Mighty Oaks win first region playoff series in sweep, hand coach John Holt his 400th career victory
REGION 19 DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
Saturday’s Games
No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester 17-9, No. 8 Montgomery 0-1 (Gloucester wins 2-0)
No. 4 Salem 6-10, No. 5 Middlesex 5-2 (Salem wins 2-0)
No. 3 RCSJ-Cumberland 15-3, No. 6 Camden 5-14 (Series tied, 1-1)
No. 2 Brookdale 15-3, No. 7 Northampton 5-1 (Brookdale wins 2-0)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – John Holt stood on the grass just outside the Salem CC dugout twirling an autographed baseball in his sports-drink-soaked hands courtesy of the water bucket bath he just received in the outfield. The ball, signed by all the players on the team, represented a lifetime of success and a gateway to the future.
The Mighty Oaks won their first region playoff series in more than 30 years and handed head coach John Holt his 400th career coaching victory in sweeping Middlesex College 6-5 and 10-2 to take their best-of-3 playoff series two games to none.
“I was crying out there,” Holt admitted. “It means a lot to do it with these guys. These guys are a special bunch. I’m glad all the hard work that they’ve put in is finally going to get them to the Final Four. That’s just the next step. We’re not done yet.”
The fourth-seeded Mighty Oaks (27-24) now advance to the double-elimination Region 19 Division III Final Four next week at Rutgers-Camden, to face either top-seeded No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester (47-4) or second-seeded No. 4 Brookdale (37-8) in the opening round.
Holt has won a playoff series before – in 2011, his last year at Burlington County CC – but the Mighty Oaks have never won one or even hosted one as far as Holt’s research goes back. They did win a playoff game last year at Northampton, but lost the series.
Holt began his collegiate coaching career at Burlington CC and was hired at Salem to restart the program in 2019. He has 107 wins with the Mighty Oaks, including career wins 300 and 400. His last two seasons have been the winningest in school history.
“There’s been a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches,” Holt said. “It’s been a hell of a ride. It’s been special.
“I’ve tried not to measure my successes in coaching based on wins and losses. For me it’s predominantly been about those relationships. Four-hundred wins, that’s awesome, but for all the good husbands, the good dads, the good men, if I’ve had anything to do with that, that’s more important than 400 (wins). I don’t take that for granted.”
The Mighty Oaks walked off their coach’s milestone win with three runs in the seventh inning capped by Yen Rodriguez’ game-ending single into the right centerfield gap. The sophomore outfielder said as soon as he made contact he knew it was over and Holt had his 400th win.
They led the game wire-to-wire, scoring a run in the first inning on Matt Murphy’s RBI triple and taking control with a four-run third that included home runs by Cole Dawson and Demetrius DeRamus.
DeRamus’ homer, a two-run shot that made it 5-1, ended a 4-for-28 skid that was part of a larger 9-for-59 over his previous 18 games. He admitted the slump was eating at him “just a little bit,” but when he went to the plate he just tried to “keep things simple, be less technical” and it seemed to have done the trick.
He followed his seventh homer of the year with a single in his next at-bat for his first multi-hit game since April 13.
Tyler Hacker went 3-for-3 with a walk in the game and came within a home run of hitting for the cycle.
Jared Vandersteur pitched a complete game, scattering six hits and striking out five. He threw 118 pitches and even without his best stuff reduced his region-leading ERA to 2.67. The Colts scored both their runs in the fourth inning.
“I just knew I had a job to do and thankfully I was able to do it,” the righthander said. “I didn’t know it was for his 400th win, I just knew I had to get it done today. It’s fun to go out there and have the pressure on and get it done.”
The Mighty Oaks came out swinging in the opener, scoring five runs in the first inning to erase a 1-0 deficit and then held on.
They sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning. Angel Velez, Hatcher and Hunter Cohen drove in the first three runs, then Tim Bowlby capped the outburst with a two-run single to right field.
Velez had three hits and two RBIs in the game. Since the nightcap of the Mighty Oaks’ April 5 doubleheader with Middlesex (20 games), Velez is batting .486 (35-of-72) with a 10-game hitting streak.
Jon Gambone pitched the first seven innings for the Mighty Oaks, leaving with a 6-3 lead after throwing 133 pitches (one more than Middlesex starter Ryan Rzepinski in six innings), and got the win. Hard-throwing J.D. Wilson pitched the final two innings and although the Colts scored two runs in the eighth inning and threatened in the ninth to make it interesting, he kept it from getting ugly and closed it out for the save.
There was a lot to Wilson’s outing. He’s basically pitching without a UCL in his pitching elbow and will need Tommy John surgery to repair it. He was so determined to keep his college career from meeting a premature end, he “made” the doctor clear him to pitch in the playoffs and “kind of told” Holt he was going to throw if the game was close.
“The doctor basically said you need surgery, you’re not going to do any more damage, it’s already done, you can throw as tolerated,” Holt said. “The thing about J.D., I think he gets a bum rap sometimes because he’s a hard-nosed kid, but I don’t know how many guys who can throw the ball 90-plus would call their coach and say I’m looking at Tommy John but I’ve got at least two innings this weekend for you. That just says a lot about who he is.”
“I just wanted to win,” Wilson said. “I just went out there and gave my team my best of what I had and came out of here with a win.”
