Salem CC softball scores 18 in first, 12 in second of DH opener, 16 in nightcap inning of record sweep; baseball falls behind 10-0 vs. RCSJ-Gloucester

COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC 36-31, Raritan Valley 6-1
COLLEGE BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 15, Salem CC 3

By Al Muskewitz and Nolan Dowell
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — The Salem CC softball program celebrated its sophomores Sunday and two of their local sophs enjoyed record-setting days.

Playing in the final home games of their junior college careers, Bella Rappa drove in 10 runs in the opener, Lilly Peverelle hit three home runs and had 13 RBIs in the doubleheader and the Mighty Oaks enjoyed three of their most prolific innings of the season as they swamped Raritan Valley 36-6 and 31-1.

The 36 runs in the opener broke the Mighty Oaks’ single-game scoring record, at least since reviving the program four years ago; they had scored 29 in a game twice earlier this season. The 67 runs in the doubleheader were the most they’ve scored in a twin bill since the revival as well, eclipsing the 50 they put on the Lady Lions in an April 10 sweep.

The Mighty Oaks scored 18 runs in the first inning of the opener — erasing a 2-0 deficit — and 12 more in the second; it was 30-2 before the Lady Lions had gotten to the top of their lineup. All nine players in the Salem lineup had scored a run by the time they made their first out, which was a sacrifice fly. They had a 16-run inning in the nightcap.

The collected 31 hits in the doubleheader, batting .633 as a team (31-for-49), and received 20 walks in each game. Pennsville products Rappa and Peverelle were a combined 11-for-13 with 15 runs scored, 18 RBIs and five walks.

“I told our players the most important goal for this team is just to kind of find those balances of things that we have to keep working on,” head coach Angel Rodriguez said. “If you get a good pitch, make sure you’re on time and square it up and a lot of us were able to do that. In a game like this a lot of patience has to be had and that’s another thing we have to work on. All that kind of goes into what we’ve been working on to the end of the season and it definitely prevailed today.

“It’s not really that we aren’t proud of what we’re able to put up, we look at every player’s at bats and is it something they improved on. It’s always interesting to put up some runs and then a couple times you’re like Holy cow we have no outs. It’s good to know they’re not forcing thing. In a game like today it’s very easy to try to force things and then it disrupts your at bats. Today we let the game come up us. It was good to see us not be over ambitious about what we were trying to do.”

Rappa collected all her RBIs in the first game in her first four at bats over the first two innings. She had a two-run double and three-run single in the first inning, and had a three-run single and two-run single in the second. Peverelle hit a two-run homer in the second inning and a two-run homer in the third.

“I knew that I was only going to see one good pitch, so I realized when I saw it coming I had to take advantage of it.” Rappa said.

Rodriguez even gave her a turn in the circle for the first time this season. Rappa gave up two hits and was charged with three runs, but the highlight was the four-pitch strikeout to the second batter she faced. Tiana Wilson came in behind her and had a great 1-2-3 double play to end the game.

“It felt great to go out there and do what my best friend (starter Raegan Wilson) does on a daily basis,” Rappa said. “I got one strikeout, and I was proud of that. I have to work on my release point, and stay in my lane, but it was fun.” 

The Mighty Oaks turned the nightcap into a rout with 16 runs in the second inning. Peverelle had an RBI single in the first, an RBI ground out and two-run double in the second, and a grand slam in the fourth. Her 13 RBIs in the doubleheader broke the previous record, set by two-time Region Player of the Year Ella Hayes (12) against Sussex County last March.

“I just saw ball and hit ball,” Peverelle said. “Plus, I was singing to myself in the box.”

“It’s been good to see their progress,” Rodriguez said. “We always say as coaches we’re getting players in their first year and there are lot of things we have to break. A lot of bad habits, a lot of things we have to adjust. To see both of them from Year One to where they are now is incredible.

