Rams hold slim lead in girls team standings after first day; 3 county girls win titles, 18 athletes and three relays qualify for states, meet concludes Saturday
By Riverview Sports News
PENNSAUKEN – Karima Davenport-White won the long jump, four of her Salem teammates and a relay qualified for the state meet in eight other events and the Rams grabbed a slim lead in the team standings Friday after the first day of the South Jersey Group I Sectional Track and Field Meet.
The Salem girls picked up 53 points in the nine events scored and hold a two-point lead over Audubon. Woodbury is third with 39 points. The meet wraps Saturday.
Davenport-White won the long jump by four inches with a personal best 17 feet, one-half inch.
Teammate Anna Buzby qualified for states in three individual events, finishing second in the 800 and 400 hurdles and fourth in the pole vault. Dominique Lewis finished second in the shot and sixth in the javelin.
Ava Rodgers and Rhionna Timmons qualified for state with fourth-place finishes in the shot and long jump, respectively. The Rams’ 4×100 relay team also advanced with a second-place finish.
“The girls did an amazing job,” Rams coach Spencer Jarrett said. “Their energy was unmatched. It was a team effort, everyone picking up each other’s slack — how a team should be.”
Davenport-White was one of three Salem County girls to win sectional championships Friday. Schalick junior Allyson Green won the javelin with a personal best 108-0 and Pennsville junior won the pole vault with a personal best 9-6.
Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield qualified for states in two events (3200, 800), while teammate Grace O’Neill (400 hurdles) and Penns Grove’s Meely Horace and Daivonnah Thomas both qualified in the 100. Schalick’s 4×100 relay team also qualified.
On the boys side, Woodstown’s Cole Lucas and Salem’s Pop Jackson were the highest Salem County finishers and the triple jump was clearly the best event.
Lucas finished second in the 800 (1:59.66) and Jackson finished second in the triple jump (45-0).
There were three Salem County athletes qualifying for state in the triple jump. In addition to Jackson, Penns Grove’s Khalim Smith was third (44-8) and Schalick’s David Stewart was fifth (44-4).
Woodstown’s Joshua Crawford (400) and Jacob Marino (3200) and Schalick’s Ethan McLean (discus) and 4×100 relay team also qualified for the state meet.
Glassboro leads the boys team standings with 64 points. Woodstown is sixth (13), Salem is T-10 (8), Penns Grove is T-12 (6) and Schalick is 14th (5).
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SECTIONALS
(Salem County state qualifiers)
BOYS
Team scores: Glassboro 64, Gloucester 31, Woodbury 29, Riverside 24, Audubon 17, Woodstown 13, Paulsboro 12, Clayton 11, Burlington City 10, Salem 8, Gateway 8, Penns Grove 6, Palmyra 6, Schalick 5, Haddon Twp. 2, Buena 2.
4×100: 5. Schalick 43.59.
800: 2. Cole Lucas, Woodstown, 1:59.66; 4. Joshua Crawford, Woodstown, 2:01.59
3200: 6. Jacob Marino, Woodstown, 10:23.29
Discus: 6. Ethan McLean, Schalick, 136-2
Triple jump: 2. DaviYonn Jackson, Salem, 45-0; 3. Khalim Smith, Penns Grove, 44-8; 5. David Stewart, Schalick, 44-4
GIRLS
Team scores: Salem 53, Audubon 51, Woodbury 39, Schalick 30, Clayton 29, Haddon Twp. 19, Glassboro 12, Riverside 10, Pennsville 10, Maple Shade 9, Buena 6, Wildwood 6, Penns Grove 3, Gloucester City 2.
4×100: 3. Salem 50.85; 4. Schalick 51.70
800: 2. Anna Buzby, Salem, 2:20.17; 3. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick, 2:22.33
400 hurdles: 2. Anna Buzby, Salem, 1:06.15; 5. Grace O’Neill, Schalick, 1:08.36
100: 5. Meely Horace, Penns Grove, 12.65; 6. Daivonnah Thomas, Penns Grove, 12.68
3200: 2. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick, 11:10.90
Shot: 2. Dominique Lewis, Salem, 35-7.5; 4. Ava Rodgers, Salem, 33-2
Javelin: 1. Allyson Green, Schalick, 108-0; 6. Dominique Lewis, Salem, 100-8
Long jump: 1. Karima Davenport-White, Salem, 17-0.5; 4. Rhionna Timmons, Salem, 16-7.25
Pole vault: 1. Megan Morris, Pennsville, 9-6; 4. Anna Buzby, Salem, 8-6
Month: May 2024
Tennis semifinals
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s Semifinals
(1) Haddon Twp. 5, (4) Middle Twp. 0
(2) Pitman 3, (2) Pennsville 1
Tuesday’s Championship
(2) Pitman at No. 1 Haddon Twp.
