Digging deep

Woodstown, Schalick, Pennsville win South Jersey Group I Tournament openers; Woodstown, Schalick to meet in quarterfinals

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL
Tuesday’s first-round games
Pennsville 11, Wildwood 0
Schalick 4, Palmyra 3 (8 inns.)
Woodstown 8, Glassboro 4
Haddon Twp. 20, LEAP 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Early in the year when Rob Hildebrand was putting together his Woodstown softball team a lot of people wondered why he had so many players on the roster.

They got their answer Tuesday.

The Wolverines had only 12 available players for their first-round game in the South Jersey Group I playoffs, but it was more than enough to put away Glassboro 8-4 for their fifth win in a row and eighth in their last nine games.

“We were missing some players today because of class trips and stuff, we have prom this week, we had a lot of distractions, but our core group of girls just buckled down, beared down, and got the job done,” Hildebrand said. “It wasn’t pretty but got it done.”

The win sets up a third meeting this season with Schalick – but the first in Woodstown – in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Wolverines (13-7) won the first two, most recently May 6 in the Elmer Classic.

The Wolverines have 20 players on the roster, but the other eight, including four starters and a top player off the bench, were off on the freshman/sophomore class trip to Hershey Park that was scheduled and paid for long before the Wolverines rescheduled their playoff game to beat Wednesday’s expected bad weather.

Hildebrand told them to enjoy the trip, that there’s more to life than softball, and the team would make do.

“We have depth,” Hildebrand said. “A lot of people were saying in the beginning of the year you’re keeping too many people on the roster. Our girls, from top to bottom, 1 through 20, I’m confident any single one of them can be in there and do it because they do it in practice every single day. There are so many girls that are battling close for certain positions that I know put them in and they’re going produce.

“It’s not like I foresaw that for any specific reason, but that’s part of the reason why you do. Everybody is such a team player you know they might not get the amount of at-bqts they thought they should have during the season but when it’s their turn they’re putting the team first.”

Among those who made the biggest impact with their chance to play were middle infielders Shelby Drummond and Avery Battle. Drummond went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the Wolverines’ four-run first inning and Battle’s two-run single in the fifth extended their lead to 8-4. All nine batters in the lineup had at least one hit.

Drummond, a sophomore, had 13 at-bats this season coming into the game. Battle, a junior, had five in two years.

Leah Clark pitched a complete game, giving up five hits, one earned run and striking out 11, including the side in order in the seventh. She also had two hits.

PENNSVILLE 11, WILDWOOD 0: The second-seeded Eagles broke it open with an eight-run third inning and Savannah Brewer-Palverento faced just two batters over the minimum in a five-inning one-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

The Eagles sent 12 batters to the plate in the big inning. Two runs scored on Kylie Harris’ hard single. Three scored when the Warriors misplayed Elizabeth Fleming’s bases-loaded fly to right.

Harris, Brewer-Palverento and Avery Watson all had two RBIs in the heart of the order. Watson went 3-for-3.

SCHALICK 4, PALMYRA 3: The Cougars (14-4) walked it off on Emily Miller’s triple and overthrow leading off the eighth inning. It was Miller’s second hit of the game. She gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the third..

Palmyra forced extra innings with a run in the top of the seventh. It was the third time they tied the game. The Cougars took a one-run game from Palmyra in their final regular-season game five days earlier.

Addi Shimp went the distance in the circle, giving up just one earned run and striking out 10, to get the win.

Best Foote forward

Woodstown wins SJ Group I tourney opener 1-0 behind Foote’s complete game, sets up quarterfinal rematch at Pennsville; Schalick scores shutout

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL
Tuesday’s first-round games
Audubon 12, Paulsboro 1
Buena 10, Palmyra 1
Maple Shade 12, Clayton 0
Pitman 5, Gateway 0
Pennsville 19, Salem 2
Woodstown 1, Haddon Twp. 0
Glassboro 4, Riverside 0
Schalick 9, Wildwood 0
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
Buena at Audubon
Maple Shade at Pitman
Woodstown at Pennsville, noon
Glassboro at Schalick

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Marc DeCastro admits he’s “pretty conservative” when it comes to the way he works his Woodstown pitchers during the regular season. They get enough pitches to get their work in and then that’s enough so to not burn them out for when they’re needed the most.

That’s the regular season. The playoffs are a different animal and require a different approach. If a pitcher needs to go long to keep the Wolverines in a game, he’s going to go long and hopefully that earlier conservative tact helps him through it.

DeCastro let Aaron Foote loose Tuesday afternoon and the senior right-hander delivered a brilliant complete game, outdueling Haddon Twp.’s Tyler DeCastro in a 1-0 victory that got the Wolverines through the first round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs and a Thursday noon rematch with Pennsville.

Foote went seven innings for only the second time in his career and threw a career-high 103 pitches. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out one. It was Woodstown’s first playoff complete game since Ben Foote’s five-inning shutout of Cape May Tech in the 2022 opener and their first seven-inning complete game since Lucas Pendergast’s three-hit shutout of Penns Grove in the 2021 opener.

DeCastro, the Woodstown coach’s nephew, threw 113 pitches in six innings for the Hawks (8-18). He gave up four hits, walked or hit seven and struck out seven. He was coming off the 110-pitch limit in the first 6 2/3 innings of a combined no-hitter in his last start

“We’re pretty conservative in how much we let people throw and part of the reason for that is so that they aren’t worn down by the time they get to this point,” Woodstown’s DeCastro said. “If I stretched him to 100 (pitches) three other times that’s, what, 150 (extra) pitches, another game. Maybe he’s tired in the sixth inning as opposed to feeling relatively strong.

