Category: SALEM

Sensational sectional

Schalick’s Stewart scores fourth win in this year’s South Jersey Group I track meet; county athletes win 4 more titles, grab 30 more state qualifying spots

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

MEDFORD – Schalick’s David Stewart completed a four-event sweep, two winning throwers surpassed personal benchmarks in big ways and overall Salem County athletes had another field day on the final day of the South Jersey Group I sectional track meet Saturday.

Salem County athletes won four more individual titles and secured 30 more spots in the state meet on a gorgeous day at Lenape High School. That brought their collective haul for the weekend to 11 sectional titles and 60 spots in the state meet. To break it down further, nine of the 18 boys events were won by Salem County athletes.

“Their performances to me, it was one of the best performances at sectionals in Salem County history,” Woodstown coach Tom Mason said, and he’s been coaching track and cross country in the county 46 years. “And you’ve got to understand track and field in Salem County has historically had the most state champions and state championship teams. I was very, very proud of Salem County.”

Stewart won his fourth event of the meet when he took the boys open 400 in a PR of 48.64 seconds, leading a 1-2-3-4 Salem County finish across the line. He won the triple jump Wednesday on the last jump of the event and the 400 hurdles and long jump Friday. He was the only athlete at Lenape – boy or girl, Group 1 or Group 4 – to win four individual events and edged out Eastern’s Natalie Dumas for overall high-point scorer.

“I had three gold medals so today it was really like I might as well go for the fourth and then I ended up getting the fourth, so it just felt really good,” Stewart said. “There was definitely pressure because going into the 400 I wasn’t seeded first, so I was running out of Lane 2. I was definitely a little nervous, but once I got in the blocks, all the adrenaline took over and it was just like another race and I ran it.”

Actually, running out of Lane 2 helped him because he could see the competition. The plan was to quickly close the stagger and take the lead, making the competition run harder on the backstretch to keep up and then kick it into another gear in the final 100 to pull away. That’s exactly what happened and he won the race by more than a full second.

“That was a great run for him,” Schalick coach James Turner said. “It was exciting for him to finally go ahead and get four sectional championships and move on to the state in two weeks and he’s excited about it.”

The plan is for him to run all four events at the state meet, where another four-way sweep is possible as he’ll be seeded first in the hurdles, 400 and triple jump.

“The thing I’m most impressed with is I can’t ever remember a time David had a negative attitude or was worried or had doubt,” Turner said. “He’s always very positive, he’s very determined and every day he goes out there and he’s competing, he just always has this very positive attitude about him (that) he’s going to do good, he’s going to be great, and that’s the one thing I don’t think I’ve ever had an athlete to have.

“He was always thinking positive and was confident in what he could do. Even today with his hamstring. He’s not injured he’s just sore. He was like I’ve got this, I’m good. He’s always confident. He’s always positive.”

Among the day’s other winners, Woodstown’s Aidan Taulane completed a double when he put the shot put title with the discus crown he won Friday, Schalick’s Gary Simonini won the javelin and Salem sprinter Raniyah Parsons-Smith won the girls 200.

The two winning throwers had been chasing specific benchmarks all year and both cleared them in the finals of their event with room to spare.

Simonini has been chasing 170 feet all year. The junior got there Saturday, winning the event with a school-record throw of 176 feet, 8 inches, clearing the old record, set by Pat McCann in 2019, by a foot. The winning throw, on his final attempt with the new “gold standard” implement he started gaming at the Salem County Meet, was actually the second time he crossed the threshold on the day. He threw it 171-6 on his first attempt in the finals.

“My goal since freshman year was always to break the school record,” he said. “Today, I had some good warmups. I came into the finals seeded first. My first throw in the finals I hit 171, my first time in the 170s. By the time I got to my third throw – I was the last to throw so I knew I won – so I just had a smile on my face, went out there and had fun.

“I had some back issues during the week and today was like one of my first full throw days of the week and it ended up being a great day. I’m just happy I could do it for my school. Schalick just has done so many great things for me. I’ve had a great high school experience. Just to be able to get the name of Schalick out there like one of the top track schools, like a force in Group 1, that’s probably my favorite part about today.”

He also had something else more personal motivating him. He missed making it to the state meet last year by one spot – 3.5 feet – when he threw it 136-9 that feels like a warmup toss these days.

“That was like 40 feet ago,” he said. “It really helped me throughout the summer with just my drive. I’ve been working for this since my freshman year. I’ve always wanted to break that record.”

That wasn’t just a story for Saturday. It truly has been an career-long pursuit.

“When he was a freshman I remember he laid out a four-year gameplan for himself,” Turner said. “I said I threw this much this year, by the end of next year I’m throwing 150. By the end of my junior year I’m going to be throwing a 170. By the time I’m a senior I’m going to be out there close to 200.

“I talked to him today afterwards and was like do you remember what you told me when you were a freshman about what you laid out and how you were going to progress over the years. He was like yeah I remember. Just laying it out for himself as a freshman and so far hitting all those goals is just exciting to watch. He’s so dedicated and determined to do exactly what he says he’s going to do, to see him win the sectional title and not just win the sectional title but break the school record as a junior that was so exciting to watch. It was such a beautiful throw.”

Taulane, meanwhile, has been creeping up on 50 feet in the shot put the past couple meets. The Rowan signee didn’t just clear it on this day, he left it in the rear view mirror. He finally broke through on the first time on his second throw of the prelims (50-2.5) and then turned it loose in the finals, throwing it 53-3 to win the event by 3 ½ feet. It was the 13th best throw in the state this season.

“Hitting 53 today was kind of crazy,” he said. “I still really don’t know how to feel; I feel good about it. It definitely was my best technical throw ever. Getting over the barrier (the first time) really helped to show me that there was more in the tank, how much more I could hit.”

Glassboro won the boys team title, Audubon won the girls crown. Woodstown made a push on the final day and edged Schalick for third in the boys standings; Penns Grove finished fifth. Salem and Schalick were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the girls standings.

The Woodstown boys entered the day in fourth place, 42 points out of first and 16 behind second-place Schalick, but they more than doubled their points production on the last day to pass the Cougars and finish 11 points out of second place.

“The young men, especially on the track, what warriors these kids were,” Mason said. “What Aidan did goes without saying, and we got a second place in the high jump from Eli Ceasar, but on the track what warriors these kids were. Karson takes a tumble (in the 4×100 Friday), he comes in with band-aids all over and gets second today in the 400. I was very proud of the kids today. They gave everything they had, battled, now let’s heal up and move on to states.”

Woodstown’s Aidan Taulane (C) soared past the 50-foot barrier to win the South Jersey Group I shot put title and become a double winner in this year’s sectional track meet. Top photo, four-event winner David Stewart (L) and Gary Simonini brought home gold for Schalick on Saturday’s final meet day.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SECTIONALS
Saturday Results Only
Event winners, Salem County state qualifiers (top six)

BOYS
Team scores: Glassboro 120, Camden 84, WOODSTOWN 73, SCHALICK 69, PENNS GROVE 47, Haddon Twp. 43, Woodbury 25, SALEM 24, Maple Shade 17, Clayton 12, Gateway 11, Burlington City 9, Audubon 8, Buena 8, PENNSVILLE 5, Palmyra 2, Paulsboro 1
400: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 48.64; 2. Karson Chew, Woodstown 49.70; 3. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 49.81; 4. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 49.84
4×800: 1. Woodbury 8:09.42; 3. Woodstown (Marino, Farrell, Hutton, Turner) 8:24.10; 6. Salem (Buzby, Gilbert, Pozo, Conrath) 8:45.81
110 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 14.69; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 15.05; 4. Timothy Gregory, Salem 15.54
200: 1. Christian Braxton, Camden 22.22; 4. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 22.90; 6. Timothy Gregory, Salem 23.18
1600: 1. Joseph Saicic, Glassboro 4:27.87
4×400: 1. Camden 3:23.15; 2. Penns Grove (Garlic, White, Goodson, Colon) 3:23.42; 3. Woodstown (Chew, Costello, Crawford, Turner) 3:25.99
Shot Put: 1. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 53-5; 4. Connor Wariwanchik, Pennsville 48-9.25; 5. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 48-7.25; 6. Ethan McLean, Schalick 46-11.5
Javelin: 1. Gary Simonini, Schalick 176-8
High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-2; T-2. Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-0; T-2. Elijah Caesar, Woodstown 6-0; 5. Donovan Weathers, Salem 6-0

