Well-armed Pennsville

Pennsville All-Stars edge Elmer 5-3, go 2-0 in District 3 Little League Tournament for first time since winning the title in 2019

DISTRICT 3 TOURNAMENT
MONDAY’s GAMES
Pennsville 5, Elmer 3
South Vineland 17, Bridgeton 1
West Cumberland 6, Penns Grove 2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ELMER – Pennsville All-Stars manager Stephen Pangle went with a three-armed pitching plan in his team’s District 3 Little League Tournament opener because of the oppressive heat and it produced the program’s first tournament win since 2019.

He went with the same approach Monday in a game that was 14 degrees cooler at the start and windier – with the same pitchers, in the same order – and it netted a 5-3 victory over the Elmer LL All-Stars that put them in prime position to advance out of the American Division.

They’re now tied atop the division with South Vineland and have wins over current No. 3 Buena and T-4 Elmer. The teams play for the top seed in the division Thursday at South Vineland, where Pennsville could potentially use the three-armed approach again.

“It wasn’t the plan in the beginning, but it worked so well in the first game we figured why not try it again the next game and it worked,” Pangle said. “But you could see our middle pitching starting to struggle a little bit, so we went to our third pitching a little bit earlier than we would have liked, but it ended up working out.”

JoJo Mannino started for the second game in a row, worked the first two innings, threw 52 pitches, allowed one hit and struck out four. Caiden Colomy had the middle two, threw 25 pitches and allowed one hit. Nate Morrison close it again, throwing 31 pitches over the final two innings and striking out three.

In the first two games of the tournament the trio has given up four runs, seven hits and struck out and struck out 18.

“It’s worked out wonderful,” Colomy said.

“I think we’re dominating; we’re unstoppable if we all just work together and do whatever we needed,” Mannino said. “We’re an unstoppable trio.”

It didn’t start well for them – Elmer scored three runs in the first inning off Mannino – but over the next five frames, the three pitchers kept their hosts off the board on one more hit – a bunt single.

It gave Pennsville the chance it needed to come back. Colomy gave Pennsville a 4-3 lead with a two-run single in the fifth inning and Mannino provided an insurance run with a leadoff homer in the sixth.

It was a 3-2 game going into the fifth. Lauden Tighe got the go-ahead rally started with a pop single that fell into short right field. “If we didn’t get that hit in that spot, we may not have won that game,” Pangle said.

Morrison reached on a two-out error that put runners at second and third and Colomy brought them both home with a sharp single through the hole at short for a 4-3 lead. Colomy and Tighe both doubled earlier in the game.

“I was just trying to drive them home,” Colomy said. “I just wanted to get a good hit to the outfield and drive them in.”

Grayson Bingham pitched a complete game for Elmer. He threw 82 pitches, gave up seven hits and struck out three. “He threw an incredible game,” Elmer manager Matt Schneider said. “Any day of the week you’d take that pitching outing right there.”

Elmer scored its three runs in the first inning with the benefit of just one hit – a 23-foot single by Easton Aulffo with the bases loaded that gave his team a 2-1 lead. They scored their first run on an error and their third run when Raylan Baldissaro was hit by a pitch right after Aulffo’s short single.

But they managed only five more base runners the rest of the game, three who got in scoring position, but none past second base. Two of the runners were put out at third.

“We came out urgent and then kind of stood on our laurels,” Schneider said. “We got up early and just took our foot off the gas. They made the hits when they needed to and we didn’t. All the credit in the world to those kids. They played all 18 outs and they deserved to win.”

Pennsville 5, Elmer 3

Pennsville	110	021-	5	7	2
Elmer	300	000-	3	2	2

WP: Caiden Colomy (1-0). LP: Grayson Bingham (0-1). S: Nate Morrison (2). 2B: Lauden Tighe (P), Caiden Colomy (P). HR: JoJo Mannino (P).

District 3 LL Tournament

AMERICAN	W	L	RUNS	NATIONAL	W	L	RUNS
Pennsville	2	0	8-4	E. Vineland	2	0	21-10
S. Vineland	2	0	24-7	Millville Amer	1	1	13-12
Buena	1	1	13-3	W. Cumberland	1	1	10-8
Elmer	0	2	9-12	Penns Grove	0	2	5-18
Bridgeton	0	2	1-29

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Elmer at Bridgeton, 5:45 p.m.
East Vineland at West Cumberland, 5:45 p.m.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville at South Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
South Vineland at Buena, 5:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Millville American, 5:45 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville at Bridgeton, 5 p.m.
Elmer at Buena, 5 p.m.

District 3 LL 12U

East Vineland takes upper hand in National Division with an 8-7 walk-off win over Millville American; game ended on an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh

District 3 LL Tournament

AMERICAN	W	L	RUNS	NATIONAL	W	L	RUNS
Pennsville	1	0	3-1	E. Vineland	2	0	21-10
S. Vineland	1	0	7-6	Millville Amer	1	1	13-12
Buena	1	1	13-3	W. Cumberland	0	1	4-6
Elmer	0	1	6-7	Penns Grove	0	1	3-12
Bridgeton	0	1	0-12

SUNDAY’S GAME
East Vineland 8. Millville American 7 (7 inns.)
MONDAY’S GAMES
Bridgeton at South Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Elmer, 5:45 p.m.
West Cumberland at Penns Grove, 5:45 p.m.

Historic start

UPDATED

Pennsville 12U All-Stars on game in all three phases, beat Buena in District 3 LL Tournament opener for first tournament win in five years

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – The temperature on McLaughlin Field at first pitch was pushing 100 and the Pennsville All-Stars came out on fire.

