Category: PENNSVILLE

Final scrimmages

Woodstown, Pennsville see encouraging signs in final scrimmages of camp; both open their seasons Thursday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The first thing Woodstown coach John Adams thought when he saw the Delsea team his Wolverines were scrimmaging Thursday night get off the bus was it might be a tough go for his charges.

It didn’t get any easier when the Crusaders stifled Woodstown’s opening possession and then broke off an 87-yard touchdown run on their second play from scrimmage.

But then Adams saw something that bodes well for the Wolverines when their regular season gets underway next week. 

They didn’t back down.

The Wolverines immediately answered two of Delsea’s three touchdowns and their defense stopped the defending South Jersey Group III champions on the final series of the varsity half to keep the margin a respectable 21-13.

“I loved the battle from our kids,” Adams said. “When they walked in, we were like … they were big; they had great size. But I thought we battled. It seemed like we answered against one of the best teams in the state.

“It was good seeing our kids fight from a deficit and still fight and be able to answer back.”

The Wolverines put together a 65-yard drive to answer Delsea’s first score. They went three-and-out after the second, then put together a 70-yard, nine-play drive after the third.

Woodstown’s offensive line has every Delsea lineman covered giving quarterback Max Webb time to find an open receiver. Webb was 8-of-10 for 95 yards and two TDs passing. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)

It was evident with Delsea’s size the Wolverines weren’t going to have much success running the ball, especially with star James Hill still two weeks away from rejoining the offense. So, they went up top and quarterback Max Webb was right on time.

The senior hit his first five throws and finished 8-of-10 for 95 yards with touchdown passes of 13 yards to Garrett Leyman to answer Delsea’s first score and 9 over the middle to Anthony Ford-Dale to answer the third. He also had two nice runs to get out of trouble.

Leyman caught three passes for 30 yards, Ford-Dale caught three for 33 and Zach Bevis had two for 32. The varsity rushed for 58 yards on 16 carries.

“We told the kids we’re not going to be able to run the ball on everybody and I thought we did a fantastic job in the pass game tonight,” Adams said. “Max looked lights out, scrambling for first downs, knowing where his receivers were. The pass blocking was pretty good for him.

“I was really, really pleased with how we executed offensively, because we knew with their size we were going to have trouble running the ball in between the tackles on them. And that’s the goal we wanted this year. We can’t just rely on the run, so being able to come out against a team like that and knowing we do have the passing game and were able to execute it well was phenomenal.”

The Wolverines open the regular season at home Thursday against Haddon Heights.

“It’s game week now,” Adams said. “Now it means something.”

Woodstown’s Anthony Ford-Dale looks to get around the corner. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)

Eagles encouraged going forward

PENNSVILLE – Pennsville scrimmaged the team Woodstown opens its season against next week and although the Eagles came up short in the varsity portion of the exercise 18-14, coach Mike Healy saw “enough good stuff on there to make me happy and give me encouragement.”

The Eagles opened up their passing game with some downfield throws and quarterback Robbie McDade connected twice with Malik Rehmer for long touchdown passes.

They hooked up on a 45-yard pass to open the scoring, then connected on a 70-yarder for another score.

“Malik’s a very good receiver; he’s going to go up and get the ball,” Healy said. “He’s got all the attributes you want and Robbie just has a lot of trust in him to go get the football. That confidence to know he’s going to go get the ball is huge for a young quarterback.

“We were a very young team last year. We’re still young this year, but we’re definitely seeing more chemistry develop between all the players really. We’re starting to see the confidence go up a little bit, too. They’re realizing we can do some things. It’s just a consistency issue more than anything else.”

The Eagles open their season Thursday at Lindenwold, a team they beat 34-26 in last year’s opener for their only victory of the season.

Pennsville’s Daniel Saulin bats down a pass in Thursday’s scrimmage against Haddon Heights. (Photo by Lorraine Jenkins)

Defense isn’t resting

Pennsville defense moving in right direction after offseason overhaul; Eagles show overall improvement in scrimmage with Buena

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – As a defensive coach at heart, it absolutely gored Pennsville head coach Mike Healy to see what was happening to the Eagles’ defense last year.

Since defense wins championships, Healy knew things had to change for his team to get back in a position to do just that.

He took things to the extreme, breaking down tackling technique to the most minute of details. He brought in new coaches to change the mindset and drill the concepts. Just as big a factor was the players, most of them freshmen and sophomore starters by the end of the season, got older.

“Last year we were not good on defense, or offense; it was just a frustrating year all around,” Healy said. “I knew for my own sanity in order to come back there had to be some changes in how we were going to do things. I brought guy in for the offense who does a great job and I had to rework things on defense to get us in a better position regularly.