It was his first appearance on the mound since April 13 and the first time his mother Jessie had seen him play since suffering a brain aneurysm the day before Easter, making for an even more poignant Mother’s Day for the family.
“It was just like the old days, before everything happened,” Wilson said. “It was nice.”
Photo: Salem CC baseball coach John Holt holds the ball from his 400th career victory surrounded by his players after the Mighty Oaks swept Middlesex in the Region 19 playoffs Saturday.
Month: May 2025
Schalick slams Salem
Pokrovsky homers twice in first inning, passes 100 career RBIs; he and D’Agostino both hit grand slams and the Cougars roll before heading to the Hall of Fame
By Riverview Sports News
ELMER – It must have felt like the good old days to many a Schalick baseball player Friday night.
The Cougars returned to the Elmer Little League complex where it all began for a lot of them for the second time this week and put on an impressive display of power.
They hit three home runs – two grand slams – and had eight extra-base hits in crushing Salem 26-2 in five innings.
It was just the kind of game they needed to send them to Cooperstown, where they’ll play Bridgeton at Doubleday Field Monday.
Luke Pokrovsky and Lucas D’Agostino, two of the players recognized during Senior Day activities here Tuesday night, led the 22-hit attack. Pokrovsky homered twice in the first inning, doubled and drove in a career-high seven runs to surpass 100 for his career. D’Agostino homered, doubled and had five RBIs.
Pokrovsky homered leading off the home first to tie the game and hit a grand slam later in the inning. They were his 17th and 18th homers of his career to stand alone as Schalick’s all-time home run king. It was the second multi-homer game of his career and 24th multi-RBI game.
D’Agostino hit a slam in the second inning for his first career homer. The Cougars scored nine runs in each of the first two innings.
Every Schalick starter had at least one hit and 14 Cougars had hits in the game. Starting pitcher Jamari Whitley had two hits and three RBIs, while Ricky Watt, Mason Sanchez, Enrico Hatz and Evan Glaspey had two hits apiece.
Bryce Harris drew a bases-loaded walk to give Salem a 1-0 lead in the first. The Rams scored their other run in the fourth inning on a error off the bat of Chase Pompper. Terrell Robinson had two of their four hits in the game.
Another centurion
Pennsville’s Wood collects his 100th career hit in Eagles rout of Wildwood; includes results from throughout Salem County
THURSDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 21, Wildwood 3
Overbrook 4, Woodstown 1
Clayton 7, Salem 6
THURSDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 15, Wildwood 1
Woodstown 17, Overbrook 7
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WILDWOOD – A lot of players might have been a little anxious being so close to a milestone they’ve chased all their life and not seeing it happen, but as long as he was helping his team win while he waited Luke Wood was OK with it.
The Pennsville senior needed one more hit since Monday to get the 100th hit of his high school career, which with his eye at the plate figured to come at any minute. It just seemed to be taking forever.
Wood finally reached the milestone Thursday. It came on a two-out single to right field in the fifth inning – his last at-bat of the game – of the Eagles’ 21-3 rout of Wildwood.
Since collecting hit No. 99 – a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Clayton – he went 0-for-2 with two walks against Pitman (reaching on an error in the eighth inning) and 0-for-2 with two walks and an error before finally breaking through Thursday.
“When you’re going for 100 hits it’s frustrating, but at the same time you just have to realize your team’s up a lot of runs and that’s not what matters at the end of the day,” Wood said. “As nerve wracking as it might be or as big a deal as it is to some people, I always kind of push it to the back of my mind and do what I can to help the team win.
“Just through the last 10 plate appearances I had there was a string of bad luck, but that’s kind of how my approach is. I don’t want to make outs easy for them. I want to go up there and I want to get walked, I want to hit balls on the ground. If I don’t get hits because of this but I get on base that’s all I really care about.
“I needed one hit, so it’s not like I was sitting here stressed out about getting it for the rest of the season. I needed 13 coming into the season, I knew it was going to happen eventually. I just wanted to go out and do my job every day, get on base, because that’s always been my best asset, never really being just a hitter.”
Now, he can put this milestone with his 200-plus career strikeouts as a pitcher and 1,000-plus career points in basketball. Soon he can add 100 career runs to his collection of milestones (he needs three).
He is the third Pennsville athlete to collect their 100th career hit this season, joining baseball teammate Chase Burchfield (who has 100-plus RBIs as well) and softball junior Kylie Harris.
“Obviously, it feels really good,” he said. “It’s another milestone I can add to my high school career. It’s nice everything I’ve worked for and everything I’ve done is finally paying off. It’s nice to see the results of all the work you’ve put in.
“It’s super cool. It’s something I thought about doing since I was in seventh and eighth grade. It’s one of the coolest things. I don’t know any other words to put it as. It’s a good feeling.”
“I’m really happy for Luke,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said. “To be able to achieve 100 hits in baseball is very impressive. And for him to miss most of his junior season due to injury and still be able to achieve the feat speaks volumes … In nine years as head coach I’ve only had three guys get 100; again, speaks volumes about how difficult it is.”
After scratching and clawing to score the runs to beat Pitman the day before, the Eagles batted around twice and erupted for 15 runs in the first inning against the Warriors.
Twenty batters saw 76 pitches from three pitchers in the inning. Logan Streitz, Cohen Petrutz, Jeff Wagner and Mason O’Brien all had two hits in the inning. Wagner and O’Brien both drove in four runs. Wood walked twice.
