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.

Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro stands in the doorway of the dugout during a recent game contemplating his next move. On the cover, Woodstown senior Mark Banff (R) walks back to the dugout after celebrating the Wolverines’ playoff win over Audubon. Banff was one of DeCastro’s maneuvers that paid off.

Stomping into the semis

Woodstown hits back-to-back jacks in first inning, slams door on Pennsville, advances to SJ Group I baseball semifinals; Schalick falls under weight of errors

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
(1) Audubon 11, (8) Haddon Twp. 1
(5) Woodstown 8, (4) Pennsville 3
(3) Pitman 6, (6) Schalick 2
(2) Gloucester 8, (7) Wildwood 4
Friday’s Semifinals
Woodstown (17-9) at Audubon (19-9)
Pitman (20-6) at Gloucester (20-7)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – The official height of home plate (not that anyone cares to measure it) is one inch and it is supposed to be planted level with the batter’s box.

After Andrew Pedrick and Rocco String stomped their big shoes on the dish to celebrate back-to-back homers in the first inning of their South Jersey Group I quarterfinal with Pennsville Wednesday, instead of dusting off the plate somebody probably needed to remeasure and replant it.

Pedrick and String went back-to-back to give the Wolverines a three-run lead right out of the gate and set the tone in an eventual 8-3 victory. Pedrick dropped his size 12 on it first and then, just as the plate was returning to its original shape, String put his size 15 right on top of it with flourish.

“I do it all the time, but here I just needed to do it because I needed to make a statement to these guys,” String said. “Losing to them (earlier in the season) I really wanted to beat them real bad, so I needed to make something.”

If the Wolverines wanted to “let ‘em know you’re here” as someone shouted from the dugout after String’s shot, call it mission accomplished. They probably heard it all the way to Elmer with the energy the home runs injected to an already electric atmosphere.

The homers came after Brent Williams brought Jack Knorr home from third with a sacrifice fly. Knorr opened the game with a double.

It was the second time in their careers Pedrick and String have homered in the same game – they did last year against Salem – but it was the first time they’ve gone back-to-back. String has now homered in back-to-back playoff games.

“I think that’s what really got us up,” Pedrick said. “We’re not really a home run-hitting team, so when we got three runs in the first inning, two off two bombs, it’s just crazy, especially back-to-back like that. I was going nuts. I was jumping up and down.

“I just think we wanted to let them know we were here early. We don’t usually come out firing like that, so getting those three runs in the first inning that really put them down and got us up.”

Woodstown coach Marc DeCastro didn’t read anything more into the back-to-back homers other than it gave his team a 3-0 and a little cushion to play with “a little more freedom so if they scored a run it wasn’t the end of the world.”

The Eagles (17-10) got that run in the second inning on Jacob Grant’s sacrifice bunt and it wasn’t the end of the world for the Wolverines. Grant’s shoulder injury kept him from swinging away, but nothing was going to keep the Eagles’ only senior from playing in the biggest game of the year.

After the initial energy from both teams, the game settled into the intensity of a typical game between rivals. That is, until Woodstown broke it open with five in the top of the top of the fifth.

The Wolverines sent eight men to the plate. Williams brought home a run with a single that got through the leftfielder, String brought two home with a single that got through the centerfielder and Ty Coblentz and Caiden Spinelli drove in runs with ground outs to the right side of the infield.

Pennsville got two in the bottom of the fifth on Cohen Petrutz’ two-run single, but it wasn’t nearly enough to catch up to the Wolverines.

“They came out and set the tone,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said. “They barreled up some balls. It’s a tough pill to swallow and it’s kind of indicative of how the rest of the game went. They set the tone and they tacked on, did the little things they needed to do.

“Like I told those guys, we got beat today. There was no one call. They hit better, they threw better and they won a baseball game and sometimes that happens.”

The fifth-seeded Wolverines (17-9) will now travel to top-seeded Audubon (19-9) Friday for one of the South Jersey Group I semifinals. They beat the Green Wave earlier this season, 8-3.

Knorr started the game on the mound for Woodstown Wednesday, but was lifted after walking two of the first three batters he faced. Aaron Foote stomped out that fire and pitched into the fifth to get the win. Michael Valente and Dante Holmes finished it up. Peyton O’Brien took the loss for Pennsville.