The last team to play in the tournament this year was on point in all three phases of the game in its District 3 Little League Tournament opener Saturday and parlayed it into an historic 3-1 victory over Buena.

UPDATED INFO: It was their first win in the district tournament since 2019, when they swept the title in six games, and their first Little League Tournament win since taking their first elimination game in the 2019 section tournament. They had lost their last nine tournament games. There was no tournament in 2020.

“It’s a big step for Pennsville Little League baseball; it’s been a while,” manager Stephen Pangle said. “It puts our confidence right where it needs to be.

“Knowing the last couple years we have been winless for 12U and coming in and being able to get that first game, first win, just shows how much hard work they’ve put in the past three weeks to get where they’re at today.”

Pennsville got clutch performances from every element of its team. Three pitchers combined to hold a Buena bunch that scored 12 runs in its opener to one run and five hits with Nate Morrison locking down the final 2 1/3 innings for the save.

The pitchers were supported by strong defense that included several nice plays from second baseman Owen Whalen and a nifty unassisted double play by centerfielder Nathan Breeden to end the fifth inning.

Offensively, they got two hits apiece from Morrison and Breeden, an RBI single from Caiden Colomy in the third inning and a long solo homer by John Swiderski in the fourth that answered Buena’s run in the top of the inning. They never trailed.

“They were just ready to battle, they were ready to go,” Pangle said. “We looked like a well-oiled machine out there today. Everybody was doing their part. Everybody did what they were supposed to do. Everybody did their job. That was the biggest thing.

“We preach during practice all we want you to do is do your job … and they were able to deliver on that.”

Pennsville’s plan to go with three pitchers was predicated by the heat, giving each about 35 pitches to keep them from overworking. JoJo Mannino started and turned back a couple threats in his two innings. Colomy followed him and stayed until an two-out RBI triple by Cash Myers brought home Buena’s run on a close play at the plate.

Morrison came on at that point and, with Myers representing the tying run at the time, struck out the first hitter he faced on four pitches to end the inning. And then he finished the game, striking out the side in the sixth with the tying run at the plate.

“He’s a big-time pitcher,” Pangle said. “He pitches for me during our Little League season so I know what he’s capable of doing, and I know he’s able to throw strikes, throw heat, and have different pitches to throw them off balance.”

“(The mindset entering the game) was just to get out of the inning, to get that one out so the runner doesn’t score and help the team out,” Morrison said. “I really wanted to close out the game. When I start I really want to close it out as far as I can go.”

It didn’t take long for Pennsville to get the run back. Swiderski led off the bottom of the fourth with a long homer. It was his 16th of the summer and wasn’t even the longest one he’d hit this summer.

“Off the bat I knew it was gone because he crushed that,” Morrison said.

“If they hit you, you hit them back harder,” Swiderski said. “I was sitting on that curveball because I knew he had a good curve. I knew it was going to be first-pitch fastball and I was sitting on that curveball for my second pitch and went with my hitting mechanics I’ve been doing forever and I just drove the ball.”

And it drove Pennsville to an historic win.

Cover photo: Nate Morrison delivers a pitch to the final batter in Pennsville’s 3-1 District 3 Tournament win over Buena Saturday.

Pennsville 3, Buena 1

Buena	000	100–	1	5	1
Pennsville	101	10X–	3	6	2

WP: JoJo Mannino (1-0). LP: Dom Wargo (1-1). 2B: Nate Morrison (P). 3B: Cash Myers (B). HR: John Swiderski (P).

District 3 LL Tournament

AMERICAN	W	L	RUNS	NATIONAL	W	L	RUNS
Pennsville	1	0	3-1	E. Vineland	1	0	13-3
S. Vineland	1	0	7-6	Millville Amer	1	0	6-4
Buena	1	1	13-3	W. Cumberland	0	1	4-6
Elmer	0	1	6-7	Penns Grove	0	1	3-12
Bridgeton	0	1	0-12

SATURDAY’S GAME
Pennsville 3, Buena 1
SUNDAY’S GAME
Millville American at East Vineland, 5 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAMES
Bridgeton at South Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Elmer, 5:45 p.m.
West Cumberland at Penns Grove, 5:45 p.m.

Game of inches

South Vineland rallies for four in fifth to take the lead, then turns back an Elmer rally in the sixth in the District 3 Little League Tournament

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ELMER – Baseball, they say, is a game of inches and that’s literally how close the Elmer All-Stars came to winning their District 3 Little League Tournament opener Friday night.

South Vineland staged a fifth-inning rally to take the lead and then turned back Elmer in the sixth with leftfielder Kayden Potts stretching out to snare the final out with the go-ahead runs in scoring position to preserve a 7-6 victory.

Elmer’s Adam McGovern came to the plate with two outs in the sixth, one run already home, the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second. He worked the count to 3-0 and manager Matt Schneider gave him the green light.

McGovern hit the ball solidly and it looked headed to the gap to give Elmer a momentum-stealing lead. Potts, a usual pitcher and catcher given the start in the outfield on a last-minute coach’s hunch, raced over and snatched the fly out of the air before it could cause any damage.

A few inches over and it would’ve given Elmer the lead. Instead, the next thing you knew the teams were going through the handshake line.

“The kids never hung their heads,” Schneider said. “Baseball’s a game of inches. We went out there, put charges in the ball and stayed in the game and ultimately gave ourselves a chance at the end there and that’s all you can ask for.”

