Things change quickly

Woodstown had shutout, lead going into late innings, almost averted disaster in sixth, but three-run homer propels Delran to a win, denying DeCastro No. 100

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The cruelest reality of the game of baseball is one pitch can change the demeanor of an entire game. It did Monday.

Woodstown jumped out to an early lead on Delran Monday afternoon and were one strike away from escaping a major threat in the sixth with only minimal damage, but Jackson Veneziano belted an 0-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a three-run homer that gave the Bears the lead in an eventual 5-3 victory that denied Wolverines coach Marc DeCastro his 100th career win.

“Going into the game after we had to use four pitchers on Saturday, we played Friday and we have five games this week, if you would’ve told me we had a three-run lead going into the sixth inning with as well as Tommy as pitched, that was the only way he was pitching in this game at all,” DeCastro said. “That’s the only thing that bothered me about it,

“With how much he had to pitch last week and get loose and all that. I wanted to avoid using him and that was about the only scenario (he goes in). The thing I liked the least is I had to use him. It didn’t work out. But as well as he’s pitched, to have that team on the ropes in the sixth inning, you couldn’t have asked for much more going into that.”

Tucci was the third of Woodstown’s pitchers as DeCastro tried to conserve the staff for the busy week ahead. Blake Rodriguez and Talyn Priore kept the Bears off the board through the first five innings. Rodriguez, who made his season mound debut Saturday, worked the first 2 2/3, giving up singles to the first two hitters of the game and none thereafter before being lifted after 38 pitches. Priore threw 30 pitches one time through the lineup, and also allowed two hits.

DeCastro bought Tucci in from short to start the sixth and the plan was to stick with him to the end except he was extended in the inning. The Bears loaded the bases with none out on back-to-back singles and a walk, but the junior right-hander who hadn’t given up a run in his previous two outings (5 innings) almost got out of it with the lead and only one run scoring. He got a strikeout and a sacrifice fly on the next two hitters and then went 0-2 on Veneziano, but the next pitched changed the game.

“I was feeling good, I just missed a spot,” Tucci said. “It was supposed to be a fastball up and I just didn’t get it up high enough. After I got the second out a lot of confidence came back. I was just trying to take my time on the mound, but just one pitch can ruin everything.”

“It’s a tough one, definitely,” catcher Ty Coblentz said. “He missed it by probably three inches; that’s all it took. That’s the difference between a fly ball and a home run, right there.

Coblentz kept the Bears off the board early when he raced back to the plate to cut down Troy Simpliciano trying to score on a wild pitch in the first. He kept them from adding on after the insurance run in the seventh, taking Drew Sutton’s throw from right field and tagging out Jackson Hager and then throwing behind the runner and picking off Dom Favieri in a rundown between third and home.

“Keeping that game at 0-0 at that moment was very important,” he said. “I was willing to put my body and do anything I could to get him out there.”

Luke Fraley gave Woodstown the lead when he broke the scoreless tie when he singled home Walker Battavio with a two-out single in the third. The Wolverines made it 3-0 in the fifth on back-to-back two-out RBI doubles by Fraley (grounds rule) and Coblentz.

“That’s how we’ve been winning our games a lot this year, getting up on the board early,” Tucci said.

DeCastro, in his sixth season with the Wolverines, will get his second shot the milestone win today at. St. Augustine in the Diamond Classic. Typically, he’s unfazed by the attention the magic number has brought.

“I know (about it) because other people care, and that’s the only thing that matters to me is that other people care enough to pay attention,” he said. “I could not care any less … I would rather just win today than worry about what that win is for me.”

Those “other people” include the players who think the attention is well deserved and are proud to be a part of it.

“I think it’ll prove that he’s one of the best coaches in South Jersey, with how little time he’s done it in with a Group 1 school playing all this tough competition and winning the state championship in 2022,” Coblentz said. “I think it proves that he’s the best of the best.”

Delran	000	004	1-	5	11	1
Woodstown	001	020	0-	3	4	0

WP: George Willard. LP: Tommy Tucci. 2B: Ty Coblentz (WO(, Luke Fraley (WO). HR: Jackson Veneziano (D).

Mighty Oaks get their help

Ocean’s win over Montgomery gives Salem CC seventh seed in upcoming Region XIX playoffs, Mighty Oaks open post season at Brookdale as opposed to RCSJ-Gloucester

MONDAY REGION XIX BASEBALL
Camden 30, Delaware County 0
Ocean 12, Montgomery 11
RCSJ-Gloucester 9, Atlantic Cape 2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

For one night, the Salem CC baseball team became big fans of an Ocean CC Vikings team they swept in three close games earlier this season.

The Mighty Oaks needed a little help to enhance their position for the upcoming Region XIX playoffs and they got it in the way of Ocean’s 12-11 win over Montgomery.

With the result in Toms River, the Mighty Oaks finish seventh in the Region XIX Division III standings and projected to play at region runner-up Brookdale in the opening round series that starts Saturday. Had the Ocean-Montco game gone the other way, the Mighty Oaks would have been reduced to the eighth seed due to tiebreakers and destined to open the tournament at top-seeded, three-time defending national champion RCSJ-Gloucester, a team that beat them in three one-sided games on Sophomore Weekend.

“The Oaks were all Vikings fans today,” first baseman Tyler Hacker said. “We all watched the game.”