Knorr, Valente and Holmes all will be available “in some way, fashion or form” to pitch in the Audubon game. The starter, DeCastro said after the game, is to be determined.

**Woodstown’s Andrew Pedrick stomps on home plate after his home run in the first inning Wednesday. On the cover, Rocco String stomps even harder after he went back-to-back with Pedrick.**

PITMAN 6, SCHALICK 2: The Cougars picked the wrong time to have a difficult day in the field.

Pitman took advantage of six Schalick errors to either score runs or extend innings in their South Jersey Group I playoff game. The Panthers (20-6) advance to play at second-seeded Gloucester in Friday’s semifinals.

The Cougars (15-11) led twice in the game, but each time lost it under the weight of the miscues.

Luke Pokrovsky gave them a 1-0 lead with a homer in the first inning, but Pitman tied it in the home half on one of three errors in the inning.

Ricky Watt gave them a 2-1 lead with a RBI single in the third, but Pitman took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning when two runs scored on an infield error. Two more errors helped along a three-run sixth that put the game away.

Pokrovsky pitched the whole game for Schalick. The junior lefthander gave up six hits, three earned runs and struck out nine to finish the season with 122 strikeouts and a 1.09 ERA.

Making their pitch

Woodstown pitchers have been tough to reach in May, trio shuts down Maple Shade in South Jersey Group I playoff opener

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Thursday’s results
No. 1 Audubon 14, No. 16 Camden Academy Charter 3
No. 8 Haddon Twp. 8, No. 9 Buena 1
No. 5 Woodstown 3, No. 12 Maple Shade 1
No. 4 Pennsville 10, No. 13 Gateway 0
No. 6 Schalick 3, No. 11 Paulsboro 1
No. 3 Pitman 13, No. 14 Glassboro 0
No. 7 Wildwood 2, No. 10 Cape May Tech 1
No. 2 Gloucester 16, No. 15 Penns Grove 3

SECOND ROUND (May 29)
Haddon Twp. at Audubon
Woodstown at Pennsville
Schalick at Pitman
Wildwood vs. Gloucester

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – If there is one aspect of his team Woodstown baseball coach Marc DeCastro has been particularly proud of lately it would be the emergence of his pitchers.

They’ve gone from a bunch that had taken their lumps early in a season to becoming quite steady over this last month. Three pitchers combined to hold Maple Shade to three hits and one unearned run Thursday giving the Wolverines a chance to take a 3-1 victory in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

Michael Valente and Jack Knorr gave the Wolverines two innings of no-hit ball on the front and back ends, respectively. Dante Holmes worked the middle three, giving up three hits, a walk, the run and striking out four. Valente retired all six batters he faced to open the game.

The Wolverines have given up two runs or fewer six times in 10 games this month, including each of the last two, going 5-1 in those games. They allowed five runs or more in five of their first eight games of the season, including each of the last four, going 2-3.

“From where we started the season to play a playoff game and throw like we did is great,” DeCastro said. “Because we’ve been able to make some adjustments and become a lot better as a group on the mound as opposed to individually on the mound; that’s kind of how we had to approach some things.

“Early early in the year we were letting up eight plus runs in maybe three of the first five games we played, then we continued on to settle down slightly but we were still getting down early in game and having to come back and whole bunch. We had to alter the way we did things to solidify the ability to get some leads and hold some leads instead of trying to come back on leads.”

All of the game’s runs came in the fourth and fifth innings and the Wolverines never trailed.

They broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fourth on Rocco String’s solo homer and Caden Spinelli’s two-out RBI single. Maple Shade scored its run in the top of the fifth on an infield error, but the Wolverines got it back on Andrew Pedrick’s sacrifice fly.

Spinelli and Ty Coblentz both had two hits for the Wolverines.

The win sets up a second-round matchup at Pennsville Wednesday.

“We’ve done it before; we played them a couple years ago at our place in the tournament,” DeCastro said. “They’re always one of the better teams in South Jersey, so for the most part if you want to get somewhere you probably have to go through them. That’s just the situation that we’re in. As long as we handle it with some calmness we’ll be fine.”

