Salem CC baseball suffers third straight lop-sided loss; Rodriguez hits Mighty Oaks’ first homer of the year; Holt: ‘We’ve got to stop playing scared’
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The tough start to a new season continued for the Salem CC baseball team Friday afternoon as the Mighty Oaks suffered a third straight lop-sided loss in their home opener.
Eight infield errors in the first five innings led to at least nine unearned runs and the bats were silent most of the game in a 22-6 loss to third-ranked Brookdale at the Carneys Point Rec Complex.
It was the Mighty Oaks’ third straight loss by double digits to open the season.
“We’ve got to keep routine plays routine; simple game,” Salem coach John Holt said he told his team after the game. “At one point it was nine unearned runs. You can’t win baseball games that way.
“We’ve got to stop playing scared.”
Just like after Sunday’s doubleheader against Sussex it was hard for Holt to find something positive to take away from the day. If you really pushed, it might be answering Brookdale’s four-run visitors’ first with four when they came to bat. Or Yen Rodriguez hitting their first home run of the season in his first home at-bat, a two-run shot in that four-run response.
But there wasn’t much beyond that. Brookdale kept scoring after its first-inning outburst. The Mighty Oaks didn’t get another hit after theirs until scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh of a game that was destined for the seven-inning run rule.
They did threaten in the fifth. They loaded the bases with one out on two walks and an infield error, but Brookdale starter Tyler Spencer struck out the next two batters to end the threat and complete his day.
In fact, the Jersey Blues (4-0) scored in every inning to extend another unwalcomed Salem streak. The Mighty Oaks (0-3) have given up a run in each of their last 17 innings. The last time they put up a defensive zero was the third inning of last week’s Game 1 against Sussex CC.
It’s a head-scratcher.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Holt said.
The series concludes Saturday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader at Brookdale. J.D. Wilson and Jared Vandersteur, a pair of Pennsville products, are expected to start on the mound for Salem.
ACORNS: Demetrius DeRamus had a pair of doubles for the Mighty Oaks and reached base three times … Angel Velez and Tyler Hacker also reached base three times … Rodriguez homered in his first home at-bat last year, too. It was an inside-the-park job in his first college at-bat.
BROOKDALE 22, SALEM 6
Brookdale (4-0)
442 353 2-
22
20
4
Salem (0-3)
400 000 2-
6
7
8
TYLER SPENCER (W), Dylan Swanson (6) and Shane Andrus; JON GAMBONE (L 0-2), Alex Newman (4), Mason Klug (6), Andre Stewart (7) and Angel Velez. 2B: Anthony Pizzutti (B), Shane Andrus (B), Gary Perone (B), Demetrius DeRamus (S) 2. HR: Tyler Mendez (B), Yen Rodriguez (S 1).
Top photo: Salem CC’s Yen Rodriguez crosses the plate after hitting a first-inning home run against Brookdale Friday.
Here is the master schedule for spring sports in Salem County; schedules provided by the schools; events begin at 4 p.m. unless noted; x-scrimmage (missing Salem, Salem Tech); for additions or corrections reply to al.muskewitz@gmail.com
MARCH 1 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Brookdale CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Monroe-Bronx at Salem CC, noon
MARCH 7 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Delaware County CC, 3 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Sussex County CC at Salem CC, noon MARCH 8 COLLEGE BASEBALL Delaware County CC at Salem CC (2), noon
MARCH 10 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. Alexandria (Minn.) Tech & CC (2), 2:45 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Southeastern CC-Whiteville (N.C.), 1 p.m.
MARCH 11 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. Prairie State (Ill.) (2), 1:15 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Wake Tech (N.C.), 1 p.m. MARCH 12 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. Northland (Minn.) C&TC (2), 2 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Fayetteville (N.C.) Tech, 3 p.m. MARCH 14 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. North Dakota State/Science, 9 a.m. Salem CC vs. Oakton (Ill.) CC, 1:45 p.m. MARCH 15 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. SUNY Niagara (2), 9 a.m.
MARCH 16 COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC vs. Westchester CC (2), 10 a.m.
MARCH 17 BASEBALL x-Williamstown at Pennsville SOFTBALL x-Pennsville at Williamstown
MARCH 18 SOFTBALL x-Pennsville at Cedar Creek TENNIS x-Palmyra at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Luzerne County CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
MARCH 19 BASEBALL x-Pennsville at Holy Spirit
MARCH 20 TENNIS x-Pennsville at West Deptford BOYS LACROSSE x-Woodstown at Delran COLLEGE SOFTBALL Brookdale CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m. MARCH 21 BASEBALL x-Gloucester City at Schalick x-Woodstown at Deptford SOFTBALL x-Schalick at Gloucester City x-Woodstown at Deptford COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at RCSJ-Cumberland, 3:30 p.m.
MARCH 22 SOFTBALL x-Gateway at Woodstown, 10 a.m. GIRLS LACROSSE x-Woodstown at Mainland, 9 a.m. BOYS LACROSSE x-Camden Catholic at Woodstown, 10 a.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL RCSJ-Cumberland at Salem CC (2), noon
MARCH 23 COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Delaware Tech, noon MARCH 24 BASEBALL x-Highland at Schalick TENNIS x-Gateway at Pennsville MARCH 25 BASEBALL x-Woodstown at Cumberland SOFTBALL x-Cumberland at Woodstown TRACK x-Penns Grove, Salem at Bridgeton BOYS TENNIS x-Gateway at Schalick GOLF Pennsville vs. Haddon Heights, Tavistock CC GIRLS LACROSSE x-Woodstown at Haddon Twp. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Raritan Valley CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m. MARCH 26 BASEBALL x-Penns Grove at Lindenwold GOLF Pennsville vs. Salem Tech, Sakima CC COLLEGE BASEBALL Mercer County CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
MARCH 27 BASEBALL x-Schalick at Collingswood SOFTBALL x-Timber Creek at Schalick GOLF Pennsville vs. Woodstown, Town & Country GL TENNIS x-Clearview at Woodstown
MARCH 28 BASEBALL x-GCIT at Woodstown x-Schalick at Timber Creek GOLF Clearview vs. Schalick, Centerton CC Pennsville vs. Haddon Twp., Sakima CC BOYS TENNIS x-Schalick at Triton Pennsville at Clearview GIRLS LACROSSE x-Timber Creek at Woodstown BOYS LACROSSE Woodstown at Ocean City COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Montgomery County (Pa.) CC, 3:30 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Howard CC at Salem CC, 11 a.m. MARCH 29 BASEBALL Woodstown at Gateway, 10 a.m. Bridgeton at Penns Grove, 11 a.m. Penns Grove at Gateway, 2 p.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Montgomery County (Pa.) CC at Salem CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at CC of Morris, noon
MARCH 30 COLLEGE SOFTBALL Bucks County CC at Salem CC, noon
MARCH 31 BASEBALL Glassboro at Schalick Penns Grove at Woodstown Salem at Wildwood SOFTBALL Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Penns Grove GOLF Schalick girls vs. Williamstown, Scotland Run TENNIS Clayton at Schalick Glassboro at Penns Grove Wildwood at Pennsville LACROSSE St. Joseph at Woodstown
APRIL 1 GOLF Pennsville vs. Pitman, Pitman CC Schalick vs. Wildwood, Union League GC GIRLS LACROSSE Haddonfield at Woodstown COLLEGE SOFTBALL Lackawanna at Salem CC 3 p.m. APRIL 2 BASEBALL LEAP at Penns Grove Pennsville vs. Pitman, Alcyon Park Woodstown at Schalick SOFTBALL Pitman at Pennsville Woodstown at Schalick GOLF Schalick girls vs. Clearview, Centerton CC TENNIS Pennsville at Overbrook TRACK Glassboro at Penns Grove Schalick at Pennsville Woodstown at Overbrook
APRIL 3 GOLF Pennsville vs. Cumberland, Sakima CC TENNIS Pennsville vs. Clayton, Williamstown MS Penns Grove at Woodstown Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Triton COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Camden CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 4 BASEBALL Haddon Heights at Woodstown Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Parsippany Schalick at Delran SOFTBALL Schalick at Delsea Woodstown at Haddon Heights GOLF Pennsville vs. Cedar Creek, Sakima CC Schalick vs. Overbrook, Centerton CC TENNIS Pennsville at Bridgeton Vineland at Schalick Vineland at Woodstown LACROSSE Lower Cape May at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Middlesex, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 5 SOFTBALL Pennsville at Millville Tournament, 9 a.m. TRACK Pennsville at Deptford Twp., 9 a.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Middlesex at Salem CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Mercer County CC at Salem CC, noon
APRIL 7 BASEBALL Woodstown at Pennsville Schalick at Haddon Heights SOFTBALL Pennsville at Woodstown GOLF Schalick vs. Williamstown, Scotland Run GC Schalick girls vs. Cumberland, Running Deer GC TENNIS Deptford at Woodstown Glassboro at Pennsville Penns Grove at Wildwood Schalick at West Deptford, River Winds TC GIRLS LACROSSE West Deptford at Woodstown APRIL 8 BASEBALL Clayton at Schalick Pennsville at Overbrook Salem at Penns Grove Woodstown at Wildwood SOFTBALL Overbrook at Pennsville Schalick at Clayton Woodstown at Wildwood GOLF Pennsville vs. Clayton, The Birches Schalick vs. Cumberland, Running Deer GC TENNIS Woodstown at Kingsway TRACK Glassboro at Woodstown Penns Grove at Pennsville COLLEGE BASEBALL Northampton CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Sussex County CC, 3:30 p.m. APRIL 9 SOFTBALL Woodstown at Maple Shade GOLF Pennsville vs. Triton, Sakima CC Schalick girls vs. Kingsway, Centeron CC TENNIS Delsea at Pennsville Haddon Heights at Woodstown Overbrook at Schalick Timber Creek at Penns Grove GIRLS LACROSSE Kingsway at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Northampton CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 10 Clayton at Pennsville Glassboro at Penns Grove Salem at Pitman Schalick at Overbrook Woodstown at Gloucester City SOFTBALL Gloucester City at Woodstown Pennsville at Clayton GOLF Pennsville vs. Schalick, Centerton CC TENNIS Triton at Woodstown LACROSSE Woodstown at Holy Spirit