The projected first-round pairings: Montgomery (17-16) at RCSJ-Gloucester (34-10), Northampton (30-17) at Middlesex (33-15), Salem CC (23-26) at Brookdale (38-10-1), Camden (25-15) at RCSJ-Cumberland (32-11-1).

“We’re excited to be a seventh seed as opposed to an eighth,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “Excited to be back in the regionals and establish Salem as a program that’s expected to be there year after year.

“I feel like if we play the way we are capable and play Salem baseball we can compete with anyone. Both of the teams we could have played are among the best in the country. Looking forward to the opportunity to get after it against the best.”

The Mighty Oaks were swept by Brookdale in the season series split apart by the weather that plagued the early portion of their schedule. They lost the doubleheader in early March right before their Myrtle Beach trip (17-7, 6-3) and lost Game Three a month later 21-5. They led Game Two 3-0 in the second inning, then gave up four unearned runs.

“Playing Brookdale or Gloucester, they got us during the regular season and we want to beat both,” Hacker said. “The closest games we had were with Brookdale, so we’re looking forward to playing them. We hit their pitching well, just came down to playing defense those games and we didn’t have it. Since then we’ve cleaned up our defense and are looking forward to winning two and meeting Gloucester back in the Final Four like last year.”

Big night of fun

Schalick seniors celebrate some special moments, big win, in the complex where their earliest baseball memories were forged

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ELMER – If Evan Sepers were making the call, the Schalick baseball team would be wearing the throwback uniforms they sported for Senior Night at the Elmer Little League complex the rest of the year.

The first time the senior outfielder wore the green-and-gray vested unis the Cougars brought out Monday against Bridgeton, he went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles as a freshman against Woodstown in the Elmer Classic. On this special night, on that same field, he went 2-for-2 with a double and his first official home run, and threw an inning and a third of no-hit relief in a 17-4 win.

“I’m batting 1.000 in them,” Sepers said.

The Cougars hadn’t worn them since that Woodstown game four years ago; coach Sean O’Brien only recently rediscovered them. The only problem was they only had 15 sets and they had 16 players. Fortunately, Luke Pokrovsky, the headliner of last year’s state semifinals team now at Penn, still had his jersey and brought it back so the team could be fully fitted. That jersey went to Bo Schalick.

“I don’t know how old they are; they’re before my time,” O’Brien said. “The kids liked them. They bugged me to wear them. I literally gave them out after school today.”

“We’ve had those for a long time,” catcher turned designated hitter Ricky Watt said. “I know a couple guys on the team their parents wore them back in the day. We always talked about wearing them.”

The throwback uniforms were only part of the Cougars’ funnest game of the year.

Freed from the pressure of playing a division opponent on Senior Night, the Cougars chose a traditional opponent and played on a field adjacent to where many of the players forged their earliest baseball memories. It was their second win at the Elmer LL complex this season and fifth in the last two years.

It was a chance to give players an opportunity to play some other position , like those who either hadn’t pitched since their freshmen year or hadn’t been on the mound at all.

Junior Bert Strain started the night and worked the first, striking out two. The rest of the night belonged to the seniors. Strain was followed to the mound by J.T. Fleming and Sepers, neither of whom had pitched since their freshmen year; Cooper Willoughby, who last remembers pitching in a JV game his freshman year but never on varsity; and Ethan Quiles, a senior called up to the varsity for the occasion. They combined on a one-hitter.

“They asked me in the beginning of the year about throwing on Senior Night,” O’Brien said. “I thought about it, but then with the circumstances of how many games we’re playing this week, we kind of needed to. We needed to conserve our pitching anyway, so it was a fun way and a productive way to keep our pitching where it needed to be.”

Fleming pitched the second, giving up an unearned run and striking out two. Willoughby worked two-thirds of an inning in the third, charged with three runs, and said he didn’t want to see his ERA at the end of it.

“It’s been a really long time,” Willoughby said. “The first half of freshman year I threw like two or three games. It looked about like that, too. I hadn’t pitched in a while and I was looking forward to it. It was just a fun night. OB wanted to let all the guys pitch who don’t traditionally pitch. It was a good time.”

Sepers worked the longest of the five pitchers, didn’t allow a hit, struck out two and walked two. He threw 7 1/3 innings in four games as a freshman. In his last outing before Monday he went 3 1/3 against Salem in 2023, giving up two hits, two runs and striking out five. He has a career ERA under 1.75.

“When I went out to pitch I was just thinking ‘have fun,’” he said. “It’s my senior night, we’re not playing the best team but everybody’s having fun. I was just trying to throw strikes. I threw two off-speed pitches and they both went really high and outside, so other than that I threw fastballs.”

He figures that closed the book on his pitching career, unless RCSJ-Cumberland decides it wants to use him on the mound next spring. Of course, he’ll always have his hitting. With his two hits against the Bulldogs, he’s now 11 shy of 100 for his career.

Quiles wrapped up the night and set the Bulldogs down in order in the fifth, recording his first career strikeout for the last out of the game.

“J.T. was a guy I thought would give me more innings, but he settled in,” O’Brien said. “Once he got going he threw really well. Back in his freshman year in games we were way ahead or way behind he was like my cleanup guy. He’d come in and throw strikes for me just to get us out of innings. He always did that for us when he was a freshman.

