Month: July 2024

‘It’s our turn’

Pennsville reaches District 3 Little League championship round after knocking off East Vineland 10-5

DISTRICT 3 LL FINALS
At East Vineland
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Pennsvile 10, East Vineland 5 (EV eliminated)
FRIDAY’S GAME
Pennsville vs. South Vineland, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Pennsville vs. South Vineland (If necessary), 7 p.m.
(Winner to Section 4 Tournament at Erial LL, starting July 12)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

VINELAND — It has been five years since Pennsville LL played for a district title. Manager Steve Pangle figures it’s about their time.

Pennsville used two big innings, got several big hits, some solid pitching and ended the game with a fabulous catch to turn back East Vineland 10-5 and reach the District 3 Tournament championship round.

They now play undefeated South Vineland here at Fiocchi Field Friday at 7 p.m. in the first of potentially two championship games. If Pennsville wins, the teams will return for a winner-take-all game Saturday at 7 p.m.

“I think we’re in great position,” Pangle said. “We used our pitchers smartly here today, that way we can still used them on Friday. I feel really good about Friday. As a coaching staff we’re pumped, we’re eady. The boys are pumped and ready, just the way they acted when they got that last out.

“This is us. This is our turn. This is our time. They really rallied together to really make it our time.”

Pennsville rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock off the team that sent them into the loser’s bracket on Opening Night of the Final Four. They took the lead with five in the third inning, highlighted by Nate Breeden’s go-ahead two-run single, and after East Vineland got back within 6-5 they scored four in the fifth, capped by John Swiderski’s three-run homer, for a lot of breathing room.

The last time Pennsville played for the 12U district title, 2019, they won it. Most of the players on this year’s team were playing coach-pitch back then.

Swiderski’s homer in the fifth inning came after Owen Whalen led off with a double, Nate Morrison walked and Breeden singled home Whalen. Breeden was 2-for-2 in the game with three RBIs and is 5-for-6 in the playoff portion of the tournament

“That was huge,” Pangle said. “We were telling him he’s due, he’s due for a homer. He hadn’t hit one since the first game in Pennsville. We just kept telling him to keep at it, your time’s coming, not the homer so much but you’re big hit’s coming; we can see it. And we told him to believe in himself. If you believe in yourself, good things will come, and that’s what happened.”

“It meant a lot to me because I struggled last game,” Swiderski said. “I was just trying to help myself on the mound, get some more support runs.”

Swiderski came to the mound to put out a fire in the fifth, getting the final out of the inning on a full-count strikeout with the bases loaded, and closed it out in the sixth with a little help from his best friend. Left fielder Caleb Fontaine ran down travel ball teammate Carter Perkins’ shot to the left centerfield gap, stretching out and snagging the ball in the fingers of his glove for the final out of the game.

“I can’t even believe I caught it,” Fontaine said. “It was kind of like one of the best catches I’ve ever caught in my life. I was just running as fast as I could to get there.”

The momentum of the play carried Fontaine to the ground where his teammates mobbed him as if he just delivered a walk-off homer.

“That was awesome,” Swiderski said. “Me and Caleb are best friends and we’re best friends for life now.”

Another key to Pennsville’s success was the way it handled EV slugger Enzo Canderlario. They were the first team this tournament to keep Candelario in the yard. He did score twice, but with Pennsville pitching him the way MLB pitchers go after Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos — outside and low — he went without a homer for the first time in six district tournament games and was officially 0-for-2. They took the bat out of his hands in the fifth with an intentional walk.

Swiderski’s homer in the bottom of the fifth basically made it so Canderlario wouldn’t beat them if he came up in the sixth if the pitchers took care of business at the start of the inning. Thanks to Fontaine’s catch, they never had to test that theory.

“(We wanted to) keep it out of the zone; pitch around him and have him chase stuff,” Pangle said. “We wanted to stay out of the zone, but just off the zone to where he could do little dribblers if he did make contact or miss it altogether.”

Because everything came together in one place Wednesday night, Pennsville now is two wins away from a district championship.

“Big things are happening right now in Pennsville with baseball and softball.,” Pangle said. “It couldn’t be better right now..”