APRIL 11 BASEBALL Pennsville at Haddon Heights SOFTBALL Haddon Heights at Pennsville Haddon Heights at Woodstown TENNIS Penns Grove at Clayton Schalick at Wildwood Woodstown at Highland LACROSSE Woodstown at Moorestown Friends GIRLS LACROSSE Haddon Heights at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Camden CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Cecil at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 12 BASEBALL Schalick at Gloucester City Woodstown at Buena, 10 a.m. TRACK Pennsville at West Deptford, 9 a.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Camden CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Delaware Tech at Salem CC, noon
APRIL 13 COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Orange County CC, noon APRIL 14 BASEBALL Clayton at Salem Overbrook at Woodstown Penns Grove at Schalick Wildwood at Pennsville SOFTBALL Schalick at Penns Grove Wildwood at Pennsville Woodstown at Overbrook GOLF Pennsville at Overbrook, Sakima CC Schalick vs. Woodstown, Town & Country GL Schalick girls vs. Clearview, Pitman GC TENNIS Schalick at Gateway Triton at Pennsville LACROSSE Woodstown at Mainland
APRIL 15 GOLF Schalick girls vs. Washington Twp., The Birches TENNIS Schalick at Pennsville Woodstown at Timber Creek GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Timber Creek COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Luzerne County CC, 3:30 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Bergen CC at Salem CC 3:30 p.m. APRIL 16 BASEBALL Overbrook at Penns Grove Salem at Pennsville Woodstown at Glassboro SOFTBALL Pennsville at Salem Woodstown at Glassboro GOLF Schalick vs. Washington Twp., Centerton CC Woodstown vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC TENNIS Millville at Pennsville Overbrook at Penns Grove Wildwood at Woodstown TRACK Glassboro at Pennsville Woodstown at Schalick LACROSSE Cinnaminson at Woodstown GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Clearview COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Mercer County CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 17 BASEBALL Cumberland at Pennsville Northern Burlington at Schalick SOFTBALL Pennsville at Cumberland GOLF Schalick girls vs. OLMA, Centerton CC TENNIS Delsea at Woodstown Pennsville vs. Pitman, Shertle Park Penns Grove at Schalick
APRIL 18 SOFTBALL West Deptford at Schalick TENNIS Pitman at Penns Grove LACROSSE Rancocas Valley at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Bergen CC at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 19 BASEBALL Woodstown at Sterling, 11 a.m. TRACK Pennsville at Woodbury Relays LACROSSE Paul VI at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Bergen CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Mercer County CC, noon
APRIL 21 BASEBALL Pennsville at Williamstown SOFTBALL Williamstown at Pennsville TENNIS Pitman at Woodstown Triton at Schalick APRIL 22 BASEBALL Pennsville at Penns Grove Schalick at Pitman Woodstown at Salem SOFTBALL Pennsville at Penns Grove Salem at Woodstown GOLF Pennsville vs. Cumberland, Running Deer CC Schalick vs. Overbrook, Pinelands GC Schalick girls vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC TENNIS Overbrook at Woodstown Penns Grove at Pennsville Schalick vs. Pitman, Shertle Park TRACK Salem County Championships, Pennsville LACROSSE Woodstown at Kingsway GIRLS LACROSSE Kingsway at Woodstown COLLEGE BASEBALL RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL CC of Morris at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 23 BASEBALL Collingswood at Woodstown SOFTBALL Kingsway at Woodstown GOLF Pennsville vs. West Deptford, River Winds GC GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Haddonfield COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester, 3:30 p.m.
APRIL 24 BASEBALL Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Penns Grove SOFTBALL Glassboro at Schalick Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Stauffer Fields Woodstown at Penns Grove GOLF Pennsville vs. Kingsway, River Winds GC Schalick vs. Cumberland, Centerton CC Schalick girls vs. Williamstown, Centerton CC TENNIS Clayton at Pennsville Haddon Heights at Schalick Mainland at Woodstown LACROSSE Woodstown at Washington Twp. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Lackawanna at Salem CC 3:30 p.m. APRIL 25 SOFTBALL Gloucester City at Schalick TENNIS Schalick at Clayton Williamstown at Penns Grove GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at West Deptford COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Union, 3:30 p.m. APRIL 26 BASEBALL Woodstown at Camden Co. Tech, 10 a.m. LACROSSE Woodstown at Bishop Eustace, 10 a.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Union at Salem CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Salem CC at Raritan Valley CC, noon
APRIL 28 BASEBALL Penns Grove at Paulsboro TENNIS Penns Grove at Glassboro Pennsville at Wildwood APRIL 29 GOLF Schalick vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC LACROSSE Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown APRIL 30 BASEBALL Penns Grove at Pitman GOLF Schalick girls vs. Cumberland, Centerton CC TENNIS Glassboro at Schalick Woodstown at Penns Grove TRACK Pennsville at Overbrook MAY 1 BASEBALL Penns Grove at Bridgeton Wildwood at Salem GOLF Carl Arena Tournament, River Winds Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Sakima CC MAY 2 BASEBALL LEAP at Penns Grove TENNIS Penns Grove at Wildwood Pennsville at Glassboro COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Ocean CC, 3:30 p.m.
MAY 3 COLLEGE BASEBALL Ocean CC at Salem CC (2), noon
MAY 5 BASEBALL Overbrook at Schalick Penns Grove at Glassboro Pennsville at Clayton Salem at Pitman SOFTBALL Clayton at Pennsville Schalick at Overbrook TENNIS Pennsville at Burlington Twp., Green Acres Park COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Atlantic Cape CC, 3:30 p.m.
MAY 6 BASEBALL Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m. SOFTBALL Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m. GOLF Schalick vs. Delsea, Centerton CC Schalick girls vs. Kingsway, River Winds TENNIS Highland at Woodstown Wildwood at Schalick Wildwood at Penns Grove TRACK Woodstown at Penns Grove
MAY 7 BASEBALL Pitman at Pennsville SOFTBALL Pennsville at Pitman TENNIS Deptford at Woodstown Vineland at Pennsville TRACK Tri-County Conference Meet, Delsea GIRLS LACROSSE Clearview at Woodstown MAY 8 BASEBALL Pennsville at Wildwood Salem at Clayton Schalick at Penns Grove Woodstown at Overbrook SOFTBALL Overbrook at Woodstown Penns Grove at Schalick GOLF Salem Tech vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC Schalick vs. Gloucester Catholic, Centerton CC Schalick girls vs. Washington Twp. Centerton CC TENNIS GCIT at Pennsville Schalick at Washington Twp. Williamstown at Penns Grove MAY 9 BASEBALL Millville at Pennsville South Hunterdon at Penns Grove SOFTBALL Delsea at Woodstown Schalick at Haddonfield TENNIS Schalick at Woodstown LACROSSE Vineland at Woodstown GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Washington Twp.
MAY 10 BASEBALL Lee Ware Tournament, Woodstown SOFTBALL Woodstown in Williamstown Tournament
MAY 12 BASEBALL Clayton at Woodstown Pennsville at Glassboro Salem at Schalick Wildwood at Penns Grove SOFTBALL Glassboro at Pennsville Schalick at Salem Woodstown at Clayton GOLF Schalick vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC Schalick girls vs. OLMA, Eastlyn GC TENNIS Penns Grove at Pitman Pennsville at Schalick Timber Creek at Woodstown TRACK Schalick at Penns Grove GIRLS LACROSSE Maple Shade at Woodstown
MAY 13 BASEBALL Woodstown at Delran GOLF Schalick vs. West Deptford, River Winds TENNIS Woodstown at Collingswood TRACK Pennsville at Woodstown LACROSSE Clearview at Woodstown MAY 14 BASEBALL Glassboro at Woodstown Penns Grove at Overbrook Pennsville at Salem Schalick at Cumberland SOFTBALL Maple Shade at SchalickSalem at Pennsville Woodstown at Glassboro GOLF Schalick girls vs. Delsea, Centerton CC TENNIS Pitman at Pennsville Schalick at Penns Grove Woodstown at Delsea
MAY 15 BASEBALL Buena at Schalick Pennsville at Triton SOFTBALL Schalick at Buena Triton at Pennsville GOLF Schalick vs. Hammonton, Pinelands GC TENNIS Rancocas Valley at Pennsville GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Eastern MAY 16 SOFTBALL Triton at Woodstown GOLF Pennsville vs. Millville, Sakima CC TENNIS Pennsville at Penns Grove Woodstown at Overbrook TRACK NJSIAA Sectionals LACROSSE Woodstown at Millville GIRLS LACROSSE Millville at Woodstown
MAY 17 BASEBALL Schalick at Paulsboro TRACK NJSIAA Sectionals
MAY 19 BASEBALL Penns Grove at Clayton Schalick at Pennsville Woodstown at Pitman SOFTBALL Pennsville at Schalick Pitman at Woodstown TENNIS Woodstown at Cumberland LACROSSE Williamstown at Woodstown, 7 p.m. GIRLS LACROSSE Triton at Woodstown
MAY 20 BASEBALL Pennsville vs. Tome, Frawley Stadium, 7 p.m. GOLF Schalick vs. Pitman, Pitman GC MAY 21 BASEBALL Woodstown at Cedar Creek Schalick at Wildwood SOFTBALL Palmyra at Schalick Woodstown at Ocean City LACROSSE West Deptford at Woodstown
MAY 22 BASEBALL Collingswood at Schalick SOFTBALL Schalick at OLMA
MAY 27 GOLF TCC Showcase, Pitman GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Williamstown MAY 30 TRACK State Meet
Salem CC swept in season-opening doubleheader; Holt: ‘We’ve got some things to tighten up’
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CHICHESTER, Pa. – Opening Day is supposed to be a time when everything is fresh and excitement is high. But at the end of this day the Salem CC baseball team would just as soon have a do-over.