“We changed up what we’ve done in practice, we’ve added some things. Schematically we changed some things we do to help us better and the way we practice it has helped us and made us much better. We’re still kind of toying with some things out there and seeing what works, what we like, but overall I’m very happy with the direction of our defense. We’re going in the right place.”

There was a marked difference in the Eagles’ scrimmage Monday with Buena. In three quarters of varsity action, Pennsville held the Chiefs to 164 net yards, out of the end zone in seven of eight possessions and made three fourth-down stops, including sophomore Hunter Hiles’ second interception in as many scrimmages.

The only thing that spoiled their day was a 60-yard burst in the second half shortly after the teams returned to the field from a simulated halftime.

Buena ended the Eagles’ season in last year’s regional invitational tournament, 28-14.

The offense, meanwhile, opened the game with a 80-yard touchdown drive, scored twice and moved the ball enough for more but stalled under the weight of some self-inflicted wounds. Sky Eppes rushed for 163 yards and scored both touchdowns, but lost the handle at the end of a 28-yar run that cost him another score. Quarterback Robbie McDade was 9-of-13 passing for 128 yards, but was intercepted on a pass over the middle that killed another drive.

“Overall we did better than we did in the first scrimmage (against Bishop Eustace and Pemberton); we had a lot of improvement on places,” Healy said. “We did good today the first two quarters and once we got to the third quarter we struggled. We’ve just got to understand we’re going to be playing four full quarters and we’ve got to be ready to go mentally.”

The Eagles were 1-8 last year, their worst year since 2004. They won their season opener by outscoring Lindenwold 34-26, but in the weeks that followed the offense had a hard time scoring and the defense continued giving up points.

“Last year, egos were a big thing,” 6-6 senior defensive end Daniel Saulin said. “The first game was fine, everyone was on the same page, then egos started getting in the way, stuff outside the team started getting in the way. This year we’re changing that. We’re all in the same spot. We’re all starting at the beginning. We’re all trying to work towards a goal and that’s going to the playoffs and win state. We want that state title.”

It didn’t take long for Hiles to notice the change.

“It’s gotten way better,” he said. “In the beginning of the season we were still trying to figure out alignment and assignments and this year when camp started we knew what we were doing for the most part. Over the practices we’ve gotten way better.

“Last year, we did a lot of it to ourselves. This year we’ve got that all figured out it seems like. It seems like everybody’s having more fun.”

The Eagles scrimmage again in three days against Group II Haddon Heights. It’s a game-like 6 p.m. Thursday scrimmage to keep the Eagles on track for their season opener the following Thursday.

“I’m excited because it’s another step up for us in competition,” Healy said. “We know if we can compete with them and play well then we’re going in the right direction for the season.”

Photo: Pennsville’s Perry Meranti (30) stops a Buena ballcarrier in his tracks during Monday’s scrimmage.

Pennsville’s Hunter Hiles races upfield with his second interception in as many scrimmages. (Photo by Lorraine Jenkins)

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County high school sports schedule for the week of Aug. 20-26. The football games of Aug. 25 are regular-season openers, everything else listed is a scrimmage

Aug. 21
FOOTBALL
Buena at Pennsville, 10 a.m.        

Aug. 23
GIRLS TENNIS
Millville at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Vineland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 24
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pleasantville at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Deptford Twp., 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Triton Regional, 9 a.m.
West Deptford at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 25
FOOTBALL
Burlington City at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
Gloucester City at Schalick, 7 p.m.
Salem vs. Executive Education Academy at Lafayette College, 7 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Penns Grove at Pleasantville, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Millville, 10 a.m.

Cover photo by Ellen Sickler

An overall good one

Pennsville has a positive first scrimmage, sophomore QB McDade has made ‘huge strides’ from last year; Penns Grove, Schalick also scrimmage Wednesday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – It was only one play early in the second series of the first scrimmage of fall camp but it was a perfect example of how far Robbie McDade has come in one year as Pennsville’s QB1.

The sophomore smoothly sucked Pemberton’s defense into the pocket, then softly deposited a screen pass into the waiting hands of Skye Eppes, who took it 41 yards to get the Eagles across midfield on the way to their first touchdown of the scrimmage with Pemberton and Bishop Eustace.

A year ago that play wouldn’t have happened. Not because McDade couldn’t necessarily pull it off, but with the kind of team they had at the time the Eagles wouldn’t have even called it. Now, with a more confident McDade pulling the trigger it’s part of the mix.

“He’s definitely taken huge strides and the biggest thing with him is the amount of work he’s put in in the offseason and how much he’s worked to step into that job and take a leadership role from there,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “He’s still a sophomore and making some mistakes, but he is, to me, doing way better than last year.

“I’m very happy with his progress so far and he’s getting better every day.”

