Mighty Oaks cut down

Top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester rides a big second inning to complete midweek sweep of Salem CC

REGION 19 BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 14, Salem CC 4
Brookdale 12, Montgomery 8
Northampton 10, Bergen 0
Middlesex 9, Camden 4
RCSJ-Cumberland 20, Union 10

By Riverview Sports News

SEWELL – Top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester erupted for eight runs in the second inning and that’s all it really needed to turn back Salem CC 14-4 and sweep their midweek Region 19 series.

The Roadrunners sent 11 batters to the plate in the second. Gabriel Reyes delivered the big blow, a three-run homer that made it 8-0. They tacked on three more runs in the third against Salem starter Will Jones, who gave up eight hits and walked seven in his first career start.

With the win, the Roadrunners (37-3) formally clinched the Garden State Athletic Conference title.

The Mighty Oaks finally got on the board in the fourth. Demetrius DeRamus led off with a homer and Tyler Hacker delivered an RBI single. They added one in the fifth on Cole Dawson’s RBI single and another in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk.

Hacker had two of the Mighty Oaks’ seven hits.

The Mighty Oaks return to action Friday at Union.

REGION 19 DIVISION III BASEBALL STANDINGS	R19	ALL
RCSJ-Gloucester	24-0	37-3
Brookdale	20-6	29-8
RCSJ-Cumberland	18-7	25-12
Salem CC	15-8	21-19
Middlesex	14-11	26-16
Camden	14-12	22-13
Northampton	12-11	18-16
Montgomery	10-14	10-15
Union	6-18	10-21
Ocean	5-16	7-22
Bergen	4-19	6-27
Delaware County	2-22	3-26-1

Non-competing marker

Salem CC baseball overwhelmed by top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester; Salem CC softball wins final home game to split DH

TUESDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 18, Salem CC 1
Delaware County 13-8, Ocean 12-17
Mercer 7, Rockland 5
Raritan Valley 11, Westchester 0
Brookdale 15, Montgomery 4
Middlesex 18, Camden 16
Northampton 12, Bergen 2
RCSJ-Cumberland 19, Union 8
Morris 15, Orange 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When you play baseball in JUCO Region 19 you can expect to play several nationally ranked teams during the season. Salem CC has played its share of ranked opponents over the years, even played several already this season, but this game had a different air about it.

The Mighty Oaks have played some of their ranked opponents this year tough, even beaten a few, but they were out of their league in Tuesday’s 18-1 loss to No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester from the first pitch.

The Roadrunners (36-3) scored seven runs in the first two innings, added four homers to their nation leading total – three in one inning – and held the Mighty Oaks to three hits total and eight baserunners .

After Salem scored its only run on Matt Murphy’s two-out RBI double in the first, Gloucester starter Tommy Bradley retired 12 in a row and 15 of the next 16 before Demetrius DeRamus’ two-out infield single in the sixth. The only blemish in the run was plunking Jared Vandersteur with two outs in the fifth.

“We didn’t compete today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said, measuring his words trying to stay as positive as the circumstances would allow. “With a good baseball team like that you can’t fall behind in counts and not expect to get hurt. I don’t think we were ready to compete today.”

The Mighty Oaks were swamped by Top 5 Brookdale early in the season, but they played current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara tough in Florida and beat Middlesex, Montgomery and Northampton when they were either in the poll or getting votes. The Mighty Oaks received votes in the official JUCO Division III poll for the first time this week.“it was out of character for us today,” Holt said. “I’m hoping tomorrow (in the return game) we can learn a lesson from it, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and compete.”

Freshman starter Pat Seitzinger didn’t feel nervous facing the No. 1 team in the country in the run-up to the game. The left-hander said it was exciting “up until the first pitch.”

He hit Roadrunners leadoff man Luca Reyes with his first pitch of the game and then hit him twice more – all with the same pitch. Then he hit 3-hole hitter Kyle McSorley to load the bases after giving up a double to Matt Brunner. He then walked in a run and gave up a two-run double to Joe Meier before finally getting an out – and even that play brought home a run.

Gloucester tacked on three more in the second inning. Seitzinger had his best inning in the third when he set the Roadrunners down in order, but then he gave up a three-run homer Nick Slozik in the fourth to make it 10-1.

“I was fine, I just couldn’t throw a strike,” Seitzinger said. “I was confident. I knew they could hit, but I never really tried to pitch around them. I just couldn’t throw strikes.”

The Roadrunners pushed the game into run-rule territory with two runs in the fifth off Alex Newman, then completely broke it open with eight in the seventh. The inning featured a three-run homer by Meier and solo shots by Reyes and Alex Apicella.

“Pat’s a freshman, sometimes those nerves get to you a little bit,” Holt said. “He’s a freshman going against the No. 1 team in the country and he knew that. Sometimes you try to be too perfect and when you’re too perfect things kind of fall off the rails a little bit.