GIRLS
Team scores: Audubon 153, Glassboro 1-3, Haddon Twp. 79, SALEM 43, SCHALICK 30, Maple Shade 28, Buena 25, WOODSTOWN 20, Burlington City 17, Paulsboro 10, Woodbury 10, Clayton 8, PENNS GROVE 8, Pitman 8, Camden 6, PENNSVILLE 5, Palmyra 3, Gateway 2
400: 1. Reagan Maher, Haddon Twp. 59.57; 3. Dynastie Tucker, Salem 1:00.91
4×800: 1. Audubon 10:18.53; 4. Woodstown (Porch, Dussault, Dubler, Marino) 10:57.42; 6. Schalick (Wilbur, Taylor, Parvin, Lillia) 11:06.87
100 Hurdles: 1. Ciani Floyd, Maple Shade 15.48
200: 1. Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 26.37; 5. Dynastie Tucker, Salem 26.93
1600: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 4:58.97
4×400: 1. Haddon Twp. 4:05.50; 3. Salem (Massengill, Tucker, Williams, Jackson) 4:17.73; 4. Schalick (Parvin, Jarmon, Valentine, Taylor) 4:20.84
Discus: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 151-05; 5. Tatiyonna Crawford, Pennsville 106-0; 6. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 104-1
Long Jump: 1. Erika Townsend, Glassboro 17-6.25; 2. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 17-1; 5. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 15-10
Pole Vault: 1. Morganna Makuszewski, Audubon 9-0; 6. Juliette Angelus, Woodstown 6-6

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
(Event winners, Salem County state qualifiers)
BOYS
Team scores: Glassboro 74, Schalick 48, Camden 34, Woodstown 32, Haddon Twp. 16, Salem 16, Penns Grove 12, Gateway 10, Burlington City 9, Clayton 8, Buena 6, Maple Shade 5, Woodbury 4, Palmyra 2, Audubon 2, Pennsville 1
4×100: 1. Camden 42.32; 5. Salem (Bergen, Beverly, Stevenson, Clayton) 43.98
800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:54.31; 3. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:57.94
400 Hurdles: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 55.33; 4. Grady Buzby, Salem 59.09
100: 1. Jaiden Steele, Camden 10.74; 4. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 11.14
3200: 1. Jaeden Wesley, Glassboro 9:34.67; 5. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 9:52.70
Discus: 1. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 159-2; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick 151-9
Long Jump: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 22-8.5; 2. Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-0.25; 4. Donovan Weathers, Salem 21-0.25; 6. Danny Knight, Pennsville 20-9
Pole Vault: 1. Salvatore Longo, Schalick 13-0
Triple Jump (Wednesday): 1. David Stewart, Schalick 48-7.25; 3. Jerry Seals, Salem, 43-9.5 4. Andrew White, Woodstown 43-0
GIRLS:
Team scores: Audubon 75, Glassboro 57, Haddon Twp. 29, Schalick 24, Woodstown 15, Salem 11, Burlington City 10, Buena 10, Clayton 8, Maple Shade 8, Woodbury 8, Camden 6, Penns Grove 6, Paulsboro 4, Pennsville 3, Palmyra 3, Gateway 2 
4×100: 1. Glassboro 49.72
800: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 2:16.66
400 Hurdles: 1. Emily Madden, Buena 1:07.13; 5. Brooke Valentine, Schalick 1:11.62; 6. Lia Covely, Woodstown 1:11.90
100: 1. Kayla James, Glassboro 12.68; 4. Anyzha Williams, Salem 13.01
3200: 2. Riley Fayer, Audubon 11:21.91; 3. Abby Marino, Woodstown 11:36.00.
Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 44-4.5; 4. Zoey Ceasar, Penns Grove 35-10
Javelin: 1. Navaeh Robinson, Schalick 118-3; 2. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 105-0; 6. Kaliyah Taylor, Salem 87-11
High Jump: 1. Julianna Lazton, Audubon 5-2; 2. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2; T-4. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10
Triple Jump (Wednesday): 1. Nyima Burley, Burlington City 37-8.5; 3. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-6; 4. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 35-0; 5. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 34-1

A Long-o road back

Schalick’s Longo wins boys sectional pole vault title in first competition of season, Stewart wins two more events; Salem County produces 7 champions, 30 state qualifiers through first full day of SJ Group I sectional meet

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

MEDFORD – Sal Longo spent his entire senior outdoor track season rehabbing a hamstring injury he sustained at the indoor Meet of Champions and didn’t compete once for Schalick during the spring. He made his long-awaited season debut Friday and what does he do – just become a sectional champion.

Just a week clear of being cleared to compete and with only four days of practice to prep him, Longo won the South Jersey Group I boys pole vault title with a vault of 13 feet.

“I was so stressful,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was going to make the opening height, to be honest. It’s been two months since I’ve done any competition, so clearing that opening bar was really a big weight off my back.

“I’m very proud of myself. I didn’t really think I would get first place at my first meet of the season let alone sectional. Honestly, it’s just a big stress reliever knowing that I’m back to how I was in winter track.”

Longo was one of five Salem County athletes to win an event in Friday’s first full day of sectional competition at Lenape High School.

Teammate David Stewart added two more titles to his collection, winning the long jump (22-8.5) and 400 hurdles (55.33); he won the triple jump Wednesday. Woodstown’s Josh Crawford won the 800 (1:54.31) in a 1-3 finish with teammate Karson Chew and teammate Aidan Taulane won the discus (159-2). Schalick’s Navaeh Robinson won the girls javelin (118-3) in s 1-2 finish with teammate Sebrina Bradford.

Salem County athletes picked up 30 qualifying spots to the state meet – 17 in boys, 13 in girls. The remaining spots are up for grabs Saturday.

Schalick is currently second behind Glassboro in the boys team standings and fourth in the girls race. Woodstown is fourth in the boys standings, and fifth in girls.

Longo sustained a Grade 3 strain in his left hamstring on March 8 and had been out of competition ever since. While his teammates were outside chasing PRs, he stayed inside anxiously waiting. He resisted the temptation to go out for fear of aggravating what had been healing. He passed on the Salem County Championships knowing all along the sectionals were the target date for his return.

He entered the competition Friday night at 11 feet and cleared the bar on his third attempt. He went through 11-6 and 12-feet and eventually he and Haddon Twp.’s Bobby McIlvaine were the last two standing as the bar went to 12-6.

Longo made it on his second attempt and McIlvaine went through on his third. Longo cleared 13 feet on his final attempt and had the gold after McIlvaine missed on his third try.

Longo made a bid for the Schalick school record, but missed all three attempts at 13-3.

“Sal’s a competitor and has been working hard for this moment for four years; he deserves every bit of this title,” Schalick coach James Turner said. “I really wasn’t sure what he was going to be capable of doing. Because of the injury he wasn’t even allowed to practice, or at least practice at our facility, until he was cleared, which happened this week. His dad told me yesterday he jumped 12-6 so I knew he was going to be able to do that.”

“I was really excited for him,” Stewart said. “He got injured right before Meet of Champs and that was really discouraging, so for him to just work past that and put the hard work in and see him win this is a really good feeling.”

Stewart had a stressful time of it as well. He was dealing with a leg issue left over from Wednesday’s triple jump competition, but he persevered.

He barely made it into the long jump finals with a jump of 20-3.25, then on his first jump in the final he went 21-8 to take the lead, which was matched by Glassboro rival Moses Robles. He fouled on his second attempt, then won the event by soaring 22-8 on his final attempt. He won the triple jump Wednesday on the final jump of the competition.

“I had to deal with some hamstring problems so today I was mainly just trying to focus on advancing to the next round, but I ended up winning the event,” he said. “I didn’t jump that good in the prelims, I barely made it through. I was mad, like why am I jumping bad? Turner texted me that I made it through to the finals, so I went over there and was stretching. I felt loose and then I just popped a great third jump which led to the 22-8.”

The leg problem that bothered him Friday isn’t expected to impact what he has left. He still intends to run the open 400 Saturday in a bid for four sectional golds.

“I’m still going to go out there and give it everything I got,” he said. “I’m going to run.”