“We’re proud of what Bella was able to do Game One. I thought she came out on fire, but I think that rolled over with the last couple games she had. She had a very good Mercer Game 2 a couple games ago, so that’s good some of that’s starting to go with them game-to-game now; it’s not more of a rollercoaster.

“And Lilly’s been red-hot. She’s been doing very well, but another one who’s growth and maturity has gotten her to this level. I think that plays a huge part in what they’re able to do. It’s definitely paying off and they’re getting hot at the right time, so that was good to see too, especially with the (playoff) week we have coming up.”

Other top Game One performers included Jolee Robinson (2-for-3, six RBIs, five runs); Ava Ortiz (2-3, 3 RBIs off the bench) and Jalyn Rambally (3-5, five runs, four RBIs).

Freshman Jordyn Busch nearly pitched a shutout in the nightcap, but a wild pitch with two outs in the fifth inning ended the bid. She allowed only four hits and struck out seven. Among the hitters, Savannah Palverento went 3-for-3 with three RBIs; Megan Koski had two hits, four runs and three RBIs; and Robinson went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

Raritan Valley	200	13-	6	4	5
Salem CC	(18)(12)6	0x-	36	17	0

Raritan Valley	000	01-	1	4	4
Salem CC	2(16)5	8x-	31	14	1

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION II SOFTBALL	R19	ALL	GSAC
x-Mercer	18-4	37-5	14-0
x-Lackawanna	19-5	40-13
x-Delaware Tech	19-5	26-12
x-SALEM CC	14-10	28-18	12-4
Sussex	6-14	8-20	6-6
Morris	3-21	3-19	3-11
Raritan Valley	1-23	1-23	1-15

SUNDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 36-31, Raritan Valley 6-1
Lackawanna 10-8, Onondaga 1-0
Delaware Tech 17-17, Morris 1-1
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Region XIX Tournament
at Mercer CC
Salem CC vs. Mercer, 10 a.m.
Lackawanna vs. Delaware Tech, noon
Winners bracket, 2 p.m.
Losers bracket, 4 p.m.

Baseball: Flat Mighty Oaks swept

CARNEYS POINT – Region-leading and third-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester jumped out front with three runs in the first inning, then put seven more on top of it in the second to send Salem CC into a spiral that ended in a 15-3 loss to sweep the three-game series and ramp up the pressure on the Mighty Oaks to make the playoffs.

“In the game of baseball regardless how the game goes you’re gonna get punched and we have to do a better job of taking that punch and punching back,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said.

The loss left the Mighty Oaks 15-15 in Region 19 and 20-24 overall with five games remaining. To qualify for the playoffs teams must be .500 or better overall or in region play. The Mighty Oaks would get in by winning all five games from Mercer and Union or at least taking two of three from Union this weekend.

Of course, they would avoid a play-in game with Ocean if they take care of business and the Vikings (17-17, 14-14) lost three of their five remaining games – all against teams with significant winning records. If there is a play-in game, the Mighty Oaks would host since they swept the season series

“We’ve got to win all three against (Union),” outfielder Roman Hernandez said. “Just because their record might not be the best, we can’t act like it. Sometimes we’ve done that and let a couple games get away from us. We’ve gotta handle our business and get three games and then see how the seeding goes after that. Like coach said, we’re fighting for a playoff spot, we’re not even fighting for a seeding. We just got to handled our business and take care of all those three games and see where we go.”

“We’ve gotta win,” Holt said. “We’re looking at a possibly play-in game, 8-9, based on whatever happens with Ocean. We talk about controlling what we can control and that’s all we gotta do. We gotta control what we can control and the chips are gonna be where the chips fall.”

Roadrunners righthander Matt Hewitt held the Mighty Oaks hitless for 3 2/3 innings before Hernandez broke up the bid with his first homer in a Salem CC uniform. Hewitt went the distance, holding Salem to four hits and striking out nine.