The Mighty Oaks picked up a doubleheader late in the week to serve as their 2025 Season Opener after their first three series were pushed back or canceled by the winter weather, but it wasn’t a good day. They were swept by Sussex CC 14-4 and 17-3 at the MSI Sports Complex that at one time was going to be the Mighty Oaks’ home.
“We’ve struggled to get outside, we’ve struggled to be out on the field, and I think it kind of showed today,” Salem coach John Holt said. “We’ve got some things to tighten up and once we do that we’ll get the ship righted.”
With all the arms the Mighty Oaks had to replace from last year’s Region XIX playoff team, pitching was going to be an issue that had to be settled. It proved to remain a work in progress Sunday.
The six pitchers Salem used in the doubleheader threw hard, they just had trouble with their control. They walked 16 and hit 13 batters in the doubleheader. Sussex first baseman Mitchell Doucette took one for the team twice in each game and center fielder Cole Bolton did it four times in the nightcap.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a struggle so much,” Holt said of the pitching. “I think guys have to get their innings.
“I think we’ve done an adequate job in regards to replacing some of the arms we lost. I think we’ve got a lot of quality guys. Some of them, we’ve got to get healthy; some of them, we’ve got to get innings and get their reps under their belt. I think we’ll be fine. I think it’s just a matter of working out the kinks and getting the attitudes right.”
Jon Gambone was making his first college start since March 18, 2023 as the Mighty Oaks’ Opening Day Game 1 starter. His last appearance in a college game was April 8 of that year before Tommy John surgery put him on the shelf until Sunday.
The sophomore right-hander was hoping to throw around 70 pitches, go four or five innings and “feel overall comfortable” in his return. He may have met his pitch count, but he went only three innings against the Skylanders, throwing about 40 pitches in the first inning.
He hit the first batter he faced, walked the next and gave up an RBI single before recording an out. Later in the inning he surrendered a single, walk and two-run single – all with the bases loaded – to the bottom three hitters in the order. The Skylanders sent 11 men to the plate in their first inning of the season and scored five runs to wipe out Salem’s 1-0 lead.
“It was definitely hard to keep my heart rate down, for sure; I was definitely very nervous,” Gambone said. “I think it was more nerves and excitement. I think I was so over-excited, so over-amped up, it was so hard to control it.”
A similar thing happened to him, he said, in his Mighty Oaks’ debut coming back from a hip injury in 2023. He gave up six hits and five runs in four-plus innings on that Opening Day.
The Gateway product was much better in his next two innings Sunday, facing eight batters, giving up two hits and striking out two without allowing a run.
“I felt confident and was able to bounce back that second and third inning,” he said. “I figure I’ll be able to keep going, too, a little later in the season.”
J.D. Wilson started in the nightcap. He threw it as hard as ever, but had some trouble reeling it in. He did strike out seven in his three innings, but he also walked two and hit four. The Mighty Oaks need him and Gambone to give them at least five innings to be effective.
In a game Holt conceded didn’t have many positives – “we didn’t do much well today,” he said –the Mighty Oaks did mount a threat in the fourth inning of the nightcap.
They trailed 6-0 entering the inning, but scored three and had the go-ahead run at the plate with bases loaded and two outs, but the Skylanders got out of it. Angel Velez drove in the first run with an RBI-double, Yen Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk and a third run scored when Sussex misplayed Hunter Cohen’s sharp grounder to second.
“I think our approach at the plate’s got to be better and I think that’s where we struggled today, mostly,” Holt said. “If our approach is better I think we put together some better at bats. The whole pass-the-stick philosophy that we kind of believe in here wasn’t there today.”
Matt Murphy drove in Salem’s first two runs of the season with an RBI double in the first inning of the opener and a RBI single in the third. Velez and Cole Dawson each had two hits in the nightcap.
The Mighty Oaks will get their do-over of sorts Monday in their home against Genesee. The 7-inning doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. Genesee (2-2) split doubleheaders with Camden CC and RCSJ-Cumberland over this weekend.
Salem’s projected starting pitchers for the doubleheader are sophomore right-hander Jared Vandersteur and freshman left-hander Pat Seitzinger. Both will be making their first collegiate starts. Vandersteur made five relief appearances last season.
“I think once we get our reps under our belt … I think tomorrow will be better than today because we got it out of our system a little bit,” Holt said.
SUSSEX 14-17, SALEM 4-3
Game One
Salem (0-1)
101 011 0-
4
8
1
Sussex (1-0)
500 315 x-
14
13
1
JON GAMBONE (L, 0-1), L. Rodriguez (4), Stewart (5) and Velez. AIDEN MAAS (W, 1-0), Mizener (3), St.-Pierre (6), Watson (6) and Klein. 2B: LeBold (Sa), Murphy (Sa), Kelly (Sa), Freda (Su), Klein (Su), Weatherwax (Su), Peterson (Su).
Game Two
Sussex (2-0)
111 355 1-
17
12
3
Salem (0-2)
000 300 0-
3
6
3
J.D. WILSON (L, 0-1), McCormick (4), Jones (6) and Velez. RYAN MILLER (W 1-0), Klein (4), Steer (5), Yunkunis (6), Apa (7) and Sheruda. 2B: Lotruglio (Su), Klein (Su), Velez (Sa).
Salem CC coach John Holt (L) talks with starting pitcher J.D. Wilson between innings of Sunday’s nightcap.
Here is this week’s Salem County sports schedule for the week of Feb. 23-March 1
SUNDAY, FEB. 23 TRACK NJSIAA Group I Championship, Bennett Center, Toms River WRESTLING NJSIAA Girls South Regionals, Absegami COLLEGE BASEBALL Sussex CC vs. Salem CC (2), MSI Chichester, noon
MONDAY, FEB. 24 GIRLS BASKETBALL Penns Grove at Salem, 4 p.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Genesee CC at Salem CC, 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26 BOYS BASKETBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament (16) Wildwood at (1) Pitman, 5:30 p.m. (9) Burlington City at (8) Penns Grove, 5:30 p.m. (12) Glassboro at (5) Woodbury, 5 p.m. (13) Paulsboro at (4) Audubon, 4 p.m. (14) Clayton at (3) Haddon Twp., 7:30 p.m. (11) Salem at (6) Palmyra, 6 p.m. (10) New Egypt at (7) Woodstown, 7 p.m. (15) Maple Shade at (2) KIPP Cooper Norcross, 5 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament (16) Schalick at (1) Haddon Twp., 5:30 p.m. (9) Glassboro at (8) Penns Grove, 4 p.m. (12) Cape May Tech at (5) Audubon (13) Gateway at (4) Woodstown, 5:30 p.m. (14) Riverside at (3) Wildwood (11) Woodbury at (6) Pennsville, 5 p.m. (10) Burlington City at (7) Clayton, 5 p.m. (15) New Egypt at (2) Palmyra COLLEGE BASKETBALL Region XIX Division III Tournament Salem CC at CC of Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Brookdale at Montgomery Atlantic Cape at Union Camden at Northampton
FRIDAY, FEB. 28 COLLEGE BASEBALL Brookdale at Salem CC, 1:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 1 BOYS BASKETBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament Wildwood-Pitman vs. Burlington City-Penns Grove Glassboro-Woodbury vs. Paulsboro-Audubon Clayton-Haddon Twp. vs. Salem-Palmyra New Egypt-Woodstown vs. Maple Shade-KIPP Cooper Norcross GIRLS BASKETBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament Schalick-Haddon Twp. vs. Glassboro-Penns Grove Cape May Tech-Audubon vs. Gateway-Woodstown Riverside-Wildwood vs. Woodbury-Pennsville Burlington City-Clayton vs. New Egypt-Palmyra WRESTLING Region 8 Championships, Egg Harbor Twp., 9 a.m. COLLEGE BASKETBALL North Atlantic Championship At Northampton (Two winners advance to national tournament) A: Camden-Northampton winner vs. Atlantic Cape-Union winner, noon B: Salem-Philadelphia winner vs. Brookdale-Montgomery winner, 3 p.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Brookdale CC (2), noon COLLEGE SOFTBALL Monroe-Bronx at Salem CC (2), noon
Mighty Oaks announce ambitious schedules for baseball, softball; baseball opens on Valentine’s Day, softball in March
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The earliest scheduled season opener since they restarted the program, a 12-game Florida trip and the usual gauntlet of nationally ranked region opponents highlight Salem CC’s most ambitious 2025 baseball schedule.
“We’re excited for the schedule,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “It’s always a challenge when you’re in a conference arguably the best junior college conference in the country (with) three to four top 10 teams with three-game series.
“We’ve got to start early and prepare early and try to get some innings under our belt before we open up against the No. 3 team in the country in Brookdale (Feb. 28). We try to make our non-conference schedule as competitive as possible just so that we can keep up with the stress that is our conference schedule.”
The Mighty Oaks open the season with a doubleheader against Genesee (N.Y.) CC, a late addition to the schedule after Lehigh Carbon disbanded its program. The games slide in ahead of their Feb. 15 doubleheader with preseason D-II No. 22 Lansing (Mich.) CC, a team they were supposed to play in a multi-team event in Tennessee before that trip fell apart.
The Mighty Oaks play teams from eight different states and six teams in the various preseason JUCO national rankings.
They’ll get a taste for warm weather and hot competition on their eight-day trip to Lakeland, Fla., where they’ll play, among others, preseason D-II No. 21 Westchester CC and preseason D-III No. 6 SUNY-Niagara, whose head coach Holt recruited as a player when he coached at Burlington County.
“We’re excited to go to Florida,” Holt said. “It’s our first time back to Florida since we started this program back up. The schedule’s going to be a little more challenging, but I think the program’s ready to take that step.”
Their previous earliest season opener was Feb. 19, 2002, when they played Rockingham CC in North Carolina.
The Mighty Oaks play their home games at the Carneys Point Rec Complex. The softball team plays at the Pennsville Little League Complex.
