Here is the list of Salem County softball players with 100 career hits, 100 career strikeouts (since 2011); note: stats source does not include seasons prior to 2011 in player totals, so some qualified may be omitted
Here is the list of Salem County baseball players with 100 career hits, 100 career strikeouts (since2011); note: stats source does not include seasons prior to 2011 in totals. Softball coming soon.
Salem County athletes score 4 Top Ten finishes at Meet of Champions; Woodstown’s 4×800 finishes second, Schalick’s Robinson sixth
By Riverview Sports News
PENNSAUKEN – Josh Crawford, one of the most decorated runners in Salem County track history, ran the final three NJSIAA races of his high school career Wednesday, finishing with two personal bests and a big finish to bring Woodstown’s 4×800 relay team a second-place finish at the Meet of Champions.
The 13-time state champion qualified in four events for the MOC, but ran the 800 and the two relays. He ran a PR 1:52.56 in the 800 out of the second-fastest heat to finish eighth and turned a blistering 1:51.70 anchor leg in the 4×800 to complete a team 7:49.09 that was second to Shabazz’ winning 7:46.06. The 4×400 team finished 15th.
“I’m really happy with how the day went,” Crawford said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the fastest heat (in the 800) because I think I could’ve definitely put up a better time, but I can’t complain with how my season wrapped up at all.”
The Sacred Heart signee ran splits of 52.59 and 59.11 in the 4×8 to bring the Wolverines from seventh when he took the baton to second in the relay. They were ninth in the standings at one point in the race. The rest of team included Karson Chew, Jacob Marino and David Farrell.
Crawford and the 4×8 weren’t the only Top 10 performances turned in by Salem County athletes at the MOC.
Schalick’s Naveah Robinson finished sixth in the girls javelin. Her top throw of 120 feet, 9 inches was just one inch off her second-place throw in the sectional meet.
Woodstown’s Kami Casiano was tenth in the girls high jump at 5-4.
Among the top 20 finishers, Pennsville’s Danny Knight was 13th in the long jump with Penns Grove’s Group 1 champion Will Roy 19th; Schalick’s Gary Simonini was 18th in the javelin and Salem’s Ramiyah Jones was 20th in the girls triple jump with a 36-2.25 that was better than her jump at the sectionals.
NJSIAA MEET OF CHAMPIONS Wednesday, Pennsauken H.S. Salem County results BOYS 800: 8. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:52.56 110 Hurdles: 23. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 15.39 4×800: 2. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford) 7:49.09 4×400: 15. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:23.34 Javelin: 18. Gary Simonini, Schalick 165-6 Discus: 27. Ethan McLean, Schalick 141-10 Long Jump: 13. Danny Knight, Pennsville 21-11.75; 19. Will Roy, Penns Grove 21-6.75
GIRLS Long Jump: 21. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 16-9.5 Javelin: 6. Naveah Robinson, Schalick 120-9 Triple Jump: 20. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 36-2.25 High Jump: 10. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-4
Here are the Salem County qualifiers for Wednesday’s Meet of Champions and the result they posted in Saturday’s Group I state meet
NJSIAA MEET OF CHAMPIONS QUALIFIERS Wednesday, Pennsauken H.S. BOYS 400: Josh Crawford, Woodstown 50.24; 3. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 50.25 800: Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:55.64 110 Hurdles: Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 14.90 4×800: Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford) 8:05.23 4×400: Woodstown (Anthony Costello, Karson Chew, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:23.10; Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Luis Colon, Kylee Goodson) 3:27.28 Javelin: Gary Simonini, Schalick 168-11 High Jump: Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-2 Discus: Ethan McLean, Schalick 144-8 Long Jump: Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-10.75; Danny Knight, Pennsville 22-2.25
GIRLS Long Jump: Ramiyah Jones, Salem 17-8 Javelin: Naveah Robinson, Schalick 120-10 Triple Jump: Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-11 High Jump: Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2
Woodstown 4×800, 4×400 relay teams win Group 1 titles on final day of state meet, Crawford becomes one of Salem County’s winningest state champions, Penns Grove’s Garlic wins 110 hurdles; Wolverines second in team standings, Penns Grove T-4
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SOMERSET – Woodstown’s “Four Horseman” boys 4×800 relay team that was making headlines and smashing records from the first day somebody got the bright idea three years ago to put them on the track together ran their final Group 1 race as a unit Saturday and went out on their terms – leaving the pack in their dust.