“We knew coming in he had a hard slider, hard to hit, and he abused us with that and he also had a good changeup that I saw early in the count,” Hernandez said. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a fastball, but he gave me a high fastball and that’s my sweet spot. I just tried to get on base and pass the stick to the next person but it just happened to fly out.

“I was just trying to put a ball in play. We didn’t strike out that much first time around. We were putting the ball in play a lot, but they just had good defense, so I was trying to drive something hard in the gap and have the next guy after me drive him in.”

The Roadrunners’ big inning was helped along by three Mighty Oaks’ errors. Later in the game, Nick Izzo delivered a two-run single and Jack Mustaro hit a two-run homer.

RCSJ-Gloucester	370	023	0-	15	14	1
Salem CC	000	111	0-	3	4	5

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III BASEBALL	R19	ALL	GSAC
RCSJ-Gloucester	24-5	28-9	19-5
Brookdale	22-8	32-9-1	17-5
Middlesex	20-9	29-14	15-7
RCSJ-Cumberland	18-9	26-11-1	13-6
Northampton	16-8	25-13
Montgomery	17-11	17-11
Camden	16-11	19-15	12-10
SALEM CC	15-15	20-24	12-11
Ocean	14-14	17-17	10-11
Bergen	11-17	13-24	11-13
Atlantic Cape	4-23	4-23	2-18
Union	3-24	6-27	0-21
Delaware County	1-27	2-27

SUNDAY’S GAMES
RCSJ-Gloucester 15, Salem CC 3
Union at Northampton (2), ppd. to May 3
Brookdale 10, Lackawanna 9
Sussex at UConn-Avery Point (2)
Harford 7-12, Mercer 0-1
Rockland at Middlesex (2)
MONDAY’S GAMES
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Northampton (2)
RCSJ-Gloucester at Delaware Tech
Atlantic Cape at Delaware County
Raritan Valley at Rockland CC
RCSJ-Cumberland at Union

Mighty Oaks swamped by RCSJ-Gloucester in DH opener, Game 2, series finale, postponed to Sunday

COLLEGE BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 22, Salem CC 6
RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem CC, Game 2, ppd., Sunday, 1 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Raritan Valley at Salem CC (2), ppd., Sunday, noon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – John Holt reminded the sophomores he recognized on their final home Saturday of the season there still were weeks of baseball to play and these Sophomore Day festivities he was presiding over weren’t the end of their Salem CC journey.

The Mighty Oaks appear to be in a good position to make the Region 19 playoffs, but after Saturday’s 22-6 loss to region-leading RCSJ-Gloucester they still have some work to lock it down.

The loss left them 20-23 overall and 15-14 in region play, a half-game ahead of Ocean for eighth place with Sunday’s game against the Roadrunners and next weekend’s three-game series with 12th-place Union left in the region. Ocean has five region games left, three against current 2-seed Brookdale.

Today, nine teams are in the mix for the eight spots in the playoff bracket by finishing .500 or better overall or in region play. If nine teams qualify, 8 and 9 would play for the final spot in the bracket. Salem holds the tiebreaker over Ocean. 

“I know we’ve got to win the next couple games,” first baseman Tyler Hacker said. “We have to sweep Union if we want to keep the eighth seed. We have to take one from Gloucester if we want to think about moving up and not have to play them (in the opening round). I think we get in. I’m pretty sure we get in as long as we sweep Union.”

“What’s good is pretty much everyone is pretty close,” outfielder Jason LeBold said. “Gloucester’s gonna be 1, Brookdale’s gonna be 2, but 3, 4, 5, 6, even 7 is pretty close. Right now we’re (the) eight seed, but you never know; tomorrow we could bounce up to the 5. I think there’s a high chance we make it and we’re just looking forward to who we’re going to play next.”

“We’ve just got to handle our business,” Holt said.

Saturday’s scheduled doubleheader started out well for the Mighty Oaks. They scored a run in each of the first two innings to open a 2-0 lead and starting pitcher Seth McCormick kept the Roadrunners off the board.

