Here are the Salem County qualifiers for Wednesday’s Meet of Champions and the result they posted in Saturday’s Group I state meet
NJSIAA MEET OF CHAMPIONS QUALIFIERS
Wednesday, Pennsauken H.S.
BOYS
400: Josh Crawford, Woodstown 50.24; 3. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 50.25
800: Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:55.64
110 Hurdles: Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 14.90
4×800: Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford) 8:05.23
4×400: Woodstown (Anthony Costello, Karson Chew, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:23.10; Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Luis Colon, Kylee Goodson) 3:27.28
Javelin: Gary Simonini, Schalick 168-11
High Jump: Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-2
Discus: Ethan McLean, Schalick 144-8
Long Jump: Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-10.75; Danny Knight, Pennsville 22-2.25
GIRLS
Long Jump: Ramiyah Jones, Salem 17-8
Javelin: Naveah Robinson, Schalick 120-10
Triple Jump: Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-11
High Jump: Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2
Month: May 2026
Wolverines double up
Woodstown 4×800, 4×400 relay teams win Group 1 titles on final day of state meet, Crawford becomes one of Salem County’s winningest state champions, Penns Grove’s Garlic wins 110 hurdles; Wolverines second in team standings, Penns Grove T-4
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SOMERSET – Woodstown’s “Four Horseman” boys 4×800 relay team that was making headlines and smashing records from the first day somebody got the bright idea three years ago to put them on the track together ran their final Group 1 race as a unit Saturday and went out on their terms – leaving the pack in their dust.
The celebrated quartet of Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell and Josh Crawford won their third straight Group 1 4×8 title in 8:05.23. Not as fast as last year’s winning time, but a lot faster than when they won it for the first time in 2024. They led wire-to-wire, increased their lead after every leg and won by a whopping seven seconds.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The 4×800 lead and anchor – Chew and Crawford – helped bring the Wolverines a second state title on the second day of the Group 1 meet at Franklin High School, winning the 4×400 relay in the final event of the meet. They were joined on that relay by Anthony Costello and Michael Turner and turned in a 3:23.10, more than a full second ahead of runner-up Camden, the foursome they were second to here last year. Penns Grove was third.
“Everything went well this year,” Chew said. “The first day wasn’t too eventful for us, but we woke up on the second day with fire in our blood for a win. And that’s exactly what we did.
“Everyone did their job in both races to get us two championship titles. A big shout out to our juniors on the relay who really held it down. David (Farrell) and Michael (Turner) were absolutely key parts in each relay’s win. And all of us seniors went out there and made our last state championships as memorable as we could.”
“I’m very emotional about it for those guys because of the great careers that they’ve had,” Wolverines coach Tom Mason said. “I’m very proud of them. They’re going to be hard to replace, they really are.”
Woodstown’s relay teams weren’t the only Salem County state champions crowned Saturday.
Penns Grove’s Bryan Garlic was declared the winner of the boys 110 hurdles final after race winner Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey of Camden was disqualified for going out of his lane and impeding another runner. Garlic ran a “relaxed and smooth” PR 14.90 to Dickerson-Dempsey’s 14.32.
The Penns Grove senior was going to Wednesday’s Meet of Champions anyway, but now he’s going, along with long jumper teammate Will Roy, as a state champion.
“At first I was confused because they said he was DQ’d but I didn’t really know if he was DQ’d or not because he was still on the list,” Garlic said. “At the end they said he was DQ’d, I took the first-place medal, I was happy. It didn’t feel right because he got DQ’d, but I’m still grateful to be in the position I am now.”
Garlic didn’t really see what happened in the race until he watched it on video. As the fifth seed in the final he was running in Lane 2 and the incident occurred in the middle of the track. Dickerson-Dempsey was in Lane 4 as the top seed, hit a hurdle and it moved into the adjacent lane and interfered with New Milford’s Luke Johnson in Lane 5.
The ruling wasn’t immediate. Race officials conducted an inquiry, talked with Dickerson-Dempsey about what happened and handed down a decision after several minutes had elapsed. Garlic said he spent his time trying to find an official to get a better understanding of the situation. Johnson got to re-race against the clock and ran a 15.26 in the do-over to finish second behind Garlic.
Woodstown’s relay wins were a bit more clear cut.
Chew led the 4×800 out with a 2:00.84 leg, good for a one-second lead. Marino stretched to three seconds when he passed baton and Farrell, who replaced graduated Cole Lucas this season, extended it to six seconds with splits of 57.14 and 1:04.02. Crawford brought it home against a brutally gusting headwind, posting splits of 56.58 and 1:02.13.
“To be honest with you, after Farrell’s (leg), in my head they’re going to be state champions because no one is going to catch ‘The Machine,’” Mason said, referring to Crawford. “I don’t care what town they’re front, they’re not catching The Machine with a 25-meter lead, and they didn’t. They powered through, man. It was great.”
The Wolverines were equally impressive in pulling off the 4×400, a race they really wanted after Camden took them down last year.
Anthony Costello started it off with 51.46 that had them third behind Camden and Penns Grove, but Chew got them back in front with a 49.32. They were running second when Turner passed the baton to Crawford after a PR lap. The Wolverines’ anchor was a back-and-forth battle with Camden’s Jaiden Steele down the stretch. Once he got the lead he steadily pulled away and won by more than a second to give Mason his first-ever 4×400 state title in 127 seasons of coaching track.
“The last race was something I had to prove to myself but also to other people,” Crawford said. “Not doing what I wanted to in the previous races I needed a confidence booster and prove to myself that I’m still a part of that team. I ran a 48 against Camden who we’ve gone back and forth with two years now and last year them stealing the state title by a long shot shows that our entire team had a goal in mind, we practiced consistently and we made it happen.”
With his two wins, Crawford became one of the all-time winningest state championship in Salem County history. He has now 13 indoor and outdoor state titles in his career.
“It definitely surprised me,” he said. “It’s kind of bad to say but they kind of blur together. I never thought I would even get one. I thought I would be a one event person, like the 4-x800 was my event and I didn’t see myself being a multi-event athlete winning state titles in not just the 4×8 multiple years but other events for multiple years as well.