PITMAN – Pennsville’s longtime tennis nemesis got the Eagles again Friday, this time coring a 4-1 victory in the South Jersey Group I semifinals. The Panthers will now play Haddon Twp. Tuesday for the sectional championship.
No. 1 doubles team of Noah Bohn and Noah Flitcraft picked up Pennsville’s point. Pitman scored two singles points in third-set pro sets after dropping the first set in both matches.
It was Pitman’s third win over the Eagles this season and ninth in a row. Pennsville’s last win in the series came in April 2019.
PITMAN 4, PENNSVILLE 1
Maddox Marker (Pi) def. Gabe Schneider, 6-0, 6-1
Chase Rollins (Pi) def. Maddox Efelis, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7
Cole Kelly (Pi) def. Brody Wiggins, 2-6, 6-1, 10-3
Noah Bohn-Noah Flitcraft (Pv) def. Charlie Duffield-Ethan Loudner, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
Michael Fisicaro-Max Pappalardo (Pi) def. Luke Chamberlain-Sawyer Humphrey, 6-0, 6-2
Records: Pitman 18-7, Pennsville 18-4.
Delivering in a pinch
Pinch-hitter Banff’s two-run single highlights five-run inning that helps Woodstown dump Audubon to reach South Jersey Group I baseball title game
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s Semifinals
(5) Woodstown 9, (1) Audubon 6
(2) Gloucester 5, (3) Pitman 4
Monday’s Championship
Woodstown (18-9) at Gloucester (21-7)
GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Monday’s Games
North I: Pequannock (19-9) at Pompton Lakes (23-4)
North II: Dayton (16-11) at Brearley (17-8)
Central: Shore (16-8) at Point Pleasant Beach (23-4)
South: Woodstown (18-9) at Gloucester (21-7)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
AUDUBON — Mark Banff got called off the bench in the fourth inning of a tight game Friday. He was cold, but he had one job, and one job only.
As Woodstown’s most reliable pinch hitter it was his job to keep the line moving or, even better, deliver a hit to score a couple runs.
Banff came through as he often does, poking an opposite-field single to right that brought two runs home and gave the Wolverines the lead for good in an eventual 9-6 win over top-seeded Audubon in the South Jersey Group I baseball semifinals.
The fifth-seeded Wolverines (18-9) now travel to Gloucester (21-7) for the SJ title Monday. It’s their third trip to the sectional finals in the last four years.
Banff was summoned to hit for freshman second baseman Thomas Tucci with two on, two out and two already in. Rocco String and Caiden Spinelli drove runs home earlier in the inning to tie the game 2-2. Banff later scored from second when the Green Wave booted Jack Holladay’s grounder at short to make it 5-2.
“It’s a tough situation coming in, not really knowing a lot, not having any experience out there with an at bat, but to be able to deliver something like that, especially to change the whole complexion of the game, is a great feeling,” Banff said. “I’ve had a couple great moments in high school, but that might have been my favorite moment right there.”
Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro is a thinking-man’s manager. He doesn’t make a move that isn’t painstakingly researched and backed by megabytes of data and experiences. Banff was the right player at the right time and when he was called he was ready to go.
Banff has six hits this season. His first three hits were all pinch hits. On back-to-back days in late April, he delivered an RBI pinch double against Penns Grove and an RBI pinch single against Audubon. Two years ago in this round of the playoffs against Buena, he hit a three-run pinch homer.
“He’s our best pinch-hitter,” DeCastro said. “Throughout the year we give a lot of people, guys who aren’t every day players, different opportunities so that I can find out in these situations which ones are ready and which ones can do it.
“He has been a better hitter pinch-hitting than he has when he’s started games, so in that spot, you don’t know if you’re going to get another scoring opportunity and the game is obviously close so you want to take advantage of it, so we used our best pinch-hitter in that spot.”
With folks continuing to deliver from every spot in the lineup, the Wolverines extended their lead to 8-2 in the fifth on consecutive run-scoring hits by String, Blake Bialecki and Ty Coblentz. Audubon rallied in the bottom of the inning to make it 8-6, but the visitors never flinched.
“We had a lot of really big hits today,” DeCastro said. “We just put up nine and this team doesn’t let up nine very often. We had a lot of kids who were really, really big in pressure spots and that’s not something we used to do. Last game we won 1, 2, 3, 4 (in the lineup). Today it was all the way down. There were bit hits all the way through.”
DeCastro’s dynamics were at work again when he brought Jack Knorr in from left field to relieve Dante Holmes in the fifth. Although the senior lefthander gave up a bases-loaded walk, a run-scoring ground out and a two-run single, he buckled down with the tying run at the plate and ended the inning with a strikeout.
“He came in and needed to find a groove a little bit,” DeCastro said. “It’s a really difficult spot and I put him in a really hard spot. We had a lead, but he came off coming out of the game in the first inning after walking people (at Pennsville), coming into a pressure spot where you can’t walk people.
