Beating the weather and the clock

Woodstown’s Crawford sets sectional record in winning SJ Group I boys 800, Schalick’s Hadfield wins 3200

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSAUKEN – It really didn’t seem like a good day to run, but Woodstown junior Josh Crawford fought through the challenges and ran one of the best times in county history in his specialty Friday while setting a South Jersey Group I sectional record.

Crawford won the South Jersey Group I boys 800 in a personal best 1:53.59 that broke a 28-year-old hand-timed meet record set by Paulsboro’s Fred Sharpe. It was the second-fastest 800 in Salem County history, behind only the 1:52.97 Penns Grove’s Jaymes Dennison ran in 2013

Truth be told, Crawford wasn’t even sure they would have a meet as he sat in the middle of the school day. The skies were dark and the students were sheltering in place from the storm that was raging outside.

The skies eventually cleared and Crawford made his way to Pennsauken High. Once he got there he found the track dry, but the field turf was wet and spongy making it difficult to warm up.

“As soon as I got to the meet I was a little out of it mindset wise, but as soon as I saw the track I knew it was time to get my game face on it,” Crawford said. “That was me and my friends putting our best time down even though the circumstances were kind of iffy.”

He credited the pace of the race and the push from the field for helping raise the standard.

Woodstown teammates Cole Lucas and Karson Chew finished second and fifth, respectively, in the race. Lucas ran a 1:54.87 – the third fastest time in meet and Salem County history – and Chew ran a 1:59.92.

“It was mostly just me trusting my coach,” Crawford said. “He told me how I should run it along with my teammates. He told us to go 54 first lap and then we heard him throughout the entire race cheering for us and that really encouraged me.

“Plus having my teammates on my back the entire race. I know what they’re like and I know they have the ability to push me and that’s exactly what they did today. They pushed me. I wouldn’t have been able to reach that time if they weren’t on top of me the entire race.”

Crawford wasn’t the only Salem County athlete to win an event on the first day of sectionals. Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield won the girls 3200 in 11:16.14. She finished second in the girls 800.

All told, the county advanced 25 athletes and relays (11 boys, 14 girls) to the state meet. The sectionals continue Saturday.

With seven of the 18 events scored in each gender, Schalick leads the girls team race with 31 points, but is only three points ahead of Clayton. Woodstown and Schalick are second and third in the boys race behind Glassboro.

Here are Friday’s finals from the South Jersey Group I track sectionals; includes event winners and Salem County scorers/state qualifiers

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
TRACK SECTIONALS

BOYS
TEAM SCORES (7 events scored): Glassboro 55, Woodstown 26.5, Schalick 22, Palmyra 20, Camden 17, Clayton 12, Gateway 10, Burlington City 10, Penns Grove 10, Audubon 9, Woodbury 8, Maple Shade 6, Paulsboro 4.5, Haddon Twp. 4, Buena 2, Pennsville 1

100: 1. Xavier Sabb, Glassboro 10.69; 6. Colin McGlinn, Pennsville 11.07
400 Hurdles: 1. Alexander Osayemi, Clayton 53.14; 2. David Stewart, Schalick 54.22; 5. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 56.09
800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:53.59; 2. Cole Lucas, Woodstown 1:54.87; 5. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:59.92
3200: 1. Ty Blackman, Glassboro 9:47.48; 3. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 10:00.32
4×100 Relay: 1. Schalick 42.34
High Jump: 1. Jaleel Latimore, Palmyra 6-4; T-6. Elijah Caesar, Woodstown 5-10
Shot Put: 1. Sam Adams, Palmyra 46-3; 2. Raymond Brown, Penns Grove, 46-1; 4, Sheldon Goldsborogh, Schalick 45-7.5

GIRLS
TEAM SCORES (7 events scored): Schalick 31, Clayton 28, Woodbury 22, Audubon 22, Haddon Twp. 21, Woodstown 21, Glassboro 19, Maple Shade 14, Riverside 10, Burlington City 10, Buena 10, Salem 7, Camden 2

100: 1, Miyana Johnson, Clayton 12.40; 6. Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 12.99
400 Hurdles: 1. Emily Madden, Buena 1:07.74; 4. Audrey Boggs, Salem 1:09.88; 6. Sarah Seiden, Woodstown 1:10.77
800: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 2:17.09; 2. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 2:18.67; 4. Lilian Norman, Woodstown 2:22.57
3200: 1. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 11:16.14; 2. Anabel Schaal, Woodstown 12:24.42; 3. Abby Marino, Woodstown 12:27.02; 5. Samantha Sterner, Woodstown 12:34.84
4×100 Relay: 1. Woodbury 49.70; 2. Schalick 50.87; 6. Salem 52.63
Discus: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 137-1; 6. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 106-10
Triple Jump: 1. Nyima Burley, Burlington City 35-9; 4. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 34-7.25; 6. MaKayla Smith, Salem 33-5.

