Non-competing marker

Salem CC baseball overwhelmed by top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester; Salem CC softball wins final home game to split DH

TUESDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 18, Salem CC 1
Delaware County 13-8, Ocean 12-17
Mercer 7, Rockland 5
Raritan Valley 11, Westchester 0
Brookdale 15, Montgomery 4
Middlesex 18, Camden 16
Northampton 12, Bergen 2
RCSJ-Cumberland 19, Union 8
Morris 15, Orange 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When you play baseball in JUCO Region 19 you can expect to play several nationally ranked teams during the season. Salem CC has played its share of ranked opponents over the years, even played several already this season, but this game had a different air about it.

The Mighty Oaks have played some of their ranked opponents this year tough, even beaten a few, but they were out of their league in Tuesday’s 18-1 loss to No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester from the first pitch.

The Roadrunners (36-3) scored seven runs in the first two innings, added four homers to their nation leading total – three in one inning – and held the Mighty Oaks to three hits total and eight baserunners .

After Salem scored its only run on Matt Murphy’s two-out RBI double in the first, Gloucester starter Tommy Bradley retired 12 in a row and 15 of the next 16 before Demetrius DeRamus’ two-out infield single in the sixth. The only blemish in the run was plunking Jared Vandersteur with two outs in the fifth.

“We didn’t compete today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said, measuring his words trying to stay as positive as the circumstances would allow. “With a good baseball team like that you can’t fall behind in counts and not expect to get hurt. I don’t think we were ready to compete today.”

The Mighty Oaks were swamped by Top 5 Brookdale early in the season, but they played current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara tough in Florida and beat Middlesex, Montgomery and Northampton when they were either in the poll or getting votes. The Mighty Oaks received votes in the official JUCO Division III poll for the first time this week.“it was out of character for us today,” Holt said. “I’m hoping tomorrow (in the return game) we can learn a lesson from it, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and compete.”

Freshman starter Pat Seitzinger didn’t feel nervous facing the No. 1 team in the country in the run-up to the game. The left-hander said it was exciting “up until the first pitch.”

He hit Roadrunners leadoff man Luca Reyes with his first pitch of the game and then hit him twice more – all with the same pitch. Then he hit 3-hole hitter Kyle McSorley to load the bases after giving up a double to Matt Brunner. He then walked in a run and gave up a two-run double to Joe Meier before finally getting an out – and even that play brought home a run.

Gloucester tacked on three more in the second inning. Seitzinger had his best inning in the third when he set the Roadrunners down in order, but then he gave up a three-run homer Nick Slozik in the fourth to make it 10-1.

“I was fine, I just couldn’t throw a strike,” Seitzinger said. “I was confident. I knew they could hit, but I never really tried to pitch around them. I just couldn’t throw strikes.”

The Roadrunners pushed the game into run-rule territory with two runs in the fifth off Alex Newman, then completely broke it open with eight in the seventh. The inning featured a three-run homer by Meier and solo shots by Reyes and Alex Apicella.

“Pat’s a freshman, sometimes those nerves get to you a little bit,” Holt said. “He’s a freshman going against the No. 1 team in the country and he knew that. Sometimes you try to be too perfect and when you’re too perfect things kind of fall off the rails a little bit.

“We tried not to make too big a deal out of (playing a No. 1). We’ve been saying all week as we were coming into this one not to worry about what the jersey says just play our baseball game and I don’t we did that today. We didn’t execute today top to bottom.”

The Mighty Oaks will look to be more competitive with a bullpen game Wednesday as they try preserve arms for a sweepable weekend series against Union.

Softball wins final home game

TUESDAY REGION 19 GAMES
Morris 10-5, Salem CC 7-5
Delaware Tech 7-9, Mercer 0-5
Northampton 21-16, Ocean 0-0
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale

PENNSVILLE – Chantelle Haskie had three hits and Ella Hayes drove in three runs as the Salem CC softball team took a 9-5 victory from Morris in its final home game of the season to snap a seven-game losing streak.

The win gave the Mighty Oaks (17-21) a split of the doubleheader after dropping the opener 10-7.

The Mighty Oaks rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four runs in the third inning to take the lead. Hayes, playing in the final home game of her decorated Salem CC career, tied the game with a two-run single. Bella Rappa singled home the go-ahead run and Haskie singled home Rappa to make it 4-2.