“What I was just looking for was does he settle in to who Jack is. After the two walks, even though they let up the hit – that was my fault, I called the wrong pitch on the 2-2 – after that I thought he was really good for the next four batters, I don’t care what happened, so I felt really comfortable with letting him ride.”
Knorr admitted he was “getting a little ahead of myself” when he first got on the mound, but once he settled in and found his command he was “good from there on.” He retired seven of the last eight hitters he faced after giving up the two-run single that got the Wave within two.
Holliday gave the Wolverines some more breathing room with an RBI single in the seventh to make it 9-6. Audubon’s leadoff man in the bottom of the inning, cleanup hitter Joseph Slavin, reached on an error and made it to second with two outs, but he was of little consequence as Knorr struck out the side behind him to end the game.
Big inning bounces Eagles
Audubon scores nine unearned runs in fourth inning to put Pennsville out of South Jersey softball playoffs, snap Eagles’ 15-game winning streak
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
Thursday’s Semifinals
(1) Audubon 12, (4) Pennsville 0
(3) Haddon Twp. 9, (2) Buena 1
Saturday’s Championship Game
(3) Haddon Twp. (19-6) at No. 1 Audubon (18-5)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
AUDUBON – It’s amazing how one play can change the course of an entire game, but when you have a lineup like Audubon’s sometimes that’s all it takes.
The Pennsville softball team was expecting a tight game in their South Jersey Group I semifinal with top-seeded Audubon Thursday, a game the Eagles knew they needed to be at the top of their game.
An error in the infield with two outs in the fourth inning opened the door to nine unearned runs that propelled the Green Wave to a 12-0 victory to snap the Eagles’ 15-game winning streak, deny them an undefeated May and end their season.
“You can’t make mistakes against teams like that; they’re a good team,” a tearful Pennsville coach Beth Jackson said after breaking the Eagles’ post-game huddle.
It was still anybody’s game going to the bottom of the fourth and the Eagles came thisclose to keeping it that way. But they also were that close from it getting away, too.
The Green Wave had a runner at third with two outs and the Eagles were effectively one pitch from getting out of it, but shortstop Avery Watson mishandled Peyton Marrone’s sharp grounder and then threw the ball past first baseman Bella Rappa when she recovered. It allowed the run to score and opened the floodgates.
The next seven Audubon batters all delivered hits and the next nine reached safely. Ava Grebel got the tidal wave rolling with an RBI double off the base of the short 182-foot left-field fence. Abigail Tole and Emma Speyerer both ripped two-run triples. The Eagles (18-5) also made three more errors that either allowed runs to score or runners to take an extra base.
“We tell the girls all the time just putting the pressure on the defense is key – putting balls in play, hitting balls hard,” Audubon coach Erin Small said. “It doesn’t always have to be a hit, just put the pressure on the defense, allow them to make a play or make a mistake.
“We were able to string some good hits together along with some mistakes and it’s contagious. Hitting is contagious. Fortunately, we were on the good side of it today.”
Aubudon reached Pennsville starter Savannah Palverento for three runs in the first inning before Jackson lifted her for Sierra Stultz with one out. Stultz stomped out that fire on seven pitches and got out of a second-and-third jam in the third inning to keep the Eagles in it.
“I was thinking I had to keep them from scoring and I had to do my job and hit my spots,” Stultz said.
“That’s been her whole (approach) all season; she’s done her job, she’s always ready to go,” Jackson said. “I know she’s ready, but I’m always asking her, but that just helps me give her a mental check. She’s done her job all year and always done it with a smile.”
The smile turned to frustration in the fourth. Stultz got two of the first three hitters on infield outs, but things were about to change – and quickly – as the Wave began making contact with the good pitches she was throwing.
Audubon ended up getting nine hits in the big inning and 14 in the game. Speyerer, Grebel and Tole had three apiece. Tole was a homer short of the cycle. The Green Wave have scored 40 runs in their three playoff games.
“We were hoping for a big inning, we just had to really sit back on her,” Small said of Stultz. “Her speed was a little slower than the first (pitcher). When she first came in we were popping up, we were reaching, so our timing was off.
“We just felt like after getting through her at least one time we felt confident we’d be able to put some hits together and we were fortunate enough to do that behind some of the mistakes they made as well.”
Pennsville’s bats, meanwhile, loud throughout the winning streak, were silenced by Audubon pitcher Emily Bobo. She held the Eagles to three hits over the first four innings, struck out eight – two in each inning – and turned back their two threats when it was still a game.
The Eagles put two on with one out in the first, but their next two hitters struck out. They loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Bobo got out of that with an infield fly and her final strikeout. Audubon has not allowed a run in the playoffs and has shut out four of its last five opponents.
