Bats on fire

Hayes, Salem CC softball have another big day at the plate, slam season-high four homers, put up 18 runs, win 11th in a row; second game later ruled forfeit win for Oaks

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Salem CC softball coach Angel Rodriguez says shortstop Ella Hayes can play anywhere in the country. He just feels lucky she’s playing here.

Hayes, a freshman from Kansas City, had her eye on a couple East Coast Division I schools when she was being recruited out of high school and eventually chose the Mighty Oaks.

It couldn’t have worked out better for either party. Hayes is the hottest hitter on one of the hottest teams in the country. On Tuesday, she went 3-for-3 with a pair homers, a double, two intentional walks and five RBIs as the Oaks outscored Middlesex College 18-11 at Watson Field to extend their winning streak to 11 games.

“I’ll definitely be the first one to say it on our team, we couldn’t have ended up being luckier with a player,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of people as we get going always ask how’d you get this one, how’d you get that one and, truthfully, we’re honest, we’re up front and we’re here to give them the best experience they can get.

“She’s a good player. She’s a natural-born player. I would say we definitely got lucky. Whatever we did or whatever attracted her I hope she stays. I don’t know how in depth her recruiting was, but I know she liked the East Coast and maybe we’re just one of those schools that gave her shot. I think she can play anywhere in the country. Right now, we’re lucky enough that she’s playing for us.”

Hayes got into the recruiting process late in high school because at the time she didn’t think she was good enough to play at a program with pedigree. There was a Division II school close to home that was interested, but she wanted to play on the East Coast and turned it down. She was talking with Binghamton (N.Y.) and would like to go to Rutgers, but the JUCO route would help her development and now she’s Division I material.

Over the last week she’s been virtually unstoppable at the plate. She’s 13-for-16 with five homers and 18 RBIs during the Oaks’ current five-game home stand, raising her batting average to .571. She’s working on a seven-game hitting streak (16-of-24) and has driven in at least one run in 10 of the last 12 games she’s played.

“That’s my way to pick up my team since I can’t produce as much as I should at short, so I need to be better on offense,” Hayes said. “Going up to bat I tend to let everything go and I’m very confident up to bat and if I do end up getting out my team will pick me up. It’s just really easy to relax up at the plate.”

The offensive eruption has left the Oaks (13-4) with 147 runs in 17 games. They banged out 15 hits and a season-high four homers against the Colts. They scored in every inning but fifth and bounced back from that by putting the game away with six runs in the sixth.

When a team hits like that it can overcome – but not overlook – one of what Rodriguez called “those funky defensive games we’ve just gotta clean up” that led to eight errors that produced eight unearned runs.

Karyn Trice got it started with a leadoff inside-the-park homer and went 3-for-4 to raise her average to a team-leading (.588). Hayes hit a solo homer in the first and a grand slam in the second. Callie Rozak went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the third and four RBIs. The Oaks now have 14 homers this season, one more than they had in twice as many games a year ago.

Hayes credited the roll on the players picking each other up throughout the lineup throughout the game. It reminds her of the club team she played on the summer before her junior year in high school, which she called her favorite year of club ball.

“They keep getting it done,” Rodriguez said. “No matter what the situation is … they just keep making adjustments. The more they keep doing that and keep seeing the softball and make the adjustments that are necessary they’re going to keep rolling.

“As a coach we try not to do a lot with stats and I’m not a big stats guru. I do look at it, I think what we’re doing is great, but at some point you’ve got to take appreciation at what we’re doing and it is good to see. I try not to rely heavily on that because I want to see the consistency in everything, but, yeah, we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. What we’re doing, the numbers speak for themselves. We’re playing well.”

The Oaks have the potential for the winning streak to hit 12 in a row if Region XIX rules a forfeit in their favor since the Colts declined to play the second game of the scheduled doubleheader.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in college,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to qualify for one (a forfeit win). We’re gonna push for it, I think we deserve it, but ultimately the decision will come from the region and what they decide. We’ll see.”

UPDATE

On Thursday, Region XIX ruled the second game a 7-0 forfeit win for the Mighty Oaks, extending their winning streak to 12 in row.

