Beating the clock

Wednesday roundup: Woodstown’s 4×800 relay qualifies for nationals at Meet of Champions; Pennsville announces Hall of Fame Class, names Athletes of the Year

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSAUKEN – The Woodstown 4×800 relay team had one job in Wednesday’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions and they got it done.

Winning the race would have been a nice get, but the Wolverines were focused on posting a time that would get them in the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field later this month.

They got it done, even with their anchor a little under the weather. The Group I champion quartet of Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, Cole Lucas and Josh Crawford finished fifth in the MOC, but their 7:54.84 set a new Group I record and got them into the nationals.

“One thing those guys won’t do is shy away from competition,” Wolverines coach Reggie Teemer said. “They feed off it.”

Salem County had athletes in 12 events at the all-group meet. Salem’s Anthony Parker had the best individual finish, placing fourth in the boys long jump with a best of 23-5. Crawford also finished seventh in the 800, Schalick’s David Stewart was eighth in the 400 hurdles and Cougars’ 4×100 relay team (Reggie Allen Jr., Michael Eberl, Zaeshawn Mills, David Stewart) finished sixth.

Woodstown’s 4×800 time was more than four seconds better than their winning time in last weekend’s Group I championship meet. They were just shy of a provisional qualifying time for the nationals, but wanted to run a race in their last chance to get in that would leave no doubt.

Chew led them out in 1:59.50. Marino kept them on pace with a 2:02.4. Lucas set them up with a 1:58.45. And Crawford, running with a “minor” cough and fever that “slightly impacted my running,” brought it home with two laps in the 50s and a 1:54.46. Christian Brothers Academy won the race with a collective 7:48.55.

“We came very mentally prepared to break our previous record in the 4×8 and qualify for the New Balance Nationals and I wasn’t going to let a sickness get in the way of that opportunity for my teammates,” Crawford said. “ I was proud of all my teammates for running this race as if it was our last and thankfully earning another opportunity because of the combined culmination of our efforts to give our senior, Cole, a sendoff for the record books.”

It was a busy day for the junior. He ran in three events. He ran 1:53.83 to get on the podium in the individual 800 and ran a leg on the 4×400 relay.

Here are the Salem County results from the Meet of Champions:

MEET OF CHAMPIONS
At Pennsauken HS
GIRLS
1600: 12. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick, 5:05.56
3200: 21. Jordan Hadfield, Schalick 10:58.85
Shot Put: T-20. Tatiyonna Crawford, Pennsville 34-6
Pole Vault: T-10. Megan Morris, Pennsville 10-6
BOYS
4×800: 5. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Jacob Marino, Cole Lucas, Josh Crawford) 7:54.84
400 Hurdles: 8. David Stewart, Schalick 54.53
4×100: 6. Schalick (Reggie Allen Jr., Michael Eberl, Zaeshawn Mills, David Stewart) 42.08
800: 7. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:53.83; 20. Cole Lucas, Woodstown 1:58.23
4×400: 21. Woodstown (Karson Chew, Kyle Reitz, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford) 3:25.85
Javelin: 14. Connor Ayars, Pennsville 165-0
Long Jump: 4. Anthony Parker, Salem 23-5
Triple Jump: 26. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 41-4

Pennsville tabs Hall class

PENNSVILLE – Five decorated athletes spanning five sports and four decades, three successful head coaches and two state champion teams will comprise the 2025 class that will be inducted into the Pennsville Memorial High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

The class was announced at the school’s annual awards assembly Wednesday night. It will be formally inducted in ceremonies at the school Oct. 7.

The class includes athletes Tom Ridgway (Class of 1978), HJ Lopes (’79), Lisa Doran (’86), Dannielle Dolbow-Darby (’95) and Ashley Minch (’08); coaches Ryan Wood (football/baseball), Jack Hathaway (soccer) and Dan LaMont (tennis/wrestling); and the 2005 state champion girls tennis and baseball teams.

“The Hall of Fame Committee did a wonderful job spanning several decades in putting together this year’s class,” Eagles athletics director Jamy Thomas said. “We have a wide variety of sports recognized with our inductees from field hockey, baseball, softball, soccer and tennis. The athletes in this group may have had one sport in which they truly shined, but each of them were great all-around athletes.

“In regards to the coaches being honored this year I have had the opportunity to be taught by Coach Hathaway as a PMHS student and work alongside Coach Wood and Coach LaMont. They are a group of great coaches and even more importantly are great people who are wonderful role models for our student-athletes.”

At the same assembly, potential future Hall of Famers Megan Morris and Connor Ayars were recognized as the school’s PEPPA Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Morris is a multiple state champion pole vaulter and tennis player, while Ayars is football/track standout. Both competed at the Meet of Champions prior to attending the ceremonies.

**Megan Morris (L) and Connor Ayars were named Pennsville’s PEPPA Scholar-Athletes of the Year.**

Stopped in semis

Pennsville, Woodstown see seasons come to an end in losses in South Jersey Group I softball semifinals; will be updated

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL
WEDNESDAY’S SEMIFINALS
Audubon 16, Woodstown 0
Haddon Twp. 8, Pennsville 2
FRIDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Haddon Twp. at Audubon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Beth Jackson was 6 years old when Boston’s Bill Buckner booted that ball against the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series for the error heard ‘round the world. She was probably too young at the time to understand the magnitude of the play, but as she got older and came to learn and love the game the impact of play wasn’t lost on her.

The ghost of that play manifested itself nearly 40 years later Wednesday in Pennsville’s South Jersey Group I softball semifinal game against Haddon Twp. and it had as profound an effect on the team that made it as it did on the Sox.

The two-out error opened the door for a three-run inning that the second-seeded Eagles never quite recovered from in an eventual 8-2 loss. The win sends Haddon Twp. (17-8) to meet top-seeded Audubon (18-7) Friday for the South Jersey Group I title, while the loss ended one of Pennsville’s winningest seasons ever.

Neither team scored in the first inning and Eagles starting pitcher Savannah Brewer-Palverento got the first two outs of the second, just like Red Sox did on the Mets that fateful 10th inning of Game 6 back in ’86. The Hawks got the next runner on and then Karsyn McCoy hit a ball off the end of the bat that rolled up the first base line.

Pennsville first baseman Makenzie Widener made a play on the ball at the bag and had it in her glove, but it spun out and caromed towards second base. She recovered it, but couldn’t get back to the bag in time to get McCoy. The next two batters, Grace Farah and left-handed third baseman Ariana Turkot, delivered RBI singles and suddenly the Hawks had three unearned runs and the Eagles were down 3-0.

“There was just a lot of spin on it and I couldn’t grab it correctly so I couldn’t get it in time,” Widener said. “I had it in my glove and it just (spun away).”

If you’re any kind of baseball fan it’s hard not to know the Buckner play. The Mets were down to their final strike of being closed out, but stayed alive and the error allowed them to win the game, tie the series and win it in Game 7. Both Jackson and pink-haired Haddon Twp. coach Pam McCabe got the connection when it came up in the post-game conversation.