“In the regular season I really don’t push people. In the playoffs, you don’t worry so much about that. You make a decision based on what you’re looking at and what’s best as opposed to we’ve got a game in six days and I want to make sure he’s not throwing too much in this game or that game.

“Once you get to the playoffs everything you do in the regular season is out the window and you just try to do what you think there is to win a game. If that means he throws 100 pitches on that day, that’s the whole point of it.”

Going into the game, Foote had gone five innings or more just twice in six previous appearances this season and thrown at least 70 pitches only twice. His high-water marks were six innings in a 6-2 loss to Cinnaminson and 75 pitches over 4 2/3 innings in a 4-1 loss at Overbrook.

The only other time he’d gone seven innings in his career was last April against Glassboro (75 pitches). The most pitches he’d ever thrown in a game was 86 in a five-inning stint at Florence as a sophomore.

“As good as that was I would bet you Aaron would say he wasn’t as sharp as he has been when he’s let up four or five runs,” DeCastro said.

He was right, in a way.

“I wish the strike percentage was a little higher,” Foote said. “I got off to a little rough start, the adrenaline probably got to me, then I settled in. I wish the curveball was a little more accurate, but I was getting squeezed.”

DeCastro said Foote was “not in any situation” Tuesday where he was coming out for anything other than he needs to come out. He was close – one batter to reach his 110-pitch limit – and DeCastro did make a mound visit after the Hawks got a hit in the seventh, but he never got the hook. He was pretty efficient throughout largely by locating his fastball. He had 39 pitches through three innings, 82 through six. In contrast, the Hawks’ DeCastro threw 47 pitches through the first two innings and 99 through five.

“There aren’t very many people I don’t take out in the seventh inning with a guy on base and one out,” DeCastro said. “We had everyone available, we have everyone open, we had everybody ready to go there … so that shows the kind of trust and faith I have in him. If he’s going to get beat you’re going to beat him (because) he’s not going to beat himself.”

“I was begging to stay in,” Foote said. “When he started walking out I was saying ‘keep me in, keep me in’ … because I knew I could finish it.”

The only run of the game came in the first inning when Ty Coblentz doubled home leadoff man Caiden Spinelli, who was hit by a pitch and stole second. The Wolverines loaded the bases after they scored, but DeCastro wriggled out of it with a force at the plate and two strikeouts. They had bases-loaded with two outs in the fourth, too, but Coblentz popped out to end the inning.

The Wolverines (15-10) had 12 baserunners total, seven that got into scoring position, but managed only the one run, which increased the pressure on Foote to stay sharp. After the first inning, HT’s DeCastro faced only four batters over the minimum the rest of the game.

“When the only run came from the first inning and it’s the seventh I knew I had to do my job because we can’t rely on our offense that much,” Foote said. “We’re just not a hitting team. We have to rely on the defense to do all the work. I went out there knowing I had to do it.”

The family dynamic underscoring the game wasn’t lost on either DeCastro although both did a good job keeping that part of it in check. The same couldn’t be said for Tyler’s dad/Marc’s brother, who was a little too passionate about the proceedings and got sent to the parking lot by the plate umpire in the late innings.

For his part, Tyler said he focused on keeping the day as routine as possible.

“Of course there were nerves, it was a playoff game,” he said. “But at the end of the day it’s the same game no matter who the opponent is, who the other coach is, what the predicament is. You have to go out and compete

Uncle Marc, meanwhile, said he purposely didn’t have contact with his nephew in the run-up to the game, but he did have a brief message when they met in the handshake line.

“The uncle part of me wanted to tell him good luck but the right thing to do was let him be in whatever mindset he was gonna be in and any contact from me could have altered that,” he said. “He deserved to go out there and pretend I didn’t exist, so I wasn’t going to do any of that.

“I told him in the line I couldn’t be any more proud of him. If you said you were going to win this game 1-0 (and) Tyler’s going to throw six innings I would be really happy because it meant we got what we wanted and he didn’t do anything wrong, which is exactly what happened.”

And should make for some interesting conversation the next time they all get together.

“It’s going to be something to talk about at the dinner table,” Tyler said. “I know all my uncles, my dad, they love talking about baseball. I know this game is going to be great for them to talk about.”

PENNSVILLE 19, SALEM 2: The Eagles’ fifth straight home win served a dual purpose: It got them through to the second round of the tournament and clinched their fourth straight TCC Classic Division title and first outright since 2023.

All 18 players on the roster got a plate appearance and 15 reached base. They jumped out with six in the first inning and broke it open with 11 in the second. Three pitchers combined for a two-hitter.

“Great team effort today,” Eagles coach Matt Karr said. “It’s always a goal to win the division and today was our fourth straight and nice that it was an outright title this year. It’s also cool to be able to get all 18 varsity guys an at bat in it, too.”

Starting pitcher Cohen Petrutz and Jeff Wagner both went 2-for-2 and had four RBIs for Pennsville. Connor Starn and Luke Wood both had two RBIs and Mason O’Brien had two hits. Andrew May homered for Salem in the fifth inning.

The Eagles (15-8) now host county rival Woodstown in the quarterfinals Thursday at noon. The early start time accommodates Woodstown’s prom later that evening.

“The magic number is now five,” Karr said. “Anything good or bad that has happened means nothing. Right now our focus is on Woodstown Thursday afternoon.”