‘I think the ruling is justified,’ Rodriguez said. ‘Game 2 should’ve been played from the beginning and I’m glad our team gets the credit they deserve; they were ready to go. All in all, it’s in the past and we’re gearing up for a doubleheader (at Sussex County CC) tomorrow.’

SALEM CC 18, MIDDLESEX 11

Middlesex (3-2)	042	211	0–	11	6	1
Salem CC (13-4)	252	306	x–	18	15	8

CAITLIN LAGRECA (W 5-3), Morgan Mecham (5) and Callie Rozak, Vaye Savage (5); Madison Rackett, SUMMER RAMIREZ (4, L 2-1) and Sarah Ohnmeiss. 2B: Marissa Lugo (M), Ella Hayes (S), Haylee Pickrell (S). 3B: Kaylin Nepton (M), Kalila Pace (S). HR: Ella Hayes 2 (S), Callie Rozak (S), Karyn Trice (S).

Salem CC Sunday

Mighty Oaks softball team comes from behind in both games to sweep Northampton, winning streak at 10; baseball loses eight-run lead in loss to No. 3 team in country

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – The one thing the Salem CC softball team hasn’t faced since returning from its season-opening trip to the Carolinas is adversity.

The Mighty Oaks had, as they say in the South, a mean mess of it Sunday and came through it like a team that hasn’t lost in two weeks.

The Oaks trailed three times in their doubleheader with Northampton at Watson Field and rallied every time to score an 11-10, 10-2 sweep to run their current winning streak to 10 games and remain undefeated in their new home. It was the first time they trailed at any point in any game since returning from the Carolinas.

In the opener they trailed 6-3 in the third inning and 8-7 in the fifth. They fell behind 2-0 after two innings of the nightcap before Ella Hayes blasted a three-run homer in the third to give the Oaks (12-4) the lead for good.

They pounded out 20 hits in the opener. Hayes went 5-for-5 with four RBIs and Karyn Trice went 4-for-4. Kiki Beukman and KC Garcia both went 3-for-4. But for all the offense they produced, they still needed ace Morgan Mecham to come out of the bullpen to get through a harrowing seventh inning.

They walked off the nightcap on Courtney Hoggard’s bases-loaded double in the fifth that got through a charging outfielder and cleared the bases although only two runs were needed for the run-rule margin. Hoggard went 4-for-4 in the game after being the only Salem player to go hitless in the opener.

“Seeing it for the first time we put into perspective that if we’re behind or we’ve got to battle back and forth we’re able to do it, but most importantly they’ve got to keep playing for each other and you saw it there,” Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. “That’s key right there, just backing up your pitcher on defense, trying to make the next play, if someone’s a little down just picking them up and running from there.

“You definitely start turning to some of the returners or some key people who are going to come up in big moments and see how they’re going to do and they handled it well. They came and took it one pitch at a time and just kept it rolling. They didn’t panic, they just kept going and let the game come to them and it was good.”

With the lineup Rodriguez has at his disposal, the Mighty Oaks really aren’t out of any game. They’ve outscored their opponents 106-19 during the 10-game winning streak and are batting a torrid .515 as a team.

“One thing we learned from the Carolinas that we kept consistent is when we have big moments or we need something going we always tend to find ourselves right around the beginning or middle of the lineup,” Rodriguez said. “If we can keep doing that, it’s going to be just great for us.”

The Oaks led the opener 3-0, but the Spartans wiped it out with a six-run third on the strength of back-to-back homers by Hannah Karc and Shana Guliandolo to open inning and Chelsea Melkowits’ three-run shot three batters later.

Salem retook the lead with four in the bottom of the inning, but Northampton grabbed it right back with two in the fourth. The Oaks took the lead for good in the fifth on Hayes’ game-tying double, a go-ahead RBI single by Haylee Pickrell and an RBI double by Callie Rozak.

The teams traded runs in the sixth. The Spartans loaded the bases against Mecham in the seventh and made it 11-10 with one out, only the second run on the Oaks ace’s ledger since the team returned from the Carolinas. They still had the bases loaded, but Mecham got the final two outs on strikeout and pop to short.

“I think we did a very good job keeping our energy up,” Hoggard said. “When we got down, we stayed up (emotionally). When people were struggling, they picked them up. I know I was struggling for a while (3-for-13 in her previous four games), but they picked me up and I came out in the second game and did really good.

