Month: April 2025

Non-competing marker

Salem CC baseball overwhelmed by top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester; Salem CC softball wins final home game to split DH

TUESDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 18, Salem CC 1
Delaware County 13-8, Ocean 12-17
Mercer 7, Rockland 5
Raritan Valley 11, Westchester 0
Brookdale 15, Montgomery 4
Middlesex 18, Camden 16
Northampton 12, Bergen 2
RCSJ-Cumberland 19, Union 8
Morris 15, Orange 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When you play baseball in JUCO Region 19 you can expect to play several nationally ranked teams during the season. Salem CC has played its share of ranked opponents over the years, even played several already this season, but this game had a different air about it.

The Mighty Oaks have played some of their ranked opponents this year tough, even beaten a few, but they were out of their league in Tuesday’s 18-1 loss to No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester from the first pitch.

The Roadrunners (36-3) scored seven runs in the first two innings, added four homers to their nation leading total – three in one inning – and held the Mighty Oaks to three hits total and eight baserunners . 

After Salem scored its only run on Matt Murphy’s two-out RBI double in the first, Gloucester starter Tommy Bradley retired 12 in a row and 15 of the next 16 before Demetrius DeRamus’ two-out infield single in the sixth. The only blemish in the run was plunking Jared Vandersteur with two outs in the fifth.

“We didn’t compete today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said, measuring his words trying to stay as positive as the circumstances would allow. “With a good baseball team like that you can’t fall behind in counts and not expect to get hurt. I don’t think we were ready to compete today.”

The Mighty Oaks were swamped by Top 5 Brookdale early in the season, but they played current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara tough in Florida and beat Middlesex, Montgomery and Northampton when they were either in the poll or getting votes. The Mighty Oaks received votes in the official JUCO Division III poll for the first time this week.“it was out of character for us today,” Holt said. “I’m hoping tomorrow (in the return game) we can learn a lesson from it, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and compete.”

Freshman starter Pat Seitzinger didn’t feel nervous facing the No. 1 team in the country in the run-up to the game. The left-hander said it was exciting “up until the first pitch.”

He hit Roadrunners leadoff man Luca Reyes with his first pitch of the game and then hit him twice more – all with the same pitch. Then he hit 3-hole hitter Kyle McSorley to load the bases after giving up a double to Matt Brunner. He then walked in a run and gave up a two-run double to Joe Meier before finally getting an out – and even that play brought home a run.

Gloucester tacked on three more in the second inning. Seitzinger had his best inning in the third when he set the Roadrunners down in order, but then he gave up a three-run homer Nick Slozik in the fourth to make it 10-1.

“I was fine, I just couldn’t throw a strike,” Seitzinger said. “I was confident. I knew they could hit, but I never really tried to pitch around them. I just couldn’t throw strikes.”

The Roadrunners pushed the game into run-rule territory with two runs in the fifth off Alex Newman, then completely broke it open with eight in the seventh. The inning featured a three-run homer by Meier and solo shots by Reyes and Alex Apicella.

“Pat’s a freshman, sometimes those nerves get to you a little bit,” Holt said. “He’s a freshman going against the No. 1 team in the country and he knew that. Sometimes you try to be too perfect and when you’re too perfect things kind of fall off the rails a little bit.

“We tried not to make too big a deal out of (playing a No. 1). We’ve been saying all week as we were coming into this one not to worry about what the jersey says just play our baseball game and I don’t we did that today. We didn’t execute today top to bottom.”

The Mighty Oaks will look to be more competitive with a bullpen game Wednesday as they try preserve arms for a sweepable weekend series against Union.

Softball wins final home game

TUESDAY REGION 19 GAMES
Morris 10-5, Salem CC 7-5
Delaware Tech 7-9, Mercer 0-5
Northampton 21-16, Ocean 0-0
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale

PENNSVILLE – Chantelle Haskie had three hits and Ella Hayes drove in three runs as the Salem CC softball team took a 9-5 victory from Morris in its final home game of the season to snap a seven-game losing streak.

The win gave the Mighty Oaks (17-21) a split of the doubleheader after dropping the opener 10-7.

The Mighty Oaks rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four runs in the third inning to take the lead. Hayes, playing in the final home game of her decorated Salem CC career, tied the game with a two-run single. Bella Rappa singled home the go-ahead run and Haskie singled home Rappa to make it 4-2.

Morris made it a one-run game in the fifth, but Salem erupted for five in the bottom of the inning to take control. The first run rode home on an error, Tiana Wilson’s fielder’s choice brought home another, Jolee Robinson singled home a run and Lilly Peverelle and Hayes had RBI doubles.

The Mighty Oaks fell behind 5-0 in the opener, but rallied to tie it 5-5 in the fifth on Tessa Wise’s RBI single. Morris responded with four in the sixth that Salem couldn’t overcome.

Callie Rozak homered and drove in three runs for the Mighty Oaks. Jocelyn Melendez, Rappa, Val Hatterer and Tessa Wise had two hits apiece.

The Mighty Oaks wrap up their regular season later this week at Lackawanna and Raritan Valley and are expected to be the fourth seed in the Region 19 Division II playoffs May 2-3 at Mercer.

Hundred for Harris

Pennsville junior catcher collects her 100th career hit in Eagles’ eighth straight win, 10-8 over Williamstown

MONDAY SALEM COUNTY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 10, Williamstown 8
Delsea 8, Woodstown 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILLIAMSTOWN – It wasn’t the longest or the hardest ball Kylie Harris has hit in her high school softball career, but it certainly was her most significant.