SCHALICK 9, WILDWOOD 0: Three pitchers combined on a one-hitter and the second-seeded Cougars had enough offense to coast to an opening-round victory and match the most wins by a Sean O’Brien-coached Schalick team.

Luke Pokrovsky went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. His two-run double in the fifth closed the scoring and was his school-record tying 28^th of his career. Lucas D’Agostino, Enrico Hatz and Eli Cummings all had two hits.

Jamari Whitley, D’Agostino and Cole Hartley combined on the one-hitter. They took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

The Cougars (19-2) now host Glassboro in the quarterfinals Thursday. O’Brien’s 2021 Schalick team went 19-5.

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 27-31; some times TBA

MAY 27
BASEBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Paulsboro at Audubon, 4 p.m.
Buena at Palmyra, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Maple Shade, 3:45 p.m.
Gateway at Pitman, 4 p.m.
Salem at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
Haddon Twp. at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Glassboro at Riverside, 3 p.m.
Wildwood at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Regular season
Penns Grove at Pleasantville
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Wildwood at Pennsville, 2 p.m.
Palmyra at Schalick, 3 p.m.
Glassboro at Woodstown, 4 p.m.
Regular season
Overbrook at Penns Grove
TENNIS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Gateway at Haddon Twp., 4 p.m.
Schalick at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Palmyra at West Deptford, 4 p.m.
Audubon at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
GOLF
Tri-County Conference Showcase, Pitman GC

MAY 28
BASEBALL
Regular season
Penns Grove at Overbrook
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Paulsboro at Audubon, 4 p.m.
Riverside at Cape May Tech, 4 p.m.
LEAP at Haddon Twp., 4 p.m.
Buena at Maple Shade, 3:45 p.m.
Clayton at Pitman, 4 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Woodstown at Bernards, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Lower Cape May at Woodstown, 4:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Pennsville at Clayton
Penns Grove at Schalick

MAY 29
BASEBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Games at higher seed)
Buena at Audubon
Maple Shade at Pitman
Woodstown at Pennsville, noon
Glassboro at Schalick
TENNIS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Matches at higher seed)
Woodstown at Haddon Twp.
West Deptford at Pennsville

MAY 30
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Games at higher seed)
Salem-Audubon winner vs. Riverside-Cape May Tech winner
Schalick at Woodstown
LEAP-Haddon Twp. winner vs. Buena-Maple Shade winner
Clayton-Pitman winner vs. Pennsville
TRACK
NJSIAA Group I Championships

MAY 31
TRACK
NJSIAA Group I Championships

Sectional shakeout

All 4 Salem County teams in South Jersey Group I baseball field on same side of the bracket; 4 county teams make softball field; Audubon grabs both No. 1s over Schalick, Pennsville

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PAIRINGS
First-round games, May 27
No. 16 Paulsboro (3-18) at No. 1 Audubon (17-7)
No. 9 Buena (13-11) at No. 8 Palmyra (11-9), 4 p.m.
No. 12 Clayton (8-12) at No. 5 Maple Shade (11-9), 3:45 p.m.
No. 13 Gateway (7-14) at No. 4 Pitman (15-8), 4 p.m.
No. 14 Salem (7-12) at No. 3 Pennsville (14-7)
No. 11 Haddon Twp. (8-16) at No. 6 Woodstown (14-10)
No. 10 Glassboro (10-11) at No. 7 Riverside (10-11), 3 p.m.
No. 15 Wildwood (10-12) at No. 2 Schalick (18-2), 4 p.m.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL PAIRINGS
First-round games, May 28
No. 16 Salem (2-14) at No. 1 Audubon (15-7)
No. 9 Riverside (13-5) at No. 8 Cape May Tech (14-7)
No. 12 Palmyra (7-11) at No. 5 Schalick (13-4)
No. 13 Glassboro (7-10) at No. 4 Woodstown (12-7), 2 p.m.
No. 14 LEAP (10-5) at No. 3 Haddon Twp. (14-8)
No. 11 Buena (5-18) at No. 6 Maple Shade (11-8)
No. 10 Clayton (8-11) at No. 7 Pitman (10-8)
No. 15 Wildwood (5-12) at No. 2 Pennsville (19-4)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Beth Jackson had a feeling all along it was going to turn out this way.

Many of the players on Jackson’s Pennsville softball team came away from their big win over Delsea Wednesday night believing they could be the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament when the pairings were released the next day, but the coach didn’t share the feeling.

It wasn’t because she didn’t believe in her team, she just knows the way of the world.

When the pairings were presented shortly after lunch Thursday Jackson’s suspicions were realized. The Eagles were installed as the No. 2 seed in the bracket behind Audubon despite being the winningest team in the section and having almost half as many losses as the Green Wave and fewer than 14 of the other 15 teams in the field.

Additionally, the Eagles (18-4) are 9-4 against teams that currently own winning records while the top-seeded Green Wave (15-7) are 7-5 against teams with current winning records and 3-2 against those sitting at .500.

“I already had in my mind it was going to be that way because I’ve never seen it change from the power points,” Jackson said on her way to practice Thursday afternoon. “I’m sure (the players) are disappointed, I am a little too, but it is what it is.”

The seedings followed the power points table down the line, so in a sense the Eagles were a victim of the Tri-County Classic Division schedule they had to play and dominate. Audubon’s Colonial Conference Liberty Division has five tournament qualifiers (four in Group II), all among their field’s top 10 seeds and four among the top five. The brackets become official at noon Friday.