“Our coaches this year have told us you get down you’ve got to keep your foot on the gas pedal no matter what. We can’t look back. You’ve got to keep moving forward.”

The Oaks never wavered when they fell behind 2-0 in the nightcap. Hayes put them back on top with her third homer in four games and they continued to pour it on. They pushed across three in the fourth and walked it off in the fifth.

“I was never worried about it,” Hayes said. “Even in practice there will be times where there’s adversity and we come back and are fully prepared. I think we all just really wanted it, too.

“I love being on a winning streak. There is pressure, you don’t want that to end, it’s also fun. I think we’re having a lot of fun and that’s why we’re continuing the streak instead of feeling the pressure.”

Softball

GAME 1
SALEM CC 11, NORTHAMPTON CC 10

Northampton CC (0-1)	006	201	1-	10	17	0
Salem CC (11-4)	124	031	x-	11	20	1

Theresa Luongo, SYDNEY HARPER (3, L0-1), Kamryn Tokar (6) and Chelsea Melkowits; Caitlin LaGreca, KARYN TRICE (W 1-0), Morgan Mecham and Callie Rozak. 2B: Callie Rozak (S), Ella Hayes (S), Haylee Pickrell (S). 3B: Kiki Beukman (S). HR: Chelsea Melkowits (N), Hannah Karc (N), Shana Gugliandolo (N).

SALEM CC 10, NORTHAMPTON CC 2

Northampton CC (0-2)	110	00-	2	7	1
Salem CC (12-4)	004	33-	10	12	1

TAYLOR NEUMANN (L 0-1), Theresa Luongo (3) and Morgan Rissmiller; MORGAN MECHAM (W 7-2) and Vaye Savage. 2B: Chelsea Melkowits (N), Hannah Karc (N), Courtney Hoggard (S), Vaye Savage (S). HR: Ella Hayes (S)

Baseball

LINCROFT — The Mighty Oaks led the No. 3 team in the country by eight runs in the fourth inning, but couldn’t hold it and fell to Brookdale 14-10 in the rubber game of their three-game series.

The Oaks won the series opener 7-6 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth and appeared headed for an even easier win in the getaway game, but it got away from them under a hail of walks and errors.

“It was just a rough day,” Salem coach John Bolt said. “We didn’t play our best baseball.”

BROOKDALE CC 14, SALEM CC 10

Salem CC (7-10)	007	300	000-	10
Brookdale CC (18-1)	200	800	22x-	14

Cover photo: Salem CC’s Courtney Hoggard prepares to connect with her walk-off hit in the bottom of the fifth inning of Sunday’s second game with Northampton CC. The Mighty Oaks won both games to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

This week’s schedule

Here is this week’s Salem County sports schedule for the week of March 24-30; all games 4 p.m. unless noted, x-scrimmage

Sunday

COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Brookdale, 1 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Northampton at Salem CC (2), noon

Monday

BASEBALL
x-Cumberland at Woodstown
x-GCIT at Pennsville
x-LEAP at Penns Grove
x-Millville at Schalick
SOFTBALL
x-Pennsauken Tech at Penns Grove
x-Pennsville at GCIT
x-Salem at Winslow
GOLF
Woodstown vs. Burlington City, Burlington CC
BOYS TENNIS
x-Pennsville at Gateway, 3:45 p.m.
x-St. Augustine at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
x-Woodstown at OLMA
BOYS LACROSSE
x-Millville at Woodstown

Tuesday

BASEBALL
x-West Deptford at Pennsville
SOFTBALL
x-Salem at Lindenwold
BOYS TENNIS
Schalick at Gateway
x-Woodstown at Millville
TRACK
x-Camden Co. Tech at Pennsville
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Lehigh Carbon CC, 3 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Middlesex at Salem CC (2), 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday

BASEBALL
x-Cumberland at Schalick
x-Deptford at Woodstown
x-LEAP at Salem
x-Penns Grove at Bridgeton
SOFTBALL
x-Cumberland at Schalick
x-Deptford at Woodstown
x-Paulsboro at Pennsville
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Gloucester Catholic, Westwood GC, 3:30 p.m.
BOYS TENNIS
x-Pennsville at Delsea, 3:45 p.m.
x-Woodstown at Millville
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Lehigh Carbon CC at Salem CC (2), noon