Pennsville 10, East Vineland 5

East Vineland (4-2)111020-572
Pennsville (5-2)01504X-1063
WP: Cayden L.Ecuyer. LP: Ethan Kleinow. 2B: Matt DePalma (EV), John Swiderski (P), Nate Breeden (P), Owen Whalen (P). HR: John Swiderski (P).
Brayden Roberts (22) slides in with the go-ahead run during Pennsville’s five-run third inning Wednesday. On the cover, Roberts leaps into the arms of pitcher John Swiderski after Pennsville sealed the 10-5 victory.

Taylor joins Hall

Jonathan Taylor, Salem’s record-setting running back and All-Pro, will be inducted into the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame July 20

By Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The banners recognizing Jonathan Taylor’s greatness are strategically located throughout Salem High School, but they’re soon going to need a rewrite. They’ll need to include the line “Salem County Sports Hall of Famer.”

TAYLOR

Taylor, the Rams’ record-breaking running back, All-American and NFL All-Pro, headlines this year’s Hall of Fame class and will be inducted individually in ceremonies at Salem Community College’s Davidow Hall July 20.

The date coincides with Taylor’s appearance at his local football camp for youth. The remainder of the class and Hall honorees will be recognized Aug. 22.

The ceremony also will recognize Salem High School’s 2021 football championship team. That team won the Rams’ first New Jersey South-Central Group 1 championship.  

At Salem, Taylor rushed for 4,642 yards and 51 touchdowns that included the state’s single-season record with 2,510 yards and 35 TDs. He rushed for 1,383 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior. On the track, he won  back-to-back New Jersey Meet of Champions titles in 100 meters in 2016 and 2017.

Moving on to the college ranks, he appeared in 41 games at Wisconsin (40 starts from 2017-19) and totaled 926 carries for 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns. He added 42 receptions for 407 yards and five touchdowns. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back in 2018 and 2019 and was a unanimous All-American. 

He is the seventh player in FBS history to rush for 6,000 yards and the first to accomplish the feat in just three seasons. His 6,174 career rushing yards rank sixth all-time among FBS players and second all-time in the Big Ten. He is the third player in FBS history with multiple 2,000-yard rushing seasons and the only player in FBS history to rush for at least 1,900 yards in three consecutive seasons.

Following his junior season at Wisconsin, the Colts selected Taylor in the second round (41st overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Pro Football Writers of America named Taylor to its All-Rookie Team after he rushed for 1,169 yards in 232 attempts and caught 36 passes for 299 yards. Then in 2021, he led the NFL in rushing with 1,811 yards in 332 attempts and rushing touchdowns with 18.  He also caught 40 passes for 360 yards. He was named first-time All Pro and received the Bert Bell Award, presented annually by the Maxwell Football Club to the best player in the NFL.

The remainder of the class that will inducted Aug. 22 includes pro athlete Lex Bleckley (baseball); athletes James Dickerson, Nick Elmer, James Dennison and Latika Ross; coaches Donna O’Leary and Steve Merritt; and community service honorees Vince Gioia and Steve Lopes. The Hall also will recognize the 2013-15 boys and girls track teams from Penns Grove.

The ceremony honoring Taylor will begin at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30. The event is free. Due to limited seating in the theatre, the Field House will be open for overflow seating, where guests will watch the ceremony via livestream on the college’s website.Due to contractual obligations, Taylor will not sign autographs.  

Staying alive

Pennsville staves off elimination in the District 3 LL Tournament behind Morrison’s pitching and big extra-base hits by Mannino, Weatherbee; South Vineland reaches championship round; includes Section 4 softball update

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

VINELAND – The Pennsville bats were stifled for the first four innings of their District 3 elimination game Tuesday night, but manager Steve Pangle never lost confidence they would come around and he let his players know it every chance he got.

The bats did come alive in a big way in the fifth inning and now the Pennsville 12U All-Stars are playing for a spot in the district championship game.

JoJo Mannino crushed a two-run homer and Brayden Weatherbee roped a three-run double to fuel a five-run fifth that carried Pennsville to a 5-3 win over Millville American in the District 3 Little League Tournament. They now play East Vineland in East Vineland Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. with a place in the championship game opposite South Vineland in the balance.

Millville starter Vash Jacobs, helped by a couple double plays, had faced only one batter over the minimum through a scoreless four innings, but Pennsville got to him in the fifth.