“Cooper hadn’t thrown. He wasn’t finishing and was leaving everything up. He did a good job with the situation he was put in. Evan had pitched before. I knew Evan would be OK out there, just kind of get used to throwing again. Ethan did a great job. It was awesome.”

If there is fun in scoring a lot of runs, then the Cougars had a ton of it. All nine spots in the lineup scored at least once. Ten of the 11 hitters who batted had a hit and 10 of the 11 scored.

Watt rediscovered his power stroke. After hitting four homers in his first five games of the season, he ended a nine-game homerless drought with a pair of two-run shots and finished 3-for-3 with five RBIs. He drove in the Cougars’ first run with a single in the first.

“I just went through a little bit of a period where I was struggling a little bit; it happens,” he said. “Not seeing the ball as well. I think I got a little bit back on my feet tonight. It’s good to get back in the swing of things.”

Sepers’ home run, a three-run shot in the fourth inning, was his first in 220 high school at-bats and more than 270 plate appearances. He hit a ball everyone insistent cleared a snow fence at Clayton last year ruled a grounds-rule double and hit one in a scrimmage at Highland this year.

“That was unreal,” he said. “Off the bat I was thinking to myself this is either going to go over the fence and I knew it was going off the fence off the bat or I’m going to look like a fool when the kid catches the ball. I’m very glad it happened on senior night. It was hard not to have a smile on my face the entire time I was running around the bases.”

He wasn’t the only one.

“We grew up playing together and he always used to hit them out of the field right over there,” Watt said, pointing to the Little League fields on the other side of the batting cage. “I remember him hitting three in one game actually. I’m surprised he hadn’t connected with one yet. It was really cool to see.”

“I felt like it was coming,” O’Brien said. “Even at our place or here I think he was going to get one eventually, so it’s good he got it here, especially tonight on Senior Night.”

It gets a little more challenging for the Cougars from here. They potentially have four straight road games this rest of the week. They go to Overbrook Tuesday for a big Diamond Division game, to Doane Academy for their Diamond Classic opener Wednesday, to Collingswood Friday and possibly at second round Diamond Classic game at Clearview.

Whatever happens in the week ahead, they’ll always have the happy memory of Monday night to carry them through.

Bridgeton	013	00-	4	1	3
Schalick	425	6x-	17	15	2

WP: Bert Strain (2-0). LP: Cameron Whildin (0-2). 2B: Jamari Whitley (S), Evan Sepers (S). HR: Ricky Watt 2 (S), Evan Sepers (S).

Monday’s sports report

Here are scores from Monday’s Salem County sports calendar

BASEBALL
Glassboro 20, Penns Grove 7
LEAP at Salem Tech
Pennsville 19, Salem 6
Delran 5, Woodstown 3
Schalick 17, Bridgeton 4
SOFTBALL
LEAP at Salem Tech
Pitman at Penns Grove
Triton 3, Schalick 0
West Deptford 5, Pennsville 2
Cinnaminson 12, Woodstown 2
BOYS GOLF
Pitman 174, Schalick 175
Lower Cape May 165, Woodstown 167
GIRLS GOLF
Kingsway 197, Schalick 207
TENNIS
Clearvuew 5, Schalick 0
Overbrook 3, Woodstown 2
TRACK
Clayton at Salem
Woodstown in Haddonfield Invitational
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Highland 2, Salem Tech 9 (25-17, 25-13)

D’Agostino denies them

Former Schalick standout spins no-hitter to complete a big week for RCSJ-Cumberland; includes ‘Keeping Track,’ an update on the former Salem County high schoolers playing in college

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Lucas D’Agostino could not have envisioned what was to come later in the day. He was a little tired; the team had gotten back late from the first game of the series in North Jersey. Warming up in the bullpen his arm felt good and he thought maybe he could have another quality start he’d been racking up in recent weeks. But what came next, no way.

The freshman from Schalick went out and fashioned his first career no-hitter and the program’s first in four years as he blanked Bergen 4-0 Saturday to help RCSJ-Cumberland lock down a No. 3 seed in the upcoming Region XIX baseball playoffs.

“I had a good day, got really lucky as well,” the right-hander said. “We had gotten back late the night before, at like 11:30, so we were all pretty tired. I got to the field at like 9 a.m. and thought, you know what, it sure would be a day. It’s always the days you don’t expect it. It’d be nice to do something in my final start of the regular season.”

It was the Dukes’ first no-hitter since Andrew Simone threw one at Suffolk in 2022. D’Agostino threw 89 pitches in the seven-inning game – 63 for strikes — allowed three base runners on a walk and two legitimate errors, and struck out a career-high 10. He faced 23 batters thanks to a third-inning double play and retired the last 12 in a row after a fourth-inning error.

His defense kept the gem alive with two incredible catches in the outfield on back-to-back plays in the fifth inning. Leftfielder Christian Willis laid out for a ball smoked to the gap and on the next pitch centerfielder Kory Jenkins came running in to make a shoestring grab on a sinking liner. D’Agostino struck out six of the last seven batters, including the side in order in the seventh.

“Sometimes to start the game I get into some deeper counts, I’ll have like a 15-, 16-pitch inning,” he said. “I got back in the dugout and I only had thrown nine pitches and I had a strikeout. I came back in I was like hey, you’re efficient right now, feeling good, so that was really it. I didn’t feel like I have wipeout stuff today or everything’s going to go right. The pitch count’s been low, we’re on a good pace, but there wasn’t any mind-shattering revelation.”