Harris, a junior catcher, flared a single into short right field in the third inning for the 100th career hit in Pennsville’s 10-8 Easter Monday win at Williamstown. 

The ball floated into right field like a simple pop up then fell safely between the second baseman rushing out, the right fielder rushing over and the right field line. But like they say in golf, there are no pictures on the scorecard or in the scorebook.

“It might be the ugliest one-hundreth hit, but it’s a one-hundreth hit,” Harris said. “So, a hit’s a hit.”

Harris needed only one for the milestone entering the game and got it in her second at bat. It looked like she had it in her first, but was called out on a slow roller to third. Video of the potential historic hit appeared to show her beating the throw to first by a step, but the field umpire called her out and after a brief conference with the plate ump upheld the call.

“I was hoping (it was) not (the milestone hit) because that was not a great hit,” she said. “I felt pretty speedy, I was busting my tail down that line, but it wasn’t pretty.”

But it was productive. The play produced the Eagles’ second run of the inning after back-to-back extra-base hits by Lily Edwards and Graillyn Weber to open the game, but she still was stuck on 99. She wound up going 2-for-5 in the game and now has 101 hits – in only three seasons.

After landing at first base with the hit that did count, she was first congratulated by coach Lisa Doran. Eagles head coach Beth Jackson walked over to the bag and presented her the ball and her parents and teammates recognized the feat with a big banner.

“I think it’s amazing,” Harris said. “Being with this group of girls and accomplishing that, it means the world to me. Having these girls with me to be there for it, it’s a feeling like no other. Having this support group around me it really makes it just 10 times better.”

The Eagles don’t have a banner recognizing their 100-hit softball players, but anecdotally Jackson knows of several – two of whom are her and her sister. The school record for hits is 180 by Hall of Famer Courtney Hankins – Harris’ hitting coach – and with the rest of this season and all of next year ahead of her, Harris has a chance at that.

She had 32 hits as a freshman, 40 last year and 29 at basically the halfway point of this season. She’s had a least two hits in every game this season. She’s batting .690 this season and .500 for her career.

“The next step is getting wins, hitting for my team,” she said. “It’s all about the girls for me.”

Pennsville (10-2)213 004 0-10134
Williamstown (6-3)100 020 5-893
Pennsville softball coach Beth Jackson (L) presents Kylie Harris with the ball that produced the junior’s 100th career hit Monday.

Nothing stronger than Wood

Pennsville senior left-hander collects his 200th career strikeout in Eagles’ 7-1 win at Williamstown

MONDAY SALEM COUNTY BASEBALL
Pennsville 7, Williamstown 1
Woodstown 9, Kings Christian 3
Paulsboro 10, Salem 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILLIAMSTOWN – Luke Wood had already thrown a lot of pitches. He was already down to his last pitch of the day. But there was no way he was going to the hitter get away – whether he was for a milestone or not.

The crafty Pennsville left-hander got his man for his 11th strikeout of the game on his 111th pitch in the Eagles’ 7-1 Easter Monday win over Williamstown. More importantly, that last strikeout was the 200th of his career – not that he pays attention to such things.

“I had no clue I was even close; I kind of just came out and played,” Wood said. “I didn’t even realize it until they tossed me the ball in our (post-game) huddle.

“Strikeouts or whatnot never really mattered to me. I kind of just care about going out and getting outs. Obviously, it’s cool. All milestones are really cool and it’s really cool to have 200, but my only goal is just to win games. I could really care less, as long as I get outs.”

He gave the Eagles what coach Matt Karr called a “dominant performance, an outing we’ve come to expect from him over the last four years.” And it was a win they needed after losing to winless Cumberland and collapsing defensively against Haddon Heights in their last two games.

Wood had a no-hitter for 3 2/3 innings and gave up just two hits in his 6 2/3. The run the Braves scored in the first inning was unearned. Both of his walks came in that inning.

It was the sixth time in his career Wood has had double-digit strikeouts and the 23rd time he’s thrown at least three innings with six or more strikeouts.

“I think I did just about what I do every single time I step on the mound,” he said. “I don’t think I had anything special about me, maybe the fastball worked a little better. I just think overall today we played really well defensively. It really wasn’t stressful pitching at all.”

His teammates made it easier by giving him a 3-1 lead in the third and extending it to 5-1 in the fourth. Wood’s last six outs all came by strikeout. 

The Eagles threatened early in the game, but it wasn’t until the third inning they were able to break through. They got three hits in the first inning, but didn’t score and ran into two outs on the basepaths. They also loaded the bases with three two-out singles in the second and came up empty thanks to a web gem by Braves first baseman Caleb Lopez.

They finally broke through in the third with Mason O’Brien ripping a two-run double and Jeff Wagner delivering a sacrifice fly. Cohen Petrutz’ two-run double made it 5-1 in the fourth. Connor Starn, who got the last out behind Wood in the seventh, doubled home a run in the sixth and Gavin Spears singled home a run in the seventh.

“The pregame speech to the guys today was whatever happens you have to play innings one through seven,” Karr said. “To come out here, on the road, we got on the bus at 8 in the morning, and play a complete game like that … was awesome. This was a really good win for us.”

Pennsville senior outfielder Chase Burchfield went into the game needed two RBIs to reach the 100-mark to go with the 100th career hit he collected Monday. He went 2-for-3 and scored twice against the Braves but didn’t drive a run home. His next chance comes Tuesday at Penns Grove.

Wood also had a hit in the game, leaving with six shy of another milestone – 100 for his career.

WOODSTOWN 9, KING’S CHRISTIAN 3: Jack Holladay gave up two hits and struck out seven in five shutout innings and Dante Holmes had three RBIs as the Wolverines (6-4) snapped a two-game losing streak. Rocco String went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Walker Battavio had two hits and Chase Harding had two RBIs.