“I think it shows that anyone can do it. I was once a 2:20 800 meter runner and barely got under 60 seconds my first time running the 400, but when you’re surrounded by the right coaches, the right teammates, any of that can come through if you have discipline and the mindset to make it happen.”
The Sacred Heart signee also qualified for the MOC with a second-place finish in the 400, but isn’t expected to run it. Saturday third-place finishers Kylee Goodson (Penns Grove 400, 0.01 behind Crawford), Gary Simonini (Schalick boys javelin) and Ramiyah Jones (Salem girls long jump) among others are expected to receive MOC wildcard spots.
The Wolverines’ Saturday showing helped them bounce back from a tough opening day to finish second in the team standings to Glassboro. They started the day in fifth place, with 14 points, 12 behind Glassboro.
“They battled after yesterday,” Mason said. “We scored 24 points within 40 minutes today. That brought us back into it.”
Garlic’s bump to the hurdles win gave Penns Grove enough points to finish tied for fourth. Metuchen claimed the girls title, winning a do-or-die 4×400 to edge Glassboro by two points.
NJSIAA GROUP I TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday’s Results
BOYS
TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 63, WOODSTOWN 52, Camden 45, PENNS GROVE 40, New Milford 40, New Providence 26, Manville 26, Wallington 20, Woodbury 19, Boonton 17, Bound Brook 16, Dayton 16, SCHALICK 15, Newark Tech-Essex 13, Shore 12, Wallkill Valley 12, Haddon Twp. 11, Kinnelon 10, Waldwick 10, Hasbrouck Heights 10, Whippany Park 9.5, PENNSVILLE 9, Florence 8, Buena 8, Midland Park 7, Indian Hills 6, Mountain Lakes 4.5, Burlington City 4, Audubon 4, McNair 4, Butler 4, Pequannock 4, Thrive Charter 3, Metuchen 2, Botoga 2, SALEM 1, Gateway 1, Highland Park 1, Empowerment 1, Verona 1, Eagle Academy 1, Saddle Brook 1.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6))
(Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions, x-projected MOC wildcard)
400: 1. Noah Seveland, Waldwick 49.87; 2. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 50.24; 3. x-Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 50.25; 4. Karson Chew, Woodstown 50.89
110 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 14.32; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 14.90
4×800: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford) 8:05.23
200: 1. Ivan Bempah, New Milford 21.79
1600: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 4:22.61
4×400: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:23.10; 3. Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Luis Colon, Kylee Goodson) 3:27.28
Shot Put: 1. Patrick Szabo, Wallington 50-6.5; 3. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 49-0; 4. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 48-6; 6. Connor Wariwanchik, Pennsville 48-2.5
Javelin: 1. Brady Shine, Hasbrouck Heights 192-4; 3. x-Gary Simonini, Schalick 168-11
Triple Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 47-8.5
High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-4; 4. x-Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-2
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES: Metuchen 56, Glassboro 54, Audubon 47, Shore 39, Verona 33, Haddon Twp. 31, Delaware Valley 25, Whippany Park 22, Hasbrouck Heights 20, Roselle Park 20, Maple Shade 16, Hawthorne 15, SALEM 12, Burlington City 12, Mountain Lakes 11, University 10, Henry Hudson 10, Cresskill 10, SCHALICK 9, Manville 9, Woodbury 8, David Brearley 8, Academy Charter 8, Midland Park 8, Waldwick 8, Indian Hills 9, Kinnelon 7, Buena 6, Wallkill Valley 6, Butler 5, WOODSTOWN 5, Paulsboro 4, Clayton 4, Pequannock 3, Bound Brook 2, New Providence 2, Florence 2, Dayton 1, Highland Park 1, Saddle Brook 1
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6))
(Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions)
400: 1. Gwendolyn Neale, Verona 58.28
100 Hurdles: 1. Casey Birdwell, Haddon Twp. 15.05
4×800: 1. Haddon Twp. 9:41.69
200: 1. Makenna Bruns, Metuchen 25.35
1600: 1. Alexandra Klein, Shore 4:53.96
4×400: 1. Metuchen 4:03.64
Discus: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 156-0
Long Jump: 1. Erika Townsend, Glassboro 17-9, 3. x-Ramiyah Jones, Salem 17-8
Pole Vault: 1. Cassara Yannarelli, Henry Hudson 10-6
Whitley sharp
Schalick ace takes no-hitter into fifth inning, strikes out 13 in 6 1/3 innings against Audubon
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – The way Jamari Whitley rolled out of bed Friday morning he could tell it was going to be a good day.
When the hard-throwing junior right-hander hit the alarm at 5:45 a.m. to start his day, his arm felt good, he knee felt good; he basically felt good all over. And when he is feeling good and he’s pitching that day, that’s a bad sign for the opposition.
Whitley was as sharp as ever Friday in the top-seeded Cougars’ surprisingly tight 5-1 win over eighth-seeded Audubon in the South Jersey Group I quarterfinals. Last year this game was for a South Jersey championship, this year it was just another game to survive and advance.
And because Whitley was at the top of his game, the Cougars (19-7) did both to host Maple Shade in Wednesday’s semifinals.
“I woke up this morning feeling really good,” he said. “I knew it was a big game, the South Jersey final rematch, so I had to come out and perform today and help my team win. Body wise this morning I had no soreness. This morning, feeling nothing in my knee I knew I was going to be able to pitch to my standard. My arm has been feeling good all season so it was just a matter of executing,.”
Whitley was uber-efficient. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning; Matt Piechowski spoiled the gem with a two-out single up the middle. He ended up allowing three hits and striking out a career-high 13. He fanned eight of the first 10 batters he faced and had 10 Ks through four innings.
“We were fortunate to have Jamari on the mound today,” outfielder Cooper Willoughby said. “He threw one of the best games I’ve ever seen on this field. He kept us in this game the whole time.”
“Today was a different type day,” the pitcher said.
“We saw glimpses of it last year,” Cougars coach Sean O’Brien said. “I remember him throwing against Woodstown in the playoffs and he threw against Middlesex, he threw excellent. We knew what he’s capable of. He just kind of had to work out some stuff and kind of get ahead of guys and he did a great job of that. Kind of put us on his back until we could actually get things going late.”
Because the pitcher was getting ahead of hitters and throwing strikes, O’Brien gave him every chance to go the distance, but when the Green Wave put two on with one out in the seventh O’Brien lifted him. Cole Hartley finished it off with a ground out and game-ending strikeout.