Given the situation Schneider didn’t think giving McGovern the green light when South Vineland reliever Elijuah Perez had just walked Mateo Cummings ahead of him was a risk.

“At that point in the game you get the pitch you can drive and we go for it,” Schneider said. “Normally, yeah, you want to play (the percentages), but we had the momentum, he got a pitch he could drive and he drove it, but right to the guy. Sometimes you’ve got throw those fundamentals out the window when you get a pitch you can groove.”

“In travel I hit my first home run off a 3-0,” McGovern said. “I thought (this one) I had too much loft on it and I got under it too much. I was just thinking make it to the outfield and see what happens.”

McGovern had a softer swing two innings earlier that netted his team a better result. His slow roller with the bases loaded died in the infield grass for an RBI single that put Elmer ahead 4-3.

“I was really happy (about that) because I’d been on a slump,” he said.

The close calls weren’t just limited to Elmer. South Vineland retook the lead with two outs in the fifth on back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Joel Rodriguez and Perez that both were just out of the reach of Elmer centerfielder Clayton Bishop. They scored their two runs in the first inning with two outs, too.

“To be honest, that’s what we do,” South Vineland manager Hiram Cordero said. “We’re like a two-out team. It’s like when we have two outs that’s when the team wakes up because you have not room for error. That was a good team. Everybody who went up was hitting it. I was telling the guys that’s the way to win – to hit the ball.”

Elmer was the visitor in its own park and took the first lead in the game on Chase Moir’s two-out RBI double in the first inning. McGovern’s run-scoring slow roller was part of a three-run fourth and Elmer extended its lead to 5-3 in the fifth on Ryan Schneider’s RBI ground out.

“If you like baseball that was a fun game to watch, regardless of the outcome,” Matt Schneider said. “We were on the losing end of that, but we told the guys there are good wins and there are good losses and that was a good loss. We were never out of that game to the end.

“Now we’ve got the weekend (free). We told the guys clear their heads; you’ve got to have the memory of a goldfish. Monday we come back (at home against Pennsville). We’re going to play hard, we’re going to go at them and we’re going to attack them like we do.”

South Vineland 7, Elmer 6

Elmer	100	311–	6	10	3
South Vineland	210	04X–	7	9	2

WP: Elijuah Perez (1-0). LP: Brandon D’Agostino (0-1). 2B: Chase Moir (E); Joel Rodriguez (SV), Elijuah Perez (SV), Mylus Moore (SV). 3B: Ronald Leverette (SV).

District 3 LL Tournament

AMERICAN DIV.	W	L	RF-RA	NATIONAL DIV.	W	L	RF-RA
Buena	1	0	12-0	East Vineland	1	0	13-3
South Vineland	1	0	7-6	Millville American	1	0	6-4
Pennsville	0	0	0-0	West Cumberland	0	1	4-6
Elmer	0	1	6-7	Penns Grove	0	1	3-13
Bridgeton	0	1	0-12

FRIDAY’S GAMES
South Vineland 7, Elmer 6
Millville American 6, West Cumberland 4
SATURDAY’S GAME
Buena at Pennsville, 5 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAME
Millville American at East Vineland, 5 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAMES
Bridgeton at South Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Elmer, 5:45 p.m.
West Cumberland at Penns Grove, 5:45 p.m.

Starting strong

Candelario, Perkins hit and pitch East Vineland All-Stars to 13-3 victory over Penns Grove in District 3 LL Tournament opener

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Jim Smith is confident his East Vineland Little League All-Stars have all the ingredients to be a dominant team in the District 3 LL Tournament and have a nice run up the line.

Decorum, of course, prevents him from actually saying it, but you can’t help think the manager fully believes it.

East Vineland wasted no time putting those pieces on display Thursday, pounding 14 hits overall – eight for extra bases – regularly stealing or taking the extra base and holding their hosts to three hits in a 13-3 Opening Night win over Penns Grove.

“I’ve got a lot of strong bats on the team, a lot of speed on the team and pitching depth,” Smith said. “We’ve got a 1-2-3 (rotation); I think we only saw the 1-2.

“Our bats are really what jumped out for everything. I was getting hits through my entire lineup and that’s what we work on. And baserunning, too.”

Carter Perkins and Enzo Candelario led the way on the mound and at the plate. Candelario went 4-for-4 with two homers and two ground-rule doubles. Perkins had two doubles, a first-pitch leadoff triple and scored four runs. And they combined for the three-hitter with 10 strikeouts off the mound.

Perkins opened the game with a triple on the first pitch and stole home under the nose of the pitcher and catcher. He doubled in the third, stole third and scored when the toss back to the pitcher got away. His speed also created runs in the fifth and sixth.

Candelario hit ground-rule doubles in the first and sixth innings and launched long solo homers in the third and fifth. He now has 40 homers this summer between rec ball, travel ball and the tournament with a goal of hitting 50 for the year.

“They (Perkins and Candelario) were on the team I played in the (league) championship,” Smith said. “We won the first game, but lost the second and third. I tried to pitch around them and there is no pitching around them.”

“I felt good today,” Candelario said. “I made hard contact with the ball. When I go to the plate I look to get a hard hit.”

“He just hits bombs,” said Perkins.

“Give all the credit in the world to that team,” Penns Grove manager B.J. Painter said. “They’re stacked, especially the first half of that lineup. And you can’t say enough about 33 (Candelario). We couldn’t get away from him on either side of the ball. I knew they were coming with three really good players and they absolutely lived up to it today.”