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I MEET
(Event winners, Salem County state qualifiers (top six))

BOYS
Team scores: Glassboro 74, Schalick 48, Camden 34, Woodstown 32, Haddon Twp. 16, Salem 16, Penns Grove 12, Gateway 10, Burlington City 9, Clayton 8, Buena 6, Maple Shade 5, Woodbury 4, Palmyra 2, Audubon 2, Pennsville 1
4×100: 1. Camden 42.32; 5. Salem (Bergen, Beverly, Stevenson, Clayton) 43.98
800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:54.31; 3. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:57.94
400 Hurdles: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 55.33; 4. Grady Buzby, Salem 59.09
100: 1. Jaiden Steele, Camden 10.74; 4. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 11.14
3200: 1. Jaeden Wesley, Glassboro 9:34.67; 5. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 9:52.70
Discus: 1. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 159-2; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick 151-9
Long Jump: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 22-8.5; 2. Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-0.25; 4. Donovan Weathers, Salem 21-0.25; 6. Danny Knight, Pennsville 20-9
Pole Vault: 1. Salvatore Longo, Schalick 13-0
Triple Jump (Wednesday): 1. David Stewart, Schalick 48-7.25; 3. Jerry Seals, Salem, 43-9.5 4. Andrew White, Woodstown 43-0

GIRLS:
Team scores: Audubon 75, Glassboro 57, Haddon Twp. 29, Schalick 24, Woodstown 15, Salem 11, Burlington City 10, Buena 10, Clayton 8, Maple Shade 8, Woodbury 8, Camden 6, Penns Grove 6, Paulsboro 4, Pennsville 3, Palmyra 3, Gateway 2
4×100: 1. Glassboro 49.72
800: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 2:16.66
400 Hurdles: 1. Emily Madden, Buena 1:07.13; 5. Brooke Valentine, Schalick 1:11.62; 6. Lia Covely, Woodstown 1:11.90
100: 1. Kayla James, Glassboro 12.68; 4. Anyzha Williams, Salem 13.01
3200: 2. Riley Fayer, Audubon 11:21.91; 3. Abby Marino, Woodstown 11:36.00.
Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 44-4.5; 4. Zoey Ceasar, Penns Grove 35-10
Javelin: 1. Navaeh Robinson, Schalick 118-3; 2. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 105-0; 6. Kaliyah Taylor, Salem 87-11
High Jump: 1. Julianna Lazton, Audubon 5-2; 2. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2; T-4. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10
Triple Jump (Wednesday): 1. Nyima Burley, Burlington City 37-8.5; 3. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-6; 4. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 35-0; 5. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 34-1

Top photo: Schalick’s Sal Longo clears the bar to win the South Jersey Group I sectional pole vault title in his first competition of the spring. (Submitted photo)

Calling his shot

Schalick’s Stewart wins sectional triple jump with record effort, said the day before if he came down to a do-or-die jump he was going to win it

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WESTMONT – Maybe it was the confidence that comes with trusting his training talking, but Schalick junior David Stewart knew the day before what was going to happen in the sectional triple jump if a certain scenario had come to pass.

Stewart won the South Jersey Group I triple jump title Wednesday at Haddon Twp. with a jump of 48 feet, 7 ¼ inches on his final attempt of the day with no on left. Not only did the jump set the meet record, it was the best triple jump in all Group I sectionals all-time and the second-best Group I triple jump in state history.

And he predicted it was going to happen. Well, maybe not all the record-breaking stuff, but the win.

While doing some last-minute prep for one of his signature events Tuesday, Stewart told Cougars coach James Turner if he had the last jump of the day and someone was ahead of him in the standings he was going to win the event right there.

And that’s exactly what happened. Stewart’s close friend and rival Moses Robles of Glassboro had jumped 47-5 on his second attempt in the finals to grab the lead. Stewart was still in second when his turn came on the runway for his final attempt. He was going to advance to the state meet as it was, but he wasn’t second anymore when he landed in the pit.

“I told (Turner) that yesterday at practice,” Stewart said. “I told him if I’m the last jumper and somebody’s beating me I’m winning on the last jump. That’s just all confidence. I’ve really been working hard, training hard, so I knew my training would pay off. I trusted his training and it got me to where I am. 

“It’s like literally a dream it happened that way. When I was lined up as the last jumper I was just sitting there talking to myself saying we talked about this, this is what we said was going to happen. We got this.”

There was a sense around the pit his next-to-last jump would have been strong enough to challenge the leader, but he buckled going in and he didn’t get the result. The number wasn’t there, but the feeling was.

“Everyone knew it would’ve been a big jump and that’s when I think he realized it, too; he was, oh, I’ve got this,” Turner said. “I talked to him. We made some minor adjustments we talked about earlier in the week. I just think he was finally focused now, that he knew it came down to it and he just put everything together for that final jump.

“We talked about the adjustments real quick. He understood what he needed to do. He was focused. He went back to the end of the runway to get ready for his final jump. He had a couple people he was waiting on. I went back and talked to him and said just focus in, continue to tell yourself you got this and just execute. When I walked away I knew he was going to get it. I knew he was going to jump a 47 or his best jump of the year.

“I knew where he needed to land. As soon as I saw him land I just went over to him and shook his hand. I said you got it. He just stood up and kind of knew he got it, too. It was a great moment. I was really proud because he puts in so much hard work. He’s probably one of the hardest working track athletes that I’ve ever coached. You can just see how determined he is and how much it means to him to succeed and continue to grow.” 

Jerry Seals of Salem was third (43-9.5) and Woodstown’s Andrew White was fourth. Three Salem County girls also qualified to the state meet in the event – Salem’s Ramiyah Jones, Schalick’s Jaelynn Jarmon and Penns Grove’s Arianna Dowe – finishing 3-4-5, respectively. The top six advance.

The sectional meet resumes Friday and for the rest of the weekend at Lenape High School. Having the triple jump Wednesday actually frees up Stewart for his projected attempts at the open 400 (he’s ranked third in Group I), 400 hurdles (No. 2 among all groups) and long jump. Last year at sectionals he had to bounce between the jumps and the hurdles all the while balancing a painful foot injury that eventually kept him from competing in the triple jump at the state meet.

“That’s another thing that really plays a big part in sectionals,” Stewart said. “That being the only thing I had to do today also helps out with my other events. It helps with my focus, because today I didn’t have to worry about running, hurdling, long jump, all my focus was right there. Being on a Wednesday it was a little weird, it felt weird, but you still have to perform no matter when, what time, where. You have to perform.”

Big day for Eagles

Pennsville softball players set two milestones in bounce-back win over Gloucester Catholic; Woodstown’s Wygand, Schalick’s Sepers, Watt closing in on 100 hits; also includes scores, details from Wednesday’s Salem County sports schedule

SOFTBALL
Pennsville 6, Gloucester Catholic 3
Schalick 10, Glassboro 8
Wildwood 10, Salem 0
Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLOUCESTER – It was a milestone day for the players on the Pennsville softball team. Lily Edwards scored her 100th career run for the first run of the game and Graillyn Weber hit a pair of doubles to set the school’s single-season record as the Eagles bounced back from a bad loss to Millville the day before and topped Gloucester Catholic 6-3 to move within one win of an undefeated division season.

Edwards led off the game with a double and scored her milestone run on Weber’s 16th double of the season, breaking the record Kylie Harris set each of the last two years. Weber’s second double of the game came leading off the third inning and she later scored a game-tying run on a single by Avery Watson.

“I’m really happy about it and honestly I had forgotten before the game about the record, which definitely made it easier to accomplish because I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Weber said. “But I couldn’t have done it without my teammates because we had a great game.”

Weber may have forgotten about the record she was chasing, but Edwards had been counting down the runs and the 100 hits she’s closing on for the last couple weeks.

“For me it’s big because I missed my whole sophomore season (with a broken back) so just to accomplish something like that, that big, means a lot to me,” she said. “I definitely was looking for it. I knew it was going to happen. With Gray (Weber) and Kylie (Harris) behind me I knew I was going to get it, but I knew I needed to run really fast.”

It takes a lot of success at the plate to score 100 runs. She’s scored all those runs off 89 hits, 17 walks, eight HBPs and a couple of fielder’s choices. It’s not certain how many times she’s reached on an error. She’s scored in every game but two this year, and one of those was a shutout the third game of the season.

“My 100 hits is my main goal for high school softball,” she said. “You don’t get that recognition like travel ball or anything, but high school is the time to do it. It’s going to really nice to get it, hopefully.”

The Eagles came from behind twice to beat the Rams for the second time this season. They trailed 2-1 in the first inning and 3-2 in the fourth before scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good. Harris hit the go-ahead RBI triple, Watson followed with an RBI single and Kelsey Cook delivered a run-scoring ground out later in the inning. Weber pitched a scoreless seventh to wrap up a complete-game victory.

Watson, the Eagles’ senior shortstop and clean-up hitter, went 4-for-4 in the game. She also had a single in the first, a single in the fifth and another RBI single in the seventh.

“The game was important to us as a division game and I wanted to help be the fuel we needed to pick up the team after a tough loss the day before,” Watson said. “I have plenty of long at-bats where I’m looking to find my perfect pitch and fouling off what I don’t like, and that’s what I did today. I found a good mix of patience and aggression at the plate that helped contribute to our win.”

The Eagles (13-5) can complete an undefeated run through the TCC Classic Division with a win at Salem Monday.