Woodstown (No. 4), Schalick (No. 5) and Salem (No. 16) also are in the softball field and all on the Audubon side of the bracket. If Woodstown and Schalick win their tournament openers Wednesday they would meet in the second round at Woodstown.

“Every bracket I have ever seen that’s based on the power points, that’s what it is and nothing changes from there,” Jackson said. “It stays on power points and that’s that.

“I think maybe there should be multiples, like a rubric kind of thing, to do the seedings, to look at other things. It would be nice to have multiple points looking at your seeding. Their argument may be you have three different categories to weight those power points, so that may be their response if somebody were to ask.”

Asked if the perceived snub will now serve as a source of motivation for her team, Jackson said she’d talk about to get a gauge on where her players stand. But she was quick to point out there’s a lot more tangible motivation surrounding the tournament.

“I think we’ll talk about it and what it means to them,” she said. “I also think being up at the top puts, I don’t want say a target on your back, but even at 2 where we are now everybody’s looking to knock everybody off. Frankly, at the end of the day everybody is 0-0 and if you lose you go home. That right there is motivation. You lose, you go home. There is no tomorrow.”

Four Salem County teams also made it into the South Jersey Group I baseball tournament and they’re all on the same side of the bracket.

Schalick, the winningest team in SJG1 and second in the section power points standings, pulled down the No. 2 seed behind Audubon. Pennsville is the 3 seed, Woodstown the 6 and Salem the 14. The first-round games are Tuesday.

“We are happy the first three rounds we will host if we play the way we are capable of playing,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “There are a lot of good teams in South Jersey Group I and we are excited to get started.”

“Works for us,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said.

There is some familiarity in the first-round draws. Pennsville and Salem are TCC Classic Division rivals and are scheduled to play for the second time this season Friday with the Eagles clinching the outright division title in the balance.

Speaking of rematches, a potential second-round matchup could find Pennsville hosting Woodstown. They played earlier this year, with Pennsville winning 10-0. The Wolverines knocked Pennsville out of the playoffs last year in the quarterfinals.

“It’s not often you get a shot a redemption,” Karr said. “I know Woodstown isn’t the same team (as last year) but we basically are – only losing one senior from last year. I’m sure my guys would love to be able to run it back against Woodstown in Round 2 at our place.”

Baseball projections

Here are the projected opening-round matchups for the South Jersey Group I baseball playoffs based on Wednesday’s cutoff power points standings.

PROJECTED PAIRINGS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL
(Based on May 21 power points)
No. 16 Paulsboro (3-18, 9.036) at No. 1 Audubon (17-7, 25.253)
No. 9 Buena (13-11, 15.737) at No. 8 Palmyra (11-9, 16.457)
No. 12 Clayton (8-12, 13.363) at No. 5 Maple Shade (11-9, 18.072)
No. 13 Gateway (7-14, 12.239) at No. 4 Pitman (15-8, 19.256)
No. 14 Salem (7-12, 11.884) at No. 3 Pennsville (14-7, 21.804)
No. 11 Haddon Twp. (8-16, 13.562) at No. 6 Woodstown (14-10, 17.964)
No. 10 Glassboro (10-11, 14.918) at No. 7 Riverside (10-11, 17.797)
No. 15 Wildwood (10-12, 10.929) at No. 2 Schalick (18-2, 24.223)

Waiting anxiously

Pennsville knocks off undefeated Delsea, but is it good enough to earn them a No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I playoffs?

WEDNESDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 7, Delsea 5
Schalick 6, Palmyra 5

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — For the Pennsville softball team the waiting begins. The next 18 hours are critical.

The Eagles handed Delsea its first loss of the season 7-5 Wednesday on the extended final day for games to count towards power points for playoff seedings.

Now they wait to see whether they have done enough to be installed as the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I playoffs when the bracket is determined presumably Thursday.

“I’m not the head coach so I don’t know that answer,” said Lisa Doran, who directed the team in the latter innings after head coach Beth Jackson excused herself to attend her stepdaughter’s junior college graduation. “It would be great (to be the 1 seed) and we’re feeling good and ready to go into this thing, but where we’re going to stand I just don’t know.

“You always want to be 1 but I don’t know exactly where we were left after yesterday so I’m not really sure.”

The Eagles went into the game second behind Audubon in the SJG1 power points standings. Both teams scored major victories Wednesday.

Pennsville’s win came over the undefeated No. 1 team in South Jersey Group III power points. Audubon beat Kingsway, the No. 1 power points team in SJ Group IV.

When the results were posted to the record, Audubon remained first at 26.124 and Pennsville was second at 24.128, an even larger margin than when the day began.

“Audubon beat Kingsway so we’re probably staying No. 2,” Jackson said “That’s a huge win for them, just like ours, but we won’t know for sure until tomorrow.”

But the power points are just one of the tools the seeding committee considers. What also likely works in the Eagles’ favor is they are the winningest team in SJ1 (19-4) and have fewer losses — in some cases half as many — than Audubon and Haddon Twp. on either side of them in the PP standings.

The players believe they have done enough to be the top seed.

“I think we have the power, the momentum, to be No. 1,” shortstop-pitcher Graillyn Weber said. “We’re a good team, we’ve worked hard this whole season and we want it, so yes.”

“We’ve been playing good throughout the season and I think we deserve to be No. 1,” second baseman Reagan Wariwanchik added.