2025 SALEM CC BASEBALL SCHEDULE FEBRUARY 14: Genesee CC (2), TBA; 15: Lansing CC (2), noon; 17: at Bryant & Stratton (Va.) (2), noon; 28: Brookdale CC, 1:30 p.m. MARCH 1: at Brookdale CC (2), noon; 7: at Delaware County CC, 3 p.m.; 8: Delaware County CC (2), noon; 10: Alexandria (Minn.) Tech & CC (2), 2:45 p.m.; 11: Prairie State (Ill.) (2), 1:15 p.m.; 12: Northland (Minn.) C&TC (2), 2 p.m.; 14: North Dakota State/Science, 9 a.m.; 14: Oakton (Ill.) CC, 1:45 p.m.; 15: SUNY Niagara (2), 9 a.m.; 16: Westchester CC (2), 10 a.m.; 18: Luzerne County CC, 3:30 p.m.; 21: at RCSJ-Cumberland, 3:30 p.m.; 22: RCSJ-Cumberland (2), noon; 26: Mercer County CC, 3:30 p.m.; 28: at Montgomery County (Pa.) CC, 3:30 p.m.; 29: Montgomery County (Pa.) CC (2), noon. APRIL 4: at Middlesex, 3:30 p.m.; 5: Middlesex (2), noon; 8: Northampton CC, 3:30 p.m.; 9: at Northampton CC, 3:30 p.m.; 11: Camden CC, 3:30 p.m.; 12: at Camden CC (2), noon; 15: at Luzerne County CC, 3:30 p.m.; 16: at Mercer County CC, 3:30 p.m.; 18: Bergen CC, 3:30 p.m.; 19: at Bergen CC (2), noon; 22: RCSJ-Gloucester, 3:30 p.m.; 23: at RCSJ-Gloucester, 3:30 p.m.; 25: at Union, 3:30 p.m.; 26: Union (2), noon. MAY 2: at Ocean CC, 3:30 p.m.; 3: Ocean CC (2), noon; 5: at Atlantic Cape CC, 3:30 p.m.
2025 SALEM CC SOFTBALL SCHEDULE (All dates doubleheaders) MARCH 1: Monroe-Bronx, noon; 7: Sussex County CC, noon; 10: at Southeastern CC-Whiteville (N.C.), 1 p.m.; 11: at Wake Tech (N.C.), 1 p.m.; 12: at Fayetteville (N.C.) Tech, 3 p.m.; 20: Brookdale CC, 3:30 p.m.; 23: at Delaware Tech, noon; 25: Raritan Valley CC, 3:30 p.m.; 28: Howard CC, 11 a.m.; 29: at CC of Morris, noon; 30: Bucks County CC, noon. APRIL 1: Lackawanna, 3 p.m.; 3: at Camden CC, 3:30 p.m.; 5: Mercer County CC, noon; 8: at Sussex County CC, 3:30 p.m.; 11: Cecil, 3:30 p.m.; 12: Delaware Tech, noon; 13: at Orange County CC, noon; 15: Bergen CC, 3:30 p.m.; 19: at Mercer County CC, noon; 22: CC of Morris, 3:30 p.m.; 24: Lackawanna, 3:30 p.m.; 26: at Raritan Valley CC, noon
WOODSTOWN – Rocco String truly is a man for all seasons. If there’s a game to be played any time during the school year, he’s usually right in the middle of it. He plays football, basketball and baseball for Woodstown and is a force in each.
STRING
At 6-foot-6, he’s hard to miss. On the football field he’s a big target as a tight end on offense and a giant terror as a rush end on defense. On the basketball court, of course, he’s the center. And on the baseball diamond, which is his first love, he pitches and plays first base.
The key to being ready in all three is concentrating on diet and doing the things necessary to have his body ready for each very specific grind.
String spent some time with Riverview Sports News before a recent basketball practice where he talked about the demands of being a year-round athlete, how big a grocery sack it takes to fill his gas tank, adjusting to two new head coaches his senior year and his aspirations for the future. The Wolverines open their regular season Wednesday at Salem, where new coach Ramon Roots used to be an assistant.
Here is the full length interview with the Wolverines’ “friendly giant” below.
RIVERVIEW SPORTS NEWS: You really are a man of all seasons. How do you keep up with it all, going from one season right into the other?
ROCCO STRING: It’s more about eating. Drink a lot of water and eating. Every night I go in the hot tub. I make sure my body is all fueled up for the next day. Get cool. Do cold tubs. Mostly my body, just trying to make sure I’m not sore the next day, make sure I’m all stretched out, make sure I’m flexible and able to move into the next sport.
With football being so physical that was a big toll making sure my body was not all sore, fresh for the next day, fresh for the game, then transition into basketball, make sure my legs were all right. I’m burning 2-3-5,000 calories a day. It’s all about eating.
RSN: OK, give me a sense about your dietary regimen.
RS: In the morning I eat eggs, sausage, bacon. More like 6-8 eggs and then 6 to 8 strips of bacon, four sausages with like four pieces of bread. Sometimes I will miss breakfast because I’ve just got to get up and go. Most of the time I will have time to eat it. I usually do over easy with dipping the toast. That’s good.
Lunch I usually can do like two cheesesteaks or two meatball sandwiches, just anything with two sandwiches and any size. And dinner is more like meat, protein, like getting all the stuff ripped through my body, like steak, chicken, turkey, ham. Whatever my mom cooks. I usually have pasta one or two times a week with different kinds of sauces. Mix it all up.
RSN: Is the multi-sport thing something you’ve always done or just over the last couple years. Some guys might take a break, but you do everything.
RS: When I was younger I played football, baseball and basketball and I stopped playing football just to focus more on baseball. Coming back to Woodstown I wanted to play football again. As I was playing football again it brought back memories about going through all three of the sports.
It really didn’t have a major impact on me because going through three sports it’s more of an athletic thing. I have that, so being able to do that didn’t really affect me as much.
RSN: Luckily the state gives you a little bit of a buffer between each season. Where I was down south the seasons overlapped. How much do you appreciate whatever break you get between seasons and what do you during them to wind down and prep for the next?
RS: We actually went right into (basketball) because of the states (in football) and all that. If I do have that break I’ll kind of relax for a week and if I have two weeks I’ll relax for a week and then start working for a week for the next sport. If I don’t have a break, I’ll relax, eat a lot, drink a lot of water, make sure I’m ready to go for that next sport. If I do have it, I’m taking that week of a break. I think my body needs it, my mind needs it.
RSN: You’re all about maintaining your physical well-being. Have you ever been hurt, outside of the usual stuff that comes with the season?
RS: No. Being my size it’s hard. I’ve seen a lot of guys get hurt really quickly, so the big part is taking care of your body because once you take care of that then you’re basically all right.
RSN: Why do you play these three sports specifically?
RS: I’ve been playing baseball my whole life; that’s my first sport. Basketball, I kind of got into it when I was real young. My sisters played it. I think I was pretty good at it, especially when I got taller; people kept asking me if I played basketball and I would say yeah. I just loved it over the years and it’s my last year of playing all three so I figured to have the most joy out of it.
THE ROCCO FILE
FOOTBALL (TE-DL)
REC
YDS
TD
TKLS
TFL
2024
4
38
1
26
0
2023
0
0
0
2
0
BASKETBALL (C-F)
PPG
RPG
AST
BLK
STL
2023-24
9.2
4.9
32
65
29
2022-23
6.9
5.9
0
32
16
BASEBALL (RHP-1B)
BA
RBI
HR
IP
ERA
K
2024
.289
26
3
E
3.20
15
2023
.392
20
4
8.2
5.65
11
RSN: Have you done any of the other sports – track, wrestling, soccer, golf?
RS: I do golf on my free time for fun with some of my guys who are in college. Town & Country. Centerton. Some courses up north I go to. I’m okay. I wouldn’t say I’m real good, but I’m OK. Some of my buddies are better than me, but I can go with them to where we can play. I played lacrosse for one year (fifth grade), but I didn’t really like it
RSN: What are you – a football player, a basketball player or a baseball player?
RS: A baseball player. I’ve been playing my whole life. When I real younger I really took it seriously, playing baseball mostly. I really wanted to play just baseball, but my parents really wanted me to play all three sports, so that’s why I kind of play them now. Playing those other two sports helped me out a lot with baseball.
RSN: What are you going to do in college and why is that your sport? You probably have offers in all three.
RS: I want to play baseball. I want to do pitching and hitting and defense, whatever I have to do to help the team.
RSN: What’s the recruiting been like for all three. I’m sure there’s interest across the board.
RS: Basketball is out of the question, like nobody’s been here for basketball, which is obviously; Woodstown basketball is not that great. Football, there’s been a lot of D-II, D-III schools here, which I’ve talked to a lot; all of us guys have talked to them a lot. Baseball I’ve had a lot. I actually went on a visit today to RCSJ in Cumberland. I’ve been to Penn State-Abington and I’ve been to a couple others down south, which were pretty cool, like Alabama and Auburn. I was trying to go down to Florida, but I didn’t have a tournament down there so I couldn’t go.
I just want to play. I want somewhere I can get a degree, but I also want to just play for fun and just have a good time. Everyone says I have a unique size and you can’t teach size, so having that I can definitely work a lot harder with a lot of college guys, help me push a lot harder. And doing one sport at one time is even better.
RSN: Have you given any consideration or asked the programs that are talking to you if you could play multiple sports at their schools?
RS: There are some football coaches in here who say they want dual sport athletes, but I’ll mostly likely just want to focus on one sport.
RSN: Do you think playing multiple sports impacts that recruiting good or bad because they don’t know what sport you favor?
RS: I think it’s good because it shows that you’re very athlete, that you’re a team guy, you play with different people and you learn more about different sports. You’re training for that sport and then you have to transition to a different sport and you have to train for that, which not a lot of people can really do, so I think that’s a special gift to have.
RSN: As a multi-sport guy here you had the unique experience to adjusting to two new head coaches (football with Frank Trautz and basketball with Ramon Roots). That can be a challenge as well. What’s that been like?