“We tried not to make too big a deal out of (playing a No. 1). We’ve been saying all week as we were coming into this one not to worry about what the jersey says just play our baseball game and I don’t we did that today. We didn’t execute today top to bottom.”

The Mighty Oaks will look to be more competitive with a bullpen game Wednesday as they try preserve arms for a sweepable weekend series against Union.

Softball wins final home game

TUESDAY REGION 19 GAMES
Morris 10-5, Salem CC 7-5
Delaware Tech 7-9, Mercer 0-5
Northampton 21-16, Ocean 0-0
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale

PENNSVILLE – Chantelle Haskie had three hits and Ella Hayes drove in three runs as the Salem CC softball team took a 9-5 victory from Morris in its final home game of the season to snap a seven-game losing streak.

The win gave the Mighty Oaks (17-21) a split of the doubleheader after dropping the opener 10-7.

The Mighty Oaks rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four runs in the third inning to take the lead. Hayes, playing in the final home game of her decorated Salem CC career, tied the game with a two-run single. Bella Rappa singled home the go-ahead run and Haskie singled home Rappa to make it 4-2.

Morris made it a one-run game in the fifth, but Salem erupted for five in the bottom of the inning to take control. The first run rode home on an error, Tiana Wilson’s fielder’s choice brought home another, Jolee Robinson singled home a run and Lilly Peverelle and Hayes had RBI doubles.

The Mighty Oaks fell behind 5-0 in the opener, but rallied to tie it 5-5 in the fifth on Tessa Wise’s RBI single. Morris responded with four in the sixth that Salem couldn’t overcome.

Callie Rozak homered and drove in three runs for the Mighty Oaks. Jocelyn Melendez, Rappa, Val Hatterer and Tessa Wise had two hits apiece.

The Mighty Oaks wrap up their regular season later this week at Lackawanna and Raritan Valley and are expected to be the fourth seed in the Region 19 Division II playoffs May 2-3 at Mercer.

Looking for more

Salem CC softball guaranteed a spot in Region 19 playoffs field, ends scoring drought despite being swept but needs more consistency going forward

MONDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech 10-13, Salem CC 0-9
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Morris at Salem CC
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale
Northampton at Ocean

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – After struggling to score runs in its previous three games, the Salem CC softball team’s bats started coming back around in the late innings of Monday’s nightcap with Delaware Tech.

The Mighty Oaks were swept for the third straight doubleheader 10-0 and 13-9. They haven’t won since smashing Sussex on April 17 finally saw some success The Salem CC softball team has already been told it has a spot in the Region 19 Division II playoffs,

Its their longest slide since the end of the 2023 season when they lost their last seven. But at least they scored with some regularly in that slide.

The Mighty Oaks had been held scoreless for 21 consecutive innings before putting up a run in second inning of Game 2, then scored eight runs in the final three innings to make things interesting.

While that has brightened the Salem players’ spirits, head coach Angel Rodriguez is looking for more as the Mighty Oaks turn toward the playoffs.

“Consistent hitting, that’s what I would like,” he said. “We just took too long to make an adjustment (Monday). We finally caught up to it and hopefully they understand when we kind of do that earlier good things will happen but we just have to be able to it do more consistently

“We’ll see if it carries in, but we’ve been very inconsistent, so we’ll see what tomorrow looks like.”

Normally, to make the Region 19 playoffs a team must have a .500 or better record either overall or within the region. After Monday, the Mighty Oaks must go 4-2 in their final six games this week to meet that criteria and have two sweepable twinbills among them, starting with Tuesday’s final home date with Morris.

Failing that, however, the Mighty Oaks are still in because it takes a minimum of four teams to make a playoff field and Salem is solidly the fourth best team evened if they struggled of late.

Playing their fourth doubleheader in five days, the Mighty Oaks were shutout in both games at Mercer over the weekend, limited to two hits in each game. They were held to one hit by Del Tech in Monday’s opener – Bella Rappa’s first-inning single – and struck out 11 times against hard-throwing Kylee Hill.

They were on track to being run-ruled in Game 2, too. They did have five hits over the first four innings, but fell behind 10-1.

Center fielder Val Hatterer gave the Mighty Oaks a chance to keep playing when she took away a potential three-run homer with her fourth homer-robbing catch at the fence.

The Mighty Oaks needed at least two runs in the home fifth to stay alive and that’s what they got. Ella Hayes got it started with a leadoff homer and when they were down to their last out consecutive singles by Tiana Wilson, Hatterer and Tessa Wise extended the game.

“Just seeing a number on the board definitely gave us confidence,” Hayes said. “Just like in basketball, once you see it in, you just get confidence and see your own bucket go in. I think that’s kind of what happened for us. Once we saw it on the board it’s almost like we can do this. Just seeing a crooked number up there was good.”

It ignited what Callie Rozak called “the drive to want to do better.” They rallied for four in the sixth on two-run singles by Bella Rappa and Wise to make it 10-7. They proceeded to get the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but Rozak flew out to right field ending the inning.

