Salem County slams

Pedrick’s grand slam gives Woodstown the lead for good against Schalick; Fatcher’s first career homer a slam for Pennsville

FRIDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 29, Penns Grove 3
Pitman 16, Salem 2
Woodstown 9, Schalick 4

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Andrew Pedrick hit a grand slam in the fifth inning Friday to give Woodstown the lead on Opening Day and from the reaction it got you’d have thought another earthquake was shaking the area.

Pedrick’s blast broke a 2-2 tie and sent the Wolverines to a 9-4 victory over rival Schalick. The response to his first varsity grand slam, which you could hear all the way to the softball field at the front of the complex, took him back to his Little League days.

“I’ve never heard anything like that, it was amazing,” he said. “Maybe Little League. I think when I was 11 I hit a grand slam and the place was going crazy, but there’s nothing like that.

“Off the bat I think everybody started to yell. It felt good. I just said, ‘Get out.’”

There might be something to that earthquake thing. Earlier in the day, Salem County residents felt a 4.8 magnitude quake that was centered in Hunterdon County. There was 4.0 magnitude aftershock centered about 15 miles from the original tremblor at just about the time Pedrick connected.

The slam was big on a number of fronts. Pedrick made a bad throw on a tailor-made double play that gave Schalick its second run of the fourth inning, so the blast brought a sense of redemption. The first time he came to the plate after the error, he singled home the Wolverines’ first run in the home fourth and then in his next at bat he hit the slam.

He went 3-for-4 in the game, his fourth career three-hit game against the Cougars. He was 3-for-4 against them in last year’s season-opener, too.

“It was a really good swing to left-center field,” Wolverines coach Marc DeCastro said of the slam. “He got jammed a lot earlier in the game so it was nice to see him be able to see that and still get it the other way.

“I know he’s disappointed in himself, too, because of the double-play ball that would have got us out of the inning; he’s so much better than that. I’m happy for him. He makes that mistake and he’s disappointed and now the next opportunity he gets he can either sink because he’s upset about that or he can challenge himself to forget about that and do something for the team and that’s what he did.”

Pedrick wasn’t the only Wolverine to homer in the game.

Jack Holladay provided Woodstown some insurance with a two-run shot in the sixth. It was his first career home run on “the big field” and helped him avoid an oh-for on Opening Day. Teammates standing around his post-game interview roared with approval when the first baseman was reminded he has a similar sounding name as the MLB’s top prospect, Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday.

“It felt good for me,” he said. “I was just thinking stay up the middle. I was trying to get my first hit on the day. It didn’t feel good off the bat, but I think the wind helped out a lot.”

The Wolverines hit 15 homers last season. They had one in their season opener, but just two through their first seven games. There’s a sense this could be a power hitting team because it’s virtually the same team as a year ago only one year older and stronger.

“We look for our pitch a lot so when we get it we’re ready to hit it out,” Pedrick said.

Until each team broke through in the fourth inning, Schalick’s Luke Pokrovsky and Woodstown’s Aaron Foote were matching zeroes. Pokrovsky got all 10 of his outs in 3 1/3 innings via strikeout but he threw 94 pitches. Foote gave up three hits and struck out four in 3 1/3 innings.

WOODSTOWN 9, SCHALICK 4

Schalick (0-1)	000 202 0-	4 10 0
Woodstown (1-0)	000 243 x-	9 5 0

WP: Michael Valente. LP: Lucas D’Agostino. 2B: Ricky Watt (S). HR: Andrew Pedrick (W), Jack Holladay (W).

PENNSVILLE 29, PENNS GROVE 3: Sophomore Stevie Fatcher hit his first career home run in his first at-bat of the season – a grand slam in the first inning – and Logan Streitz threw four innings of shutout ball for his first career win.

Fatcher, 8-for-23 with two extra-base hits as a freshman last season, went 2-for-2 with five RBIs against the Red Devils. Luke Wood had four RBIs, Jeff Wagner (two hits) had three, and Connor Starn, Mike McClincy, Jovanni Rios and Streitz each had two.

Streitz allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one on 53 pitches. Elijah Crespo had two of Penns Grove’s four hits.

The 29 runs were Pennsville’s most in a game since a 31-8 win over Wildwood in May 2018.