Thursday

BASEBALL
x-Clayton at Penns Grove
x-Gloucester at Salem
SOFTBALL
x-LEAP at Salem
x-Millville at Pennsville
x-Penns Grove at Clayton
x-Sterling at Woodstown
GOLF
Schalick vs. Woodstown, Town & Country GL
TRACK
x-Penns Grove, Bridgeton at Salem

Friday

BASEBALL
x-Paulsboro at Schalick, 11 a.m.
SOFTBALL
Millville at Pennsville
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Sussex (2), 1 p.m.
GOLF
Woodstown at Delran, Golden Pheasant GC

Saturday

GIRLS LACROSSE
x-Washington Twp. at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
x-Woodstown at Absegami, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Keystone College JV, noon

Another Salem sweep

Mighty Oaks slam six homers to power doubleheader sweep that extends winning streak to eight games

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – It’s a good thing the visiting team moved the bus before the doubleheader started.

Salem CC’s streaking softball team slammed six home runs – three in each game – to fuel a 10-1, 9-0 run-rule sweep of SUNY-Orange County Wednesday that extended the Mighty Oaks’ presumptive school-record winning streak to eight games.

Haylee Pickrell, Ella Hayes and Vaye Savage hit two homers each. Five of the six were two-run shots. The Oaks entered the game with three homers all season, and those all came in one game. They now have nine in 14 games. They hit 13 in 34 games in last year’s revival season.

“I think yesterday (at Lehigh Carbon) we had a rough one, our bats were kind of sluggish here and there and the weather played a factor; I think we just made up for yesterday,” Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. “New game, new opportunities and we made the adjustment this time around that we needed to.

“It’s still early in the season, so I think a lot of them are just trying to get into their groove and find their rhythm and I think today was the outbreak some of them needed. We definitely know we have power in our lineup and it was just kind of nice to see it come to light for the first time together as a whole.”

Three of the homers were hit to center. The Colts’ parked their team bus just beyond the centerfield fence when they arrived before moving it out of line of fire prior to the first pitch, avoiding the possibility of driving back to New York with some serious window damage.

Pickrell hit a pair of two-run homers in the first game, one in the first inning and the walk-off shot in the fifth. Hayes also hit a two-run shot in the fifth.

Savage, who led the Oaks in homers last season with four, homered in back-to-back innings in the nightcap and Hayes hit her second of the day in the third inning.

“When we get into the box we’re not thinking I’m gonna hit a home run,” Pickrell said. “It’s not pure luck, but it’s definitely harder to do than most swings.

“It was one right after the other, mine and then Ella’s, it was just a ripple effect, like a snowball effect. It got the dugout more hyped. We’ve all been struggling and trying to work with pitches and stuff and once we got those home runs and started that ripple effect, it definitely carried throughout the dugout.”

During their eight-game winning streak, the Oaks are hitting .507 as a team (107-211) with 26 extra-base hits and outscored their opponents 85-7.

Ever since the Oaks returned from their season-opening trip to the Carolinas their doubleheaders have followed a familiar script: Use a big first inning of the opener to grab early control and then let Morgan Mecham shut them down in the nightcap.

The Oaks (10-4) took control of the first game with a four-run first inning and led 5-0 before Orange got on the board with its only run of the day. In the nightcap, Mecham posted her fifth shutout in her last six starts, struck out six and walked none.

“The biggest difference from last year to this year we added depth to our lineup and roster, we added some key pieces to help out with consistency and defense and that’s just really kept our pitchers confident,” Rodriguez said. “One thing we lacked last year was making the easy play. This year we’re making all those plays easier, we’re turning double plays, we’re confident in what we’re doing and they feel that.

“That energy is there, the trust is there together, so that kind of settles them in a little bit more. Morgan is just locked in. Nothing fazes her. And she knows she has a defense behind her, so she’s going to keep doing what she’s doing, but also she’s going to trust what’s behind her to help her out.”