“You have to hit the ball to get runs in,” Jackson said. “We knew we were going to see good pitching and tried to prepare for it as best as possible, but it was probably the best pitching we’ve seen all season from all 23 games.”
The Green Wave (18-5) will host third-seeded Haddon Twp. (19-6) Saturday in the South Jersey Group I championship game.
NOTES: It was the first time the Eagles had been shut out all season and the first time they’d been shutout since last year’s season opener (Clayton 8-0) … Bella Farina, Lilly Birney and Stultz had Pennsville’s three hits … The Green Wave held Rappa hitless in three plate appearances, denying her a 50th hit at Pennsville and 100th in her career. She finished with 97 career hits … The five losses are the fewest for a Pennsville softball team since it went 22-5 in 2014. The Eagles were trying to get to the SJ finals for the first time since 2019.
Running into the Hall
Record-setting Penns Grove track star Faleesha Dowe to be inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame tonight
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – When Faleesha Dowe was an up-and-coming track star at Penns Grove High School she remembers often walking past the display for the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame and hoping someday she might be good enough to be one of those faces on the wall. She got the same feeling when looking at the list of the track records in the gym.
“Someday” arrives tonight when the legendary Red Devils track star joins that list of luminaries she once looked up to as the newest inductee into the Penns Grove Athletics Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the school.
“I’m excited, I’m really excited,” she said. “I just found out a few weeks ago. My parents, they already knew and tried to keep it a surprise from me. This is phenomenal. I’ve always told myself I wanted to get up there and it’s finally happening. I’m happy I made it up there. This is a big accomplishment for me.
“This is the high school I went to. There are records up there that have been up there for years before I even was born. It was just something I always wanted to be up there with. I used to always look at the pictures of everybody who was up there and was like I want to be good enough to be inducted and be up there.”
Make no mistake, she is. All those records she used to admire as an up-and-coming track star, many have been replaced with her name.
She set 11 personal records during her four-year run with the Red Devils (2011-14) and five school records she either set or helped set still stand.
She has enough gold medals to fill a treasure chest. She won eight Tri-County Conference titles, 13 Salem County titles, 15 Group I sectional titles and nine state titles with the Red Devils. And those were just for outdoor track. She won eight sectional and four more state titles indoors.
She set or broke her own records 16 times in the those championship races. She won 27 other times in the major relays of the day.
After Penns Grove she took her talents to Delaware State and still holds the Hornets’ record in the women’s heptathlon.
“Faleesha was one of those natural talents early on,” said Marcus Dowe, her first cousin, Penns Grove track coach and one of those faces on the Athletic Hall wall. “She had an early start running in AAU, so she didn’t have the typical four years other athletes had. By the time she got to high school we already knew she had potential.
“As a freshman she was already acclimated. We knew she could run, we knew how she could run and it was just the next level of training and competition we were looking forward to. I couldn’t wait until she got to high school. When she came to New Jersey the conversation always was there what the potential could be. Looking at the record board we were like ‘one day this could be you.’ That was just about one record we were looking at, it wasn’t the 11 she holds right now.
“From that 2012 to 2014 year, it’s just Dowe, Dowe, Dowe, Dowe, Dowe, all the way through. Like they wrote when she was still in high school, ‘the Dowe is up’ when we won our second (of three) state title.”
All the records are meaningful to Faleesha, but one holds a special place in her heart – the 54.75 400 she ran at the state meet as a senior
“That was the first time I broke the state record,” she said. “I remember the race vividly. There was really only one girl I had competition with. I was in Lane 4 and she was in Lane 5. I just knew if I passed her within the first 150 then I knew the race was mine.
“Once I passed her I picked up the speed and I heard my dad yelling I’ve got to move because I’m trying to get the record and once I heard that I picked up the speed a little bit more and ended up breaking the record.”
Another race that brings a smile is the 4×4 relay she ran as a junior with cousins Kianje and Jaye Pollard and Courtney Smith that broke the Group I state record that had stood for nearly 30 years (3:52.87).
“At the time we were on the map, but we weren’t on the map,” Faleesha said. “Before I came here we had a good team, they had some decent runners, but they didn’t have a good team. Once I came and linked with my cousins and we were on the team together that’s when Penns Grove really became big when it came to track.
“When we went places people knew who we were. I’m glad we were able to put Penns Grove on the map for being such a tiny school with like 400 students. It felt good to be up there with the big dogs and really get recognized as a small town.”
Now, at 28 and living in Texas, she is a site coordinator for a national security company. She doesn’t do track any more – the knee surgery she underwent her junior year in college saw to that — and she misses it.
“I do miss it,” she said. “I’ve been saying I want to get back into track, but my knee is not the same. If I could run again I definitely would. I still have another year of eligibility for college to run if I wanted to.