The Eagles, coming off an extra-inning loss at Schalick, continued its trend this year of following a loss with a win. In addition to coming into the game as the last undefeated public school team in the state, Delsea also was working on a 23-game regular-season winning streak going back to last season.

The Eagles answered both times the Crusaders came after them.

Delsea scored a run in the third inning, but the Eagles answered with Kylie Harris’ record-tying two-run 15th double in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Harris tied her own single-season school record with the hit and hit a shot hard enough to break it in the sixth but held at first after ripping a one-hopper off the fence.

Delsea tied it 3-3 with two in the fifth, but this time the Eagles answered with three to take the lead for good. Wariwanchik’s two-run bases-loaded single put them up 5-3 and Lily Edwards’ single off the pitcher brought another run home.

Wariwanchik’s go-ahead hit came after Avery Watson’s one-out double and back-to-back walks to Sawyer Simmons and Mak Widener.

Simmons drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to make it 7-3 and the Eagles withstood a Delsea flurry in the seventh to close it out.

“I was nervous when I first went up there, but I always take a deep breath before every pitch and that definitely helped,” Wariwanchik said. “I think I had the confidence in myself today to know what I need to do and it helped me hit. It was definitely one of my biggest hits.”

The Eagles’ defense kept the fifth inning from getting any worse when they caught Cailyn Centeno taking too wide a turn at first on her game-tying single and Weber, who moved into the circle earlier in the inning, cut the throw from center and fired to first to get her for the final out.

“I tried to act like I wasn’t going to get the ball,” Weber said. “I knew she was going to make a wide turn and was probably going to go because the run from third had already scored so I got the ball as close as I could for the rundown.”

Weber came into the circle after starter Savannah Brewer-Palverento walked the first two batters in a misty rain that made it tough to get a good grip the ball. Up to that point she gave up five hits, one run (a solo homer) and hadn’t walked anyone. Weber pitched the final three innings.

“It definitely was nerve wracking knowing that it was raining and I didn’t know if I would be able to grip the ball and spin it,” Weber said, “but I had my towel, had my rosin and it pulled through; it definitely worked out. I knew we could do it because I had my defense behind me and I was making sure I wasn’t putting anything over the plate.”

And now they wait.

SCHALICK 6, PALMYRA 5: The Cougars rallied from a 5-2 deficit with two in the fifth and two in the sixth to win what’s shaping up as a preview of a projected first-round tournament game. In the latest power point standings, Schalick is a solid 5 and Palmyra 12th, which would put them together in the opening round.

PROJECTED SJ GROUP I PAIRINGS
(Based on May 21 power points)
No. 16 Gateway (4-14, 8.515) at No. 1 Audubon (15-7, 26.124)
No. 9 Riverside (13-5, 14.892) at No. 8 Cape May Tech (14-7, 15.439)
No. 12 Palmyra (7-11, 12.012) at No. 5 Schalick (13-4, 19.305)
No. 13 Glassboro (7-10, 11.905) at No. 4 Woodstown (12-7, 20.116)
No. 14 LEAP (10-5, 10.075) at No. 3 Haddon Twp. (14-8, 22.559)
No. 11 Buena (5-18, 12.449) at No. 6 Maple Shade (11-8, 16.331)
No. 10 Clayton (8-11, 12.925) at No. 7 Pitman (10-8, 15.924)
No. 15 Wildwood (5-12, 9.819) at No. 2 Pennsville (19-4, 24.128)

Schalick stunner

Cougars ‘on point,’ score walk-off win over Pennsville, denting the Eagles’ bid to become the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group I softball; Woodstown, Schalick win tennis tourney openers, face-off next week

TUESDAY SOFTBALL
Clayton 21, Salem 0
Schalick 4, Pennsville 3 (8 inns.)
Woodstown 15, Wildwood 2

By Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Emily Miller’s one-out single in the eighth inning scored Maddie Brown with the walk-off run in Schalick’s 4-3 win over Pennsville that put a dent in the Eagles’ bid for the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I softball tournament.

The win was Schalick’s first over Pennsville since 2019 and extended the Cougars’ winning streak to four, enhancing their own position for a high seeding. The loss snapped Pennsville’s seven-game winning streak.

“It was a nice win for the team,” Cougars coach Rick Higinbotham said. “Pennsville is a tough opponent so we knew we were going to have to be on point. Fortunately, we played one of our best all around games of the season. We took advantage of a few opportunities and got the win. Hopefully we can use this win to build some momentum for the playoffs next week.”

Pennsville (18-4) was looking to stay ahead of Haddon Twp. and overtake Audubon at No. 1 in the SJ Group I power points standings, but likely needed a sweep of its three games before Wednesday’s cutoff to do it. The Eagles still could make a big move with a win over undefeated SJ Group 3 No. 1 Delsea at home Wednesday.

As of late Tuesday night, the Eagles were second with 22.783 power points. Audubon remained No. 1 at 24.424 and Haddon Twp. was third at 22.486. Schalick (12-4) is currently solidly in fifth, less than 900 percentage points behind No. 4 Woodstown.

Haddon Twp. lost to Gloucester Tuesday, but Audubon swamped Sterling.

Pennsville starter Savannah Brewer-Palverento pitched three perfect innings to open the game, but was lifted for Graillyn Weber as planned in the fourth and Schalick scored three runs to take a 3-0 lead. The Cougars got their runs on a bases-loaded walk to Cloe Elliott, a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Brown and Ava Lauglin’s ground out.