McDade split time at quarterback with Randy Hall last year, but his time increased as the year went along. He wound up completing 25 of 52 passes for 363 yards and two touchdowns. When Hall decided not to return, McDade won the position by default, but he still had to show his stuff.

The scrimmage Wednesday was his first opportunity with the offense in his hands alone and he was looking forward to the experience. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Malik Rehmer.

“I was really excited,” the quarterback said. “Coming off a bad year last year I really wanted to step it up this year and show everybody what we’ve got. I knew what we had to get done and we did it. We’re just going to keep building on it and get better and better.”

The Eagles got the best of both opponents in the varsity portion of the scrimmage and Healy proclaimed it “overall a good scrimmage.” In addition to McDade’s numbers, Rehmer caught three passes for 54 yards and scored once against each team, and Eppes had 105 yards rushing and receiving. The first-team defense gave up 21 yards, didn’t allow a touchdown and Hunter Hiles had a 25-yard pick-six against Eustace.

“Scoring touchdowns is a lot of fun,” McDade said. “We’ve got to keep it up.”

Of course, it wasn’t perfect, but even when there was a negative play McDade bounced back with a positive result. 

He fumbled rolling out on the first play against the Eustace defense, then came back with a 13-yard pass play to Eppes. Later in that aforementioned drive against Pemberton Eppes had a screen pass touchdown called back by a blindside block. The very next snap the Eagles called a wider screen and Rehmer took it to the house for his first touchdown.

“That was something I was really happy to see today because last year that’s not something we would have done,” Healy said. “We would have been upset and angry and then not executed the next play. That’s what we really needed to work on. Whether it’s a good call or a bad call, the call’s made, there’s nothing we can do, bounce back, get to the next play, make up for it and that’s what we did.”

The Eagles scrimmage again Monday at home against Buena. That 10 a.m. exercise will be more drive-driven as they work towards a dress rehearsal scrimmage with Haddon Heights Aug. 24.

Pennsville quarterback Robbie McDade (3). (Top photo) McDade floats a soft pass over the Pemberton defense to Skye Eppes that goes for 41 yards.

Schalick: Little bit of everything

LINWOOD – The Cougars saw “the good, the bad and the ugly” as they rotated a lot of players in their four-way exercise with West Deptford, Lower Cape May and host Mainland Regional.

They got 30 minutes with each team and saw “in limited small bursts what we wanted,” coach Mike Wilson said.

“It wasn’t all good, it wasn’t all bad and there were some ugly parts to it,” Wilson said. “Our goal was to get reps in by many people, get in and out healthy. It was exactly what a scrimmage was. We needed to get kids on tape.”

They had a big run against Group IV power Mainland called back for holding and scored against the other two teams. Quarterback Kenai Simmons played a limited number of snaps against each team but was “efficient” in the Cougars’ growing passing game with one incompletion.

“The last three years we could not do what we did today,” Wilson said.

Dylan Sheehan made two big catches, scoring a long touchdown against Lower Cape May and taking a slant for 60 yards against West Deptford.

“He was exactly what we thought he would be,” Wilson said of the sophomore receiver. “He was a freshman last year and played a little varsity at the end. We saw it in practice, but we really wanted to see it against other people and he stepped up and had a good day today.”

They’ll game scrimmage again Saturday 10 a.m. at Deptford Twp. The starters are expected to play at least two full quarters.

Penns Grove: ‘Happy with work we got’

MAPLE SHADE – The Red Devils were already back home by the time either of the other two county teams finished their scrimmages and by all accounts dominated their day.

Both teams got four series in the 8 a.m. exercise before doing situational work. The Red Devils were “a little sloppy” on offense, but their decision-making was adequate, had some big plays and they scored on their first two possessions. The defense coach John Emel called “as good as anybody in Group I in the state” was solid throughout against a scheme similar to what they’ll see in the season opener in nine days.

“It looked like a first scrimmage,” Emel said. “All in all, I was happy with the work we got. It’s a building block for the next one.”

The Red Devils will scrimmage again 10 a.m. Friday at Highland Regional, where Emel says they’ll be “trying to get game-quality reps but not try to show too much” to come out healthy for the opener.

Woodstown: Looking for ‘normal’ first one

WOODSTOWN – The Wolverines expect to do and see “normal first scrimmage things” in Thursday’s 9 a.m. workout with their visitors from Hammonton – 10 and 10 with the first and second groups and then some special teams work.

“We are just looking for the kids to execute our basic stuff,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We’re not going to show a lot, (just) see how they are hitting and facing another opponent.

“We want to see the quarterback command the offense, make sure people are in the right spots, make sure timing on motions and all are good and the line is blocking the right guys. Defensively, we want to make sure we are sound in getting lined up and making our standard checks and just see the kids play fast and physical.”

You know, normal first scrimmage stuff.