Nathan Breeden got it started with a leadoff double and he scored on Mannino’s no-doubter of a go-ahead two-run homer. Cayden L’Ecuyer restarted it by reaching on a dropped third strike, Chase Pangle singled, Caleb Fontaine drew a two-out walk to load the bases and then Weatherbee brought them all around with his hit of the game.

“I was confident the bats would come around,” Pangle said. “I just wanted to hang with them, stay with them, keep the score close if not the same (until they did).

“I preached to them the whole game that this is our game. I felt it. I could just feel the vibe how we did warmups. I let them know every inning they came out this is us, you’ve got to have it in your heart right now. I feel it; you’ve got to feel it.

“In the fourth inning, after they got that (go-ahead) hit, a couple of the kids came up and were like I feel it. I said, you feel that? Yes, I feel it. All right then let’s do it and that’s when we had the five-run inning.”

None of the hits were bigger than Weatherbee’s double – and not just for what it did to the scoreboard. The only 11-year-old on the roster, Weatherbee was 0-for-10 in the tournament with seven strikeouts and had fanned in his previous three at-bats before sending his bases-clearing double into right field.

“It worried me some,” Weatherbee said of the slump, “but even major-league players get in a slump. I just kept on trying to swing, hit the ball and make contact with it and here we are today where I hit a double and sent three people home. I was a little bit sad (about not having a hit), but then when I hit it, it was amazing.”

“We know any kid on this team can hit the ball at any time,” Pangle said. “People are going to go through slumps and that’s fine; we’ve preached having each other’s back. You may not get a hit for a while and then all of a sudden you get that hit when we need it. That’s been our message the entire year: Just keep fighting. That was just big by him. Lifted his confidence way up. It was a monster three-run double for us.”

Pennsville starter Nate Morrison was just as unhittable as Jacobs early in the game. He faced one batter over the minimum through the first three innings and pitched into the sixth before reaching his pitch limit getting the first two batters out. He allowed only six hits over 5 2/3 innings, two unearned runs, no walks and struck out five.

Millville threatened once Morrison left the game, bringing the winning run to the plate, but reliever Caiden Colomy closed it out by getting a game-ending liner to short.

“I wasn’t worried at all,” Pangle said. “(Colomy) was the right guy. We had the utmost confidence in him. We went out and talked to him after he got a couple base runners on. We told him we believe in you, you believe in yourself, the team believes in you, this is your game, let’s finish it, and that’s what he did.”

SOUTH VINELAND 5, EAST VINELAND 2: South Vineland answered East Vineland’s two runs in the top of the fourth with two in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, then took the lead with three in the fifth to reach the championship round of the tournament.

Mason Mendez drew a bases-loaded walk to break the 2-2 tie and Kaden Potts followed with a two-run single to extend the lead.

Derek Cuba, the walk-off hero of South Vineland’s seventh-inning win over Millville Monday, pitched the first 5 1/3 innings and gave up eight hits, two earned runs and struck out seven. Ronald Leverette got the final two outs, getting a ground out with the bases loaded to end the game.

South Vineland did manage to get East Vineland slugger Enzo Candelario out once, but Candelario went 2-for-3 and hit his sixth homer in five tournament games.

South Vineland will play the survivor of the losers bracket in the championship game 7 p.m. Friday at East Vineland.

DISTRICT 3 LL FINALS
TUESDAY’S GAMES
(At South Vineland LL)
South Vineland 5, East Vineland 2
Pennsville 5, Millville American 3 (Millville eliminated)
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
Pennsville vs. East Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
G6: South Vineland vs. Pennsville-East Vineland winner, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
G7: If necessary, 7 p.m.
(Winner to Section 4 Tournament at Erial LL, starting July 12)

South Vineland 5, East Vineland 2

East Vineland (4-1)000200-284
South Vineland (6-0)000230-552
WP: Derek Cuba. LP: Carter Perkins. 2B: Elijuah Perez (SV). HR: Enzo Candelario (EV).

Pennsville 5, Millville American 3

Pennsville (4-2)000050-564
Millville American (2-3)000111-380
WP: Nate Morrison. LP: Vash Jacobs. S; Caiden Colomy. 2B: Nathan Breeden (PV), Brayden Weatherbee (PV), Carter Robinson (MA). HR: JoJo Mannino (P). Enzo Candelario (EV), Ethan Kleinow (EV).