RS: Fun, really. Roots was here for football as an assistant and getting to meet him before the (basketball) season was actually a little bit better because you were getting to know him and getting to see how functions around guys.
And Trautz coming in for football, we had him last year as an assistant and with coach (John) Adams stepping down we kind of saw it coming up and being a big part of this team. As we were going through summer camp we kind of thought this could be our year to do the same thing we did last year, which was go pretty far because of Trautz.
He had this big mindset going into the season, brought a lot of new plays in, a lot of new formations and a lot of new guys we had stepping up, which was big.
Even when they were assistants they talked to us about everything. They were there for us, so it really hasn’t changed. They were just always there.
RSN: If I remember right you’re related to Penns Grove football coach Mark Maccarone. That must’ve made that game pretty fun. Are there any other sports luminaries in your family tree?
RS: They’re my dad’s first cousins. It was a real fun game because he actually came over that night after the game, Greg and Mark, and it was real fun. We always talk throughout the season about football games. Even when Greg was at Glassboro coaching for them I always made jokes to him like “You shouldn’t be there, buddy, but you’re there.” He would laugh and whatnot, but we would have our times. Even his son Nick, whose at Montclair State, we talked about football, he gave me some advice and some pointers for it, so they’ve actually been a big help to me. They tell people all around they have a cousin who’s 6-6 who can play all three sports.
RSN: What makes Woodstown sports so successful every year across the board?
RS: Just working out from freshman year, you’re seeing all the juniors and seniors working and seeing how they move with the game, seeing how their coached and seeing how they are off the field. It’s growing every year, growing every year with your buddies as your group, you get a sense they’re like your brothers and when you’re on the field you’ve got discipline.
All of us as a group, this year as seniors, we all had a mindset we could be how we were last year even with the guys that we lost – and we did it.
RSN: Knowing the story isn’t completely finished, what have been your best one or two all-time Rocco moments so far?
RS: My first two were the first and second round of the playoffs last year in baseball against Maple Shade and Pennsville. I hit a home run in the fourth inning against Maple Shade to give us a 1-0 lead. That kind of changed the game. And in Pennsville going back-to-back with AP (Andrew Pedrick) that was a cool moment because I don’t that’s been done in a while here at Woodstown and we kind of knew what that game meant. That was our time.
In football it was that championship game against Shore. That was a really fun game for me. That has to be third. Just playing with those group of guys and kicking the crap out of Shore was real fun.
Rocco String stomps on the plate after hitting the back piece of back-to-back homers with Andrew Pedrick in the first inning of last year’s South Jersey Group I baseball playoff game at Pennsville.
RSN: What did you think of the football season and what are you expectations for basketball?
RS: I think we’ll be OK. I don’t think we’ll be as good as a lot of other teams up north because they breathe basketball up there. Basketball isn’t as strong down here, but we do it to the best of our ability. A lot of times basketball is not our strongest sport, a lot of guys just play it for fun, they play it to get exercise, basketball is just here.
For football at the beginning of the season we heard a lot of talk that we weren’t going to be that good, but we kind of had a chip on our shoulder and when Coach Trautz came in he had a chip on his shoulder, too. He was feeling kind of how we were feeling, like, listen, we’re not going to have anyone talk us down. Beating Delsea first game of the season that kind of ran something through our minds that we’ve got this, we can do it, we just have to work hard at it.
RSN: Can you tell any difference already how basketball is different with Roots here?
RS: We’ve been doing a lot more running, a lot more technical work that we didn’t really get to do last year, which has been helping us a lot. Running has been a big part. Last year we didn’t do much of that and we’ve been doing it every day at the beginning of practice, which is good for us. And we’re doing more defensive work, because that was a big struggle last year.
RSN: What’s Rocco all about off the field. What do you do that’s no sports related?
RS: My family has a construction business (MLS Lawns and Landscapes) that I work on a lot with my dad. I do all the hard work. I wake up at 4 in the morning and pour concrete with the guys. I do all the site work with my dad. And I also work on a farm with my uncle in Harrisonville.
When I’m working, that’s kind of my weight room. It takes a toll on your body, but when I’ve got the chance to go to the weight room I’ll go because I know I need to put a lot of weight on. I want to try to get to 240-250 of just lean muscle because I think that’ll help me out a lot in college. I think if I put on 20 pounds of muscle that’ll be perfect for me.
And I’m either fishing or hunting with my buddies that are around here and being around my girlfriend.
RSN: Just from your size, the position you play, your body type, you remind me of former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski. Do you get that?
RS: I’ve heard a lot about that, like you remind me of a professional player of this sport or that sport. I see that, but I don’t really feel like that because it’s just my size.
A lot of guys tell me I look like, baseball wise, Freddie Freeman, because he’s 6-6. Football wise it’s more like Gronk or Travis Kelce, just a tall tight end. In basketball it’s more like a (Nikola) Jokic, a type of guy who’s real tall but plays the game real lanky. There are a lot of people who say stuff like that.
RSN: Do you have any advice for kids who are playing multiple sports or may be having a hard time in one of the multiple sports they play?
RS: Just be a competitive person but also an energetic, fun and friendly person off the court and field. When you’re on the field you want to be as competitive as you can, talkative as you can, be a leader.
For baseball I’m a leader. Because I first base I talk to all the guys. Basketball, I’m a leader because I’m a center, making sure everyone’s in their places. Football, all of us were leaders, all of guys as seniors. When you’re on the field you have to have a mindset that you’re the guy everyone trusts, you’re the guy who puts people in position. I’ve gotten that the last couple years, I’ve kind of built that up. I’ve seen it in myself, telling guys where to go.
Don’t be scared of doing other sports. Try it. Even if it’s the first time. You’ll get coached. When you’re a little kid, like 10-12 years old, just try. Just do as many sports as you can. It won’t hurt you. It’ll just make you better.
RSN: Thanks for taking the time for this. We do these extended interviews in hopes of introducing people to the personalities of the players they watch beyond the arena.
Salem County Sports Hall of Fame welcomes seven new members, brings all-time roster of inductees to 143
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Everyone on the Davidow Theater stage was decked out in their Sunday best befitting a Hall of Fame induction, but still it was easy to pick out the baseball player in the bunch. He was one wearing the Pennsville baseball jersey that looked just as sharp as a three-piece suit.
Lex Bleckley addresses the crowd during his Salem County Sports Hall of Fame induction.
Pennsville baseball great Lex Bleckley was among the seven newest inductees into the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame. They were inducted in ceremonies on the Salem Community College campus Thursday night.
Bleckley was joined in the class by Jaymes Dennison (track), James Dickerson (track) , Nick Elmer (football), Steve Merritt (coach), Donna O’Leary (coach) and Latika Ross (basketball). In addition, the Hall board will recognize Vince Gioia and Steve Lopes for their decades of service to Salem County sports as well as eight current and previous high school state champions.
The high school honorees were headlined by Penns Grove’s three-time boys (2013-15) and two-time girls (2013-14) Group I state champions.
Record-breaking Salem running back Jonathan Taylor, currently in training camp with the Indianapolis Colts, was enshrined in a separate ceremony last month.
The story of the Pennsville jersey finding its way on stage is a story of family love. Johnny Swiderski, one of the heroes of this year’s Pennsville Little League District 3 championship team, ran into Eagles baseball coach Matt Karr at a midget football game last week and asked if the coach had a couple of extra jerseys he could spare so the family could support their uncle at the ceremonies.
Karr came through. Young Johnny wore a blue Pennsville jersey the team wore a couple years ago and a vintage Montreal Expos cap representing the MLB team that drafted his uncle out of the University of Delaware. Bleckley had this year’s Eagles jersey, number 15. (He wore 5 when he helped the Eagles to an undefeated season).
“I was thinking about putting a piece of tape over that 1 and leave the 5,” he joked. “Close enough.”
Bleckley, who celebrated his 61st birthday Wednesday with family and friends, was a product of the Pennsville sports system, playing football and baseball. He is most proud of the baseball championships from an early age through his decorated career with the Eagles. The championships include district titles in Little League, State and Mid-Atlantic Champions in Babe Ruth Baseball and a state championship his senior year with a 25-0 record and the No. 1 ranked team in the state. The undefeated season has not been duplicated.
“We went 25-0, but there were only so many guys who could play and there were so many guys on that team that would have been starters for anybody else – and they were busting their butts every day,” he said. “I always wished they got more recognition. I’m up there because of them.”
His personal accomplishments include three-time All-Salem County, two-time Tri-County, two-time South Jersey Group II, two-time All-South Jersey, Group II All State, All-State First Team and Today’s Sunbeam Player of the Year. He finished his career at Pennsville with a .503 batting average and a team win-loss record of 66-6. He was taken in the major league draft twice.
“When I was growing up in town, Lex Bleckley was one of the names that you heard about in baseball,” said Karr, who didn’t attend the ceremony but was on top of the happenings. “I saw that Coach (Ed) Reiger was there tonight. I had him for study hall when I was a junior and senior and he used to share with us all his stories about teams from the past and some of those legendary teams and Lex Bleckley was definitely a big part of all that type of baseball history.”
The Kansas City Royals drafted Bleckley after his high school career, but he went to Delaware, where he was a three-year starter at shortstop. During his UD career, the Blue Hens were East Coast Conference champions twice and missed making it to the College World Series by one game. Lex came in second for the Division I batting title with a .455 average his junior year and was named ECC Player of the Year. He was drafted and signed by the Expos and spent a brief time in the minors before being derailed by a shoulder injury. After his playing career ended, he was head coach at Salem CC for two years.
He now runs a wholesale seafood business in Florida, but keeps up with the sports happenings from home on the internet. He’s going through some health challenges, but otherwise was in good form Thursday and genuinely proud to be on the stage with the other inductees.
“This has always been home,” he said.
JAYMES DENNISON
JAYMES DENNISON excelled in track at Penns Grove High School. A member of the Class of 2013, Jaymes was a two-time state champion. He won the 800 in his junior year and the 400 in his senior year. He helped lead the team to a Group 1 team state championship in 2013, and holds school records in the 800.