PAULSBORO 10, SALEM 0: Matt Hill held the Rams to two hits and Kayden Weber homered to help the Red Raiders get their first win of the season. Hill threw 85 pitches over six innings and struck out 10, while walking just one. Chase Davis and Terrell Robinson had Salem’s two hits.

Looking for more

Salem CC softball guaranteed a spot in Region 19 playoffs field, ends scoring drought despite being swept but needs more consistency going forward

MONDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech 10-13, Salem CC 0-9
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Morris at Salem CC
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale
Northampton at Ocean

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – After struggling to score runs in its previous three games, the Salem CC softball team’s bats started coming back around in the late innings of Monday’s nightcap with Delaware Tech.

The Mighty Oaks were swept for the third straight doubleheader 10-0 and 13-9. They haven’t won since smashing Sussex on April 17 finally saw some success The Salem CC softball team has already been told it has a spot in the Region 19 Division II playoffs, 

Its their longest slide since the end of the 2023 season when they lost their last seven. But at least they scored with some regularly in that slide.

The Mighty Oaks had been held scoreless for 21 consecutive innings before putting up a run in second inning of Game 2, then scored eight runs in the final three innings to make things interesting.

While that has brightened the Salem players’ spirits, head coach Angel Rodriguez is looking for more as the Mighty Oaks turn toward the playoffs.

“Consistent hitting, that’s what I would like,” he said. “We just took too long to make an adjustment (Monday). We finally caught up to it and hopefully they understand when we kind of do that earlier good things will happen but we just have to be able to it do more consistently 

“We’ll see if it carries in, but we’ve been very inconsistent, so we’ll see what tomorrow looks like.”

Normally, to make the Region 19 playoffs a team must have a .500 or better record either overall or within the region. After Monday, the Mighty Oaks must go 4-2 in their final six games this week to meet that criteria and have two sweepable twinbills among them, starting with Tuesday’s final home date with Morris.

Failing that, however, the Mighty Oaks are still in because it takes a minimum of four teams to make a playoff field and Salem is solidly the fourth best team evened if they struggled of late.

Playing their fourth doubleheader in five days, the Mighty Oaks were shutout in both games at Mercer over the weekend, limited to two hits in each game. They were held to one hit by Del Tech in Monday’s opener – Bella Rappa’s first-inning single – and struck out 11 times against hard-throwing Kylee Hill.

They were on track to being run-ruled in Game 2, too. They did have five hits over the first four innings, but fell behind 10-1.

Center fielder Val Hatterer gave the Mighty Oaks a chance to keep playing when she took away a potential three-run homer with her fourth homer-robbing catch at the fence.

The Mighty Oaks needed at least two runs in the home fifth to stay alive and that’s what they got. Ella Hayes got it started with a leadoff homer and when they were down to their last out consecutive singles by Tiana Wilson, Hatterer and Tessa Wise extended the game.

“Just seeing a number on the board definitely gave us confidence,” Hayes said. “Just like in basketball, once you see it in, you just get confidence and see your own bucket go in. I think that’s kind of what happened for us. Once we saw it on the board it’s almost like we can do this. Just seeing a crooked number up there was good.”

It ignited what Callie Rozak called “the drive to want to do better.” They rallied for four in the sixth on two-run singles by Bella Rappa and Wise to make it 10-7. They proceeded to get the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but Rozak flew out to right field ending the inning.

Del Tech’s Cecelia Johnston hit a three-run homer in the seventh to make it 13-7. The Mighty Oaks scored twice in their half of the inning when Hayes and Rappa both raced home on wild pitches, but they couldn’t get anything else going.

Still, they seemed to shake whatever was holding them back and the drought was over.

“Coming in we knew Del Tech was going to be a hard team, we knew that pitcher threw very fast and we had to adjust to it and we didn’t do very well adjusting to that fast pitching,” Rappa said. “Those last couple innings was us working together as a team for once, hitting our pitches not their pitches, so it was nice to come back and fight and not go 0-0 on the scoreboard.

“We do have to get more consistent but I feel like this was probably the first game we all actually at the end wanted to fight it out.”

Now they’ll see what Tuesday brings.

Baseball

On the eve of Tuesday’s Carney Point opener of its home-and-home series with No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester, Salem CC received votes in the JUCO Division III baseball poll for the first time since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) were one of four Region 19 teams receiving votes in the poll, but didn’t crack the Top 15. RCSJ-Gloucester (No. 1) and Brookdale (No. 4) made the top 15.

“Happy to get votes, happy to get recognized; one step at a time,” Salem coach John Holt said. “We’ve just gotta control what we can control.”



This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of April 21-27; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

APRIL 21
BASEBALL
Kings Christian at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Salem at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 10:30 a.m.
GOLF
Woodstown vs. GCIT, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Triton at Schalick, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech at Salem CC, 3 p.m.