Hall of Fame level

5 Schalick pitchers combine on no-hitter, get all outs by strikeout, walk-off Bridgeton 13-3 in five innings

MONDAY BASEBALL
Schalick 13, Bridgeton 3
Woodstown 9, Clayton 1
Pennsville 12, Glassboro 7
Wildwood 11, Penns Grove 1
MONDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 19, Glassboro 8
Woodstown 11, Clayton 1
Schalick 19, Salem 0
Wildwood 21, Penns Grove 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – The Schalick baseball team went to the home of baseball, got the tour and (presumably) the T-shirt, and then put on a Hall of Fame performance Monday morning, dispatching Bridgeton 13-3 in five innings.

Five Schalick pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter, retired 12 of the first 13 batters they faced and got all 15 outs by strikeout. The Bulldogs did not put a ball in play against them, getting all their baserunners via walk.

Aptly-named Cooper Willoughby’s long bases-loaded single to left with one out in the fifth inning walked it off after the Bulldogs intentionally walked Luke Pokrovsky to load the bases, denying Schalick’s all-time home run and RBI king the opportunity to walk it off.

“I think it’s pretty special what we did today,” senior pitcher Lucas D’Agostino said. “No matter what the circumstances are, 15 strikeouts in 15 outs to go along with a no-hitter is something special and I believe it reflects how dominant our pitching staff has been all year. Especially in Cooperstown, that definitely meant a lot to me personally, as well as the team as a whole.”

Cougars coach Sean O’Brien gave his two senior aces the first two innings on historic Doubleday Field and they put on a Hall of Fame performance.

Starter Pokrovsky and D’Agostino both struck out the side in their inning. On his final pitch, D’Agostino’s windup looked like something you might’ve seen from one of the pitcher inductees inside the Hall. He wrapped his arms around his back, came around and tucked and then fired his final strike.

“I figured I’d pay some homage to some of the great pitchers that are immortalized and have some fun with an old-timer windup,” D’Agostino said. “I didn’t have anyone in mind. In my head I thought to myself ‘something in the ballpark of Walter Johnson’ and I guess that pitch is what ended up coming out.”

Cole Hartley got the next two innings and he struck out his six batters. He fanned the side in the third on 10 pitches.

Senior Matthew LaMazza started the fifth inning but had trouble locating the plate and walked the four batters he faced. He was replaced by senior Eli Cummings, who struck out his first two batters and eventually the side, but walked in a run and allowed another when a pitch got away at the plate.

The Cougars (15-1) answered with three in the bottom of the inning to walk it off. Their first three batters reached to load the bases. Travis Snodgrass’ ground out brought home the first run, Cummings’ RBI single made it 12-3 and Willoughby followed the walk to Pokrovsky with his game-winner.

Cummings sacrifice fly in the fourth got the game into run-rule territory. Pokrovsky had two hits and Ricky Watt went 3-for-3.

“The team’s experience will be one the players won’t forget,” O’Brien said. “Touring the museum and having the opportunity to play on Doubleday Field is something they will aways remember. Every player on the team got at least one at bat.”

“You really can’t have a bad time when you’re in Cooperstown,” D’Agostino said.

This story will be updated.

WOODSTOWN 9, CLAYTON 1: The Wolverines erupted for six runs in the first inning. Rocco String went 3-for-3, Caiden Spinelli had two hits and Lucas Fulmer and Nate Williams each had a pair of RBIs.

PENNSVILLE 12, GLASSBORO 7: The Eagles opened 9-0 lead in the fourth inning, then held off the Bulldogs’ comeback bid. Cohen Petrutz had two hits and four RBIs at the plate and set the Bulldogs down in order in the seventh with two strikeouts to close out the game. Logan Streitz and starting pitcher Luke Wood both had two hits, while Connor Starn, Jeff Wagner and Stevie Fatcher all had two RBIs.

WILDWOOD 11, PENNS GROVE 1: The Warriors erupted for seven runs in the second inning after Penns Grove grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. Liam Irvin doubled home Elijah Crespo for the Red Devils’ run :

SOFTBALL
PENNSVILLE 19, GLASSBORO 8: Kylie Harris, Savannah Brewer-Palverento and Makenzie Widener had perfect days at the plate, combining to go 12-for-12 with 12 RBIs as the Eagles (17-3) pounded 20 hits. Harris went 5-for-5 to tie her career high, Brewer-Palverento went 3-for-3 with six RBIs and Widener went 4-for-4 with four RBIs

WOODSTOWN 11, CLAYTON 1: Aubrie Rennie and Talia Guardascione both went 3-for-4 for the Wolverines. Leah Clark scattered six hits and struck out eight in her six-inning complete game.

SCHALICK 19, SALEM 0: The Cougars took advantage of 23 walks.

WILDWOOD 21, PENNS GROVE 0: Emma Contreras homered, had six RBIs and spun a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the circle. She had a perfect game for 3 1/3 innings, until Jarlene Vichi-Torres broke up the gem with a fourth-inning single for Penns Grove’s only hit.