He was a three-time South Jersey champion in the 800 meters. As a senior, he finished seventh in the Meet of Champions in one of the most competitive 800-meter races in its history. “If you ran 1:54-flat you did not finish in the top 10,” Hall board member and 2011 inductee Tom Mason said in introducing Dennison.
His post-high school accomplishments may be more impressive. In two years at Iowa State, he was a two-time NCAA All-American in 2018, Second Team All-American in the 4×400 meter relay and Honorable Mention All-American in the 800 meters. He was the Big 12 indoor champion in the 600 meters. Before enrolling at Iowa State, he was a two-time junior college indoor national champion in the 600 meters.
JAMES (JIMMY) DICKERSON graduated from Salem High School in 1964. Following high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and traveled extensively throughout Europe. While serving in the military, Jimmy was a medic.
In addition to his medic responsibilities, he played in the European Conference, on the track and field team, where he placed first in high jump at 6-10 and excelled in the triple jump. He also made the All-Europe Football Team as a running back and kick returner. After his tour of duty, Jimmy was an OSHA inspector at BF Goodrich in Pedricktown until his retirement.
In 1976, Jimmy was invited to attend Philadelphia Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil’s tryout camp. Although not selected, he considered meeting fellow tryout attendee Vince Papale, who went on to make the Eagles’ roster from that tryout, an experience of a lifetime.
At 34, Jimmy enrolled at Gloucester County College and competed in the track and field high/triple jump. He never lost a match during his two seasons. Community focused, Jimmy is involved in coaching youth basketball and mentoring. In addition, he is an active member of his church and sings in the senior choir.
NICK ELMER was a multi-sport athlete (football, wrestling, track and field) at Penns Grove High School.
In football, he set school records for passing yards (4,580) and passing touchdowns (61). He also helped lead PGHS to a record-breaking 2012 season and a South Jersey Group 1 championship in which he rushed for a record 308 yards in the title game. The 2012 team still holds the record for most points scored in a season in South Jersey history. He earned All-State First Team honors in 2012 and was the Philadelphia Inquirer South Jersey Player of the Year.
As a wrestler, Nick amassed a school-record 137 victories and qualified for the state tournament on twice, ultimately earning a seventh-place finish in 2013. He continued his academic and athletic career in wrestling at Drexel University, where he was a varsity starter for two years, accumulating 31 wins and a spot on the podium in the 2016 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Conference Tournament and earned an EIWA Academic Achievement Award in the same year.
He went on to medical school at Thomas Jefferson University, where he graduated cum laude and as a member of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honors society. He is currently a plastic surgery resident at NYU Langone Hospital in New York City.
His commitments in New York prevented him from attending the ceremony. John Emel, the current West Deptford football coach and former Penns Grove coach, spoke on his behalf.
Former Salem field hockey coach Donna O’Leary (L) estimated she influenced nearly 1,000 girls during her Hall of Fame coaching career.
DONNA O’LEARY graduated from Paulsboro High School and was a two-sport varsity athlete (field hockey and tennis) there. She also swam competitively year-round at the Woodbury YMCA.
She earned a degree from Glassboro State College as a health/physical education major. Playing field hockey and swimming in college were important milestones in her path to becoming a coach. After graduation, she became the head women’s swim coach at Glassboro State. During those six years, she produced six All-Americans.
In 1988, Salem City hired her as a full-time health/physical education teacher in the elementary school and as the field hockey head coach at Salem High School. After taking the reins from Liz Pappas, she put her heart into making the field hockey program successful and without a feeder system afforded other communities she accumulated 315 wins and seven Tri-County championships. She was a two-time Coach of the Year.
“First of all, I never expected to be 34 years in one spot,” she said. “I figured when my kids went to high school I would leave. I loved it so much.
“Field hockey and Salem is n-o-o-o-o-t (usually in the same sentence) … We quietly made an impact and that’s what I think I’ll remember most.”
In 34 years of coaching she estimates she’s had an influence on more than 1,000 athletes – a remembers almost of them.
LATIKA ROSS
LATIKA ROSS, a 2001 Salem High School graduate, excelled in both basketball and track and field. In track, she broke the 800-meter record as a sophomore. In basketball, she became the third Lady Ram to join SHS’s 1000-point club and pulled down over 1,000 rebounds as a four-year varsity player. Latika earned numerous accolades, including All-Tournament Team and First Team for All South Jersey Group 1 and Tri-County Conference Classic Divisions for two consecutive years. Today’s Sunbeam named her Player of the Year in 2001.
Moving on to Salem CC, Latika amassed 1,130 points and 1,028 rebounds over two years, earning National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Second Team honors. She holds the NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball regular-season record for rebound average (23.2 per game in 2002-03).
After attending Drexel University for one year on a full athletic scholarship, Latika transferred to Saint Augustine’s University (SAU), where she made the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association All-Tournament Team and averaged a double-double her senior year (10 points, 10 rebounds per game). Graduating from SAU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and 3.9 grade point average, Latika embarked on a successful 15-year career in accounting.
Today, she channels her talents into entertainment as an actress, producer and stand-up comedian, performing under the name Latika Sye (a family surname).
During the ceremony it was announced Latika is the first member of a Salem CC sports team to be inducted into the County Sports Hall of Fame.
STEVE MERRITT
STEVE MERRITT was never the last to be picked for any of the seasonal schoolyard games, until he turned 12 and lost a game of “chicken” with the front end of a Buick or Pontiac. It’s not clear to this day. A significant injury cost him any speed he might have had or would have. Nonetheless, it is difficult to temper a Type A personality and there was always some kind of competition at home with three brothers.
A single junior varsity season of baseball and senior year “cup of coffee” as a wrestler sums up his high school athletic career. Intramural softball and volleyball were competitive outlets at Glassboro State College.
After college, long-distance running became his outlet for competition. His omnipresent opponent became the stopwatch. No longer did he have to finish first to win. He ran the New York City Marathon twice, the Marine Corps Marathon twice and the Boston Marathon in 1992.
A combined 50 varsity seasons (tennis, soccer, basketball and softball) as a head coach at Salem High School yielded over 500 victories, four South Jersey Championships, three Tri-County Classic titles and helped to satisfy his yen for competition. Earlier this summer he was named the girls basketball coach at Pennsville High School.
COMMUNITY SERVICE HONOREES
VINCENT GIOLA JR. graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1968 and began working for DuPont Chambers Works in 1969, retiring in 2010. To say his life revolved around sports would be an understatement.
Vince first coached in 1969 and over the next 50 years spent countless hours coaching, managing and maintaining the fields at the Carneys Point Recreation Complex for the Carneys Point-Penns Grove-Pedricktown Little League and Penns Grove Soccer Club.
He played and coached in both the Salem County Men’s Baseball League (1969-1976) and the PG-CP Men’s Softball League (1975-2015) while also serving as a league officer and a liaison with Salem County. He coached for the PG mini-wrestling organization (1979-1986), managed for the PG-CP Women’s Softball (1978-1982), and for the PG Babe Ruth (1985-1987). Vince also coached PG Twins 130 lb. football team (1985-1991) and was head coach of the SCC’s softball team (1991-1995, 2011-2013).
Vince has been a member of the South Jersey Officials Association (football) since 1999 and Unified Umpire Association of Southern New Jersey since 2007. He served on the Carneys Point Recreation Commission (1999-2023) and was chairman (2004-2023). He managed the CP Recreation Complex (2004-2023) and was president of the Servicemen’s Memorial Home (2015-2023).
Today, Vince can be found on a field or in a gym in South Jersey officiating, umpiring or just watching his grandchildrens’ games or any game, for that matter.
STEVE LOPES graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1964, after playing three years of varsity basketball with coach Rudy Baric.
For 45 years, Steve has officiated over 800 high school football games. He had the honor of officiating over 50 state playoff games, including several state championship games at Rutgers, Giants and MetLife Stadiums. Steve has served as the president of New Jersey Football Officials Association – South, the organization representing football officials in South Jersey. Additionally, he is an official for the NFL’s Girls Flag Football program and officiated the Big 33 tournament sponsored by several NFL teams. In addition, Steve has umpired high school, college and semi-pro baseball for 17 years.
For 16 years, Steve managed in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point-Pedricktown Little League and Babe Ruth League, where his teams won several league and district titles. He has played and managed a senior (ages 50, 60, 70) baseball team in Carneys Point. For over 20 years, he has played in men’s senior baseball national tournaments in Florida and Arizona.
Salem County Sports Hall of Fame to enshrine seven remaining members of this year’s induction class Thursday at Salem CC; Salem NFL running back Jonathan Taylor was enshrined earlier this summer
From Salem Community College
CARNEYS POINT – The seven remaining members of this year’s Salem County Sports Hall of Fame induction class will go marching into the Hall Thursday night in ceremonies at Salem Community College’s Davidow Theatre.
The Salem County SHOF Board has selected these individuals for induction in the latest ceremony. Former Salem High School current NFL running back Jonathan Taylor was inducted in a separate ceremony earlier in the summer.
Lex Bleckley (professional baseball) Jaymes Dennison (track) James Dickerson (track) Nick Elmer (football) Steve Merritt (coach) Donna O’Leary (coach) Latika Ross (basketball)
In addition, the Hall board will recognize Vince Gioia and Steve Lopes for their decades of service to Salem County sports as well as the following high school state champions:
Penns Grove’s three-time NJSIAA Group I state champion Boys Track Team (2013-15);
Penns Grove’s two-time NJSIAA Group I state champion Girls Track Team (2013-14);
Pennsville’s Megan Morris (2024 Pole Vault); Salem’s DaviYonn Jackson (2023-24 Triple Jump); Salem’s 2024 girls 4×100 Relay (Sairis Jimenez, Karima Davenport-White, Morgan Van Dover, Rhi’Onna Timmons); Salem’s 2024 girls shot put relay (Dominique Lewis and Ryann Mulhorn); Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield (2023 cross country 2024 1600); and Woodstown 2024 boys 4×800 Relay (Karson Chew, Joshua Crawford, Jacob Martino, Cole Lucas).