The celebrated quartet of Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell and Josh Crawford won their third straight Group 1 4×8 title in 8:05.23. Not as fast as last year’s winning time, but a lot faster than when they won it for the first time in 2024. They led wire-to-wire, increased their lead after every leg and won by a whopping seven seconds.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The 4×800 lead and anchor – Chew and Crawford – helped bring the Wolverines a second state title on the second day of the Group 1 meet at Franklin High School, winning the 4×400 relay in the final event of the meet. They were joined on that relay by Anthony Costello and Michael Turner and turned in a 3:23.10, more than a full second ahead of runner-up Camden, the foursome they were second to here last year. Penns Grove was third.
“Everything went well this year,” Chew said. “The first day wasn’t too eventful for us, but we woke up on the second day with fire in our blood for a win. And that’s exactly what we did.
“Everyone did their job in both races to get us two championship titles. A big shout out to our juniors on the relay who really held it down. David (Farrell) and Michael (Turner) were absolutely key parts in each relay’s win. And all of us seniors went out there and made our last state championships as memorable as we could.”
“I’m very emotional about it for those guys because of the great careers that they’ve had,” Wolverines coach Tom Mason said. “I’m very proud of them. They’re going to be hard to replace, they really are.”
Woodstown’s relay teams weren’t the only Salem County state champions crowned Saturday.
Penns Grove’s Bryan Garlic was declared the winner of the boys 110 hurdles final after race winner Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey of Camden was disqualified for going out of his lane and impeding another runner. Garlic ran a “relaxed and smooth” PR 14.90 to Dickerson-Dempsey’s 14.32.
The Penns Grove senior was going to Wednesday’s Meet of Champions anyway, but now he’s going, along with long jumper teammate Will Roy, as a state champion.
“At first I was confused because they said he was DQ’d but I didn’t really know if he was DQ’d or not because he was still on the list,” Garlic said. “At the end they said he was DQ’d, I took the first-place medal, I was happy. It didn’t feel right because he got DQ’d, but I’m still grateful to be in the position I am now.”
Garlic didn’t really see what happened in the race until he watched it on video. As the fifth seed in the final he was running in Lane 2 and the incident occurred in the middle of the track. Dickerson-Dempsey was in Lane 4 as the top seed, hit a hurdle and it moved into the adjacent lane and interfered with New Milford’s Luke Johnson in Lane 5.
The ruling wasn’t immediate. Race officials conducted an inquiry, talked with Dickerson-Dempsey about what happened and handed down a decision after several minutes had elapsed. Garlic said he spent his time trying to find an official to get a better understanding of the situation. Johnson got to re-race against the clock and ran a 15.26 in the do-over to finish second behind Garlic.
Woodstown’s relay wins were a bit more clear cut.
Chew led the 4×800 out with a 2:00.84 leg, good for a one-second lead. Marino stretched to three seconds when he passed baton and Farrell, who replaced graduated Cole Lucas this season, extended it to six seconds with splits of 57.14 and 1:04.02. Crawford brought it home against a brutally gusting headwind, posting splits of 56.58 and 1:02.13.
“To be honest with you, after Farrell’s (leg), in my head they’re going to be state champions because no one is going to catch ‘The Machine,’” Mason said, referring to Crawford. “I don’t care what town they’re front, they’re not catching The Machine with a 25-meter lead, and they didn’t. They powered through, man. It was great.”
The Wolverines were equally impressive in pulling off the 4×400, a race they really wanted after Camden took them down last year.
Anthony Costello started it off with 51.46 that had them third behind Camden and Penns Grove, but Chew got them back in front with a 49.32. They were running second when Turner passed the baton to Crawford after a PR lap. The Wolverines’ anchor was a back-and-forth battle with Camden’s Jaiden Steele down the stretch. Once he got the lead he steadily pulled away and won by more than a second to give Mason his first-ever 4×400 state title in 127 seasons of coaching track.