Whitley’s counterpart in the other green uniform was surprisingly sharp as well. Audubon’s Connor Chester had thrown only four varsity innings in two years before Friday, but he gave the Green Wave five solid innings before tiring in the decisive sixth inning. He held a Cougars team that had been averaging 10 runs a game to a run and four hits over the first five innings. He got the first out of the sixth inning, too, before the Cougars finally reached him.
“We pitched him in a couple games and when we won with our No. 1 yesterday we decided let’s run him out there, see what he can do,” Audubon coach Rich Horan said. “He’s only a junior so we found another 1A and 1B. He pitched really well, he just ran out of gas.”
The Green Wave needed three pitchers to get through the sixth. Chester was pulled after the Cougars loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an outfield error. First reliever Drew Piechowski last two batters. He did have Willoughby down two strikes, but the outfielder choked up on the bat, protected the plate and poked an RBI single through the hole to break the 1-1 tie, then Wyatt Cushane drew a bases-loaded walk and Piechowski was gone. J.T. Fleming greeted second reliever Joe Waller with a two-run single to center to make it 5-1.
Half of the Cougars’ hits, two of their runs and all of their RBIs came from the bottom third of the lineup.
“We were just looking for a break,” O’Brien said. “We’ve been talking to those guys about the back end of the lineup has to find a way to get on so the top end can get us in. That’s what good teams do, that’s what we did last year. It kind of worked out well where the back of the lineup kind of got us going, which is a pretty cool thing. We’ll be a tough team to beat if we can do that consistently.”
| Audubon | 000 | 001 | 0- | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Schalick | 000 | 014 | x- | 5 | 6 | 3 |
Woodstown wins
Wolverines dodge a bases-loaded no-out threat, turn away Buena in South Jersey Group 1 quarterfinals
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Sometimes the biggest inning in a game isn’t one in which you score. Sometimes it’s the inning you prevent a run from scoring.
Woodstown had one of those kinds of innings Friday in its South Jersey Group 1 quarterfinal game with Buena. The Chiefs had bases loaded and none out in the fifth inning of a close game, but the Wolverines kept them off the scoreboard and by doing so gained an extra bit of momentum to finish off a 5-1 win.
“That was the game ,” Wolverines coach Marc DeCastro said. “It was a giant momentum switch.”
The second-seeded Wolverines (19-8) had been clinging to a 2-0 lead since the first inning when the Chiefs put together their biggest threat of the game. It started with Ricky Beesix and Donato Vai singling off Blake Rodriguez and Richie Wilson getting ahead 2-0 prompting DeCastro to bring in Drew Sutton midcourt.
Sutton completed the walk to Wilson loading the bases. Now it gets weird. Jorge Rios missed the squeeze and the Wolverines caught Beesix in the rundown with the other runners failing to move up behind him. Sutton got Rios to fly out and then catcher Ty Coblentz gunned down Vai trying to steal third.
“That was a weird inning,” Coblentz agreed. “I had a good feeling we were going to get out of that, I did, because (with) Drew on the mound, I knew he could get a strikeout or two and I knew we’d make a play or two. I was very ecstatic in that moment (of the third out). That was the third out that was a big out. It’s almost a tie ballgame at least, could’ve been even worse.”
Sutton carried on for a three-inning save, giving up two hits and an unearned run in the seventh. Even though they might not have been as sharp as usual, pitcher Walker Battavio, Rodriguez and Sutton combined to hold the Chiefs to three hits and struck out five. The Wolverines haven’t given up an earned run in their last three games.
“I only had like five minutes to warmup,” Sutton explained. “I don’t think I’ve really ever done that before. It was kind of weird, but I did good. I just hit my spots.”
The Wolverines took the lead with two runs in the first. The first run scored when the Chiefs threw away Tommy Tucci’s grounder to third. The second scored on Sol Elmer’s RBI single.
It stayed that way until the sixth. Bolstered by the momentum of their fifth-inning escape, the Wolverines scored three insurance runs in the sixth. Lucas Fraley had a two-run double and Tommy Tucci doubled home a run.
The Chiefs scored their run on a single, an error and Wilson’s RBI single.
The Wolverines now host Pennsville in the semifinals Wednesday. They’ve been to the semifinals three years in a row and for the fifth time in the last six years. They eliminated Pennsville from the tournament each of the last two years.
| Buena | 000 | 000 | 1- | 1 | 3 |
| Woodstown | 200 | 003 | x- | 5 | 9 |
Logan legendary
Pennsville’s Streitz has a game for the ages, leads Eagles to come-from-behind road win over Haddon Twp. in SJ Group 1 quarterfinals
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WESTMONT – Matt Karr isn’t one prone to hyperbole, but after watching the performance from one of his most veteran players Friday afternoon there really was no other way the Pennsville baseball coach could describe it.
Senior Logan Streitz had a game for the ages – and they’ve had some ages in the Eagles’ baseball program. He put on clinic that encompassed all three phases of the game. He hit. He fielded. He pitched. He truly was The Man as the Eagles beat Haddon Twp. 13-7 in the second round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
“Logan Streitz may have just played the best game in Pennsville baseball history,” Karr said. “It was that good.”
He went 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI doubles, the go-ahead three-run homer and seven RBIs. He made a diving catch at second base with the bases loaded and turned it into a game-saving, inning-ending unassisted double play. Then he went to the mound and pitched two innings of no-hit relief with four strikeouts to slam the door on the third-seeded Hawks.
“It was unbelievable,” Karr said. “He comes up in the sixth and launches a bomb to right field to gives us the lead. As he was rounding third I just pointed at him and said ‘You are the man.’ I had no other words.
“Pennsville baseball is a storied, storied program and I’m sure if you sat down and flipped through and really studied who had great games there’ve been masterful performances up and down our history … but he did all three phases of the game today about as good as you could do.”
Karr was awestruck just watching it. Streitz was living it and even he had a hard time describing it
“I would say I had a pretty good game,” he said. “This is definitely going to be the No. 1 game I remember from all my games in high school.
“As I was going around the bases after the home run I just kind of went into a blur. It didn’t feel real. Same with the diving play. It kind of hit me a little bit, but it just didn’t feel real.”