Del Tech’s Cecelia Johnston hit a three-run homer in the seventh to make it 13-7. The Mighty Oaks scored twice in their half of the inning when Hayes and Rappa both raced home on wild pitches, but they couldn’t get anything else going.

Still, they seemed to shake whatever was holding them back and the drought was over.

“Coming in we knew Del Tech was going to be a hard team, we knew that pitcher threw very fast and we had to adjust to it and we didn’t do very well adjusting to that fast pitching,” Rappa said. “Those last couple innings was us working together as a team for once, hitting our pitches not their pitches, so it was nice to come back and fight and not go 0-0 on the scoreboard.

“We do have to get more consistent but I feel like this was probably the first game we all actually at the end wanted to fight it out.”

Now they’ll see what Tuesday brings.

Baseball

On the eve of Tuesday’s Carney Point opener of its home-and-home series with No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester, Salem CC received votes in the JUCO Division III baseball poll for the first time since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) were one of four Region 19 teams receiving votes in the poll, but didn’t crack the Top 15. RCSJ-Gloucester (No. 1) and Brookdale (No. 4) made the top 15.

“Happy to get votes, happy to get recognized; one step at a time,” Salem coach John Holt said. “We’ve just gotta control what we can control.”

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of April 21-27; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

APRIL 21
BASEBALL
Kings Christian at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Salem at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 10:30 a.m.
GOLF
Woodstown vs. GCIT, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Triton at Schalick, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech at Salem CC, 3 p.m.

APRIL 22
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Schalick at Pitman
Woodstown at Salem
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Pitman at Schalick
Salem at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Cumberland, Running Deer CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Overbrook, Pinelands GC
Schalick girls vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC
TENNIS
Schalick vs. Pitman, Shertle Park 11 a.m.
Overbrook at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Salem County Championships, Pennsville, 3:30 p.m.
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 5:15 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 6 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at GCIT, 3:45 p.m.
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
Cumberland at Salem
Kingsway at Woodstown
Haddon Heights at Pennsville
GOLF
Pennsville vs. West Deptford, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Salem Tech vs. Pitman, Pitman GC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Pitman at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
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
Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Kingsway, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Cumberland, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick girls vs. Williamstown, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Overbrook, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Clayton at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
Haddon Heights at Schalick
TRACK
Penn Relays
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Washington Twp.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Lackawanna, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 25
TENNIS
Schalick at Clayton
Williamstown at Penns Grove
TRACK
Penn Relays
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at West Deptford
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Union, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 26
BASEBALL
Gloucester County Christian at Woodstown, 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

Mixed results on road

Salem CC baseball gets strong pitching to sweep twinbill at Bergen, softball swept at Mercer

SATURDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem 4-5, Bergen 2-1
Middlesex 17, Northampton 7
RCSJ-Gloucester 10-10, Brookdale 4-1
RCSJ-Cumberland 12-5, Camden 5-3
Mercer 17, Raritan Valley 4
Morris 9-2, Lackawanna 8-10
Sussex at Delaware Tech
Delaware County 15-10, Union 8-11

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PARAMUS – Matt Murphy hit another home run, Angel Velez moved three hits closer to 100 and Salem CC got two strong outings from its starting pitchers to sweep Bergen CC 4-2 and 5-1 and sweep the weekend series.

It was the Mighty Oaks’ sixth straight weekend series win and first sweep since RCSJ-Cumberland in late March.

First-game starter Jared Vandersteur pitched six strong innings. He gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but otherwise allowed only four hits and struck out a career-high 10. Pat Seitzinger got the save, facing four batters in the seventh.

Seth McCormick threw a complete game in the nightcap. He had a one-hitter through six, gave up three hits total, lost his shutout on an unearned run in the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 12. He’s 5-2 on the season.

“Both of them grinded it out today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We needed the sweep and they stepped up and helped us get it. They picked us up today when the offense and defense needed it.”

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) scored all their runs in the opener in the first inning. Yen Rodriguez drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double, then after Demetrius DeRamus walked, Murphy cleared the bases with a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year – all on the road – and third this week.

They scored in the first inning of the nightcap, too, when Rodriguez came home on a balk. They got some breathing room with three in the fourth – Cole Dawson and Rodriguez drew bases-loaded walks and Tim Bowlby scored on a wild pitch. Murphy’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0 in the seventh.

Velez went 3-for-4 in the nightcap, leaving him with 97 for his career. Since the Mighty Oaks returned from Florida the sophomore’s role in doubleheaders has been to catch the opener and DH in the nightcap. It’s the approach that made him an all-region DH last year. In the Mighty Oaks’ last five doubleheaders this year, he is 4-for-14 in Game 1 as the catcher and 13-for-20 in Game 2 as the DH.

SATURDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Mercer 7-13, Salem CC 0-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 5-7, Brookdale 4-3
Delaware Tech 9-0, Lackawanna 0-1
Bergen at Lehigh Carbon
Ocean at Camden

WEST WINDSOR – For the second year in a row, the Salem CC softball team went to Mercer and came up empty.