“We’ve talked all year making mistakes and giving other teams extra outs and whatnot,” Jackson said. “We’re all human, we all make mistakes, it’s picking it back up and they did, but every game you have to make sure you make the plays and if you don’t, you give them the opportunity and they took advantage of it, which is tough.”

McCabe’s choice of hair color was the fulfillment of a promise she made to the players if they got this far in the playoffs. It’ll probably stay in for a couple months now, she said.

“They didn’t think I was going to,” she said. “I showed up today I think it pumped up me and my assistant more than it did them. They’re probably the quietest team I’ve ever coached in my life.

The Eagles (21-4) did bounce back from that adversity and got within 3-2 when Graillyn Weber’s aggressive base running produced a run in the fourth and Kylie Harris’ sacrifice fly brought home another in the sixth. Weber was confirmed as a member of the Tri-Cape Carpenter Cup team after the game (along with Woodstown’s Ellie Wygand).

Although Brewer-Palverento pitched well for six innings, giving up only three hits and striking out three, Jackson replaced her with Weber to start to seventh inning in the hopes of giving the Hawks a different look. The visitors didn’t blink and erupted for five runs to put it out of reach.

Pitcher Jordan Strauss, Mikayla Callahan, Julie Broderick and Lexi Broderick delivered consecutive hits that drove runs home.

“They’d seen (SBP) four times already, I think they were on their fifth time seeing her,” Jackson explained. “She did an excellent job today with them, so I wanted to give them something else, just change it up a little bit.”

The last out Brewer-Palverento got in the sixth was her 100th strikeout of the season (and 190th for her career), a feat Jackson called “awesome.” The Eagles huddled around their pitcher as they came off the field and it actually confused her.

“I didn’t even know until they said something,” she said. “They all came up on me and I was like ‘What did I do?,’ the game’s not over with, what’s going on.”

The little celebration seemed to spark the Eagles briefly. When they came to the plate Lily Edwards slapped a leadoff single into left field, stole second, moved to third on Weber’s grounder to the right side and scored the Eagles’ second run on Harris’ sacrifice fly.

“We’ve been watching the College World Series and talking about that,” Jackson said. “Lily brought up errors were made in the games and how they have to have a short-term memory and forget about it and go on to the next one. Here they are at the highest level of softball and they make mistakes too and they didn’t give up. You have to stay at it all 21 outs.”

When the 21st out came for the Eagles Wednesday the season came to an end. There were a lot of tears in the outfield when the players gathered for their post-game huddle. Jackson even started to choke up when she reflected on the season they just completed.

“I told them they had nothing to hang their head about,” she said. “They gave it a good fight.”

Pennsville pitcher Savannah Brewer-Palverento recorded her 100th strikeout of the season in the sixth inning. Top photo: Eagles coach Beth Jackson encourages her team from the third-base coach’s box. (Photos by Brian Tortella)

AUDUBON 16, WOODSTOWN 0: The Wolverines felt ready and excited for the chance to take on the top-seeded Green Wave. They had learned people tell them that under the right set of circumstances they could pull the upset.

It would take a near perfect game from the Wolverines to pull it off and in the end they fell victim to an 11-run first inning and never recovered.

“It was a shock for sure, but I wouldn’t say it was unexpected,” Woodstown coach Rob Hildebrand said. “We knew how good they were and we knew we were going to find out in the first three innings whether we were going to win that game. I would call it more of coming to fruition what we thought could happen.”

The Green Wave sent 16 batters to the plate in the first. It opened with three straight walks followed by a pair of RBI singles. After a strikeout, the next six batters reached safely extending the lead to 9-0. An error allowed the final two runs of the inning to score.

Audubon added five more runs in the second.

“Their approach to the plate was by far the best team I’ve faced all year, not even close,” Hildebrand said. “I don’t know that I’ve seen a softball team that their approach, every batter, 1 through 9, probably 90 percent of the base hits against (Woodstown pitcher Leah Clark) were 1-2 or 2-2 counts. She was getting ahead and just couldn’t quite finish. That’s a testament to them. They are literally a fundamentally sound team.”

The Wolverines had two hits in the game, a two-out opposite-field single by Talia Guardascione in the first and Hannah Hitchner’s two-out single as their next-to-last batter in the fourth.

TCC All-Stars

Here are the Tri-County Conference all-star teams for the Classic and Diamond divisions as selected by the coaches

Baseball

POS	CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
P	Luke Wood, Pennsville	Brian Cuniff, Wildwood
P	Aiden Stranahan, Pitman	Mark Manera, Clayton
C	Jake Sharrow, Pitman	Connor Starn, Pennsville
IF	Hudson Rue, Pitman	Logan Streitz, Pennsville
IF	Nick Watson, Pitman	Peyton O’Brien, Pennsville
IF	Cohen Petrutz, Pennsville	Chase Davis, Salem
IF	Trevor Troiano, Wildwood	Justin Delaney, Clayton
OF	Jackson Austin, Pitman	Dane Collum, Pitman
OF	Chase Burchfield, Pennsville	Mason O’Brien, Pennsville
OF	Jeff Wagner, Pennsville	Jameson Emerle, Clayton

POS	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND SECOND TEAM
P	Tyler Wood, Overbrook	Aaron Foote, Woodstown
P	Lucas D’Agostino, Schalick	Jack Holladay, Woodstown
C	Gavin Dillard, Glassboro	Ricky Watt, Schalick
IF	Lou Hanna, Overbrook	Evan Glassy, Schalick
IF	Cooper Hines, Overbrook	Jude Dempster, Glassboro
IF	Jamari Whitley, Schalick	Joey Tongue, Glassboro
IF	Elijah Crespo, Penns Grove	Brennan Crosse, Glassboro
OF	Rocco String, Woodstown	Mike Romano, Overbrook
OF	Charlie Snyder, Overbrook	Caden Lawless, Overbrook
OF	Luke Pokrovsky, Schalick	Evan Sepers, Schalick

Softball

POS	CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
P	Jessica Bretz, Pitman	Madelyn McGinn, Gloucester Cath.
P	Savannah Brewer-Palverento, Pennsville	Emma Contreras, Wildwood
C	Kylie Harris, Pennsville	Alexus Paden, Clayton
IF	Makenzie Widener, Pennsville	Ayanna Davis, Clayton
IF	Maya Hutchinson, Gloucester Cath.	Avery Watson, Pennsville
IF	Rosalina Pereira, Clayton	Maura Quinn, Pitman
IF	Graillyn Weber, Pennsville	Julia Ennis, Wildwood
OF	Lily Edwards, Pennsville	Sawyer Simmons, Pennsville
OF	Julianna Aguilar, Clayton	Madison Peek, Pitman
OF	Kaitlyn Capalbo, Gloucester Cath.	Samantha Scutt, Pitman