The winners opened a 5-0 lead in the third, but the Killer Ps – Carneys Point, Penns Grove and Pedricktown – scored three in the home half of the inning when Zac Dordell drew a bases-loaded walk to end Candelario’s day on the mound and Bryce Painter greeted Perkins with a two-run single.

They looked to have something going with one out in the sixth, but Perkins got out of it with a game-ending double play started by Candelario.

“I knew we could hang with these guys,” Painter said. “Unfortunately the next inning when we were on offense we had a four-pitch inning that was one of those that takes a little bit of air out of the sails.“We’re going to use this as a learning experience. We’ve got another game Monday (against West Cumberland at the Carneys Point Rec Park) and we’re going to come out ready to play.”

Cover photo: East Vineland’s Enzo Candelario hit two homers and a pair of doubles, pitched the first 2 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and started the game-ending double play Thursday night.

East Vineland 13, Penns Grove 3

East Vineland	212	152–	13	14	3
Penns Grove	003	000–	3	3	4

WP: Enzo Canderlario (1-0). LP: Achillus Vong (0-1). 2B: Carter Perkins 2 (EV), Enzo Canderlario 2 (EV), Chase Hassler (PG). 3B: Carter Perkins (EV), Barry Garcia (EV). HR: Enzo Candelario 2 (EV).

District 3 LL Tournament

AMERICAN DIV.	W	L	RF-RA	NATIONAL DIV.	W	L	RF-RA
Buena	1	0	12-0	East Vineland	1	0	13-3
Elmer	0	0	0-0	Millville American	0	0	0-0
Pennsville	0	0	0-0	West Cumberland	0	0	0-0
South Vineland	0	0	0-0	Penns Grove	0	1	3-13
Bridgeton	0	1	0-12

THURSDAY’S GAMES
East Vineland 13, Penns Grove 3
Buena 12, Bridgeton 0
FRIDAY’S GAMES
South Vineland at Elmer, 5:45 p.m.
Millville American at West Cumberland, 5:45 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Buena at Pennsville, 5 p.m.

Back to the Bank

Tri-Cape All-Stars score second win in Carpenter Cup, reach semifinals in Citizens Bank Park for fourth year in a row; all 3 Salem County players contribute

CARPENTER CUP
Thursday’s Games
Urban Youth Academy Fields, FDR Park
Inter-Ac/Independents 18, SEPA 5
Jersey Shore 9, Chester County 6
Tri-Cape 5, Philadelphia Catholic 2
Delaware County 10, Philadelphia Public 9

June 24 Semifinals
At Citizens Bank Park
Inter-Ac/Independents vs. Jersey Shore, 9 a.m.
Tri-Cape vs. Delaware County, 12:30 p.m.

June 25 Championship Game
At Citizens Bank Park
Semifinal winners, 9:30 a.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – D.J. Gore has taken the Tri-Cape All-Stars to the Carpenter Cup rounds in Citizens Bank Park so much the last couple years he could probably set up shop next to Rob Thomson’s office and nobody in the Phillies’ organization would think twice.

Meanwhile, the three Salem County players on the team have all been in the Bank before but never from the place they’ll be come next Monday.

The Tri-County/Cape Atlantic League stars coached by Gore punched their ticket to the Carpenter Cup semifinals for the fourth year in a row Thursday when they beat the Philadelphia Catholic League 5-2 on the Dick Allen Urban Youth Academy Field in FDR Park.

They’ll now play the Delaware County stars in the 12:30 p.m. June 24 semifinal at Citizens Park Bank, looking to reach the finals for the fourth year in a row. Inter-Ac/Independents will play Jersey Shore in the 9 a.m. semifinal. Jersey Shore beat Tri-Cape in last year’s championship game. The finals are 9:30 a.m. June 25.

“We’ve been fortunate because we’ve had a run of really good, successful kids and they’re extremely talented,” said Gore, the head coach at Highland Regional. “It really is easy to have them in the dugout. That’s how we’ve been able to have the success that we’ve been able to have.

“It’s always a big deal to get a new group of kids there. There are probably 10 kids who haven’t been there, so you get a new group to experience Citizens Bank Park and were all still probably little boys at heart so any time you can walk on the field and get on the field and get into the bullpens, get on the home plate, the pitching mound, it’s a memory that lasts a lifetime.”

All three of the Salem County players on the team – Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien and Chase Burchifield and Schalick’s Luke Pokrovsky – have been in Citizens Bank Park before. O’Brien has even been on the field once for a meet-the-players session, but for the most part all of their experience has been from the stands.

Now, they’ll be able to experience it from a whole different perspective.

“That’s going to be really cool,” Burchfield said. “I’m going to have to take some videos of that.”

“It’s going to be crazy,” O’Brien said. “A field you grew up watching, now you have the opportunity to play on that field, it’s going to be awesome.”

Pokrovsky hadn’t really given any thought to throwing of the CBP mound before, but after Thursday’s win, he said, “I’m going to start thinking about it now.”

“We have a really good team,” he said. “I feel like we’re going to win the next one and get to the championship.”

All three Salem players played a part in Thursday’s victory.

O’Brien and Burchfield each collected their first hit of the series in the sixth inning. Burchfield beat out an infield single to third with one out and in somewhat a reversal of fortunes, O’Brien punched an opposite-field single into left to score his high school teammate and extended Tri-Cape’s lead to 4-1.

During the high school season it was usually Burchfield, the Eagles’ cleanup hitter, knocking in O’Brien, who hit third.

“Tuesday I struck out with a guy on third base and I was not happy about it,” O’Brien said. “I wanted to get a run home, so I tried to do whatever I could and put the ball in play and it found a spot. To be able to hit him in is awesome.”