The once-beaten Vikings handed the Mighty Oaks a pair of shutout losses, 7-0 and 13-0. Mercer swept them with a pair of shutouts last year and is the only team to shut out the Mighty Oaks in both games of a doubleheader since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks were held to two hits in each game and only one runner as far as second base in each game. Meanwhile, the Vikings (33-1) had 27 hits and 12 extra-base hits. Mercer hit three homers in the first game and had five doubles in the nightcap.

Mercer hit three extra-base hits in the first inning of the opener to take a 4-0 lead then hit back-to-back homers to open the fifth inning and break it open. Emily Wyzykowski homered in the first, then followed Stella Logan’s leadoff homer in the fifth with her second of the game. Logan hit three doubles and drove in four runs in the nightcap.

Tiana Wilson had a hit in each game for the Mighty Oaks. Callie Rozak had the other hit in the opener and Emma Hayes the other one in the nightcap.

Something to consider: The Mighty Oaks were blanked here last year on a one-hitter and no-hitter, then shut out the Vikings here in the first round of the Region 19 playoffs.

Hits keep on coming

Velez has Salem CC’s third five-hit game since program revival in run-rule win over Bergen; Dawson drives in five, Murphy collects 100th career hit; Salem CC softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem CC 17, Bergen 6
Northampton 8-7, Middlesex 7-16
Ocean 10-3, Montgomery 8-19
RCSJ-Gloucester 4, Brookdale 3
RCSJ-Cumberland 9, Camden 6
Lackawanna 6, Morris 2
Mercer 13, Raritan Valley 2
Sussex 9, Delaware Tech 5
Delaware County at Union

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Cole Dawson thought he was done. He hit a mile-high pop up to first with bases loaded that was caught near the line for the first out of the sixth inning and was already back in the Salem CC dugout putting up his stuff but his time at bat was far from over.

You’re not done until the umpire says you are. The field ump called the Mighty Oaks infielder back to the plate, having called a balk on Bergen reliever S.G. Song for failing to declare whether he was pitching from the stretch or windup with a runner on third base.

So, instead of bases loaded with one out, J.D. Wilson trotted home with a run, Chris Kelly and Tim Bowlby advanced a base and Dawson returned to the plate with the same 1-2 count he had before the pop-up.

Given a second chance, the sophomore infielder laced Song’s next pitch into left field for his second two-run single in as many innings that put the Mighty Oaks in run-rule territory in an eventual 17-6 win. He finished the game 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs.

“When I popped it up I thought it was an out and I thought the inning was pretty much over,” Dawson said. “I was ready to get my glove and go out to the field. And then they called a balk and gave me a second chance, so I had to do something with it. You can’t give up that opportunity. Second chances don’t come like that.

“It was weird. I’ve never had that happen before. The only thing close (in high school) I think I popped up to the catcher, but I hit him on the backswing and they called catcher’s interference, so I did end up getting a second chance there.”

Dawson scored later in the inning when Song balked again. Ironically, the Mighty Oaks lost a game to current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara on their Florida trip to a similar declaration balk against Jon Gambone.

“That was God,” catcher Angel Velez said of Dawson’s reprieve. “That was God. God blessed him. God knew he needed that one and gave it to him, and Cole took advantage of it.”

“It is a weird circumstance,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt agreed.

The Mighty Oaks (19-17) had a lot of hitting heroes in the game. Matt Murphy collected his 100^thcareer hit with an RBI single in the first inning that got them on the board. He became the second Salem player to reach the milestone this month – Demetrius DeRamus did it at Northampton April 9 – and will be among four this season by the end of it. Velez (94) and Yen Rodriguez (91) are that close.

Velez was on deck when Murphy hit the mark. Whether it served as inspiration, Velez followed him with an RBI single and kept going. The sophomore catcher went 5-for-5 to move within six hits of 100 and with each at-bat his teammates let him know he was close to something special.

“These guys love to let you know when you’re doing (good),” Velez said. “They love to jinx stuff, they do. They tell me.

“After I got the fourth hit everyone was like, ‘You’re 4-for-4.’ That last at bat I swung at the change up in the dirt, that wasn’t a good swing, then I got that fastball outside called. I just didn’t want to strike out.”

It was only the third time a Salem player has had five hits in a game since the program was revived in 2019. It’s the Mighty Oaks’ first five-hit game since DeRamus went 5-for-6 in last year’s season-ending playoff loss at Northampton and their first in the regular season since Phil Sedalis went 5-for-5 at Camden April 7, 2021.

Velez had four hits in the 12-inning win over RCSJ-Cumberland on March 22 and did it three times over the final seven games last year.

“He’s that type of guy with his left-handed swing if he shoots the ball to the opposite field he’s a hard out,” Holt said. “He’s tough to pitch to if he shortens up and sprays the ball the other way. When he bought into that last year that’s when he really kind of took off as a hitter.”