APRIL 22
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Schalick at Pitman
Woodstown at Salem
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Pitman at Schalick
Salem at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Cumberland, Running Deer CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Overbrook, Pinelands GC
Schalick girls vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC
TENNIS
Schalick vs. Pitman, Shertle Park 11 a.m.
Overbrook at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Salem County Championships, Pennsville, 3:30 p.m.
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 5:15 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 6 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at GCIT, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
CC of Morris at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 23
BASEBALL
Collingswood at Woodstown
SOFTBALL
Cumberland at Salem
Kingsway at Woodstown
Haddon Heights at Pennsville
GOLF
Pennsville vs. West Deptford, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Salem Tech vs. Pitman, Pitman GC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Pitman at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Haddonfield
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 24
BASEBALL
Schalick at Glassboro
Woodstown at Penns Grove
SOFTBALL
Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Kingsway, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Cumberland, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick girls vs. Williamstown, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Overbrook, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Clayton at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
Haddon Heights at Schalick
TRACK
Penn Relays
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Washington Twp.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Lackawanna, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 25
TENNIS
Schalick at Clayton
Williamstown at Penns Grove
TRACK
Penn Relays
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at West Deptford
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Union, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 26
BASEBALL
Gloucester County Christian at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Bishop Eustace, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Union at Salem CC (2), noon
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Raritan Valley CC, noon

Schalick sweeps

Cougars use late rallies to beat Cherry Hill West, Haddon Twp. to remain undefeated; Woodstown falls to streaking Sterling

SATURDAY BASEBALL
Sterling 8, Woodstown 3

William G. Rohrer Tournament 
at Haddon Twp.
Schalick 5, Cherry Hill West 4
Schalick 8, Haddon Twp. 2

By Riverview Sports News

WESTMONT – Tournament MVP Luke Pokrovsky’s two-run homer capped a run of three consecutive two-run hits that powered an eight-run sixth inning that catapulted Schalick over host Haddon Twp. 8-2 to win the William G. Rohrer Tournament and remain undefeated.

The Cougars (8-0) trailed 1-0 going into the inning. Lucas D’Agostino tied the game with a one-out double, then later in the inning Elijah Cummings delivered a two-run double, followed Evan Sepers’ two-run, followed by Pokrovsky’s homer. They added another run on Jamari Whitley’s bases-loaded walk.

The big inning made a winning pitcher of Cole Hartley, who scattered four hits over the first six innings and struck out two. Evan Glaspey shut the door in the seventh with two strikeouts.

The Cougars also rallied late to beat Cherry Hill West in their first game 5-4. 

They trailed the Lions 4-3 going into the fifth inning. Sepers and Pokrvosky opened the inning with singles, then Ricky Watt drilled a triple to center to give the Cougars the lead.

The Cougars took a 3-1 lead in the second on RBI singles by J.T. Fleming, Glaspey and Sepers, but the Lions answered with three in the third to retake the lead. Pokrovsky then shut the Lions down with three innings of two-hit shutout relief.

The 8-0 start is Schalick’s best in more than 14 years and the Cougars’ longest winning streak since an 11-game run in 2021. 

The Cougars, currently No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings, face a big test Tuesday against No. 4 Pitman.

STERLING 8, WOODSTOWN 3: Gavin McCormick held the Wolverines to one hit over the first five innings as the Silver Knights (9-1) won their ninth in a row and matched last year’s win total (9-16). 

The Wolverines’ only hit off McCormick was Walker Battavio’s second-inning triple. Battavio scored on a squeeze to make it 2-1. A couple Woodstown errors at the start of the fourth inning opened the door for Sterling to extend its lead to 5-1.

WWW: Woodstown wins Woodbury

Wolverines win three events, finish top 3 in two others to win boys title in Woodbury Relays; Schalick sets girls SMR meet record

By Riverview Sports News

WOODBURY – Woodstown’s boys won three relays and finished top three in two others to win the Woodbury Relays Saturday.

The Wolverines won the 4×800, 4×400 and sprint medley relays and scored 44 points to edge runner-up Camden by six points. They also finished second in the 4000 distance medley relay and third in the 4×200.

Schalick’s boys placed second in three events and finished third in the team standings, one point ahead of Glassboro.

“Winning at the historic Woodbury Relays was a huge accomplishment for our program,” Wolverines coach Reggie Teemer said. “Not only because it was the in school history but I know the amount of work these guys have put in over the years.

“A win like this was not due to overnight success. There are great teams in our division that we could not overlook so we stayed locked in the entire meet. These guys compete for each other. Epitome of team.”

Woodstown’s 4×800 team of Cole Lucas, Joshua Crawford, Jacob Marino and Karson Chew was denied a spot in the Penn Relays despite posting a qualifying time, but took it out on the Woodbury field with a winning 8:18.18.

The 4×400 team of Chew, Crawford, Lucas and Kyle Reitz that is headed to Penn won here in 3:25.89. And the spring medley team of Chew, Reitz, Crawford and Lucas won in 3:35.93.

In the individual field events, Pennsville’s Connor Ayars won the boys javelin with a winning throw of 173-feet, 2-inches.

Salem County teams won two events on the girls side.

Schalick’s sprint medley team of Gia Martellacci, Phoebe Alward, Jaelynn Jarmon and Jordan Hadfield set the meet record in 4:14.39, one second off of qualifying for the nationals. The old record was 4:16.78, set by Penns Grove in 2014.

Woodstown’s 4×800 team of Samantha Sterner, Sarah Seiden, Abby Marino and Lilian Norman won its 10:05.86.

For the county teams Saturday was a final tune-up for Tuesday’s Salem County Championship Meet at Pennsville and, for some, a Penn Relays appearance Thursday.

WOODBURY RELAYS
GIRLS ONE SCORES: Audubon 50, Woodbury 32, SCHALICK 28, Clayton 26, WOODSTOWN 22, Haddon Twp. 16, Maple Shade 14, SALEM 8, Glassboro 7, PENNSVILLE 6, Pitman 3, Camden 2, Paulsboro 2, Palmyra 1.

