Salisbury Press

After 40 years of coaching Salisbury baseball, the last 20 as the varsity head coach, Mike Pochron has called it a career.

Pochron, a 1973 Salisbury graduate and the third coach in school history, led the Falcons to a state championship game in 2011, a state semifinal appearance in 2013, three District 11 championships (2004, 2011, 2013) and three Colonial League titles (2009, 2012, 2013). He finished with 267 career victories.

Several Salisbury High School graduates competed on college athletic teams in the spring 2019 season.

Evan Kulig, a senior infielder and pitcher for the Moravian College baseball team, eclipsed the .300 hitting average mark for the fourth time in his collegiate career. He finished 2019 batting .355 with a .414 on-base percentage to go along with 36 runs scored (career high) and 30 RBIs. Kulig also was one of the Greyhounds’ most effective pitchers as well with a 3-2 record. He finished with a 3.93 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched.

Sometimes you’re good. Other times you’re lucky.

The Salisbury legion baseball team played a solid game for the most part in last week’s win over Northern Valley. But it was a bit of luck in the end that helped closed the deal.

Some people think Pine Grove might be talented enough to win a state championship this spring.

It’s tough to argue with those claims, especially after Friday’s dominant showing in the district softball final. Pine Grove defeated Salisbury in five innings, 12-0, at Blue Mountain High School to capture the District 11 Class 3A crown last week.

Salisbury head coach Jeff Appleman knew how tough the Cardinals were before his team made the trip.

Salisbury saw each of its past two softball seasons end in the District 11 semifinal round, just a win away from reaching the championship game.

Head coach Jeff Appleman, now in his fourth season at Salisbury, got that monkey off his back last Thursday.

Emily Silberman pitched a two-hitter in Salisbury’s 3-1 win in 10 innings against Palmerton last week at Northwestern High School, advancing the Lady Falcons to the District 11 Class 3A title game. As the No. 6 seed, the Lady Falcons faced top-seeded Pine Grove in Tuesday’s championship, which was played after Press deadline.

A trio of Salisbury football players wasn’t ready to hang up the cleats for good and end its playing days. During a ceremony last week at Salisbury High School, three seniors signed letters of intent to play football at the collegiate level.

Delano McKenzie (Moravian College), Jacob Kamp (Susquehanna University) and Dan Jennings (Lycoming College) all announced that they will continue their football careers at the Division III level last Friday in the Salisbury High School library.

It may be tough for Salisbury to find its way into the Colonial League softball playoffs with only four conference games remaining, but its district hopes are still very much alive. And the Lady Falcons are playing arguably their best softball of the spring right now.

Last week’s Colonial League tennis tournament was a chance for individuals to prove where they stood amongst the league’s top players. Unfortunately for Salisbury, the Falcons had very little success.

No Falcon was able to win a match and advance to the next round of Wednesday’s win-or-go-home tournament. Moravian Academy doubles teams won both of the doubles tournaments, while Saucon Valley took two of the three singles brackets.

Salisbury head coach Mike Pochron is aware that the Falcons’ bats may struggle at times. It’s been evident at times throughout their first seven games.

But it was never more evident than Saturday’s game against Notre Dame (Green Pond). It didn’t help that the Falcons faced one of the league’s top pitchers.

While Salisbury’s season opener against Allen was postponed, the rest of its first week of Colonial League play was a bit of a roller coaster ride. And that’s to be expected early with limited practice time on the field together.

The Lady Falcons sit 2-2 in conference play after starting off this week with a tough 6-5 defeat against Wilson on Monday. Salisbury took care of business against Northern Lehigh (4-3) and Catasauqua (24-0) last week after rebounding from a 10-0 season-opening loss against Pen Argyl.