POS	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND SECOND TEAM
P	Addi Shimp, Schalick	Taylor Adcock, Glassboro
P	Leah Clark, Woodstown	Layla Perez, Overbrook
C	Scarlett Saicic, Glassboro	Lila Bowling, Woodstown
OF	Sienna Kudless, Glassboro	Marissa Rode, Glassboro
OF	Gianna Simon, Overbrook	Cecelia Mitchell, Overbrook
OF	Ellie Wygand, Woodstown	Shyann Higinbotham, Woodstown
IF	Olivia VanAcker, Schalick	Ava Landolt, Overbrook
IF	Cloe Elliott, Schalick	Danica Maggi, Overbrook
IF	Aubrie Rennie, Woodstown	Emma Schoch, Glassboro
IF	Alaina Dufresne, Overbrook	Marissa Pasquarello, Glassboro

Tennis

POS	CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
S	Gabe Schneider, Pennsville	Maddox Efelis, Pennsville
S	George Gould, Schalick	Brody Wiggins, Pennsville
S	Chase Fronczkiewicz, Clayton	Rocky Monticolo, Schalick
D	Kaden Barnes, Schalick	Carter Willis, Pennsville
D	Cayden Brzozowski, Schalick	Ian Peacock, Pennsville
D	Lucas Cooksey, Pennsville	David Santana, Schalick
D	Sawyer Humpreys, Pennsville	Anthony McGrath, Schalick

POS	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM
S	Zeph Kell, Delsea	Mohammad Sheyam, Highland
S	Lucius Davis, Deptford	Bradyn Gee, Deptford
S	Drew Stengel, Woodstown	Eli Croce, Delsea
D	Luke Shaw, Woodstown	Alan Marcos, Overbrook
D	Mason Shimp, Woodstown	Gabe Martinez, Overbrook
D	Jacob Bramble, Delsea	Ben Stengel, Woodstown
D	Jude Thompson, Delsea	Nicholas DiTeodoro, Woodstown

Boys Golf

CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
Mikey Joyce, Gloucester Cath.	A.J. Beach, Gloucester Cath.
Joey Zubert, Pitman	Robbie Ricardi, Gloucester Cath.
Owen Boulton, Pitman	Luke Driscoll, Pitman
Jake Bowen-Ashwin, Pitman	Jackson Venuto, Clayton
Max Pappalardo, Pitman	Burke Fotzsimmons, Wildwood
Gavin Burns, Wildwood	Chase Ayars, Salem Tech

DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND SECOND TEAM
Jaxon Weber, Schalick	Riley Bowman, Pennsville
Seth Fisher, Schalick	Trevor Hann, Pennsville
Erich Lipovsky, Woodstown	Jeffrey Boyd, Overbrook
Anthony Sepers, Schalick	Chase Pepper, Cumberland
Grant Prater, Woodstown	Michael Nelson, Schalick
Joey Olbrich, Woodstown	Jack Bucksar, Woodstown

Boys Track

EVT	CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
100	Jason Stewart, Clayton	Josiel Figueroa Marrero, Clayton
200	Willie Weathers, Clayton	Jamel Lemon-Ward, Gloucester Cath.
400	Alexander Osayemi, Clayton	Xavier McGriff, Salem
800	Wyatt Evans, Clayton	Liam Edelman, Pitman
1600	Jake Bowen-Ashwin, Pitman	Samuel Cooke, Salem
3200	Rhys Blackman, Pitman	Maximus Weng, Pitman
100H	Anthony Parker, Salem	Timothy Gregory, Salem
400H	Jerry Seals, Salem	Lucas Razze, Pitman
HJ	Dayvon Williams, Wildwood	Giani Jackson, Wildwood
LJ	Omarion Pierce, Salem	Justice Santiago, Wildwood
TJ	Donovan Weathers, Salem	Mission Barnes, Salem
PV	Gradin Buzby, Salem	Duncan Freeman, Clayton
SP	Pedro Ibarra, Clayton	Torryn Ransome, Salem
DIS	Nate Newcomb, Pitman	Giovani Talavera Rosas, Salem
JAV	Wyatt Irvine, Salem	Jovani Rios, Salem
4×400	Clayton	Salem

EVT	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND SECOND TEAM
100	Xavier Sabb, Glassboro	Colin McGlinn, Pennsville
200	Zaeshawn Mills, Schalick	Axcel Bailey, Overbrook
400	John Froehlich, Overbrook	Kyle Reitz, Woodstown
800	Josh Crawford, Woodstown	Steve Chomo, Schalick
1600	Ty Blackman, Glassboro	Cole Lucas, Woodstown
3200	Joey Saicic, Glassboro	Jacob Marino, Woodstown
100H	Dayshaun Day, Glassboro	Knowledge Young, Penns Grove
400H	Mekhi Parker, Glassboro	Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove
HJ	Amari Sabb, Glassboro	Reggie Allen, Schalick
LJ	Alex Adeleye, Glassboro	Jaiden Mitchell, Overbrook
TJ	David Stewart, Schalick	Moses Robles, Glassboro
PV	Daniel Adams, Glassboro	Salvatore Longo, Schalick
SP	Kyle Williams, Glassboro	Sheldon Goldsborogh, Schalick
DIS	Ethan McLean, Schalick	Aiden Tulane, Woodstown
JAV	Connor Ayars, Pennsville	Nyzier Wonder, Schalick
4×400	Woodstown	Penns Grove

Girls Track

EVT	CLASSIC FIRST TEAM	CLASSIC SECOND TEAM
100	Miyana Johnson, Clayton	Jaiyoni Yates, Clayton
200	Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem	Gabrielle Pernell-Lipsey, Clayton
400	Leila Ortiz, Clayton	Molly Wiśniewski, Pitman
800	Amanda Bradley, Pitman	Antonia Yucis, Gloucester Cath.
1600	Macie McCracken, Wildwood	Samantha Dale, Salem
3200	Lauren Streck, Pitman	Mackenzie Whilden, Pitman
100H	Anna Gallo, Clayton	Tahirah Davenport-White, Salem
400H	Audrey Boggs, Salem	Carly Razze, Pitman
HJ	Unique Nance, Salem	Zyonnah Forman, Salem
LJ	MaKayla Smith, Salem	Lily Atkinson, Wildwood
TJ	Alaina Williams, Pitman	Hanna Keefe, Pitman
PV	Kashira Patterson, Salem	Tatiana Miller, Salem
SP	Ava Rodgers, Salem	MarJziah Bundy, Salem
DIS	Destinee Williams, Clayton	Jocelyn O’Brien, Pitman
JAV	Rainelle Blocker, Clayton	Megan Wehlen, Pitman
4×400	Clayton	Salem