“We came out today and were swinging the bat well and getting a lot of things go our way,” Wood said. “We swung the bats extremely well top to bottom. We had I think three JV guys get their first hits today (Jay Nickels, Jacob Hand and Grady Sanders). We just swung it well up and down the lineup.
“It goes to show when we bear down, work at bats, and be what I would call reasonably aggressive at the plate we’re gonna be really hard to beat. Like you saw today, we put up a ton of runs.”
Sanders’ first hit kept the fifth inning alive bringing Wood to the plate for his 100th.
With the win, the Eagles can clinch their fourth straight TCC Classic Division title and first outright since 2023 with a win Wednesday at Salem.
OVERBROOK 4, WOODSTOWN 1: The Wolverines slump at the plate against some pretty good arms continued as they were held to just two hits by a pair of Rams pitchers. Over the last three games the Wolverines have managed just four hits.
Woodstown tied the game 1-1 in the fifth on Caiden Spinelli’s run-scoring ground out, but the Rams answered with three in the bottom of the inning. They loaded the bases against Wolverines starter Aaron Foote on two singles and a walk, then Louis Hanna cleared them with a double to left.
CLAYTON 7, SALEM 6: After losing in a walk-off the day before, the Clippers turned the tables on the Rams with three in the bottom of the seventh. Jamison Emerle provided the crushing blow, a two-out double to center after Jackson Petsch stole second to move the winning run into scoring position.
The Rams took a 6-1 lead on Chase Davis’ grand slam in the fourth inning.
Softball
PENNSVILLE 15, WILDWOOD 1: Avery Watson continued to swing a hot bat, going 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, four runs and four RBIs. Over her last eight games the Eagles’ infielder is 16-for-24 with six of he seven triples and 17 RBIs. She has a 10-game hitting streak.
Savannah Brewer-Palverento also two extra-base hits and four RBIs for the Eagles. Makenzie Widener had two hits and three RBIs and Kylie Harris added two more hits to her state-leading total.
Brewer-Palverento held the Warriors to two hits and an unearned run on 55 pitches over five innings and faced only two batters over the minimum. She struck out five.
WOODSTOWN 17, OVERBROOK 7: Ellie Wygand went 3-for-4, Talia Guardascione and Aubrie Rennie both had three RBIs and the Wolverines erupted for 10 runs in the fifth inning to turn a close game into a walkoff rout.
Actually, it was a come-from-behind win for the Wolverines. They trailed 2-0, 6-5 and 7-6 at various points in the game.
Rennie tied the game for the last time in the fourth inning when she raced home on Kendall Young’s bunt, then gave the Wolverines the lead for good in the fifth with a two-run single. Guardascione had a three-run double later in the inning.
Grace Hitchner, Young, Shyann Higinbotham, Wygand and Lila Bowling each drove in a run in the big inning.
Golf
Woodstown 176, Highland 194: Woodstown’s Erich Lipovsky (41) was low medalist at Valley Brook.
Washington Twp. girls 177, Schalick 202: WT’s Tessa Reilley’s 2-over 37 was low medalist at Centerton. Lena Virga had Schalick’s low round (47).
Tennis
PENNSVILLE 5, GCIT 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Ilan Torres, 6-2, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Jeffrey Smith, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Gabe Ferraro, 6-1, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. James Helder-Jacob Everson, 6-1, 4-6, 12-10
Ian Peacock-Carter Willis (P) def. Robert Helder-Gavin Shainline, 5-7, 6-2, 10-7
Records: Pennsville 13-0, GCIT 4-11.
SCHALICK 5, WASHINGTON TWP. 0
George Gould (S) def. Zach Torbik, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. William Minchin, 6-0, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Alex Fogg, 6-4, 6-4
Cayden Brzozowski-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Aaron Begin-Andy Wu, 6-4, 6-2
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Jack Hanson-Jack Laubin, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 12-4, Washington Twp. 1-15.
Photo: Pennsville’s Luke Wood comes out of the batter’s box after delivering his 100th career hit Thursday at Wildwood. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)
Wednesday roundup
Here are the results from Wednesday’s Salem County sports calendar
TRACK
FRANKLINVILLE — Schalick’s David Stewart won three events and Jordan Hadfield set a meet record in the 1600 to highlight Salem County’s showing in the Tri-County Conference Showcase at Delsea.
Stewart won the triple jump, 400 hurdles (running the event for the first time) and ran a leg on the winning 4×100 relay. Hadfield ran 4:59.06 in the 1600 to shave four seconds off the meet record.
Salem County athletes won 10 events in the unscored meet.