Admission is free and no tickets are required. The ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m.
Here is a thumbnail look at the Hall of Fame inductees
LEX BLECKLEY was a product of the Pennsville sports system, playing football and baseball. He is most proud of the baseball championships from an early age through his decorated career at Pennsville Memorial High School. The championships include district titles in Little League, State and Mid-Atlantic Champions in Babe Ruth and a state championship his senior year with a 25-0 record and the No. 1 ranked team in the state. The undefeated season has not been duplicated.
His personal accomplishments include three-time All-Salem County, two-time Tri-County, two-time South Jersey Group II, two-time All-South Jersey, Group II All State, All-State First Team and Today’s Sunbeam Player of the Year. He finished his career at Pennsville with a .503 batting average and a team win-loss record of 66-6. He was taken in the major league draft twice.
The Kansas City Royals drafted Bleckley after his high school career, but he elected to attend the University of Delaware, where he was a three-year starter at shortstop. During his UD career, the Blue Hens were East Coast Conference champions twice and missed making it to the College World Series by one game, losing in the finals. Lex came in second for the Division I batting title with a .455 average his junior year and was named ECC Player of the Year. He was drafted and signed by the Montreal Expos. After his playing career ended, he was head coach at Salem Community College for two years. Currently, he resides in Florida with his wife and son.
JAYMES DENNISON excelled in track at Penns Grove High School. A member of the Class of 2013, Jaymes was a two-time state champion. He won the 800 in his junior year and the 400 in his senior year. He helped lead the team to a Group 1 team state championship in 2013, and holds school records in the 800.
He was a three-time South Jersey champion in the 800 meters. As a senior, he finished seventh in the Meet of Champions in one of the most competitive 800-meter races in its history.
His post-high school accomplishments may be more impressive. In two years at Iowa State, he was a two-time NCAA All-American in 2018, Second Team All-American in the 4×400 meter relay and Honorable Mention All-American in the 800 meters. He was the Big 12 indoor champion in the 600 meters. Before enrolling at Iowa State, he was a two-time junior college indoor national champion in the 600 meters.
JAMES (JIMMY) DICKERSON graduated from Salem High School in 1964. Following high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and traveled extensively throughout Europe. While serving in the military, Jimmy was a medic.
In addition to his medic responsibilities, he played in the European Conference, on the track and field team, where he placed first in high jump at 6-10 and excelled in the triple jump. He also made the All-Europe Football Team as a running back and kick returner. After his tour of duty, Jimmy was an OSHA inspector at BF Goodrich in Pedricktown until his retirement.
In 1976, Jimmy was invited to attend Philadelphia Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil’s tryout camp. Although not selected, he considered meeting fellow tryout attendee Vince Papale, who went on to make the Eagles’ roster, an experience of a lifetime.
At 34, Jimmy enrolled at Gloucester County College and competed in the track and field high/triple jump. He never lost a match during his two seasons. Community focused, Jimmy is involved in coaching youth basketball and mentoring. In addition, he is an active member of his church and sings in the senior choir.
NICK ELMER was a multi-sport athlete (football, wrestling, track and field) at Penns Grove High School.
In football, he set school records for passing yards (4,580) and passing touchdowns (61). He also helped lead PGHS to a record-breaking 2012 season and a South Jersey Group 1 championship in which he rushed for a record 308 yards in the title game. The 2012 team still holds the record for most points scored in a season in South Jersey history. He earned All-State First Team honors in 2012 and was the Philadelphia Inquirer South Jersey Player of the Year.
As a wrestler, Nick amassed a school-record 137 victories and qualified for the state tournament on twice, ultimately earning a seventh-place finish in 2013. He continued his academic and athletic career in wrestling at Drexel University, where he was a varsity starter for two years, accumulating 31 wins and a spot on the podium in the 2016 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Conference Tournament and earned an EIWA Academic Achievement Award in the same year.
He went on to medical school at Thomas Jefferson University, where he graduated cum laude and as a member of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honors society. He is currently a plastic surgery resident at NYU Langone Hospital in New York City.
DONNA O’LEARY graduated from Paulsboro High School and was a two-sport varsity athlete (field hockey and tennis) there. She also swam competitively year-round at the Woodbury YMCA.
She earned a degree from Glassboro State College as a health/physical education major. Playing field hockey and swimming in college were important milestones in her path to becoming a coach. After graduation, she became the head women’s swim coach at Glassboro State. During those six years, she produced six All-Americans.
In 1988, Salem City hired her as a full-time health/physical education teacher in the elementary school and as the field hockey head coach at Salem High School. After taking the reins from Liz Pappas, she put her heart into making the field hockey program successful and she accumulated 315 wins and seven Tri-County championships. She was a two-time Coach of the Year.
LATIKA ROSS, a 2001 Salem High School graduate, excelled in both basketball and track and field. In track, she broke the 800-meter record as a sophomore. In basketball, she became the third Lady Ram to join SHS’s 1000-point club and pulled down over 1,000 rebounds as a four-year varsity player. Latika earned numerous accolades, including All-Tournament Team and First Team for All South Jersey Group 1 and Tri-County Conference Classic Divisions for two consecutive years. Today’s Sunbeam named her Player of the Year in 2001.
Moving on to Salem Community College, Latika amassed 1,130 points and 1,028 rebounds over two years, earning National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Second Team honors. She holds the NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball regular-season record for rebound average (23.2 per game in 2002-03).
After attending Drexel University for one year on a full athletic scholarship, Latika transferred to Saint Augustine’s University (SAU), where she made the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association All-Tournament Team and averaged a double-double her senior year (10 points, 10 rebounds per game). Graduating from SAU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and 3.9 grade point average, Latika embarked on a successful 15-year career in accounting.
Today, she channels her talents into entertainment as an actress, producer and stand-up comedian, performing under the name Latika Sye (a family surname).
STEVE MERRITT was never the last to be picked for any of the seasonal schoolyard games, until he turned 12 and lost a game of “chicken” with the front end of a Buick or Pontiac. It’s not clear to this day. A significant injury cost him any speed he might have had or would have. Nonetheless, it is difficult to temper a Type A personality and there was always some kind of competition at home with three brothers.
A single junior varsity season of baseball and senior year “cup of coffee” as a wrestler sums up his high school athletic career. Intramural softball and volleyball were competitive outlets at Glassboro State College.
After college, long-distance running became his outlet for competition. His omnipresent opponent became the stopwatch. No longer did he have to finish first to win. He ran the New York City Marathon twice, the Marine Corps Marathon twice and the Boston Marathon in 1992.
A combined 50 varsity seasons (tennis, soccer, basketball and softball) as a head coach at Salem High School yielded over 500 victories, four South Jersey Championships, three Tri-County Classic titles and helped to satisfy his yen for competition. Earlier this summer he was named the girls basketball coach at Pennsville High School.
Community Service
VINCENT GIOLA JR. graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1968 and began working for DuPont Chambers Works in 1969, retiring in 2010. To say his life revolved around sports would be an understatement.
Vince first coached in 1969 and over the next 50 years spent countless hours coaching, managing and maintaining the fields at the Carneys Point Recreation Complex for the Carneys Point-Penns Grove-Pedricktown Little League and Penns Grove Soccer Club.
Vince played and coached in both the Salem County Men’s Baseball League (1969-1976) and the PG-CP Men’s Softball League (1975-2015) while also serving as a league officer and a liaison with Salem County. He coached for the PG mini-wrestling organization (1979-1986), managed for the PG-CP Women’s Softball (1978-1982), and for the PG Babe Ruth (1985-1987). Vince also coached PG Twins 130 lb. football team (1985-1991) and was head coach of the SCC’s softball team (1991-1995, 2011-2013).
Vince has been a member of the South Jersey Officials Association (football) since 1999 and Unified Umpire Association of Southern New Jersey since 2007. He served on the Carneys Point Recreation Commission (1999-2023) and was chairman (2004-2023). Vince managed the CP Recreation Complex (2004-2023) and was president of the Servicemen’s Memorial Home (2015-2023). Today, Vince can be found on a field or in a gym in South Jersey officiating, umpiring or just watching his grandchildrens’ games or any game, for that matter.
STEVE LOPES graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1964, after playing three years of varsity basketball with coach Rudy Baric.
For 45 years, Steve has officiated over 800 high school football games. He had the honor of officiating over 50 state playoff games, including several state championship games at Rutgers, Giants and MetLife Stadiums. Steve has served as the president of New Jersey Football Officials Association – South, the organization representing football officials in South Jersey. Additionally, he is an official for the NFL’s Girls Flag Football program and officiated the Big 33 tournament sponsored by several NFL teams. In addition, Steve has umpired high school, college and semi-pro baseball for 17 years.
For 16 years, Steve managed in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point-Pedricktown Little League and Babe Ruth League, where his teams won several league and district titles. He has played and managed a senior (ages 50, 60, 70) baseball team in Carneys Point. For over 20 years, Steve has played in men’s senior baseball national tournaments in Florida and Arizona.
Growing Bridgeton museum overflows with memorabilia linked to South Jersey’s rich sporting past; Morganti to enter HOF Saturday
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
BRIDGETON — If you’re not quite sure where you’re going you just might miss it, just like Todd Frazier did – twice – with humorous results when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, but once you get there you’ll be amazed at what’s inside.
VALELLA
From the outside, Building 7 that houses the All Sports Museum (and Hall of Fame) of Southern New Jersey appears to be just another unassuming building in the city’s athletic complex, but within its walls contains a veritable treasure trove of memorabilia commemorating the region’s rich sporting past.
The quaint five-room, 1,500-square foot white bungalow that serves a variety of purposes for the city houses more than 15,000 artifacts, photos and films from across the sporting spectrum with some connection to the state’s eight southern-most counties – only about half of which is currently on display.
