Sophomore outfielder breaks out of a hitting slump with an 8-RBI day that included a grand slam to lead Salem CC past Middlesex
FRIDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem 16, Middlesex 5
Lackawanna 4-6, Sussex 3-0
Mercer 10, Delaware Tech 0
Camden 13, Delaware County 3
RCSJ-Cumberland 21, Northampton 5
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
EDISON — There isn’t an everyday player in the game who likes having an unscheduled day off in the middle of the season, but in Matt Murphy’s case, it might have been the best thing that could have happened to him.
The sophomore outfielder broke out of a 5-for-32 hitting slump with three hits, a grand slam and a career-high eight RBIs Friday to lead Salem CC past Middlesex 16-5 in the opener of their Region 19 series.
Murphy had an RBI single in the first inning, a bases-loaded three-run double in the second and the grand slam in the third. All three hits came with two outs.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a day like this in my life,” he said. “Not to this extent, that I can remember.”
Murphy broke out of an 0-for-12 with his first homer of the season at RCSJ-Cumberland and was 5-for-19 in the five games since entering Friday’s game.
He was pulled from the first game of last week’s doubleheader against Montgomery County after striking out more ways than one in the fifth inning and sat in the nightcap. It was the first time he was out of the lineup this season, but it gave him a new perspective on the game.
“The game off really centered myself,” Murphy said. “I really felt like I needed it because of just the spiraling down into negative thoughts and not being the player I know how to be.
“It really centered myself and it showed me the side of being on the bench. I never want to be on the bench, I always want to be playing, so it was kind of just a reality check that I feel like I needed. It felt good to come in today with a new mindset and just do well for the team.”
Murphy’s RBI single drove in the game’s first run and he scored on Angel Velez’ RBI double. His bases-clearing double gave the Mighty Oaks a 6-0 lead. And his grand slam highlighted a six-run third that pushed the game into run-rule territory.
The slam was his third home run of the season. The Mighty Oaks are 3-0 this year in games in which he homers, 5-1 during his career.
His previous single-game high for RBI was five against Northland T&CC on the Mighty Oaks’ trip to Florida. He had four against Oakton two days later. But he had only five RBIs over the next 10 games.
“We gave him Game 2 off on the weekend and I think he had a chance to kind of take a step back from things and evaluate,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “Honestly, he had a great week of practice, really busted his butt with Coach D and working on his swing and approach, approach, approach, and it’s paid off.”
Chris Kelly homered for the Mighty Oaks in the fourth inning. Jon Gambone pitched a seven-inning complete game allowing four hits and striking out nine. He did not give up an earned run.
“The mindset was to shorten it up and just try to win every inning,” Holt said. “I think we did win every inning but one and the inning we didn’t win we tied. It was a good game. It really was a big momentum for us. I hope we can build on it.”
As soon as the team got back from the game they put up their gear then headed to the Carneys Point Rec Complex to get their field ready for Saturday’s scheduled noon doubleheader.
| Salem CC (13-15) | 246 211 0- | 16 | 10 | 5 |
| Middlesex (21-11) | 001 130 0- | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Photo: Salem CC outfielder Matt Murphy is greeted at the plate by his teammates after hitting a third-inning grand slam Friday. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)
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