EVENTS (with Salem County scorers)
4×100 SHR: 1. Audubon 1:12.79; 4. Schalick (Athena Eberl, Rebekah Cuff, Gabriella Simonini, Allyson Green) 1:16.31.
4000 DMR: 1. Audubon 13:13.83; 2. Woodstown (Samantha Sterner, Lia Covely, Lilian Norman, Abby Marino) 13:21.98; 3. Schalick (Jordan Hadfield, Brooke Valentine, Sarah Torpey, Helen Lillia) 13:37.68.
4×200: 1. Woodbury 1:46.07; 4. Pennsville (Ariana Charles, Megan Morris, Taylor Bass, Molly Gratz) 1:50.70; 5. Schalick (Sophia Harris, Gia Martellacci, Caileigh Schalick, Phoebe Alward) 1:50.97.
4×800: 1. Woodstown (Samantha Sterner, Sarah Seiden, Abby Marino, Lilian Norman) 10:05.86; 4. Schalick (Jordan Hadfield, Sarah Torpey, Helen Lillia, Allyson Green) 10:49.44; 6. Salem (Audrey Boggs, Samantha Dale, Gabriella Bartlett, Lyric Hayes) 11:26.13.
4×100: 1. Woodbury 49.68; 3. Salem (Dayana Jones, Anyzha Williams, Amaia Massengill, Raniyah Parsons-Smith) 51.20; 6. Schalick (Jaelynn Jarmon, Phoebe Alward, Caileigh Schalick, Gia Martellacci) 51.79.
SMR: 1. Schalick (Phoebe Alward, Jaelynn Jarmon, Gia Martellacci, Jordan Hadfield) 4:14.39 (meet record, old record Penns Grove 4:16.78, 2014); 4. Woodstown (Kayla Ayars, Tyonna Husser, Emma Perry, Abby Marino) 4:39.92; 6. Salem (Gabriella Bartlett, Angelina Fothergill, Ramiyah Jones, Kashira Patterson) 4:49.77.
4×400: 1. Clayton 4:11.45; 5. Pennsville (Ariana Charles, Molly Gratz, Megan Morris, Taylor Bass) 4:19.15; 6. Schalick (Sophia Harris, Brooke Valentine, Gia Martellacci, Gabriella Simonini) 4:22.16.
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with Salem County Top 3)
3000 STEEPLECHASE: 1. Sophia Aldridge, Williamstown 11:25.58.
HIGH JUMP: 1. Egypt Bolan, Lindenwold 5-8.
POLE VAULT: 1. Hannah Byrd-Leitner, Moorestown 12-0; 2. Megan Morris, Pennsville 10-0.
LONG JUMP: 1. Brianna Growalt, Atlantic Tech 17-11.5.
TRIPLE JUMP: 1. MaSyiah Brawner, Winslow 39-1.5.
DISCUS: 1. Hannah Nuhfer, Delsea 153-2.
JAVELIN: 1. Rainelle Blocker, Clayton 120-5.
SHOT PUT: 1. Ella Karp, Washington Twp., 42-1.5.

BOYS ONE SCORES: WOODSTOWN 44, Camden 38, SCHALICK 29, Glassboro 28, Clayton 13, Haddon Twp. 12, Audubon 11, Gateway 10, Woodbury 10, SALEM 7, Burlington City 6, PENNS GROVE 5, Camden Catholic 2, Maple Shade 1, Paulsboro 1.

EVENTS (with Salem County scorers)
4×110 SHR: 1. Camden 1:02.77; 2. Schalick (Reggie Allen Jr., Sherrod Jones, David Stewart, Kilby Sickler) 1:05.31; 4. Salem (Anthony Parker, Gradin Buzby, Jerry Seals, Timothy Gregory) 1:06.91; 6. Penns Grove (Juelz Cooke, Bryan Garlic, Knowledge Young, Glenn Robinson) 1:14.50.
4000 DMR: 1. Glassboro 10:58.59; 2. Woodstown (Pacey Hutton, Anthony Costello, Jacob Marino, Cole Lucas), 11:14.54.
4×200: 1. Camden 1:29.02; 3. Woodstown (Kyle Reitz, Anthony Costello, Joshua Crawford, Karson Chew) 1:32.42; 5. Schalick (Roneem Thomas, Nylan Sutton, Reggie Allen Jr., Zaeshawn Mills) 1:32.82; 6. Salem (Jelani Beverly, Terrance Smith, Quimere Bergen, Anthony Parker) 1:33.05.
4×800: 1. Woodstown (Cole Lucas, Joshua Crawford, Jacob Marino, Karson Chew) 8:18.18; 4. Penns Grove (Robert Sanchez-Gomez, Connor Duggan, Bryan Carlic, Messiah Aliah) 8:42.23; 6. Schalick (Hunter Dragotta, Steve Chomo, Chase Riley, Connor Jackson) 8:57.74.
4×100: 1. Camden 42.68; 2. Schalick (Levi Feeney-Childers, Zaeshawn Mills, Reggie Allen Jr., David Stewart) 43.21; 5. Salem (Terrance Smith, Jelani Beverly, Anthony Parker, Omarion Pierce) 43.94.
SMR: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Kyle Reitz, Joshua Crawford, Cole Lucas) 3:35.93; 2. Schalick (Steve Chomo, Zaeshawn Mills, Roneem Thomas, David Stewart) 3:39.33.
4×400: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Kyle Reitz, Joshua Crawford, Cole Lucas) 3:25.89; 5. Schalick (Reggie Allen Jr., Michael Eberl, Jase Volovar, Jacob Carter) 3:33.47.
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with Salem County Top 3)
3000 STEEPLECHASE: 1. Julian Rich, Camden Co. Tech 9:36.19.
HIGH JUMP: 1. Jayden DeLeon, Highland 6-6.
POLE VAULT: 1. Marcus Hood, Deptford 15-6.
LONG JUMP: 1. Josiah Williams, Mainland 22-10.5.
TRIPLE JUMP: 1. Josiah Williams, Mainland 47-2.25.
DISCUS: 1. Anthony Liakhnovich, Hammonton 176-5.
JAVELIN: 1. Connor Ayars, Pennsville 173-2; 3. Nyzier Wynder, Schalick 163-7.
SHOT PUT: 1. Anthony Liakhnovich, Hammonton 56-2.5.

