Single-game football ticket prices set, softball coach nearing milestone, Mighty Oaks hire full-time strength coach
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – It’ll cost you a little something to follow the Salem Community College football team on its tour around the county during its inaugural season this fall.
The athletics department has set single-game ticket prices for the Mighty Oaks’ four home games at $7. Children under 12 and SCC students with valid ID are free.
“It’s a little bit higher than the high school one, (but) not too high that it’s a crazy amount,” SCC assistant athletics director Angel Rodriguez said Wednesday. “Our goal (in setting the price) was just to kind of find something that was like a happy medium and just to kind of get started.”
Their four home games are the historic inaugural game Aug. 29 at Pennsville (vs. Hudson Valley CC), Sept. 12 at Schalick (vs. Nassau CC), Sept. 19 at Penns Grove (vs. Thaddeus Stevens) and the Homecoming game Oct. 17 at Pennsville (vs. Sussex CC).
There is no season-ticket package since the Mighty Oaks will play at multiple venues. All of their ticket transactions will be conducted electronically and will be available at the gate. The school is hoping to start marketing its ticketing procedures “within the next few days.”
“We’re going to use some of the high school processes right now just to make it an easy transition,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe something in the future, when we kind of move maybe to our own ticketing system, we’ll probably have that option, but right now it’s just the smooth option to kind of get going.”
Administrators at three of the Mighty Oaks’ road opponents – Erie CC, Sussex CC and Navy Prep (game at the U.S. Naval Academy) – said they do not charge for home football games with one saying they “wouldn’t recommend “ doing so. Their other road game is against Army Prep at West Point.
By comparison, the two four-year football-playing colleges closest to Salem CC – NCAA Division III Rowan University and Division I Delaware – sell single-game general admission tickets for $10 and $15-$30 (depending on opponent), respectively. The high schools are $5 for adults.
Head coach Jay Accorsi opens training camp Aug. 3 with practice getting underway Aug. 6. In addition to getting their new practice facility ready, the Mighty Oaks recently unveiled their game-day uniform combinations (top photo). They also recently ran their list of players to 100.
“We’re definitely excited to get football going,” Rodriguez said. “Having an actual game and that we’re going to have a season is first and foremost the most exciting part of what we have going on … We’re pretty confident that we’re ready from a game-day perspective, so now it’s just the countdown.”
NEARING A MILESTONE: Rodriguez enters his fifth season as the Mighty Oaks’ softball coach on the cusp of a milestone. He’s six wins shy of 100 for his career.
| YEAR | W-L |
| 2026 | 28-20 |
| 2025 | 19-25 |
| 2024 | 31-14 |
| 2023 | 16-18 |
| TOTAL | 94-77 |
The 29-year-old coach is 94-77 with four straight region playoff appearances since coming aboard in 2022 to restart the program. The milestone could come as early as March 16 at Delaware Tech if the Mighty Oaks can find an earlier season opener, but likely will happen on their Southern swing.
“When you think of where we were five years ago and coming into a program and starting it from scratch after 13 years or whatever it was, I think it’s very meaningful,” Rodriguez said of the milestone. “Who would’ve thought we would’ve gotten here?
“Hats off to, No. 1, the first group that started here to make this happen – and there were only two of us (coaches), we probably zoomed with 5-600 players in a six-month span. It was such a fun time to talk to so many people and get it started and then to look back and think, holy cow, five years later were about to hit 100 wins.
“I’m excited, but I did the minimum work. The players do all the work, so really the 100 wins are really for them. I hope they take it meaning something, too. It’s definitely not just mine alone, I can tell you that.”
BULKING UP: The Mighty Oaks have hired former Kingsway baseball standout Justin Szestowicki as their full-time strength and conditioning coach. After starring at Kingsway, Szestowicki played collegiately at North Carolina, Elon and finished up this spring as LaSalle’s starting shortstop. He starts working with the Mighty Oaks’ athletes Monday.
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