Section 4 Senior Softball

Pennsville Senior Softball will play host Middle Twp. for the Section 4 championship Wednesday at 6 p.m. after Middle routed Monroe Twp. 20-6 in Tuesday’s elimination game. Pennsville beat Middle 7-2 in its tournament opener Monday night.

SECTION 4 SENIOR SOFTBALL
(At Middle Twp. LL)
TUESDAY’S GAME
Middle/Dennis Twp. 20, Monroe Twp. 6 (Monroe eliminated)
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
G4: Pennsville vs. Middle/Dennis Twp., 6 p.m.
G5: If necessary, 8 p.m.
(Winner to State Tournament at Dennis Twp. LL)

The big dawg eats

Candelario, Kleinow homer in fifth-inning outburst that lefts East Vineland past Pennsville LL in District 3 Final Four

MONDAY’S GAMES
(At Pennsville LL)
South Vineland 6, Millville American 5 (7 inns.)
East Vineland 7, Pennsville 4

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – JoJo Mannino saw his young life flash before his eyes in the bottom of the third inning Monday night. That’s when East Vineland slugger Enzo Candelario ripped a screaming liner back to the mound that his travel ball teammate barely had time to raise his glove and catch.

It could have been a frightening outcome for a team that had dealt with a player being struck by a batted ball once already in the tournament. If it was any consolation, it was the only time the Pennsville All-Stars — or anybody in the tournament, for that matter — has gotten the most dangerous hitter out in the District 3 Little League Tournament this year.

“I put it right down the middle for him, which is a bad idea by me, and he hit it back to me,” Mannino said. “It wasn’t that much of a scare. I just saw the ball and put my glove out there.”

The next time Candelario came to the plate, they weren’t so fortunate. He reached down to hit a three-run homer that wiped out a Pennsville lead and sent East Vineland on its way to a 7-4 victory.

East Vineland will now play South Vineland in a winner’s bracket game Wednesday 5:45 p.m. at South Vineland LL. Pennsville will look to stave off elimination against Millville American at 8 p.m. South Vineland rallied for four in the bottom of the seventh, capped by Derek Cuba’s one-out walk-off single, to beat Millville 6-5 in the opening game.

There’s no denying Candelario is the toughest out in the tournament. After going 2-for-3 against Pennsville, he is now 10-for-11 in four tournament games with eight runs scored, 10 RBIs and five home runs. He has hit 43 homers this summer between Little League and travel ball and at least one in each of his team’s District 3 tournament games.

“He’s tough,” Pennsville manager Steve Pangle said. “We were able to get him a couple times, to keep him in-house, in the yard, but that third time he made us pay. It was the perfect pitch, but he made the swing.”

The three-run shot was part of a five-run eruption for East Vineland in the fifth inning. Ethan Kleinow provided the other two runs with a two-run homer. It was his first homer of the season in rec ball.

Pennsville looked to be in a great shape after scoring three runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead. Mannino got it started with a game-tying solo homer with one out. Caiden Colomy, back in the lineup after being held out of Saturday’s pool play finale, put the National Division runner-ups ahead 3-2 with an RBI double and then scored what seemed to be an insurance run on a wild pitch.

“I’m proud of myself,” said Colomy, still sporting the shiner under his left eye from where a foul ball knocked him out of the South Vineland game. “I was trying to get a good hit to really get the team hyped.”

“It was awesome getting the lead, especially with Chili coming back and helping us out with that,” Pangle said. “That just shows his heart and fight, coming back from the injury and first game back hitting a ball to get us some runs.”

Colomy may have given Pennsville the lead, but they still had to get through the meat of East Vineland’s order one more time before they could secure the victory and that meant dealing with Candelario again.

There were two outs and a base open when the slugger came to the plate in the fifth and Pangle admitted he contemplated briefly intentionally walking him to load the bases. Colomy wanted to challenge him and that’s what they did.

Colomy blasted a fastball past him on the first pitch, and then threw a pitch down and away they didn’t think he could get. He reached down and got it.

“It crossed my mind, but you never know what’s going to happen with that next batter,” Pangle said. “It could’ve gone either way. If he didn’t reach for that pitch that would’ve been a strike two and then anything could happen. We just decided to go after him.”

Pennsville thought it was still in it even after the two homers. They put their first two runners on in the sixth and had them both in scoring position with one out, but ended the game with an 8-6-2 double play.

“We didn’t lose the game because of that play; there were a lot of other things we lost the game for,” Pangle said. “But that was tough, because it was a winnable game.”