“It was pretty cool to have that happen, especially in this game where not all of us are from the same (high school) team.”

Pokrovsky pitched for the second game in a row. This time, instead of finishing the game, the left-hander pitched two innings of one-hit shutout middle relief immediately behind starter and winner Tate DeRias (Gloucester Catholic/Miami).

Pokrovsky was lifted in mid-count for Mainland’s Brady Blum after putting the first two runners on in the sixth, but, in one of the biggest moments of the game, after he loaded the bases with none out Blum got out of the jam with three straight strikeouts similar to what he did in the opener.

“Today was a lot better due to the fact I was more loose,” Pokrovsky said. “Tuesday I warmed up in the beginning of the game and it was like three hours later that I threw on the mound. Throwing in the middle of game it felt way better than Tuesday.”

The PCL stars hit DeRias’ first pitch for a triple and scored a run in the first inning, but got not more. They were 2-for-21 with runners on base, 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.

Tri-Cape took the lead with three in the second. They tied the game on an RBI infield single by Chris Smith (Washington Twp.), took the lead when Hunter Ray (Lower Cape May) scored on a wild pitch and extended the lead on another RBI infield single by Evan Taylor (Ocean City).

“it’s fun playing with all these kids,” Burchfield said. “You know they’re all so good. I feel like I’ll be up to bat and the next thing I’ll be right back up because all the kids are hitting. It’s fun.”

Phila. Catholic (1-1)	100	000	001-	2	7	0
Tri-Cape (2-0)	030	001	01X-	5	11	1

WP: Tate DeRias (1-0). LP: Kyle Tuthill (0-1). S: Matt Kouser (1). 2B: Noah Danza (TC), Jake Cagna (TC), Frank Master (TC). RBI-Phila. Catholic: Harry Carr, Michael Coleman; Tri-Cape: Evan Taylor, Noah Danza, Peyton O’Brien, Chris Smith.

Cover photo: Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien is poised to take a cut during his plate appearance for the Tri-Cape All-Stars in the eighth inning of Thursday’s Carpenter Cup game.

Tri-Cape wins opener

Combo league stars drill Burlco 13-6, all 3 Salem County stars play, give ‘solid’ performances

CARPENTER CUP BASEBALL CLASSIC
Tuesday’s Results
Urban Youth Academy Fields, FDR Park
Philadelphia Catholic 4, Bux-Mont 1
Tri-Cape 13, Burlington County 6
Philadelphia Public 4, Delaware North 3
Delaware County 6, Delaware South 3
Thursday’s Games
Urban Youth Academy Fields, FDR Park
Inter-Ac/Independents vs. SEPA, 9 a.m. (Dick Allen Field)
Chester County vs. Jersey Shore, 10:30 a.m. (Richie Ashburn Field)
Philadelphia Catholic vs. Tri-Cape, 12:30 p.m. (Dick Allen Field)
Philadelphia Public vs. Delaware County, 2 p.m. (Richie Ashburn Field)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – It just goes to show the kind of team the Tri-Cape all-stars draft every year when they don’t get to work out together before they play in the Carpenter Cup and then have the kind of success they enjoy in the tournament.

The Tri-Cape stars’ opened their bid for a fourth straight trip to the Carpenter Cup championship game Monday with a 13-6 win over Burlington County on the Urban Youth Academy Fields at FDR Park.

In the highest-scoring game of the opening round, the Tri-Cape stars pounded 14 hits and scored almost as many runs as the day’s other three winners combined. They answered Burlco’s three-run third with seven runs in the bottom of the inning to take control.

Actually, in all three innings Burlington scored Tri-Cape answered with at least one run to maintain its lead.

“We’ve never done it,” Tri-Cape manager D.J. Gore said of a pre-tournament practice. “It’s not that we wouldn’t like to, but at the same time Gloucester Catholic, Delsea, St. Augustine are playing in state championship games on Friday and Saturday and that takes precedent. This is a showcase. It’s to represent our two conferences.

“They’re all-star caliber kids,. They’re All-South Jersey kids. They’re kids that hit most likely in their high-school lineup either first, second, third or fourth, and you have a collection of them. They’re the best of what I think we have to offer in the Tri-County/Cape Atlantic Conferences. (The result) is a byproduct of that.”

You can’t argue with their results. Tri-Cape has been a fixture in the finals, nailing down the title in 2021 and 2022 and playing for it again last year.

All three Salem County players on this year’s Tri-Cape roster – Schalick’s Luke Pokrovsky and Pennsville teammates Chase Burchfield and Peyton O’Brien – got in the opener and gave what Gore called “a solid performance.”

Pokrovsky was the last of seven pitchers Gore used in the game. The Cougars’ junior left-hander got the final two outs to preserve the victory. He faced two batters, walked one and struck out one. One of his outs was recorded at the plate.

He was part of a back end of the Tri-Cape bullpen that pitched four shutout innings and allowed just three hits and a walk. Mainland senior Brady Blum struck out all three batters he faced in an eighth-inning jam. St. Augustine senior J.P. Podgorski worked the first three innings and was credited with the win.

“The idea behind it all was with Luke you need to be able to close games out and we needed to be able to be in a position to where we had an elite arm at the end of the game because at one point it was an 8-6 game,” Gore said.

Burchfield was hitless in three at-bats off the bench as the designated hitter, but he hit the ball hard all three times he came to the plate and drove in a run. One of the his rockets was misplayed in centerfield for an error. He almost beat out a grounder in the infield in his last at-bat.