GAME 1
SALEM CC 10, SUNY-ORANGE 1

SUNY-Orange (5-4)	001	00-	1	4	0
Salem CC (9-4)	410	14-	10	11	0

GIANNA CATLETTI (L 3-2) and Lindsay Keane; CAITLIN LaGRECA (W 4-3) and Callie Rozak. 2B: Gabriella Olivo (SO), Ella Hayes (S). 3B: Vaye Savage (S). HR: Haylee Pickrell 2 (S), Ella Hayes (S).

GAME 2
SALEM CC 9, SUNY-ORANGE 0

SUNY-Orange (5-5)	000	00-	0	7	0
Salem CC (10-4)	024	3x-	9	13	0

MOLLY MARTIN (L 2-3) and Jaylee Ramos; MORGAN MECHAM (W 6-1) and Vaye Savage. HR: Vaye Savage 2 (S), Ella Hayes (S)

Mo, mo Mo

Here is the ledger for Salem CC pitcher Morgan Mecham in her last six starts

TEAM	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Henry Ford	7	8	0	0	1	7
Prairie State	5	2	0	0	2	6
Cecil College	3	2	1	1	0	5
RCSJ-Cumberland	7	4	0	0	0	9
Lehigh Carbon	6	2	0	0	1	9
SUNY-Orange	5	7	0	0	0	6
6-GAME TOTAL (6-0, 0.21)	33	25	1	1	4	42

Season total: 6-1, 1.49 ERA

Salem streak hits 6

Mighty Oaks softball extends winning streak to six with doubleheader sweep of Lehigh Carbon CC

By Riverview Sports News

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — Caitlin LaGreca threw 3 1/3 innings of no-hit softball to start the day and Morgan Mecham spun her fourth shutout in her last five starts in the nightcap leading Salem CC to a 10-4, 4-0 sweep of Lehigh Carbon CC Tuesday.

The sweep extended the Mighty Oaks’ winning streak to six games, their longest streak since reviving the program last year.

“It’s probably the longest winning streak in softball history at SCC,” coach Angel Rodriguez said. “We’re making our our own history and the team is loving every ounce of it.”

The Oaks (8-4) made things more comfortable for LaGreca in the opener by scoring six runs in the top of the first inning. They sent 11 batters to the plate, banging out seven of their 14 hits. The first three hitters reached safely and all three scored. Faith Penn capped the inning with a two-run single.

LaGreca retired 10 of the first 11 hitters she faced before the Cougars touched her for four in the fourth. But by then, the Oaks had an 8-0 lead.

Karyn Trice pitched the last two innings. She also reached base all five times she batted in the game.

Mecham was brilliant again in the circle. She only allowed two singles and three base-runners. She retired 15 of the last 16 batters she faced. In her last five starts she has given up only one run with 36 strikeouts and four walks.

“Morgan is locked in,” Rodriguez said. “She doesn’t get rattled and knows her defense is behind her.”

The offense was, too. The Oaks banged out 15 hits in the nightcap. Trice had three hits and Courtney Hoggard drove in a pair of runs.

“The South Carolina trip connected the team in a way we needed it to,” Rodriguez said. “We are in a good spot right now to the start of a busy week. I couldn’t be prouder of how the team is turning tings up and sticking together.

“We’re going to keep getting better learning from game to game and making the adjustments as needed. We’re looking forward to being back at home tomorrow.”

The Oaks are right back at it Wednesday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Orange County CC (5-3).

GAME 1
SALEM CC 10, LEHIGH CARBON CC 4

Salem CC (7-4)	602	020	0-	10	14	1
Lehigh Carbon CC (0-1)	000	400	0-	4	6	3

CAITLIN LaGRECA (W 3-3), Karyn Trice (6) and Vaya Savage, Callie Rozak (6); MIA SNYDER (L 0-1) and Sandra Ramirez. 2B: Courtney Hoggard (S), KC Garcia (S).

GAME 2
SALEM CC 4, LEHIGH CARBON CC 0

Salem CC (8-4)	101	020-	4	15	0
Lehigh Carbon CC (0-2)	000	000-	0	2	2

MORGAN MECHAM (W 5-1) and Callie Rozak, Juanic Beukman (6); KASSANDRA AQUINO (L 0-1) and Stofflet. 3B: Karyn Trice (S)

Savage sweep

Salem CC softball christens new Pennsville LL home with a doubleheader sweep of RCSJ-Cumberland

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – People around the Salem CC softball program know Vaye Savage as a player who will come early to the field and even show up to work when no one’s around. She was right on time Sunday.