EVT	DIAMOND FIRST TEAM	DIAMOND SECOND TEAM
100	Tamia Smith, Glassboro	Kezia Brackett, Glassboro
200	Gia Martellacci, Schalick	Missouri Pratt, Overbrook
400	Rylee Clark, Overbrook	Samantha Sterner, Woodstown
800	Lillian Norman, Woodstown	Kelis Coston, Glassboro
1600	Jordan Hadfield, Schalick	Helen Lillia, Schalick
3200	Abby Marino, Woodstown	Anabel Schaal, Woodstown
100H	Lia Covely, Woodstown	Gabriella Simonini, Schalick
400H	London Banks, Overbrook	Sarah Seiden, Woodstown
HJ	Ashley Armstrong, Glassboro	Kami Casiano, Woodstown
LJ	Phoebe Alward, Schalick	Emma Perry, Woodstown
TJ	Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick	Onye Peoples, Overbrook
PV	Megan Morris, Pennsville	Elizabeth Mann, Glassboro
SP	Heaven Franklin, Glassboro	Zoey Ceasar, Penns Grove
DIS	Sunny Moore, Glassboro	Virginia Tarasevich, Glassboro
JAV	Allyson Green, Schalick	Nevaeh Robinson, Schalick
4×400	Schalick	Overbrook

Girls Lacrosse

POS	SJILL AMERICAN FIRST TEAM	SJILL AMERICAN SECOND TEAM
G	Shelby Foote, Woodstown	Mackenzie Keleher, Haddonfield
M	Riley Austin, Haddonfield	Callie Warner, Clearview
M	Delaney Walker, Woodstown	Haley Brown, Kingsway
M	Maddie Eastlack, W. Deptford	Riley Walsh, W. Deptford
M	Brooke Schultz, Haddonfield	Jaime Deal, Woodstown
D	Mia Borodin, Clearview	Marley Nate, Clearview
D	Fiona Keenan, Haddonfield	Emily Coyle, Clearview
D	Sienna Struzynski, W. Deptford	Elizabeth Daly, Woodstown
O	Grace Farrell, Haddonfield	Sofia Conrey, Haddonfield (D)
O	Lauren Hamblin, Haddonfield	Reese Remaly, Clearview
O	Phoebe O’Rourke, Kingsway	Riley MacHenry, Clearview
O	Rhea Remaly, Clearview	CeCe Batson, Haddonfield
O	Emma Morgan, Woodstown	Marlina Kadar, Haddonfield

Boys Lacrosse

POS	SJILL AMERICAN FIRST TEAM	SJILL AMERICAN SECOND TEAM
A	Keegan Borkowski, Kingsway	R.J. Sciarrotta, Clearview
A	Owen Dougherty, Kingsway	Jake Borkowski, Washington Twp.
A	Myles Malone, Washington Twp.	Aidan Batterman, Williamstown
A	Robert Donahue, Woodstown	Michael Kugler, Clearview
D	J.D. Seidel, Clearview	Dane Jespersen, Kingsway
D	Cole DeNick, Kingsway	Ethan Wechter, Washington Twp.
D	Dominic Hibbs, Kingsway	Cole Aquino, Washington Twp.
D	Joseph Kopaczewski, Williamstown	Walter Carter, Woodstown
G	John Mentee, Kingsway	Joseph Hatefi, Williamstown (FOGO)
LSM	Ryan Glenn Kingsway	Jake Devereaux, Washington Twp. (G)
M	T.J. Mills, Clearview	Garrett Leyman, Woodstown (M/L/D)
M	Patrick Civitarese, Kingsway	Mason Bryan, Kingsway
M	Robbie Finnegan, Washington Twp.	Nicholas Maccariella, Williamstown
M/F	Thomas Dipietro, Kingsway	Parker Reese, Washington Twp.

Playing through

Woodstown edges Schalick, Pennsville routs Pitman to reach SJ Group I semifinals; Woodstown’s Clark records 100th career strikeout

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL
Friday’s Quarterfinals
Woodstown 3, Schalick 1
Pennsville 14, Pitman 4
Haddon Twp. 13, Maple Shade 3
Cape May Tech 7, Riverside 3 (first round)
Wednesday’s Semifinals
No. 4 Woodstown (14-7) vs. Audubon-Cape May Tech winner
No. 3 Haddon Twp. (16-8) at No. 2 Pennsville (21-4), 2 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The lessons Rob Hildebrand learned playing baseball for a legendary coach have stayed with him long after he hung up the spikes. He reaches back for them when he needs them and Friday they helped his Woodstown softball team take a South Jersey playoff game from its biggest rival.

If the bats are running a little cold and it’s getting late in the game Hildebrand learned from Lee Ware, you’ve got to find a way score some runs. The Wolverines manufactured three runs in the late innings, including one off a key double steal in the sixth, to get around a strong pitching performance by Schalick’s Addi Shimp and score a 3-1 victory for a spot in the South Jersey Group I semifinals.

“I played for legendary coach Lee Ware,” Hildebrand said. “He won championships and won division titles scoring runs with not the best talented players. We don’t have that, we have talented players, but when you have games when you’re just not scoring for whatever reason it is you’ve got to have those (plays) in your back pocket.

“We’ve been working things like that, other plays too we haven’t had a chance to implement, but I knew as soon as we had that first and third opportunity, I saw the looks on their faces that said this is a chance we have to do something. It was something I was always raised up to do.”

The Wolverines (14-7) now await the winner of Monday’s Audubon-Cape May Tech quarterfinal. If top-seeded Audubon wins, the fourth-seeded Wolverines go there Wednesday. If Cape May Tech pulls the upset, they will host.

Woodstown won the first two meetings between the Diamond Division rivals this season relatively comfortably, but on this day Shimp and the Cougars gave the Wolverines all they could handle.

Schalick took a 1-0 lead in the third inning after the Wolverines fielded a sacrifice bunt along the third base line instead of letting it roll foul, putting two runners in scoring position, and played a grounder to third for an out and allowing Taylor Brown to score instead of perhaps freezing the runner or cutting down her down at the plate.

Hildebrand explained he’d gladly go for the out in those situations even if it meant giving up an early run because he was confident they’d score plenty to win. Another lesson from the master.

The way Shimp was pitching it looked for a while that might be the only run of the game. The Schalick pitcher scattered six hits and worked her way through traffic it created until the defense let her down in the late innings.

“It’s kind of frustrating because we knew we could hang with these guys and we did and our defense had a little miscue,” Schalick coach Rick Higinbotham said. “That’s frustrating, especially when Addi pitches so well.”

Woodstown pitcher Leah Clark went toe-to-toe with Shimp. She gave up only two hits and struck out eight, including the 100th of her career on the first of her two punchouts in the fourth inning. She fanned three in a row after the Cougars’ leadoff hitter reached and ended the game on a strikeout.

“Obviously it’s a huge goal, but I didn’t really think of it very much,” she said. “I was definitely getting a little nervous in the beginning (of a tight game) but I have to put my nerves aside and just relax on the mound and throw it in and just do what I can to get the outs.”

The Wolverines won the game with two runs in a sixth inning that was a master class in softball strategy.

Woodstown had runners Gracie Hitchner and Avery Battle at the corners with one out after the Cougars threw away the force on Clark’s grounder to short. Both coaches called their players over to talk about the way they were going to play the inevitable double steal.