PENNSVILLE 29, PENNS GROVE 3

Penns Grove (0-1)	000 03-	3 4 2
Pennsville (1-0)	894 8x-	29 13 1

WP: Logan Streitz. LP: Dylan Hyatt. 2B: Luke Wood (Pv), Jeff Wagner (Pv). HR: Stephen Fatcher (Pv).

PITMAN 16, SALEM 2: The Rams scored a pair of runs in the first inning to get their season off to a fast start, but some loose fielding and lack of command that followed conspired to send them to an Opening Day defeat.

Three Pitman pitchers held the Rams to two hits – a single by Caleb Clair in the first inning and a double by Colin Finney in the third. The Rams scored their two runs in the first on a bases-loaded error. The Panthers broke it open with nine runs in the fourth.

PITMAN 16, SALEM 2

Salem (0-1)	200 00-	2 2 9
Pitman (1-0)	412 9x-	16 8 3

WP: Jude Engstrom. LP: Terrell Robinson. 2B: Colin Finney (S), Stephen Devanney (P), Aidan Stranahan (P).

Cover photo: Woodstown’s Andrew Pedrick (L) talks with Brent Williams after hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning against Schalick Friday.

Back in the circle

Woodstown’s Boultinghouse back in the circle after third ankle surgery, doesn’t miss a beat; Pennsville opens its season in big way

FRIDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 27, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 15, Schalick 3

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – When Liv Boultinghouse stepped into the circle for Woodstown’s season opener Friday afternoon, the thoughts going through her head were solely on the things she needed to do to get hitters out. The surgery she had in November was the farthest thing from her mind.

Considering all she has gone through in her playing career, some might think it a minor miracle she was even in the circle at all. The surgery she had on her right, push-off ankle was the third on the joint in seven years, but she didn’t give it another thought as she faced down rival Schalick in Top-15 South Jersey matchup on Opening Day of coach Dave Wildermuth’s final season.

The senior right-hander gave up six singles, one earned run, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter over five innings in the Wolverines’ 15-3 win over the Cougars.

“I’ve been dealing with this since I was 6 years old,” Boultinghouse said of the ankle troubles. “Nobody ever figured out what it was until 2017.”

She’s had surgeries on the ankle every three years since – 2017, 2020, 2023 – with the latest being the most intricate, cutting out scar tissue and the nerves entrapped within it. Through it all she was determined to keep pitching, this year more than ever.

And that became a reality when Wildermuth handed her the ball as the Opening Day starter he knew she was going to be all along.

“It felt really good,” she said. “I knew I was going to be able to do it. I was eager to get in the circle and play in the game.”

She promptly threw strikes on her first four pitches of the game and threw only one ball in the first inning. She threw 66 pitches total, 54 for strikes. She gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but once she found her rhythm – and her offense supported her with a bunch of runs – she was dominant.

“She’s a gamer,” Wildermuth said. “I don’t think she had any walks today. She’s a strike machine; she throws the ball over the plate. She’s not a big strikeout pitcher, but if you’re going to beat her you’re going to have to hit the ball because she’s not going to give you any free passes.”

After falling behind early, the Wolverines took the lead with four in the bottom of the second. Ellie Wygand’s two-run single broke a 2-2 tie and gave them the lead for good. They broke it open with nine in the third, highlighted by Wygand’s two-run triple.

“I was a little worried about coming out slow because we hadn’t been able to get outside, hadn’t been able to get on the field, hadn’t been able to see any live pitching,” Wildermuth said. “But I knew we were going to put the ball in play, and we did.”

The Wolverines pounded out 13 hits in the game, including five doubles and a triple. Cara Delia and Lila Bowling each had three hits, Tulana Mingin and Wygand each had two.

Mingin, the leadoff hitter, went 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored. She walked her first two times up, hit a game-tying two-run double in the third and a single in the fourth. She now has 99 career hits and can hit the century mark Saturday against Camden Catholic.

When it comes, she will be the 11th player in program history with 100 hits or more and the first to reach the milestone since 2018.

“I did the best I could with what I was given,” Mingin said. “I guess it’ll just make tomorrow a little bit less pressure because it’s only one hit I’m looking for. I’ll get it when I get it. I can’t worry about that.”

The game marked the start of Wildermuth’s final season with the Wolverines. He’s retiring at the end of the school year. Mingin has said the players want to give their coach “the best last season.”

Wildermuth, meanwhile, isn’t thinking about anything but the season in front of him and what it’s going to take to make a deep run in the playoffs.

