said.
Toner believes the players’ familiarity with each other was a real factor in Neshaminy’s run for “a resilient group that had high expectations.”
“A lot of these guys have played together since little league,” Toner said. “They are a very close group that enjoyed being around each other and seeing each other succeed. It wasn't a year or two of building chemistry – it's been their whole lives.”
For its accomplishments, Neshaminy is the 2026 Courier Times/Intelligencer Baseball Team of the Year.
It received contributions up and down the roster, led by senior left-hander Matt Gryn, who was the winning pitcher in three of the four state playoff games, including the semifinals (a complete game six-hitter on 75 pitches) and championship (2⅔ innings of relief starter Chase Bonner, the two-time SOL Patriot Player of the Year) three days later. Had he thrown one more pitch against Pennsbury, Gryn wouldn’t have been eligible vs. Butler.
“It was a great performance from everyone,” said Neshaminy senior center fielder Mike Sassano, the team’s leadoff-hitter. “It means a lot (to win it all). We knew finishing fourth in our district means absolutely nothing.”
As opposed to the state title, which means everything.
Tom Moore: [email protected]; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Neshaminy PIAA 6A State Baseball Champion Bucks County