Photo: Schalick’s Luke Pokrovsky delivers the first pitch in the Cougars’ game with Bridgeton this morning at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Submitted photo)

**The Schalick baseball team stops at the gates of Doubleday Field before making their entrance in today’s game. (Submitted photo)**

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 12-17; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

MAY 12
BASEBALL
Salem vs. Bridgeton, Doubleday Field, Cooperstown, N.Y., 10 a.m.
Clayton at Woodstown
Pennsville at Glassboro
Wildwood at Penns Grove
SOFTBALL
Glassboro at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Wildwood
Schalick at Salem
Woodstown at Clayton
GOLF
Salem Tech vs. West Deptford, River Winds, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick girls vs. OLMA, White Oaks GC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Haddon Heights, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Penns Grove at Pitman
Pennsville at Schalick
Timber Creek at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Schalick at Penns Grove
Salem at Deptford, 5 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Maple Shade at Woodstown

MAY 13
BASEBALL
Woodstown at Delran
GOLF
Schalick vs. West Deptford, River Winds, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Pennsville at Glassboro, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown at Collingswood, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Pennsville at Woodstown
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Clearview, 5 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Washington Twp. at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.

MAY 14
BASEBALL
Glassboro at Woodstown
Penns Grove at Overbrook
Pennsville at Salem
Schalick at Cumberland
SOFTBALL
Cumberland at Schalick
Overbrook at Penns Grove
Salem at Pennsville
Woodstown at Glassboro
GOLF
Woodstown vs. Pitman, Pitman CC, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick girls vs. Delsea, Centerton CC
TENNIS
Pitman at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Delsea, 3:45 p.m.
LACROSSE
Rancocas Valley at Woodstown, 4:15 p.m.

MAY 15
BASEBALL
Buena at Schalick
Pennsville at Triton
SOFTBALL
Schalick at Buena
Triton at Pennsville
GOLF
Schalick vs. Hammonton, Pinelands GC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Sterling, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Woodstown at Highland, 3:45 p.m.
Glassboro at Pennsville
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Eastern
VOLLEYBALL
Timber Creek at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region 19 Final Four, Rutgers-Camden
Salem CC vs. RCSJ-Gloucester or Brookdale, TBA

MAY 16
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Cedar Creek
SOFTBALL
Salem at Cape May Tech
Triton at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Millville, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Woodstown at Overbrook, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick at Wildwood, 4:15 p.m.
TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Millville
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Cape May Tech, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region 19 Final Four, Rutgers-Camden, TBA

MAY 17
BASEBALL
Schalick at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
TRACK
NJSIAA Sectionals
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Region 19 Final Four, Rutgers-Camden, TBA

Schalick slams Salem

Pokrovsky homers twice in first inning, passes 100 career RBIs; he and D’Agostino both hit grand slams and the Cougars roll before heading to the Hall of Fame

By Riverview Sports News

ELMER – It must have felt like the good old days to many a Schalick baseball player Friday night.

The Cougars returned to the Elmer Little League complex where it all began for a lot of them for the second time this week and put on an impressive display of power.

They hit three home runs – two grand slams – and had eight extra-base hits in crushing Salem 26-2 in five innings.

It was just the kind of game they needed to send them to Cooperstown, where they’ll play Bridgeton at Doubleday Field Monday.

Luke Pokrovsky and Lucas D’Agostino, two of the players recognized during Senior Day activities here Tuesday night, led the 22-hit attack. Pokrovsky homered twice in the first inning, doubled and drove in a career-high seven runs to surpass 100 for his career. D’Agostino homered, doubled and had five RBIs.

Pokrovsky homered leading off the home first to tie the game and hit a grand slam later in the inning. They were his 17th and 18th homers of his career to stand alone as Schalick’s all-time home run king. It was the second multi-homer game of his career and 24th multi-RBI game.

D’Agostino hit a slam in the second inning for his first career homer. The Cougars scored nine runs in each of the first two innings.

Every Schalick starter had at least one hit and 14 Cougars had hits in the game. Starting pitcher Jamari Whitley had two hits and three RBIs, while Ricky Watt, Mason Sanchez, Enrico Hatz and Evan Glaspey had two hits apiece.

Bryce Harris drew a bases-loaded walk to give Salem a 1-0 lead in the first. The Rams scored their other run in the fourth inning on a error off the bat of Chase Pompper. Terrell Robinson had two of their four hits in the game.

Another centurion

Pennsville’s Wood collects his 100th career hit in Eagles rout of Wildwood; includes results from throughout Salem County

THURSDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 21, Wildwood 3
Overbrook 4, Woodstown 1
Clayton 7, Salem 6
THURSDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 15, Wildwood 1
Woodstown 17, Overbrook 7

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILDWOOD – A lot of players might have been a little anxious being so close to a milestone they’ve chased all their life and not seeing it happen, but as long as he was helping his team win while he waited Luke Wood was OK with it.

The Pennsville senior needed one more hit since Monday to get the 100th hit of his high school career, which with his eye at the plate figured to come at any minute. It just seemed to be taking forever.

Wood finally reached the milestone Thursday. It came on a two-out single to right field in the fifth inning – his last at-bat of the game – of the Eagles’ 21-3 rout of Wildwood.