Tough time for tough inning

‘Tougher’ inning dashes Penns Grove’s hopes in baseball playoffs, all favorites win, also includes golf, SJ Group I tennis

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Thursday’s results
No. 1 Audubon 14, No. 16 Camden Academy Charter 3
No. 8 Haddon Twp. 8, No. 9 Buena 1
No. 5 Woodstown 3, No. 12 Maple Shade 1
No. 4 Pennsville 10, No. 13 Gateway 0
No. 6 Schalick 3, No. 11 Paulsboro 1
No. 3 Pitman 13, No. 14 Glassboro 0
No. 7 Wildwood 2, No. 10 Cape May Tech 1
No. 2 Gloucester 16, No. 15 Penns Grove 3

SECOND ROUND (May 29)
Haddon Twp. at Audubon
Woodstown at Pennsville
Schalick at Pitman
Wildwood vs. Gloucester

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLOUCESTER CITY – After battling their way through the final week of the season just to make the field, Penns Grove was hoping to keep its first playoff game since 2021 close, but one big inning proved its undoing.

Gloucester scored a run in the first inning, then erupted for 10 in the second to set the stage for a 16-3 victory over the Red Devils Thursday in the first round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

The Lions sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning. They collected six hits, including a two-run homer by Seth McCormick, and took advantage of three errors, a dropped third strike that would have been a second out, a hit batsman and a walk.

“The second inning has to be one of our … tougher innings of the year,” Penns Grove coach Chuck Weigle said. “We made a few mistakes, they capitalized on it and we ended up falling behind big.”

The Red Devils had one hit through the first three innings, but they avoided being shut out on Bristoll Scott’s RBI single in the fourth. They scored twice in the fifth after loading the bases with none out. Ryan Hyatt had an RBI single and Chase Wills scored on a passed ball.

Elijah Crespo and Hyatt had two hits apiece for the Red Devils.

“I don’t think it was what we were looking for,” Weigle said of the playoff experience. “We were hoping for a different result. We were hoping for it to be a little bit closer than it was. It just wasn’t the result we were looking for.

“Coming in as the 15^th seed you’re not expected to necessarily win the game, but we were hoping to keep it close and just hoping to play a good game overall.”

TENNIS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Thursday’s matches
No. 1 Haddon Twp. bye
No. 8 Overbrook 4, No. 9 Lindenwold 1
No. 5 Woodstown 5, No. 12 Wildwood 0
No. 4 Middle Twp. bye
No. 3 Pennsville bye
No. 6 Buena 5, No. 11 Penns Grove 0
No. 7 Schalick 3, No. 10 Palmyra 2
No. 2 Pitman bye
SECOND ROUND (May 29)
Overbrook at Haddon Twp.
Woodstown at Middle Twp.
Buena at Pennsville
Schalick at Pitman

WOODSTOWN 5, WILDWOOD 0
Tim Schwienbacher (Wo) def. Giorgio Palesano, 6-3, 6-1
Drew Stengel (Wo) def. Christopher Olivera, 6-0, 6-1
Eric Lipovsky (Wo) def. Cristopher Hernandez, 6-1, 6-1
Joseph Kurpis-Luke Shaw (Wo) def. Simon Palacias-Miguel Amendondo, 6-2, 6-1
John Farrell-Jake Lewis (Wo) def. Kevin Damian-Brian Damian, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Woodstown 13-6, Wildwood 4-11.

BUENA 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Jake Harris (B) def. Alex Ramirez Martinez, 6-0, 6-0
Dominic Longona (B) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-1, 6-1
Stephen Pepper (B) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-1, 6-0
Matthew Lillia-Gabe Ridolfo (B) def. Anthony Pacheco-Ricardo Vichi, 6-0, 6-0
Joshua Sharpe-Michael Letushko (B) def. Adam Gonzalez-Rene Ruiz, 6-0, 6-2
Records: Buena 18-3, Penns Grove 4-10.

SCHALICK 3, PALMYRA 2
George Gould (S) def. Julian Carlino, 6-4, 6-3
Richie Butler (P) def. Jesus Espinoza, 6-2, 6-1
Connor McCann (P) def. Conor O’Toole, 6-3, 6-1
David Santana-Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Jaden Jennings-Owen Jacobs, 6-4, 6-2
Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Jack Timlin-Justin Smyth, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
Records: Schalick 16-7, Palmyra 5-7.