Kendall Young showed bunt and courtesy runner Battle took off for second. Schalick catcher Alex Shimp threw all the way through and the Cougars couldn’t make the throw back quickly enough to get Hitchner tearing down the line from third.

“We have a play that we put in place and it was in place, we didn’t execute the way we should have,” Higinbotham said. “You teach the girls how to do things but they have to see things for themselves and make adjustments and we didn’t make that adjustment. There were a couple things we look for and they didn’t.”

“My hope,” Hildebrand said, “was if they tried to get an out, we were getting a run. If they tried to get the run, we’re going to have second and third. It was a win-win.”

Hitchner knew she was coming to the plate as soon as she got to third.

“He told me to,” she said. “Mr. Hildebrand told me and Kendall the play, that she was going to fake bunt, but keep the bunt there a little longer and Avery was going to go and on the throw above the pitcher’s head I would go for it. We had it all planned out. We did a whole practice about it.”

The Woodies added an insurance run two batters later when Shyann Higinbotham beat the shift her father put on and poked an RBI single into short centerfield.

Schalick (14-5)	001 000 0-	1	2	5
Woodstown (14-7)	000 012 x-	3	6	2

WP: Leah Clark. LP: Addi Shimp. 2B: Talia Guardascione (WO).

**Woodstown’s Gracie Hitchner races across the plate with the go-ahead run on a double steal in the sixth inning. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)**

Pennsville 14, Pitman 4

PENNSVILLE – Pennsville coach Beth Jackson was a little concerned about playing Pitman for a third time, especially since the Panthers handed her team one of its four losses early in the season and the last meeting was a nailbiter, but the Eagles put those fears to rest with three runs in each of the first two innings and opened a 10-2 lead after four.

Graillyn Weber went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Avery Watson had three RBIs to lead the Eagles’ offense. Watson had a two-run double in the second inning and the walk-off RBI single with two outs in the sixth. Weber had an RBI triple in the fourth.

Kylie Harris had two hits and two RBIs, Sawyer Simmons had a pair of hits and Mak Widener had two RBIs.

Savannah Brewer-Palverento battled through the day to give the Eagles a complete game. She gave up nine hits, just two earned runs and struck out three.

“They played well,” Jackson said. “The energy was great. They hit the ball. They took advantage of some mistakes Pitman made out in the field.

“The reality is anybody can win on any given day. It doesn’t matter what seed you are, it doesn’t matter how your regular season went, you have to win that game in hand. These games regardless of who you’re playing are different in the playoffs and you have to take each game seriously.”

The second-seeded Eagles (21-4), the winningest Pennsville softball team since 2014 (22-5), will host third-seeded Haddon Twp. in the semifinals Wednesday. The 2015 team also won 21 games.

Pitman (11-10)	110 020-	4	10	7
Pennsville (21-4)	332 204-	14	11	2

WP: Savannah Brewer-Palverento. LP: Jess Bretz. 2B: Lexi Kostiuk (P), Emery Sharpnack (P), Colette Rollins (P). 3B: Graillyn Weber (PV), Sawyer Simmons (PV).

Digging deep

Woodstown, Schalick, Pennsville win South Jersey Group I Tournament openers; Woodstown, Schalick to meet in quarterfinals

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL
Tuesday’s first-round games
Pennsville 11, Wildwood 0
Schalick 4, Palmyra 3 (8 inns.)
Woodstown 8, Glassboro 4
Haddon Twp. 20, LEAP 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Early in the year when Rob Hildebrand was putting together his Woodstown softball team a lot of people wondered why he had so many players on the roster.

They got their answer Tuesday.

The Wolverines had only 12 available players for their first-round game in the South Jersey Group I playoffs, but it was more than enough to put away Glassboro 8-4 for their fifth win in a row and eighth in their last nine games.

“We were missing some players today because of class trips and stuff, we have prom this week, we had a lot of distractions, but our core group of girls just buckled down, beared down, and got the job done,” Hildebrand said. “It wasn’t pretty but got it done.”

The win sets up a third meeting this season with Schalick – but the first in Woodstown – in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Wolverines (13-7) won the first two, most recently May 6 in the Elmer Classic.

The Wolverines have 20 players on the roster, but the other eight, including four starters and a top player off the bench, were off on the freshman/sophomore class trip to Hershey Park that was scheduled and paid for long before the Wolverines rescheduled their playoff game to beat Wednesday’s expected bad weather.

Hildebrand told them to enjoy the trip, that there’s more to life than softball, and the team would make do.

“We have depth,” Hildebrand said. “A lot of people were saying in the beginning of the year you’re keeping too many people on the roster. Our girls, from top to bottom, 1 through 20, I’m confident any single one of them can be in there and do it because they do it in practice every single day. There are so many girls that are battling close for certain positions that I know put them in and they’re going produce.

“It’s not like I foresaw that for any specific reason, but that’s part of the reason why you do. Everybody is such a team player you know they might not get the amount of at-bqts they thought they should have during the season but when it’s their turn they’re putting the team first.”

Among those who made the biggest impact with their chance to play were middle infielders Shelby Drummond and Avery Battle. Drummond went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the Wolverines’ four-run first inning and Battle’s two-run single in the fifth extended their lead to 8-4. All nine batters in the lineup had at least one hit.

Drummond, a sophomore, had 13 at-bats this season coming into the game. Battle, a junior, had five in two years.

Leah Clark pitched a complete game, giving up five hits, one earned run and striking out 11, including the side in order in the seventh. She also had two hits.

PENNSVILLE 11, WILDWOOD 0: The second-seeded Eagles broke it open with an eight-run third inning and Savannah Brewer-Palverento faced just two batters over the minimum in a five-inning one-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

The Eagles sent 12 batters to the plate in the big inning. Two runs scored on Kylie Harris’ hard single. Three scored when the Warriors misplayed Elizabeth Fleming’s bases-loaded fly to right.

Harris, Brewer-Palverento and Avery Watson all had two RBIs in the heart of the order. Watson went 3-for-3.

SCHALICK 4, PALMYRA 3: The Cougars (14-4) walked it off on Emily Miller’s triple and overthrow leading off the eighth inning. It was Miller’s second hit of the game. She gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the third..

Palmyra forced extra innings with a run in the top of the seventh. It was the third time they tied the game. The Cougars took a one-run game from Palmyra in their final regular-season game five days earlier.

Addi Shimp went the distance in the circle, giving up just one earned run and striking out 10, to get the win.