O’Brien played first base and went 0-for-1 with a walk. Still, it was a red-letter day for the Eagles junior. On top of being part of the deepest team he’s ever played on, it was his 17th birthday and he passed his driver’s test before arriving at the ballpark.

“It was awesome,” O’Brien said. “There were a lot of good players out there and it was a really cool experience. I can’t speak for everybody else, but me and Chase were extremely honored to get the chance to go out there and play for Tri-Cape because we know how big a deal it is.”

Despite having a freshly printed New Jersey driver’s license in his back pocket, O’Brien didn’t drive himself to the game.

“My dad wasn’t ready for that yet,” he said.

The team now now plays the Philadelphia Catholic League stars Thursday at 12:30 p.m. The winner gets a spot in Monday’s semifinals in Citizens Bank Park. The PCL stars advanced with a 4-1 one-hitter over Bux-Mont.

Gore’s plan is to have a similar approach with his pitchers.

“We’re going to get some guys back who we didn’t have available today,” he said. “It’s the next game to win. This next game is what gets you into Citizens Bank Park, which has always been the No. 1 goal: To get these kids on that field, give them that experience in a major-league stadium.“

As for the newest driver on the team, he probably has a better chance driving home a run Thursday than driving to the game.

“It’s still up in the air,” O’Brien said, “but I’m guessing probably not.”

Burlington County	003	120	000-	6	10	4
Tri-Cape	007	110	31X-	13	14	3

WP: J.P. Podgorski (1-0). LP: Ben Hudson (0-1). 2B: Andrew Shank (BC), Guy Lynam (TC). 3B: Noah Danza (TC). RBI-Burlington County: Reid Uccello, Andrew Shank 2, Nick Merunka; Tri-Cape: Frank Master 2, Evan Taylor, Jack Mustaro, Tommy Popoff 2, Jake Slusarski 2, Ryan Manning, Jake Meyers, Matt Johansen, Ethan Mitnick, Chase Burchfield.

Tri-Cape trio

Salem County puts 3 players on this year’s Tri-Cape Carpenter Cup baseball roster, team opens play vs. Burlington County June 11; softball opens June 17

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Schalick pitcher Luke Pokrovsky will extend a unique family legacy next week as joins his two older brothers in playing on the Tri-Cape Carpenter Cup baseball team.

Pokrovsky is joined by Pennsville teammates Peyton O’Brien and Chase Burchfield as the Salem County representatives on the 25-man Tri-Cape roster that once again is expected to contend for the Cup.

The combo league’s all-stars have been in the final each of the last three years, winning it in 2021 and ’22. This year’s team opens the tournament against Burlington County at 10 a.m. June 11 on the Richie Ashburn Field at FDR Park. A win sends them to play either Philadelphia Catholic or Bux-Mont at 12:30 p.m. June 13, with that winner heading to the Final Four in Citizens Bank Park.

Pokrovsky, a junior left-handed pitcher, is the third member of his family to play for the team, joining older brothers Staus and Jarrett in the classic.

“One of the cool things with doing this a long time, and I don’t know this to be 100 percent factual, but I don’t know if anybody’s ever gone through three sets of brothers,” Tri-Cape head coach D.J. Gore said. “This will be the third Pokrovsky who has played in the Carpenter Cup for us. I think it’s a pretty interesting fact.

“To have one son to excel in it is something. To have two is quite remarkable. But now there’s a third one. We’re looking to see him up close in person. I’ve seen him in a scrimmage, he pitched against us (Highland), but we’re looking to see in actual game-day live. He seems special. He seems like his two other brothers, but he’s also a little bit different because he’s a pitcher.”

All three Salem County all-stars had banner years for their South Jersey Group I playoff teams.

Pokrovsky made 12 appearances on the mound with 122 strikeouts and a 1.09 ERA in 57 2/3 innings. He struck out 16 three times (Gloucester, Overbrook, Paulsboro) and in one 20 2/3-, 10-day stretch fanned 44 and allowed four hits (with a no-hitter against Wildwood). He allowed one hit or less over six or more innings four times.

At the plate he batted .500 with 40 hits with six homers and 27 RBIs.

“You can play deep in this tournament because of your starting pitching,” Gore said. “Obviously over the past three years we’ve had really, really good starting pitching and that’s why we’ve been successful.”

Burchfield was the Eagles’ leading hitter with a .476 average and .707 slugging percentage. He had 39 hits, three homers and 39 RBIs. O’Brien was their second-leading hitter with a .439 average and .634 slugging percentage. He had 36 hits, 12 doubles, and 25 RBIs.

It’s the second year in a row Pennsville coach Matt Karr has had a player on the team and the first time in his tenure the Eagles have had multiple players. Luke Wood was on the team last year.

“The kids from Pennsville are both pretty special,” Gore said. “There’s always been a kid from Pennsville on there. To have multiple ones I think shows you what type of kid is down there right now.

“Statistically speaking, their numbers are off the charts and they play a really good schedule. You’re just looking to see them kind of mesh in this team environment with the 23 other guys who are on there.

“That’s the biggest thing, just getting these guys to mesh in together. For the most part we’re taking everybody’s best player off of their team and putting them into one team and just showing up for basically one day. You hope to win Game 1 that gets you to Game 2 and if you win two games you’re playing in Citizens Bank Park, which is the ultimate goal for all these kids to play there at least once.”