WOODSTOWN 17, PENNS GROVE 0: Ellie Wygand went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, Lexi Taylor was 2-for-2 with three RBIs, Grace Hitchner drove in three runs and three Woodstown pitchers combined on a four-inning no-hitter.

SCHALICK 10, GLASSBORO 8: Khloe McGrath’s three-run homer gave Schalick the lead and highlighted a seven-run fourth inning that erased a 5-1 deficit. The win completed the Cougars’ first undefeated run in the Diamond Division since 2021.

WILDWOOD 19, SALEM 0: Emma Contreras went 4-for-4 with four four RBIs and pitched a four-inning one-hitter, facing one batter over the minimum. Julliana Love had the Rams’ hit, a leadoff single in the second inning.

BASEBALL
Schalick 13, Glassboro 3
Vineland 12, Pennsville 9
Woodstown 12, Penns Grove 0
Wildwood 17, Salem 7

SCHALICK 13, GLASSBORO 3: The Cougars erased a 2-1 deficit with 10 runs in the third inning and sealed up back-to-back division titles for the first time in school history. Jamari Whitley and Evan Glaspey had three hits apiece, Evan Sepers had three RBIs and Whitley struck out nine in a five-inning complete game. Sepers (99) and Ricky Watt (94) are closing in on 100 career hits.

WOODSTOWN 12, PENNS GROVE 0: Luke Fraley went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, Walker Battavio went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Colton Williams pitched a five-inning one-hitter striking out seven. Josh Widen had the Red Devils’ lone hit.

WILDWOOD 17, SALEM 7: The Warriors were out front 15-0 to offset Salem’s seven-run outburst in the fourth. Trevor Troiano went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and is 8-for-8 with seven RBIs against Salem County foes the last two days. He’s 10-for-13 in his last three games overall. Jovanni Rios hit a three-run triple in the Rams’ big inning and was out at plate trying to stretch it into a homer.

VINELAND 12, PENNSVILLE 9: The Eagles trailed 9-2 after two innings, but battled back and brought the tying run to the plate in a seventh-inning rally but ran out of steam. Logan Streitz went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Mason O’Brien and Dante Cummings had two hits apiece.

VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Timber Creek

TENNIS
Delsea 3, Woodstown 2
Pennsville 3, Pitman 2

DELSEA 3, WOODSTOWN 2
Zeph Kell (D) def. Drew Stengel, 6-3, 6-0
Eli Croce (D) def. Mason Shimp, 7-5, 6-2
Zach Natalie (D) def. Luke Shaw, 6-1, 6-3
Vincent Merendino-Nick DiTeodoro (WO) def. Jacob Bramble-Jude Thompson, 6-3, 6-4
Josh King-Connor Miller (WO) def. Seth Bui-Thomas Maronski, 6-0, 6-2
Records: Delsea 17-2, Woodstown 12-7

PENNSVILLE 3, PITMAN 2
Nolan Russell (PI) def. Sawyer Humphrey, 6-4, 6-2
Lucas Cooksey (PV) def. Liam Etter, 6-0, 6-1
Ben Williams (PI) def. Carter Willis, 6-3, 6-3
Jacob Cheeseman-Coen Rinnier (PV) def. Spencer Bianchini-Jonah Raymer, 6-4, 6-4
Matthew Forino-Lucas Thomas (PV) def. Ayden Epley-Ezra Ralph, 6-1, 6-0
Records: Pennsville 15-6, Pitman 13-7

Scrappy baseball

Pennsville uses grit, luck to get past Glassboro; includes scores, details from Tuesday’s Salem County sports calendar

BASEBALL
Pennsville 4, Glassboro 1: Eagles take lead with four in fortuitous fifth inning; full story below..
Wildwood 12, Penns Grove 2: Trevor Troiano goes 4-for-4; Wildwood holds Penns Grove to one hit through five innings while opening 7-0 lead. Bristol Scott, Tim Zamorano drove in Penns Grove’s runs in sixth.
Piscataway Magnet 15, Salem Tech 7: NJTAC Group 1/2 Tournament semifinals. Chargers led early, but Piscataway (21-2) pulled away from a 9-7 game with six in home sixth..
SOFTBALL
Woodstown 11, Deptford 1: Karly Spears and Macie Moore combine for four hits, four runs and three RBIs from bottom of Wolverines’ lineup. Leah Clark allows two hits, none after the first inning, and struck out eight to surpass 200 in her career (201).
Millville 16, Pennsville 2: Thunderbolts put Eagles back on their heels with seven in top of the first inning. Pennsville’s Graillyn Weber ties Kylie Harris’ single-season school doubles record (15), Harris hits her 49th career double.
Buena 12, Salem Tech 11: Chiefs score three runs on passed balls in home seventh to walk it off. Izzy Roberts had three hits and Carmen Mott three RBIs for the Chargers
GOLF
Schalick 161, Cumberland 196: Schalick’s Anthony Sepers posts 2-over 38 at Centerton CC for medalist honors. Teammate Jaxson Weber shot 39.
GIRLS GOLF
OLMA 214, Schalick 225: OLMA’s Eva Acerba and Schalick’s Lena Virga shared medalist honors (48) at Centerton CC
TENNIS
Middle Twp. 5, Schalick 0: See below
Pennsville 4, Washington Twp. 1: See below
GIRLS LACROSSE
Holy Cross 13, Woodstown 12: The Lancers scored twice in the final 1:31 to win. Caroline Tobin and Brielle Mosteller scored six goals each for Holy Cross. Delaney Walker scored four (217) for Woodstown, Emma Morgan scored three for her 200th career point.
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Middle Twp.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at West Tech

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – At least one time every year Pennsville’s home field becomes a true advantage to play at home.

It certainly was Tuesday when the skin infield of Ed Rieger Field that the Eagles have come to love played a key role in the inning that propelled them to a 4-1 come-from-behind victory over Glassboro.

The game carried some serious implications for the South Jersey Group i playoff bracket and it very much played like a playoff game. The Eagles trailed 1-0 going to the home fifth of a tight pitching duel between aces Jude Dempster and Gavin Spears, but they came out of the inning with a 4-1 lead thanks in part of the subtleties of the infield. 

The inning started when Spears reached on a one-out dropped third strike and escalated into a bases-loaded situation on Mason O’Brien’s single and Jeff Wagner getting hit by a pitch. Logan Streitz followed with a fly ball to the gap in left center that centerfielder Jimmy McMahon had in his glove and couldn’t hold allowing the tying run to score.

With the bases still loaded, Stevie Fatcher lofted a high pop behind first that was circled under by first baseman Aidan Evangelisti but eventually fell between three fielders. The Bulldogs thought it should have been an infield fly rule out, but the umpires didn’t see it that way and the Eagles had a 2-1 lead.

Then came the play that makes the skin infield both feared and famous. Grady Sanders hit a routine grounder to the right side. It looked like it would be the third out of the inning, but at the last instant it took a wicked hop into second baseman Kody Harrell’s upper body. The sophomore infielder recovered the ball, but in his haste to get the out his throw to first was wide and two insurance runs raced home.

“We’ve been talking a lot lately about just finding a way,” Eagles coach Matt Karr said. “Ugly, pretty, whatever, just find a way. And that starts with just putting the ball in play and doing your job. Heads up play there by Gavin. Instead of standing there feeling sorry for himself he finds his way on base. Everything we’ve been preaching this season and always here, just give the guy behind you a shot. Whatever your job is at the moment go to the plate and do it and trust that the guy behind you is gonna pick you up and finish it off.

“Another thing I talk about all the time is luck. I really believe that part of the baseball game is creating some of your own luck. Some of those things that happened that inning, we had to put ourselves in situations for it to be capitalized on. Could’ve been nobody on and that pop up happens and falls and doesn’t mean anything. but we had guys on and we were fighting, so we created our luck in that situation. When you’re facing a pitcher like (Dempster) you have to almost ugly it up a little bit, fight, claw and find a way.”

Spears calls it “scrappy baseball … that’s what we symbolize around here.”

A similar scenario took place here 51 weeks ago when the Eagles scored a one-run extra-inning victory over Pitman. They fell behind that day 1-0 in the first, tied it in the seventh on a ball that got away from the catcher and won in it the eighth with the help of two fielding errors by two normally sure-handed infielders.

“We’re becoming one of the far and few between fields where it’s a skin infield; I don’t know how many of them are left in South Jersey, I would guess not many,” Karr said. “Here, as dry as the weather’s been, this field hardens up and our guys get the luxury of practicing and playing on it every single day. We were watching them take I/O and I told the guys, half-heartedly joking, Ed Rieger’s hardening up, you know what that means. Put ‘er in play and see what happens. It always finds a way. We love the home-field advantage.”