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of May 27-31; some times TBA

MAY 27
BASEBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Paulsboro at Audubon, 4 p.m.
Buena at Palmyra, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Maple Shade, 3:45 p.m.
Gateway at Pitman, 4 p.m.
Salem at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
Haddon Twp. at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Glassboro at Riverside, 3 p.m.
Wildwood at Schalick, 4 p.m.
Regular season
Penns Grove at Pleasantville
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Wildwood at Pennsville, 2 p.m.
Palmyra at Schalick, 3 p.m.
Glassboro at Woodstown, 4 p.m.
Regular season
Overbrook at Penns Grove
TENNIS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Gateway at Haddon Twp., 4 p.m.
Schalick at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Palmyra at West Deptford, 4 p.m.
Audubon at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
GOLF
Tri-County Conference Showcase, Pitman GC

MAY 28
BASEBALL
Regular season
Penns Grove at Overbrook
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Paulsboro at Audubon, 4 p.m.
Riverside at Cape May Tech, 4 p.m.
LEAP at Haddon Twp., 4 p.m.
Buena at Maple Shade, 3:45 p.m.
Clayton at Pitman, 4 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Woodstown at Bernards, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Lower Cape May at Woodstown, 4:30 p.m.
TENNIS
Pennsville at Clayton
Penns Grove at Schalick

MAY 29
BASEBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Games at higher seed)
Buena at Audubon
Maple Shade at Pitman
Woodstown at Pennsville, noon
Glassboro at Schalick
TENNIS
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Matches at higher seed)
Woodstown at Haddon Twp.
West Deptford at Pennsville

MAY 30
SOFTBALL
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
(Games at higher seed)
Salem-Audubon winner vs. Riverside-Cape May Tech winner
Schalick at Woodstown
LEAP-Haddon Twp. winner vs. Buena-Maple Shade winner
Clayton-Pitman winner vs. Pennsville
TRACK
NJSIAA Group I Championships

MAY 31
TRACK
NJSIAA Group I Championships

Sectional shakeout

All 4 Salem County teams in South Jersey Group I baseball field on same side of the bracket; 4 county teams make softball field; Audubon grabs both No. 1s over Schalick, Pennsville

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I BASEBALL PAIRINGS
First-round games, May 27
No. 16 Paulsboro (3-18) at No. 1 Audubon (17-7)
No. 9 Buena (13-11) at No. 8 Palmyra (11-9), 4 p.m.
No. 12 Clayton (8-12) at No. 5 Maple Shade (11-9), 3:45 p.m.
No. 13 Gateway (7-14) at No. 4 Pitman (15-8), 4 p.m.
No. 14 Salem (7-12) at No. 3 Pennsville (14-7)
No. 11 Haddon Twp. (8-16) at No. 6 Woodstown (14-10)
No. 10 Glassboro (10-11) at No. 7 Riverside (10-11), 3 p.m.
No. 15 Wildwood (10-12) at No. 2 Schalick (18-2), 4 p.m.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I SOFTBALL PAIRINGS
First-round games, May 28
No. 16 Salem (2-14) at No. 1 Audubon (15-7)
No. 9 Riverside (13-5) at No. 8 Cape May Tech (14-7)
No. 12 Palmyra (7-11) at No. 5 Schalick (13-4)
No. 13 Glassboro (7-10) at No. 4 Woodstown (12-7), 2 p.m.
No. 14 LEAP (10-5) at No. 3 Haddon Twp. (14-8)
No. 11 Buena (5-18) at No. 6 Maple Shade (11-8)
No. 10 Clayton (8-11) at No. 7 Pitman (10-8)
No. 15 Wildwood (5-12) at No. 2 Pennsville (19-4)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Beth Jackson had a feeling all along it was going to turn out this way.

Many of the players on Jackson’s Pennsville softball team came away from their big win over Delsea Wednesday night believing they could be the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament when the pairings were released the next day, but the coach didn’t share the feeling.

It wasn’t because she didn’t believe in her team, she just knows the way of the world.

When the pairings were presented shortly after lunch Thursday Jackson’s suspicions were realized. The Eagles were installed as the No. 2 seed in the bracket behind Audubon despite being the winningest team in the section and having almost half as many losses as the Green Wave and fewer than 14 of the other 15 teams in the field.

Additionally, the Eagles (18-4) are 9-4 against teams that currently own winning records while the top-seeded Green Wave (15-7) are 7-5 against teams with current winning records and 3-2 against those sitting at .500.

“I already had in my mind it was going to be that way because I’ve never seen it change from the power points,” Jackson said on her way to practice Thursday afternoon. “I’m sure (the players) are disappointed, I am a little too, but it is what it is.”

The seedings followed the power points table down the line, so in a sense the Eagles were a victim of the Tri-County Classic Division schedule they had to play and dominate. Audubon’s Colonial Conference Liberty Division has five tournament qualifiers (four in Group II), all among their field’s top 10 seeds and four among the top five. The brackets become official at noon Friday.

Woodstown (No. 4), Schalick (No. 5) and Salem (No. 16) also are in the softball field and all on the Audubon side of the bracket. If Woodstown and Schalick win their tournament openers Wednesday they would meet in the second round at Woodstown.

“Every bracket I have ever seen that’s based on the power points, that’s what it is and nothing changes from there,” Jackson said. “It stays on power points and that’s that.

“I think maybe there should be multiples, like a rubric kind of thing, to do the seedings, to look at other things. It would be nice to have multiple points looking at your seeding. Their argument may be you have three different categories to weight those power points, so that may be their response if somebody were to ask.”

Asked if the perceived snub will now serve as a source of motivation for her team, Jackson said she’d talk about to get a gauge on where her players stand. But she was quick to point out there’s a lot more tangible motivation surrounding the tournament.

“I think we’ll talk about it and what it means to them,” she said. “I also think being up at the top puts, I don’t want say a target on your back, but even at 2 where we are now everybody’s looking to knock everybody off. Frankly, at the end of the day everybody is 0-0 and if you lose you go home. That right there is motivation. You lose, you go home. There is no tomorrow.”

Four Salem County teams also made it into the South Jersey Group I baseball tournament and they’re all on the same side of the bracket.

Schalick, the winningest team in SJG1 and second in the section power points standings, pulled down the No. 2 seed behind Audubon. Pennsville is the 3 seed, Woodstown the 6 and Salem the 14. The first-round games are Tuesday.

“We are happy the first three rounds we will host if we play the way we are capable of playing,” Schalick coach Sean O’Brien said. “There are a lot of good teams in South Jersey Group I and we are excited to get started.”

“Works for us,” Pennsville coach Matt Karr said.

There is some familiarity in the first-round draws. Pennsville and Salem are TCC Classic Division rivals and are scheduled to play for the second time this season Friday with the Eagles clinching the outright division title in the balance.

Speaking of rematches, a potential second-round matchup could find Pennsville hosting Woodstown. They played earlier this year, with Pennsville winning 10-0. The Wolverines knocked Pennsville out of the playoffs last year in the quarterfinals.

“It’s not often you get a shot a redemption,” Karr said. “I know Woodstown isn’t the same team (as last year) but we basically are – only losing one senior from last year. I’m sure my guys would love to be able to run it back against Woodstown in Round 2 at our place.”

Waiting anxiously

Pennsville knocks off undefeated Delsea, but is it good enough to earn them a No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I playoffs?