The hits Murphy and Velez delivered in the first inning helped the Mighty Oaks overcome the 3-spot Bergen posted in the top of the inning. Dawson’s first hit, an RBI double in the second, extended the lead to 5-3.

The Bulldogs tied it in the third before the Mighty Oaks took the lead for good with five in the fifth. Tim Bowlby broke the tie with an RBI double and Dawson followed him with the first of his two-run singles.

“I was concerned,” Holt said. “The energy wasn’t there at the beginning of the game. With this region and its strength you cannot take anyone for granted. I was on them to kind of figure it out. It went some innings to be able to turn the thing around a little bit.”

Salem softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Cecil 14-11, Salem CC 7-6
Delaware Tech 16-12, Sussex 0-0
Harford 5-15, RCSJ-Gloucester 2-10
Lackawanna 16-9, Onondaga 3-11
Bergen 7-10, Camden 2-13

CECIL 14-11, SALEM 7-6: Tristan Canavan went 4-for-5 with six RBIs and hit two of Cecil’s three homers in the opener and the Seahawks hit two more homers in the nightcap to complete the sweep.

Salem scored in the first inning of the opener on Callie Rozak’s RBI single, but Sloane Tanner’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run second and the Seahawks never trailed again. Rozak and Ella Hayes both had three hits for the Mighty Oaks.

Salem led 3-0 after three innings in the nightcap, then Cecil erupted for seven in the fourth to take control. The Seahawks hit their two homers in the game in the sixth inning.

Rozak had a pair of doubles among her three hits and three RBIs in the nightcap for the Mighty Oaks. Hayes had three hits, while Lilly Peverelle and Jolee Robinson each had two.

Thursday roundup

Salem CC softball sweeps twinbill in big way; Pennsville, Woodstown baseball lose tough ones; Pennsville softball keeps rolling

THURSDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Salem CC 18-20, Sussex 2-4
Brookdale at Ocean
Lackawanna 27-29, Raritan Valley 2-1
Monroe at Mercer
Middlesex 11-5, Morris 8-4

By Riverview Sports News

NEWTON – The Salem CC softball team loaded up the bus and loaded up the box score in sweeping Sussex CC in a big way for the second time this season, 18-2 and 20-4.

The Mighty Oaks erupted for 11 hits in the opener and a season-high 20 hits in the nightcap. They swamped the Skylanders 13-5 and 22-0 in a doubleheader at Watson Field in March.

Ella Hayes led the way in the opener. She hit for the cycle, highlighted by a first-inning grand slam, and drove in six runs. The slam capped an eight-run opening.

Callie Rozak had two hits and Tessa Wise and Jolee Robinson had two RBIs each.

The Mighty Oaks (16-14) got big games from a lot of players in the nightcap. The top six spots in the lineup went a combined 17-for-21 with 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Bella Rappa went 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Wise went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in the third inning and four total RBIs. Rozak drove in five runs with a pair of hits. Val Hatterer had a career-high four hits and three RBIs. Hayes went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored. Jocelyn Melendez went 3-for-3.

The Mighty Oaks raised their team batting average 14 points in the doubleheader.

SALEM COUNTY HS RESULTS
BASEBALL
CUMBERLAND 2, PENNSVILLE 1: The Colts scored their first win of the season in dramatic fashion. They created a run in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead, then turned back a Pennsville threat in the bottom of the inning.

The winning rally started with Kameron Fiorani’s leadoff walk. He was sacrificed to second and scored on Jack Bodine’s single to center.
.
The Eagles (5-3) got the tying run to third base with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but the Colts got a fly out to center to end the game and their five-game winning streak.

Cumberland (1-8) grabbed a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first, but Pennsville tied it Chase Burchfield’s two-out RBI single to right.

CINNAMINSON 3, WOODSTOWN 2: The Pirates scored all their runs on three homers to power past the Wolverines.

Noah Harvey’s solo homer in the top of the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and Logan Hammell’s three-run blast in the seventh broke it open. Anthony Alessandroni opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first.

The Wolverines got a run back in the fourth on Rocco String’s steal of home and tied it on Caiden Spinelli’s RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth. They kept the threat alive, loading the bases with one out couldn’t bring the runners home.

SOFTBALL
PENNSVILLE 10, CUMBERLAND 7: Makenzie Widener went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, three other players collected two hits apiece and the Eagles came from behind to win their seventh in a row.

Graillyn Weber, Kylie Harris and Sawyer Simmons also had two hits and Avery Watson had two RBIs.

The Eagles (9-2) trailed 4-1 after one inning. They made it a one-run game in the second and took the lead for good in the third on RBI doubles by Harris, Simmons and Watson. They had six doubles in the game and won for the fifth straight game scoring 10 runs or more.

CLEARVIEW 18, WOODSTOWN 1: The Pioneers took a 4-1 lead after two innings then broke it open with eight runs in the third. Talia Guardascione had two of the Wolverines’ four hits and Lila Bowling drove home Hannah Hitchner with their only run in the first inning.

