Finding a way

D’Agostino, Pokrovsky help Schalick baseball stay unbeaten with big win over Pitman; Schalick sweeps county track titles, all 3 county tennis winners sweep, and more

BASEBALL
Schalick 4, Pitman 2
Pennsville 14, Penns Grove 1
Woodstown 11, Salem 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITMAN – Lucas D’Agostino didn’t have a lot of pitches to play with when they handed him the ball Tuesday for one of his team’s biggest regular-season games of the year, so he knew he had to be efficient. Not perfect, but efficient.

The Schalick senior had only 66 pitches left on his weekly limit and he didn’t waste many. The RCSJ-Cumberland signee threw four innings of shutout ball to give his team a chance and his defense and Luke Pokrovsky did the rest as the Cougars beat Pitman 4-2 to remain undefeated through its battle of top five South Jersey Group I schools.

“I probably would’ve given him another day’s rest but he was willing to step up,” Cougars coach Sean O’Brien said. “If he would’ve had more pitches he might’ve gone longer.”

As it was, the RCSJ-Cumberland signee gave the Cougars all he had — and a little more. Because the rules allow him to finish a batter once he hits his threshold, he threw 69 pitches. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out four.

“They eliminated us last year in the playoffs and that was pretty much in the back of everyone’s mind,” D’Agostino said. “I knew I only had 66 pitches left and couldn’t get too ahead of myself going for strikeouts. I had to let my defense work and they did a pretty danged good job.

“I had the same idea the whole time: Pitch to contact to get weak ground balls, weak fly outs, really rely on my defense. That’s important to me. I trust all seven guys behind me.”

The defense played a big part in helping him keep the Panthers (9-4) off the board. Jamari Whitley made a nice play at third on Jake Sharrow’s swinging bunt with runners at second and third to end the second inning and the Cougars turned a bases-loaded double play in the third.

“That (Whitley) play determined a lot,” D’Agostino said. “If they score two runs there you have the meat of the lineup coming up and maybe a tied game. That helped me lock it down.”

With 12 pitches left in his pocket, D’Agostino got through the fourth inning with little excitement then left it to the bullpen with a 4-0 lead. The Cougars got him three unearned runs in the second inning to grab the lead and then Pokrovsky led off the third with his fourth homer of the season and third in four games, tying his two brothers for the Schalick career home run lead (16).

Evan Glaspey came behind D’Agostino and gave up two runs in the fifth but Pokrovsky closed the door with two innings of one-hit shutout relief.

“Especially with us limited pitching wise, they dug deep and found a way to win,” O’Brien said. 

The win solidified the Cougars’ hold on No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings. They are now 9-0 sending observers to scramble to find a better start. The loss dropped Pitman to fifth behind Pennsville, a team it had beaten earlier this season.

“The idea is hopefully to be the best team in Schalick history,” D’Agostino said. “I’m really excited to not have a loss under our belt going into May. You compare us to last year, the amount of improvement we’ve seen is awesome. I don’t know who the top Schalick team ever was, hopefully we’re inching pretty close if we’re not already there.”

PENNSVILLE 14, PENNS GROVE 1: Connor Starn and Mason O’Brien both had two hits and two RBIs and three pitchers struck out 15 while holding the Red Devils to one hit as the Eagles won their last varsity game of the month. Logan Cowperthwait pitched three no-hit innings behind starter Logan Streitz and struck out seven. Chase Burchfield hit a pair of rockets to left field that were misplayed into errors and will remain at 98 career RBIs at least until the Eagles return to varsity action May 5.

WOODSTOWN 11, SALEM 0: Walker Battavio had two hits and two RBIs and Ty Coblentz drove in a pair of runs as the Wolverines won for the second day in a row. Blake Rodriguez and Tommy Tucci combined on a five-inning two-hitter. Chase Davis had both of Salem’s hits. 

TRACK: Schalick sweeps county crowns

PENNSVILLE – Schalick sprinter Gia Martellacci was named the most outstanding athlete among the girls while David Stewart and Salem’s Anthony Parker shared the boys award as Schalick swept team titles in the Salem County Track and Field Championships at Pennsville.

Martellacci won three individual events and ran a leg on the winning 4×400 relay to help the Schalick girls score 133 points. She tied for first in the 100 (12.83) with Salem’s Raniyah Parsons-Smith and won the 200 (26.41) and 400 (1:00.26). The relay team won in 4:15.44.

Teammate Jordan Hadfield also won three events (800, 1600, 3200) and ran a leg on the relay. She broke her own meet record in the 1600.

Stewart and Parker both won three events in the boys meet. Stewart won the 100 (11.22), 400 (49.19) and triple jump (43-1.5) to help the Cougars score 102 points for the team win. Parker won the 110 hurdles (14.32), 400 hurdles (56.35) and long jump (20-8.5).

