A turning point?

Salem CC baseball gets back on winning track; softball erupts for record 50 runs in doubleheader sweep at Raritan Valley

FRIDAY BASEBALL
Salem CC 12, Middlesex 7
FRIDAY SOFTBALL
Salem CC 23-27, Raritan Valley 1-1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – John Holt knows good his Salem CC baseball team can be if it ever played to its potential. He just had to convince them of that.

Giving up 71 runs in the last three games has a way of sapping a team’s confidence, but it’s nothing a good ol’ heart-to-heart can’t fix.

That’s the approach the Mighty Oaks took earlier this week after three atrocious outings on the road against Montgomery County and Brookdale. A day after a 21-5 shelling at Brookdale, Holt brought the fellas together for a two-way talk about what has been happening and why, what needed to change and what lies ahead (a playoff berth if they can right the ship).

What followed, everyone in the organization agreed, was two of the best practices the team has had all year and it culminated in a 12-7 series opening win over Middlesex at The Treehouse Friday.

“We had a talk early this week after that Brookdale game and the guys really came together,” Holt said. “The leadership really stepped up and they made the decision that we had to make some changes energy wise and accountability wise and these guys really stepped up and had, honestly, the best two practices of the year getting ready for this.

“We preach one day at a time here, but it’s one game at a time and one step at a time. If these guys play the way they’re capable of playing, we’ve got a shot. We had to remind them who they were and what kind of ballclub they can be and they showed it. They’re a good baseball team when we play baseball and we don’t give things away and keep things routine.”

The Mighty Oaks came out hot. They batted around in the home first to score six runs, brushing off the run Middlesex got in the top of the inning, and never trailed again.

Six of the first eight batters reached base and scored. The two that didn’t hit a sacrifice fly (Colin McLaughlin) and a two-run single (Aidan Nestor). Then they added three more runs in the second on Rocco String’s RBI double and McLaughlin’s two-run single.

The Mighty Oaks pounded 13 hits in the game. Roman Hernandez had four (and two RBIs). Nestor had a career-high three (and three RBIs). McLaughlin and Tyler Hacker both had two. McLaughlin started at third after it was learned Jay Barber was involved in a car crash earlier in the day. Barber hoped to rejoin the team in time for Saturday’s doubleheader at Middlesex.

“The energy was just different,” freshman pitcher Nick Reckard said. 

“Honestly, it just started at practice, we started building off that practice,” Nestor said. “We had a few good I/Os, stuff like that, it started getting loud and after it was like, all right, we gotta go all in. We’re like burn the board, we gotta go all in, into each game, one by one, and just compete. Coach Holt believes in us and he reminded us after Brookdale. We built off the energy of each other and competed for the whole nine (innings) and good things ended up happening.”

Sophomore Seth McCormick started for the Mighty Oaks. He pitched into the sixth inning, giving up six runs on six hits, walking or hitting five and striking out six before coming out in the middle of a count with an elbow injury of some concern. The players all wore pink wrist wraps during the game in support of McCormick’s seriously ill mother.

Louie Rivera and Reckard followed McCormick to the mound. Rivera finished the sixth, retired the side in order in the seventh and faced two batters in the eighth. Reckard finished the eighth and then ninth, giving up two hits in 1 2/3 innings that was his best outing since throwing four scoreless inning against weak Delaware County on March 24.

“It was refreshing, for sure,” Reckard said. “It was refreshing to go out there and throw the ball good. I felt like the two games I struggled with I was throwing good, I just didn’t hit my spots. To get that and for my coach to trust me, it was awesome. It’s definitely a confidence booster.”

Middlesex	102	003	010-	7	8	1
Salem CC	631	001	10x-	12	13	4

Softball

BRANCHBURG — The Mighty Oaks had another record-setting doubleheader when they swept Raritan Valley 23-1 and 27-1.

The 50 runs are the most they’ve scored in a doubleheader since the revival of the program, eclipsing the 46 runs they scored in a sweep of Morris on March 28.

Lilly Peverelle had three hits and three RBIs in the opener and Emme Witter hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to complete a five RBI game. Raegan Wilson and Savannah Palvarento combined on a three-hitter in the circle.

The nightcap belonged to Palverento. She had three hits and four RBIs, hitting a two-run homer and two-run single in the 13-run first inning, and pitched the first two innings in the circle.

Palverento and Witter combined on a five-inning two-hitter and faced only two over the minimum. Palverento gave up a leadoff single, then retired the next six batters in a row. Witter struck out the first five she faced before yielding a double.

Sawyer Simmons went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and scored five runs. Ava Ortiz also went 3-for-3 and Jalyn Rambally also had three hits.

Salem CC	269	24-	23	11	2
Raritan Valley	000	01-	1	3	6

Salem CC	(13)76	10-	27	16	0
Raritan Valley	100	00-	1	2	5