GOLF
WOODSTOWN 156, HIGHLAND 169: Woodstown’s Salem/Cumberland runner-up Jeffrey Covely birdied the first hole and shot an even-par 36 and the Wolverines counted four of the five lowerst scores of the day to win at Town & Country CC.

The Wolverines also counted a 39 from Max Webb, a 40 from Kyle Brainard and a 41 from Salem/Cumberland medalist Jacob Schermerhorn.

Running the show

Schalick edges Paulsboro; Pokrovsky gives up one hit, fans 16, collects 100th strikeout of the season, 100th career hit

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Thursday’s results
No. 1 Audubon 14, No. 16 Camden Academy Charter 3
No. 8 Haddon Twp. 8, No. 9 Buena 1
No. 5 Woodstown 3, No. 12 Maple Shade 1
No. 4 Pennsville 10, No. 13 Gateway 0
No. 6 Schalick 3, No. 11 Paulsboro 1
No. 3 Pitman 13, No. 14 Glassboro 0
No. 7 Wildwood 2, No. 10 Cape May Tech 1
No. 2 Gloucester 16, No. 15 Penns Grove 3

Second Round (May 29)
Haddon Twp. at Audubon
Woodstown at Pennsville
Schalick at Pitman
Wildwood vs. Gloucester

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – The Schalick Cougars won playoff game over a familiar playoff foe without playing their best baseball, but that kind of thing is a little easier to do when you have a pitcher like Luke Pokrovsky on the your side.

Pokrovsky had another milestone day Thursday in the sixth-seeded Cougars’ 3-1 win over No. 11 Paulsboro in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

The junior left-hander allowed one soft single over 6 1/3 innings and matched his career-high of 16 strikeouts for the third time this season and second time in three outings to surpass 100 Ks for the season. He also singled in his first at-bat for the 100th hit of his career – then was intentionally walked his next three times up.

“I was going into the game knowing that I only needed one hit for my 100th and that’s all I was trying to do at the plate, stay simple and hit the ball hard,” Pokrovsky said. “I got the first pitch off-speed and I just tried to get the barrel to the ball and it ended up working out.

“I didn’t even realize about the Ks because after I got the school record I just haven’t tried for that stuff. I just tried to lead the team to a victory by throwing strikes and getting weak contract.”

That’s what he did Thursday. He threw 68 strikeouts among his 112 pitches and the only hit he allowed came with two outs in the fourth inning when Kayden Weber threw his bat at a pitch and knocked it into left field to plate the Red Raiders’ only run.

Pokrovsky struck out the first five batters he faced, including Matt Hill to end the first inning for his 100th strikeout of the season. He has 113 this year and 248 in his career.

The only reason he came out of the game in the seventh was because he reached his pitch limit. Lucas D’Agostino finished it off by striking out the only two batters he faced on seven pitches.

With six days between games, count on Pokrovsky starting the Cougars’ second-round game at Pitman Wednesday.

“He’s our guy,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose with him. If we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win with him. So he’s definitely a guy we have to rely on.

“I’m looking at his numbers, it’s crazy. It kind of blows you away, you’re like wow. It’s pretty awesome.”

The Cougars were playing Paulsboro in the playoff for the third time in the last four years. They knocked the Red Raiders out of the playoffs in the SJ Group I semifinals in 2021 and the Red Raiders knocked Cougars out in the 2022 semis.

Runs were hard to come by. The Cougars, who had only six hits themselves, pushed two across in the third on a wild pitch and Ricky Watt’s sacrifice fly and added an insurance run in the sixth on a bases-loaded hit batsman. Jake Siedlecki had two hits and Watt had two RBIs.

They left the bases loaded twice, but three runs was all they really needed with Pokrovsky dealing from the mound.

“We didn’t play our best, we didn’t do well offensively, but we found a way,” O’Brien said. “In other parts of the season they’re the type of games we didn’t win … we kind of folded and we ended up losing games. It felt good to kind of push through when you don’t play your best.

“It definitely showed a little bit of growth and that little bit of grit we have where we weren’t going to kind of give up because things weren’t going our way. It was good to have that moment where we struck up and found a way to get runs and having Luke on the mound is definitely a huge plus where we don’t have to do much behind him because he’s the one running the show.”