He starting sense something special was brewing around fourth inning. His teammates did too and as tradition has it started avoiding the subject in the dugout.

“I was kind of sitting in my corner, sipping my water, just waiting to go back out,” he said. “My spot would came up to hit and I was like I don’t know if I want to move from my spot on the bench right now. Some people came around talking about the Sixers, nothing about the game, just like, ‘hey, how about the Sixers,’ stuff like that.”

He didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate the gem. He had to start at first in the nightcap.

It was his fifth quality start in a row (4-1, 0.80 ERA). In his start before the no-no, he threw a complete-game two-hitter at Ocean CC in a game that helped Salem CC on its journey to secure the last spot in the region playoffs. That’s Pitcher of the Week material. He’s now 5-2 with a team-leading 1.88 ERA (second in the league) and 53 strikeouts over 52 2/3 innings.

“I can’t think of a start so far this year that I really struggled,” he said. “I’ve felt pretty good all year. I’m just excited for the playoffs, really.”

Interestingly, his latest pitching run about corresponds to the time he became a part of the regular lineup playing first base when he wasn’t pitching and hitting. Since April 8 he is batting .259 (15-for-58) with 22 RBIs and his first college homer (off Union) while going 3-1 on the mound with a 0.98 ERA.

“I starting really swinging it well in practice probably around the 20-game mark,” he said. “I’ve been hitting, but I wasn’t really taking it like I’m going to be a hitter on this team. I think I’m here to pitch, but I can help the team on the side. I didn’t think there was any shot, then we had our starting first baseman go down and right at the same time I had started to kind of put it together hitting-wise in practice.

“It’s definitely an adjustment (hitting and pitching); there’s a lot more soreness involved. It’s a lot for the body. I’ve had some pretty good starts since I’ve been hitting. It’s, of course, easier when you’re always on the field to stay locked in mentally, especially when you need to come in and pitch. The Middlesex game, I started the final game of the series and I played the first two games in the field so I had already seen all the trends of the hitters, how they swing and react to different pitches. It’s more of like an intel operation almost being on the field and then being able to pitch later in the series.”

Keeping Track

Baseball

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	BA	H	HR	RBI
Elijah Crespo, Penns Grove	RCSJ-Cumb	17	.217	5	1	6
Lucas D’Agostino, Schalick	RCSJ-Cumb	25	.259	15	1	23
Andrew Pedrick, Woodstown	Harford CC	30	.398	35	3	39
Lucas Prendergast, Woodstown	York	41	.403	62	5	28
Jarrett Pokrovsky, Schalick	Penn	38	.297	46	2	21
Terrell Robinson, Salem	Rosemont	27	.260	19	0	9
Jackson Schalick, Schalick	Frostburg	50	.370	61	6	51
Caiden Spinelli, Woodstown	Rosemont	32	.340	35	0	15
Connor Starn, Pennsville	Keystone	10	.154	2	0	2
Rocco String, Woodstown	Salem CC	32	.247	23	3	24
Chase Swain, Woodstown	LaSalle	48	.380	71	9	35
Mike Valente, Woodstown	Salem CC	10	.000	0	0	0
Brent Williams, Woodstown	G-Beacom	33	.295	36	3	24

PITCHER	SCHOOL	GP	W-L	ERA	IP	K
Evan Biddle, Salem	Frostburg	9	1-0	8.10	10.0	7
Lucas D’Agostino, Schalick	RCSJ-Cumb	11	5-2	1.88	52.2	53
Ben Foote, Woodstown	Caldwell	7	1-1	9.82	7.1	5
Jack Holladay, Woodstown	Neumann	8	0-3	9.43	21.1	16
Peyton O’Brien, Pennsville	Harford CC	7	0-0	1.74	10.1	12
Luke Pokrovsky, Schalick	Penn	12	0-1	12.89	14.2	15
Terrell Robinson, Salem	Rosemont	4	0-0	8.10	6.2	2
Caiden Spinelli, Woodstown	Rosemont	2	0-0	27.00	1.1	1
Rocco String, Woodstown	Salem CC	5	0-1	29.08	4.1	5
Mike Valente, Woodstown	Salem CC	9	2-1	5.84	24.2	12
Luke Wood, Pennsville	McDaniel	10	5-1	5.09	46	37

Softball

PLAYER	SCHOOL	GP	BA	H	HR	RBI
Emily Holladay, Woodstown	Hartwick	16	.190	8	0	3
Tulana Mingin, Woodstown	East Stroudsburg	50	.319	53	0	6
Ava Ortiz, Salem	Salem CC	15	.474	9	0	9
Savannah Palverento, Pennsville	Salem CC	43	.398	41	2	37
Lilly Peverelle, Pennsville	Salem CC	46	.489	69	8	60
Bella Rappa, Pennsville	Salem CC	37	.447	42	0	32
Cayla Sbrana, Schalick	RCSJ-Cumb	25	.279	17	0	10
Sawyer Simmons, Pennsville	Salem CC	30	.317	19	1	15

PITCHER	SCHOOL	GP	W-L	ERA	IP	K
Savannah Palverento, Pennsville	Salem CC	16	2-0	6.16	25.0	27
Cayla Sbrana, Schalick	RCSJ-Cumb	13	2-10	9.72	62.2	22
Raegan Wilson, Salem	Salem CC	22	11-6	5.82	85.1	49