Ready for some football

Salem County teams scrimmage for first time Wednesday in the run-up to their season openers

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Their season opener is still 10 days away and as far as the Schalick Cougars are concerned it can’t get here fast enough.

Well, that wait is almost over. It might not be a “real” game, but the Cougars get a chance to finally see what this year’s full squad looks like against somebody else Wednesday when they travel to Mainland Regional for their first scrimmage of preseason camp. Lower Cape May and West Deptford also will be there.

“Everything is going well,” Wilson reported earlier in the week. “We’re so much further along than we ever have been. We could play a game tomorrow if we had to.

“It’s Year 4 for us, the kids know the routine. Most of the junior class has been playing since they’ve been freshmen, so they’re used to the way we practice. We’ve gotten a lot of football stuff done. We’re ready to go. “

The Cougars are one of three Salem County teams scrimmaging Wednesday. Penns Grove gets the action started with an 8 a.m. joint practice at Maple Shade and Pennsville hosts Bishop Eustace and Pemberton at 2 p.m.

Woodstown hosts St. Joe’s of Hammonton in its first scrimmage Thursday (9 a.m.) and Salem goes for the first time Saturday at 5 p.m. in a tri-state scrimmage with Philly’s Olney Charter and host McKean in Wilmington.

In Schalick’s scrimmage the teams will get 30 minutes with each other however they want to play it. The Cougars’ rotation will start with Mainland. Their plan for that one is to go 10 plays on offense and defense with the varsity, 7 and 7 with the 2s, give the JVs some work and wrap up with some down-and-distance and goal-line work.

Wilson plans to approach it like an preseason NFL game. It won’t be quite like the Eagles’ exhibition opener with Baltimore where the starters didn’t play, but the Cougars will rotate a lot of players into the mix. The “real game” look will come Saturday against Deptford.

“There is a group of kids who are in our varsity group right now that we’re expecting some big things from,” Wilson said. “Right now, when we go first-team with subs we’re looking at 18 to 20 kids we’re considering varsity football players, all of whom have a legitimate shot to see the field Friday nights. We’ve got a lot of competitions going on right now.”

PENNS GROVE at MAPLE SHADE: Red Devils coach John Emel has a good idea what he’d like to get done in this early morning exercise – and it involves a little bit of everything and what he hopes will be a lot of live work.

“We want to get a lot of reps,” he said. “I want to see who can block and tackle. We want to feel good about our team going into Friday. We’re not going to run a lot of stuff, we’re going to shrink down the playbook and we’re going to give our guys an opportunity to play fast and be real aggressive. That’s what you want to see.

“We‘ve got to find out who can play football while we can still go live and we got an opportunity to go against somebody else. We haven’t played a game since early last November. This is the longest stretch we’ve had (off the field) so it’s an opportunity to go out there and play somebody else, so everybody should be excited.”

They certainly aren’t easing into it when it comes to their scrimmage opponents. Maple Shade played for the South Jersey Group I championship last year and Highland Regional, Friday’s foe in a more game-like exercise, is Group III. 

In the past, they’ve had a regular preseason relationship with perennial South Jersey contender Delsea. Emel wouldn’t have it any other way.

“If you look at us the last few years, we always try to play a team better than we’ll play in the early part of the season or we play a team that gets us ready for the team we’re going to play,” he said. “We do try to scrimmage tough teams because I want my guys to get challenged when it doesn’t count, when there’s not a score or a loss. 

“I want them to play somebody and get their butts kicked and that’ll make them better. I’m a big believer in that. It’s not good for your morale and maybe not your physical health, but you get better by losing, by failure. We want to simulate the game in the preseason so we can get better before that and we can see who can’t do what and who can do what.

“I don’t want a cupcake team. I’ve got a tough team and they’ve got to play a tough schedule so we have to get them ready.”

The Red Devils open their season Aug. 25 against Burlington City.

PENNSVILLE vs. BISHOP EUSTACE, PEMBERTON: The Eagles will see a little bit of everything from everybody, which will give them a better picture of the team they expect to be. It’s expected to be 10 plays on offense, 10 plays on defense and then rotating drives among themselves. The scrimmage was moved to 2 p.m. from an original 10 a.m. start.

“You just want the kids show they can be competitive and they’re doing what they’ve been taught, what we’ve been going over, spending so much time doing,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “And I want to know who are my players, who are they not.

“We’ve still got two scrimmages after that (but) I need to start getting an idea. I’ve got an idea who some are, but I need to figure this out.”

Photo: Penns Grove runs a play during Tuesday’s practice.

It’s all about respect

Pennsville coming to play every week so no one takes them lightly

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Mike Healy didn’t grow up in Pennsville. He never played football for the Eagles. But he has been in the game around here long enough as a player and coach on the other sideline to remember when they were one tough team to play.