TCC SHOWCASE
BOYS WINNERS
100: Neo Clark-Tabb, Deptford 10.84
110 hurdles: Ryan Sanchez, Deptford 14.57
200: Alexander Osayemi, Clayton 21.78
400: John Froehlich, Overbrook 49.51
400 hurdles: David Stewart, Schalick 54.60
800: Cole Lucas, Woodstown 1:58.17
1600: Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:41.19
3200: Hunter Bostwick, Washington Twp. 10:07.48
4×100: Schalick (Allen, Eberl, Mills, Stewart) 42.86
4×400: Penns Grove (Hernandez, Young, Goodson, Garlic) 3:29.51
4×800: Clearview 8:11.30
Discus: Jayron Lewis, Williamstown 153-2
High Jump: Jayden DeLeon, Highland 6-6
Javelin: Connor Ayars, Pennsville 168-1
Long Jump: Chance Gibbons, Williamstown 20-4.25
Pole Vault: Marcus Hood, Deptford 15-0
Shot Put: Jonathan Harris, Delsea 62-3 (meet record)
Triple Jump: David Stewart, Schalick 45-0.5
GIRLS WINNERS
100: Ryan Jennings, Timber Creek 11.49
100 hurdles: Dakota Jones, Washington Twp. 15.02
200: Ryan Jennings, Timber Creek 24.21
400: Taylor Gaines, Timber Creek 59.47
400 hurdles: Dakota Jones, Washington Twp. 1:08.85
800: Lilla Porter, Clearview 2:25.66
1600: Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 4:59.06 (meet record, old record 5:03.40, Amanda Goetschius, Delsea 2007)
3200: Juliana Sieminski, Delsea 11:58.32
4×100: Kingsway 48.10
4×400: Deptford 4:13.45
4×800: Woodstown (Norman, Marino, Sterner, Seiden) 10:06.30
Discus: Hannah Nuhfer, Delsea 160-8
High Jump: Addison Inge, Williamstown 5-2
Javelin: Rainelle Blocker, Clayton 118-1
Long Jump: Timia Waters, Williamstown 17-1.5
Pole Vault: Megan Morris, Pennsville 10-0
Shot Put: Ella Karp, Washington Twp. 45-1.25
Triple Jump: Milla Pihlava, Williamstown 36-1.5
TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 3, VINELAND 2
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Jorge Alverez, 6-1, 6-1
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Christopher DeCarvalho Chanez, 6-1, 6-0
Justin Mastro (V) def. Brody Wiggins, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Asher Hill-Alex Garcia, 6-4, 6-4
Kevin Maldonado-Michael Sheftall (V) def. Ian Peacock-Carter Willis, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-8
Records: Pennsville 12-0, Vineland 11-6
WOODSTOWN 4, DEPTFORD 1
Lucius Davis (D) def. Drew Stengel, 6-3, 6-2
John Farrell (WO) def. Bradyn Gee, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0
Nicholas DeTeodoro (WO) def. Xavier Dean, 6-3, 6-0
Luke Shaw-Mason Shimp (WO) def. Zane Rauner-Tony Logan, 6-1, 6-1
Ben Stengel-Jake Lewis (WO) def. Chase Umbra-Olaoluwa Gureje, 6-2, 6-1
Records: Woodstown 11-3, Deptford 12-4
PITMAN 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Chase Pogozelski (P) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-0, 6-1
Nolan Russell (P) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-2, 6-0
Jaron Scull (P) def. Anthony Pacheco, 6-4, 6-2
Ben Williams-Jonah Raymer (P) def. Adan Gonzalez-Rene Ruiz, 6-2, 6-2
Liam Etter-Spencer Bianchini (P) def. Juan Ortiz-Jesus Arredondo, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Pitman 4-12, Penns Grove 2-6
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown 13, Clearview 8: Jaime Deal scored four goals and Emma Morgan and Blair Baldi had three each for the Wolverines.
Field of screams
Pennsville takes advantage of two infield errors to score the winning run in the eighth inning, beat Pitman to take upper hand in Classic Division
WEDNESDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 2, Pitman 1 (8 inns.)
Pennsauken Tech 4, Woodstown 2
Schalick 11, Penns Grove 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Matt Karr knows he doesn’t have the prettiest baseball field in the game. Heck, it doesn’t even have grass on an infield that’s as hard as the parking lot and he’s not altogether sure he’d want it if offered the chance. But for all of its agronomic challenges, the Pennsville coach wouldn’t trade what he’s got for the most manicured sea of green in the major leagues.
The Eagles have one of the few skin infields still in regular high school use. Umpires have remarked on its appearance when they’ve shown up to work a game at Ed Rieger Field for the first time. Elite infielders have tried to stand their ground and been brought to their knees.
Pennsville’s “home field advantage” claimed another victim Wednesday afternoon. The Eagles took advantage of errors by two normally sure-handed middle infielders in the eighth inning to push across the winning run in a 2-1 victory over Pitman that split the season series and gave them the upper hand in the Tri-County Classic Division.
“It is what it is, it’s our field and I try to get these guys to buy into lovin’ it,” Karr said. “Your home is where you are. It may not be the prettiest, it may not be the best, but it’s yours.
“I told them in the outfield today we get an opportunity to practice on this field every day, we know what to expect. We know that it’s rock solid. Ever since I played here, it’s the same thing. Use it to your advantage. Even offensively we tell these guys focus on hitting the ball down and hard, down and hard. Make them field the ball. Fly balls are easy to catch. Hard ground balls on this are not so easy to play.”
The infield does take its toll. Earlier this week Mason O’Brien and Stevie Fatcher collided in a drill near first base. O’Brien emerged with a big scrape down his back and Karr wanted to know if Fatcher did it to him. O’Brien said no, it was the field when he slid along the ground.
The field can be so harsh previous players have come to call it “The Parking Lot.” A couple years ago while they were repainting the dugouts to match the color scheme of the surrounding school buildings one of the players referred to it as “The Yard” because it reminded him of what you see at recess in prison movies.
“Aesthetically it’s not the prettiest baseball field in South Jersey,” Karr said, with assistant coach Ryan Wood asserting nearby it’s 100 times better than it was in their day. “But it’s ours and we love it.