Streitz’ first double gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead in the third inning. His second drove in a run during a three-run rally in the fourth that tied the game. The Hawks took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the inning and threated to blow it open loading the bases with one out, but that’s when Streitz let his defensive prowess shine. Shading up the middle with the infield in, he lunged to snare Kirby Rice’s liner, got to his feet and raced to the bag to complete the double play.
“That was game-saving right there,” Karr said. “Who knows the floodgates that open if that ball goes through and 7-6 turns into 9-6 and who knows what else. That was just an unbelievable athletic play, a headsy play. To be able to stay in the moment knowing he had to jump up and make another play was awesome.
But the heroics were far from over. Streitz came to the plate in the sixth after Jake Layfield and Mason O’Brien opened the inning with walks and gave the Eagles the lead for good with his long homer to right. He hit a third RBI double in seventh to make it 12-7.
“That’s a home run I won’t forget,” Streitz said. “He threw me a low fastball down the middle and I kind of got all over that. I would say (the walkoff against) Wildwood (was as big a homer as he’s hit), but this is a playoff game so I’d definitely have to say this was (the biggest).”
With starter Gavin Spears well past 100 pitches through five innings, Karr turned the mound over to Streitz in the sixth. The right-hander hit the first batter he faced, then settled in and picked up a six-out save without much drama.
“I just tried my best to stay calm and collected, because when I’m not it starts to get wild,” Streitz said. “I just feel a lot more comfortable coming in as a reliever close.”
He was so comfortable on this day he was having a running conversation with the umpire in the seventh inning instead of warming up.
“He was just in the zone, man,” Karr said.
The Eagles got gutsy performances throughout the lineup.
O’Brien hurtshis shoulder diving for a ball in the first inning, but stayed in the game. It looked to be getting worse with each swing at the plate, but he stuck it out and poked a double over the centerfielder’s head to set the stage for Streitz’ first RBI double. Catcher Mike McClincy throws a runner out in a key situation. Scott Streitz, Logan’s younger brother, gets an at-bat in the seventh and delivers his first varsity hit. It just went on and on
“It was just amazing the way everything worked out,” Karr said. “There were just so many guys who found a little way to contribute. It was such a team effort. For us to be down early, come back to take the lead and give it back up, it’s nice to see your guys really stick it out and kind of come together and put it all together.”
The Eagles now play Woodstown in the South Jersey semifinals Wednesday. They’ll have a lot of incentive for this one. The Wolverines knocked them out of the playoffs each of the last two years.
| Pennsville | 012 | 303 | 4- | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| Haddon Twp. | 105 | 100 | 0- | 7 | 10 | 2 |
Top photo: Pennsville’s Logan Streitz (L) approaches the plate after hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in Friday’s South Jersey Group I playoff game at Haddon Twp. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)
Boy, oh Roy
Penns Grove long jumper Will Roy brings home Salem County’s only state title on first day of the NJSIAA Group I Track Championship, 4 others finish second to qualify for Meet of Champions
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SOMERSET – Will Roy stood at the top of the runway facing his moment of truth. The way he would be remembered in this year’s Group 1 state championship meet was riding on what would happen in the next few seconds.
He had just gotten bumped from the lead in the boys long jump to Pennsville’s Danny Knight and if he wanted it back the Penns Grove junior would have to stick the landing on the final jump of the final event of the day. He needed to stand and deliver.
With a title on the line, Roy confidently bolted down the runway and hit a final jump of 22-feet, 10.75-inches to reclaim the gold medal.
“It was either a do or die,” he said. “It was either I get second place or I go on and be a state champion and take it back to my hometown.
“I was just trying to keep myself calm and not really get into my head about the jump. Everything was really good. The runway was good, the launch takeoff was good, the landing was good and I knew it was going to be a good jump all the way.”
It wasn’t the first time he needed to deliver in the clutch. During the sectional meet it came down to him needing a big final jump to qualify for the state meet and he nailed it with the same confidence he showed Friday. Penns Grove jumpers coach Damien Ware said Roy has “that (Michael) Jordan clutch gene.”
“One thing about Will is he’s a worker,” Ware said. “We put him through a lot of work, a lot of grind, in practice and he does it. Whatever we ask him to do he’s going to put his head down and do it. He’s been growing since his freshman year. He started out in the 20s, got to the 21 and today he almost skipped the 22s altogether.”
Roy moved to the top of the leaderboard on his second jump of the competition (21-11.25) and held it until Knight set the Pennsville school record (22-2.25) on his final jump.
“He knew what he had to do and went and did it,” Ware said. “He heard the jump, he knew he had to jump further than that to win and he did it. It was just a look. He said let’s go, bro, and he went and did it. It’s exciting for the kid because we see the work he’s put in and when you see it pay off there’s no better feeling.”
Knight had been stretching his PR in small increments each of the last three weeks and it all came together with a big burst here.
“It was the best jump I could ever think of,” Knight said. “I could’ve gotten my leg up higher, but I’m still grateful for what I got. I was not expecting that at all. Me and (Pennsville track coach Mike) Healy were talking about the school record holder (21-1) and it was like 1980-something. I was like ‘what.’ He said you got it next year. I said I got it today. It happened.”
Roy and Knight were among five Salem County athletes to qualify for the Meet of Champions. The others were all event runner-ups –Schalick’s Navaeh Robinson (girls javelin) and Ethan McLean (boys shot put) and Woodstown’s Josh Crawford (boys 800). Three others — Salem’s Ramiyah Jones (girls triple jump) and Woodstown’s Aidan Taulane (boys discus) and Kami Casiano (girls high jump) – placed third and will be looking for a wildcard spot.
Glassboro leads both team leaderboards. Woodstown (fifth) and Penns Grove (T-8) are both in the top ten in the boys race. Schalick is currently tied for ninth in the girls standings.