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports calendar for the week of May 4-10

MONDAY, MAY 4
BASEBALL
Glassboro at Penns Grove
LEAP at Salem Tech
Salem at Pennsville
Delran at Woodstown, 4:15 p.m.
Bridgeton vs. Schalick, Elmer LL, 6 p.m.
SOFTBALL
LEAP at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
Pitman at Penns Grove
Schalick at Triton
West Deptford at Pennsville
Cinnaminson at Woodstown, 4:15 p.m.
BOYS GOLF
Schalick vs. Pitman, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Lower Cape May, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. Kingsway, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Woodstown at Overbrook, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Clayton at Salem
Woodstown in Haddonfield Invitational, 5 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Highland, 3:45 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 5
BASEBALL
Penns Grove at Glassboro
Pitman at Salem
Salem Tech at Wildwood
Schalick at Overbrook

52nd Diamond Classic
First-round games
Pennsville at No. 4 Cherry Hill West
Woodstown at No. 3 St. Augustine

SOFTBALL
Penn Tech at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
Overbrook at Schalick
Pennsville at Clayton
Penns Grove at Glassboro
Woodstown at Maple Shade, 4:30 p.m.
Salem at Pitman, 6 p.m.
GOLF
NJSIAA Playoffs, Cream Ridge GC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Gloucester Catholic, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Salem Tech vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Bridgeton at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Woodstown at Highland, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Clayton
Schalick at Wildwood, 4:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6
BASEBALL
Clayton at Pennsville

52nd Diamond Classic
First-round game
Schalick at Doane

SOFTBALL
Millville at Woodstown
Salem Tech at Cape May Tech
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. Washington Twp., The Birches, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Burlington Twp. at Pennsville
Woodstown at Millville
TRACK
TCC Showcase, Delsea, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Haddonfield at Woodstown

THURSDAY, MAY 7
BASEBALL
Clayton at Salem
Overbrook at Woodstown
Pennsville at Wildwood
Penns Grove at Schalick
SOFTBALL
Salem at Clayton
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Overbrook, 4:30 p.m.
Wildwood at Pennsville
BOYS GOLF
Carl Arena Tournament, Blue Heron GC
TENNIS
Pennsville at GCIT, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Williamstown
Washington Twp. at Schalick
BOYS LACROSSE
Triton at Woodstown

FRIDAY, MAY 8
BASEBALL
Schalick at Collingswood
SOFTBALL
Deptford at Salem
Schalick at Clearview
TENNIS
Schalick at Pitman
Wildwood at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Middle Twp.

SATURDAY, MAY 9
BASEBALL
Lee Ware Tournament, Woodstown
Woodstown vs. Camden Catholic, 10 a.m.
Cherry Hill East vs. Washington Twp., 10 a.m.
Consolation game, noon
Championship game, noon
SOFTBALL
Fred Powell Invitational, Williamstown
Woodstown vs. Williamstown, 9 a.m.
Mainland vs. Cumberland, 9 a.m.
Cherry Hill East vs. Absegami, 9 a.m.
Moorestown vs. Cedar Creek, 9 a.m.
Woodstown vs. Mainland or Cumberland, 11:30 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region XIX Tournament
Salem CC at Brookdale (2)

Shipyard 5K-10 Miler

Here are the top 10 results for Sunday’s Shipyard 5K and 10-Miler in PennsvilleK races Sunday

MENS 5K	CHIP	WOMENS 5K	CHIP
JB Lagos, Mullica Hill	19:50.09	Carrie Maguire, Gloucester	23:19.89
Scott Abbott, Newark, Del	22:31.49	Mia Simila, Gloucester	25:50.09
Ryan Heimsoath, Mullica Hill	22:49.35	Julie Winistorfer, Swedesboro	26:05.53
Brian Mantooth, Bridgeton	23:07.84	Chayleen Probasco, Sewell	27:40.60
Ryan Cole, Lumberton	23:40.73	Shana McCusker, Malaga	28:08.92
J Traino, Columbus	25:30.68	Crystal Christiansen, Vineland	29:12.73
Lincoln Abbott, Newark, Del.	26:41.27	Stephanie Cutrera, Blackwood	29:15.71
Adam Bailey, Mantua	26:42.31	Charlene Thomas, Swedesboro	29:17.75
Michael O’Brien, Mt. Laurel	26:59.48	Mia Weygand, KOP, Pa.	29:48.76
Curtis Samuels, Pennsville	28:11.31	Brenda Simila, Thorofare	30:38.38

MENS 10K	CHIP	WOMENS 10K	CHIP
Brian Pettit, Ridley Park	1:01:18	Madisyn Dutton, Pennsville	1:13:02
Alex Brown, Stratford	1:05:41	Brittany Tidaback, Sewell	1:13:30
Steven Johnson, Mullivan Hill	1:06:11	Amy Pierontoni, Swedesboro	1:15:38
Nate Lubonski, Swedesboro	1:08:03	Anabel Schaal, Penns Grove	1:16:23
John Stockert, Swedesboro	1:10:34	Jessica Greenwood, Clayton, Del.	1:18:12
Raymond Belko, Glassboro	1:11:24	Tara Guenther, Delanco	1:18:30
Mike Honcho, Gloucester	1:11:37	Christina Mayrhofer, Corbin City	1:19:23
Ryan Cleary, Blackwood	1:14:03	Angela Messick, Milton, Del.	1:21:14
Bryan Hayden, Swedesboro	1:14:34	Wendy Walsh, Gladwyne, Pa.	1:23:06
Logan Hayden, Woolwich	1:14:34	Christina Wilson, Newark, Del.	1:24:50