McCormick, making his first start/appearance since April 10 after developing elbow trouble, went to the mound to see what he could do and plan his future accordingly, and for two innings he was a sharp as he’d ever been. He retired the Roadrunners in the first on one hit, striking out two, including Region 19 home run leader Nick Slogik, and put them down in order in the second without a ball leaving the infield.

“It felt good to be on the mound again,” McCormick said. “I love pitching. I love baseball. I love being out there. To be able to come out and go is like a miracle in itself. Obviously, the game didn’t go how I wanted it to, but I’m proud I got out there.”

The third-ranked Roadrunners (27-9) figured him out in the third, erupting for seven runs on six hits. In the middle of the rally they put five straight balls in play that produced runs.

“The second time through the lineup our guys started to get a better look at a very good righthander and we were able to get some guys on base and drive them in,” Gloucester coach Rob Valli said.

The Mighty Oaks built their lead on a bad throw trying to catch Cliff Wysinger stealing third in the first and and Colin McLaughlin’s RBI infield out in the second. They cut their deficit to 9-5 in the fourth on an RBI single by Wysinger and a two-run single by Jason LeBold. They got their final run in the sixth on Roman Hernandez’ RBI single.

The nightcap of the doubleheader was postponed to 1 p.m. Sunday with extended rain due in the area to potentially disrupt play mid-game. Valli didn’t mind the decision.

“I really didn’t want to play in the rain,” he said. “Historically I’ve had bad experiences in the rain with players. This time of year always it scares you to play in the rain … when you don’t have to.”

The Mighty Oaks are scheduled to start Hacker (1-1, 7.71), their Game 3 starter the last three series, on the mound. Gloucester will counter with Kevin Ruff (2-0, 9.53).

RCSJ-Gloucester	007	229	2-	22	15	5
Salem CC	110	301	0-	6	8	5

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III BASEBALL	R19	ALL	GSAC
RCSJ-Gloucester	23-5	27-9	18-5
Brookdale	22-8	32-9-1	17-5
Middlesex	20-9	29-14	15-7
RCSJ-Cumberland	18-9	26-11-1	13-6
Northampton	16-8	25-13
Montgomery	17-11	17-11
Camden	16-11	19-15	12-10
SALEM CC	15-14	20-23	12-10
Ocean	14-14	17-17	10-11
Bergen	11-17	13-24	11-13
Atlantic Cape	4-23	4-23	2-18
Union	3-24	6-27	0-21
Delaware County	1-27	2-27

SATURDAY’S GAMES
RCSJ-Gloucester 22, Salem CC 6
RCSJ-Cumberland at Union, ppd.
Bergen at Northampton, ppd.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem CC, 1 p.m.
Union at Northampton (2)
Lackawanna at Brookdale (2)
Sussex at UConn-Avery Point (2)
Harford at Mercer (2)
Rockland at Middlesex (2)

Salem CC baseball grinds out a rally behind ‘war chant’ to chop down Bergen, Mighty Oaks softball sweeps Morris in dominant fashion

COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC 9, Bergen 7
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC 29-21, Morris 1-1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – John Holt has had some lively dugout in his tenure as a college baseball coach, but the one he commands this year at Salem CC may be one of the liveliest.

Whenever the Mighty Oaks get something cooking — or need to get something cooking — there’s always some kind of chant coming from the dugout to get their players hyped and if rattles the opposition along the way, so be it.

Usually it’s the Tomahawk Chop. They’ll occasionally break into the “Oh, oh-oh-oh-ohhhh” number for a change of pace, but it somehow always morphs back to The Chop.

The Chop was most effective in Tuesday’s “borderline ugly” 9-7 come-from-behind win over Bergen. Every inning the Mighty Oaks scored runs, the Chop was the soundtrack of the rally. When they didn’t do it and needed it, a threat died on the vine.

