2015-04-22



Council Rock North senior outfielder Cole Hofman recently committed to the Pennsylvania College of Technology baseball program.



Council Rock North senior pitcher Tim Casey recently committed to Chestnut Hill College baseball.



Council Rock North senior pitcher Nick Roda recently committed to Arcadia University baseball.

Council Rock North senior outfielder Cole German recently committed to Charleston Southern University baseball.

NEWTOWN – For student-athletes, choosing a college can be a slippery slope. Sometimes, you lean toward academics, and sometimes, athletics

For Council Rock North second baseman Cole Hofman, choosing Pennsylvania College of Technology was the latter.

“My dad’s in the automotive business and they have a really good automotive program,” said Hofman, who would like to carry on his dad’s business some day.

Cole is headed to the Division III Wildcats, who just last year gained provisional membership in D-III, the largest NCAA division both in number of participants and participating schools.

Hofman and his teammates have the Indians off to a 4-4 start, overall. CR North is 3-2 in the Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference with early season wins over William Tennent, Truman and Neshaminy.

The Rock pounded out the hits in its recent 6-4 win over the Redskins. Indeed, North registered 11 hits against Neshaminy April 13 at home.

“We’re getting there with all those hits we had against Neshaminy,” said Hofman. “I think everyone’s going to start breaking out.”

Meanwhile, Penn College of Technology, after a pair of losses to Mansfield, fell to 10-15 overall, 4-4 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).

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Tim Casey (Chestnut Hill)

A righthanded pitcher, Casey also had interest from Arcadia, Misericordia and Geneva and visited all four schools but decided on Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference rival Chestnut Hill.

“They’re Division II,” said Casey. “Obviously, you want to play at the highest level.

“They just fit – the style, how big it was, my major,” said Casey, who plans to study sports marketing. “I like the coaches and the baseball program and where they’re going there.”

Of all the campuses he visited, Casey liked the location of Chestnut Hill, which is nestled in Philadelphia’s Northwestern-most region, butting up against Wissahickon Creek and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.

“It’s in the city but has a suburban feel,” said Casey. “I like it there more than any of the other campuses.”

Playing the last few years at the Rock has prepared Casey for this next important step in his athletic career.

“It’s been really good,” said Casey. “Coach (Dan) Kraft has really developed this pitching staff and I’ve been doing really good this year; it’s taken me to the next step.”

After their 18-2 win over Philadelphia University on April 21, the Griffins were 24-9, 14-4 in the CACC.

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Nick Roda (Arcadia)

Righthanded pitcher Nick Roda picked Arcadia University over Mansfield, Wagner, Susquehanna and Penn State Abington for a chance to play right away and academics.

“They said I could play as a freshman and their business program is really good and that’s what I want to major in.”

“They only bring in impact freshmen.”

The Knights are off to a good start; after a recent draw with non-league Neumann, they were 16-10-1, 11-7 in the Commonwealth Conference.

This year, while dropping some early contests to Holy Ghost, Spring-Ford and Pennsbury, the Indians have been better of late, though they did falter April 10 in a 4-2 loss to sister school CR South.

“It was a game we should have won,” said Roda. “Just a couple mental mistakes cost us the game.”

Two years ago, CR North earned a berth in states with District 1 playoff wins over Penncrest, Unionville and Methacton. Last year, the Indians made an early exit from the postseason when they fell 4-2 to Great Valley in a D-1 opener.

Of course, the Rock wants to get back to states in 2015.

“Our goal is to win states but as long as we can get farther than we did last year, it will be a successful season,” said Roda.

Nick also believes his time at North has played a big part in taking this next step.

“Coach Kraft has done a really good job with my mechanics and making me better,” said Roda, who was only recently cleared to play baseball after recovering from an ankle injury.

After a recent 5-5 tie with Nuemann University, Arcadia was 16-10-1, 11-7 in the Commonwealth Conference.

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Noah Hartwell (Towson)

Outfielder Noah Hartwell selected Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Towson after considering Babson and Neumann universities. An outfielder, Hartwell says he connected with Towson through his club team, the Diamond Jacks, of Diamond Nation.

After their recent 8-4 loss to non-league George Washington, the Tigers fell to 11-25-2, overall, 5-10 in the CAA.

***

Cole German (Charleston Southern)

Outfielder Cole German is headed to Charleston Southern University after the University of Maryland pulled out of a verbal agreement it had with the senior less than a week before he was to sign a National Letter of Intent.

The Buccaneers recently posted back-to-back series sweeps over league rivals Gardner-Webb and Campbell to push their way to 19-18 overall, 9-6 in the Big South Conference.

NORTH BASEBALL COMMITS

Cole Hofmann (Infielder) – Pennsylvania College of Technology

Tim Casey – (pitcher) – Chestnut Hill College

Nick Roda (pitcher) – Arcadia University

Noah Hartwell (Outfield) – Towson University

Cole German (Outfield) – Charleston Southern University

The post BASEBALL: Five from Council Rock North moving on to next level appeared first on GameTime CT.

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