The Eagles closed their deficit to 3-2 in the fifth on Weber’s leadoff inside-the-park homer and Avery Watson’s RBI single. They tied it in the sixth on Weber’s RBI double.

The Cougars started their winning rally with Elliott’s walk off Weber. Brewer-Palverento was returned to the circle and got Brown to hit into a fielder’s choice. Brown stole second and moved to third on an infield error before Miller delivered her game-winning hit.

WOODSTOWN 15, WILDWOOD 2: Leah Clark struck out 12 and didn’t allow a hit over six innings and the Wolverines supported her with a 15-hit attack. Ellie Wygand went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, Kendall Young went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Clark went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Hannah Hitchner and Talia Guardascione had two hits apiece.

The Warriors scored two unearned runs in the second inning to tie the game 2-2

CLAYTON 21, SALEM 0: The Clippers had only four hits, but took advantage of 28 walks. Sophia Petsch held Salem to one hit over four innings and had two hits and two RBIs at the plate. Korrin Robinson had Salem’s only hit

GOLF
Schalick 174, Pitman 176: Jaxon Weber and Seth Fisher both shot 40 to squeeze between Pitman’s top two counters providing the margin of victory in a close one at the site of next week’s Tri-County Championship tournament. Nolan O’Toole and Shawn Kelly both shot 47 to tie Pitman’s other two counters.
Washington Twp. girls 139, Schalick 164: Paige Weber (32) and Tessa Reilley (34) posted the low rounds for Washington Twp. at The Birches. Cali Fisler posted Schalick’s low round (37).

TENNIS
Woodstown and Schalick are headed to a second-round matchup after sweeping their opponents in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I tournament. Fourth-seeded Woodstown eliminated Penns Grove 5-0 and fifth-seeded Schalick ousted Lower Cape May 5-0.

The second-round match is scheduled for Woodstown Tuesday. The teams have not played each other this season

South Jersey Group I Tournament
(1) Haddon Twp. bye
(9) Gateway 3.5, (8) Clayton 1.5
(5) Schalick 5, (12) Lower Cape May 0
(4) Woodstown 5, (13) Penns Grove 0
(3) West Deptford bye
(11) Wildwood at (6) Palmyra, Wednesday
(10) Audubon at (7) Point Pleasant Beach, Thursday
(2) Pennsville bye

WOODSTOWN 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Alex Ramirez Martinez, 6-0, 6-3
John Farrell (WO) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-1, 6-0
Jake Lewis (WO) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-4, 6-3
Ben Stengel-Joseph Kurpis (WO) def. Anthony Pacheco-Rene Ruiz, 6-0, 6-2
Mason Shimp-Vincent Merendino (WO) def. Juan Ortiz-Adam Gonzalez, 6-1, 6-2
Records: Woodstown 14-4, Penns Grove 2-9

SCHALICK 5, LOWER CAPE MAY 0
George Gould (S) def. Ismael Lopez, 6-1, 7-5
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Nicholas Fitch, 6-0, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Nathan Chase, 6-2, 6-0
Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Bryan Ortiz-Victor Vasquez, 6-0, 6-1
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Max Vaught-Chris Hawes, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 14-5, Lower Cape May 4-15

Rockin’ their world

Hitters take advantage of big ballpark, Starn sharp on the mound and Pennsville writes off Tome at Frawley Stadium

TUESDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 11, Tome School 1
Schalick 5, Ocean City 2
Woodstown 4, Deptford 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILMINGTON, Del. – As a centerfielder, Chase Burchfield knows all too well the pleasures and pitfalls of playing the outfield gaps. When he walked into Frawley Stadium for the first time Tuesday and saw all that space in its outfield, he couldn’t help but be excited.

As a fielder with experience playing in cavernous places like Citizens Bank Park, the Pennsville senior knew he has the range to flag down balls hit on either side of him. As a hitter he saw the chance to run a long way if he made good contact.

Burchfield drilled two triples into the abyss among his three extra-base hits in the game and one of three the Eagles crushed in the second inning to take control of an eventual 11-1 win over The Tome School of Maryland in an experience coach Matt Karr said made them feel like big leaguers.

“The gaps were looking big tonight, I’m not going to lie,” Burchfield said. “I know I have the power to put it over their heads. My first at bat I grounded out to first and I saw the outfielders were all playing too shallow and I was like I’ll just put it over their head.

“I hadn’t been hitting too big the last couple games but I found that barrel, got it over their heads and my next at bat I slapped another one to the gap. I knew as soon as it gets in the gap I can just keep running and running.”

Burchfield’s first triple came in the second inning shortly after Logan Streitz and Luke Wood went back-to-back on consecutive first-pitch swings against Tome starter Blaine Pendergraft. The triples drove in the three runs that gave the Eagles (14-7) a 5-0 lead.

Their five runs in the first two innings were more than the stadium’s regular tenants, the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks, scored in 11 of the 12 games of their just completed homestand.

“Luke, Chase, Streitz that inning absolutely unloaded on those baseballs,” Karr said. “That was probably three of the better swings for those three out of the whole season.

“Chase got to third base and I just looked and he snickered and said ‘I got that one.’ I said, ‘You think?’”

The triples by Burchfield, Streitz and Wood were all to centerfield. Cohen Petrutz hit one past the first baseman into the rightfield corner in the first inning. Petrutz chased home Peyton O’Brien after Burchfield knocked in the first run of the game with a sharp grounder to first.