Since collecting hit No. 99 – a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Clayton – he went 0-for-2 with two walks against Pitman (reaching on an error in the eighth inning) and 0-for-2 with two walks and an error before finally breaking through Thursday.

“When you’re going for 100 hits it’s frustrating, but at the same time you just have to realize your team’s up a lot of runs and that’s not what matters at the end of the day,” Wood said. “As nerve wracking as it might be or as big a deal as it is to some people, I always kind of push it to the back of my mind and do what I can to help the team win.

“Just through the last 10 plate appearances I had there was a string of bad luck, but that’s kind of how my approach is. I don’t want to make outs easy for them. I want to go up there and I want to get walked, I want to hit balls on the ground. If I don’t get hits because of this but I get on base that’s all I really care about.

“I needed one hit, so it’s not like I was sitting here stressed out about getting it for the rest of the season. I needed 13 coming into the season, I knew it was going to happen eventually. I just wanted to go out and do my job every day, get on base, because that’s always been my best asset, never really being just a hitter.”

Now, he can put this milestone with his 200-plus career strikeouts as a pitcher and 1,000-plus career points in basketball. Soon he can add 100 career runs to his collection of milestones (he needs three).

He is the third Pennsville athlete to collect their 100th career hit this season, joining baseball teammate Chase Burchfield (who has 100-plus RBIs as well) and softball junior Kylie Harris.

“Obviously, it feels really good,” he said. “It’s another milestone I can add to my high school career. It’s nice everything I’ve worked for and everything I’ve done is finally paying off. It’s nice to see the results of all the work you’ve put in.

“It’s super cool. It’s something I thought about doing since I was in seventh and eighth grade. It’s one of the coolest things. I don’t know any other words to put it as. It’s a good feeling.”

“I’m really happy for Luke,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said. “To be able to achieve 100 hits in baseball is very impressive. And for him to miss most of his junior season due to injury and still be able to achieve the feat speaks volumes … In nine years as head coach I’ve only had three guys get 100; again, speaks volumes about how difficult it is.”

After scratching and clawing to score the runs to beat Pitman the day before, the Eagles batted around twice and erupted for 15 runs in the first inning against the Warriors.

Twenty batters saw 76 pitches from three pitchers in the inning. Logan Streitz, Cohen Petrutz, Jeff Wagner and Mason O’Brien all had two hits in the inning. Wagner and O’Brien both drove in four runs. Wood walked twice.

“We came out today and were swinging the bat well and getting a lot of things go our way,” Wood said. “We swung the bats extremely well top to bottom. We had I think three JV guys get their first hits today (Jay Nickels, Jacob Hand and Grady Sanders). We just swung it well up and down the lineup.

“It goes to show when we bear down, work at bats, and be what I would call reasonably aggressive at the plate we’re gonna be really hard to beat. Like you saw today, we put up a ton of runs.”

Sanders’ first hit kept the fifth inning alive bringing Wood to the plate for his 100th.

With the win, the Eagles can clinch their fourth straight TCC Classic Division title and first outright since 2023 with a win Wednesday at Salem.

OVERBROOK 4, WOODSTOWN 1: The Wolverines slump at the plate against some pretty good arms continued as they were held to just two hits by a pair of Rams pitchers. Over the last three games the Wolverines have managed just four hits.

Woodstown tied the game 1-1 in the fifth on Caiden Spinelli’s run-scoring ground out, but the Rams answered with three in the bottom of the inning. They loaded the bases against Wolverines starter Aaron Foote on two singles and a walk, then Louis Hanna cleared them with a double to left.

CLAYTON 7, SALEM 6: After losing in a walk-off the day before, the Clippers turned the tables on the Rams with three in the bottom of the seventh. Jamison Emerle provided the crushing blow, a two-out double to center after Jackson Petsch stole second to move the winning run into scoring position.

The Rams took a 6-1 lead on Chase Davis’ grand slam in the fourth inning.

Softball

PENNSVILLE 15, WILDWOOD 1: Avery Watson continued to swing a hot bat, going 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, four runs and four RBIs. Over her last eight games the Eagles’ infielder is 16-for-24 with six of he seven triples and 17 RBIs. She has a 10-game hitting streak.

Savannah Brewer-Palverento also two extra-base hits and four RBIs for the Eagles. Makenzie Widener had two hits and three RBIs and Kylie Harris added two more hits to her state-leading total.

Brewer-Palverento held the Warriors to two hits and an unearned run on 55 pitches over five innings and faced only two batters over the minimum. She struck out five.

WOODSTOWN 17, OVERBROOK 7: Ellie Wygand went 3-for-4, Talia Guardascione and Aubrie Rennie both had three RBIs and the Wolverines erupted for 10 runs in the fifth inning to turn a close game into a walkoff rout.

Actually, it was a come-from-behind win for the Wolverines. They trailed 2-0, 6-5 and 7-6 at various points in the game.

Rennie tied the game for the last time in the fourth inning when she raced home on Kendall Young’s bunt, then gave the Wolverines the lead for good in the fifth with a two-run single. Guardascione had a three-run double later in the inning.