Photo: Woodstown’s Group One winning 4×800 relay teams at the Woodbury Relays. (Submitted photo)

Mixed results on road

Salem CC baseball gets strong pitching to sweep twinbill at Bergen, softball swept at Mercer

SATURDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL 
Salem 4-5, Bergen 2-1
Middlesex 17, Northampton 7
RCSJ-Gloucester 10-10, Brookdale 4-1
RCSJ-Cumberland 12-5, Camden 5-3
Mercer 17, Raritan Valley 4
Morris 9-2, Lackawanna 8-10
Sussex at Delaware Tech
Delaware County 15-10, Union 8-11

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PARAMUS – Matt Murphy hit another home run, Angel Velez moved three hits closer to 100 and Salem CC got two strong outings from its starting pitchers to sweep Bergen CC 4-2 and 5-1 and sweep the weekend series.

It was the Mighty Oaks’ sixth straight weekend series win and first sweep since RCSJ-Cumberland in late March.

First-game starter Jared Vandersteur pitched six strong innings. He gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but otherwise allowed only four hits and struck out a career-high 10. Pat Seitzinger got the save, facing four batters in the seventh.

Seth McCormick threw a complete game in the nightcap. He had a one-hitter through six, gave up three hits total, lost his shutout on an unearned run in the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 12. He’s 5-2 on the season.

“Both of them grinded it out today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We needed the sweep and they stepped up and helped us get it. They picked us up today when the offense and defense needed it.”

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) scored all their runs in the opener in the first inning. Yen Rodriguez drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double, then after Demetrius DeRamus walked, Murphy cleared the bases with a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year – all on the road – and third this week.

They scored in the first inning of the nightcap, too, when Rodriguez came home on a balk. They got some breathing room with three in the fourth – Cole Dawson and Rodriguez drew bases-loaded walks and Tim Bowlby scored on a wild pitch. Murphy’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0 in the seventh.

Velez went 3-for-4 in the nightcap, leaving him with 97 for his career. Since the Mighty Oaks returned from Florida the sophomore’s role in doubleheaders has been to catch the opener and DH in the nightcap. It’s the approach that made him an all-region DH last year. In the Mighty Oaks’ last five doubleheaders this year, he is 4-for-14 in Game 1 as the catcher and 13-for-20 in Game 2 as the DH.

SATURDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Mercer 7-13, Salem CC 0-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 5-7, Brookdale 4-3
Delaware Tech 9-0, Lackawanna 0-1
Bergen at Lehigh Carbon
Ocean at Camden

WEST WINDSOR – For the second year in a row, the Salem CC softball team went to Mercer and came up empty.

The once-beaten Vikings handed the Mighty Oaks a pair of shutout losses, 7-0 and 13-0. Mercer swept them with a pair of shutouts last year and is the only team to shut out the Mighty Oaks in both games of a doubleheader since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks were held to two hits in each game and only one runner as far as second base in each game. Meanwhile, the Vikings (33-1) had 27 hits and 12 extra-base hits. Mercer hit three homers in the first game and had five doubles in the nightcap.

Mercer hit three extra-base hits in the first inning of the opener to take a 4-0 lead then hit back-to-back homers to open the fifth inning and break it open. Emily Wyzykowski homered in the first, then followed Stella Logan’s leadoff homer in the fifth with her second of the game. Logan hit three doubles and drove in four runs in the nightcap.

Tiana Wilson had a hit in each game for the Mighty Oaks. Callie Rozak had the other hit in the opener and Emma Hayes the other one in the nightcap.

Something to consider: The Mighty Oaks were blanked here last year on a one-hitter and no-hitter, then shut out the Vikings here in the first round of the Region 19 playoffs.

Hits keep on coming

Velez has Salem CC’s third five-hit game since program revival in run-rule win over Bergen; Dawson drives in five, Murphy collects 100th career hit; Salem CC softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL 
Salem CC 17, Bergen 6
Northampton 8-7, Middlesex 7-16
Ocean 10-3, Montgomery 8-19
RCSJ-Gloucester 4, Brookdale 3
RCSJ-Cumberland 9, Camden 6
Lackawanna 6, Morris 2
Mercer 13, Raritan Valley 2
Sussex 9, Delaware Tech 5
Delaware County at Union

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Cole Dawson thought he was done. He hit a mile-high pop up to first with bases loaded that was caught near the line for the first out of the sixth inning and was already back in the Salem CC dugout putting up his stuff but his time at bat was far from over.

You’re not done until the umpire says you are. The field ump called the Mighty Oaks infielder back to the plate, having called a balk on Bergen reliever S.G. Song for failing to declare whether he was pitching from the stretch or windup with a runner on third base. 

So, instead of bases loaded with one out, J.D. Wilson trotted home with a run, Chris Kelly and Tim Bowlby advanced a base and Dawson returned to the plate with the same 1-2 count he had before the pop-up.

Given a second chance, the sophomore infielder laced Song’s next pitch into left field for his second two-run single in as many innings that put the Mighty Oaks in run-rule territory in an eventual 17-6 win. He finished the game 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs.