NJSIAA GROUP I TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday’s Results
BOYS
TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 26, Camden 23, New Providence 22, Manville 16, WOODSTOWN 14, Newark Tech-Essex 12, New Milford 12, PENNS GROVE 10, Bound Brook 10, Kinnelon 10, Wallington 10, Wallkill Valley 10, SCHALICK 9, Buena 8, PENNSVILLE 8, Haddon Twp. 6, Woodbury 6, Shore 6, Whippany Park 6, Dayton 6, Indian Hills 4, Burlington City 4, Pequannock 4, Thrive Charter 3, SALEM 1, Gateway 1, Saddle Brook 1.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6))
(Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions)
4×100: 1. Camden 42.16
800: 1. Zacchaeus Harrigan, Glassboro 1:55.00; 2. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:55.64
100: 1. Jawan Brownlee, Camden 10.76
400 Hurdles: 1. Connor Killian, New Providence 55.33; 6. Grady Buzby, Salem 57.48
3200: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 9:17.53
Discus: 1. Patrick Szabo, Wallington 165-5; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick 144-8; 3. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 140-6
Long Jump: 1. Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-10.75; 2. Danny Knight, Pennsville 22-2.25
Pole Vault: 1. Jake Markey, Bound Brook 13-6; 6. Sal Longo, Schalick 12-0
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 26, Audubon 21, Whippany Park 20, Roselle Park 20, Shore 18, Metuchen 18, Hasbrouck Heights 12, Verona 11, SCHALICK 9, Delaware Valley 9, Hawthorne 9, Woodbury 8, Burlington City 8, David Brearley 8, Manville 8, Academy Charter 9, Midland Park 8, SALEM 6, Maple Shade 6, Buena 6, Kinnelon 6, WOODSTOWN 5, Butler 5, Clayton 4, University 4, Cresskill 4, Mountain Lakes 3, Florence 2, New Providence 2, Waldwick 2, Haddon Twp. 1, Highland Park 1, Dayton 1.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6))
(Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions)
4×100: 1. Glassboro 48.49
800: 1. Gwendolyn Neale, Verona 2:12.06
100: 1. Skylar Boyd, Rosselle Park 12.63
400 Hurdles: 1. Gina Minichiello, Hasbrouck Heights 1:02.50
3200: 1. Alexandra Kline, Shore 10:40.04
Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 42-2
Javelin: 1. Ava Forstenhausler, Roselle Park 121-3; 2. Naveah Robinson, Schalick 120-10
Triple Jump: 1. Riley Wright-Ohillips, Whippany Park 39-1; 3. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-11; 6. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 35-0.5
High Jump: 1. Riley Wright-Phillips, Whippany Park, 5-2; 3. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2
Salem County sweep
All three Salem County teams in the South Jersey Group I baseball quarterfinals won Friday; stories posting to the website soon
SJ GROUP I BASEBALL
Friday’s quarterfinals
(1) Schalick 5, (8) Audubon 1
(4) Maple Shade 4, (5) Wildwood 3
(6) Pennsville 13, (3) Haddon Twp. 7
(2) Woodstown 5, (10) Buena 1
Wednesday’s semifinals
(4) Maple Shade at (1) Schalick
(6) Pennsville at (2) Woodstown
SCHALICK 5, AUDUBON 1: Jamari Whitley takes a no-hitter into the fifth, gives up three hits, strikes out career-high 13 in 6 1/3 inningsfans career-high. Cooper Willoughby and J.T. Fleming deliver big hits in four-run sixth that breaks the game open.
PENNSVILLE 13, HADDON TWP. 7: Coach Matt Karr said Logan Streitz “may have just played the best game in Pennsville baseball history.” The senior went 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, the go-ahead three-run homer and seven RBIs, made a game-saving unassisted double play with bases loaded, then threw two innings of no-hit relief to slam the door.
“As he rounded third (after the homer) I just said to him ‘You are the man,'” Karr said. “I had no other words.”
WOODSTOWN 5, BUENA 1: The Wolverines scored two runs in the first inning and three pitchers held the Chiefs off the board until the seventh inning. The Wolverines survived a crazy fifth inning in which they survived a bases-loaded no out situation, picking off two runners on the base paths.
Look for full stories soon elsewhere on the website.
Don’t call it an upset
Woodstown, Pennsville both beat higher seeded opponents on road to reach South Jersey Group 1 softball semifinals; Woodstown’s Clark fans 16 in record 16th win, Eagles’ Jackson gets 250th coaching win
SJ GROUP i SOFTBALL
Tuesday’s semifinals
(5) Pennsville at (1) Audubon, 3 p.m.
(7) Woodstown at (3) Palmyra
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
BUENA – Even as much as he’s seen it, it never ceases to amaze Woodstown softball coach Rob Hildebrand the depth with which his team digs and finds a way to win.
The Wolverines faced their biggest test of the season Thursday, a win-or-go-home matchup with second-seeded Buena on the road in the second-round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs. They fell behind early, got it tied, turned back a couple serious threats, then won it with two runs in the eighth inning, 3-1.
The win keeps their run towards the first sectional final since 1979 alive and sends them to third-seeded Palmyra (18-7) in the semifinals Tuesday.
The Wolverines (18-8) have won nine in a row and 12 of their last 13. During the nine-game winning streak, they trailed at some point in five of the games.
“Team effort again,” Hildebrand said. “I can’t stress enough from our bench and how loud it was – I couldn’t hear – to our bottom of the lineup coming through to Leah (Clark) digging deep, striking out, leaving bases loaded twice … it was nothing short of amazing that they always consistently just dig deep when they have to all year long and don’t give up.
“It’s nothing short of shocking when we got in that situation to know we would pull it out because it hasn’t proved otherwise the entire year. We haven’t taken the roller coaster ride. It’s up the entire year of them not giving up.”
It was a true pitchers’ duel between Clark and Buena freshman Gracie Dixon.
Clark, a senior, gave the showing of her career, giving up three hits, a first-inning run, turning back bases-loaded situations in the first and eighth innings, and striking out a career-high 16 of 24 outs. After giving up a run-scoring single followed by a two-out walk in the first, she retired 14 in a row (nine by strikeout) before giving up a double to Dixon, who was thrown out at third on a relay from Ellie Wygand to Talia Guardascione aggressively trying to stretch it into a triple.
Dixon, meanwhile, gave up seven hits, three runs and struck out 10.
The Wolverines reached Dixon for the tying run in the third on Macie Moore’s RBI single then took the lead for the first time in the eighth. Guardascione’s one-out single to right brought home Wygand with the go-ahead run and Kendall Young singled home Guardascione with an insurance run.