Grace Hitchner, Young, Shyann Higinbotham, Wygand and Lila Bowling each drove in a run in the big inning.

Golf

Woodstown 176, Highland 194: Woodstown’s Erich Lipovsky (41) was low medalist at Valley Brook.
Washington Twp. girls 177, Schalick 202: WT’s Tessa Reilley’s 2-over 37 was low medalist at Centerton. Lena Virga had Schalick’s low round (47).

Tennis

PENNSVILLE 5, GCIT 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Ilan Torres, 6-2, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Jeffrey Smith, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Gabe Ferraro, 6-1, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. James Helder-Jacob Everson, 6-1, 4-6, 12-10
Ian Peacock-Carter Willis (P) def. Robert Helder-Gavin Shainline, 5-7, 6-2, 10-7
Records: Pennsville 13-0, GCIT 4-11.

SCHALICK 5, WASHINGTON TWP. 0
George Gould (S) def. Zach Torbik, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. William Minchin, 6-0, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Alex Fogg, 6-4, 6-4
Cayden Brzozowski-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Aaron Begin-Andy Wu, 6-4, 6-2
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Jack Hanson-Jack Laubin, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 12-4, Washington Twp. 1-15.

Photo: Pennsville’s Luke Wood comes out of the batter’s box after delivering his 100th career hit Thursday at Wildwood. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)

Wednesday roundup

Here are the results from Wednesday’s Salem County sports calendar

TRACK

FRANKLINVILLE — Schalick’s David Stewart won three events and Jordan Hadfield set a meet record in the 1600 to highlight Salem County’s showing in the Tri-County Conference Showcase at Delsea.

Stewart won the triple jump, 400 hurdles (running the event for the first time) and ran a leg on the winning 4×100 relay. Hadfield ran 4:59.06 in the 1600 to shave four seconds off the meet record.

Salem County athletes won 10 events in the unscored meet.

TCC SHOWCASE
BOYS WINNERS
100: Neo Clark-Tabb, Deptford 10.84
110 hurdles: Ryan Sanchez, Deptford 14.57
200: Alexander Osayemi, Clayton 21.78
400: John Froehlich, Overbrook 49.51
400 hurdles: David Stewart, Schalick 54.60
800: Cole Lucas, Woodstown 1:58.17
1600: Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:41.19
3200: Hunter Bostwick, Washington Twp. 10:07.48
4×100: Schalick (Allen, Eberl, Mills, Stewart) 42.86
4×400: Penns Grove (Hernandez, Young, Goodson, Garlic) 3:29.51
4×800: Clearview 8:11.30
Discus: Jayron Lewis, Williamstown 153-2
High Jump: Jayden DeLeon, Highland 6-6
Javelin: Connor Ayars, Pennsville 168-1
Long Jump: Chance Gibbons, Williamstown 20-4.25
Pole Vault: Marcus Hood, Deptford 15-0
Shot Put: Jonathan Harris, Delsea 62-3 (meet record)
Triple Jump: David Stewart, Schalick 45-0.5

GIRLS WINNERS
100: Ryan Jennings, Timber Creek 11.49
100 hurdles: Dakota Jones, Washington Twp. 15.02
200: Ryan Jennings, Timber Creek 24.21
400: Taylor Gaines, Timber Creek 59.47
400 hurdles: Dakota Jones, Washington Twp. 1:08.85
800: Lilla Porter, Clearview 2:25.66
1600: Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 4:59.06 (meet record, old record 5:03.40, Amanda Goetschius, Delsea 2007)
3200: Juliana Sieminski, Delsea 11:58.32
4×100: Kingsway 48.10
4×400: Deptford 4:13.45
4×800: Woodstown (Norman, Marino, Sterner, Seiden) 10:06.30
Discus: Hannah Nuhfer, Delsea 160-8
High Jump: Addison Inge, Williamstown 5-2
Javelin: Rainelle Blocker, Clayton 118-1
Long Jump: Timia Waters, Williamstown 17-1.5
Pole Vault: Megan Morris, Pennsville 10-0
Shot Put: Ella Karp, Washington Twp. 45-1.25
Triple Jump: Milla Pihlava, Williamstown 36-1.5

TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 3, VINELAND 2
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Jorge Alverez, 6-1, 6-1
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Christopher DeCarvalho Chanez, 6-1, 6-0
Justin Mastro (V) def. Brody Wiggins, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. Asher Hill-Alex Garcia, 6-4, 6-4
Kevin Maldonado-Michael Sheftall (V) def. Ian Peacock-Carter Willis, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-8
Records: Pennsville 12-0, Vineland 11-6

WOODSTOWN 4, DEPTFORD 1
Lucius Davis (D) def. Drew Stengel, 6-3, 6-2
John Farrell (WO) def. Bradyn Gee, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0
Nicholas DeTeodoro (WO) def. Xavier Dean, 6-3, 6-0
Luke Shaw-Mason Shimp (WO) def. Zane Rauner-Tony Logan, 6-1, 6-1
Ben Stengel-Jake Lewis (WO) def. Chase Umbra-Olaoluwa Gureje, 6-2, 6-1
Records: Woodstown 11-3, Deptford 12-4

PITMAN 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Chase Pogozelski (P) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-0, 6-1
Nolan Russell (P) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-2, 6-0
Jaron Scull (P) def. Anthony Pacheco, 6-4, 6-2
Ben Williams-Jonah Raymer (P) def. Adan Gonzalez-Rene Ruiz, 6-2, 6-2
Liam Etter-Spencer Bianchini (P) def. Juan Ortiz-Jesus Arredondo, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Pitman 4-12, Penns Grove 2-6

GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown 13, Clearview 8: Jaime Deal scored four goals and Emma Morgan and Blair Baldi had three each for the Wolverines.