“If I could find a good trainer who would help me build my knee back up so where the pain wouldn’t bother me then I definitely would run track again because I do miss it.”
But for now it’s all a bunch of happy memories, memories they’ll all get to relive and celebrate tonight. The inductee is proud and excited. The coach can’t wait.
“To be able to see your own cousin up there every day walking by that was a little bit of extra motivation, like one day you can be up there right next to me,” Marcus said. “Now her face and her name will go up there and I’m going to try to get it put next to mine.”
Semis showdown set
Pennsville headed to another epic showdown with Pitman looking to finally solve the Panthers in the South Jersey Group I semifinals Friday; Woodstown, Schalick both fall in the quarterfinals.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BOYS TENNIS
Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
(1) Haddon Twp. 5, (8) Overbrook 0 (Tues.)
(4) Middle Twp. 5, (5) Woodstown 0
(3) Pennsville 5, (6) Buena 0
(2) Pitman 4, (7) Schalick 1
Friday’s Semifinals
Middle Twp. (14-7) at Haddon Twp. (15-5)
Pennsville (18-3) at Pitman (17-7)
MIDDLE TWP. 5, WOODSTOWN 0
Simon Hardin (M) def. Tim Schwienbacher, 6-1, 6-1
Justen Wen (M) def. Drew Stengel, 7-5, 6-2
Tommy Barber (M) def. Erich Lipovsky, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Jack Morton-Jake King (M) def. Ben Stengel-Joseph Kurpis, 7-5, 6-3
Brandyn Acevedo-Miles Stafford (M) def. Luke Shaw-John Farrell, 7-5, 6-2
Records: Woodstown 13-7, Middle Twp. 14-7.
PENNSVILLE 5, BUENA 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Donimic Longona, 6-0, 6-2
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Stephen Pepper, 6-2, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Jonas Regnaert, 6-0, 6-0
Noah Flitcraft-Noah Bohn (P) def. Gabe Ridolfo-Matthew Lillia, 6-2, 6-2
Luke Chamberlain-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Michael Letushko-Joshua Sharpe, 6-3, 6-2
Records: Buena 18-4, Pennsville 18-3.
PITMAN 4, SCHALICK 1
Maddox Marker (P) def. George Gould, 7-5, 6-0
Chase Rollins (P) def. Jesus Espinoza, 6-0, 6-3
Cole Kelly (P) def. Conor O’Toole, 6-3, 6-1
Rocky Monticolo-David Santana (S) def. NA, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8
Michael Fisicaro-Max Pappalardo (P) def. Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski, 6-1, 6-1
Records: Schalick 16-8, Pitman 17-7.
Stomping into the semis
Woodstown hits back-to-back jacks in first inning, slams door on Pennsville, advances to SJ Group I baseball semifinals; Schalick falls under weight of errors
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
(1) Audubon 11, (8) Haddon Twp. 1
(5) Woodstown 8, (4) Pennsville 3
(3) Pitman 6, (6) Schalick 2
(2) Gloucester 8, (7) Wildwood 4
Friday’s Semifinals
Woodstown (17-9) at Audubon (19-9)
Pitman (20-6) at Gloucester (20-7)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – The official height of home plate (not that anyone cares to measure it) is one inch and it is supposed to be planted level with the batter’s box.
After Andrew Pedrick and Rocco String stomped their big shoes on the dish to celebrate back-to-back homers in the first inning of their South Jersey Group I quarterfinal with Pennsville Wednesday, instead of dusting off the plate somebody probably needed to remeasure and replant it.
Pedrick and String went back-to-back to give the Wolverines a three-run lead right out of the gate and set the tone in an eventual 8-3 victory. Pedrick dropped his size 12 on it first and then, just as the plate was returning to its original shape, String put his size 15 right on top of it with flourish.
“I do it all the time, but here I just needed to do it because I needed to make a statement to these guys,” String said. “Losing to them (earlier in the season) I really wanted to beat them real bad, so I needed to make something.”
If the Wolverines wanted to “let ‘em know you’re here” as someone shouted from the dugout after String’s shot, call it mission accomplished. They probably heard it all the way to Elmer with the energy the home runs injected to an already electric atmosphere.
The homers came after Brent Williams brought Jack Knorr home from third with a sacrifice fly. Knorr opened the game with a double.
It was the second time in their careers Pedrick and String have homered in the same game – they did last year against Salem – but it was the first time they’ve gone back-to-back. String has now homered in back-to-back playoff games.
“I think that’s what really got us up,” Pedrick said. “We’re not really a home run-hitting team, so when we got three runs in the first inning, two off two bombs, it’s just crazy, especially back-to-back like that. I was going nuts. I was jumping up and down.
“I just think we wanted to let them know we were here early. We don’t usually come out firing like that, so getting those three runs in the first inning that really put them down and got us up.”
Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro didn’t read anything more into the back-to-back homers other than it gave his team a 3-0 and a little cushion to play with “a little more freedom so if they scored a run it wasn’t the end of the world.”
The Eagles (17-10) got that run in the second inning on Jacob Grant’s sacrifice bunt and it wasn’t the end of the world for the Wolverines. Grant’s shoulder injury kept him from swinging away, but nothing was going to keep the Eagles’ only senior from playing in the biggest game of the year.
After the initial energy from both teams, the game settled into the intensity of a typical game between rivals. That is, until Woodstown broke it open with five in the top of the top of the fifth.
The Wolverines sent eight men to the plate. Williams brought home a run with a single that got through the leftfielder, String brought two home with a single that got through the centerfielder and Ty Coblentz and Caiden Spinelli drove in runs with ground outs to the right side of the infield.
Pennsville got two in the bottom of the fifth on Cohen Petrutz’ two-run single, but it wasn’t nearly enough to catch up to the Wolverines.
“They came out and set the tone,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said. “They barreled up some balls. It’s a tough pill to swallow and it’s kind of indicative of how the rest of the game went. They set the tone and they tacked on, did the little things they needed to do.
“Like I told those guys, we got beat today. There was no one call. They hit better, they threw better and they won a baseball game and sometimes that happens.”
The fifth-seeded Wolverines (17-9) will now travel to top-seeded Audubon (19-9) Friday for one of the South Jersey Group I semifinals. They beat the Green Wave earlier this season, 8-3.
Knorr started the game on the mound for Woodstown Wednesday, but was lifted after walking two of the first three batters he faced. Aaron Foote stomped out that fire and pitched into the fifth to get the win. Michael Valente and Dante Holmes finished it up. Peyton O’Brien took the loss for Pennsville.
Knorr, Valente and Holmes all will be available “in some way, fashion or form” to pitch in the Audubon game. The starter, DeCastro said after the game, is to be determined.
PITMAN 6, SCHALICK 2: The Cougars picked the wrong time to have a difficult day in the field.
Pitman took advantage of six Schalick errors to either score runs or extend innings in their South Jersey Group I playoff game. The Panthers (20-6) advance to play at second-seeded Gloucester in Friday’s semifinals.
The Cougars (15-11) led twice in the game, but each time lost it under the weight of the miscues.
Luke Pokrovsky gave them a 1-0 lead with a homer in the first inning, but Pitman tied it in the home half on one of three errors in the inning.
Ricky Watt gave them a 2-1 lead with a RBI single in the third, but Pitman took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning when two runs scored on an infield error. Two more errors helped along a three-run sixth that put the game away.
Pokrovsky pitched the whole game for Schalick. The junior lefthander gave up six hits, three earned runs and struck out nine to finish the season with 122 strikeouts and a 1.09 ERA.
Straughn steps aside
Woodstown girls basketball coach steps away from coaching after one season to devote more time to her family
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
Woodstown is in the market for a boys and girls head basketball coach today after Wolverines girls coach Kara Straughn confirmed she is stepping away from coaching after one dynamic season to devote more time to her family.
“I’m still at Woodstown,” she said, “but with my daughter being so young and my parents retiring/moving down south, I needed more time to devote to my family.
“It really broke my heart, but as a mom and parent I knew it had to be done. I know the girls will be great and will always have my support.”
In Straughn’s single season as head coach, the Wolverines went 21-7, won a fourth straight Tri-County Diamond Division title and lost at Wildwood in the South Jersey Group I championship game marred by a chaotic finish.
In the closing seconds of that game, the crowd poured onto the floor after the Warriors hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner believing time had expired. Straughn, however, had called time immediately after the basket, game officials conferred and put a few seconds back on the clock, but the Wolverines never got a good shot after rushing down the floor.
The process of finding Straughn’s successor continues as the Wolverines prepare for their summer league season. The teaching opportunities available in the school system will be a factor in the search.
Whoever gets the job, they will inherit a team with two of the most dynamic scorers in South Jersey. Rising senior guards Talia Battavio and Megan Donelson are both on track to surpass more than 1,500 career points next season.
The Wolverines recently were installed as the No. 2 seed in the West Region of the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Woodstown boys coach Phil Campbell stepped away at the end of the season.
Cover photo: Woodstown girls basketball coach Kara Straughn watches her team during a game last season. Her father and assistant coach, retiring Wolverines teacher and softball coach Dave Wildermuth. is seated next to her on the bench.
Love on the links
Kingsway’s Parrish, Kuminka, dating off the course, medalists in Tri-County Showcase; Williamstown boys, Kingsway girls win team titles
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITMAN – The next time Christopher Parrish and Carly Kuminka are in their favorite Italian restaurant together for a night out, they’ll have a little bit more to talk about than how things went at school that day.