“It was good for them to come up there and have a good at-bat, especially in the park, the environment,” Karr said. “I asked the kids in the first inning, when Cohen got over to third, I asked him if they were having trouble with the depth perception of such a big outfield. He like no, it’s pretty good.

“His big thing was he could hear more of what I thought I could. Behind me in the stands I just hear like a thousand little conversations, which is different than playing a high school game.”

**Mason O’Brien pulls into second base with a leadoff double that started a parade of extra-base hits in Pennsville’s three-run second inning. (Photo by Payton Cook)**

While the Pennsville hitters were enjoying the benefits of a big ballpark, Connor Starn was filling the zone from the mound and keeping the Titans in check.

Starn pitched the first five innings allowing one run and two hits, walking one and striking out a career-high nine. The senior righthander struck out the side twice – in order in the fourth on 13 pitches – and faced four batters over the minimum. Mason O’Brien pitched the sixth and struck out the side in order.

“It was a great experience,” Starn said. “It’s fun you get to go out there and the mound isn’t falling apart, which is rare to find in South Jersey, so that was fun.

“It’s good to go out there and execute pitches. It’s always fun when you can hit your spot and you know where the ball is going to go for the most part. The first inning was probably my favorite just getting them down. It gave me a lot of confidence here.”

Karr isn’t opposed to bringing the Eagles across the bridge to play a game here every year. “I’m totally cool with it,” he said.

SCHALICK 5, OCEAN CITY 2: The Cougars (18-2) bounced back from their loss at Pennsville with a win on the road. Luke Pokrovsky struck out eight over the first innings and also had an RBI single in the four-run fifth that gave them the lead. Jamari Whitley capped the Cougars’ big inning with a two-run double and shut the door in the seventh with two strikeouts.

WOODSTOWN 4, DEPTFORD 1: Dante Holmes’ two-run bases-loaded double in the sixth gave the Wolverines (14-10) some breathing room. Caiden Spinelli had two hits and Rocco String and Michael Valente pitched 3 1/3 innings of two-hit shutout relief behind Walker Battavio.

Connor Starn gave Pennsville five strong innings, allowing two hits, one run and striking out a career-high nine. Top photo: Chase Burchfield connects on one of his three extra-base hits in the game. (Photos by Payton Cook)

Monday roundup

Here are scores and highlights from Monday’s Salem County sports schedule; boys tennis tournament pairings announced

SOFTBALL
Clayton 21, Penns Grove 1
Pennsville 17, Salem 2
Woodstown 8, Pitman 2

PENNSVILLE 17, SALEM 2: Kylie Harris had two hits and four RBIs, and Graillyn Weber and Sawyer Simmons both drove in three runs. The Eagles (18-3) jumped out front with 10 runs in the first inning. Julliana Love and Isla Bohn had two hits apiece for Salem.

The Eagles (18-3) have won seven in a row, but remain 0.963 points behind Audubon in the race to No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I power points standings. The cutoff for playoff consideration is Wednesday.

TENNIS

Undefeated Pennsville (18-0) pulled down a No. 2 seed and has drawn a first-round bye to the South Jersey Group I tennis tournament along with No. 1 Haddon Twp. and No. 3 West Deptford.

No. 4 Woodstown opens with Penns Grove Tuesday, and No. 5 Schalick opens with Lower Cape May Wednesday. If they both win they meet in Round 2.

PENNSVILLE 5, WILDWOOD 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Giorgio Palesano, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Simon Palacias, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Cristopher Hernandez, 6-1, 6-0
Sawyer Humphrey-Lucas Cooksey (P) def. Chris Olivera-Alexis Mejia, 6-0, 6-0
Ian Peacock-Carter Willis (P) def. Daniel Salomao-Angel DeJesus, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Pennsville 18-0, Wildwood 3-12

SCHALICK 5, PITMAN 0
George Gould (S) def. Chase Pogozelski, 6-0, 6-0
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Nolan Russell, 6-2, 6-0
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Jaron Scull, 6-2, 6-2
Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Ben Williams-Aiden Evans, 6-0, 6-0
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Spencer Bianchini-Liam Etter, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 13-5, Pitman 5-14

CUMBERLAND 3, WOODSTOWN 2
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Luke Fischer, 6-1, 6-1
John Farrell (WO) def. Joseph Nolan, 6-3, 6-1
Carter Fischer (C) def. Jake Lewis, 6-0, 6-1
Asher Kennedy-Chase Sheppard (C) def. Luke Shaw-Mason Shimp, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6
Mason Staffieri-Justin Nolan (C) def. Ben Stengel-Joseph Kurpis, 6-2, 6-3
Records: Cumberland 15-1, Woodstown 13-4

GIRLS LACROSSE
WOODSTOWN 19, TRITON 1: Ten players scored goals for the Wolverines. Delaney Walker scored four (giving her 149 for her career); Jaime Deal scored three; Sienna Land, Emma Morgan, Blair Baldi and Arianna Hyman all had two; and Isabella Lindenmuth, Angelina Lindenmuth, Gina Murray and Lucy Mannella each scored one.

VOLLEYBALL
HIGHLAND 2, SALEM TECH 0: The Tartans won 25-18, 25-16 in the first round of the Tri-County Tournament. Highland then fell to Kingsway 2-0 (25-10, 25-12) in the quarterfinals.