“The last race was something I had to prove to myself but also to other people,” Crawford said. “Not doing what I wanted to in the previous races I needed a confidence booster and prove to myself that I’m still a part of that team. I ran a 48 against Camden who we’ve gone back and forth with two years now and last year them stealing the state title by a long shot shows that our entire team had a goal in mind, we practiced consistently and we made it happen.”
With his two wins, Crawford became one of the all-time winningest state championship in Salem County history. He has now 13 indoor and outdoor state titles in his career.
“It definitely surprised me,” he said. “It’s kind of bad to say but they kind of blur together. I never thought I would even get one. I thought I would be a one event person, like the 4-x800 was my event and I didn’t see myself being a multi-event athlete winning state titles in not just the 4×8 multiple years but other events for multiple years as well.
“I think it shows that anyone can do it. I was once a 2:20 800 meter runner and barely got under 60 seconds my first time running the 400, but when you’re surrounded by the right coaches, the right teammates, any of that can come through if you have discipline and the mindset to make it happen.”
The Sacred Heart signee also qualified for the MOC with a second-place finish in the 400, but isn’t expected to run it. Saturday third-place finishers Kylee Goodson (Penns Grove 400, 0.01 behind Crawford), Gary Simonini (Schalick boys javelin) and Ramiyah Jones (Salem girls long jump) among others are expected to receive MOC wildcard spots.
The Wolverines’ Saturday showing helped them bounce back from a tough opening day to finish second in the team standings to Glassboro. They started the day in fifth place, with 14 points, 12 behind Glassboro.
“They battled after yesterday,” Mason said. “We scored 24 points within 40 minutes today. That brought us back into it.”
Garlic’s bump to the hurdles win gave Penns Grove enough points to finish tied for fourth. Metuchen claimed the girls title, winning a do-or-die 4×400 to edge Glassboro by two points.
NJSIAA GROUP I TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday’s Results BOYS TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 63, WOODSTOWN 52, Camden 45, PENNS GROVE 40, New Milford 40, New Providence 26, Manville 26, Wallington 20, Woodbury 19, Boonton 17, Bound Brook 16, Dayton 16, SCHALICK 15, Newark Tech-Essex 13, Shore 12, Wallkill Valley 12, Haddon Twp. 11, Kinnelon 10, Waldwick 10, Hasbrouck Heights 10, Whippany Park 9.5, PENNSVILLE 9, Florence 8, Buena 8, Midland Park 7, Indian Hills 6, Mountain Lakes 4.5, Burlington City 4, Audubon 4, McNair 4, Butler 4, Pequannock 4, Thrive Charter 3, Metuchen 2, Botoga 2, SALEM 1, Gateway 1, Highland Park 1, Empowerment 1, Verona 1, Eagle Academy 1, Saddle Brook 1. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6)) (Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions, x-projected MOC wildcard) 400: 1. Noah Seveland, Waldwick 49.87; 2. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 50.24; 3. x-Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 50.25; 4. Karson Chew, Woodstown 50.89 110 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 14.32; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 14.90 4×800: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Josh Crawford) 8:05.23 200: 1. Ivan Bempah, New Milford 21.79 1600: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 4:22.61 4×400: 1. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Michael Turner, Josh Crawford) 3:23.10; 3. Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Luis Colon, Kylee Goodson) 3:27.28 Shot Put: 1. Patrick Szabo, Wallington 50-6.5; 3. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 49-0; 4. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 48-6; 6. Connor Wariwanchik, Pennsville 48-2.5 Javelin: 1. Brady Shine, Hasbrouck Heights 192-4; 3. x-Gary Simonini, Schalick 168-11 Triple Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 47-8.5 High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-4; 4. x-Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-2
GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Metuchen 56, Glassboro 54, Audubon 47, Shore 39, Verona 33, Haddon Twp. 31, Delaware Valley 25, Whippany Park 22, Hasbrouck Heights 20, Roselle Park 20, Maple Shade 16, Hawthorne 15, SALEM 12, Burlington City 12, Mountain Lakes 11, University 10, Henry Hudson 10, Cresskill 10, SCHALICK 9, Manville 9, Woodbury 8, David Brearley 8, Academy Charter 8, Midland Park 8, Waldwick 8, Indian Hills 9, Kinnelon 7, Buena 6, Wallkill Valley 6, Butler 5, WOODSTOWN 5, Paulsboro 4, Clayton 4, Pequannock 3, Bound Brook 2, New Providence 2, Florence 2, Dayton 1, Highland Park 1, Saddle Brook 1 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6)) (Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions) 400: 1. Gwendolyn Neale, Verona 58.28 100 Hurdles: 1. Casey Birdwell, Haddon Twp. 15.05 4×800: 1. Haddon Twp. 9:41.69 200: 1. Makenna Bruns, Metuchen 25.35 1600: 1. Alexandra Klein, Shore 4:53.96 4×400: 1. Metuchen 4:03.64 Discus: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 156-0 Long Jump: 1. Erika Townsend, Glassboro 17-9, 3. x-Ramiyah Jones, Salem 17-8 Pole Vault: 1. Cassara Yannarelli, Henry Hudson 10-6
Long jumper Will Roy (L) and hurdler Bryan Garlic brought state championships back to Penns Grove from the state Group I meet this week. Top photo: Woodstown’s three-time 4×800 state champion relay team.