Schalick shines

Schalick’s pole vaulter Jenkins leads county boys at South Jersey Open meet at Delsea

BASEBALL
Woodstown 5, Audubon 1: Walker Battavio’s two-run single snapped a 1-1 tie and highlighted a three-run fourth inning that lift the Wolverines to their third straight win. Drew Sutton had an RBI ground out later in the inning. Four Woodstown pitchers held the Green Wave to four hits and one unearned run. Tommy Tucci pitched three shutout innings to get the win.

TRACK

Schalick’s Caleb Jenkins won the boys pole vault at the South Jersey Open with a jump of 12 feet, 6 inches. Jenkins and Kamaldeep Singh both jumped 12-6, but Jenkins entered the event at 11 feet and didn’t miss. All five vaulters who cleared 12-6 tried it at 13-0, but no one made it.

Two of Jenkins’ Schalick teammates, Ethan McLean and Gary Simonini, both had second-place finishes. McLean was second in the discus (132-1), while Simonini was second in the pole vault (157-0).

SOUTH JERSEY OPEN
BOYS at Delsea
1600: Vincent Kelly, Gloucester 4:32.95
100: Joshua George-Oyewole, Williamstown 10.92
400: Ashton Gage, Eastern 49.44
800: Timothy Whitaker, Timber Creek 1:56.16
110 Hurdles: Larry Norman, Deptford 14.58
200: Xavion Holmes, Deptford 22.28; 6. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 22.54
4×800: Woodbury 8:32.93
4×100: Washington Twp. 42.98
High Jump: Devin Perry, Timber Creek 6-6; 5. Tommy White, Penns Grove 5-10
Pole Vault: Caleb Jenkins, Schalick 12-6
Long Jump: Moses Robles, Glassboro 23-0.25; 4. Will Roy, Penns Grove 20-8; T-5 Danny Knight, Pennsville 20-7.50
Triple Jump: Moses Robles, Glassboro 46-4.5
Discus: Gabriel Tarasevich, Glassboro 146-1; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick 142-1
Javelin: Kristofer Oesterle, Rancocas Valley 187-11; 2. Gary Simonini, Schalick 157-0
Shot Put: Sheldon Goldsborough, Delsea 53-11

SJTCA Meet, Delsea, 1 p.m.
SJTCA Meet, Rancocas Valley, 1 p.m.

Mighty Oaks are in

Salem CC baseball gets into the Region XIX field of eight without a play-in game after sweeping Union Saturday, looking for help from eliminated Ocean to get a better seed

REGION XIX BASEBALL
Saturday’s Games
Salem CC 16-8, Union 2-5
Camden 6-16, Northampton 5-5
Middlesex 5-10, Atlantic Cape 0-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 19-19, Delaware County 0-2
Brookdale 7-14, Ocean 1-5
RCSJ-Cumberland 4-22, Bergen 0-1
CCBC-Essex 7-13, Lackawanna 6-5

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The Salem CC baseball team got what it needed in the first game of Saturday’s regular-season ending doubleheader with Union. The Mighty Oaks got what they wanted from the day in the nightcap, but they had to work for it.

The Mighty Oaks secured the final spot in the eight-team Region XIX Division III playoff bracket with an dominating 16-2 rout in the opener, then they rallied from four runs down midway through the nightcap to win that 8-5 and give themselves a chance at a more favorable seed.

The doubleheader — and series — sweep, along with Brookdale’s sweep of Ocean, allowed the Mighty Oaks (23-26, 18-15) to make the bracket without having to deal with a play-in game with Ocean. Now they’ll become the biggest Ocean fans, hoping the Vikings can knock off Montgomery County Monday to give the Mighty Oaks the seventh seed and avoid top seed and three-time defending national champion RCSJ-Gloucester in the opening round.

If Montco wins the Monday game, the Mustangs and Mighty Oaks would finish tied for seventh in the standings, but Salem would be the eighth seed since the Mustangs hold the tiebreaker. The best-of-3 first-round series start Saturday at the sites of the top four seeds.

“We needed to win,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We needed to control what we can control. We can control winning baseball games. We can’t control what happens with the other series that were going on. We just needed to control the variables we could control and we did that.

“At the end of the day the gameplan from the beginning was to win all three. Winning two out of three wasn’t an option. All along it’s we’ve got to win three. We did what we had to do to figure out how to win. It wasn’t pretty, but we figured it out.”

After having their way with the Owls (7-29) in the opener, the Mighty Oaks were held scoreless for the first four innings of the nightcap.

Meanwhile, the Owls scored four in the third as Salem starter Logan Peters lost the plate and his defense lost the handle. The Owls threatened again in the fourth, but Nick Reckard came on to get the final out of the inning before giving way to Tyler Hacker for the final three innings or however long it was going to take for the Mighty Oaks to pull it out.

