Rested and ready

White, Woodstown softball sharp after long layoff; Farina has career day for Pennsville softball, Eagles win wild one in baseball and more

TUESDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 9, Triton 6
Pitman 18, Salem 2
Woodstown 7, Gloucester Catholic 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLOUCESTER CITY – Grace White and the Woodstown softball team returned to the field for the first time in 10 days and it looked like they never missed a beat.

White came within two outs of a complete-game shutout and struck out 12 leading the Wolverines past Gloucester Catholic 7-1 Tuesday.

It was the second day in a row a Salem County softball team returning from a lengthy break took down the Rams (7-6), who lost back-to-back games for the second time this season.

The Wolverines (8-6) hadn’t played since losing to Mainland in Williamstown’s Fred Powell Invitational April 27 and were idle last week as eight players were away on the school’s Senior Class Trip. 

“I think the  break was needed,” Woodstown coach Dave Wildermuth said. “We had played a brutally tough schedule the first half of the year and I think we just needed a break.

“We needed a break and we’ve regrouped. We had a couple decent practices last week while the girls were away, with some of the underclassmen, and we had a good practice yesterday. Yesterday was the first day (White) picked up a ball.”

Tulana Mingin and Cara Delia both had a pair of hits for the Wolverines (8-6), who snapped a season-long three-game losing streak in which they scored just one run in each game. Mingin moved into fourth place on the Wolverines’ all-time hits list and is now eight shy of tying the all-time mark.

The Wolverines jumped on top with two runs in the first inning on an error and Kayla Brown’s sacrifice fly. White drove in a run in the third with a ground out and Alyssa Baber doubled home a run in the third to make it 4-0.

White lost her shutout on a homer by Gabby Scirrotto with one out in the seventh inning that was just inches out of the reach of centerfielder Ellie Wygand. Scirrotto was the only Rams base runner to get past second.

The Wolverines have big Tri-County Classic games the next two days that could potentially give them control over the division. They travel to Overbrook Wednesday, then resume their rivalry with Schalick Thursday in their annual night game at Elmer Little League.

PENNSVILLE 9, TRITON 6: Bella Farina went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high seven RBIs as the Eagles won their seventh in a row. Her first homer gave them a 3-0 lead in the first and her second, another three-run blast, broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning.

It was Farina’s second multi-homer game of the season. She is 16-for-22 with 16 RBIs in her last six games, has at least one RBI in each of her last seven games (17 total) and 14 in her last four games. She now has six homers and a career-tying 24 RBIs on the year.

“It felt good to have one of my best games against a really good team,” Farina said. “More importantly, I’m thankful to have helped the team get a big win. The best part about hitting home runs is my team meeting at home plate.”

Sierra Stultz also had four hits in the Eagles’ 18-hit attack. Kylie Harris had three and Savannah Palverento and Bella Rappa each had two. Lilly Birney took a homer away from the Mustangs in centerfield.

PITMAN 18, SALEM 2: The Panthers erupted for seven runs in the first inning and then held Salem to three hits – all in the first inning. The Rams scored both of their runs in the home first on an RBI double by Raegan Wilson and an RBI single by Morgan Johnson, then Pitman pitcher Cassidy Batten retired the last 14 batters she faced. Julliana Love had the other Salem hit, a leadoff single in the home first.

BASEBALL
Pennsville 13, Clayton 12
Vineland 6, Schalick 0

PENNSVILLE 13, CLAYTON 12: Jacob Grant homered and the Eagles pounded 20 hits with eight of the nine hitters in the lineup getting at least two.

Grant’s two-run homer and two-run doubles by Jeff Wagner and Logan Streitz fueled a seven-run fourth that gave Pennsville a 10-5 lead, but the Eagles could never shake the Clippers. RBI singles by Mason O’Brien and Chase Burchfield gave them a 13-10 lead in the sixth and they held on as Clayton scored two in the seventh.

Connor Starn and Cohen Petrutz both had three hits for Pennsville, while Mason O’Brien and Wagner each had three RBIs.

VINELAND 6, SCHALICK 0: The Fighting Clan scored three runs in each the third and fourth innings and Mario Toro threw just 69 pitches over six innings while allowing only one hit to stop Schalick’s four-game winning streak. Enrico Hatz had the Cougars’ only hit, a one-out single in the fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to five games. Gabe Torres and Luke Pokrovsky threw three innings of scoreless relief after the Clan did their damage.

BOYS TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 5, SCHALICK 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. George Gould, 6-1, 6-1
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Jesus Espinoza, 6-1, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Conor O’Toole, 6-0, 6-0
Noah Bohn-Noah Flitcraft (P) def. David Santana-Rocky Monticolo, 6-2, 6-2
Luke Chamberlain-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski, 6-2, 6-4
Records: Pennsville 14-1, Schalick 9-5.

WOODSTOWN 3, CUMBERLAND 2
Luke Fischer (C) def. Tim Schwienbacher, 6-0, 6-1
Chase Sheppard (C) def. Drew Stengel, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5
Erich Lipovsky (Wo) def. Joey Nolan, 6-3, 6-3
Bent Stengel-Mason Shimp (Wo) def. Josiah Jiminez-Angel Perez, 6-1, 6-1
Luke Shaw-Jason LaFond (Wo) def. Justin Nolan-Mason Staffieri, 6-3, 6-4
Records: Cumberland 12-4, Woodstown 10-1.