Penns Grove long jumper Will Roy brings home Salem County’s only state title on first day of the NJSIAA Group I Track Championship, 4 others finish second to qualify for Meet of Champions
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SOMERSET – Will Roy stood at the top of the runway facing his moment of truth. The way he would be remembered in this year’s Group 1 state championship meet was riding on what would happen in the next few seconds.
He had just gotten bumped from the lead in the boys long jump to Pennsville’s Danny Knight and if he wanted it back the Penns Grove junior would have to stick the landing on the final jump of the final event of the day. He needed to stand and deliver.
With a title on the line, Roy confidently bolted down the runway and hit a final jump of 22-feet, 10.75-inches to reclaim the gold medal.
“It was either a do or die,” he said. “It was either I get second place or I go on and be a state champion and take it back to my hometown.
“I was just trying to keep myself calm and not really get into my head about the jump. Everything was really good. The runway was good, the launch takeoff was good, the landing was good and I knew it was going to be a good jump all the way.”
It wasn’t the first time he needed to deliver in the clutch. During the sectional meet it came down to him needing a big final jump to qualify for the state meet and he nailed it with the same confidence he showed Friday. Penns Grove jumpers coach Damien Ware said Roy has “that (Michael) Jordan clutch gene.”
“One thing about Will is he’s a worker,” Ware said. “We put him through a lot of work, a lot of grind, in practice and he does it. Whatever we ask him to do he’s going to put his head down and do it. He’s been growing since his freshman year. He started out in the 20s, got to the 21 and today he almost skipped the 22s altogether.”
Roy moved to the top of the leaderboard on his second jump of the competition (21-11.25) and held it until Knight set the Pennsville school record (22-2.25) on his final jump.
“He knew what he had to do and went and did it,” Ware said. “He heard the jump, he knew he had to jump further than that to win and he did it. It was just a look. He said let’s go, bro, and he went and did it. It’s exciting for the kid because we see the work he’s put in and when you see it pay off there’s no better feeling.”
Knight had been stretching his PR in small increments each of the last three weeks and it all came together with a big burst here.
“It was the best jump I could ever think of,” Knight said. “I could’ve gotten my leg up higher, but I’m still grateful for what I got. I was not expecting that at all. Me and (Pennsville track coach Mike) Healy were talking about the school record holder (21-1) and it was like 1980-something. I was like ‘what.’ He said you got it next year. I said I got it today. It happened.”
Roy and Knight were among five Salem County athletes to qualify for the Meet of Champions. The others were all event runner-ups –Schalick’s Navaeh Robinson (girls javelin) and Ethan McLean (boys shot put) and Woodstown’s Josh Crawford (boys 800). Three others — Salem’s Ramiyah Jones (girls triple jump) and Woodstown’s Aidan Taulane (boys discus) and Kami Casiano (girls high jump) – placed third and will be looking for a wildcard spot.
Glassboro leads both team leaderboards. Woodstown (fifth) and Penns Grove (T-8) are both in the top ten in the boys race. Schalick is currently tied for ninth in the girls standings.