The Chiefs threatened in the bottom of the inning, but Clark remained vigilant in the circle. It looked like it was going to be an easy finish as she retired the first two batters, but Laylani Muniz kept the inning alive when she reached on an error. Hildebrand then raised a few eyebrows by intentionally walking Dixon, a .667 hitter with 23 extra-base hits, 41 RBIs and two hits already in the game, putting the trying run on base to get to the bottom of the lineup that had 13 strikeouts.
“It’s not necessarily something you want to do, but our gameplan going in all along was if we ever had an opportunity to walk this girl and she looks like she’s going to be able to hit, we’re going to walk her,” Hildebrand said. “To be honest with you, if the bases were loaded with two outs I still might have done it because none of the bottom of the lineup had really even made contact with the ball.”
A passed ball put both runners in scoring position. Clark walked Makenna Feaster to load the bases, then killed the threat by striking out the last batter of the game to complete her 16th win of the season, tying Anna Marino for the most by a Woodstown pitcher since 1979.
“It’s all in the players and the bench,” Hildebrand said. “Every single person has a role and they’re all pulled in on it, they’re all bought in on the team. It’s consistently a team effort. All we’ve got to do is sit back and watch. Do we make mistakes, sure, but when it’s a clutch time they just come through. It’s nothing short of amazing. It’s just so fun to watch.”
| Woodstown | 001 | 000 | 02- | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Buena | 100 | 000 | 00- | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Weber sharp for Pennsville
PITMAN – Graillyn Weber was brilliant in the circle and at the plate and Pennsville beat Pitman 8-0 to give coach Beth Jackson her 250th career coaching victory — all of them with the Eagles.
Weber, a sophomore, fashioned her second straight playoff shutout, another five-hitter with four strikeouts. She had not spun a shutout in 27 previous appearances before these playoffs. At the plate she was 2-for-4 with a double.
Her defense helped keep the shutout alive. They turned a double play to end the sixth inning and Lily Edwards made a game-ending running catch in deep centerfield with a runner on third.
The Eagles jumped on top with three runs in the first inning. The first run scored on an error after Edwards and Weber opened the game with a single and double, respectively. Kenzie Widener’s ground out chase home the second run and Reagan Wariwanchik’s RBI single brought him the third.
“I told my dad last night about being the away team and we get to bat first, jumping out, getting some runs and setting the tone,” Jackson said. “That’s what they did today. We sent nine people to the plate in the first inning. We had to come to play. It’s win or go home.”
As sharp as Weber was in the circle, that’s all they needed. But they added single runs in the third and fourth and stretched the lead with three in the fifth. Taylor Bass singled home the run in the third, Wariwanchik had another RBI single in the fourth, Kylie Harris, Avery Watson and Widener drove home runs in the fifth.
Edwards had three hits for the Eagles. Weber, Wariwanchik and Bass had two apiece.
Jackson tried to keep her milestone under wraps for as long as possible. Her step-daughter made a poster commemorating the milestone and her husband had been talking it up, but beyond that not many actually knew it was near.
“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to tell anybody, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she said.
But it is a big deal. Through 17 years coaching at her alma mater, she is 250-124. She followed a coach who had 558 career wins.
“It’s a nice accomplishment,” she said. “All the girls have their accomplishments and whatnot, it’s nice to have one of your own. It wouldn’t happen without them. It’s a testament to them and the great program we have and the great players that Pennsville always has. It’s always nice to coach at your alma mater and know the winning continues and the tradition. It’s just a nice feeling to have all of that. Just to see everything continue. It’s nice and heartfelt.”
The Eagles (16-7) now face top-seeded and defending champion Audubon (19-9) in Tuesday’s 3 p.m. sectional semifinals.
| Pennsville | 301 | 130 | 0- | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| Pitman | 000 | 000 | 0- | 0 | 5 | 2 |
Deja vu with higher stakes
Pennsville rallies to beat Pitman in a South Jersey Group I playoff game eerily similar to a regular-season game they played a month ago; Schalick rolls in another Elmer win, Salem Tech falls in first-ever playoff game
SJ GROUP I BASEBALL
Friday’s quarterfinals
(8) Audubon at (1) Schalick, 3 p.m.
(5) Wildwood at (4) Maple Shade, 3 p.m.
(6) Pennsville at (3) Haddon Twp., 4 p.m.
(10) Buena at (2) Woodstown, 4 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Somebody had to remind Pennsville baseball coach Matt Karr it was May 28 and he hadn’t been magically transported back to April 17. Stop him if you’ve seen this movie before.
The Eagles found themselves in the same kind of game against Pitman Thursday they were in when the teams played for lesser stakes a month earlier. The Panthers had one big inning again to make them sweat, but just as they did that day in April the Eagles rallied and escaped with a 6-5 win in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
It was Karr ‘s 150th win as the Eagles’ head coach – “and 150 more grey hairs, too,” he quipped.
“I think the word I used walking down with the coaches was ‘aw, this is like déjà vu, man,’” Karr said. “It was that same kind of inning they were literally just putting the ball in play. But that’s baseball. When you get in those situations those little things are amplified because of the pressure that’s created by having baserunners and we did that to ourselves, walking guys, not picking our pitcher up with ground balls that should be outs.
“We magnified the situation and we amplify the pressure on ourselves because now we’ve got to be perfect. Now any little thing goes wrong and it’s a run here, a run there. We talk all the time that great teams have the ability to say who are we and how do we win ballgames. It’s hard for us to fire up a four- or five-run inning. We have to play good defense, we have to do the little things and win innings throughout the course of the game and that one got away from us.”
In the April game, Pitman scored five runs in a squirrely third inning to take a three-run lead and the Eagles chipped away each of the next three innings to come back and win. On Thursday, the Panthers scored four in an equally squirrely third to take a three-run lead and the Eagles chipped away over the next three innings to tie the game and ultimately go ahead on Dante Cummings’ bases-loaded fly that got away from the outfielder and scored two runs.
In April, Karr called on Gavin Spears to shut the door behind starter Logan Streitz and Spears gave up no runs over the final four of his 5 2/3 innings striking out 12. In this one, Karr brought in Mason O’Brien behind starter Logan Cowperthwait and O’Brien gave up one run and four hits over the final 4 2/3, striking out eight, including the 100th of his career.