GOLF
Schalick girls at OLMA

TENNIS
Penns Grove at Schalick

PENNSVILLE 5, PITMAN 0
Gave Schneider (Pe) def. Chase Pogozelski, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (Pe) def. Jaron Scull, 6-0, 6-2
Brody Wiggins (Pe) def. Liam Etter, 6-0, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (Pe) def. Jonah Raymer0Ben Williams, 6-1, 6-0
Matthew Forino-Lochlann Hooks (Pe) def. Spencer Bianchini-Christian Camiscioli, 1-6, 6-3, 12-10
Records: Pennsville 8-0, Pitman 1-8.

‘Matty Baseball’

Murphy hits his fourth grand slam, Newman strong in relief as Salem CC baseball climbs over .500 for first time this season

WEDNESDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem CC 10, Mercer 8
Morris 18, Bergen 7
RCSJ-Gloucester 12, Suffolk 0
Camden 18, Ocean 3
Brookdale 15, Monroe 13
RCSJ-Cumberland 22, Eastern JV 8

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WEST WINDSOR – Don Mattingly is Salem CC coach John Holt’s absolute favorite player in baseball, so it was only natural his thoughts turned to man they call “Donnie Baseball” when Matt Murphy cleared the bases with another bomb – again.

Murphy is having a Donnie Baseball kind of year for the Mighty Oaks. Mattingly hadn’t hit a grand slam in his first five big-league seasons with the Yankees and then hit an MLB-record six in 1987 and didn’t hit one again.

Murphy hopes, of course, there are more to come. His slam in the sixth inning Wednesday put the Mighty Oaks ahead for good in an eventual 10-8 victory over Mercer that got them over .500 for the first time this season (18-17). It was his fourth slam of the season, third this month and second in two games – and his 99th career hit.

And just like Mattingly before that magical ’87 season, he had never hit a slam before – ever.

“I just know throughout the season I’ve done really well with bases loaded,” Murphy said. “I kind of joke that I can only hit with bases loaded because good things usually happen. I never hit one in my life before until this season and now I have four.

“I don’t know what it is. I just seem to have a clear mind when I get up to the plate with bases loaded. I really went up with a clear mind and just try to put the ball in play and good things happen.”

The sophomore from Vorhees now has five homers and 44 RBIs this season. It was his third homer in the eight games since Holt pulled him in the middle of Game 1 and sat him in Game 2 of their March 29 doubleheader with Montgomery to send a message. He’s batted .400 with 20 RBIs since. All five of his homers have come on the road.

His other slams have come against Atlantic Cape Monday, the eight-RBI game at Middlesex April 4 – his first game back in the lineup — and Northland on the team’s Florida trip. The Mighty Oaks don’t keep stats on how well a player hits with bases loaded, but suffice to say Holt likes the odds when Murphy comes to the plate in that situation.

“This is a first for me to have that many in a season,” Holt said. “He’s just putting together good at bats when he gets into those situations. Today he was aggressive early and got a fastball early in the count and was able to drive it.”

Tuesday’s slam came in his next at-bat after taking a pitch off the helmet. He said the homer was not an angry reaction to getting hit for the 12th time this season.

“It made me just clear my head, I’ll be honest,” he said. “I laughed about it because it didn’t hurt at all. Kind of just hurt my ears a little bit because it’s so cold out here.

“I didn’t have any thoughts out there. The only thing I told myself before I go out there is just relax, stay calm and stay up the middle. I was inside-outting myself the first couple at bats, so I was just trying to tell myself to get my bat out in front and be on time with the ball. I did that, saw a pitch I liked and connected on it.”

It gave the Mighty Oaks a 7-4 lead and made a winning pitcher of reliever Alex Newman, who pitched four strong innings before the Vikings reached him in the eighth after Holt extended him for the longest outing of his JUCO career.

Pitching into a 20-mph wind with 35-mph gusts, the Mighty Oaks’ newly named “Fireman” kept the Vikings off the board from the fourth through seventh innings while his hitters erased an early 4-0 deficit. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, six by strikeout. He gave up only two hits and walked one over his first four innings.

“I definitely felt a little more unsure about today because of the wind and the mound, but I just stuck with it, rolled with it and just trusted what I got,” Newman said.

“We’re going to need guys down the stretch that are going to be able to give us innings,” Holt said. “I have a lot of faith that Al’s going to come in and he’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to do the job. If there was a situation the other day where we needed a fire put out he was the guy. He’s consistent around the zone, he works his off-speed in real well right now and that gives us a chance to compete.”

Holt lifted him in the eighth after a walk and three straight hits led the Vikings to close within 9-8 and put the tying run in scoring position with one out. Chris Laute finished the inning, then Tyler Hacker slammed the door on their 5-6-7 hitters with a little more velocity in the ninth.

Chris Kelly homered in the fourth to get the Mighty Oaks on the board and went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in the game.