The sophomore first baseman from Texas snared a hot liner with the bases loaded that surely would have tied the game and casually stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play and then delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead in an eventual 7-1 win over RCSJ-Cumberland in the Mighty Oaks’ first-ever game in their new Pennsville Little League home.

The Oaks completed a successful christening of their new digs by winning the nightcap to sweep the day, 5-0.

“We did everything we were hoping to do,” Salem CC coach Angel Rodriguez said. “We came out and competed. Lovely ball field here, so I think that kind of helped out a little bit; you saw all the crowd comes out. So, everything we wanted to get out of what our home experience is going to be this year we did.”

Since reviving the program, the Oaks have played their games at the Carneys Point Recreation Complex, but while convenient, the facility wasn’t quite adequate for their needs. They looked around for a new site and struck a 12-month year-to-year deal last September to play on the Pennsville LL’s Watson Field.

The Oaks practiced in the complex during the fall and spring and played their first official games there Sunday. They have 11 more doubleheader dates there this season, including four straight between March 20 and 26.

“It was surreal,” Rodriguez said of the experience. “Just getting the field ready, going through warmups, I think they felt it, like having a home field where they feel at home.

“When we were thinking about the switch we brought the whole team knowing the majority of them were coming back. I think once they saw the complex, saw the field, their eyes lit up. Our goal was to try to make it happen and we did. They take pride in it every day and I definitely think they just feel more comfortable playing here, just knowing the facility feels like their home.”

Savage called it an “awesome field.”

Their era there couldn’t have started better.

In the first game Caitlin LeGreca pitched a three-hitter and struck out five. Seven of the Oaks’ nine hitters had at least one hit. Ella Hayes went 3-for-4 and Emilie Hamm went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

Savage decorated the dugout for the occasion, then delivered the play of the day. The Oaks took a 4-0 lead into the fifth. The Dukes had just scored on a one-out bases-loaded walk. Cecely Dominguez hit a rocket towards right field. Savage, standing a few steps from the bag, stuck out her glove and speared it, then stepped on first to get the runner who took off thinking, like everyone in the park, the ball was headed into the corner to clear the bases and tie the game.

“You definitely felt that momentum change for sure,” Rodriguez said. “When she made that, we shifted it back in our favor.”

“The ball was just right there and I ended up sticking my glove up and catching it, and then I remembered the girl was on first and we got three outs,” Savage said. “I just kind of stuck my glove out there. My team knows on third base I have like no reaction time so I feel all of them were a little surprised at my reaction time on first.”

Ace Morgan Mecham pitched the nightcap and her advanced velocity proved too much of an adjustment for the Dukes. Mecham threw a two-hit shutout and struck out a season-high nine with no walks. She faced only three batters over the minimum.

She retired 12 of the first 13 hitters she faced and her last seven of the game. She has given up only one run in her last four starts – all wins, three shutouts – with 27 strikeouts and three walks. She hasn’t issued a walk in her last 13 2/3 innings.

“We have kind of a rivalry with them so it was kind of more personal than other teams,” Mecham said.

GAME 1
Salem CC 7, RCSJ Cumberland 1

RCSJ-Cumberland (0-3)	000	010	0-	1	3	2
Salem CC (5-4)	002	230	x-	7	10	2

ASHLEY BRAG (0-2), Karly Smaniotto (4) and Mimi Acevedo, Jordan Spates (4); CAITLIN LaGRECA (2-3) and Callie Rozak. 2B: Mimi Acevedo (R), Ella Hayes (S). 3B: Ella Hayes (S).

GAME 2
Salem CC 5, RCSJ-Cumberland 0

RCSJ-Cumberland (0-4)	000	000	0-	0	2	2
Salem CC (6-4)	002	300	x-	5	6	1

GIANNA FISKE (0-2) and Jordan Spates; MORGAN MECHAM (4-1) and Vaye Savage. 2B: Karyn Trice (S).

Salem CC pitcher Morgan Mecham spun her third shutout in her last four starts in the second game of Sunday’s sweep. On the cover, first baseman Vaye Savage takes the stance that helped her make the defensive play of the first game. (Photos by John Holt)