“I’m really not thinking about the end of the season yet, I’ll think about that when we get down towards the end of the season,” he said. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy my time with this team and spending time with the girls and being out there and trying to win and have fun.

“When the time comes it’ll be pretty emotional for all of us, but right now I’m just trying to take it one game at a time.”

WOODSTOWN 15, SCHALICK 3

Schalick (0-1)	110 01-	3 6 5
Woodstown (1-0)	049 2x-	15 13 4

WP: Liv Boultinghouse. LP: Abby Willoughby. 2B: Lila Bowling 2 (W), Cara Delia (W), Hannah Hitchner (W), Tulana Mingin (W). 3B: Ellie Wynand (W).

Woodstown All-Time Hits Leaders

PLAYER	HITS	YEAR
Gracee Roberts	131	2018
Megan McCurdy	128	2014
Amy Gray	126	1994
Sarah Morgan	122	2018
Raechelle Hatchell	117	1993
Kim Duus	115	1994
Bethany Mills	108	2001
Amanda Clark	107	2000
Kristen Merkle	105	2000
Kim Merkle	102	1997
x-Tulana Mingin	99	2024

x-Active

PENNSVILLE 27, PENNS GROVE 0: Kylie Harris went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and the next four hitters in the Pennsville lineup drew a total of 13 walks. The first five hitters were a combined 6-for-9 with 14 walks and 12 runs scored.

Savannah Palverento walked three times and scored five runs. Avery Watson was officially 0-for-0 in the game, but walked four times and scored four runs. Sierra Stultz allowed two hits from the circle, walked none and struck out seven in four innings.

PENNSVILLE 27, PENNS GROVE 0

Penns Grove (0-1)	000 0-	0 2 3
Pennsville (1-0)	9(13)5 x-	27 8 0

WP: Sierra Stultz. LP: Yeneris Garcia. 2b: Kylie Harris (Pv).

Getting to know …

Salem Tech/Woodstown’s Sarah Seiden

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of in depth interviews with athletes in Salem County. Coaches, if there is a player in your program with an interesting background or backstory the community would be interested in “Getting To Know …”, forward details in an email to Riverview Sports News at al.muskewitz@gmail.com

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Sarah Seiden is living one of the more interesting and completely by-the-book experiences afforded New Jersey high school athletes. She’s a two-sport standout competing for two different schools.

She goes to Salem Tech year-round because of the academic program and runs cross country for it in the fall. But in the winter and spring months, because the Chargers don’t offer the sport, she makes the 3.2-mile drive up Route 45 after school to run indoor and outdoor track for her sending school, Woodstown. She’s set school records for both.

On top of all that, she’s taking college classes at Salem CC that will allow her to get a college degree before she even graduates high school.

The junior sat down with Riverview Sports News at the Woodstown Diner on a rainy Tuesday afternoon before practice to talk about the unique experience, what it means for her schedule, friendships and wardrobe, and her hopes for the season ahead.

The Wolverines hit the track for the first time this season Thursday – weather permitting.

RIVERVIEW SPORTS NEWS: I’m really intrigued about this two-school thing. Explain why you go to Salem Tech and get to compete for Woodstown? It sounds like it presents some interesting logistical challenges.

SARAH SEIDEN: I was really intrigued about Vo Tech’s programs. I’m in the medical academy with it. Their college classes really hooked me in because I’m able to get my associate’s degree before I graduate and I’m enrolled as a student at SCC, which is really cool.

They have a different way of doing it (at Woodstown). They do AP classes where classes at my school are just college classes. My chemistry class counts for my high school credits and my college credits, which is really cool. So, I do that both at once. I really like that.

We don’t have a track at VoTech. We also don’t have baseball fields and stuff, so if you want to play a sport that they don’t offer then you go back to your sending district and can play there, which is great for me because I have all my friends at Woodstown and I love playing with them and I’ve also known the coaches there for years, so I was really happy I was able to do that.

This year was my first year running cross country for (Salem Tech). I never ran cross country before this year and that was really cool to do. Woodstown does have a cross country team, but since my school offers it (you have to compete there). You can’t pick and choose.

It does get confusing sometimes because I have two separate MileSplits, so my times for different schools were not in the same place so I was worried that recruitment and stuff would be harder for me because my times are in different places. But we were able to find a way to mesh them.