They came to life in the fifth and tied the game on a pair of two-run singles by J.J. Pankowski and Hacker. Pankowski had two hits in the game and was on base in all three innings Salem scored down the stretch.

“When the inning starts I’m always telling the two batters before me get on for me because I know I’ll do the job,” the second baseman said. “Coach is always saying ‘pass the stick,’ so I just try to do my job, do whatever I can to get myself a ribbie and help the team get a rally going.”

Union retook the lead with an unearned run off Hacker in the bottom of the fifth, but Salem took it back for good in the sixth when Owls second baseman Hengel Brown threw to the first base side of the plate trying to cut down a run Pankowski’s ground ball and Roman Hernandez took a pitch off the helmet after the Owls intentionally walked Hacker in front of him to load the bases.

“I’m not looking to get hit by a pitch, but I am looking to get on base and get that winning run in no matter what it is,” Hernandez said. “It could’ve been a walk, a wild pitch, anything I could’ve done to help my team out. They’ve had my back, they’ve always cheered me on this entire season, it’s the least I can do to take one for the team.

“They intentionally walked Hacker to get to me, so I kind of took that personal, to be honest with you. The first couple swings I decided to swing for the fences a little bit, but then I realized that’s not the approach I needed to be having. I adjusted and got the game winning run.”

They added two insurance runs in the seventh on Chase Hortiz’ long sacrifice fly to left and Jason LeBold’s RBI single that handcuffed the third baseman.

Hacker stared down threats in each of his first two innings on the mound. He gave up the run in the fifth and In the sixth the Owls loaded the bases with one out, but he got out of it with a strikeout and ground out to third.

“I love it,” the sophomore right-hander said of the pressure. “You’ve probably heard the expression pressure make diamonds and if you want to be the best you’ve got to shine the brightest. No matter who the team is, no matter who we play, when we play them, how we play them, I want to win and if it’s up to me I’m going to make it happen.

“I think my willingness to win rubs off on the team, so whatever needs to happen needs to happen. It’s easier to rally around someone who wants to win and is busting his butt to do that. I have full confidence in my guys. Even after the couple errors. It was like we’re gonna get these runs back and we’re gonna shut ’em down.”

**Salem CC’s Tyler Hacker (L) breaks for second and his 60th stolen base of the season in Saturday’s first game,**

Holt handed the ball to Pat Seitzinger for the game that would get the Mighty Oaks in the playoffs. Seitzinger, pitching on Carneys Point mound for only the third time in 12 appearances this season, although it was technically a road game.

The sophomore left-hander threw 90 pitches over five innings, giving up two runs, five hits and struck out four. He walked two and hit two. Joe D’Amato worked the last two, facing eight batters, striking out three and getting a double play.

“I felt good,” Seitzinger said. “I pitched in a big game last year, probably the biggest game, so I didn’t feel any pressure. I didn’t really have everything, but I felt good enough to win.”

The Mighty Oaks had 10 hits in the first game, but took advantage of five Union errors and 20 walks and three hit batsmen. Every batter in the lineup reached base at least once. Eight of the nine spots in the lineup scored at least one run.

Colin McLaughlin enjoyed his first-ever four-hit college game, going 4-for-4 with a sacrifice fly. The freshman third baseman kept it going in the nightcap with a single in his first at-bat and two walks in four plate appearances. He had been three for his last 26, but had cut down on his early-season strikeouts considerably.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I feel as of recently I’ve been making pretty good contact here and it just felt really good to see those balls finally dropping, to see something go my way. Nothing changed at the plate, those balls were just falling today.”

Unlike Friday’s series opener that was tighter than it should’ve been, the Mighty Oaks took control of their destiny with three runs in each of the first three innings. Hernandez had a two-run double in the first, Hacker had a two-run single in the second, and McLaughlin’s sacrifice fly and two bases-loaded walks (among five passes in a row) highlighted the third.

NOTES: The Mighty Oaks serenades assistant coach Jake MacNellis with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” in the outfield huddle after the game … Hacker picked up his national leading 60th stolen base of the season in the opener. He needs eight for 100 in his JUCO career … If the playoffs were to start today, RCSJ-Gloucester would host Montco, Brookdale would host Salem, RCSJ-Cumberland would host Northampton and Middlesex would host Camden. There are six game the next two days that would impact the standings, the most significant for Salem being Montco at Ocean.

Salem	333	141	1-	16	10	0
Union	010	100	0-	2	5	1

WP: Pat Seitzinger. LP: Edwin Oyolo.

Salem	000	042	2-	8	7	5
Union	004	010	0-	5	5	5

WP: Tyler Hacker. LP: Joseph Valdez.