NJSIAA GROUP I TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS Friday’s Results BOYS TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 26, Camden 23, New Providence 22, Manville 16, WOODSTOWN 14, Newark Tech-Essex 12, New Milford 12, PENNS GROVE 10, Bound Brook 10, Kinnelon 10, Wallington 10, Wallkill Valley 10, SCHALICK 9, Buena 8, PENNSVILLE 8, Haddon Twp. 6, Woodbury 6, Shore 6, Whippany Park 6, Dayton 6, Indian Hills 4, Burlington City 4, Pequannock 4, Thrive Charter 3, SALEM 1, Gateway 1, Saddle Brook 1. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6)) (Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions) 4×100: 1. Camden 42.16 800: 1. Zacchaeus Harrigan, Glassboro 1:55.00; 2. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:55.64 100: 1. Jawan Brownlee, Camden 10.76 400 Hurdles: 1. Connor Killian, New Providence 55.33; 6. Grady Buzby, Salem 57.48 3200: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 9:17.53 Discus: 1. Patrick Szabo, Wallington 165-5; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick 144-8; 3. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 140-6 Long Jump: 1. Will Roy, Penns Grove 22-10.75; 2. Danny Knight, Pennsville 22-2.25 Pole Vault: 1. Jake Markey, Bound Brook 13-6; 6. Sal Longo, Schalick 12-0
GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Glassboro 26, Audubon 21, Whippany Park 20, Roselle Park 20, Shore 18, Metuchen 18, Hasbrouck Heights 12, Verona 11, SCHALICK 9, Delaware Valley 9, Hawthorne 9, Woodbury 8, Burlington City 8, David Brearley 8, Manville 8, Academy Charter 9, Midland Park 8, SALEM 6, Maple Shade 6, Buena 6, Kinnelon 6, WOODSTOWN 5, Butler 5, Clayton 4, University 4, Cresskill 4, Mountain Lakes 3, Florence 2, New Providence 2, Waldwick 2, Haddon Twp. 1, Highland Park 1, Dayton 1. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winners, Salem County point scorers (top 6)) (Top 2 finishers guaranteed spots in Meet of Champions) 4×100: 1. Glassboro 48.49 800: 1. Gwendolyn Neale, Verona 2:12.06 100: 1. Skylar Boyd, Rosselle Park 12.63 400 Hurdles: 1. Gina Minichiello, Hasbrouck Heights 1:02.50 3200: 1. Alexandra Kline, Shore 10:40.04 Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 42-2 Javelin: 1. Ava Forstenhausler, Roselle Park 121-3; 2. Naveah Robinson, Schalick 120-10 Triple Jump: 1. Riley Wright-Ohillips, Whippany Park 39-1; 3. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 35-11; 6. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 35-0.5 High Jump: 1. Riley Wright-Phillips, Whippany Park, 5-2; 3. Kami Casiano, Woodstown 5-2
Here is the Salem County sports calendar for the week of May 25-May 30
TUESDAY, MAY 26 SOFTBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament Paulsboro at Audubon Riverside at Maple Shade Wildwood at Pennsville Haddon Twp. at Pitman Glassboro at Palmyra Cape May Tech at Gateway Schalick at Woodstown, 3 p.m. Burlington Twp. at Buena GOLF TCC Showcase, Pitman GC GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Nottingham, 5 p.m. TENNIS South Jersey Group I Quarterfinals Penns Grove at West Deptford Pennsville at Pt. Pleasant Beach Pitman vs. Woodstown Schalick vs. Haddon Twp., 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 BASEBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament Cape May Tech at Schalick Gateway at Audubon Paulsboro at Wildwood Riverside at Maple Shade LEAP at Haddon Twp. Pitman at Pennsville Buena at Glassboro Clayton at Woodstown, 3 p.m. South Jersey Group II Tournament Salem Tech at Barnegat
THURSDAY, MAY 28 SOFTBALL Penns Grove vs. LEAP, Rutgers-Camden, 6 p.m. South Jersey Group I Quarterfinals Paulsboro-Audubon vs. Riverside-Maple Shade Wildwood-Pennsville vs. Haddon Twp.-Pitman Glassboro-Palmyra vs. Cape May Tech-Gateway Schalick-Woodstown vs. Burlington Twp.-Buena South Jersey Group II Quarterfinals Haddon Heights-Lower Cape May vs. Salem Tech-Cinnaminson GIRLS LACROSSE South Jersey Group I Tournament West Deptford at Woodstown TENNIS South Jersey Group I Semifinals Penns Grove-West Deptford vs. Pennsville-Pt. Pleasant Beach Pitman-Woodstown vs. Schalick-Haddon Twp.