WEDNESDAY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 7, Delsea 5
Schalick 6, Palmyra 5

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — For the Pennsville softball team the waiting begins. The next 18 hours are critical.

The Eagles handed Delsea its first loss of the season 7-5 Wednesday on the extended final day for games to count towards power points for playoff seedings.

Now they wait to see whether they have done enough to be installed as the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I playoffs when the bracket is determined presumably Thursday.

“I’m not the head coach so I don’t know that answer,” said Lisa Doran, who directed the team in the latter innings after head coach Beth Jackson excused herself to attend her stepdaughter’s junior college graduation. “It would be great (to be the 1 seed) and we’re feeling good and ready to go into this thing, but where we’re going to stand I just don’t know.

“You always want to be 1 but I don’t know exactly where we were left after yesterday so I’m not really sure.”

The Eagles went into the game second behind Audubon in the SJG1 power points standings. Both teams scored major victories Wednesday.

Pennsville’s win came over the undefeated No. 1 team in South Jersey Group III power points. Audubon beat Kingsway, the No. 1 power points team in SJ Group IV.

When the results were posted to the record, Audubon remained first at 26.124 and Pennsville was second at 24.128, an even larger margin than when the day began.

“Audubon beat Kingsway so we’re probably staying No. 2,” Jackson said “That’s a huge win for them, just like ours, but we won’t know for sure until tomorrow.”

But the power points are just one of the tools the seeding committee considers. What also likely works in the Eagles’ favor is they are the winningest team in SJ1 (19-4) and have fewer losses — in some cases half as many — than Audubon and Haddon Twp. on either side of them in the PP standings.

The players believe they have done enough to be the top seed.

“I think we have the power, the momentum, to be No. 1,” shortstop-pitcher Graillyn Weber said. “We’re a good team, we’ve worked hard this whole season and we want it, so yes.”

“We’ve been playing good throughout the season and I think we deserve to be No. 1,” second baseman Reagan Wariwanchik added.

The Eagles, coming off an extra-inning loss at Schalick, continued its trend this year of following a loss with a win. In addition to coming into the game as the last undefeated public school team in the state, Delsea also was working on a 23-game regular-season winning streak going back to last season.

The Eagles answered both times the Crusaders came after them.

Delsea scored a run in the third inning, but the Eagles answered with Kylie Harris’ record-tying two-run 15th double in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Harris tied her own single-season school record with the hit and hit a shot hard enough to break it in the sixth but held at first after ripping a one-hopper off the fence.

Delsea tied it 3-3 with two in the fifth, but this time the Eagles answered with three to take the lead for good. Wariwanchik’s two-run bases-loaded single put them up 5-3 and Lily Edwards’ single off the pitcher brought another run home.

Wariwanchik’s go-ahead hit came after Avery Watson’s one-out double and back-to-back walks to Sawyer Simmons and Mak Widener.

Simmons drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to make it 7-3 and the Eagles withstood a Delsea flurry in the seventh to close it out.

“I was nervous when I first went up there, but I always take a deep breath before every pitch and that definitely helped,” Wariwanchik said. “I think I had the confidence in myself today to know what I need to do and it helped me hit. It was definitely one of my biggest hits.”

The Eagles’ defense kept the fifth inning from getting any worse when they caught Cailyn Centeno taking too wide a turn at first on her game-tying single and Weber, who moved into the circle earlier in the inning, cut the throw from center and fired to first to get her for the final out.

“I tried to act like I wasn’t going to get the ball,” Weber said. “I knew she was going to make a wide turn and was probably going to go because the run from third had already scored so I got the ball as close as I could for the rundown.”

Weber came into the circle after starter Savannah Brewer-Palverento walked the first two batters in a misty rain that made it tough to get a good grip the ball. Up to that point she gave up five hits, one run (a solo homer) and hadn’t walked anyone. Weber pitched the final three innings.

“It definitely was nerve wracking knowing that it was raining and I didn’t know if I would be able to grip the ball and spin it,” Weber said, “but I had my towel, had my rosin and it pulled through; it definitely worked out. I knew we could do it because I had my defense behind me and I was making sure I wasn’t putting anything over the plate.”

And now they wait.

SCHALICK 6, PALMYRA 5: The Cougars rallied from a 5-2 deficit with two in the fifth and two in the sixth to win what’s shaping up as a preview of a projected first-round tournament game. In the latest power point standings, Schalick is a solid 5 and Palmyra 12th, which would put them together in the opening round.

PROJECTED SJ GROUP I PAIRINGS
(Based on May 21 power points)
No. 16 Gateway (4-14, 8.515) at No. 1 Audubon (15-7, 26.124)
No. 9 Riverside (13-5, 14.892) at No. 8 Cape May Tech (14-7, 15.439)
No. 12 Palmyra (7-11, 12.012) at No. 5 Schalick (13-4, 19.305)
No. 13 Glassboro (7-10, 11.905) at No. 4 Woodstown (12-7, 20.116)
No. 14 LEAP (10-5, 10.075) at No. 3 Haddon Twp. (14-8, 22.559)
No. 11 Buena (5-18, 12.449) at No. 6 Maple Shade (11-8, 16.331)
No. 10 Clayton (8-11, 12.925) at No. 7 Pitman (10-8, 15.924)
No. 15 Wildwood (5-12, 9.819) at No. 2 Pennsville (19-4, 24.128)

Schalick stunner

Cougars ‘on point,’ score walk-off win over Pennsville, denting the Eagles’ bid to become the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group I softball; Woodstown, Schalick win tennis tourney openers, face-off next week

TUESDAY SOFTBALL
Clayton 21, Salem 0
Schalick 4, Pennsville 3 (8 inns.)
Woodstown 15, Wildwood 2

By Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Emily Miller’s one-out single in the eighth inning scored Maddie Brown with the walk-off run in Schalick’s 4-3 win over Pennsville that put a dent in the Eagles’ bid for the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I softball tournament.

The win was Schalick’s first over Pennsville since 2019 and extended the Cougars’ winning streak to four, enhancing their own position for a high seeding. The loss snapped Pennsville’s seven-game winning streak.

“It was a nice win for the team,” Cougars coach Rick Higinbotham said. “Pennsville is a tough opponent so we knew we were going to have to be on point. Fortunately, we played one of our best all around games of the season. We took advantage of a few opportunities and got the win. Hopefully we can use this win to build some momentum for the playoffs next week.”

Pennsville (18-4) was looking to stay ahead of Haddon Twp. and overtake Audubon at No. 1 in the SJ Group I power points standings, but likely needed a sweep of its three games before Wednesday’s cutoff to do it. The Eagles still could make a big move with a win over undefeated SJ Group 3 No. 1 Delsea at home Wednesday.

As of late Tuesday night, the Eagles were second with 22.783 power points. Audubon remained No. 1 at 24.424 and Haddon Twp. was third at 22.486. Schalick (12-4) is currently solidly in fifth, less than 900 percentage points behind No. 4 Woodstown.

