Delaware Tech hits seven homers in doubleheader, sweeps Salem CC, hands Mighty Oaks their first loss at Watson Field this season
FRIDAY’S REGION XIX SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech 15-15, Salem CC 6-3
Lackawanna 31-25, Raritan Valley 3-3
Mercer CC vs. Bucks County CC (2)
| REGION XIX | REGION | PCT | GB |
| x-Mercer (31-5) | 9-1 | .900 | – |
| x-Del Tech (19-7) | 8-2 | .800 | 1 |
| x-Salem (24-8) | 6-2 | .750 | 2 |
| x-Lackawanna (29-12) | 7-3 | .700 | 2 |
| Morris (7-11) | 3-9 | .250 | 7 |
| Sussex (2-18) | 1-7 | .125 | 7 |
| Raritan Valley (1-15) | 0-10 | .000 | 9 |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – The Salem Community College softball team hasn’t had a day like this since the first night of the year.
The Mighty Oaks had a chance to make a statement in the region in their record-setting second season back on the field, but Delaware Tech showed why it’s still the big dog in Region XIX. The three-time reigning region champion Hawks hit six home runs in the first game and used two big innings in the nightcap to sweep the doubleheader 15-6 and 15-3.
They were the first two losses the Mighty Oaks (24-8) have taken at Watson Field since moving their home games to the Pennsville Little League complex last summer; they had won their first 14 games there. It’s also the first time they’ve been swept in a doubleheader since dropping two to Fayetteville State 8-0, 5-3 on their Opening Day.
They hadn’t been beaten like Friday in a doubleheader since Del Tech swept them 14-5, 15-2 last March.
“We ran into a team that could hit and we didn’t,” Mighty Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. “That’s the biggest takeaway. We did not have good approach today and we ran into a team that had a good approach. We’ve gotta be better disciplined batting.”
What made it troubling is it comes at the start of a stretch that includes all three of the other projected Region XIX playoff teams in their next four doubleheaders. With Del Tech behind them, they go to Lackawanna CC Saturday and to region undefeated Mercer CC Tuesday. Tucked in between, they host winless Ocean CC Sunday.
“They’re going to be tough games,” Rodriguez said. “We knew that coming into it. The biggest one is be ready to go, keep moving forward.”
Del Tech used the long ball to win the opener. The Hawks (19-7) hit six homers in the game, with Brooklyn Richardson hitting two.
They actually hit for the home run cycle as a team. Both of Richardson’s blasts were two-run shots, as was team homer leader Mackenzie Whaley’s ninth of the year in the first inning. Kameron Sockriter hit a solo shot, Ally Marly a three-run shot and Natalie Berry a grand slam that Oaks centerfielder Karyn Trice nearly kept in the park.
The Hawks hit four homers over the final two innings and three in the seventh.
“At the beginning of the season – we were laughing about it – this is a totally different team than what we’ve had in the past and I was like we might hit 10 home runs during the season,” Del Tech coach Guy Wilkins said. “I said we were going to hit a lot of doubles and triples because we have some speed, but in the last few games we started hitting some home runs.
“The girls can hit. I just didn’t think they were going to hit the long ball.”
The Mighty Oaks got in on the act in the seventh inning when Vaye Savage hit a two-run shot to close the scoring.
The homers by Whaley and Berry gave Del Tech a 6-0 lead. The Mighty Oaks cut the deficit to 6-2 in the fourth on Faith Penn’s two-run single. Savage’s sacrifice fly got them within 6-3 in the fifth, but the Hawks restarted the power machine and pulled away.
Salem ace Morgan Mecham kept the Hawks’ bats through the first three innings of the nightcap, but then they erupted for eight runs in the fourth – with Whaley hitting a three-run double and Amara Cropper hitting a two-run homer – and seven more in the fifth.
The Mighty Oaks led the nightcap 1-0 on Courtney Hoggard’s RBI single in the first inning. Haylee Pickrell homered in the fourth and Hoggard had an RBI single in the fifth. Hoggard had five hits in the doubleheader.
Despite the tough day, Hernandez did see some positives.
“Our defense played very well,” he said. “We were definitely pleased with the way we were playing defense. We knew we can play that well on defense. We know we’re a good hitting team. We just have to make better adjustments.
“We’re going to be able to learn a lot from this. A lot of people stepped up in different ways in a couple at bats, so we’re looking to carry that on and keep moving from there.”
BASEBALL
SALEM CC 6, CAMDEN CC 3: The Mighty Oaks won their fourth in a row and seventh in their last eight games as they try to make a late push for the playoffs. They are now 15-20 overall, 8-15 in Region XIX with 14 games remaining, 12 against region opponents and nine against teams with losing records. The Camden series concludes Saturday with a doubleheader at the Carneys Point Rec Complex starting at noon.
Riverview Sports News 