FRIDAY, MAY 29 BASEBALL South Jersey Group I Tournament Cape May Tech-Schalick vs. Gateway-Audubon Paulsboro-Wildwood vs. Riverside-Maple Shade LEAP-Haddon Twp. vs. Pitman-Pennsville Buena-Glassboro vs. Clayton-Woodstown South Jersey Group II Tournament Salem Tech-Barnegat vs. Mastery Camden-Haddon Heights TRACK NJSIAA Championships, Franklin HS
SATURDAY, MAY 30 TRACK NJSIAA Championships, Franklin HS
Thursday sports report: Schalick tennis advances in South Jersey Group I playoffs; Salem basketball gets high-scoring transfer from Delaware after Lecator transfers to Vineland
By Riverview Sports News
The Schalick boys tennis team beat the rain and Wildwood 5-0 in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I tennis tournament Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Cougars (9-10) now travel to second-seeded Haddon Twp. (13-7) Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Pennsville’s and Penns Grove’s first-round matches were postponed by the weather. Eighth-seeded Penns Grove will host Palmyra Friday at 2:30 p.m. Fifth-seeded Pennsville is scheduled to host Audubon.
In another match, Pitman defeated Lower Cape May 4-1 and will play third-seeded Woodstown in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Basketball: Transfer news
The Salem Rams lost a dynamic player to the high school “transfer portal” earlier this spring, but Thursday they landed an equally dynamic player coach Anthony Farmer believes will make them better.
Gi’lyl Conrad, a 6-foot junior combo guard from AI DuPont High School in Delaware, enrolled in Salem Thursday. He’ll fill the void created by versatile rising senior guard Tymear Lecator’s transfer to Vineland.
Lecator scored 1,061 points and dished 272 assists for the Rams in three seasons. Conrad averaged a fraction over 20 points a game last season and was the second leading scorer in Delaware. The news of Lecator’s departure had some basketball observers writing the Rams off for the coming season, but the arrival on Conrad has them back on the favorites list.
“Ty was good for us,” Farmer said. “He got us to a point to get to the big one; we just didn’t get over the hump. You’d love to see a guy that close run it back.
“We were fortunate enough to get a guy who I think fits well with the group of guys we already have who I think can get us over the hump this year. We don’t miss a beat. I think he’s gonna make us better.”
On Friday, the Rams also posted a “Welcome to Salem City” post for 6-7 incoming freshman William Cooper Reed of Alloway.
The Rams have a heavy summer lined up. Their June schedule includes City of Lave Basketball (June 6), Total Turf Summer League (starting June 17) and Philly Live II (June 26-28).
Schalick has game with Collingswood waved off leading in the fifth, two outs from making milestones by Watt, Hartley official; includes scores and highlights from Wednesday’s Salem County sports calendar
BASEBALL Wildwood Catholic 7, Salem Tech 5 Schalick at Collingswood, canceled
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
COLLINGSWOOD – Ricky Watt got his milestone hit – and then some – and Cole Hartley was working on a no-hitter, but the only thing winning Wednesday was the weather.
Watt collected his 100th career hit and hit two home runs to tie Schalick’s single-season home run record and Hartley was building a lifetime memory, but it all got wiped away as the Cougars had their game with Collingswood called in the fifth inning before becoming official because of the weather.
The Cougars were leading 5-0 and just two outs away from the game and all the milestones becoming official when play was halted due to lightning in the area. Once they got on the bus, the skies opened and the umpires called it a day.
“It was definitely a bummer for it to go out in the bottom of the fifth like that,” Watt said. “I can’t remember a high school game that got rained out in the middle of the game my whole career. I wasn’t aware of the ruling. I walked off the field and everybody was just telling me that nothing counted.”
