Pennsville LL All-Stars drop sectional opener, Senior Softball gets washed out at state tournament
FRIDAY’S GAMES
SECTION 4 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
At Erial LL, Sicklerville
G1: Cherry Hill American 9, Hammonton 0
G3: East Greenwich 10, Pennsville 0
SENIOR SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT
At Dennis Twp. LL, Cape May Court House
All games ppd.
G1: District 1 vs. Bayonne
G2: Toms River vs. Pennsville
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SICKLERVILLE – With all the joy and momentum the Pennsville Little League All-Stars carried from winning their first district championship in five years last week, this was not the way they wanted to start the sectional tournament.
Pennsville struggled at the plate, on the mound and in the field Friday night and lost their Section 4 Tournament opener to East Greenwich 10-0 in four innings at the Erial Little League complex. They’ll look to stay alive Saturday in a 7 p.m. elimination game against Hammonton.
The District 3 champions were held to one hit, struck out nine times and were charged with six errors in the field. Brayden Roberts had their only hit, a solid single to center leading off the fourth inning. Their only other base runner was John Swiderski’s two-out walk in the first.
“We couldn’t put the bat on the ball,” Pennsville manager Steve Pangle said. “We were letting the umpires dictate the game for us and we can’t do that. If they’re calling it a certain way, we’ve got to be able to adjust and tonight we weren’t able to do that.”
East Greenwich starter Brian McCloskey pitched the first 3 1/3 innings and went through the Pennsville lineup once. He allowed one hit and struck out eight. Earlier in the tournament he blanked Glassboro LL for 5.1 innings on one hit and 11 strikeouts.
Pennsville starter JoJo Mannino expended a lot of energy in the first inning, throwing 30 pitches, but he only gave up one run through it all. East Greenwich scored and then loaded the bases with no outs, but Mannino put out the fire with a liner to second baseman Owen Whalen and a pair of strikeouts.
But East Greenwich got to Mannino in the third, breaking it open with eight runs. All 13 of their hitters batted in the inning. They put together four hits, including two-run singles by Zach Kenderdine and Mason Trotter, three errors and three walks (two with the bases loaded) to build their big inning.
“That was an uncharacteristic inning for us,” Pangle said. “We may have one here or there but we’re not a team that has multiple (errors) in the same inning that could hurt us. Tonight we just didn’t bring our best stuff as a team. We just didn’t come as our best team and it showed out there on the field. Tomorrow we’ll be back and we’ll be better.”
East Greenwich now awaits the winner of Saturday’s Cherry Hill American-Blackwood game.
NOTES: Pennsville was playing in the sectional tournament for the tenth time in its history. They have won at least one game in each of their last five appearances. East Greenwich was in the sectional for just the third time and first since going back to back in 2013-14 … Ever wonder how Pennsville got placed in District 3 playing in a section with districts in the teens when the low single-digit districts have been North Jersey designations from the start? District 3 had been a Bergen County district since the state organized into 12 districts in 1957, but it was dissolved in 1981 when its chartered leagues dwindled and the remaining ones placed in District 4. District 3 was reformed in 1985 in Salem and Cumberland counties as a spinoff from Districts 15 and 16.
East Greenwich 10, Pennsville 0
| Pensville (7-3) | 000 | 0– | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| East Greenwich (5-0) | 108 | 1– | 10 | 6 | 0 |
Cherry Hill American 9, Hammonton 0
| Hammonton (7-1) | 000 | 000– | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Cherry Hill American (6-1) | 180 | 000– | 9 | 3 | 3 |
Softball washed out
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Pennsville’s fifth straight appearance in the Little League softball state tournament has been delayed at least a day by bad weather in the shore area.
All the games scheduled at the Dennis Twp. LL complex Friday were moved to Saturday at 11 a.m., weather permitting, with the games originally scheduled for 11 Saturday pushed back to 2 p.m.
“Totally par for the course,” Pennsville manager Chris Watson said, reminded of the weather issues the team has encountered in previous state tournament appearances. “But it gives us an extra day to practice, I think; our field is in good shape. Hopefully we can get out there and get the bats going again and be ready for tomorrow.
“I think we’re all used to the rainouts and everything at this point; we’ve been doing this for years. The only difference is this year I’ve got a bed cover for my truck so we don’t have to go into a tournament with soaking equipment like we did last year.”
The forecast for an already drenched area did not look good for Saturday.
“I don’t think anybody is really confident about playing tomorrow, either,” Watson said. “Realistically, I think we’ll play Sunday and the championship on Monday.”
If the games are washed out again Saturday, it would give Pennsville a chance to get all its players back from various travel ball tournaments they’re playing in the South.
When the tournament does get underway, Pennsville plays Toms River in its opener, while District 1 and Bayonne battle it out on the other side of the bracket.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
SENIOR SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT
At Dennis Twp. LL, Cape May Court House
G1: District 1 vs. Bayonne, 11 a.m.
G2: Toms River vs. Pennsville, 11 a.m.
G3: District 1-Bayonne loser vs. Toms River-Pennsville loser, 2 p.m.
G4: District 1-Bayonne winner vs. Toms River-Pennsville winner, 2 p.m.
G5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 5 p.m.
SECTION 4 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
At Erial LL, Sicklerville
G2: Cherry Hill American vs. Blackwood, 5 p.m.
G4: Hammonton vs. Pennsville, 7 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 