RSN: Your closets must be full of stuff. Do you have a bunch of Woodstown orange and a bunch of VoTech navy blue?

SS: I do. My closet is filled to the brim. I definitely have a lot more Woodstown orange and blue than I do my own school.

RSN: Do you have to make sure you’re wearing the right stuff where you are and have you ever worn something from one to the other?

SS: Never by accident, but sometimes I’ll just show up to my school and cross country meets with all this Woodstown gear on because that’s just what I had. I have all this athletic wear and track suits from Woodstown so I’ll just wear that to those meets.

RSN: Do you get weird looks when you’re in class wearing Woodstown stuff knowing you have to practice VoTech cross country in the afternoon?

SS: Yeah, they kind of give me some crap about that, but it’s all fun.

RSN: Are there any others like you there?

SS: No other person on my cross country team is sending district from Woodstown who runs track for Woodstown, but there’s one senior, Abby Melle, who is like me and goes to VoTech but runs track for Woodstown; she also swims.

A bunch of my classmates do all their own sports, but go to the different schools. My friend does wrestling and softball for Pennsville; she comes in with all her Pennsville gear.

RSN: So are you a VoTech kid, a Woodstown kid and what’s your diploma going to say when you graduate?

SS: (Laughing) It depends on the day. I used to have some regrets about going to VoTech because it’s not a traditional high school. Sometimes there’s a bit of a difference between them, but at the end of the day it’s all my friends there and it’s all fun.

RSN: What’s it like emotionally when you compete against your Woodstown friends in cross country?

SS: My old (track) coach, Steve New, was/is the cross country coach for Woodstown and I didn’t run for them, I run for (Kimberly) Kraky who is now our (Woodstown) track coach, which I was very excited about. He (New) had all this fun with it. He would call me traitor, get out of here, because I wasn’t his kid for that. We were always trying to beat each other and that fueled us a lot.

RSN: On the track you run the 400 and 800, set school records in both relays and now you’re embracing the 400 hurdles. What is it you like about all these events and how has your development in the hurdles been going?

SS: Track was my only running sport; I’ve done that since freshman to now. Cross country is very new for me. I always thought of myself as mid-distance/sprinter and I did cross country so I could stay in shape. I didn’t know if I would like it or not, then I kind of realized this could be my thing, too. That kind of shifted all my coaches’ gears to try to find where they want to put me to best benefit myself and the team. I think this year I’m mainly staying in that mid-distance area.

(The hurdles) is just such a fun race for me. I love the 400 hurdles. I’ve been told I have the build for it because I have long legs. It looked fun to me from afar and I really wanted to try it. I asked my coach one day to try it and he didn’t want to let me at first because I had already established my races, but he finally let me one day and it was so much fun and I had such a good time with it and I ended up doing pretty OK with it.

RSN: What do you do away from competition? How to you decompress?

SS: I just love hanging out with my friends and my boyfriend, (Salem Tech basketball player and cross country runner) Tyler Zampino. He pushed me a lot during the season and that was another thing that kept me going. We’re very competitive with each other. I’ve just got to beat him. I will get one under my belt.

I love traveling. For state outdoor last year we got to stay at a hotel and that was so much fun. We stayed overnight and we went out to dinner the night before and it was just so much. It was just a great time.

RSN: What are your hopes and expectations for yourself and the team this season?

SS: I’m really excited to see the dynamic with our new coach. I loved her in cross country and I love her now for a track coach. I think she’s going to be a good asset to the team.

I really am excited to continue with the 400 hurdles and just improving my times. Indoor season I mainly focused on the 400 because our 4×4 team went to the Meet of Champions. I’ve been doing that race for the longest time, so I want to get my time down and PR for that.

The 800 (that broke the Woodbury Relays record last spring and won this year’s Group I indoor title) should be pretty cool, too. Katie Deal graduated so we don’t have her anymore and she was a big part of both those races, but we think we’re still going to be pretty good and solid with (returnees Kayla Ayars, Seiden and Arie Still) and we can keep working and improving our times and we can still be in that same good place.

RSN: Do you have an idea where you want to go for college and will running be a part of it?

SS: Now is definitely the time I should be researching more than I am. I think I’m just trying to learn about all types of college to see where I want to go and see what interests me. I do want to run in college.

Cover photo: Sarah Seiden runs the hurdles for Woodstown (L) and cross country for Salem Tech. (Submitted photos)