“I was definitely a little annoyed,” said Hartley.
The Panthers had cause to beef, too. They were mounting a charge when play was halted, loading the bases with one out on an infield error and two walks.
Watt got what would have been his 100th career hit in his first at-bat, a sharp RBI single into left field that put the Cougars on top 1-0. He then hit solo homers to center in the third and fifth, giving him 10 for the season. That’s what would’ve been entered into the record had the game been official. Instead, with the washout, he’s still sitting on 99 hits and eight homers.
“That would’ve tied Luke (Pokrovsky) and all of his brothers for the single-season home run record,” Watt said. “That’s kind of what I was more excited for, to be honest, aside from the 100 hits. Not only did it suck for me but Cole was pitching such an awesome game.”
Hartley took a perfect game into the fifth inning, but lost the gem on an error leading off the fifth. He struck out the next batter, then, pitching into a gusting wind that signaled the approaching rain and “messed with” his breaking ball, he walked the next two. That’s where it ended.
He was part of a combined five-inning no-hitter with Jamari Whitley two years ago and a five-pitcher, five-inning no-hitter last year, but had never put one together by himself. He had thrown just 45 pitches through the first four innings with three strikeouts.
“I was dealing, I was on a roll,” Hartley said. “I had a goal of at least getting closer to my 100th strikeout (he had four, still needs 18). I was actually feeling like I might throw a perfect game today, or at least close to it, and I did.”
The Cougars don’t play again until Wednesday’s first round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs. As the No. 1 seed, they’ll play all their sectional playoff games at home, where it’s a bit more challenging to put one out.
SOFTBALL GLASSBORO 19, SALEM 3: Marissa Rode’s three-run double highlighted a nine-run third inning that broke the game open. Rode had three hits and six RBIs in the game. Phoenix Holland had two of Salem’s three hits. WOODSTOWN 9, ATLANTIC TECH 4: Woodstown’s Ellie Wygand ran her career hit total to 103 with three singles. The Wolverines broke a scoreless tie with three in the third inning on Kendall Young’s RBI single and Maddie LaPalomento’s two-run single and built their lead to 9-0. The Wolverines (16-8) have won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11. MIDDLE TWP. 4, SCHALICK 2: Sophia Brown’s two-run single highlighted a three-run fourth inning that gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead and they withstood Cougars comeback bid. Katie Creamer kept the Cougars off the board until the sixth and struck out 10. Alex Shimp had two hits for Schalick.
GIRLS LACROSSE Woodstown at Nottingham, ppd. to Tuesday
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT Projected First-Round Pairings (16) New Egypt at (1) Haddonfield (9) Shore at (8) Point Pleasant Boro (12) Gateway at (5) Delaware Valley (13) Dayton at (4) Bernards (14) Middle Twp. at (3) New Providence (11) Lower Cape May at (6) Haddon Twp. (10) West Deptford at (7) Woodstown (15) Johnson at (2) Rumon-Fair Haven
Schalick sophomore right-hander throws masterful complete-game in longest outing of his career, likely to start in Cougars’ playoff opener; Woodstown pair no-hits Pitman; includes SJ baseball playoff pairings
TUESDAY BASEBALL Schalick 12, Pennsville 3 Woodstown 8, Pitman 0 Clayton at Penns Grove Gloucester at Salem Tech Salem at Glassboro
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Matt Karr flat-out said Schalick pitcher Mason Sanchez played truth or dare with his Pennsville hitters Tuesday afternoon.
The sophomore right-hander threw it up there, dared the Eagles to hit it and the truth was they never did, or simply couldn’t.
The Cougars’ projected first-round playoff starter looked like a righthander version of another pitcher named Sanchez in the Philadelphia market – Phillies’ left-hander Christopher Sanchez – especially in the late innings of a masterful 12-3 complete-game victory over the Eagles,
“That’s what they call me in school, actually,” the slender sophomore said with a smile.
The Schalick Sanchez, who still plays Little League baseball and is proud of it, allowed just three hits, no earned runs, walked one and struck out three. He was especially sharp late in the game, retiring the last 15 batters he faced after throwing away Mason O’Brien’s bunt single leading off the third inning. He threw 94 pitches, 64 for strikes.
