Big inning carries Salem Tech softball to its most impressive win of inaugural season; also, scores and highlights from Monday’s Salem County sports action
SOFTBALL
Salem Tech 22, Buena 7, 4 inns.
Schalick 17, Gloucester County Christian 1
BASEBALL
Salem Tech 15, Pilgrim Academy 5
GOLF
Woodstown 174, Wildwood 242
Salem Tech 157, Clayton 159
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The schedule makers at Salem Tech laid out a calendar for all their newest teams this year that was built for competitive games and first-year success.
The difficult thing is you can’t predict the improvement or success some of those teams might make from the projection when they’re scheduled to the time they actually play the game.
The Chargers softball team faced an opponent with by far the best won-loss record of any they’ve faced so far this season, but they handled it just as they had most all of the others they’ve played so far.
It was tough at the start, but they recovered more than nicely and eventually overran Buena 22-7 in a game that ended in the fourth inning. It was their eighth win in nine games as a varsity program and sixth in a row.
“If you would’ve asked me on March 9, our first day of practice, if you’d be 8-1 on April 20, I’d be shocked,” Chargers coach Pat Fisher said. “But as we’ve gone on each day, our goal is to be one percent better. We’ve been doing that.
“With this being our inaugural season, we don’t even know what we don’t know. We haven’t played anybody, we don’t have a history with anyone, we just come in and play hard. One thing I like about the team is when the other team scores and punches us, we punch back. All year we’ve been able to answer. I think that’s been the secret to our success.”
The game laid out as the first serious test of the Chargers’ legitimacy. They had risen to No. 8 in the South Jersey Group 2 power points standings, but had only played two and beaten one team with a winning record heading into Monday. Buena, meanwhile, started the season with an 11-game winning streak and was No. 7 in South Jersey Group 1.
Like all of the Chargers’ new teams this school year, the softball team is playing as an independent before joining the Tri-County Conference during next year’s scheduling cycle, but is eligible for the playoffs.
“We’re making history for a first-year team,” pitcher Izzy Roberts said.
The Chargers went down 6-0 before even coming to bat and when they finally did bat their first five hitters in the lineup, a group batting a collective .616 (69 for 112) with 66 RBIs entering the game, went down without a hit.
Some teams might have continued to spiral, but the Chargers don’t do that. Roberts threw up a zero in the top of the second and her hitters came in and erupted for 15 runs in the bottom of the inning.
They batted around twice and then some, sending 20 batters to the plate. They batted around before the Chiefs recorded an out. There six hits, seven walks and three hit batsmen. Even the first two outs produced runs. Eight players scored in the inning and seven scored twice. Shelby Drummond, the leading hitter in the county, had a two-run single and a two-run double. Claire Kier had two hits and Kaitlyn Liber walked three times.
They walked it off with six runs in the fourth, capped by a two-run, two-out single from Shelby Liber, the tenth batter of the inning.
“I thought it was really great,” Drummond said of the second-inning outburst. “I’m happy that my team exploded. Once one person gets going, that’s when we all start getting fired up and we all just get hits right after that. That’s one thing with us Chargers, we never give up. We always keep fighting.”
Buena sent 10 batters to the plate in the first. Jen Agosto had the big hit of the inning, a bases-loaded triple to make it 5-0. Callie Grabowski’s RBI single made it 6-0, but after that Roberts allowed only one hit, one run (on a ball that got past the catcher on a ball four) and four base runners. The Chiefs scored most of their runs after the Chargers turned a nifty double play on the bases, nailing runners at second and the plate.
“I was proud of the girls that they went down six and didn’t pack it in, they didn’t give up,” Fisher said. “They were finding barrels and staying aggressive. When you’re aggressive in the batter’s box good things will happen. We knew that team was 11-2, so they were capable of a big inning. We play them (again) in two weeks; we’ve got to be ready. Today was our day.”
| Buena (11-3) | 600 | 1- | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Salem Tech (8-1) | 0(15)1 | 6- | 22 | 12 | 1 |
SCHALICK 17, GLOUCESTER CO. CHRISTIAN 1: Emily Miller hit her first career home run and was among six Cougars with a pair of RBIs
Miller hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Schalick a 3-0 lead. The Cougars broke it open with nine in the second inning. The first 14 hitters of the inning reached safely. Alexa Shimp had a two-run triple in the frame.
Noelani Whitley and Addi Shimp combined on a three-hitter in the four-inning game. They each struck out five.
Baseball
SALEM TECH 15, PILGRIM ACADEMY 5: Daulton Sites and Logan Hearn had three hits apiece and Brayden McAlister drove in three runs.
The Chargers jumped out with three runs in the first inning, then broke it open with four in the third. Three Salem Tech pitchers allowed six hits and struck out 13. Bryce Harris worked the first 4 1/3 innings to get the win.
Golf
WOODSTOWN 174, WILDWOOD 242: Logan Jones played his final four holes in even par and shot 4-over 39 to win medalist honors and lead the Wolverines to victory at Town & Country Golf Links. The Wolverines also counted a trio of 45s from Chris Porreca and freshmen Jacob Tocco and Bradley Heck.
SALEM TECH 157, CLAYTON 159: Clayton’s Kyle Lex (34) and Noah Crewalk (37) posted the two lowest scores at par-28 The Birches, but Salem Tech’s fourth, fifth and sixth seeds – Avery Dalton, Daniel Atanasio and Hannah Kormann – all shot 39 to lead the Chargers to the victory. The Chargers also counted a 40 from 1-seed Cohen Sutton.
Riverview Sports News 