The Softball Carpenter Cup opens June 17. The Tri-Cape team plays Bracket B opponents Delaware South (noon), Inter-Ac (4 p.m.) and Philadelphia PCCAF (6 p.m.) the first day. The top two teams from each of the four brackets advance to the knockout round June 19.

Pennsville’s Beth Jackson and Schalick’s Rick Higinbotham will again serve on the coaching staff.

Here’s the Tri-Cape baseball roster:

PITCHERS: Matt Kouser (St. Augustine), J.P. Podgorski (St. Augustine), Travis Large (Ocean City); Tate DeRias (Gloucester Catholic), Frank Cairone (Delsea), Luke Pokrovsky (Schalick), Nate Bott (Kingsway).

INFIELDERS: Sergio Droz (Millville), Evan Taylor (Ocean City), Ethan Mitnick (Mainland), Jake Cagna (Egg Harbor Twp.), Jason Salsbery (Egg Harbor Twp.), Jack Mustaro (Gloucester Catholic), Noah Danza (Gloucester Catholic), Peyton O’Brien (Pennsville), Chris Smith (Washington Twp.).

OUTFIELDERS: Jake Meyers (St. Augustine), Ryan Manning (Cedar Creek), Hunter Ray (Lower Cape May), Jake Slusarski (Williamstown), Frank Master (Delsea), Zach Maxwell (Delsea), Chase Burchfield (Pennsville).

CATCHERS: Matt Johansen (Absegami), Tommy Popoff (Kingsway).

Emotional ending

Daily’s double delivery does in Woodstown; Lions win first sectional title in 50 years with seventh-inning rally

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Monday’s Games
North I: Pompton Lakes 5, Pequannock 0
North II: Dayton 4, Brearley 0
Central: Point Pleasant Beach 6, Shore 0
South: Gloucester 5, Woodstown 4
STATE SEMIFINALS
Wednesday’s Games
Pompton Lakes (24-4) at Dayton (17-11)
Point Pleasant Beach (24-4) at Gloucester (22-7)
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday
at Veterans Park, Hamilton, 10 a.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLOUCESTER — Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro has been involved in a lot of games like Monday’s drama-filled South Jersey Group I baseball final. And all of them, he has observed, have come down to the same thing. The team that manages the momentum swings in the game best usually wins.

Much to the Wolverines’ dismay, it was Gloucester that handled the swing at the end.

Ayden Daily’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly on the second out of the bottom of the seventh brought home the winning run in an historic 5-4 Lions victory.

It was the Lions’ first sectional baseball title in 50 years. They dedicated the win and the season to Gage Myers, a 2023 senior teammate who was killed in a car accident in March.

They now host Central champion Point Pleasant Beach (24-4) in the Group I state semifinals Wednesday.

Emotions rose and fell on both sides like the tides as the lead changed hands three times in the last inning and a half. Gloucester (22-7) went up 3-1 with two runs in the home sixth, Woodstown (18-10) took the lead and momentum back 4-3 in the top of the seventh and then the Lions won it in the bottom of the seventh.

“These games are never easy,” DeCastro said. “There’s always going to be swings and it’s how you handle the swings within the game (that make the difference). They just happened to get the last swing.

“I was really proud of the way we treated the seventh inning down two like we treated the sixth inning up one and like we treated every other inning we played and that’s why we were able to do what we did. It just happens they got the last one.”

The Lions’ winning rally started when Jack Knorr, the Wolverines’ fourth pitcher, hit leadoff man Kevin Hall with a pitch. The Wolverines looked to have Hall picked off, but he slid safely under the tag at second when everyone in the Woodstown dugout was convinced he was out. Seth McCormick then dropped a single into center to put runners at the corners. Knorr struck out the next batter, then intentionally walked Russell Medlar to load the bases.

Wall scored the tying run when Knorr threw a ball that hit the dirt that skipped to the backstop and got stuck in the windscreen. Knorr ended up walking Gavin Weiner to reload the bases and went to 2-0 on Daily to prompt a visit from DeCastro.

“When you have that situation and a walk wins the game and it’s 2-0 there’s just a lot of building momentum and I just wanted to crush it and start it brand new,” DeCastro said. “It didn’t really matter what I said, what it did was just slow everything down and now allow that building to go on.”

Daily fouled off the next pitch and then hit his sacrifice fly. The senior third baseman gave the Lions their 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a soft two-run single into right field.

“Those were two really good moments right there,” Daily said. “Nothing feels better than when you drive in the runs, especially to put them in the lead, and to walk it off felt even better. We did this for Gage.”

Wolverines’ outfielder Blake Bialecki never wanted to make a throw from the outfield more in his life than after he ran down Daily’s fly to center. He caught the ball going to his left, planted his feet and threw as hard as he could towards the plate. Pinch runner Mason Widman raced down the line from third and just got underneath Ty Coblentz as the Wolverines catcher tried to snare Bialecki’s throw just outside the third-base batter’s box.

“That’s the most I’ve ever wanted to do something in my life,” Bialecki said. “I was thinking just throw it as hard as you can.”

The Wolverines took the lead with three in the top of the seventh. Their first three batters of the inning reached to load the bases. Brent Williams’ sacrifice fly to right drew them within 3-2 and then Andrew Pedrick put them up 4-2 with a two-run single past a drawn-in second baseman.

“That was probably one of the best hits of my career,” Pedrick said. “Getting a hit in that moment, it was special.”

And for a moment it had the Wolverines sitting on top of the world. But it wasn’t to be.

“We fought back really hard and just couldn’t pull it out,” Bialecki said. “It sucks (to lose like that), but it was a great season.”