“This field is probably the worst I’ve ever seen in my life,” Sanders said. “On this infield, there’s been many black eyes that I’ve seen; I got hit over the forehead last year. Especially over there (waving to the right side), that’s one of the hardest spots in the infield. It’s great to play here. This is the most challenging place to play. Everywhere else feels like a joy ride. I love playing here. It makes me a better defender. It makes everybody here a better defender.”

“Basically anything that’s hit hard on the ground (is) guaranteed a base hit here,” Spears said. “It’s not the best place to play but for us I’d say it is. Any team coming in here is going to have a hard time fielding the ball. We get to work out here every single day, so we’re kind of used to it. This is just our home.”

Once the Eagles grabbed the lead, Spears had to go out and defend it. He went out and gave them a shutdown sixth, working the corners to retire the Bulldogs on a soft liner to second and two strikeouts. He allowed five hits and struck out eight in going the distance for his longest outing of the season. The Bulldogs scored their run in the first inning – on back-to-back walks to open the game, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly – then were blanked the rest of the game.

“We went up to Cherry Hill West for the Diamond Classic and threw him out there against one of the top teams in the state and he went out and battled his butt off,” Karr said. “We told the boys after the game I don’t know if you guys knew that we needed an ace or had an ace, but you’ve got a guy. We know when 10 toes the rubber we’re going to have a shot to win. Every start he’s been on the mound we’ve been right there or we’ve won. Our guys feel that. When they’ve got their guy on the mound they come out feeling different that day. He gives us that shot in the arm.”

“I never really considered myself an ace; I always feel like there’s things to work on, even in this game,” Spears said. “It’s good to know they have trust in me. I know my fielders have my back. I know they’re going to make every play that’s out there.”

Dempster was equally impressive for the Bulldogs. He held the Eagles to four hits over five innings and struck out 11.

The win allowed the Eagles to switch places with Glassboro in the SJ Group I power points standings. Glassboro was sixth and Pennsville seventh to start the day, but they flipped after the game. Schalick is No. 1, Woodstown No. 3. The power point window closes after Saturday’s games.

Glassboro1000000-153
Pennsville000040x-452
WP: Gavin Spears. LP: Jude Dempster. 2B: Brennan Crosbee (G).

SJ GROUP 1 POWER POINTS STANDINGS
Top 16 through May 12
1. Schalick (14-6), 2. Haddon Twp. (12-8), 3. Woodstown (13-8), 4. Wildwood (15-7), 5. Maple Shade (11-8), 6. Pennsville (12-6), 7. Glassboro (9-11), 8. Audubon (8-9), 9. Buena (10-10), 10. Gateway (11-8), 11. Paulsboro (5-13), 12. Riverside (6-10), 13. Pitman (7-12), 14. LEAP (8-9), 15. Cape May Tech (5-12), 16. Palmyra (4-12).
On the bubble: Clayton (5-11), Burlington City (5-8), Penns Grove (3-13).

TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 4, WASHINGTON TWP. 1
William Minchin (WT) def. Sawyer Humphrey, 6-2, 6-3
Lucas Cooksey (P) def. Steven Pisano, 6-3, 6-4
Carter Willis (P) def. Aaron Negin, 6-1, 6-3
Coen Rinner-Jacob Cheeseman (P) def. Josh To-Leo Yang, 6-3, 6-3
Lucas Thomas-Matthew Forino (P) def. Ben Steinberg-Ravi Patel, 6-3, 6-3
Records: Pennsville 14-6, Washington Twp. 5-13.

MIDDLE TWP. 5, SCHALICK 0
Michael Ratchford (MT) def. Gabe McFeeley, 6-0, 6-2
Miles Stafford (MT) def. Reece Loatman, 6-0, 6-3
Michael Zuzulock (MT) def. Tyr Brattlie, 6-1, 6-2
Kenny Martin-Dante Duca (MT) def. Cooper Halperin-Jack Genievich, 6-2, 6-2
Dylan Jenkins-MJ Murnagham (MT) def. Angelo Boston-Gavin McGrath, 6-2, 6-0
Records: Middle Twp. 17-1, Schalick 7-10.

Keeping track

Here is an update on former Salem County high school players on the next level through May 10

Baseball

PLAYERSCHOOLGPBAHHRRBI
Elijah Crespo, Penns Grove  RCSJ-Cumb17.217516
Lucas D’Agostino, SchalickRCSJ-Cumb26.27417126
Andrew Pedrick, WoodstownHarford CC33.39839339
Lucas Prendergast, WoodstownYork41.40362528
Jarrett Pokrovsky, SchalickPenn38.29746221
Terrell Robinson, SalemRosemont27.2601909
Jackson Schalick, SchalickFrostburg54.37868863
Caiden Spinelli, WoodstownRosemont32.34035015
Connor Starn, PennsvilleKeystone10.154202
Rocco String, WoodstownSalem CC33.25525325
Chase Swain, WoodstownLaSalle51.38979939
Mike Valente, WoodstownSalem CC10.000000
Brent Williams, WoodstownG-Beacom37.29240325
PITCHERSCHOOLGPW-LERAIPK
Evan Biddle, SalemFrostburg91-08.1010.07
Lucas D’Agostino, SchalickRCSJ-Cumb115-21.8852.253
Ben Foote, WoodstownCaldwell71-19.82 7.15
Jack Holladay, WoodstownNeumann80-39.4321.016
Peyton O’Brien, PennsvilleHarford CC70-01.7410.112
Luke Pokrovsky, SchalickPenn120-112.8914.215
Terrell Robinson, SalemRosemont40-08.106.22
Caiden Spinelli, WoodstownRosemont20-027.001.11
Rocco String, WoodstownSalem CC50-129.084.15
Mike Valente, WoodstownSalem CC92-15.8424.212
Luke Wood, PennsvilleMcDaniel105-15.094637

Softball

PLAYERSCHOOLGPBAHHRRBI
Emily Holladay, WoodstownHartwick16.190803
Tulana Mingin, WoodstownEast Stroudsburg55.3215906
Ava Ortiz, SalemSalem CC15.474909
Savannah Palverento, PennsvilleSalem CC44.41345239
Lilly Peverelle, PennsvilleSalem CC47.47670860
Bella Rappa, PennsvilleSalem CC38.44044043
Cayla Sbrana, SchalickRCSJ-Cumb27.30421012
Sawyer Simmons, PennsvilleSalem CC30.31719115
PITCHERSCHOOLGPW-LERAIPK
Savannah Palverento, PennsvilleSalem CC162-06.1625.027
Cayla Sbrana, SchalickRCSJ-Cumb142-1010.0265.222
Raegan Wilson, SalemSalem CC2311-65.8089.151

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 11-16; all events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

MONDAY, MAY 11
BASEBALL
Schalick at Salem
Woodstown at Clayton
SOFTBALL
Clayton at Woodstown
Pennsville at Glassboro
Salem vs. Schalick, Elmer LL, 6 p.m.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. Williamstown, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Washington Twp., 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Triton
BOYS LACROSSE
Millville at Woodstown
TRACK
Woodstown in Deptford Invitational
TENNIS
Schalick at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 3:45 p.m.
Pitman at Penns Grove

TUESDAY, MAY 12
BASEBALL
Glassboro at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Wildwood
Salem Tech at Piscataway Magnet (NJTAC)
SOFTBALL
Deptford at Woodstown
Millville at Pennsville
Salem Tech at Buena, 3:45 p.m.
Wildwood at Penns Grove
GOLF
Woodstown vs. Lower Cape May, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. OLMA, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Middle Twp. at Schalick, 3:45 p.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Washington Twp.
TRACK
Woodstown at West Deptford, 5 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at BCIT, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Holy Cross at Woodstown
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Middle Twp., 4:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
BASEBALL
Glassboro at Schalick
Penns Grove at Woodstown
Salem at Wildwood
Pennsville at Vineland, 7 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Glassboro
Wildwood at Salem
Woodstown at Penns Grove
GOLF
Schalick vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. OLMA, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Middle Twp., 4:15 p.m.
TENNIS
Delsea at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Pitman, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Schalick
TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Timber Creek

THURSDAY, MAY 14
BASEBALL
Clayton at Salem Tech
GCIT at Pennsville
SOFTBALL
Bridgeton at Salem Tech
Woodstown at Glassboro
Delran at Schalick, 4:15 p.m.
GOLF
Woodstown vs. Overbrook, Kresson GC, 3:30 p.mm.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Delsea at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Burlington Twp. at Pennsville
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Timber Creek
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Riverside at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 15
BASEBALL
LEAP at Penns Grove
Mainland at Schalick
Oakcrest at Woodstown
Salem Tech at Camden Academy Charter
SOFTBALL
Bridgeton at Salem
Camden Academy Charter at Salem Tech
Clearview at Pennsville
Delran at Schalick, 4:15 p.m.
BOYS GOLF
Woodstown vs. Overbrook, Kresson GC, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS GOLF
Schalick vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC, 3:30 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Triton at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Timber Creek
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Paul VI, 6 p.m.
TENNIS
Overbrook at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals

SATURDAY, MAY 16
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Cedar Creek, 11 a.m.
Woodstown at Buena, noon
Oakcrest at Woodstown
Penns Grove at LEAP
SOFTBALL
Bridgeton at Salem
Clearview at Pennsville
LEAP at Penns Grove
TENNIS
Overbrook at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick at Pitman
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Triton at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Camden Catholic, 11 a.m.
TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals

Friday sports report

Here are the scores and highlights from Friday night’s Salem County sports calendar; includes Saturday’s schedule

FRIDAY’S GAMES
SOFTBALL
CLEARVIEW 11, SCHALICK 4: Sienna Garrison hit her eighth homer of the season and Ella Redheffer homered twice as Clearview rallied from a 4-0 deficit. Garrison’s three-run homer in fourth inning put the Pioneers (13-5) ahead 6-4. Redheffer’s first homer got them on the board in the third and her second gave them an 8-4 lead. Khloe McGrath had three hits for the Cougars (11-4). Emma Cain had two.

DEPTFORD 16, SALEM 6: The Spartans (7-11) broke it open with a 10-run third inning. Teyla Solimon had a two-run single and bases-loaded walk in the big inning. Solimon, Brooke White and Sophie McGuire all had three RBIs in the game.

TENNIS
PITMAN 4, SCHALICK 1
Records: Schalick 6-8, Pitman 12-6

MIDDLE TWP. 5, WOODSTOWN 0
Michael Ratchford (M) def. Drew Stengel, 7-5, 6-4
Miles Stafford (M) def. Mason Shimp, 6-1, 6-0
Darp Patel (M) def. Luke Shaw, 6-1, 6-1
Kenny Martin-Dante Duca (M) def. Vincent Merendino-Nick DiTeodoro, 6-1, 6-4
Michael Zuzulock-MJ Murnagham (M) def. Connor Miller-Josh King, 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 10-8
Records: Woodstown 11-6, Middle Twp. 16-1

COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region XIX Tournament
Camden 12-6, RCSJ-Cumberland 2-5, Camden wins series 2-0
Middlesex 11-14, Northampton 6-4, Middlesex wins series 2-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 10-13, Montgomery 2-1, RCSJ-G wins series 2-0


SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
BASEBALL
Lee Ware Tournament, Woodstown
Woodstown vs. Camden Catholic, 10 a.m.
Cherry Hill East vs. Washington Twp., 10 a.m.
Consolation game, 1 p.m.
Championship game, 1 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Fred Powell Invitational, Williamstown
Woodstown vs. Williamstown, 9 a.m.
Mainland vs. Cumberland, 9 a.m.
Cherry Hill East vs. Absegami, 9 a.m.
Moorestown vs. Cedar Creek, 9 a.m.
Woodstown vs. Mainland or Cumberland, 11:30 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region XIX Tournament
Salem CC at Brookdale (2), 11 a.m.

It’s clinching season

Softball, baseball teams from Pennsville, Schalick all clinch pieces of Tri-County division titles with wins around the region; Woodstown baseball gives DeCastro 100th career win

BASEBALL
Clayton 20, Salem 14
Woodstown 9, Overbrook 3
Pennsville 5, Wildwood: 3
Schalick 27, Penns Grove 4
SOFTBALL
Clayton 17, Salem 6
Schalick 20, Penns Grove 2
Woodstown 13, Overbrook 6
Pennsville 12, Wildwood 6
TENNIS
Pennsville 4, GCIT 1
Williamstown 3, Penns Grove 2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — The biggest rule in playing sports is always be ready because you never know when your number will be called. If that’s the golden rule, the silver rule is control what you can control … and if you happen to get some outside help along the way that’s, well, gravy.

Pennsville softball followed both rules to the letter Thursday in beating Wildwood 12-6 to clinch their third straight Tri-County Classic Division title and second straight outright.

The Eagles (11-4, 8-0 Classic) went into the day with a chance to clinch the division by beating the Warriors and a Pitman win over Gloucester Catholic. Both results happened, giving the Eagles a three-game lead in the loss column with two division games to play, but the only game the Eagles worried about was the one right in front of their dugout.

“I wasn’t really paying attention who was playing what; I didn’t say anything to them about it,” Eagles coach Beth Jackson said. “We talk about the controllables. You can only take care of yourself individually and how you react and what you do. I’ve been telling myself that a lot. In life you can only control what you can do. You can’t control anybody else. You can’t control the strike zone. You can’t control what the other team does. You have to focus on you and what you can do and at the of the day we have to focus on what we do and what they do as a team.

“Help always helps, but first and foremost you have to take care of business with your own and then if there’s other help that’s great. But if you can take care of business yourself that’s your main focus because you want to take care of it yourself.”

Graillyn Weber was scheduled to start in the circle for the Eagles, but she felt too sore to be effective and 10 minutes before first pitch Savannah Guglielmo was moved from left field to the circle and four positions in the lineup shifted. Jackson said it was the first time in her 17 years as coach she can remember making that late a pitching switch. Luckily, all three Pennsville pitchers warm up before games for just such a contingency.

It was Guglielmo’s fourth career start and third this year, but first in such a significant game. The sophomore right-hander went all seven innings, giving up five hits, walking six and tying a career-high with nine strikeouts. Jackson said she did a “nice job.”

“I knew she could do it,” Weber said.

“When I’m warming up I’m always trying to make sure I’m focused just in case something happens like one of these moments, last minute,” she said. “I always try to set goals for myself during a game especially things last minute. Today it was make sure I throw strikes. I just tried to stay calm and into the game.”

Of course, it’s a lot easier to pitch when you have the kind of lineup Pennsville puts on the field. Virtually every time the Warriors scored, the Eagles came back the next half inning to put up a crooked number.

The Warriors scored a run in the second to tie the game 1-1, the Eagles put up four in the bottom of the inning. The Warriors got two in the fourth to make it 5-4, the Eagles got them back when they came in to bat. They eventually broke it open with four in the fifth after their first five hitters all reached safely.

Although she didn’t pitch, Weber still played — at short, moving Avery Watson to third – and came within an extra Wheatie at breakfast of hitting three balls out of the park. She still had a pair of doubles to the warning track that drove in three runs. “I do that all the time,” she said. “I need to start doing pushups or squats or something.”

Kylie Harris had three hits, including a solo homer in the first inning and her 48th career double. Kelsey Cook had two hits at the bottom of the lineup.

“I’m honestly never worried,” Guglielmo said. “I feel like you just have to have confidence throughout the game. You’ve just gotta stay calm and focus on the game and whatever happens happens. You just have to have confidence in yourself and your teammates.”

Wildwood0112002-654
Pennsville140241x-12123
WP: Savannah Guglielmo. LP: Emma Contreras. 2B: Addison Troiano (W), Lily Edwards (P), Graillyn Weber 2 (P), Kylie Harris (P). HR: Kylie Harris (P).
Sophomore right-hander Savannah Guglielmo threw a seven-inning complete game as Pennsville’s last-minute starting pitcher in the division-clinching game.


WOODSTOWN 13, OVERBROOK 6: Ellie Wygand continued to wield a hot bat for the Wolverines, going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer in the seventh inning. The Wolverines pulled away from a 6-5 lead with four runs in the sixth, highlighted by Kendall Young’s two-run single and a couple RBI ground outs. The top four hitters in the Woodstown lineup – Wygand, Talia Guardascione, Leah Clark and Young – were a combined 11-for-19 with eight RBIs. Madison LaPalomento drove in three runs from the 5-hole.

SCHALICK 20, PENNS GROVE 2: The Cougars scored nine runs in the first inning and went on to clinch their first Diamond Division title since 2021. They put 11 hits together with 11 errors and nine walks to score the win. The Cougars are now 7-0 in the division, hold a two-game lead in the loss column over Woodstown, their closest pursuer, and have one division game remaining. 

CLAYTON 17, SALEM 6: Gabrielle Searle had three hits and three RBIs and Lana Kastrava struck out 10 from the circle to lead the Clippers. The Rams scored two in the top of the first, but Clayton answered with four in the bottom of the inning and never lost the lead. The Rams cut their deficit to 8-6 in the third, but the Clippers got one back when they came in to bat and then broke it open with six runs in the fifth.