“I think when you hear your dugout up to bat you kind of remember to have fun, because that’s all we’re doing, especially in those tight moments,” said first baseman Tyler Hacker, whose two-run double in the eighth put the Mighty Oaks up for good. “When you hear the Tomahawk Chop it feels like we’re going to war. That’s our war cry. We’re ready to kill these guys. I think it really unites us as a team and keeps us going.”

“It’s effective, for sure,” DH Rocco String agreed.

It batted 1.000 Tuesday. The Mighty Oaks were no-hit for the first three innings by Bulldogs starter Shane Snell, but broke out The Chop in the fourth when they got something going and scored three runs – still without getting a hit — to get Snell out of the game and take their first lead. They started it again in the seventh and got another run. They did it in the eighth and rallied for five to win the game.

They didn’t do it fifth when they loaded the bases with one out in a 3-3 game and got nothing out of it but an infield fly and foul pop to first.

“We have other chants, but I think we do the best when we Chop,” starting pitcher Andre Stewart said. “I 100 percent believe that. The Chop is definitely the best chant we’ve got. We definitely do the best when we’re Choppin’.”

Holt likes the energy his team draws from the chant.

“Our guys feed off energy,” he said. “They’re a young bunch and that’s part of their game. They feed off it and it gets them going.

“One of the things I’ve said to these guys from the beginning (is) if you’re juiceful, you’re useful; if you’re juiceless, you’re useless. We get close to crossing that line and we do every once in a while and I’ve got to reel them in a little bit, but for the most part I think our guys handle it well and do it well.”

The Mighty Oaks still didn’t have a hit when they left the fourth inning, but they did have a 3-2 lead. Three walks and a hit batsman got Snell out of the game. Jason LeBold scored Salem’s first run when he stole third and came home when the catcher’s throw sailed into left field. Colin McLaughlin and Jacob Sharrow followed with back-to-back sacrifice flies to put them up 3-2.

Bergen tied it with a run in the fifth and took a 5-3 lead with two off Sean Bogan in the seventh. Bogan was making his first appearance since facing three batters April 11 at Middlesex and just his third since March 19 when he was the Mighty Oaks’ Game 3 series starter before developing arm trouble.

The side-winding right-hander got through his first inning without drama. The next inning he hit a batter and gave up an RBI triple and run-scoring single before his infield got him out of it with a double play. He misplayed a pop up in the eighth and two more errors led to a pair of runs that extended the Bulldogs lead to 7-4.

Bogan said other than self-inflicted mistakes he thought his outing was “pretty good” and he felt the same physically. Holt called it “a step towards getting him back” and said the pitcher “could be a factor for us” if they can get him strong enough down the stretch to go.

The Mighty Oaks had the right part of the lineup – and The Chop – going for them in the eighth. They had runners at first and second with one out and the top of the order coming up. Cliff Wysinger shot a single through the hole at short to make it 7-5. LeBold singled to right with the runners moving to make it 7-6 and then stole second to put two runners in scoring position.

Hacker then doubled into left field to give them the lead. He collected his nation’s best 52nd stolen base to reach third and came home with an insurance run on String’s bouncer to short. String also singled home a run as a pinch hitter in the seventh. “Just doing my job,” the Woodstown product said.

Louie Rivera, who got the final out of the eighth behind Bogan, closed it out in the ninth with the help of a batter’s interference out and game-ending double play when Michael Baez was called out at first for returning to the orange safety base instead of the normal bag trying to get back on Dom Maucione’s fly to right.

“They grinded out a win today,” Holt said. “We couldn’t run away with it, it was borderline ugly all day, they just kept finding ways to put runs up.

“I’m proud of them for figuring out a way to win it. That’s grinding. We haven’t done a lot of grinding this year. We get behind like that, we’ve folded a lot of times, so this was a step for us. It’s a step in the direction I want to go in.”