“Everybody loves home games. I love being here at Ed Rieger Field. We’re comfortable here and we get the advantage of playing here every single day. This is our field. Learn how to play it. That’s part of having home field advantages.”
The infield also played a role in the Eagles’ tying run in the seventh when Wood raced home on a pitch that bounced in the dirt and got away.
“This infield’s tough,” Luke Wood said. “The ball’s gonna skid. It’s pretty much concrete solid. You field on it every day and trust your glove so even if you do boot one it’s not the end of the world.”
It was for the Panthers.
Pennsville was down to its last out when it put together the winning rally. Mason O’Brien got it started by drawing a walk and moving into scoring position on a wild pitch.
It brought Wood to plate seeking his 100th career hit. The storybook ending would have to wait. Wood pulled a ball to second that got on Drew Keefe quick and caught a piece of his shoe to prevent the winning run for scoring. Logan Streitz followed with a grounder to short that got under Hudson Rue allowing O’Brien to score the winning run.
“Sometimes the ball bounces the wrong way for you, right,” Pitman coach John Hopely said. “They’re two solid guys who have been in the varsity lineup since they’ve been freshmen, both of them. Routine ground balls they probably make 999 times out of a 1,000. It’s unfortunate it happened for them. They’re going to have to eat that one for a little bit; we’ll get them ready to play on Friday.”
“Our infield isn’t the best so you have to take advantage of that,” said Streitz, who got a water bucket bath from his teammates in the outfield after the game. “Other teams come here with better infields and when they come to ours it’s rock solid so you don’t know where the ball’s going. The more you sit back, the more bad hops you’ll get so you’ve got to kind of change the ball or you’ll just get eaten up on the play.”
Wood and Rue were locked in a classic pitching duel for most of the game.
The left-handed Wood had to come out with two outs in the seventh after reached his pitch limit down 1-0 from the run Pitman scored in the first. He gave up six hits and struck out seven, but he stayed in at second base to keep his bat in the game.
Rue came out after six innings for Nick Watson in a typical piece of Pitman strategy. Rue gave up four hits and struck out six on 81 pitches.
The run Wood allowed in the first came after a protracted duel between him and leadoff man Rue over at first base. Wood threw over several times in an attempt to pick off his opposite number and it looked like he got him on one of the attempts.
“My whole thing is in that first inning if I give up a runner, which happens an awful lot, I try to pick off a bunch,” Wood said. “I’m trying to help my catcher out and make it as easy for him, too. I thought I had him.”
But Rue was ruled safe, even after the umpires conferred, and eventually stole second. He scored on a single by Aiden Stranahan. It was the only run of the game until the seventh inning – when the field had its say.
The Eagles (9-5, 5-1) now hold a one-game lead over the Panthers (12-7, 5-2) in the loss column with two winnable division games to play (at Wildwood Thursday and at Salem May 14). They’re looking for their fourth straight piece of the division crown and first outright since 2023.
Historic seeding
Salem CC pulls down No. 4 baseball tournament seed, first home playoff series since revival of the program
REGION 19 DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
Saturday’s Games
No. 8 Montgomery County (14-17) at No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester (45-4)
No. 5 Middlesex (30-18) at No. 4 Salem (25-24)
No. 6 Camden (26-15) at No. 3 RCSJ-Cumberland (29-15)
No. 7 Northampton (21-18) at No. 2 Brookdale (35-8)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – In the end it was all about the numbers and the extra game made all the difference for the Salem CC baseball team.
The Mighty Oaks left last weekend’s series with the fourth-best record in region play, but because of a quirk in the schedule were uncertain where they’d fall in the Division III region tournament seedings.
The tournament committee made it easy, seeding straight down the line based on winning percentage regardless of the number of games played. It installed the Mighty Oaks as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, their first home playoff date since the revival of the program in 2019.
They will host fifth-seeded Middlesex (30-18) and open the tournament with a noon nine-inning doubleheader Saturday at the Carneys Point Rec Complex. A sweep sends them to the Final Four at Rutgers-Camden starting May 15, a split forces a decisive Game 3 Sunday at noon. The Mighty Oaks took two of three from the Colts in early April.
“It’s exciting,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “I wasn’t anticipating it. Now we just have to take advantage of it.”
“I’m just excited for John and his team that they earned the opportunity to host,” athletics director Bob Hughes said. “It’s a testament to the work John has done for the last several years and what the team did this year to be in a position to be in the top quadrant of the region. It’s a great thing for the institution. It’s another sign of the progress that’s been made in Salem athletics.”
The Mighty Oaks finished 25-24 overall and 18-13 in region play, the 31st region game the result of unbalanced schedule created by two teams opting out of the master schedule after it had been established and agreed upon.
They were alone with 18 wins, but among four teams with 13 losses. If the committee seeded off the 13 losses, the Mighty Oaks would have opened the tournament on the road.
“You hope you can control what you can control in the variables but at the end of the day when we didn’t get the job done this weekend we left it up to the committee to make the decision,” Holt said. “We were obviously worried about that, not sure what was going to happen.
“We won 18 games, there’s got to be something to be said about that.”
“Winning percentage is the top priority and we had the best winning percentage (among the 13-loss teams),” Hughes said. “Ultimately our winning percentage won out.”