“A hidden gem, you said the exact words,” museum and Hall chairman Dom Valella said during a recent tour for a first-time visitor. “When we have an athlete down here who’s not familiar with this area and they see it, they say this is a hidden gem you have here.
“We’re very proud of that. We’re all volunteers; we’re all guys who just love the sport, love doing this. We just enjoy having the athletes come down (and) meeting them on a personal level.”
It certainly gave pause to Frazier, the former Shore-area baseball great who gained early fame as the hero of Toms River East’s 1998 Little League World Series title team and went on to become a two-time major-league All-Star and Home Run Derby champion over 11 big-league seasons. Once he found the museum, he was, of course, blown away by its offerings.
The story goes that Frazier was driving around town looking for the building and twice was stopped by local police as a suspicious vehicle. Once it was determined who they had detained and what his purpose was for being in the area, they gave him a full police escort to the facility.
It is easy to see how one could get waylaid. The official address is 8 Richie Kates Way, a street just off the main drag renamed in honor of the local boxer and Hall of Fame inductee who twice fought for the light-heavyweight championship and had WBA champ Victor Galindez beat in their 15-rounder in South Africa. (There’s a life-sized cutout of a ring-ready Kates right outside the case displaying his memorabilia as well as homages to Joe Frazier (who trained for a time in Vineland and sparred with Kates in Philadelphia) and Jersey Joe Wolcott).
But to have the GPS get you there you have to punch in 8 Burt Street.
It’s two turns off Hwy. 49 as you get into town, just past the high school football stadium and right across the street from Alden Field, home of the annual Bridgeton Invitational semi-pro baseball tournament that introduced MLB to the concept of pitch clocks and designated hitters long before those innovations became fashionable. They still talk about the night two of tournament teams brought in a couple ringers named Dickie Noles and Tug McGraw to pitch against each other.
The museum has items from every sport imaginable. There’s an early vaulting pole, a French foil from the 70s, the original four-pound green sneakers of the Phillie Phanatic (a popular item with the kids), local trophies that date back to 1904, photos that go back to 1896, several game-used equipment and jerseys and more than 200 autographed baseballs. There’s a bat from Jackie Robinson and even the partial uniform of baseball’s first professional female umpire, Bernice Gera, which landed in their cases after swapping the complete uniform they had with Cooperstown.
“People are surprised at how big it is,” said Ed Forman, in his 19th year as the fourth-ever curator of the museum that was founded by Ed Alden as a Bridgeton-centric repository. “Looking at it from the outside it looks like we just have one room or something like that, so when they come in and find out we have this room and this room and this room … (they’re amazed).
“I love the fact they’re amazed. Mostly everything here was donated. The only things that weren’t donated were the two (Little League World Series) trophies in the first room. It is impressive. I’m impressed with some of the things.”
Dom Valella, chairman of the All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey, points to the plaque of Flayers great Rick MacLeish, one of the nearly 150 inductees into the museum’s Hall of Fame. The next Hall induction ceremony is Saturday.
There’s a heavy presence of Phillies, Eagles and Flyers – many of whom lived in the South Jersey suburbs – but there is just as much emphasis on the accomplishments of athletes with natural roots in the area.
Coming through the door you’re welcomed by a display cases honoring locally high school and Little League championship teams. There are rooms dedicated to baseball, football, basketball and hockey. There are dedicated displays for Baseball Hall of Famer Goose Goslin; football’s George Jamison, Lydell Mitchell and Dave Robinson; track’s John Borican and auto racing pioneer Bunky Higbee. The exhibit for Millville native son Mike Trout takes up an entire wall.
There’s even a “writers wing,” a section dedicated to prominent local media, whose ranks will increase by one with Saturday’s Hall of Fame induction of Al Morganti, a Massachusetts kid who earned his chops as a Philadelphia hockey writer and network analyst. His induction brings to 135 the coaches, athletes, contributors, pioneers and teams enshrined in the Hall with many more luminaries holding a place in the museum.
There’s a distinction between the Hall of Fame and the museum – not all museum benefactors are inducted into the Hall, but inductees are asked if they’d like to donate an item to the Hall – but If there’s a connection to South Jersey, no matter how small, it’s in there.
‘Our mission statement is to preserve, protect and display all sports memorabilia connected from Philly on down, South Jersey and Philly,” Valella said. “It is surprising (the number of accomplished sportsmen hail from the area). We should be proud of it.”
Everyone who comes through the museum, which is open with free admission from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday or by appointment, has a favorite piece, but the star of the show is the 1960 National League Gold Glove of Willie Mays, whose connection to South Jersey runs from his days as a minor leaguer in Trenton to his somewhat controversial (at the time) connection to promoting the casinos in Atlantic City.
Mays, who passed away earlier this summer, came to Bridgeton as a guest of the Invitational. Between games tournament officials were known to give away baskets of local peaches and plums as door prizes. A son of the south, Mays wasn’t interested in peaches, but did want to know what it’d take to get some of those plums.
Tournament organizers said if he made a donation to the museum they’d provide him as many plums as he could stand. Mays told them to come see him at Resorts and he’d have something for them. When they arrived, he presented them the Gold Glove (he won 12 of them) with the caveat not to sell it, trade it or give it away. The award is displayed on the first shelf of a case in the middle of the back wall in the main room.
“That’s the No. 1 item that’s here,” Valella said. “I think the Gold Glove is one of the nicest things we’ve got here – and the story.”
There’s no telling how much all the memorabilia housed in the museum is worth, but rest assured it’s all insured. Former Phillies reliever, current studio host and future Hall inductee Ricky Bottalico toured the museum during broadcast partner Michael Barkann’s induction and asked what they thought the Mays Gold Glove was worth. Museum officials estimated conservatively $150,000. Bottalico said they should double it, in a tone that that suggested even his assessment was low.
After all, you can’t put a price on memories.
Curator Ed Forman (L) and chairman Dom Valella flank the most prized possession of the All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey — Willie Mays’ 1960 National League Gold Glove.
Pennsville LL 12U All-Stars eliminated from Section 4 Tournament by Hammonton; Senior Softball State Tournament delayed again by conditions
SATURDAY’S GAMES SECTION 4 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL At Erial LL, Sicklerville Blackwood 10, Cherry Hill American 2 Hammonton 3, Pennsville 1 (PVLL eliminated) SENIOR SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT At Dennis Twp. LL, Cape May Court House All Games postponed.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SICKLERVILLE – There couldn’t have been a worse time for the bats to go cold.
The bats that served the Pennsville LL All-Stars so well on their run to a 12U district title fell agonizingly silent in the next tournament on the road to Williamsport.
Pennsville was limited to four singles Saturday and just couldn’t get a ball through with runners on base, falling to Hammonton 3-1 to end their stay in the New Jersey Section 4 Tournament after two games.
Pennsville hit .324 as a team with 12 home runs in winning the District 3 title last week, but had just five hits and a .161 average in their two sectional tournament games at the Erial LL complex.
“The first couple innings we got runners on and we couldn’t string hits together,” Pennsville manager Steve Pangle said. “We weren’t putting our hits together.
“The pitching was better … but we had our chances and we should have capitalized on them. We just didn’t swing the bats like we did in districts. It was a bad time for our bats to kind of go silent.”
Pennsville put their first two hitters on each of the first two innings, but couldn’t get them home. They scored their only run in in the third inning to make it 2-1 when Brayden Weatherbee rode home on Lauden Tighe’s sacrifice fly.
Hammonton took a 2-0 lead in the second on Lucas Ewer’s RBI double and Roman Murtucci’s two-out RBI single. They made it 3-1 in the third on Brayden Templeton’s RBI double.
Pennsville threatened in the sixth, putting the tying runs in scoring position with two outs and their top hitters coming to the plate. But Hammonton centerfielder Carter Lolio ran down Nathan Breeden’s liner in the gap for the final out of the game.
“They had a lot of heart to keep fighting the entire time even when we were down the whole game,” Pangle said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way they fought throughout the entire game. They have a lot of heart. They just wanted to keep fighting.”
Outfielder Chase Pangle, who had one of Pennsville’s four hits in the game, called it “sad” to lose, but pushing through the disappointment of the day he said it was “really fun” putting together the success the team enjoyed this summer.
“It was great,” Steve Pangle said of the run. “The kids all came together. They’re all friends outside of here, but they really jelled as a team; the further we got in the tournament, the better they got together and the better they knew each other. They had each other’s back. They had the coaches’ back. They turned into a family. The growth overall from the first practice to tonight was huge.”
Senior Softball ppd. again
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – The Senior Softball State Tournament was postponed for the second day in a row due to weather-related conditions.
All the games scheduled for the Dennis Twp. LL complex Saturday (from Friday) have been pushed back to Sunday starting at 11 a.m. Two teams will have to play three games Sunday to reach Monday’s championship round.
The eventual state champion advances to the East Regional in Worcester, Mass., where they will oppose Rising Sun, Md., in their opener July 20. MOT/Middletown, Del., also has secured a spot in the Mid-Atlantic pool. The Pennsylvania and New York champs are also in that pool.
As frustrating as the weather delay has been, it allowed the Pennsville All-Stars to get most of their players back who were competing in various travel ball tournaments over the weekend.
SENIOR SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT At Dennis Twp. LL, Cape May Court House SUNDAY’S GAMES G1: District 1 vs. Bayonne, 11 a.m. G2: Toms River vs. Pennsville, 11 a.m. G3: District 1-Bayonne loser vs. Toms River-Pennsville loser, 2 p.m. G4: District 1-Bayonne winner vs. Toms River-Pennsville winner, 2 p.m. G5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 5 p.m. MONDAY’S GAMES G5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m. (winner to East Regional at Worchester, Mass.) G6: If necessary, 2 p.m. (winner vs. Rising Sun, Md., in East Regional at Worchester, Mass.)
Section 4 LL Tournament Hammonton 3, Pennsville 1
Pennsville
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Hammonton
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WP: Brayden Templeton. LP: Cayden L’Ecuyer. S: Roman Murtucci. 2B: Brayden Templeton (H), Lucas Ewer (H).