SOUTH VINELAND 7, MILLVILLE AMERICAN 6: Millville scored three in the top of the seventh to take the lead, but South Vineland manager Hiram Cordero wasn’t worried. He knew what his team had coming to the plate in the bottom of the inning.

With the top of the lineup coming up, the undefeated American Division winner rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to bwin their fifth straight game in the tournament.

Ronald Leverette and Elijuah Rodriguez got it started with singles and Joel Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Matt Dilks delivered a two-run single with one out to make it a one-run game. They tied it on Mylus Moore’s infield single and walked it off when Derek Cuba sliced the game-winning single into right field.

“I knew we were going to do this,” Cordero said. “This is the team. They play better under pressure, especially under two outs. That’s what this team is about. We don’t give up. We started at the top of the lineup. We knew when it was the top of the lineup it was game time.”

Cuba was never worried.

“I knew if we had faith we could probably win this game,” he said.

DISTRICT 3 LL FINALS
TUESDAY’S GAMES
(At South Vineland LL)
G3: South Vineland vs. East Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
G4: Millville American vs. Pennsville, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
G5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 5:45 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
G6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
(At East Vineland)
G7: If necessary, 7 p.m.
(Winner to Section 4 Tournament at Erial LL, starting July 12)

South Vineland 6, Millville American 5

Millville American (2-2)1001003-5130
South Vineland (5-0)2000004-681
WP: Elijuah Perez. LP: Braydon Moore. 2B: Braydon Moore (MA), Carter Robinson (MA), Chase Wagner (MA), J.J. Rodriguez (SV)

East Vineland 7, Pennsville 4

Pennsville (3-2)010030-442
East Vineland (4-0)11005X-761
WP: Dominic Tolotti. LP: Caiden Colomy. 2B: Caiden Colomy (P). HR: JoJo Mannino (P). Enzo Candelario (EV), Ethan Kleinow (EV)


Another big start

Pennsville LL Senior Softball All-Stars open the defense of their Section 4 title Monday by sweeping past a pair of opponents into the championship round

By Riverview Sports News

CAPE MAY COURTHOUSE – The Pennsville Little League’s Senior Softball All-Stars’ weather-delayed bid for another sectional title and trip to the state tournament got off to a big start Monday when they beat each of the other two teams in the field to move into the championship round.

The defending East Region champions opened their defense with a 7-2 win over Middle Twp. and completed the night’s sweep with a 14-0 rout of Monroe. Jess Bretz homered in each game and threw a five-inning no-hitter with 15 strikeouts in the nightcap.

Pennsville will await the winner of Tuesday’s elimination game between Middle and Monroe game in Wednesday’s 6 p.m. championship game. A second game will follow if necessary at 8 p.m.

“I think we played to our potential today,” Pennsville manager Chris Watson said. “Even the new girls made some good contact, bunted well and did their jobs in the field.”

Bretz gave Pennsville a 1-0 lead in the Middle Twp. game with a leadoff homer in the second inning. They added three more in the second on Avery Watson’s RBI double, an RBI single by Kylie Harris and a run-scoring error. Harris had a run-producing ground out in the fifth that made it 5-0.

Meanwhile, Savannah Palverento kept Middle off the board through the fifth inning, allowing only three hits in the stretch and getting some strong defense to allow her to face only one over the minimum. Middle scored its only two runs in the sixth.

“We had a couple incoming freshmen playing second all night,” Watson said. “Van (Savannah Guglielmo), for one, made a nice play to feed Avery with a double play ball and rifled a relay from right to catch a girl going for three.”

Bretz stole the show in the nightcap. She got all her outs via strikeout, faced six batters over the minimum and allowed only one runner past second base. Her grand slam in a seven-run fourth provided the exclamation point.

She threw three no-hitters through the state tournament during last year’s run to the World Series in Delaware..

“Our core returners led on the field and in the dugout,” Watson said. “Jess is a year older and it shows in how she carries herself. She was hearing a lot of noise from the opposing bleachers and she handled it like an adult. The grand slam was timely for that.”

Pennsville had only four hits in the nightcap – Bretz had two of them – but they had plenty of baserunners. They took advantage of five Monroe errors and 10 walks. Avery Watson drove in three runs in the game, two with a triple that made it 7-0 in the third inning.

