Rodriguez to miss Salem CC’s home softball doubleheader Friday with medical issue; baseball drops two close games at Northampton
THURSDAY BASEBALL
Northampton 6-4, Salem CC 5-2, Gm 1, 8 inns.
THURSDAY SOFTBALL
Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester, ppd.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
The Salem CC softball team returns to the field Friday for a home doubleheader with Bucks County CC in which it will be heavily favored, but will be without its leader for the foreseeable future after fourth-year head coach Angel Rodriguez suffered what he described as “basically a mini heart attack” Thursday morning.
Rodriguez, 29 with no history of heart issues, said trouble arose “very sudden” as he worked in his office. He said he felt his chest tighten and began to sweat. He credited a co-worker with recognizing the warning signs and acting quickly on his behalf. He was transported from campus and was expected to remain hospitalized at least into Friday.
The Mighty Oaks were scheduled to play a doubleheader at RCSJ-Gloucester Thursday, but those games were postponed.
Rodriguez sent a text to the players later in the day to provide them “some clarity” on the situation.
“They were definitely a little concerned and worried,” he said Thursday night. “I think them being able to hear from me was a good sign. I don’t want them to stop their progress and what they’re doing. I told them to carry on, to play hard and win.”
Assistant coaches Mackenzie Freas, Chris Watson and Josie Bryszerwski will collectively coach the team until Rodriguez returns.
“I have all the faith in them,” the head coach said. “I know they’re going to get them right.”
Freas put the team through what Watson described as a “really good” practice Thursday.
“We just wanted to get the girls together and make sure everybody was good and they had everybody to learn on,” Watson said. “Just to get them all together was important.”
The doubleheader with Bucks is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Rodriguez suspects his doctors will probably discourage it, but he’ll somehow try to find a way to follow the games. The Mighty Oaks have an even bigger doubleheader scheduled Sunday at Delaware Tech.
“I’m sure it’s going to be emotional,” Watson said of Friday’s doubleheader. “We’re going to ask them to play with some intensity and focus for him.”
Baseball: Mighty Oaks swept
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Mighty Oaks were hoping to carry the momentum of a walk-off run-rule win in the series opener into Thursday’s doubleheader, but Northampton had other ideas.
The Spartans swept the twin bill in two close games, winning the opener 6-5 in extra innings and taking the nightcap 4-2.
Northampton scored the winning run in the opener on a passed ball with two outs in the eighth inning. Kyle Stoner opened the inning by reaching on an infield error. He was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ball that got away from catcher Trevor Hernandez.
The Mighty Oaks tied the game 5-5 with three in the sixth. Hernandez had an RBI single and Aiden Nestor tied it with a one-out two-run single. They had bases loaded with one out in the seventh, but couldn’t get the runs home.
Tyler Hacker, Roman Hernandez and Nestor all had two hits for Salem in the game.
Jared Diefenbach held the Mighty Oaks to two hits in the nightcap, but the first was sophomore Jason LeBold’s two-run homer in the third that gave Salem a 2-0 lead. Diefenbach retired the first seven he faced before Jacob Sharrow walked in advance of LeBold’s first college homer (77 at-bats). Hacker had Salem’s other hit.
Northampton cut its deficit in half in the fifth, then scored three in the sixth to take the lead. Matthew Tankred’s two-run homer with two outs broke a 2-2 tie.
Riverview Sports News 