Because they are the host team, the Mighty Oaks will be the home team in all the games played this weekend. They were 11-10 at home this season, 22-18 over the last two years. Last season they opened the playoffs on the road and lost the series to Northampton two games to one.
“I think we play better at home,” Holt said. “Home field advantage is a real thing in baseball. Our guys call it ‘The Treehouse’ for a reason; they feel a certain kind of way about where they play. Hopefully they’ll be excited to host a playoff game and have that little bit of extra energy because of it.”
Middlesex has won 30 games for the fourth year in a row. They have one of the top power pitchers in the country in right-hander Ryan Rzepinski (5-1, 4.20 ERA, 79Ks/45 IP). He beat the Mighty Oaks on April 5, fanning 10 over six innings. The Colts earned by fifth seed by virtue of their series win over Camden, the sixth seed.
The Mighty Oaks will attack them with a lineup that includes the four Centurions – four batters with 100 career hits (Yen Rodriguez, Demetrius DeRamus, Matt Murphy and Angel Velez) – and the region’s second-leading RBI producer in Division III (Murphy) and the region leader in ERA (projected Game 2 starter Jared Vandersteur, 2.98)
“We’ve got to play better baseball than we’ve bene playing, bit I think these three days off is what we needed to kind of reset and get back at it,” Holt said.
Schalick clinches
Pokrovsky sharp against Woodstown again, Cougars win Elmer Classic, clinch TCC Diamond Division crown
TUESDAY BASEBALL
Schalick 5, Woodstown 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
ELMER — It wasn’t a perfect game. Or a no-hitter. It wasn’t even a complete game. But in a lot of respects Schalick senior Luke Pokrovsky pitched better Tuesday night against Woodstown than he did in his perfect game against them in his first start of the season.
Pokrovsky faced the Wolverines for the second time this season in the 13th Elmer Classic. The first time he threw a five-inning perfect game. This time, he gave up one hit and struck out 13 in six innings of a 5-0 win at the Elmer LL complex.
“I feel like I threw better than opening day,” the senior southpaw said. “I don’t think they were ready to face me opening day and I feel like I had more competition at the plate (tonight). They were fouling off my stuff, I wanted to keep going and keep coming at them.”
Pokrovsky lost his bid for a second perfect game on a third-inning walk to Chase Harding; it ended a string of 21 consecutive Wolverines he retired over a seven-inning stretch. He lost the no-hitter in the fourth on Harding’s solid two-out single to left.
The only reason he didn’t finish was he threw 99 pitches and reached his five-day limit after throwing 13 pitches Monday to close out Overbrook.
“Woodstown was a little off (the first time) … they had an opportunity to make adjustments, so it made it more challenging (in his mind) to actually go out there and throw,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “It was more impressive and he was more effective because he had to work a lot harder, I think, this time around.”
The Wolverines (10-5) put eight balls in play in this game, twice as many as they did in the perfect game.
“Not every game I’m going to get a perfect game or a no-hitter,” Pokrovsky said. “It’s fine. I flushed it (giving up the hit) and kept going.”
Even when the Wolverines threatened it didn’t faze him. The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out in the third inning on a pair of walks and a failed fielder’s choice, but the Penn signee fanned Rocco String with high heat for the second out and got Ty Coblentz on a deep fly to left to end the inning.
The Wolverines put two on with two outs in the fourth, then grounded sharply to third to end the inning.
“I knew they were on my off-speed and I wanted to stick with the same fastball,” the pitcher said. “I’ve faced Rocco a bunch of times the past three years and he loves the high fastball. He’s a good hitter, but I had to go high fastball. I just wanted to see if he would chase and he got it (to swing at).”
“He didn’t let things frustrate him,” O’Brien said. “You could tell by his body language he was going to go after the guy and get him. It wasn’t like, oh it’s not going my way, he was like no I’m going to get out of that situation. That’s what his body language said to me in that moment.”
Pokrovsky had a lot of incentive to pitch well. It was Schalick’s Senior Night and the pitcher’s two older brothers, both of whom are/were Division I players, came to watch him play for the first time this season. Woodstown won the last two Elmer Classic games and last year the Wolverines roughed him up for six runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“Our main goal before the season started was to beat Woodstown and sweep Woodstown due to them beating us the past three years,” he said. “That was our main goal every single time. We practiced right before we were like we’ve got to beat Woodstown. Stay up, stay positive, we have to come out on top.”
Just as they did in the first meeting, the Cougars took the early lead, just not as pronounced. They scored 10 in the first inning of the first game. On this night they led 3-0 after two innings.
They scored one in the first on Lucas D’Agostino’s RBI double and two in the second when Eli Cummings dropped a soft RBI single into right field and Pokrovsky stretched a similarly soft flare to right into a double to score Cummings.
It stayed 3-0 until the sixth when Ricky Watt launched a two-run homer to left. It was the sophomore catcher’s first homer of this regular season and second of his career.
“I was swinging a little out of my shoes all night, but I came up and tried to help out the team,” Watt said. “I was just trying to be aggressive, anything in the zone I was swinging.
“I played Little League on every field here and I’ve been watching the Elmer games that Schalick’s played for just as many years. It’s definitely special to be able to hit one for myself. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.”
Almost overlooked in Pokrovsky’s performance and raising the Classic trophy was the fact with the win the Cougars (12-1) clinched their first Tri-County Conference Diamond Division title since 2021. Before then it had been 25 years since they won a pennant. They have one more division game left, Wednesday at Penns Grove.