Confidence booster

Pennsville hands Schalick just its second loss of the season in potential playoff preview; Woodstown walked off in 11th

MONDAY BASEBALL
Clayton 12, Penns Grove 3
Glassboro 11, Salem 1
Pennsville 8, Schalick 2
Pitman 6, Woodstown 5 (11 inns.)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – The folks at the very top on the inside of the Pennsville baseball team talked about the Eagles’ 8-2 win over Schalick Monday just like it was another game when everyone on their side of the ballpark knew it was so much more than that.

The Eagles (13-7) celebrated Senior Day with a win over one of the best teams in South Jersey Group I, maybe even the state, that could serve as a message for a bigger matchup down the road.

They overcame a leadoff home run by the best player in the county and bunched their eight runs into three late innings to hand the Cougars (17-2) only their second loss of the season and one that didn’t come against a rushed schedule.

The way the South Jersey Group I power points are tracking, the teams are likely to finish 2 and 3, setting up a potential sectional semifinal rematch.

“It was a good baseball game, it was a good springboard for us heading to the playoffs,” Eagles coach Matt Karr said. “No message sent today other than Pennsville played a good baseball game at 4 o’clock on Monday May 19 and if we are lucky enough to run into each other again this game and that microcosm will mean absolutely nothing. At the end of the day, when we get to May 27 everybody’s 0-0 and it’s a brand new season.”

The Eagles are now 4-0 against county rivals this year and have won 18 straight regular-season games against in-county competition (the only setback in the run was last year’s playoff loss to Woodstown). This year’s senior group, which includes the five-man heart of the batting order, is now 67-31 in their careers and has taken four in a row from the Cougars since losing the first game of a home-and-home series in 2022.

The loss snapped Schalick’s seven-game winning streak. The Cougars’ other loss came to Haddonfield in the opening round of the Diamond Classic in a game that started less than 12 hours after their five most veteran players got back home from their senior class trip and ended 30 minutes before the prom. Coach Sean O’Brien chalked up latest loss to a bad day.

“You play 18 games you’re bound to have a bad against a good team,” he said. “A bad game against a mediocre team you can recover from, against a good team (it’s tough). It’s one of those games you’ve got to leave behind. It happens.”

The game couldn’t have started better for the Cougars. Leadoff hitter Luke Pokrovsky, the player many hoped would pitch, opened the game with his 21st career homer. It was his fifth homer in five games and the third straight game he’s gone yard.

The next two hitters also singled, but after that they didn’t get another hit off Pennsville starter Cohen Petrutz until Eli Cummings singled leading off the seventh.

“Cohen’s been battling through some stuff; today, it was awesome for him,” Karr said. “I don’t like to throw words around loosely so I won’t use the word domination. Cohen Petrutz was in absolute control of that game from the second batter on.

“Today was a reminder that he can beat anybody on any given day, which just makes us even more dangerous going to the playoffs to have two top-tier left-handed pitchers. I know they didn’t throw Pokrovsky, but they batted their lineup they would bat in a playoff game and Cohen held them in check.”

“I think I did all right,” Petrutz said. “I was feeling good. I’ve been having arm pain the past couple outings but today I felt really great. Ready to go the whole time, had trust in my infield, didn’t have to strike everybody out today. I just felt really good.”

For the second straight game the play of the game was delivered by Jake Layfield. The sophomore shortstop snared Ricky Watt’s screaming liner with two runners in scoring position for the final out of the fourth to keep it a 1-0 game.

“He doesn’t do anything flashy, but he just seems to always make the play,” Karr said. “He doesn’t look like your typical shortstop you see on some of these elite teams but when push comes to shove Jake will be there to make the play.”

The Eagles took the lead in the bottom of the inning. Stevie Fatcher hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run double to center to put them ahead 2-1 and he rode home on Mason O’Brien’s triple to right.

“He got me chasing high for the first two and I was just thinking got to get it in play,” Fatcher said. “Then he lifted one right down the middle and I took it and hit it.

“This is one we marked on the calendar that we wanted. Coming into school today all I could think about was this game, wanting to win. I kind of wanted to show them a little bit. We did. We came in there and produced. It’s a lot of fun when you win games like that against those teams you’re going to see.”

The Eagles added two more in the fifth on Chase Burchfield’s RBI double and Petrutz’ run-scoring single to get starter Lucas D’Agostino out of the game, then tacked on three more in the sixth on four walks and Jeff Wagner’s two-run single.

The Cougars threatened in the seventh. Petrutz was going to get all 110 pitches he was promised and started the inning but gave up a single and two walks and came out. Gavin Spears put out the fire with a sacrifice fly by Evan Sepers and two strikeouts.

PITMAN 6, WOODSTOWN 5: Drew Keefe’s two-out single to right field on a payoff pitch – his fourth hit of the game – walked it off for the Panthers in the 11^th inning.

The Wolverines took a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth on Ty Coblentz’ two-out double but Pitman extended the game on Aidan Stranahan’s two-out RBI single in the home half. Stranahan also homered in the game.

Caiden Spinelli had three hits for the Wolverines, while Coblentz and Chase Harding each had two. Rocco String had an RBI single in the fifth and walked five times – four intentionally.

CLAYTON 12, PENNS GROVE 3: Christian Thibault went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and David Chapes had three hits to lead the Clippers. Elijah Crespo (2×2, walk, HBP) and Alex Paz (3×3, walk) both had perfect days at the plate for Penns Grove.

GLASSBORO 11, SALEM 1: Aidan Evengelisti and Colin Riley both had two hits, Gavin Dillard and Ryan Newell both drove in two runs and two Glassboro pitchers combined to hold the Rams to four hits. Bryce Harris drove in Salem’s run in the sixth inning.