“We got our butts kicked – period,” Karr said. “He threw well, shoved it. Threw the ball right down the middle and played truth or dare. Said I dare you to hit it and we couldn’t. Just an absolute, awful, poor, no effort. It’s just … embarrassing.”
It was the longest outing of Sanchez’ career and clearly the most effective. He had never gone more than three innings in any outing before. The Cougars are 7-3 in the games he pitches.
“I was thinking before the season even started what do I want to be this season, a starter, reliever, a starter, reliever,” the pitcher said. “They’ve been talking about it and now we decided on starter. My goal coming into this game was to get at least three strikeouts and keep it under four hits, because that’s just my goal for every game. I’m not a big guy who goes up there and strikes everybody out like Jamari (Whitley) and Cole (Hartley). I’m a guy who goes up there and tries to (get them to) hit the ball. I know my defense is really good, the guys behind me.”
“I wanted him to challenge them,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “We don’t want to walk guys. You saw what happened yesterday where we give free passes and teams will hurt you. Limit the walks and challenge guys to give you weak contact is kind of what we want to do. He did that, embraced that, and did a great job. If you compete and you’re not walking guys ,hitters are going to get themselves out. You just make the right pitch and you just have to trust your fielders behind you to make the plays and he did a good job doing that today.”
Offensively, it was a complete 180 from what both teams experienced the day before. Pennsville kept the meter running and crushed Penns Grove 28-8, while Schalick was lethargic in a 13-5 loss to Haddon Heights.
The Cougars (17-7) answered Pennsville both times the Eagles (14-9) scored in the first three innings. They finally took the lead for good on Jamari Whitley’s two-run single in the fourth, then broke it open with seven in the fifth on a combination of hard-hit balls, soft or seeing-eye liners and poor Pennsville defense. Ricky Watt had a chance to walk it off with his 100th career hit in the sixth, but flew out to center for the final out of the inning and leave him sitting on 99.
Five Cougars had at least two hits in the game. Evan Glaspey had three hits and three RBIs.
“The good thing about having a bad game and then you get to play the next day is then you can kind of quickly forget about the day before,” O’Brien said. “We did a good job of settling into the game, Mason did a good job settling into the game. We started a little slow, we were making some errors behind him, but we picked it up there and then offensively we finally started to pick things up. One through nine we were hitting the ball hard and we didn’t do that consistently yesterday.
“I just want our guys to just be playing good baseball when next week comes around. Playing good teams and beating good teams is playing good baseball. I think that helps us going forward.”
WOODSTOWN 8, PITMAN 0: Blake Rodriguez and Stone Hassler combined on a seven-inning no-hitter, facing the minimum 21 batters. The only base runner they allowed was a third-inning walk to Payton Miller by Rodriguez and Miller was erased on a double play.
Rodriguez worked the first 5 2/3 innings, coming out after 73 pitches. Hassler threw 16 pitches to get the final four outs.
The Wolverines took control of this one early, scoring four runs in the first inning. Luke Fraley had two hits and two RBIs. Drew Sutton and Sol Elmer also had a pair of hits. Tommy Tucci went 1-for-3 to collect his 50th career hit and Ty Coblentz went 1-for-4 to move within nine of 100.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS Wednesday’s First-Round Games (16) Cape May Tech at (1) Schalick (9) Gateway at (8) Audubon (12) Paulsboro at (5) Wildwood, Tuesday (13) Riverside at (4) Maple Shade (14) LEAP at (3) Haddon Twp. (11) Pitman at (6) Pennsville (10) Buena at (7) Glassboro, 2 p.m. (15) Clayton at (2) Woodstown
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 2 PLAYOFFS Wednesday’s First-Round Games (16) Collingswood at (1) Haddonfield (9) Manchester Twp. at (8) Middle Twp. (12) Lower Cape May at (5) Seneca (13) Gloucester at (4) Sterling (14) Pleasantville at (3) Cedar Creek (11) Medford Tech at (6) West Deptford (10) Salem Tech at (7) Barnegat, 3:45 p.m. (15) Mastery Camden at (2) Haddon Heights
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