TCC DIAMONDALLDIVTCC CLASSICALLDIV
Schalick11-37-0Pennsville11-48-0
Woodstown9-74-2Pitman13-86-3
Glassboro10-72-3Wildwood8-84-4
Overbrook5-132-6Gloucester Cath7-83-3
Penns Grove1-130-6Clayton5-102-5
Salem1-130-8

Baseball

Woodstown baseball coach Marc DeCastro pours over the data he uses to prepare his Wolverines for a game. DeCastro scored his 100th career coaching win Thursday.

PINE HILL — Woodstown pulled away from a tie game with seven runs in the third inning and four relievers allowed one run and four hits over the final four innings as the Wolverines beat Overbrook 9-3 and handed coach Marc DeCastro his 100th career coaching victory.

To commemorate the feat, the players presented their sixth-year head coach a poster and signed baseball. DeCastro is now 100-60 with a state championship in 2022. Thursday was his third attempt at the milestone win.

“Our kids have said things to me along the way and I kind of had an idea that they wanted to celebrate it some way,” he said. “I said something similar to this before, I don’t particular care about the accomplishment, but I care about the fact that the people that I coach care enough to want to celebrate it. At least that means to me that the relationship I have with them is a good one and one they want to be a part of something like that. Whether it means anything to me is kind of irrelevant. It’s important to them and anything that’s important to them is important to me.”

It wasn’t just another game. The Wolverines needed it to keep alive any hope they had of sharing the TCC Diamond Division title with rival Schalick. They remain one game behind the Cougars with one division game to play.

Luke Fraley had three hits to lead the offense. Noah Williams and Tommy Tucci had two hits apiece, while Walker Battavio and Ty Coblentz both had a pair of RBIs. 

Their big inning started by loading the bases on a walk and two singles. Tucci broke the tie with pop single. The Rams looked like they were going to get out of it, retiring the next two batters, but Chase Harding walked to force in a run, Battavio doubled home two, Luke Fraley singled home another and Coblentz singled home two.

“Even before the seven-run inning I thought every out we made was really good contact,” DeCastro said. “Any time you have a seven-run inning it’s surprising, but with the contact we had in the first and second innings we were going to score eventually, it just so happened we scored in a big bunch. Overall, it was probably one of the better offensive performances that we had.”

Blake Rodriguez worked the first three innings on the mound for Woodstown and gave up four hits, two runs and struck out three. He was followed to the hill by Talyn Priore, Tucci, Drew Sutton and Carter Smathers. 

The milestone adds on to the long-standing DeCastro family coaching legacy. His father was a long-time successful Haddon Heights American Legion baseball coach. His brother Jamie is a 700-game winner in basketball, and brother Greg coached in college. DeCastro credits them all with helping him develop into the coach he has become.

“I’ve learned a lot from the people who came before me,” he said. “My dad coached me my whole life. I was taught how to play the sport from him and then continued to learn as I got older from different people, paying attention to Jamie and learned how he goes about winning, big games and general character-based stuff. There’s a lot that goes on in our family of coaches.”

PENNSVILLE 5, WILDWOOD 3: The Eagles broke a 2-2 tie with three unearned runs in the fifth inning and Mason O’Brien basically gave them a quality start in relief as they completed a season sweep of the Warriors and clinched their fifth straight Classic Division crown.

The Eagles had runners at first and second with two outs in the fifth, then scored the go-ahead runs on a pair of errors on infield grounders hit by Stevie Fatcher and Logan Cooperthwait. Grady Sanders singled home the third run of the inning.

“It’s a great feeling to accomplish that against a good team on the road,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said. “Today had a playoff game feel to it and it’s always fun to play in those type of games.”

Both teams scored twice in the first, with Wildwood knocking out Pennsville starter Logan Streitz with two outs. O’Brien put out the first with a strikeout and was unyielding the rest of the way. He pitched the final 6 2/3. scattering five hits, allowing an unearned run and striking out eight while walking only two.

“He pitched lights out,” Karr said. “He had to come in relief earlier than we expected and went the distance.”

SCHALICK 27, PENNS GROVE 4: The Cougars used a dominating performance in their fourth game in as many days to clinch at least a share of their second straight Diamond Division title. They hold a one-game lead over Woodstown with one division game to play.

The Cougars broke on top with nine in the first inning, then erupted for 15 in the second. Ten players had at least one hit, 10 scored at least one run and 11 drove runs home. Jamari Whitley went 3-for-4 with four runs and four RBIs. Ricky Watt had two hits and four RBIs. Evan Glaspey, starting pitcher Will Sieminski and J.T. Fleming all had three RBIs.

The Cougars were playing their fourth game in as many days. They’ve won all four. They were scheduled to play Collingswood Friday before taking on Clearview Saturday in the second round of the Diamond Classic — an MLB like six games in six days — but the game was reschedule for May 20.

CLAYTON 20, SALEM 14: The teams put on a scoring fest over the final three innings to rival their basketball series with the Clippers outscoring the Rams 19-8 over the stretch to win the game. Jaiden Keller and Jameson Emerle drove in five runs apiece for Clayton

The Rams scored all their runs on only three hits, but with the help of 12 walks, 11 hit batsmen and four errors. They got an inside-the-park grand slam in the fifth inning to answer the Clippers’ four runs in the top of the inning and take a 10-5 lead.

TCC DIAMONDALLDIVTCC CLASSICALLDIV
Schalick13-56-1Pennsville11-68-0
Woodstown11-75-2Wildwood13-75-2
Overbrook8-94-4Pitman6-103-4
Glassboro6-103-4Clayton5-102-5
Penns Grove3-120-7Salem0-140-7

Tennis

WILLIAMSTOWN 3, PENNS GROVE 2
Ethan Torres (WI) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-0, 6-1
Joshua Gailliout (WI) def. Anthony Pacheco, 6-0, 6-0
Sal Everhart (WI) def. Juan Ortiz, 6-3, 6-1
Jesus Arredondo-Doel Torres (PG) def. Ben Passaro-Brett Quintavalle, 6-4, 6-2
Jordan Hernandez-Fernando Palacios Lima (PG) def. Aryan Patel-Ayaan Patel, 6-0, 6-1
Records: Williamstown 5-7, Penns Grove 4-5.

PENNSVILLE 4, GCIT 1
Records: Pennsville 12-6, GCIT 1-15.

Golf

EGG HARBOR TWP. — Woodstown and Schalick both shot 260 as a team and finished tied for 33rd at the Carl Arena Memorial at Blue Heron Pines GC. Logan Jones shot Woodstown’s low round (83 with two birdies). Seth Fisher was low man for Schalick (82 with two birdies). Mainland won the boys title, while Moorestown won the girls crown.


Wednesday sports report

Schalick scores first Diamond Classic win in 30 years, Pennsville baseball turns game-ending triple play, county track athletes have fun at TCC Showcase, and more

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BURLINGTON – Things were going so well for so long for the Schalick baseball team in its Diamond Classic opener at Doane Academy Wednesday and then it got “real interesting” real fast.

The Cougars carried a five-run lead into the last inning and just needed to get three easy outs. It was anything but easy. They survived a three-run homer in a four-run seventh and faced the winning run on first with two outs, but held on for an 8-7 win and their first Diamond Classic victory in 30 years.

“They made things interesting,” said Cougars coach Sean O’Brien, playing in the Classic for only the second time in his 10 years as the Schalick coach. “I think it happens to us way too often, more often than it should happen.

“For Mason (Sanchez) to have the confidence to come back and get that last out there is big. He did a good job. The situation didn’t go his way, he gave up a big hit, but he then he was able to (bounce back). I think in the long run moments like that just kind of helps us. It makes us better, where in tight situations where we don’t panic and we get the job done.”

The Cougars were pummeling the undefeated Spartans early in the game, building a 5-0 lead after four innings against Chestnut Hill-bound starter Jake Powell and an 8-3 cushion through five. Through that stretch, the meat of their order – Ricky Watt, Evan Sepers and Bo Schalick – were a combined 8-for-11 with six extra-base hits and six RBIs.

Sepers and Schalick had back-to-back doubles in the first, Sepers had a two-run double in the second, and in the fifth Watt had an RBI double, Sepers a run-scoring single and Schalick an RBI triple.

“We did a great job as a whole as a team jumping on their starter,” O’Brien said. “He was pretty good too. We hit the guys really well 1 through 5 and even Cooper (Willoughby) in the 9-hole he almost knocked the kid’s head off – he hit a line drive right back at his face and he got his glove up in time. Overall, we hit their guy hard the entire time, which was huge, and we put pressure on their defense.”

The ninth started innocently enough with a pop out and a single, but then Matt Kulyk reached on a squirter back to the box and Chris Powell followed with his three-run homer to center to give the Spartans hope. 

