| 'Splorer
Spin Spring Sports 2010-11 Danny Spinelli is one of our youngest website writers ever. He's a freshman at La Salle
High, but has been attending scholastic events for what seems like forever
and he's pumped up about being able to express his thoughts on the Explorers
and other squads. Thanks for joining us, Danny! You may reach at Danny at dspin3@comcast.net .
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APRIL 25 SPRING SPORTS Last Monday, La Salle hosted a Philadelphia Catholic League
regular season track meet. While warming up to run, I jogged around the
lower loop of La Salle’s athletic fields, containing Ward Field (the new
baseball field) and some lacrosse/football fields. During this time I began
to, for lack of better words, feel the “spring season.” I had ended my
column this year rather abruptly and after some prodding, felt that I needed
to conclude more respectfully. Truly, there is no better time to be a sports
fan. Today, Easter Sunday, the Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the
San Diego Padres, the Flyers forced a Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres, and
the Sixers avoided a sweep by the Miami Heat to bring the series to a Game
5. The excitement continues even at the high school level with spring drama
from lacrosse, baseball, track and field, and (in some cases) men’s
volleyball. In an effort to capture this, I hereby end my 2010-11 Ted Silary
website season. It has been a fun ride. After beginning the year 0-3, the La Salle lacrosse team has since been
“dominating like Carrie at the prom,” going 6-1 since then. Coach Bill
Leahy’s squad fell to Inter-Ac powers Episcopal and Malvern at the season’s
beginning, while also suffering a defeat to Leahy’s alma mater, Calvert Hall
(Md.). Even with these early setbacks, the versatile Explorers bounced back
to win 4 CL matches, and a special tribute game v. De Matha Catholic. The
game honored fallen veterans ( Travis Manion and Brendan Looney )
at each respective school. The two deceased soldiers were friends and are
buried together at Arlington National Cemetery. Yesterday, the team traveled
to Haverford to play the #1 ranked team in America (yikes!), the Haverford
School, but were humbled 13-7. The Explorer lax team is studded with former
football players, including famed multiple-position-player Kevin Forster ,
who along with fellow senior Jack Bogorowski , provides leadership to
the talented team. A true breakout player has been transfer sophomore Matt Rambo , whose multiple-goal games light up the stat sheet. Best
wishes to the lacrosse team as they continue their way through the PCL and
beyond. The La Salle baseball team, ably coached by a La Salle institution, Joe Parisi , stand presently in limbo in the CL Red Division. The
Explorers first suffered losses of 6-5 and 9-4 to division leader Bonner.
They matched this with two convincing wins of 8-2 and 13-3 over Father
Judge, giving the team a 2-2 league record. Notable names include senior Kevin Piotrowicz (think basketball), junior PJ Acierno (think
basketball again), and junior Mike Piscopo (think football). The
pinstriped Explorers still have much of a season to play, including two
games against rival SJ Prep. Bonner will definitely be a challenge, but I
vote Mr. Parisi for some dry humor and good baseball. Look out Friars! Hail
La Salle. A final spring sport, close to my heart, is outdoor track and field. The
runners are coached by Greg Bielecki , taking over in his first year
for legendary 39-year coach Pat Devine . After Devine retired last
spring, assistant coach Bielecki took the helm. Unlike most high school
sports, the running season spreads year-round with cross country in the
fall, indoor track in the winter, and outdoor track in the spring. Bielecki
jumped heartily into the fray this year, standing present as head of all
three running teams. While coaching three athletic teams and teaching at La
Salle, Bielecki still finds time to run himself! He actually finished 8th in
the Broad Street Run last spring. In the image of their head coach, the
Explorer athletes can do a bit of running themselves. Some standouts among
the varied events are: seniors Chris Muggler (400 and 800), Brendan Stone (distance and hurdles), Tom Trainer (distance), and Ryan Geiger (shot put), juniors Ryan Kalkbrenner (sprint
events) and Phil Watson (sprint events), and sophomores Andrew
Stone (distance) and Tom Coyle (distance). While there is a wide
array of talent present on the track and field squad, I have just
highlighted here a few select athletes for their accomplishments. For the
PCL championship, the Explorers face formidable foes in Cardinal O’Hara
(cross-country PCL winners this year) and Father Judge (have some dangerous
sprinters). Knowing Coach Bielecki though, La Salle cannot be counted out in
the race for the PCL title. As I jogged back up to the track field, I thought of how quickly the year
had gone by. During my run, I saw a Judge-La Salle baseball game in full
swing and realized how far the year had come since frigid football games in
September. I am already looking forward to summer and realizing just how
fast this high school experience will be. It has been an absolute pleasure
writing for this website. I give many thanks to Ted Silary for allowing me
to do so. Thank you to anyone who has emailed me/come up to me at games. I
appreciate these simple greetings more than you know. I hope everyone had a
Happy Easter and I graciously look forward to next year. See everyone Labor
Day weekend for another football match-up against…North Penn. See ya!
Author
Published
March 5, 2026
Updated
March 5, 2026