“When I popped it up I thought it was an out and I thought the inning was pretty much over,” Dawson said. “I was ready to get my glove and go out to the field. And then they called a balk and gave me a second chance, so I had to do something with it. You can’t give up that opportunity. Second chances don’t come like that. 

“It was weird. I’ve never had that happen before. The only thing close (in high school) I think I popped up to the catcher, but I hit him on the backswing and they called catcher’s interference, so I did end up getting a second chance there.”

Dawson scored later in the inning when Song balked again. Ironically, the Mighty Oaks lost a game to current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara on their Florida trip to a similar declaration balk against Jon Gambone. 

“That was God,” catcher Angel Velez said of Dawson’s reprieve. “That was God. God blessed him. God knew he needed that one and gave it to him, and Cole took advantage of it.”

“It is a weird circumstance,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt agreed.

The Mighty Oaks (19-17) had a lot of hitting heroes in the game. Matt Murphy collected his 100th career hit with an RBI single in the first inning that got them on the board. He became the second Salem player to reach the milestone this month – Demetrius DeRamus did it at Northampton April 9 – and will be among four this season by the end of it. Velez (94) and Yen Rodriguez (91) are that close.

Velez was on deck when Murphy hit the mark. Whether it served as inspiration, Velez followed him with an RBI single and kept going. The sophomore catcher went 5-for-5 to move within six hits of 100 and with each at-bat his teammates let him know he was close to something special.

“These guys love to let you know when you’re doing (good),” Velez said. “They love to jinx stuff, they do. They tell me.

“After I got the fourth hit everyone was like, ‘You’re 4-for-4.’ That last at bat I swung at the change up in the dirt, that wasn’t a good swing, then I got that fastball outside called. I just didn’t want to strike out.”

It was only the third time a Salem player has had five hits in a game since the program was revived in 2019. It’s the Mighty Oaks’ first five-hit game since DeRamus went 5-for-6 in last year’s season-ending playoff loss at Northampton and their first in the regular season since Phil Sedalis went 5-for-5 at Camden April 7, 2021.

Velez had four hits in the 12-inning win over RCSJ-Cumberland on March 22 and did it three times over the final seven games last year.

“He’s that type of guy with his left-handed swing if he shoots the ball to the opposite field he’s a hard out,” Holt said. “He’s tough to pitch to if he shortens up and sprays the ball the other way. When he bought into that last year that’s when he really kind of took off as a hitter.”

The hits Murphy and Velez delivered in the first inning helped the Mighty Oaks overcome the 3-spot Bergen posted in the top of the inning. Dawson’s first hit, an RBI double in the second, extended the lead to 5-3.

The Bulldogs tied it in the third before the Mighty Oaks took the lead for good with five in the fifth. Tim Bowlby broke the tie with an RBI double and Dawson followed him with the first of his two-run singles.

“I was concerned,” Holt said. “The energy wasn’t there at the beginning of the game. With this region and its strength you cannot take anyone for granted. I was on them to kind of figure it out. It went some innings to be able to turn the thing around a little bit.”

Salem softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Cecil 14-11, Salem CC 7-6
Delaware Tech 16-12, Sussex 0-0
Harford 5-15, RCSJ-Gloucester 2-10
Lackawanna 16-9, Onondaga 3-11
Bergen 7-10, Camden 2-13

CECIL 14-11, SALEM 7-6: Tristan Canavan went 4-for-5 with six RBIs and hit two of Cecil’s three homers in the opener and the Seahawks hit two more homers in the nightcap to complete the sweep.

Salem scored in the first inning of the opener on Callie Rozak’s RBI single, but Sloane Tanner’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run second and the Seahawks never trailed again. Rozak and Ella Hayes both had three hits for the Mighty Oaks.

Salem led 3-0 after three innings in the nightcap, then Cecil erupted for seven in the fourth to take control. The Seahawks hit their two homers in the game in the sixth inning.

Rozak had a pair of doubles among her three hits and three RBIs in the nightcap for the Mighty Oaks. Hayes had three hits, while Lilly Peverelle and Jolee Robinson each had two.

Muted celebration

Pennsville’s Burchfield reaches 100-hit milestone, but celebration muted by Eagles’ self-inflicted loss to Haddon Heights

FRIDAY SALEM COUNTY BASEBALL
Haddon Heights 9, Pennsville 7
Schalick 10, Rancocas Valley 3
Camden Tech 13, Salem 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Reaching the milestone he has been chasing his entire career was nice, but he was so close it was going to come along at some point anyway. All things considered, Chase Burchfield would have much rather had the win.

The Pennsville senior outfielder collected his 100th career hit and moved closer to 100 career RBIs Friday, but what should have been a joyous occasion was muted by the Eagles losing two leads in a self-inflicted 9-7 loss to Haddon Heights.

Burchfield needed two hits and three RBIs to hit both milestones on this day. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in a run, leaving him with 100 hits and 98 RBIs for his four-year Pennsville career. Even the out he made was loud, a shot that was caught steps from the left centerfield fence.

His 99th hit was a solo homer in the first inning that gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead. It was his third homer of the season and sixth of his career.

No. 100 came on an opposite-field single through the left side of the infield in the third inning. Eagles coach Matt Karr requested the ball to mark the occasion and the Garnets called time to settle their pitcher, which gave Burchfield the chance to celebrate the milestone with his teammates.

But about an hour later the milestone became a footnote to the day as the Garnets (6-1) took advantage of two errors in the infield to produce two runs in the seventh inning to win the game. 

