Freshman pitcher Wilson takes big step forward in Mighty Oaks’ softball split with Brookdale; baseball routs RCSJ-Cumberland on road
REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Brookdale 10-3, Salem 5-4
Middlesex 9-9, Finger Lakes 7-1
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Raegan Wilson blossomed as a pitcher on the first full day of spring.
When she was in high school, which is where she only started to pitch, she never found herself in a tight situation in the circle because she didn’t play on a team that played in many of them. The first time she faced it in college on Salem Community College’s trip to the Carolinas, it went sideways.
But Friday she was in a tight game again – against the No. 6 team in JUCO Division III – and this time she pitched her way out of it – twice – to preserve the Mighty Oaks’ 4-3 win over Brookdale for a split of their doubleheader.
The game was a lot closer than Brookdale’s 10-5 win in the opener, and Wilson’s ability to work out of trouble was a big reason for it.
She gave up 13 hits in going the distance against the Jersey Blues (12-4), but put up zeroes in each of the last five innings, pitching out of jams in the fifth and sixth innings to give the Mighty Oaks (7-3) a chance.
The Blues had runners at second and third with one out in the fifth inning of a 3-3 game and had the tying run at second with one out in sixth inning, but Wilson squashed the threat both times by getting a pair of fly balls to Lilly Peverelle, who covers ground in centerfield like Johan Rojas .
“I definitely think I have grown from that,” Wilson said. “I was very stressed. That was stressful with a close score, but I trusted myself and I trusted my defense with me, and we got it done.
“This is definitely the first time I felt like it was so close and it really did matter for us to win. High school it wasn’t like that. I was nervous, I was scared, but I think I hit my spots. I did very good at coming back.”
The key to a pitcher surviving such jams is hitting their spots and that’s what coach Angel Rodriguez said Wilson did better with in this one.
“One thing about Raegan is she stays calm,” Rodriguez said. “You can tell it doesn’t bother her. She doesn’t let the noise get to her and she just goes out there and throws. I think right now our defense reads that from her, they see her just kind of going out there and getting the next pitch, and they’re making plays behind her, too.”
After Wilson doused the flames in the fifth, the Mighty Oaks took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the inning when Bella Rappa raced home from third on Tessa Wise’ one-out grounder to short. The Blues traded the run for an out, but never got the run back.
The first game looked like it was going to be a score fest. Playing their first game since the end of their rain-shortened Carolinas trip March 12, the Mighty Oaks answered Brookdale’s four-run first with five in the bottom of the inning but they never scored again the rest of the game while the Jersey Blues continued adding on.
Callie Rozak hit a three-run homer in the first inning. She was robbed of a two-run shot at the wall in the fourth inning of the nightcap right after the Mighty Oaks had just tied the game.
Shortstop Ella Hayes, the nation’s leading hitter, was held hitless for the first time this season in the opener, but was credited in the dugout with two hits in the nightcap and now has 98 for her Salem CC career.
“It’s been a while,” Rodriguez said. “Having a week with no competition we were eager to go. I think we were a little too hungry at times kind of just being a little undisciplined, but they found a way to get the split and that was good.”
| Brookdale | 413 200 0- | 10 | 17 | 3 |
| Salem | 500 000 0- | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Brookdale | 210 000 0- | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| Salem | 101 110 x- | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Baseball swamps Dukes
REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem 16, RCSJ-Cumberland 3
Lackawanna 15, Delaware Tech 8
Mercer 6, Morris 2
Brookdale 14, Middlesex 4
Northampton 21, Delaware County 9
Sussex 17, Raritan Valley 7
Ocean at Union
Montgomery 21, Bergen 13
VINELAND – Matt Murphy snapped an 0-for-12 slump with his second homer of the year to tie the game and the engine of Salem’s lineup combined for 11 hits and 12 RBIs as the Mighty Oaks routed RCSJ-Cumberland 16-3 in its first game back from Florida to snap a four-game losing streak.
Murphy’s two-run homer in the fifth inning tied the game 3-3. The Mighty Oaks took the lead for good later in the inning when Angel Velez scored on an infield error.
The Mighty Oaks (8-13) broke it open with eight in the sixth. They sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning with the first eight all reaching safely. Velez, Yen Rodriguez and Jared Vandersteur all had two-run singles in the inning.
Spots 2 through 6 in the lineup – Rodriguez, Demetrius DeRamus, Murphy, Velez and Tyler Hacker – were a combined 11-for-21 with 12 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Velez went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, Murphy and Hacker each drove in three runs and DeRamus had three hits. Rodriguez was 2-for-2 and walked four times.
Jon Gambone pitched the first seven innings to get his second win of the season. He retired 15 of the last 18 Dukes he faced. Pat Seitzinger came behind him and faced the minimum in two innings of no-hit relief.
The teams play a doubleheader Saturday at the Carneys Point Rec Complex starting at noon.
| Salem CC (8-13) | 100 038 004- | 16 | 13 | 1 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland (9-9) | 021 000 000- | 3 | 9 | 2 |
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