SECTION 4 SENIOR SOFTBALL
(At Middle Twp. LL)
MONDAY’S GAMES
G1: Pennsville 7, Middle/Dennis Twp. 2
G2: Pennsville 14, Monroe 0
TUESDAY’S GAME
G3: Middle/Dennis vs. Monroe, 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
G4: Pennsville vs. Middle/Dennis-Monroe winner, 6 p.m.
G5: If necessary, 8 p.m.
(Winner to State Tournament at Dennis Twp. LL)

Pennsville 7, Middle Twp. 2

Pennsville0130102-791
Middle Twp.0000020-273
WP: Savannah Palverento (1-0). LP: Turner (0-1). 2B: Avery Watson (P), Schaffer (M). 3B: Romberger (M). HR: Jess Bretz (P).

Pennsville 14, Monroe 0

Monroe00000-005
Pennsville3227X-1440
WP: Jess Bretz (1-0). LP: Raylee Dilks (0-1). 2B: Makenzie Widener (P). 3B: Avery Watson (P). HR: Jess Bretz (P)


Making the Smart choice

Woodstown approves Haddonfield’s Matt Smart to take girls basketball program; he’s excited about the opportunity, understands the expectations

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Matt Smart likes to say he learned to walk on a basketball floor, the son of a longtime South Jersey basketball coach and the only boy among three sports-loving siblings. So, it would stand to reason that he aspired to be a coach himself.

He couldn’t have picked a better situation for his first head coaching gig.

SMART

Smart was approved Thursday to become the new head coach of the Woodstown girls basketball team. He succeeds Kara Straughn, who stepped aside for family considerations after guiding the Wolverines to the South Jersey Group I championship game last year. He will be their third coach in as many years.

Excited doesn’t begin to describe the way the 28-year-old Haddonfield native feels about the opportunity. He’s been handed one of the top girls programs in South Jersey led by two of the most dynamic scorers in the state. Megan Donelson and Goldey-Beacom commit Talia Battavio are both on track to finish their careers not only as the leading scorers in Woodstown history but among the top scorers in Salem County all-time.

When Smart first learned of the opening from his Haddonfield connections already at the school he spent all hours of the day researching the players and the program to be prepared for the interview. And while he’s been getting to know the team during its summer league play as he awaited board approval, he’s been itching to tell somebody.

He finally got the OK to tell the world and wasted no time getting it out on social media.

“When I saw it posted on line, I said let me try to be a head coach,” he said. “From the moment I heard the job was opening up that’s all I could think about.

“My girlfriend woke up at 5 a.m. the morning the job got posted and was like ‘What are you still doing awake?’ I told her my mind’s just going right now. I started working hard on getting a plan I could present to Mr. (athletics director Joe) Ursino, the superintendent and anybody in the interview process. I was super excited.

“I got the call at work when they offered it to me and I was like, excuse me, Mr. Ursino, (stepped back) and went, ‘Yes-s-s-s-s;’ I had to let it out. That was a great feeling. II wanted to scream it from the rafters, but I kept the ceiling shut until that board meeting happened.”

Smart comes to Woodstown after four years as the Haddonfield Middle School girls coach – the last two as the JV and varsity assistant coach — with a strong athletics pedigree. He also coached football for eight years and while nothing has developed on that front yet, he was with the Wolverines during their 7×7 tournament at Total Turf over the weekend.

His father Phil has had a long tenure in athletics, coaching basketball and volleyball in South Jersey before moving into administration. His love for women’s sports came from his two sisters, both of whom starred in field hockey. The oldest, Meghan, played collegiately at Appalachian State and Old Dominion and now coaches at a high school in Virginia Beach. The other, Emily, is an assist machine and captain at Stevens Tech.

For a team that has won 20 games the last four non-COVID seasons in a row and made deep runs in the playoffs, he knows expectations are high for the Wolverines. They came within a last-second corner 3 of winning the South Jersey title last year and have most of their players back. They may have a golden path laid out before him, but Smart wisely has no plans to travel it on cruise control.

“The expectations are set high and we have to work hard to achieve those expectations,” Smart said. “It’s not going to be just given to us. I think the girls and I understand there’s a lot of work to be done if we want to achieve all the goals both as a team and as individuals that they want to achieve.

“I know there are going to be some ups and downs, but we have to work hard. We’re going to work hard and hopefully meet those expectations.”