‘We preach around here you’ve got to compete, got to go one inning at a time, and they did that,” Holt said. “They could have easily hung their heads and kind of packed it in for the day. The weather conditions were rough. Some teams might have packed it away. Those guys dug deep and figured out a way to put some runs on the board and win the game.”

Salem CC (18-17)	000 034 201-	10	8	3
Mercer CCC (26-12)	310 000 040-	8	9	4

WP: Alex Newman. LP: Anthony Kownacki. HR: Chris Kelly (S), Matt Murphy (S), Joey Socorro (M).

Seeking a spark

Rodriguez looking for his Salem CC softball team to find some consistency after being swept by Harford

TUESDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Harford 5-14, Salem CC 1-11
Mercer at Lackawanna, Game 1 susp.
Brookdale 10-11, Northampton 6-10
RCSJ-Gloucester 24-23, Bergen 1-4
Middlesex 14-12, Ocean 2-0
Delaware Tech 12-13, Raritan Valley 0-2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Angel Rodriguez returned to the Salem CC dugout for the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with Harford and if the Mighty Oaks softball coach was expecting to see something different from before he was sent off he was disappointed.

The Mighty Oaks were swept by the Fighting Owls 5-1 and 14-11.

Rodriguez missed Game 1 serving the final game of a three-game suspension stemming from a correctly argued point at the plate in last week’s doubleheader against Mercer. He was back in the third-base coaching box for Game 2, but returned to some of the same shortcomings that haunted the offense throughout the season.

“It was good to be back, seeing on the field and being with the players interacting,” Rodriguez said, “but, again, the storyline stays the same: We’re just inconsistent in what we do.

“We’ve just got to find that balance where we can get more consistent and we’re getting near the end so we’ve just got to do a better job of getting it. Hopefully with the more games we play this week it just comes.”

The Mighty Oaks (14-14) never led in Game 1. They were held to two hits by Harford’s hard-throwing Anna Sexton, who became the Owls’ all-time wins leader (19) with the victory. Additionally, sophomore first baseman Hayden Kobert hit her first career home run (in 92 at bats) leading off the fourth inning to give them a 3-1 lead.

Harford took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a pair of RBI singles from the bottom of the lineup. Salem pushed across a run in the third on Tiana Wilson’s sacrifice, but never got closer. The Mighty Oaks got both of their hits and two runners in scoring position after that, but couldn’t bring them home.

“We have to do a better job of finding our offensive spark; it’s hit or miss,” Rodriguez said. “Once we do that, we’ll be better.”

It looked like they would get that spark from Ella Hayes, who led off the fourth inning of the nightcap with an inside-the-park home run to touch off a four-run rally that gave the Mighty Oaks their second lead of the game. Pahola Chavez had a two-run single later in the inning to make it 6-3.

Salem starter Jill Robinson kept the Owls off the board the next inning, which should have given the Mighty Oaks even more momentum. Instead, their 9-1-2 hitters went down in order on six total pitches.

Harford rode that wave to score six runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Kobert hit her second homer of the day, this one a three-run shot, in the fifth and Juliet Sanchez hit a three-run bomb in the sixth.

“It’s just a rollercoaster,” Rodriguez said. “It’s up and down. We have to stay a little bit more consistent. Good inning, can’t capitalize with the next inning seeing six total pitches and getting three outs. We just have to do a better job of having a quality at bat.”

The Mighty Oaks made it interesting again in the sixth, rallying for five runs to get within 12-11. Tessa Wise took a big chunk off the deficit with a three-run homer. Wilson made it 12-10 with an RBI double and Val Hatterer made it a one-run game with a two-out RBI single.

“I was just thinking I was not being the last out,” Hatterer said. “I did not want to get out.”

She got to second base with the tying run, but was stranded there. Harford responded with two insurance runs in the seventh and the Mighty Oaks went down in order to end the game. Despite the loss, everybody in Salem’s Game 2 lineup had at least one hit and the Fighting Owls needed to bring in Sexton to put out the fire.

“I feel like we were fighting,” Hatterer said. “I wish we would have fought more in the beginning than in the end (and would’ve) had more energy.”

ACORNS: The Mighty Oaks were 22-6 after 28 games a year ago. Still, they are holding onto the fourth spot in the Region 19 Division II standings … The seven teams they have left are a combined 83-63 … With the doubleheader, 2B Jocelyn Melendez has completed her four-game suspension for her home-plate collision against Mercer. She’ll be back for Thursday’s DH at Sussex. The Mighty Oaks are at Mercer Saturday … OF Lilly Peverelle undergoes an MRI on the knee she injured at Camden Wednesday.

Nothing given

Spina and Holladay’s combined no-hitter, Palverento’s perfect game highlight the start of the sports week in Salem County

BASEBALL
WOODSTOWN 6, OVERBROOK 0: Dante Spina and Jack Holladay combined on the Wolverines’ first seven-inning no-hitter in recent memory. The two pitchers struck out 10, walked two and faced only two batters over the minimum. Holladay retired 13 in a row before the Rams reached on a two-out error in the seventh. Rocco String went 3-for-3 and Ty Coblentz had three hits and two RBIs to lead the offense.