Woodstown edged Salem by a point for second place in the boys meet. Jacob Marino won both distance races and the Wolverines’ 4×400 relay team that’s heading to the Penn Relays (Joshua Crawford, Karson Chew, Cole Lucas, Kyle Reitz) broke the 10-year-old meet record.

SALEM COUNTY TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
BOYS
TEAM SCORES: Schalick 102, Woodstown 72, Salem 71, Penns Grove 55, Pennsville 35
MVP: Anthony Parker, Salem; David Stewart, Schalick.
100: David Stewart, Schalick 11.22
110 hurdles: Anthony Parker, Salem 14.32200: Zaeshawn Mills, Schalick 22.41
400: David Stewart, Schalick 49.19
400 hurdles: Anthony Parker, Salem 56.35
800: Joshua Crawford, Woodstown 1:58.20
1600: Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:46.83
3200: Jacob Marino, Woodstown 10:37.60
4×400: Woodstown (Joshua Crawford, Karson Chew, Cole Lucas, Kyle Reitz) 3:27.05 (meet record, old record 3:27.90, Schalick, 2015)
Discus: Ethan McLean, Schalick 138-3
High jump: Reggie Allen, Schalick 5-10
Javelin: Connor Ayars, Pennsville 171-1
Long jump: Anthony Parker, Salem 20-8.5
Pole vault: Gradin Buzby, Salem, 11-0
Shot put: Sheldon Goldsborogh, Schalick 45-2
Triple jump: David Stewart, Schalick 43-1.5

GIRLS
TEAM SCORES: Schalick 133, Woodstown 70, Pennsville 58, Salem 54, Penns Grove 20
MVP: Gia Martellacci, Schalick
100: (tie) Gia Martellacci, Schalick; Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 12.83
100 hurdles: Lia Covely, Woodstown 17.82
200: Gia Martellacci, Schalick 26.41
400: Gia Martellacci, Schalick 1:00.26
400 hurdles: Audrey Boggs, Salem 1:10.65
800: Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 2:21.84
1600: Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 5:15.02 (meet record, old record 5:16.54, Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 2023)
3200: Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 11:55.47
4×400: Schalick (Brooke Valentine, Sophia Harris, Jordan Hadfield, Gia Martellacci) 4:15.44
Discus: Tatiyonna Crawford, Pennsville 96-2
High jump: Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10
Javelin: Allyson Green, Schalick 100-6
Long jump: Phoebe Alward, Schalick 15-10.25
Pole vault: Megan Morris, Pennsville 10-6
Shot put: Ava Rodgers, Salem 32-11
Triple jump: Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 32-9

TENNIS: Three 5-0 winners

TUESDAY’S SCORES
Pennsville 5, Penns Grove 0
Schalick 5, Pitman 0
Woodstown 5, Overbrook 0

PENNSVILLE 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Anthony Pacheco, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Rene Ruiz, 6-0, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Adan Gonzalez-Juan Ortiz, 6-1, 6-1
Matthew Forino-Carter Willis (P) def. Jesus Arredondo-Jayden Murga Santos, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Pennsville 9-0, Penns Grove 1-4.

SCHALICK 5, PITMAN 0
George Gould (S) def. Chase Pogozelski, 6-0, 6-1
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Nolan Russell, 6-1, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Jaron Scull, 6-4, 6-0
Cayden Brzozowski-David Santana (S) def. Jonah Raymer-Ben Williams, 6-1, 2-6, 10-4
Kaden Barnes-Christian Negron (S) def. Spencer Bianchini-Liam Etter, 6-4, 4-6, 11-9
Records: Schalick 7-4, Pitman 1-9.

WOODSTOWN 5, OVERBROOK 0
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Connor Kustera, 6-2, 6-1
John Farrell (WO) def. Thomas Mason, 6-3, 6-0
Joseph Kurpis (WO) won by forfeit
Mason Shimp-Luke Shaw (WO) def. Alan Marcos-Gabe Martinez, 6-4, 7-5
Ben Stengel-Nicholas DiTeodoro (WO) def. Mohammed Shihab-Gerardo Trinidad-Palillero, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Woodstown 8-2, Overbrook 1-7.

SOFTBALL: Pennsville, Woodstown win

TUESDAY’S SCORES
Pennsville 19, Penns Grove 0
Pitman at Schalick
Woodstown 11, Salem 4

WOODSTOWN 11, SALEM 4: Talia Guardascione hit a two-run inside-the-park homer in the second inning to give the Wolverines a 5-0 lead. Guardascione, Shyann Higinbotham, Hannah Hitchner and Sadie Moore all scored twice.

LACROSSE

KINGSWAY 15, WOODSTOWN 2: Keegan Borkowski scored five goals and Owen Dougherty had three for the undefeated Dragons (8-0). 

GIRLS LACROSSE

WOODSTOWN 18, KINGSWAY 5: Delaney Walker and Jaime Deal each scored six goals and Emma Morgan had four for the Wolverines. Walker, a junior, now has 108 career goals.