REGION XIX D-III	R19	ALL	GSAC
RCSJ-Gloucester	27-5	33-10	19-5
Brookdale	25-8	38-10-1	20-5
RCSJ-Cumberland	24-9	32-11-1	18-6
Middlesex	23-10	33-15	18-8
Camden	21-11	24-15	14-10
Northampton	21-11	30-17
SALEM CC	18-15	23-26	15-11
Montgomery	17-15	17-15
Ocean	15-18	18-21	10-15
Bergen	11-22	13-29	11-16
Atlantic Cape	5-27	5-27	2-22
Union	3-28	7-31	0-25
Delaware County	1-32	2-32

SUNDAY’S GAMES
Union at Northampton (2)
Monroe-Bronx at Brookdale
Suffolk CC at Middlesex (2)
Sussex at UConn-Avery Point (2)
MONDAY’S GAMES
Camden at Delaware County, resumption
Montgomery at Ocean
RCSJ-Gloucester at Atlantic Cape
Bucks County at Northampton

Close to clinching

Mighty Oaks in position to clinch a Region XIX playoff berth in final doubleheader of regular season after getting past Union in series opener

REGION 19 BASEBALL
Friday’s Games
Salem CC 11, Union 7
Brookdale 25, Ocean 6
RCSJ-Cumberland 12, Bergen 0
RCSJ-Gloucester 29, Delaware County 3
Camden 4, Northampton 3
Middlesex 16, Atlantic Cape 8

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The stage is set for the Salem CC baseball team to clinch a spot in the Region XIX playoffs, but the Mighty Oaks still have to take care of business in their final regular-season doubleheader. At least they control their own destiny.

The Mighty Oaks need only split Saturday’s twinbill with Union after Friday’s 11-7 win at The Treehouse to get into the region playoffs, whether it’s the eighth seed outright, a play-in game participant or a better seed.

A split will leave them 17-16 in region, satisfying the .500 or better record in region play caveat for qualifying; getting swept knocks them out. They can avoid a play-in game altogether if Ocean gets swept by current second-place Brookdale (Ocean lost Game 1 25-4) and they could finish as high as seventh if they sweep, Ocean gets swept and then beats Montgomery Monday, which is why they’re so intent on sweeping Union in Saturday’s doubleheader, which has been moved to the Carneys Point Rec Complex (with the Owls as home team).

“We just have to attend to our business,” right fielder Roman Hernandez said. “We played down to the level today, but we have to come out with energy and ready to kick their butt. We do have some pressure to win both of them (so) we can’t underestimate them. We’ve got to do our thing and play our way and not play down to the level.”

Pat Seitzinger is scheduled to get the ball for the Mighty Oaks in Game One. Interestingly, it will be only his third outing on the mound at The Treehouse – and it comes oddly enough in what technically is a road game. And just because they would clinch a playoff spot by winning the opener, it won’t change the way they approach Game Two.

“No, because we’ve got to win that one,” head coach John Holt said. “There’s a possibility of an 8-9 game. We don’t want an 8-9 game. That’s a one-game series on a Thursday. I’d rather control what we can control, win what we can win, and then let the cards fall.”

The game was a lot closer than it should have been given the teams’ positions in the standings. The Mighty Oaks (21-26) scored three runs in the first inning and opened a 5-1 lead in the second, and needed all of it. They never lost the lead, but they couldn’t shake the Owls (7-29).

It was a two-run game until the Mighty Oaks put three up in the seventh on a run-scoring error, Tyler Hacker’s sacrifice fly and Rocco String’s second RBI single of the game.

“Union played us tough,” Holt said. “They always seem to play us tough. Every year at the end of the year they always seem to find a way to make It a game with us.”

“I think some of our guys got out of our approach,” Hacker said. “Their guy wasn’t throwing very hard. We try to hit baseball hard and far, instead of putting it on the ground and doing our job.”

Hacker accounted for seven of the Mighty Oaks’ 11 runs. He had a two-run double in the first, a two-run single in the second and the sac fly for five total RBIs, and he scored twice. Hernandez had three hits and reached base four times. Cliff Wysinger and Jason LeBold both also reached four times.

“We get the stats before the game and see what the pitcher has done,” Hacker explained. “He walked a lot of guys, so going into the game we look for pitches we could hit, we could drive, and that’s what I did.”

Both of the Mighty Oaks’ statistical leaders added to their standing against the Owls. Hacker added two more stolen bases towards his all-of-JUCO leading total (56) on the way to his goal of 60 (and 100 career). Jason LeBold moved into solo second on this season’s Division III hit by pitch list after getting plunked in his first two at-bats. He’s now been hit 21 times – from head to toe.

“The thing for me is I don’t move out the way; I just let it hit me,” he said. “I’ve been called twice for learning into them. I just don’t really move out the way.

“Everyone in the dugout after I get hit by a pitch makes a big joke out of it. I know they find it fun. They know I get hit a lot, I just laugh it off. I had a lot last year for the little number of games I played. The Cumberland game here I got hit five times, in the head twice, everywhere. Now it’s just a big joke with all of them.”

There was a scary moment in the fifth inning when Salem starter Seth McCormick collapsed hard on the mound after his left leg buckled as he delivered a warm-up pitch. As scary as the scene looked, and he was helped off the field, team officials expect the sophomore right-hander to be all right. He already was dealing with elbow issues.

Union	010	112	110-	7	13	4
Salem CC	321	101	30x-	11	11	1

REGION XIX D-III STANDINGS	R19	ALL	GSAC
RCSJ-Gloucester	25-5	31-10	19-5
Brookdale	23-8	36-10-1	18-5
RCSJ-Cumberland	21-9	29-11-1	15-6
Northampton	21-9	30-15
Middlesex	21-10	31-15
Camden	19-11	22-15	14-10
Montgomery	17-15	17-17
SALEM CC	16-15	21-26	13-11
Ocean	15-16	18-19	10-13
Bergen	11-19	13-26	11-13
Atlantic Cape	5-25	5-25	2-20
Union	3-26	7-29	0-23
Delaware County	1-29	2-29