It’s been a while since they’ve enjoyed that status, and the Pennsville coach would love nothing more than to have them regain that reputation on his watch.

The sooner the better. Like now.

Every August teams come to camp with a theme that fits nicely on a t-shirt and spirit banner. The Eagles have rallied around “Live The Standard, FTC” – family, trust, commitment – as a consistent theme the last couple years, but this year the focus is also about raising their profile among the teams in the region.

“As every other team is working all the time, if we want to get back to where we were we’ve got to get it back to working out like we did,” Healy said. “For us, it’s all about getting respect back.

“We haven’t been good the past couple years; it’s very clear, you can look it up. The biggest thing for us is to get respect and be a good football team. Don’t worry about yourself, but really understand it takes all 11 guys doing the right thing. It’s not OK for somebody to say I did my job it doesn’t matter. No, no, no, no. We succeed or fail as a team to get that respect back.”

The fastest way to reach that goal is making the playoffs. The easiest way to do that is dominate their Royal Division of the WJFL that is likely to get only one team in the playoffs this year.

The Eagles have been a playoff team under Healy before, but always with less than .500 records and they haven’t had a winning season since 2016. They were 1-8 last year, winning only their season opener.

In the six years since that winning season they’ve been a combined 16-39. In the seven years prior they were 59-19 with six winning seasons, a South Jersey Group One championship and a sectional runner-up.

Healy remembers the atmosphere back then was electric and that’s what he wants to recapture. 

“Every team talks about it, but for us … we’ve got to take it week by week and make sure every week we’re focused, we’re not letting anything slip by us,” he said. “We did not play good football last year, so, obviously, we don’t have any room for error. We’ve got to show who we really are and every game really show people we’re a different football team, we’re coming to play and then no one can take us easy.

“It’s something we want everyone to be proud of again. But as a team we want to be respected again. Regardless of what people say outside, we want to get back to doing what we know we can do.”

The Eagles went through a lot of growing pains last year with a roster full of young players who have returned with a year of valuable experience. Among the returnees is versatile Sky Eppes, their leading rusher (652 yards, six TDs) and tackler (42), Malik Rehmer, their leading receiver (23-268) and pass defender (two INTs), and sophomore quarterback Robbie McDade has made “a huge jump since last year.” They’ve also brought back the wisdom of three coaches from the successful staffs of the past, two of whom were head coaches.

“A lot of those kids have taken a big step, so far,” Healy said after Friday’s practice. “Obviously, it’s early, we haven’t even had a full padded practice yet where we can really start to see. It’s really going to come to when we start getting our scrimmages in to see who we are.

“We’re in a way better spot right now than we were last year, except we haven’t had full pads yet. We haven’t gone against another team to see how we react. We’ve talked a lot about things are going to go bad, how are the kids going to react in a game; nothing is ever perfect. Ever. That’s the stuff I want to see from them.”

The Eagles scrimmage for the first time Wednesday 2 p.m. against Bishop Eustace and Pemberton.

DATEPENNSVILLE SCHEDULETIME
Aug. 31at Lindenwold6 p.m.
Sept. 8Lower Cape May7 p.m.
Sept. 15Gateway7 p.m.
Sept. 22Schalick7 p.m.
Sept. 29at Cumberland6 p.m.
Oct. 6Overbrook7 p.m.
Oct. 14at Penns GroveNoon
Oct. 20at Pitman7 p.m.
Times subject to change. Scrimmages: Aug. 16: home vs. Bishop Eustace, Pemberton; Aug. 21: home vs. Buena; Aug. 24, home vs. Haddon Heights

Photo: Pennsville coach Mike Healy watches 6-7 Daniel Saulin (77) and Adrian Morgan (12) go through a line drill during a recent practice.

Scrimmage schedule

Here is a listing of this summer’s preseason scrimmage games for the Salem County high schools. A complete day-by-day regular-season schedule for the county schools, as well as schedules for football, field hockey, soccer and tennis can be found elsewhere on the website

Aug. 16
FOOTBALL
Schalick, West Deptford, Lower Cape May at Mainland Regional, 10 a.m.
Bishop Eustace, Pemberton at Pennsville, 2 p.m.
Penns Grove at Maple Shade

Aug. 17
FOOTBALL
St. Joseph Academy at Woodstown, 9 a.m.

Aug. 18
FOOTBALL
Penns Grove at Highland

Aug. 19
FOOTBALL
Schalick at Deptford Twp., 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Overbrook, 10 a.m.
Salem, Olney Charter at McKean (Wilmington), 5 p.m.
         
Aug. 21
FOOTBALL
Buena at Pennsville, 10 a.m.        
   