NOTES: The Wolverines won nine of their last 10 games to reach the South Jersey Group I final for the third time in the last four years (they won the other two) … Woodstown starter Michael Valente started three of the Wolverines’ four playoff games and pitched in all four. He threw 4 1/3 total innings, giving up five hits, one earned run and striking out four … Knorr also pitched in all four playoff games. He went 7 1/3 innings with three hits, five earned runs, seven walks and nine strikeouts … Pedrick’s go-ahead single was the 105th hit of his career … Williams’ sacrifice fly in the sixth was his 101st career RBI. He finished with 112 career hits … Given the historical significance of the win, Gloucester coach Greg Galbraith said it was for “the amount of people in town who are still worried about high school sports who graduated in 1960, 1970, 1980 and so on who still care.” The last time the Lions won the state was 1971.

Cover photo: Jack Knorr comes across the plate with Woodstown’s go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning of the South Jersey Group I championship game. Gloucester scored two in the bottom of the inning to break the Wolverines’ hearts.

Delivering in a pinch

Pinch-hitter Banff’s two-run single highlights five-run inning that helps Woodstown dump Audubon to reach South Jersey Group I baseball title game

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s Semifinals
(5) Woodstown 9, (1) Audubon 6
(2) Gloucester 5, (3) Pitman 4
Monday’s Championship
Woodstown (18-9) at Gloucester (21-7)

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Monday’s Games
North I: Pequannock (19-9) at Pompton Lakes (23-4)
North II: Dayton (16-11) at Brearley (17-8)
Central: Shore (16-8) at Point Pleasant Beach (23-4)
South: Woodstown (18-9) at Gloucester (21-7)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

AUDUBON — Mark Banff got called off the bench in the fourth inning of a tight game Friday. He was cold, but he had one job, and one job only.

As Woodstown’s most reliable pinch hitter it was his job to keep the line moving or, even better, deliver a hit to score a couple runs.

Banff came through as he often does, poking an opposite-field single to right that brought two runs home and gave the Wolverines the lead for good in an eventual 9-6 win over top-seeded Audubon in the South Jersey Group I baseball semifinals.

The fifth-seeded Wolverines (18-9) now travel to Gloucester (21-7) for the SJ title Monday. It’s their third trip to the sectional finals in the last four years.

Banff was summoned to hit for freshman second baseman Thomas Tucci with two on, two out and two already in. Rocco String and Caiden Spinelli drove runs home earlier in the inning to tie the game 2-2. Banff later scored from second when the Green Wave booted Jack Holladay’s grounder at short to make it 5-2.

“It’s a tough situation coming in, not really knowing a lot, not having any experience out there with an at bat, but to be able to deliver something like that, especially to change the whole complexion of the game, is a great feeling,” Banff said. “I’ve had a couple great moments in high school, but that might have been my favorite moment right there.”

Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro is a thinking-man’s manager. He doesn’t make a move that isn’t painstakingly researched and backed by megabytes of data and experiences. Banff was the right player at the right time and when he was called he was ready to go.

Banff has six hits this season. His first three hits were all pinch hits. On back-to-back days in late April, he delivered an RBI pinch double against Penns Grove and an RBI pinch single against Audubon. Two years ago in this round of the playoffs against Buena, he hit a three-run pinch homer.

“He’s our best pinch-hitter,” DeCastro said. “Throughout the year we give a lot of people, guys who aren’t every day players, different opportunities so that I can find out in these situations which ones are ready and which ones can do it.

“He has been a better hitter pinch-hitting than he has when he’s started games, so in that spot, you don’t know if you’re going to get another scoring opportunity and the game is obviously close so you want to take advantage of it, so we used our best pinch-hitter in that spot.”

With folks continuing to deliver from every spot in the lineup, the Wolverines extended their lead to 8-2 in the fifth on consecutive run-scoring hits by String, Blake Bialecki and Ty Coblentz. Audubon rallied in the bottom of the inning to make it 8-6, but the visitors never flinched.

“We had a lot of really big hits today,” DeCastro said. “We just put up nine and this team doesn’t let up nine very often. We had a lot of kids who were really, really big in pressure spots and that’s not something we used to do. Last game we won 1, 2, 3, 4 (in the lineup). Today it was all the way down. There were bit hits all the way through.”

DeCastro’s dynamics were at work again when he brought Jack Knorr in from left field to relieve Dante Holmes in the fifth. Although the senior lefthander gave up a bases-loaded walk, a run-scoring ground out and a two-run single, he buckled down with the tying run at the plate and ended the inning with a strikeout.

“He came in and needed to find a groove a little bit,” DeCastro said. “It’s a really difficult spot and I put him in a really hard spot. We had a lead, but he came off coming out of the game in the first inning after walking people (at Pennsville), coming into a pressure spot where you can’t walk people.

“What I was just looking for was does he settle in to who Jack is. After the two walks, even though they let up the hit – that was my fault, I called the wrong pitch on the 2-2 – after that I thought he was really good for the next four batters, I don’t care what happened, so I felt really comfortable with letting him ride.”

Knorr admitted he was “getting a little ahead of myself” when he first got on the mound, but once he settled in and found his command he was “good from there on.” He retired seven of the last eight hitters he faced after giving up the two-run single that got the Wave within two.

Holliday gave the Wolverines some more breathing room with an RBI single in the seventh to make it 9-6. Audubon’s leadoff man in the bottom of the inning, cleanup hitter Joseph Slavin, reached on an error and made it to second with two outs, but he was of little consequence as Knorr struck out the side behind him to end the game.