Bergen	200	010	220-	7	7	1
Salem CC	000	300	15x-	9	6	5

Softball

RANDOLPH — The Mighty Oaks softball team enjoyed their second 50-run doubleheader of the season, overwhelming CC of Morris for the second time this season, 29-1 and 21-1. The 29 runs in the opener matched the record they set against Morris on March 28. The 50 runs in the doubleheader fell one shy of that modern era record, set on April 10 at Raritan Valley.

“We set the tone for this week about making adjustments and continuing to prepare for ending the season strong while getting ready for postseason,” coach Angel Rodriguez said. “This team has a lot of talent. They continue to want to get better.”

Savannah Palverento had a big doubleheader. She went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener and 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored in the nightcap.

J.J. Aguirre drove in a pair of runs in the opener to set the program’s modern-era single-season RBI record (62) and added two more in the nightcap. Lilly Peverelle had six RBIs. Pahola Chavez had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs. Emme Witter and Jocelyn Melendez both had two hits.

In addition to Palverento’s big game in the nightcap, Ava Ortiz and Jalyn Rambally both had two hits and three RBIs, while Chantelle Haskie and Jordyn Busch both had two RBIs.

The Mighty Oaks used two pitchers in each five-inning game and both sets spun two-hitters. Raegan Wilson picked up the 100th strikeout of her career in the opener. Busch notched her 100th strikeout of the season while throwing three no-hit innings in the nightcap.

In the four games against the Titans this season, the Mighty Oaks have scored 96 runs, collected 54 hits and batted .505. Palverento went 9-for-13 with 13 RBIs in the series.

Salem CC	685	55-	29	17	3
Morris	001	00-	1	2	5

Salem CC	694	02-	21	14	1
Morris	000	10-	1	2	8

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III BASEBALL	R19	ALL	GSAC
RCSJ-Gloucester	21-4	25-8	16-4
Brookdale	19-7	29-8-1	16-5
Middlesex	18-8	27-13	14-6
Northampton	15-7	24-13
RCSJ-Cumberland	15-9	19-11-1	10-6
Montgomery	15-9	15-9
Camden	15-9	18-13	11-8
SALEM CC	14-12	19-21	11-8
Ocean	12-14	15-17	10-11
Bergen	11-15	13-22	11-12
Atlantic Cape	4-22	4-22	2-18
Union	1-22	4-25	0-19
Delaware County	1-23	2-23

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 9, Bergen 7
Monroe CC 8-12, Lackawanna 6-7
RCSJ-Cumberland 7, Camden 1
Montgomery 15, Atlantic Cape 1
Raritan Valley 24, Westchester CC 15
RCSJ-Gloucester 12, Brookdale 3
Northampton 14, Middlesex 7
Sussex 12, Dominican 2
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Bergen
Mercer at Rockland CC
RCSJ-Cumberland at Camden
Atlantic Cape at Montgomery
Northampton at Middlesex
Union at Delaware County
Brookdale at RCSJ-Gloucester
Sussex at Suffolk
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Monroe-Bronx at Sussex
Bronx CC at Raritan Valley
Montgomery at Brookdale

DIVISION II SOFTBALL	R19	ALL	GSAC
Mercer	16-2	35-3	12-0
Delaware Tech	17-5	23-11
Lackawanna	15-5	34-13
SALEM CC	12-10	24-18	10-4
Sussex	4-14	5-19	4-6
Morris	3-15	3-17	3-9
Raritan Valley	1-17	1-17	1-11

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 29-21, Morris 1-1
Lackawanna 19-12 Sussex 0-4
Mercer 5-8, Monroe 3-7
Camden 7-6, Northampton 5-14
Brookdale 14-19, Middlesex 0-2
RCSJ-Gloucester 17-16, Bergen 0-5
Ocean 7-11, RCSJ-Cumberland 0-3
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Raritan Valley at Sussex
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Brookdale
RCSJ-Gloucester at Camden
Raritan Valley at Lackawanna
Morris at Mercer
Sussex at Orange County CC