“In a perfect world I would love to get to (Friday) with Mason and Gavin both available, but we did tell Gavin we were trying to get to him tomorrow as the starter,” Karr said. “Mason does a really good job coming in as a reliever. He’s got a lot going for him. I didn’t want to go from a righty to another righty, so we went to Mason as a lefty to throw them off.
“Mason and Gavin are our 1A and 1B. When you have those guys on the mound for you it’s a different mindset. Your team just feels a little more relaxed when their guy’s on the mound. We had that to finish today’s game with Mason and we’ll have that again tomorrow with Gavin on the mound to start.”
The game was tied 4-4 going into the home sixth. Pinch-hitter Scott Streitz drew a leadoff walk and forced a pitching change. Jake Layfield greeted reliever Drew Keefe with a sacrifice to move the runner into scoring position. O’Brien walked (for the third time), but Keefe fanned the next batter for the second out.
Jeff Wagner took an 0-2 pitch off the elbow to load the bases and bring Cummings to the plate. The junior designated hitter who has developed into one of the Eagles’ best hitters barreled a ball into the gap that was tailing away from centerfielder Logan Williams. The Pitman outfielder appeared to get his glove on it but couldn’t pull it down and both Streitz and O’Brien scored.
“He threw a first-pitch fastball and I saw Mason on second base, he was giving me that sign, so I knew I had to get my foot down, hit it hard, make someone make a play,” Cummings said. “I know it hit the barrel and I took off. All I saw was it hit the ground and after that I got excited. It’s probably one of the biggest hits in my career. It felt good coming back both games but today felt a lot better knowing now we get to advance and get these seniors one last home win.”
“We’ve talked a lot this year about creating our own luck and we created a pressure situation there,” Karr said. “We had runners on, we put the ball in play, we made them have to make a play. In that moment, the lucky bounce went our way.”
But O’Brien and the Eagles still had to get through seventh before they could claim victory. The Panthers got one run closer on Dylan Tyler’s RBI single and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base with two outs, but O’Brien got the final out on a grounder to second.
O’Brien came on in the third after Cowperthwait loaded the bases, threw a wild pitch to allow the tying run to score and then issued a walk to reload the bases with one out. O’Brien had gotten out of bases-loaded jams in the past this season, but this outing got off to a balky start, literally. On his first play in the game he was called for a balk after making a pickoff attempt to first without the first baseman covering the bag, bringing in the second run.
“We saw the Seattle Mariners do it and I was like I could do this as a lefty,” O’Brien said. “They looked it up and sent an email and I saw it was a balk. I got a sign to pick off a runner, it was supposed to be at second, but I thought it was first base and then that happened.”
Kiernan Clark followed with shot first baseman Grady Sanders knocked down to keep in the infield, but another run scored. The Panthers made it 4-1 when Payton Miller hit a slow roller to the left side of the infield and beat a high throw to first. The Eagles eventually got out of the inning and after that the southpaw with the sparkly cleats kept the Panthers off the board until the seventh.
“I trust myself and I know I’ve got guys behind me who’ll make a play any day of the week,” O’Brien said. “I’m just going to throw the ball over the plate and if they don’t hit it, they don’t hit it, good for me, but if they do I know my defense is going to make plays.”
The Eagles got a run back in the fourth on Steve Fatcher’s RBI single and tied it in the fourth on another RBI single by Fatcher and Gavin Spears’ sacrifice fly.
“I trusted my guys that we were going to score runs and come back and win this ball game,” O’Brien said.
After all, he had seen it before. They all had.
| Pitman | 004 | 000 | 1- | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Pennsville | 100 | 122 | x- | 6 | 5 | 1 |
SCHALICK 23, CAPE MAY TECH 0: The top-seeded Cougars scored 13 runs in the fourth inning to turn an already one-sided playoff opener into an outright rout.
The Cougars (18-7) pounded out 21 hits in the game. Travis Snodgrass went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Evan Glaspey drove in four runs. Jamari Whitley had three hits, Evan Sepers had three RBIs and Ricky Watt collected his 100th career hit on a second-inning RBI single that gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
They batted around twice in their big inning. The first 13 batters reached base and 10 scored before an out was recorded. Sepers had three RBIs in the inning, Glaspey and Snodgrass each had two.
“It’s good to kind of get things rolling and going in the right direction heading into the next round,” Cougars coach Sean O’Brien said. “We looked pretty good pitching wise, defensively and at the plate, so we saw positive things going on to the next round.”
It looked like Watt had become the second Cougar this season to reach 100th hit when he had three hits, including two record-tying homers, at Collingswood May 20, but the game was washed out two outs from becoming official. So he had to wait more days to reach the milestone.
He flew out in his first at-bat Thursday, but didn’t miss his second time up, ripping a liner to left field.
“To be honest, the second time around was definitely less special,” Watt said. “And I also didn’t add two homers on top.”
Mason Sanchez and Mason Hollywood combined on a five-inning one-hitter with 12 strikeouts. Sanchez worked the first four innings, giving up a bloop single in the first inning and striking out eight. The sophomore hasn’t given up an earned run in his last three appearances (13 innings).
“He was attacking the hitters, he was commanding the strike zone, he did good job getting ahead of guys,” O’Brien said. “He looked a lot like what he did against Pennsville, which is definitely reassuring for us this year and moving forward for next year, too.”
The game was moved to the Cougars’ second home, the Elmer Little League complex, because of field conditions. It was their eighth straight win at the alternate site and third this year. They are 16-6 and have won 15 of their last 18 there since Sean O’Brien became head coach in 2016.
“I didn’t realize overall our record there,” O’Brien said. “I know we’ve had a lot of success there, there are very few games I can remember losing, but I didn’t realize we had that good a record there.
“Playing there, it’s like our second home where I don’t feel uncomfortable being there. I like being at our place, but when we play there it’s comfortable. It’s not like we’re playing at a different field.”
“Playing at Elmer is always fun,” said Watt, who is 11-for-18 with nine RBIs at the complex the last two seasons.