PENNSVILLE 16, WILDWOOD 2: Chase Burchfield went 3-for-3 with a homer and six RBIs and Connor Starn homered as the Eagles came from behind to win their third in a row. They spotted the Warriors a 2-0 lead. Cohen Petrutz drove in three runs. The Eagles have outscored their opponents 52-2 during their winning streak.

SCHALICK 11, PENNS GROVE 1: Jamari Whitley went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and pitched four strong innings with nine strikeouts as the Cougars improved to 5-0. Evan Sepers had three extra-base hits.

SALEM 9, CLAYTON 6: Andrew May’s two-run single highlighted a four-run sixth that broke a 5-5 tie and led the Rams to victory. May had two hits and four RBIs. Chase Davis and Eithan Longo had three hits apiece. Davis struck out 11 in 6 1/3 innings on the mound.

SOFTBALL
Schalick at Penns Grove

PENNSVILLE 16, WILDWOOD 0: Savannah Palverento retired all 15 batters she faced in a five-inning perfect game. The Salem CC signee struck out five and made big pitches on a few 3-2 counts to avoid any walks. The Eagles supported her with 15 hits. Kylie Harris and Graillyn Weber both had three hits, a homer short of the cycle. Harris and Sawyer Simmons had four RBIs and Avery Watson had two hits and three RBIs. Watson also made a nice defensive play up the middle on the next to last play of the game to keep the gem alive.

OVERBROOK 5, WOODSTOWN 3: The Rams broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the sixth inning, then turned back a Wolverines threat in the seventh. Lila Bowling had three hits for Woodstown. Ellie Wygand and Hannah Hitchner had two apiece.

CLAYTON 27, SALEM 0: The Clippers erupted for 19 runs in the third inning and held the Rams hitless.

TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 5, TRITON 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Tristyn Malone, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Cole Durham, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Tirth Patel, 6-0, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Sean Gorsky-Brennan Zabala, 6-0, 6-2
Matthew Forino-Carter Willis (P) def. Shrey Modi-Nathanial White, 6-0, 6-1
Records: Pennsville 5-0, Triton 0-4.

WOODSTOWN 4, PENNS GROVE 1
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Alex Ramirez Martinez, 6-1, 6-0
John Farrell (WO) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-0, 6-0
Stuart Mondragon (P) def. Joseph Kurpis, 6-2, 5-7, 10-8
Ben Stengel-Nicholas DiTeodoro (WO) def. Anthony Pacheco-Rene Ruiz, 6-0, 6-1
Vincent Merendino-Jake Lewis (WO) def. Adam Gonzalez-Jose Suntecum, 6-1, 6-0
Records: Woodstown 5-2, Penns Grove 1-2.

SCHALICK 5, GATEWAY 0
George Gould (S) def. Dylan Ceravolo, 6-1, 6-0
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Tommy McCabe, 6-1, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Isan Salamanca, 6-1, 6-2
Cayden Brzozowski-Kaden Barnes (S) def. Justin Dugan-Ben Cline, 7-6 (6-0), 6-0
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Jackson Smith-Alvaro Sanchis-Moraleja, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 4-3, Gateway 1-3.

TRACK
SCHALICK GIRLS WIN: The Cougars remained undefeated (3-0) with a win over Glassboro. Jordan Hadfield won three events (800, 1600, 3200) and Gia Martellacci (200, 400) and Ally Green (javelin, 100 hurdles) won two apiece.

WOODSTOWN RELAY DENIED: The Wolverines’ boys 4×800 relay team made a gutsy effort to beat the qualifying standard for the Penn Relays, but they learned Monday the 8:08 they posted in challenging conditions Saturday at Father Judge wasn’t strong enough to make the field for the historic event. The Wolverines have qualified for the 4×400.

GOLF
Clearview 172, Schalick girls 232
Pennsville vs. Overbrook
Schalick vs. Woodstown

LACROSSE
Mainland 15, Woodstown 11

COLLEGE BASEBALL
MONDAY’S REGION 19 SCORES
Salem CC 20, Atlantic Cape 4
Mercer 13, Lackawanna 9
Morris 3, Sussex 2, susp.
RCSJ-Cumberland 9, Middlesex 5
Raritan Valley 23, Delaware Tech 10
Union 13, Rockland 1

HAMILTON – Matt Murphy homered and drove in four runs and four pitchers scattered five hits while allowing just one earned run as Salem CC blasted Atlantic Cape 20-4. In his seven games since breaking out of a slump with eight RBIs against Middlesex, Murphy is 11-for-27 with two homers and 16 RBIs.

Cole Dawson went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and four runs scored. Murphy, Tyler Hacker, Tony Sanchez and Yen Rodriguez had two hits apiece. The Mighty Oaks (17-17) got things started with an eight-run first inning.