Jake Powell kept the line moving with a single, but was erased on Hunter Johnson’s fielder’s choice for the second out, then Josh Rivera reached on a ball that took a wicked hop past Schalick to move the tying run into scoring position. Mason Sanchez closed it out with a grounder back to the box.

“It was little things like that that kind of made things interesting,” O’Brien said. “Mason was throwing strikes, they hit a couple and there were some bad hops here and there, but he beared down and got the last out.”

The Cougars (12-5) will now play sixth-seeded Clearview (13-4) in the second round at Clearview Saturday 10 a.m. Before that, however, they’ll face Penns Grove with the possibility of clinching a second straight Tri-County Diamond Division title Thursday and, unless they can move the game, Collingswood Friday for their fifth game in five days. 

It’s been a grind, of course, but in the end the rewards would be historic.

“It’s a cool situation where we’re kind of doing things we want to achieve that haven’t been done in the school’s history,” O’Brien said. “The Diamond (Classic) hasn’t been done in a long time, probably 30 years. You look at the division title – we have a chance to win back-to-back division titles for the first time ever in school history. You have a chance to win back-to-back South Jersey titles; it’s never been done. The first ever team to win a state title.

“You’re putting your name, your stamp, on your careers and what you’ll never forget for the rest of your life.”

PENNSVILLE 12, CLAYTON 1: The Eagles started big and ended bigger in clinching a share of their fifth straight Classic Division title. They can win it outright by beating Wildwood for a second time this season Thursday.

The Eagles took charge of this one early, scoring eight runs in the first inning, highlighted by Jeff Wagner’s two-run double and Grady Sanders’ two-run single. Logan Cooperthwait, Jake Layfield, Gavin Spears and Mason O’Brien also drove home runs in the inning. Wagner and O’Brien both had two hits and three RBIs in the game. Three pitchers held the Clippers to one hit and they ended the game on a triple play.

SOFTBALL
WOODSTOWN 8, MILLVILLE 1: Karly Spears drove in three runs and Leah Clark spun a two-hit shutout as the Wolverines won for the second day in a row to get back over .500. Spears had a two-run single in the second when the Wolverines opened a 4-0 lead and an RBI ground out in the third. Clark gave up a leadoff single, then didn’t allow another hit until two outs in the fifth inning.

CAPE MAY TECH 7, SALEM TECH 6: The Hawks walked it off on Cheyanne Enright’s RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning. The Chargers never led in the game, but tied it with four runs in the sixth, highlighted by Shelby Drummond’s two-run triple. They scored the tying run on a bases-loaded walk.

GIRLS GOLF
WASHINGTON TWP. 157, SCHALICK 166: Washington Twp.’s Azure Meares won medalist honors at The Birches with a 5-over-par 33. Natalie May shot the low round for Schalick (40).

GIRLS LACROSSE
HADDONFIELD 18, WOODSTOWN 12: Riley Austin and Lauren Hamblin each scored five goals for Haddonfield. Delaney Walker netted four (208) for Wolverines. The other Woodstown goals came from Emma Morgan (3), Blair Baldi (2), Arianna Hyman (2) and Emma Perry (1).

TRACK

FRANKLINVILLE — On a day designed to promote fun and maybe give a shot at events they might not otherwise experience, it’s safe to say all the Salem County athletes had fun in the Tri-County Showcase at Delsea.

County athletes claimed 45 medals in the non-scored meet. They won eight events, had eight seconds and eight thirds.

Woodstown won five events (4 boys, 1 girls) and established eight PRs. Schalick’s David Stewart won twice individually (400 hurdles, triple jump); his 400 hurdles was a close 1-2 finish with Penns Grove’s Bryan Garlic that some are projecting as the top two in the event at the state meet.

Winning gold for Woodstown were Josh Crawford (1600), Karson Chew (800), David Farrell (3200), Aidan Taulane (discus) and Kami Casiano (girls high jump). For Crawford, it was his first time running the 1600 in competition and he won it in 4:32.57.

“I went into it just telling myself that it’s only two more laps than usual and there was no pressure so have fun,” said Crawford, an 800 specialist. “So I did just that. I went out there running with the experienced runners and had fun.”

Penns Grove’s 4×400 relay team held off Woodstown down the stretch to win that race.

Kylee Goodson, who ran a leg on Penns Grove’s winning 4×4, finished second in the 400 to impressive Overbrook junior John Froehlich. Other second-place finishes belonged to Penns Grove’s Will Roy (long jump), Woodstown’s Eli Caesar (high jump) and Abby Marino (girls 800), Salem’s girls 4×100, and Schalick’s Navaeh Robinson (girls javelin).


TRI-COUNTY SHOWCASE
(Event winners and Salem County medal winners)

BOYS
No team scoring
4×100: 1. Williamstown 42.71; 4. Penns Grove (Will Roy, Messiah Allah, Tommy White, Kylee Goodson) 43.77
4×800: 1. Highland 8:20.25; 4. Woodstown (Anthony Costello, Michael Turner, Pacey Hutton, Torsten Duva) 8:44.86; 5. Salem (Grady Buzby, Gavin Cronrath, Josh Gilbert, Jean Pierre Pozo) 8:46.48
400 Hurdles: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 55.36; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 55.67; 6. Grady Buzby, Salem 58.79
1600: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 4:32.57
400: 1. John Froehlich, Overbrook 49.42; 2. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 49.83
100: 1. Timothy Whitaker, Timber Creek 10.80
800: 1. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:55.86
110 Hurdles: 1. Kareem Brown, Deptford 14.17
200: 1. John Froehlich, Overbrook 22.12; 3. Timothy Gregory, Salem 22.55
3200: 1. David Farrell, Woodstown 10:06.27; 5. Pacey Hutton, Woodstown 10:29.96
4×400: 1. Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Savior Allah, Kylee Goodson) 3:25.25; 2. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:25.82
High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-0; 2. Eli Caesar, Woodstown 5-10; 5. Kaden Robinson, Salem 5-8
Pole Vault: 1. Mason Henry, Deptford 14-6; 3. Caleb Jenkins, Schalick 13-0
Long Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 21-3; 2. Will Roy, Penns Grove 21-0.25; 3. David Stewart, Schalick 20-10.5; 6. Danny Knight, Pennsville 20-1.25
Triple Jump: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 45-5.75; 3. Andrew White, Woodstown 43-6; 5. Will Roy, Penns Grove 42-0
Discus: 1. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 164-3; 3. Ethan McLean, Schalick 144-1
Javelin: 1. Richard Pierce, Cumberland 175-0; 3. Gary Simonini, Schalick 166-1; 5. Noah Chiu, Woodstown 143-9
Shot Put: 1. Eneas Tavella, Delsea 53-7.5; 4. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 49-8.5; 5. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 49-1.5

GIRLS
No team scoring
4×100: 1. Kingsway 48.62; 2. Salem (Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Dynastie Tucker, Anyzha Williams, Amaia Massengill) 43.19
4×800: 1. Triton 10:17.72
400 Hurdles: 1. Norah Brown, Kingsway 1:04.14
1600: 1. Toni-Loren Powell, Highland 5:42.32
400: 1. Noemi Haller, Kingsway 56.91; 5. Dynastie Tucker, Salem 1:01.18
100: 1. NiaLeila Cuascut, Washington Twp. 12.05; 4. Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 12.53
800: 1. Kayla Asis, Kingsway 2:26.36; 2. Abby Marino, Woodstown 2:29.02
100 Hurdles: 1. NiaLeila Cuascut, Washington Twp. 14.34 (meet record)
200: 1. Noemi Haller, Kingsway 25.26
3200: 1. Sophia Aldridge, Williamstown 11:25.79
4×400: 1. Deptford 4:06.18; 5. Schalick (Kiley Parvin, Caylen Taylor, Brooke Valentine, Jaelynn Jarmon) 4:27.48
High Jump: 1. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2; 3. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10
Pole Vault: 1. Brynn Greenwood, Williamstown 11-0
Long Jump: 1. Kennedy Downs, Washington Twp. 16-8.5; 4. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 15-5.25; 5. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 15-5
Triple Jump: 1. Onye Peoples, Overbrook 34-11.5; 4. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 32-4.75; 5. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 32-2
Discus: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 148-6; 5. Sara Lodge, Woodstown 110-9; 6. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 105-7
Javelin: 1. Kylie Shinn, Kingsway 113-10; 2. Navaeh Robinson, Schalick 113-8
Shot Put: 1. Hannah Nuhfer, Delsea 46-5.5 (meet record); 3. Tatiyonna Crawford, Pennsville 35-5; 6. Zoey Caesar, Penns Grove 34-1.5