The Cougars now host eighth-seeded Audubon (10-12) back in their traditional home Friday at 3 p.m. It’s an earlier start time than usual to accommodate the Green Wave’s prom later in the evening.
| Cape May Tech | 000 | 00- | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Schalick | 280 | (13)x- | 23 | 21 | 0 |
Sweet Home Away From Home
Here is Schalick’s baseball ecord at the Elmer LL complex since Sean O’Brien became head coach (16-6)
| YEAR | RESULT | YEAR | RESULT |
| 2026 | Cape May Tech, W 23-0 | 2022 | Woodstown, W 9-7 |
| 2026 | Bridgeton, W 17-4 | 2022 | Bridgeton, W 21-0 |
| 2026 | Woodstown, W 4-3 | 2021 | Woodstown, W 15-7 |
| 2025 | Glassboro, W 7-2 | 2019 | Woodstown, W 12-0 |
| 2025 | Buena, W 10-0 | 2019 | Glassboro, L 3-2 |
| 2025 | Salem, W 26-2 | 2018 | Woodstown, W 12-2 |
| 2025 | Woodstown, W 5-0 | 2018 | Glassboro, W 5-4 |
| 2024 | Bridgeton, W 25-4 | 2017 | Glassboro, L 8-5 |
| 2024 | Woodstown, L 12-4 | 2017 | Woodstown, L 6-5 |
| 2023 | Bridgeton, W 12-0 | 2016 | Glassboro, L 8-6 |
| 2023 | Woodstown, L 4-2 | 2016 | Woodstown, W 8-4 |
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 2
BARNEGAT 16, SALEM TECH 1: The Chargers were playing in their first-ever sectional tournament game as a program and the home team didn’t make it easy for them. Barnegat pitcher Ray Danbrowney threw a five-inning one-hitter and struck out seven. The Bengals put four on the board in the first inning and added on every inning.
Jack Beal had the Chargers’ only hit, a single leading off the third inning. He moved to second on a passed ball and scored when the Bengals misplayed Lucas Clement’s grounder to short.
| Salem Tech | 001 | 00- | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Barnegat | 443 | 5x- | 16 | 12 | 2 |
Thursday playoff report
Woodstown wins a pair of third-set tiebreakers to lock down a spot in SJ Group 1 boys tennis finals; Wolverines win their girls lacrosse playoff opener; includes scores from Thursday’s South Jersey Groups 1&2 playoff action
BASEBALL
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Schalick 23, Cape May Tech 0
Audubon 3, Gateway 0
Wildwood 10, Paulsboro 0 (Tues.)
Maple Shade 2, Riverside 1
Haddon Twp. 19, LEAP 1
Pennsville 6, Pitman 5
Buena 8, Glassboro 2 (Wed.)
Woodstown 12, Clayton 0 (Wed.)
South Jersey Group II Tournament
Barneget 16, Salem Tech 1
(Story on website)
SOFTBALL
Penns Grove vs. LEAP, Rutgers-Camden, 6 p.m.
South Jersey Group I Quarterfinals
Audubon 10, Riverside 0
Pennsville 8, Pitman 0
Palmyra 3, Gateway 2
Woodstown 3, Buena 1, 8 inns.
(Story on website)
GIRLS LACROSSE
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Woodstown 11, West Deptford 8
(See story below)
TENNIS
South Jersey Group I Semifinals
West Deptford 5, Pt. Pleasant Beach 0
Woodstown 4, Haddon Twp. 1
(See story below)
Tennis: Woodstown plays for title
WESTMONT — Luke Shaw and the doubles team of Connor Miller and Josh King both came all the way back from dropping the first set to win third-set tiebreakers and lift Woodstown to a 4-1 win over Haddon Twp. for a spot in the South Jersey Group I boys tennis championship match.
The Wolverines (14-8) will play at top-seeded West Deptford (23-1) in the title match Tuesday. It’s their first trip to the SJ Group 1 boys final since 2019 — and first under head coach Jesse Stemberger — when they lost to Middle Twp. 3-2. Stemberger was the program’s assistant coach when it made the South Jersey final four straight years from 2016 to 2019.
Shaw lost the first set at third singles to Grady Carson, then evened the match 6-2 and won the pro set 10-5. Shaw was 9-9 at third singles, 10-10 overall, entering the match. Carson had won his last six matches and 13 of his last 15.
“Luke’s win was a little more intense because we had two points and if he wins, the match is over,” Stemberger said. “After losing the first set he told his parents he wasn’t going to lose. He took control of the second set, built a lead in the tiebreaker and closed it out with a big first serve on his first match point.”
Miller and King dropped their first set to Sylar Kennedy and Jack Considine at second doubles 5-7, then won the second set 6-3 and the pro set 10-4. Miller and King were 13-4 entering the match (2-1 in third-set tiebreakers). Kennedy and Considine had won their last five matches
“They didn’t have the pressure, but they wanted to win and basically followed the same script as Luke,” Stemberger said.
WOODSTOWN 4, HADDON TWP. 1
Nathan Keating (HT) def. Drew Stengel, 6-4, 6-2
Mason Shimp (WO) def. Declan Gallagher, 6-4, 6-4
Luke Shaw (WO) def. Grady Carson, 2-6, 6-2, 10-5
Vincent Merendino-Nick DiTeodoro (WO) def. Cristian Picerno-Shea Anderson, 6-4, 6-1
Connor Miller-Josh King (WO) def. Sylar Kennedy-Jack Considine, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4
Records: Woodstown 14-8, Haddon Twp. 14-8.
GROUP 1 SECTIONAL FINALS
Tuesday’s matches
Central: Edison Magnet (7-12) at Metuchen (14-0)
North I: Pascack Hills (15-4) at Glen Rock (16-3)
North II: Glen Ridge (8-12) at Verona (17-5)
South: Woodstown (14-8) at West Deptford (23-1)
Girls lacrosse: Woodstown wins opener
WOODSTOWN — Delaney Walker added four more goals to her school-record total and Emma Morgan added another assist to that all-time school record, powering Woodstown to an 11-8 victory over West Deptford in the first round of the South Jersey Group 1 playoffs.
Walker’s four goals ran her career total to 243. Morgan extended her assist record to 85 and also scored a goal.
Blair Baldi, Arianna Hyman and Emma Perry all scored twice for the Wolverines (10-7), who now travel to second-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven (14-5) for Monday’s quarterfinals.
Riverview Sports News 