The two Kingsway underclassmen won their respective medalist prizes Tuesday in the Tri-County Showcase at Pitman Golf Course. While it’s not the first time either of them have won, it’s the first time they’ve won on the same day since they’ve started dating.
Parrish, a sophomore, posted a 1-over-par 71 to win the boys title by a shot over Gloucester Tech’s Jamie Ciesielka and two over Justin Forman of Washington Twp. Kuminka, a junior, shot 83 and defended her girls title by five shots over two-time Salem/Cumberland girls champion Nicole Tarquinio of Cumberland Regional.
“It’s cool,” Parris said. “I was watching when we finished and she was like four ahead and I was like, Wow, we could actually both win this. It’s a great way to go into next year.”
“It’s really cool, it’s nice; I’m happy for him,” Kuminka said. “There’s not a lot of tournaments we both play in together.”
The two met through high school golf and have been an item now for about a year. They play “a lot” of golf together, which Carly says is “really fun.” She said Parrish usually gets the better of their competition “because he’s really consistent.”
Pulling off his win brought Parrish a measure of revenge after losing the Gloucester County Tournament here Thursday in a sudden-death playoff to Forman, one of his foursome partners Tuesday and one of the players he was battling with down the stretch.
Five days ago, Parrish and Forman both got around in regulation in 72. Forman was leading by two going to 18, but Parrish birdied and Forman three-putted for bogey to force the playoff. Forman won it when Parrish missed an 18-finch par putt on the second extra hole.
“After getting second Thursday in a playoff, to win today and beat Justin, who I love playing with because we play so close, felt great,” Parrish said. “I really wanted to get back at him today … I wanted to definitely make sure I won today. Shoot a good number and see if I win today.”
Parrish had no such misadventures on the greens this day. In fact, he made three mid-range birdies in a row at 12, 13 and 14 to climb into contention, but perhaps the biggest putt of his round was the one he made on 15 to save par.
“I think it’s only the second time in my life I made three birdies in a row,” he said. “It’s definitely not something I do often. But after I bogey 11, a hole I tripled on Thursday, it was like a win, but (with the holes coming up) if I can just hit greens and I can get my line and hit a good putt I can easily make birdies on these holes. That’s what I did.
“I knew I had to get something going because I was hitting the ball great, I was hitting a lot of greens, so I was like on the back if I could just get the putter going and keep hitting greens, get up and down a few times, I can definitely score pretty well on the back.”
On Tuesday, he ultimately was locked in a three-way battle down the stretch with Forman and Ciesielka, who was playing in the group ahead of him.
Forman was even through 12 holes, but fell back with a double-bogey on the par-3 on 14, the victim of some wicked backspin that brought his tee ball into the par-3 all the way back off the green. He bounced back with a birdie on 15, but bogeyed two of his last three holes.
Ciesielka was 2-under through his first seven holes and held a one-shot lead after No. 16, bur he bogeyed 17 and 18 and needed to make a 30-foot birdie on No. 1 to force a playoff. He finished second for the second year in a row. Forman finished third.
“I’m bummed I didn’t shoot where I thought I would, but all in all it’s a better score than Thursday (81 in the Gloucester County Tournament here); it’s really what I wanted,” Ciesielka said.
Pennsville’s Jacob Isaac posted the low round from a Salem County golfer. He posted a 10-over 80 on his first trip seeing the course that tied for sixth. His round featured a chip-in birdie on No. 17 and “six or seven” one-putts that kept him in the game.
Salem/Cumberland runner-up Jeffrey Covely of Woodstown also had a top 10 (T-9) with an 84 highlighted by birdies on 7 and 13.
Williamstown’s boys and the Kingsway girls (Kuminka and Ava Volpe) won the team titles. The Braves counted fourth-place Cole Gaetens’ 77 and three 84s. Woodstown finished third in the boys race, six shots ahead of fourth-place Schalick.