“I was thinking they had (clinched) a share and then was, wait a second, they (Woodstown) have two losses in the division, we beat them both times, we’ve got one (game) left, so yeah we definitely clinched,” O’Brien said. “We won it back in 2021 but before that I’m thinking it was since ‘96 we won it. It was an accomplishment these guys had from the start, so I’m glad that they’ve reached one of their goals.”
NOTES: Since the winning team started being engraved on the trophy in 2012, Schalick leads the series 8-5 … This was Schalick’s third shutout win in the Elmer game since 2012 … All five seniors started for the Cougars … Woodstown had won five in a row, outscoring its opponents 47-7 in the stretch … The Cougars return to Elmer Friday night to play Salem, then they’re to Cooperstown where they’ll tour the Baseball Hall of Fame and play Bridgeton on Doubleday Field Monday .
Woodstown takes softball
TUESDAY SOFTBALL
Woodstown 13, Schalick 3
Salem 21, LEAP 6
On the softball side of the Classic, Woodstown cast all its pressure aside and played loose and it resulted in what Wolverines coach Rob Hildebrand called its “best game of the year” in a 13-3 win over the Cougars.
The Wolverines collected 12 hits and broke it open with a seven-run second inning. Hanna Hitchner highlighted the outburst with a three-run triple.
Ellie Wygand went 3-for-4 and like Hitchner had three RBIs. Shyann Higinbotham, whose dad Rick is Schalick’s head coach, had two hits and two RBIs, while Kendall Young had two hits and Talia Guardiscione had two RBIs.
“That’s a big win, huge win,” Hildebrand said. “Best game all year with hitting the ball. We have not hit the ball like that. We’re in midseason form now, waiting all year.”
Salem County Monday
Here are the results of Monday’s Salem County sports action
BASEBALL
Pennsville 14, Clayton 6: Luke Wood 5 RBIs; Jeff Wagner, Logan Streitz each 2 hits, 2 RBIs; Pennsville can claim a share of TCC Classic Division with win over Pitman Wednesday
Schalick 4, Overbrook 2: Lucas D’Agostino scattered six hits, fanned nine in six innings, Luke Pokrovsky fanned two in his closing inning, passed 300 career Ks; Ricky Watt, Pokrovsky 3 hits each; Schalick can claim TCC Diamond Division title with win over Woodstown Tuesday at Elmer LL
Glassboro 12, Penns Grove 1: The Bulldogs took a no-hitter into the fifth. Alex Paz drove in Penns Grove’s run.
Pitman 10, Salem 0: Two pitchers combined on one-hitter; Nick Watson HR, Hudson Rue 4 RBIs.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville 20, Clayton 4: Lily Edwards 4 hits, 4 RBIs; every starter had at least one hit in Eagles’ 21-hit attack.
Glassboro 24, Penns Grove 9: Scarlett Saicic 3 doubles, 6 RBIs. Penns Grove had a season-high runs
Pitman 14, Salem 1: Jess Bretz’ grand slam highlighted Panthers’ 14-run second inning; Isla Bohn 3 hits for Salem.
Schalick 12, Overbrook 8: Cougars erupt for nine runs in last two innings. Cloe Elliott 3×5, 5 RBIs; Maddie Brown 5×5, 3 RBIs.
GOLF
Schalick’s Jaxon Weber posted a 6-over-par 78 and finished tied for seventh in the South Jersey Group I sectional, but didn’t finish high enough to advance to the state group championship. The Cougars finished 12th as a team (365). Woodstown was 13th (375). Jack Bucksar and Erich Lipovsky had Woodstown’s low rounds (86).
Triton 194, Salem Tech 226
TENNIS
Deptford 3, Woodstown 2
LACROSSE
Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown
VOLLEYBALL
Highland 2, Salem Tech 0 (25-18, 25-18)
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC 15, Atlantic Cape 4
This week’s schedule
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 5-11; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted
MAY 5
BASEBALL
Clayton at Pennsville
Overbrook at Schalick
Penns Grove at Glassboro
Salem at Pitman
SOFTBALL
Clayton at Pennsville
Glassboro at Penns Grove
Pitman at Salem
Schalick at Overbrook
GOLF
Salem Tech vs. Triton, Sakima CC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Deptford at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Burlington Twp., Green Acres Park
LACROSSE
Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown
VOLLEYBALL
Highland at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Atlantic Cape CC, 3:30 p.m.
MAY 6
BASEBALL
Pilgrim Academy at Salem
Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
LEAP at Salem
Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Delsea, Centerton CC
Schalick girls in State Championship, Rutgers
TENNIS
Highland at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Kingsway at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Wildwood at Schalick
TRACK
Woodstown at Penns Grove
MAY 7
BASEBALL
Pitman at Pennsville
Woodstown at Pennsauken Tech, 3:45 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Pitman
TENNIS
Vineland at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Woodstown at Deptford, 3:45 p.m.
Pitman at Penns Grove
TRACK
Tri-County Conference Meet, Delsea, 3 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Clearview at Woodstown
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Riverside, 3:45 p.m.
MAY 8
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Wildwood, 3:45 p.m.