Aug. 23
GIRLS TENNIS
Millville at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Vineland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 24
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pleasantville at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Deptford Twp., 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Triton Regional, 9 a.m.
West Deptford at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 25
GIRLS TENNIS
Penns Grove at Pleasantville, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Millville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 28
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Kingsway, 9 a.m.
Cumberland at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Clearview at Schalick, 9 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 9 a.m.
Deptford Twp. at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Williamstown at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Ocean City, 11 a.m.

Aug. 29
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Hammonton, 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Cumberland at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
Woodbury at Salem, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennsville at Buena, 10 a.m.
Salem at Woodbury, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown at Kingsway, 9 a.m.

Aug. 30
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem, Schalick, Bridgeton at Cumberland, 8:30 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Cumberland, 9 a.m.
Penns Grove vs. Gloucester Co. Christian at Paulsboro, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Cumberland at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Williamstown at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
Paulsboro at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Cumberland at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 9 a.m.
Pennsville at Deptford Twp., 10 a.m.

Aug. 31
GIRLS TENNIS
Delsea at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Penns Grove at Haddon Twp., 10 a.m. 
Salem at Bridgeton, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 9 a.m.
Penns Grove at Salem, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Salem at Bridgeton, 10 a.m.

Sept. 1
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Buena, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown at Haddon Twp., 4:15 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Haddon Twp. at Woodstown, 4:15 p.m.

Sept. 5
GIRLS SOCCER
Bridgeton at Salem, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Pennsville at Gloucester City, 4 p.m.
Timber Creek at Woodstown, 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
Penns Grove at Clayton, 4 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at St. Joseph Academy, 9 a.m.
Our Lady of Mercy at Woodstown, 3:30 p.m.
Highland Regional at Salem, 4 p.m.
Millville at Pennsville, 4 p.m.

Everybody loves a parade

Pennsville Senior Softball team honored with a parade down Broadway after World Series trip, take the plunge at the end of the ride

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – It doesn’t get any better to welcome home a local hero than a ticker-tape parade down Broadway, right. Well, there might not have been any ticker tape Monday, but there was a parade.

The players on the Pennsville Little League Senior Softball team received one final tribute for making the Little League World Series when they paraded through the center of town against a backdrop of sirens, lights, honking horns and appreciative fans.

The players climbed aboard a Pennsville fire truck with a big “Eagles Softball” banner draped across the side in the parking lot of the Little League complex and set off on the four-mile trip to their manager’s house. The parade was led by a Pennsville PD cruiser, two fire trucks, manager Chris Watson’s truck and a train of 16 other cars.

“That was incredible,” Watson said. “I didn’t think they would be allowed to ride up on top, so to be able to do that, that was another once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity for them. They’re going to remember riding through their hometown on top of the fire truck forever. “

Catcher Kylie Harris called the experience “awesome.”

The parade was put together somewhat hastily since the team wrapped up their week-long World Series experience late Saturday night. Still, there were friends, family and supporters at several spots along the parade route. Even the people in the cars coming the other way honked horns and waved when the parade went by.

There was a large group on both sides of the road at the Acme light waving and taking picture. A white-bearded man standing in front of the package goods store waved enthusiastically. A bike rider on West Pittsfield tipped his hat.

“I felt like a little princess on top of a firetruck having all eyes on me,” outfielder Savannah Palverento said. “It was not a very convenient time, but there were still people out to support us. I thought that was really nice.”

When the parade turned onto Fort Mott Road, neighbors were out on their lawns applauding and taking pictures. Perhaps the neatest part of the trip was when the caravan passed a large Atlantic City Electric crew working on the lines and the guys way up in the buckets waved down to the players.

“I wouldn’t want to go out any other way,” said third baseman Bella Farina, the oldest Little League player in the program and one of two players on the team aging out of the system. “It was a really good way to go out. Losing (in Saturday’s consolation game) was a heartbreak, but we still made it far.”

The Eagles swept through district, sectional, state and regional play to reach the World Series in Roxana, Del. They went 2-4 in the Series, beating teams from Puerto Rico and The Philippines in pool play. 

The celebration didn’t end when the parade stopped. The players reconvened at Watson’s house for their annual season-end dip in the manager’s pool. They lined up at the edge of the deep end wearing their East jerseys from the Series and jumped in for a collective cannonball.

“It felt good today; everything felt good,” Watson said. “It was a relief, I guess, to jump in the pool with them one last time.”

The Pennsville senior softball players take their traditional season-ending plunge into manager Chris Watson’s pool after parading down Broadway on a Pennsville fire truck (top photo)

That’s a wrap

Pennsville LL drops final game in the Senior Softball World Series, 9-0 to The Philippines; reserves start, everybody plays

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ROXANA, Del. – With all the pressure to win the championship off, Pennsville Little League’s final game in the Senior Softball World Series was all about having one final fun game together, play a little loose and give everyone a piece of the action.

Manager Chris Watson promised the reserves would see time in Saturday’s consolation game and he started most of them.