Schalick clinches

Pokrovsky sharp against Woodstown again, Cougars win Elmer Classic, clinch TCC Diamond Division crown

TUESDAY BASEBALL
Schalick 5, Woodstown 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

ELMER — It wasn’t a perfect game. Or a no-hitter. It wasn’t even a complete game. But in a lot of respects Schalick senior Luke Pokrovsky pitched better Tuesday night against Woodstown than he did in his perfect game against them in his first start of the season.

Pokrovsky faced the Wolverines for the second time this season in the 13th Elmer Classic. The first time he threw a five-inning perfect game. This time, he gave up one hit and struck out 13 in six innings of a 5-0 win at the Elmer LL complex.

“I feel like I threw better than opening day,” the senior southpaw said. “I don’t think they were ready to face me opening day and I feel like I had more competition at the plate (tonight). They were fouling off my stuff, I wanted to keep going and keep coming at them.”

**Schalick left-hander Luke Pokrovsky holds the Elmer Classic trophy after pitching the Cougars to a 5-0 victory with six innings of one-hit shutout baseball.**

Pokrovsky lost his bid for a second perfect game on a third-inning walk to Chase Harding; it ended a string of 21 consecutive Wolverines he retired over a seven-inning stretch. He lost the no-hitter in the fourth on Harding’s solid two-out single to left.

The only reason he didn’t finish was he threw 99 pitches and reached his five-day limit after throwing 13 pitches Monday to close out Overbrook.

“Woodstown was a little off (the first time) … they had an opportunity to make adjustments, so it made it more challenging (in his mind) to actually go out there and throw,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “It was more impressive and he was more effective because he had to work a lot harder, I think, this time around.”

The Wolverines (10-5) put eight balls in play in this game, twice as many as they did in the perfect game.

“Not every game I’m going to get a perfect game or a no-hitter,” Pokrovsky said. “It’s fine. I flushed it (giving up the hit) and kept going.”

Even when the Wolverines threatened it didn’t faze him. The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out in the third inning on a pair of walks and a failed fielder’s choice, but the Penn signee fanned Rocco String with high heat for the second out and got Ty Coblentz on a deep fly to left to end the inning.

The Wolverines put two on with two outs in the fourth, then grounded sharply to third to end the inning.

“I knew they were on my off-speed and I wanted to stick with the same fastball,” the pitcher said. “I’ve faced Rocco a bunch of times the past three years and he loves the high fastball. He’s a good hitter, but I had to go high fastball. I just wanted to see if he would chase and he got it (to swing at).”

“He didn’t let things frustrate him,” O’Brien said. “You could tell by his body language he was going to go after the guy and get him. It wasn’t like, oh it’s not going my way, he was like no I’m going to get out of that situation. That’s what his body language said to me in that moment.”

Pokrovsky had a lot of incentive to pitch well. It was Schalick’s Senior Night and the pitcher’s two older brothers, both of whom are/were Division I players, came to watch him play for the first time this season. Woodstown won the last two Elmer Classic games and last year the Wolverines roughed him up for six runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

“Our main goal before the season started was to beat Woodstown and sweep Woodstown due to them beating us the past three years,” he said. “That was our main goal every single time. We practiced right before we were like we’ve got to beat Woodstown. Stay up, stay positive, we have to come out on top.”

Just as they did in the first meeting, the Cougars took the early lead, just not as pronounced. They scored 10 in the first inning of the first game. On this night they led 3-0 after two innings.

They scored one in the first on Lucas D’Agostino’s RBI double and two in the second when Eli Cummings dropped a soft RBI single into right field and Pokrovsky stretched a similarly soft flare to right into a double to score Cummings.

It stayed 3-0 until the sixth when Ricky Watt launched a two-run homer to left. It was the sophomore catcher’s first homer of this regular season and second of his career.

“I was swinging a little out of my shoes all night, but I came up and tried to help out the team,” Watt said. “I was just trying to be aggressive, anything in the zone I was swinging.

“I played Little League on every field here and I’ve been watching the Elmer games that Schalick’s played for just as many years. It’s definitely special to be able to hit one for myself. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.”

Almost overlooked in Pokrovsky’s performance and raising the Classic trophy was the fact with the win the Cougars (12-1) clinched their first Tri-County Conference Diamond Division title since 2021. Before then it had been 25 years since they won a pennant. They have one more division game left, Wednesday at Penns Grove.