Haddon Twp. lost to Gloucester Tuesday, but Audubon swamped Sterling.

Pennsville starter Savannah Brewer-Palverento pitched three perfect innings to open the game, but was lifted for Graillyn Weber as planned in the fourth and Schalick scored three runs to take a 3-0 lead. The Cougars got their runs on a bases-loaded walk to Cloe Elliott, a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Brown and Ava Lauglin’s ground out.

The Eagles closed their deficit to 3-2 in the fifth on Weber’s leadoff inside-the-park homer and Avery Watson’s RBI single. They tied it in the sixth on Weber’s RBI double.

The Cougars started their winning rally with Elliott’s walk off Weber. Brewer-Palverento was returned to the circle and got Brown to hit into a fielder’s choice. Brown stole second and moved to third on an infield error before Miller delivered her game-winning hit.

WOODSTOWN 15, WILDWOOD 2: Leah Clark struck out 12 and didn’t allow a hit over six innings and the Wolverines supported her with a 15-hit attack. Ellie Wygand went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, Kendall Young went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Clark went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Hannah Hitchner and Talia Guardascione had two hits apiece.

The Warriors scored two unearned runs in the second inning to tie the game 2-2

CLAYTON 21, SALEM 0: The Clippers had only four hits, but took advantage of 28 walks. Sophia Petsch held Salem to one hit over four innings and had two hits and two RBIs at the plate. Korrin Robinson had Salem’s only hit

GOLF
Schalick 174, Pitman 176: Jaxon Weber and Seth Fisher both shot 40 to squeeze between Pitman’s top two counters providing the margin of victory in a close one at the site of next week’s Tri-County Championship tournament. Nolan O’Toole and Shawn Kelly both shot 47 to tie Pitman’s other two counters.
Washington Twp. girls 139, Schalick 164: Paige Weber (32) and Tessa Reilley (34) posted the low rounds for Washington Twp. at The Birches. Cali Fisler posted Schalick’s low round (37).

TENNIS
Woodstown and Schalick are headed to a second-round matchup after sweeping their opponents in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I tournament. Fourth-seeded Woodstown eliminated Penns Grove 5-0 and fifth-seeded Schalick ousted Lower Cape May 5-0.

The second-round match is scheduled for Woodstown Tuesday. The teams have not played each other this season

South Jersey Group I Tournament
(1) Haddon Twp. bye
(9) Gateway 3.5, (8) Clayton 1.5
(5) Schalick 5, (12) Lower Cape May 0
(4) Woodstown 5, (13) Penns Grove 0
(3) West Deptford bye
(11) Wildwood at (6) Palmyra, Wednesday
(10) Audubon at (7) Point Pleasant Beach, Thursday
(2) Pennsville bye

WOODSTOWN 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Alex Ramirez Martinez, 6-0, 6-3
John Farrell (WO) def. Stuart Mondragon, 6-1, 6-0
Jake Lewis (WO) def. Angel Perez Herrera, 6-4, 6-3
Ben Stengel-Joseph Kurpis (WO) def. Anthony Pacheco-Rene Ruiz, 6-0, 6-2
Mason Shimp-Vincent Merendino (WO) def. Juan Ortiz-Adam Gonzalez, 6-1, 6-2
Records: Woodstown 14-4, Penns Grove 2-9

SCHALICK 5, LOWER CAPE MAY 0
George Gould (S) def. Ismael Lopez, 6-1, 7-5
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Nicholas Fitch, 6-0, 6-1
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Nathan Chase, 6-2, 6-0
Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Bryan Ortiz-Victor Vasquez, 6-0, 6-1
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Max Vaught-Chris Hawes, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 14-5, Lower Cape May 4-15

Monday roundup

Here are scores and highlights from Monday’s Salem County sports schedule; boys tennis tournament pairings announced

SOFTBALL
Clayton 21, Penns Grove 1
Pennsville 17, Salem 2
Woodstown 8, Pitman 2

PENNSVILLE 17, SALEM 2: Kylie Harris had two hits and four RBIs, and Graillyn Weber and Sawyer Simmons both drove in three runs. The Eagles (18-3) jumped out front with 10 runs in the first inning. Julliana Love and Isla Bohn had two hits apiece for Salem.

The Eagles (18-3) have won seven in a row, but remain 0.963 points behind Audubon in the race to No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I power points standings. The cutoff for playoff consideration is Wednesday.

TENNIS

Undefeated Pennsville (18-0) pulled down a No. 2 seed and has drawn a first-round bye to the South Jersey Group I tennis tournament along with No. 1 Haddon Twp. and No. 3 West Deptford.

No. 4 Woodstown opens with Penns Grove Tuesday, and No. 5 Schalick opens with Lower Cape May Wednesday. If they both win they meet in Round 2.

PENNSVILLE 5, WILDWOOD 0
Gabe Schneider (P) def. Giorgio Palesano, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Simon Palacias, 6-0, 6-0
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Cristopher Hernandez, 6-1, 6-0
Sawyer Humphrey-Lucas Cooksey (P) def. Chris Olivera-Alexis Mejia, 6-0, 6-0
Ian Peacock-Carter Willis (P) def. Daniel Salomao-Angel DeJesus, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Pennsville 18-0, Wildwood 3-12

SCHALICK 5, PITMAN 0
George Gould (S) def. Chase Pogozelski, 6-0, 6-0
Rocky Monticolo (S) def. Nolan Russell, 6-2, 6-0
Conor O’Toole (S) def. Jaron Scull, 6-2, 6-2
Kaden Barnes-Cayden Brzozowski (S) def. Ben Williams-Aiden Evans, 6-0, 6-0
David Santana-Anthony McGrath (S) def. Spencer Bianchini-Liam Etter, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Schalick 13-5, Pitman 5-14

CUMBERLAND 3, WOODSTOWN 2
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Luke Fischer, 6-1, 6-1
John Farrell (WO) def. Joseph Nolan, 6-3, 6-1
Carter Fischer (C) def. Jake Lewis, 6-0, 6-1
Asher Kennedy-Chase Sheppard (C) def. Luke Shaw-Mason Shimp, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6
Mason Staffieri-Justin Nolan (C) def. Ben Stengel-Joseph Kurpis, 6-2, 6-3
Records: Cumberland 15-1, Woodstown 13-4

GIRLS LACROSSE
WOODSTOWN 19, TRITON 1: Ten players scored goals for the Wolverines. Delaney Walker scored four (giving her 149 for her career); Jaime Deal scored three; Sienna Land, Emma Morgan, Blair Baldi and Arianna Hyman all had two; and Isabella Lindenmuth, Angelina Lindenmuth, Gina Murray and Lucy Mannella each scored one.

VOLLEYBALL
HIGHLAND 2, SALEM TECH 0: The Tartans won 25-18, 25-16 in the first round of the Tri-County Tournament. Highland then fell to Kingsway 2-0 (25-10, 25-12) in the quarterfinals.