Everyone got to play, hit and field. Some played multiple positions, some even played unusual positions. And if the way they cut up with the other team after the game was any indication they all seemed to have fun despite a 9-0 loss to The Philippines that sent the Eagles home tied for seventh in the 10-team field.

“The reserves work just as hard as the starters and they don’t get the same playing time throughout the tournament because we’re usually jammed up in tight games; we’re trying to win every night,” Watson said. “They put all that work in, so today was like a nice reward for them to get out there and show how close they are to the starters when it comes to the talent and ability. It was great to showcase that.”

Five of the six reserves who played support roles in Pennsville’s historic 15-4 run through the entire tournament started the game: The entire outfield (Gina Shinn, Gracie Mease and Audrey Claybourn), catcher Lilly Birney and third baseman Sawyer Simmons. Gabby Farino was inserted in the third inning and played third base and right field.

“I thought maybe I’ll get one or two innings and they’ll put the rest of the team in so we can finish up the game and have one final win before we go home,” said Forino, an incoming sophomore at Pennsville High School. “But when he put reserve players in at the start I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be a big chance for me to figure out where I belong (position wise).

“Being on such a good team like this, you don’t get as many opportunities if you’re not one of the best and having a game like this really gave me an opportunity to find where I fit in and feel where I’m confident against such good competition.”

Forino saw a lot of action at both her positions, but was most comfortable in right field. Shinn caught a fly ball in left field for the last out of the second inning. Mease and Claybourn caught balls in the outfield. Simmons made a play at third and Birney played the whole game behind the plate and got one of Pennsville’s five hits.

Overall, Watson thought the backups “did well” in their new-found, albeit brief, roles.

Watson sent a text to the entire team the night before reminding them the reserves were going to play. Shinn, who has been used as a regular pinch-runner throughout the tournament, didn’t see the text but knew of the plan and it made “the smile on my face was as bright as day.”

“It was really important for me as a player to get out there and show what I can do because I strongly believe I can do it,” Shinn said. “To know that Chris trusts me enough to put me in the game to help him out means a lot to me. I love running, but outfield is my home.”

Gina Shinn’s role is that of a pinch-runner, but Saturday she played the whole game in the outfield for Pennsville and batted three times.

Claybourn learned she was in the starting lineup about five minutes before the team took the field, but she had a similar reaction as the others.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” she said. “They said the subs are playing today and I was like, ‘oh, cool, I get to play.’”

Pennsville beat The Philippines in pool play, but the Asia-Pacific champions took control of this one with three runs before Pennsville ever came to bat. They extended the lead to 7-0 in the fourth and capped it with a pair of runs in the seventh.

There was a scary moment in the first inning. Pennsville pitcher Savannah Palverento, making just her second appearance and first start of the tournament season, had a comebacker glance off her glove and catch her on the left cheekbone. She came out of the game and Kloi Tighe pitched the rest of the way.

Pennsville had only two runners in scoring position in the game. They had only Lily Edwards’ bunt single until Birney’s single in the fourth. Avery Watson had a two-out single in the fifth. Bella Rappa, in her final Little League at-bat, and Tighe had back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh.

Pennsville went 2-4 in the World Series. They split their four pool games and beat The Philippines in the game that went into Wednesday morning to win the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed in their pool. But they only scored one run outside the pool and hadn’t scored since pushing across a run in the first inning of their quarterfinals loss to Hawaii.

“We ran out of gas; frankly, we ran out of energy,” Watson said. “It was exhilarating going all the way through district, sectionals, states, regionals, but it was exhausting, too. … I had a ton of girls not home for extended periods of times. A big portion of my team and a big portion of my starters haven’t been home for maybe a day in the last month.

“Out of the five meaningful games we played, we only played three of them the way we play. We lost one and won two. Those other two games wasn’t us. That was the road wearing on us. The Texas game and Honolulu game, that was a lot of fatigue contributing to that and it’s unfortunate that that’s what brought us down. But it was a fun run, a lot of fun.”

The entire experience was rewarding, a once-in-a-lifetime thing for most of the players, but getting to play in the final game made it even more.

“I thought it was pretty nice I actually got a spot on the field and I got to play my old position – and I actually got a ball hit to me,” Mease said. “I was pretty happy I got playing time, I had like one last chance to be on the field and do what I’ve got to do.”

Philippines 9, Pennsville 0
Philippines 300 400 2 — 9 9 0
Pennsville 000 000 0 — 0 5 6
WP: Jeryll Duller. LP: Savannah Palverento. 2B: Jeanne Ubay 2 (Ph).