“I was thinking they had (clinched) a share and then was, wait a second, they (Woodstown) have two losses in the division, we beat them both times, we’ve got one (game) left, so yeah we definitely clinched,” O’Brien said. “We won it back in 2021 but before that I’m thinking it was since ‘96 we won it. It was an accomplishment these guys had from the start, so I’m glad that they’ve reached one of their goals.”

NOTES: Since the winning team started being engraved on the trophy in 2012, Schalick leads the series 8-5 … This was Schalick’s third shutout win in the Elmer game since 2012 … All five seniors started for the Cougars … Woodstown had won five in a row, outscoring its opponents 47-7 in the stretch … The Cougars return to Elmer Friday night to play Salem, then they’re to Cooperstown where they’ll tour the Baseball Hall of Fame and play Bridgeton on Doubleday Field Monday .

Woodstown takes softball

TUESDAY SOFTBALL
Woodstown 13, Schalick 3
Salem 21, LEAP 6

On the softball side of the Classic, Woodstown cast all its pressure aside and played loose and it resulted in what Wolverines coach Rob Hildebrand called its “best game of the year” in a 13-3 win over the Cougars.

The Wolverines collected 12 hits and broke it open with a seven-run second inning. Hanna Hitchner highlighted the outburst with a three-run triple.

Ellie Wygand went 3-for-4 and like Hitchner had three RBIs. Shyann Higinbotham, whose dad Rick is Schalick’s head coach, had two hits and two RBIs, while Kendall Young had two hits and Talia Guardiscione had two RBIs.

“That’s a big win, huge win,” Hildebrand said. “Best game all year with hitting the ball. We have not hit the ball like that. We’re in midseason form now, waiting all year.”

Salem County Monday

Here are the results of Monday’s Salem County sports action

BASEBALL
Pennsville 14, Clayton 6: Luke Wood 5 RBIs; Jeff Wagner, Logan Streitz each 2 hits, 2 RBIs; Pennsville can claim a share of TCC Classic Division with win over Pitman Wednesday
Schalick 4, Overbrook 2: Lucas D’Agostino scattered six hits, fanned nine in six innings, Luke Pokrovsky fanned two in his closing inning, passed 300 career Ks; Ricky Watt, Pokrovsky 3 hits each; Schalick can claim TCC Diamond Division title with win over Woodstown Tuesday at Elmer LL
Glassboro 12, Penns Grove 1: The Bulldogs took a no-hitter into the fifth. Alex Paz drove in Penns Grove’s run.
Pitman 10, Salem 0: Two pitchers combined on one-hitter; Nick Watson HR, Hudson Rue 4 RBIs.

SOFTBALL
Pennsville 20, Clayton 4: Lily Edwards 4 hits, 4 RBIs; every starter had at least one hit in Eagles’ 21-hit attack.
Glassboro 24, Penns Grove 9: Scarlett Saicic 3 doubles, 6 RBIs. Penns Grove had a season-high runs
Pitman 14, Salem 1: Jess Bretz’ grand slam highlighted Panthers’ 14-run second inning; Isla Bohn 3 hits for Salem.
Schalick 12, Overbrook 8: Cougars erupt for nine runs in last two innings. Cloe Elliott 3×5, 5 RBIs; Maddie Brown 5×5, 3 RBIs.

GOLF
Schalick’s Jaxon Weber posted a 6-over-par 78 and finished tied for seventh in the South Jersey Group I sectional, but didn’t finish high enough to advance to the state group championship. The Cougars finished 12th as a team (365). Woodstown was 13th (375). Jack Bucksar and Erich Lipovsky had Woodstown’s low rounds (86).

Triton 194, Salem Tech 226

TENNIS
Deptford 3, Woodstown 2

LACROSSE
Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown

VOLLEYBALL
Highland 2, Salem Tech 0 (25-18, 25-18)

COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC 15, Atlantic Cape 4

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 5-11; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

MAY 5
BASEBALL
Clayton at Pennsville
Overbrook at Schalick
Penns Grove at Glassboro
Salem at Pitman
SOFTBALL
Clayton at Pennsville
Glassboro at Penns Grove
Pitman at Salem
Schalick at Overbrook
GOLF
Salem Tech vs. Triton, Sakima CC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Deptford at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Burlington Twp., Green Acres Park
LACROSSE
Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown
VOLLEYBALL
Highland at Salem Tech, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Atlantic Cape CC, 3:30 p.m.

MAY 6
BASEBALL
Pilgrim Academy at Salem
Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
LEAP at Salem
Schalick vs. Woodstown, Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Delsea, Centerton CC
Schalick girls in State Championship, Rutgers
TENNIS
Highland at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Kingsway at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Wildwood at Schalick
TRACK
Woodstown at Penns Grove

MAY 7
BASEBALL
Pitman at Pennsville
Woodstown at Pennsauken Tech, 3:45 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Pitman
TENNIS
Vineland at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Woodstown at Deptford, 3:45 p.m.
Pitman at Penns Grove
TRACK
Tri-County Conference Meet, Delsea, 3 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Clearview at Woodstown
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Riverside, 3:45 p.m.