TRI-COUNTY SHOWCASE
At Pitman Golf Course
| BOYS TEAM | SCORE | GIRLS TEAM | SCORE |
| Williamstown | 329 | Kingsway | 180 |
| Triton | 351 | Clearview | 184 |
| Woodstown | 364 | Washington Twp. | 193 |
| Schalick | 370 | Cumberland | 206 |
| Gloucester Cath. | 391 | Schalick | 224 |
| Pitman | 411 | GCIT | 224 |
| Williamstown | 225 | ||
| Delsea | 255 | ||
| Wildwood | 273 |
| BOYS TOP 15 | SCHOOL | SCORE |
| Christopher Parrish | Kingsway | 37-34–71 |
| Jamie Ciesielka | GCIT | 34-38–72 |
| Justin Forman | Washington Twp. | 36-37–73 |
| Cole Geatens | Williamstown | 37-40–77 |
| Enrique Altmann | GCIT | 37-41–78 |
| Jacob Isaac | Pennsville | 39-41–80 |
| Luke Canino | Washington Twp. | 39-41–80 |
| Nick Renz | Gloucester Cath. | 40-43–83 |
| Bradyn Skokowski | Triton | 41-43–84 |
| Andrew Michalski | Williamstown | 44-40–84 |
| Brady Geatens | Williamstown | 43-41–84 |
| Julian Boyer | Deptford | 42-42–84 |
| Jeffrey Covely | Woodstown | 45-39–84 |
| Gavin McClaskey | Williamstown | 42-42–84 |
| Isaiah Garcia | Triton | 43-43–86 |
| GIRLS TOP 15 | SCHOOL | SCORE |
| Carly Kuminka | Kingsway | 41-42–83 |
| Nicole Tarquinio | Cumberland | 45-43–88 |
| Tessa Reilley | Washington Twp. | 46-45–91 |
| Lydia Bernardi | Clearview | 46-46–92 |
| Stella Bernardi | Clearview | 46-46–92 |
| Sarah Kaestner | Clearview | 45-49–94 |
| Ava Volpe | Kingsway | 48-49–97 |
| Delaney Schwartz | Washington Twp. | 52-49–101 |
| Alivia Wirtz | GCIT | 53-50–103 |
| Sienna Longo | Clearview | 52-52–104 |
| Kaci Adams | Williamstown | 49-56–105 |
| Sophia Stultz | OLMA | 53-57–110 |
| Julie Swierczynski | Woodstown | 54-57–111 |
| Casey Widdifield | Schalick | 53-58–111 |
| Hannah Widdifield | Schalick | 58-55–113 |
Nothing fazes them
Streaking Pennsville rallies from two four-run deficits, beats Maple Shade in SJ Group I playoffs on Harris’ walk-off single
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
Tuesday’s quarterfinals
(1) Audubon 15, (8) Paulsboro 0
(4) Pennsville 9, (5) Maple Shade 8
(3) Haddon Twp. 3, (6) Woodstown 1
(2) Buena 6, (10) Gateway 4
Thursday’s semifinals
Pennsville (18-4) at Audubon (17-5), 4 p.m.
Haddon Twp. (18-6) at Buena (18-6)
Saturday’s game
Championship game at higher seed
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – The Pennsville softball team hasn’t been behind much since its last loss 45 days ago, but the Eagles trailed by four runs twice in Tuesday’s South Jersey Group I quarterfinals and just weren’t fazed by it.
They battled back both times to get back in the game and now they’re in the South Jersey Final Four for the first time since 2021.
Sophomore catcher Kylie Harris’ two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh scored Avery Watson from second and allowed the Eagles to walk off Maple Shade 9-8 for their 15th straight win.
“It felt really good to do that for my team,” Harris said. “They wanted that win super bad and you could just feel the energy in the dugout, so I knew what I needed to do.
“I left runners on my last at bat and I wanted to make my last at bat count.”
Now, a win at top-seeded Audubon (17-5) in Thursday’s 4 p.m. semifinal would send the Eagles (18-4) to the South Jersey finals for the first time since 2019, when they lost to Buena.
The Eagles have trailed a total of two innings since losing to West Deptford on April 13, but were down 5-1 and 8-4 against the Wildcats. The last time they trailed any opponent was 3-2 in the second inning against Pitman April 18.
They gave up three runs in the first inning Tuesday and trailed 5-1 in the third. They made it 5-4 in the third on Bella Rappa’s RBI single and Lilly Birney’s two-run double, but the Wildcats went back up 8-4 in the fourth.
The Eagles rallied for three in the fifth to bring it back to 8-7, then tied it on Bella Farina’s homer to center in the sixth – her ninth of the season – and won it in the seventh.
“I pulled them all together before we went out (for the seventh) and just said everybody take a deep breath, it’s a 0-0 game, we’re going back out, take a deep breath, you know what to do,” Eagles coach Beth Jackson said. “This is all stuff that you’ve done, nothing that you haven’t done all season. They were all fired up anyway in the dugout.”
The Eagles had multiple runners on base all inning in the seventh. They had runners at first and second with two outs when Harris delivered her game-winning hit. It was her 40th hit of the season. She is 31-of-56 (.554) during the winning streak.
“Kylie hit the some bullets right at them and they made some nice catches, so she came up big,” Jackson said. “It was good that she wasn’t frustrated from her at-bats earlier in the game. You keep at it you’re going to find a hole. There were a couple of nice things that happened that inning to lead up to that win.”
Savannah Palverento and Rappa both had three hits for the Eagles. Rappa and Birney each had three RBIs. Rappa is 6-for-8 with five RBIs in two playoff games and 26-of-47 (.553) during the winning streak. She is three hits shy of 100 for her Penns Grove/Pennsville career.
Riverview Sports News 