Salem at Clayton
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Overbrook
SOFTBALL
Overbrook at Woodstown
Pennsville at Wildwood
Penns Grove at Schalick
GOLF
Salem Tech vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Gloucester Catholic, Centerton CC
Schalick girls vs. Washington Twp. Centerton CC
Woodstown vs. Highland, Valley Brook CC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
GCIT at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick at Washington Twp.
Williamstown at Penns Grove
MAY 9
BASEBALL
Millville at Pennsville
South Hunterdon at Penns Grove, 4:15 p.m.
Salem vs. Schalick at Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Clayton at Salem
Pennsville at Paulsboro
Schalick at Haddonfield
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Overbrook, Kresson GC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Schalick at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Clearview
LACROSSE
Vineland at Woodstown
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Washington Twp.
MAY 10
BASEBALL
Lee Ware Tournament, Woodstown
Washington Twp. at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
Camden Catholic at Cherry Hill East, 10 a.m.
Consolation game, noon
Championship game, noon
SOFTBALL
Pennsville in Pitman Tournament
Woodstown in Williamstown Tournament
GIRLS LACROSSE
Haddon Heights at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC in Region 19 Tournament, TBA
Out of their hands
Salem CC baseball swept by Ocean Saturday, still holds No. 4 spot by winning percentage but tournament committee determines seeding
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — It set up to be a day of celebration, but at the end of it the Salem CC baseball team left with more questions than answers about their playoff future.
The Mighty Oaks needed to win just one game in Saturday’s home doubleheader with Ocean to solidify its hold on the fourth-best record in the Region 19 Division III standings and a presumptive home series in the opening round of the region playoffs.
Instead, they were swept out to sea by the Vikings 6-5 in eight innings and 17-9 to put a damper on their Sophomore Day festivities and uncertainty into their postseason plans.
“We struggled,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We struggled beginning to end today. We couldn’t really put it together.
“It’s disappointing. I think we’re a better baseball team than what we’ve shown the last couple games, but the new season starts next week. Season No. 2. Anything can happen at that point.”
They still locked up the fourth-best region record (18-13), only thanks to Bergen’s 23-16 win over Middlesex in Game 1 of their wild doubleheader, but whether that translates into the No. 4 seed and a first-round hosting opportunity is a matter left for the seeding committee, and they’re not expected to act until the final two games that most assuredly will impact the standings are played Monday.
And there’s a big question that hangs over the proceedings. Because of a quirk in the schedule, created by two teams that opted into the master schedule and then pulled out after it was completed, Salem and RCSJ-Cumberland played 31 region games or one more than the other six tournament teams.
Does the committee leave the standings as is, based on winning percentage, giving Salem a half-game edge over Middlesex, Camden and possibly Northampton (which has two winnable games at Union Monday) or does it make a ruling on the odd game and seed the field off a 30-game result? And if they take the odd game out, which game do they choose — the 31st, which in Salem’s case would give it an even better record and a full game edge over the potential three teams behind it? Do they base the seedings on the losses?
In a four-way tie among the 13-loss teams, under traditional tiebreaker procedures, Camden would be 4 and Salem would be 5 (based on best record among the remaining three)
“I think the region’s going to have to rule on that,” Holt said. “I’m sure it’s going to come down to the best team losses as opposed to the wins. I’m real curious to see what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s kind of up in the air.
“We didn’t exactly make it easy. We had the route, all we had to do was win a game. They knew that and we didn’t get it done.”
And they had the early lead in both games.
They took a 4-1 lead in the third inning of the opener, but couldn’t hold it. Sebi Susinno’s RBI single in the seventh put the Vikings ahead and the Mighty Oaks needed Matt Murphy’s two-out RBI single in the home half to force extra innings. Anthony Eckerson’s single up the middle put Ocean ahead 6-5 in the eighth.
The Mighty Oaks scored four in the first inning of the nightcap, highlighted by RBI doubles from Yen Rodriguez, Murphy and Angel Velez, but the Vikings answered with six in the second and scored in every inning through the sixth. Tom Laspina led the Vikings’ 15-hit attack against four Salem pitchers with four hits and five RBIs.
After the doubleheader the Salem program recognized its 16 sophomores.
“This group is a special group,” Holt said. “Arguably the most successful sophomores that the school has had in a very, very long time.
“I attribute them to helping build our culture. I’ve been a believer my entire career that good teams come and go but culture stays. This group took huge steps in building the culture that we’re trying to build at Salem. They’re a special bunch.”
Photo: The heart of Salem CC’s lineup — (from left) Matt Murphy, Angel Velez, Demetrius DeRamus and Yen Rodriguez — were among the sophomores celebrated by the program Saturday. Look for Rodriguez to join the other three with 100 hits in a Salem uniform before the season ends. (Photo by Haylee Pickrell).
Region 19 Division III Playoff Field
| TEAMS | REG | ALL |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 30-0 | 45-4 |
| Brookdale | 24-6 | 35-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 21-10 | 29-15 |
| Salem | 18-13 | 24-24 |
| xy-Middlesex | 17-13 | 30-18 |
| z-Camden | 17-13 | 26-15 |
| Northampton | 15-13 | 21-18 |
| Montgomery | 13-17 | 14-17 |
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Ocean 6-18, Salem 5-9
RCSJ-Gloucester 17-13, RCSJ-Cumberland 3-2
Bergen 23-18, Middlesex 16-20
Montgomery 10-6, Delaware County 5-10
MONDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Atlantic Cape
Northampton at Union (2)
Riverview Sports News 