SENIOR SOFTBALL LL WORLD SERIES
Saturday’s games
Quarterfinal: Central (Illinois) 16, Latin America (Puerto Rico) 0
Quarterfinal: Southwest (Texas) 15, Southeast (Georgia) 1
Delaware 19, Czech Republic 8
Consolation: Asia-Pacific (The Philippines) 9, Pennsville LL 0
Semifinal: Central (Illinois) 9, West (Hawaii) 0
Semifinal: Southwest (Texas) 2, Canada (Alberta) 1
Consolation: Southeast (Georgia) 7, Latin America (Puerto Rico) 5
Sunday’s games
Third-place game: Canada (Alberta) vs. West (Hawaii), 11 a.m.
Championship game: Southwest (Texas) vs. Central (Illinois), 7 p.m.

Backup catcher Lilly Birney played the whole game behind the plate and had one of Pennsville’s five hits in its loss to The Philippines.

Top photo: The players from Pennsville and The Philippines get together for one last hurrah before heading home from the Senior Softball Little League World Series.

Hawaiian punched

Dreary day all the way around ends Pennsville’s hopes at Senior Softball World Series; consolation game set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ROXANA, Del. — A dreary day ended in a dreary way for the Pennsville Senior Softball All-Stars.

In their flattest, most disinterested outing of the entire tournament, the Eagles were eliminated from contention in the Senior Softball Little League World Series by a 15-1 loss to Honolulu LL in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Their run-rule loss to Texas Thursday night was bad in many ways, but this one was much worse.

They had six hits, 11 errors (although the official stats list only seven) and a general sense of malaise. 

“It wasn’t us,” Pennsville manager Chris Watson said. “We weren’t on the field today. It wasn’t Pennsville. That was something else that was carryover from a lot of other personal issues. We just never got past them to be able to play our game and it showed on the field.”

An issue at the team hotel a few hours earlier led to Watson benching two of his best players and battery mates Jess Bretz and Kylie Harris. The action forced a major upheaval in what had been a steady lineup throughout the tournament.

Both players entered the game to hit in the second inning and play the field in the third, but by then the emotional toll had taken hold. The benching potentially could have been longer, but Watson said the players exhibited enough contrition in the dugout in the first inning to show him they had come to terms with the conflict.

Pennsville did answer the run Hawaii scored in the top of the first inning with its makeshift lineup in the bottom half when Savannah Palverento scored from third when second baseman Mya Kishida dropped the ball on Bella Rappa’s stolen base, but it fell behind again in the second and the West champions steadily pulled away.

Pennsville had even more wind taken away in the second. Bretz hit a ball to deep center that centerfield Nikki Chong caught but dislodged as she doubled over the fence. The ball came back into the field of play live, but lead runner Kloi Tighe was in no-man’s land as a runner and was forced at second.

Later in the inning, Lily Edwards beat out an infield single, but Bretz got too far around second, got caught in a rundown and was tagged out on the base paths to end the inning.

The Eagles were punchless at the plate after that. They had only two hits and two runners in scoring position over the final five innings. 

“This morning there was a lot of drama that happened and there was no reason for it, considering how it all started to what it turned into,” starting pitcher Tighe said. “We were a family coming into this and we’re not leaving as one, I don’t think.

“We didn’t play like a family because of what happened this morning and I think it’s childish, but we weren’t able to move past it. It never got better. The heads drooped down. Everyone was at each other’s throat,. It didn’t seem like anyone wanted to be there. And it’s a shame.”

The Eagles have a chance for some redemption in a consolation game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against The Philippines. Pennsville beat the Asia-Pacific champs 7-6 in the game that spilled over into Wednesday morning.

“Hopefully, we’re able to play one more time as a team,” Tighe said. “Tomorrow we owe it to the coaches because they’ve been with us. They didn’t deserve that today.”

Senior Softball LL World Series
Quarterfinals
West 15, East 1
Honolulu LL 112 303 5 – 15 13 1
Pennsville LL 100 000 0 – 1 6 7
WP: Baguio. LP: Tighe. HR: Baguio (H).

Friday’s quarterfinals
West (Hawaii) 15, Pennsville 1
Canada (Alberta) 8, Asia-Pacific (The Philippines) 7
Saturday’s games
Quarterfinal: Central (Illinois) 16, Latin America (Puerto Rico) 0
Quarterfinal: Southwest (Texas) 15, Southeast (Georgia) 1
Delaware vs. Czech Republic, 3 p.m.
Pennsville vs. Asia-Pacific (The Philippines), 5:30 p.m.
Semifinal: West (Honolulu) vs. Central (Illinois), 5:30 p.m.
Semifinal: Canada (Alberta) vs. Southwest (Texas), 8 p.m.
Latin America (Puerto Rico) vs. Southeast (Georgia), 8 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Third-place game, 11 a.m.
Championship game, 7 p.m.

Photo: The Pennsville softball team huddles in the outfield to clear some air after its 15-1 World Series loss to Honolulu.