“I would definitely much rather have the win,” Burchfield said. “I think we played well in the beginning, but we need to cut down on all the unearned runs; it’s just horrible. All the errors. That’s what’s been killing us the last three games now. I didn’t think we hit terrible today, but we need to do something to get better.

“It kind of ruins the feeling of getting 100 hits when you come out and you’re up … and you give up a six-run inning like that. It kind of ruins the feeling of having a good game.”

He’ll likely have the same reaction when he reaches the RBI milestone. His first chance for that comes Monday morning at Williamstown.

“I’ll still be excited because I know I’m helping the team out,” he said, “but winning will be much better.”

Pennsville senior Chase Burchfield connects on his 100th career hit in the third inning Friday against Haddon Heights.

The Eagles took a 3-0 lead into the third inning, then gave up six unearned runs to fall behind. They got the first two outs rather easily, but an error in the infield opened the door and the visitors pounced. The Garnets hit back-to-back RBI doubles, drew a walk, reached on another error and then Jack Motta blasted a three-run homer to give them a 6-3 lead.

To their credit, the Eagles came back to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the inning. The Garnets tied it 7-7 in the fourth on Nolan Lachall’s solo homer, then broke the tie with senior Trent Begley’s two-run single in the seventh. It was Begley’s first varsity hit.

Pennsville threatened in the seventh, getting the tying run on base with two outs, but ended the game with a ground out to the pitcher.

It was the second game in as many days the Eagles have lost in their opponents last bats. They lost to winless Cumberland in the top of the eighth inning on Thursday.

“Obviously, the glaring one today was the six-run inning where we had nobody on and two out,” Karr said. “I was telling the guys it’s a snowball effect. You make those two errors now put yourself in the pitcher’s shoes. Now he feels like he has to be perfect because he can’t trust the defense, and then that’s what happened. And we start grooving fastball after fastball and to their credit they just started barreling ball off us sitting on the fastball.

“We battled back and retook the lead, which is good, but it’s been our mantra all year. I told them, for better or worse, you are what your record says you are. We’re a .500 ballclub who beats the teams we should beat and when the going gets tough against a very competitive, good baseball club … we can’t do what we need to do to win a game. That’s just where we are right now.”

The Eagles (5-4) were playing their fifth game in as many days, and it would be easy to use that as an excuse. But Karr wouldn’t take the easy route. They opened the week with wins over Wildwood, Overbrook and Salem to extend a five-game winning streak, then lost focus against Cumberland and the Garnets. They had leads in both of the losses with good pitching behind it.

“The difference between good team and a really great team is focus and we lack that focus, especially in pressure situations,” Karr said. “I told these guys I’m not pointing the finger at one guy, I’m pointing one giant finger at all of you, because it’s a ripple effect. What you do early in the game carries to the next play, the next pitch; it rolls over.

“We talk all the time about stacking – stack good days on top of good days, good ABs on top of ABs, things add up. The bad is the same way. You stack bad on top of bad it adds up and it’s a hole you can’t dig out of.”

The result certainly put a damper on what should have been a banner day for the LaSalle signee.

Burchfield set the milestone as a goal to follow in the footsteps of his cousin, Peyton Sorrels, who had 104 hits and 80 RBIs for the Eagles before graduating in 2015. Burchfield has had seasons of 18, 28, 39 and 15 hits. He is 100-for-225 for his career.

He had a pretty good week, too. In the Eagles’ five games this week he went 8-for-13 with five walks, two homers and 10 RBIs, raising his season average to .536. He has at least one hit in every game this season and 18 of his last 20 going back to last season.

“One hundred hits in baseball, to me, especially in high school baseball here in South Jersey is a really big accomplishment,” Karr said. “That’s 25 hits a year for four years. That’s quite a bit of hits. Then to be there with the RBIs, it’s just a testament to four years of consistency from him. When he was younger he obviously didn’t hit the meat of the lineup, but got thrown to the fire as a freshman, as most of these guys did, and went in and produced and did his job.

“I can’t say enough good things about Chase. What makes Chase special is, I know it sucks that it happened (on a day like this), he would much rather have a win today. I know that’s burning him up right now, so I don’t know how much he’ll enjoy the 100 today. It might be the end of the season before he finally lets it sink in about how impressive that actually is. I know he’s indifferent with it right now.”

SCHALICK 10, RANCOCAS VALLEY 3: Luke Pokrovsky hit his second homer of the year and Evan Sepers went 3-for-4 with three RBIs as the Cougars stayed undefeated (6-0). Evan Glaspey, Ricky Watt and J.T. Fleming all had two hits and Enrico Hatz had two RBIs. Winning pitcher Lucas D’Agostino worked the first five innings, giving up three hits, an unearned run and striking out six.

CAMDEN TECH 13, SALEM 0: The Warriors held Salem to three hits and took control with a six-run third inning. Terrell Robinson, Troy Carey and Austin Davis had the Rams’ hits.

Banner worthy

Here is a list of Pennsville players with 100 or more career hits, according to research conducted by Eagles coach Matt Karr

PLAYERHITSGRAD
Max Dineen1612018
Ed Rieger1451986
Josh Shimp1052014
Peyton Sorrels1042015
x-Chase Burchfield1002025
Nick Toms2020
Drew Burdsall2014
Dom Wyshinski2011
Kevin O’Brien2006
Dave Lenig2006
John Humphreys2005
Mike Karr2003
Teddy Puitz1998
Eddie Eckenroad1998
Mark Freed1996
CLOSING IN
x-Luke Wood932025
x-Active

Top photo: Pennsville’s Chase Burchfield is congratulated by his teammates after collecting his 100th career hit in the third inning against Haddon Heights Friday.