MAY 8
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Wildwood, 3:45 p.m.
Salem at Clayton
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Overbrook
SOFTBALL
Overbrook at Woodstown
Pennsville at Wildwood
Penns Grove at Schalick
GOLF
Salem Tech vs. Pennsville, Sakima CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Gloucester Catholic, Centerton CC
Schalick girls vs. Washington Twp. Centerton CC
Woodstown vs. Highland, Valley Brook CC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
GCIT at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Schalick at Washington Twp.
Williamstown at Penns Grove

MAY 9
BASEBALL
Millville at Pennsville
South Hunterdon at Penns Grove, 4:15 p.m.
Salem vs. Schalick at Elmer LL, 6:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Clayton at Salem
Pennsville at Paulsboro
Schalick at Haddonfield
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Overbrook, Kresson GC, 3:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Schalick at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Pennsville at Clearview
LACROSSE
Vineland at Woodstown
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Washington Twp.

MAY 10
BASEBALL
Lee Ware Tournament, Woodstown
Washington Twp. at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
Camden Catholic at Cherry Hill East, 10 a.m.
Consolation game, noon
Championship game, noon
SOFTBALL
Pennsville in Pitman Tournament
Woodstown in Williamstown Tournament
GIRLS LACROSSE
Haddon Heights at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC in Region 19 Tournament, TBA

Tired and rushed

Schalick suffers first loss of season in Diamond Classic; in a span on 16 hours, seniors come back from class trip, play the game, then go to prom

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE — Schalick was making its first appearance in the Diamond Classic in 29 years, but the circumstances of a senior year kept the Cougars from being their best.

It was a tired, rushed group of Cougars that suffered their first loss of the season, 10-4 to Haddonfield in the opening round of the 51st Classic Thursday. And there were reasons for it.

The team’s five seniors had gotten back in their South Jersey beds from the Senior Trip to Orlando at 3 a.m. Thursday morning. And they were back at school and the ballpark at 10 a.m. for the 3 p.m. game.

But that was only the half of it. The prom was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and most of the players, seniors or otherwise, were going. The game ended at 5:30 and they still had to clean up and slip into their tuxes, meaning a lot of prom dates were waiting at the door.

Senior Luke Pokrovsky drew the start for the Cougars (10-1) against Haddons’ ace Marty Foust.

Understandably, Pokrovsky wasn’t sharp. He came out with one out in the fourth inning, down 4-0 after giving up three hits and striking out seven, but walking four and hitting one. He wound up being charged with five runs.

“I’m really tired,” he said. “I came out trying to do something for the team but it was hard. Very hard.

“It’s been a long week, trying to get everything done and then having this game scheduled right on prom and getting home at 3 o’clock and having to be going into school early it’s hard to play as a team, especially for seniors, when half our team is seniors. Nobody was ready to play today.”

Pokrovsky’s first inning was very Luke-like, with the left-hander setting down Haddonfield in order on 12 pitches on a fly to left and two strikeouts. He worked through two runners in scoring position with one out and bases loaded with two in the second inning. It started to get away in the third and that’s when Cougars coach Sean O’Brien knew the effects of the schedule had kicked in.

The Haddons (10-4) scored three runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Their three runs in the third came with only one hit. Half of their runs were unearned.

“As much as you don’t want to make excuses you could see when we did I/O we were kind of flat, not doing things we usually do,’ Cougars coach Sean O’Brien said. “I knew it could go either way where they’d come out and maybe surprise me or we’d come out and look like we hadn’t played in a week. That’s the way we looked.”

Woodstown faced a similar scheduling squeeze against a smaller Diamond Classic field last year and decided not to play. If his seniors wouldn’t have been back in time to play O’Brien might have considered declining the invitation, but with three decades between appearance if at all possible he wanted his players to have the tournament experience.

“It does make it hard with the short window you can play, but I think it was more unfortunate of the scheduling with the school having prom and the senior trip back-to-back,” O’Brien said. “It’s too long of a layoff and there’s too much could go wrong in that situation where the kids just don’t have time to recuperate.

“I just wanted for these guys, the seniors, to have an opportunity to play in it because they’ve worked hard to get to this moment so they deserve it. If they couldn’t play I probably would’ve thought about it, but as long as the seniors were out here we’re going to give it a shot.”

Lucas D’Agostino, another senior, followed Pokrovsky to the mound and worked an inning and a third. He collected his 100th career strikeout during his stint, but didn’t realize it until he was in the outfield after being lifted in the fifth.

“The part of the seniors being away for the whole week wasn’t even so much the tiredness, it was just the team chemistry,” D’Agostino said. “They weren’t here to lead practices, weren’t here to make sure we were ready for this game and prepared. The tiredness does come into effect off little sleep, but … it was more mental than physical.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge, for sure. We tried to keep our head up as much as possible, but it was tough definitely to keep the mental strength to do that.”

The Cougars, the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group I power points standings, came to life in the fourth inning, finally getting on the board on Jamari Whitley’s RBI single. Whitley dropped a two-run single into right field in the seventh, too.

Photo by Brian Tortella