Morris made it a one-run game in the fifth, but Salem erupted for five in the bottom of the inning to take control. The first run rode home on an error, Tiana Wilson’s fielder’s choice brought home another, Jolee Robinson singled home a run and Lilly Peverelle and Hayes had RBI doubles.

The Mighty Oaks fell behind 5-0 in the opener, but rallied to tie it 5-5 in the fifth on Tessa Wise’s RBI single. Morris responded with four in the sixth that Salem couldn’t overcome.

Callie Rozak homered and drove in three runs for the Mighty Oaks. Jocelyn Melendez, Rappa, Val Hatterer and Tessa Wise had two hits apiece.

The Mighty Oaks wrap up their regular season later this week at Lackawanna and Raritan Valley and are expected to be the fourth seed in the Region 19 Division II playoffs May 2-3 at Mercer.

Hundred for Harris

Pennsville junior catcher collects her 100th career hit in Eagles’ eighth straight win, 10-8 over Williamstown

MONDAY SALEM COUNTY SOFTBALL
Pennsville 10, Williamstown 8
Delsea 8, Woodstown 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILLIAMSTOWN – It wasn’t the longest or the hardest ball Kylie Harris has hit in her high school softball career, but it certainly was her most significant.

Harris, a junior catcher, flared a single into short right field in the third inning for the 100th career hit in Pennsville’s 10-8 Easter Monday win at Williamstown.

The ball floated into right field like a simple pop up then fell safely between the second baseman rushing out, the right fielder rushing over and the right field line. But like they say in golf, there are no pictures on the scorecard or in the scorebook.

“It might be the ugliest one-hundreth hit, but it’s a one-hundreth hit,” Harris said. “So, a hit’s a hit.”

Harris needed only one for the milestone entering the game and got it in her second at bat. It looked like she had it in her first, but was called out on a slow roller to third. Video of the potential historic hit appeared to show her beating the throw to first by a step, but the field umpire called her out and after a brief conference with the plate ump upheld the call.

“I was hoping (it was) not (the milestone hit) because that was not a great hit,” she said. “I felt pretty speedy, I was busting my tail down that line, but it wasn’t pretty.”

But it was productive. The play produced the Eagles’ second run of the inning after back-to-back extra-base hits by Lily Edwards and Graillyn Weber to open the game, but she still was stuck on 99. She wound up going 2-for-5 in the game and now has 101 hits – in only three seasons.

After landing at first base with the hit that did count, she was first congratulated by coach Lisa Doran. Eagles head coach Beth Jackson walked over to the bag and presented her the ball and her parents and teammates recognized the feat with a big banner.

“I think it’s amazing,” Harris said. “Being with this group of girls and accomplishing that, it means the world to me. Having these girls with me to be there for it, it’s a feeling like no other. Having this support group around me it really makes it just 10 times better.”

The Eagles don’t have a banner recognizing their 100-hit softball players, but anecdotally Jackson knows of several – two of whom are her and her sister. The school record for hits is 180 by Hall of Famer Courtney Hankins – Harris’ hitting coach – and with the rest of this season and all of next year ahead of her, Harris has a chance at that.

She had 32 hits as a freshman, 40 last year and 29 at basically the halfway point of this season. She’s had a least two hits in every game this season. She’s batting .690 this season and .500 for her career.

“The next step is getting wins, hitting for my team,” she said. “It’s all about the girls for me.”

Pennsville (10-2)	213 004 0-	10	13	4
Williamstown (6-3)	100 020 5-	8	9	3

**Pennsville softball coach Beth Jackson (L) presents Kylie Harris with the ball that produced the junior’s 100th career hit Monday.**

Looking for more

Salem CC softball guaranteed a spot in Region 19 playoffs field, ends scoring drought despite being swept but needs more consistency going forward

MONDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech 10-13, Salem CC 0-9
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Morris at Salem CC
Mercer at Delaware Tech
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale
Northampton at Ocean

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – After struggling to score runs in its previous three games, the Salem CC softball team’s bats started coming back around in the late innings of Monday’s nightcap with Delaware Tech.

The Mighty Oaks were swept for the third straight doubleheader 10-0 and 13-9. They haven’t won since smashing Sussex on April 17 finally saw some success The Salem CC softball team has already been told it has a spot in the Region 19 Division II playoffs,

Its their longest slide since the end of the 2023 season when they lost their last seven. But at least they scored with some regularly in that slide.

The Mighty Oaks had been held scoreless for 21 consecutive innings before putting up a run in second inning of Game 2, then scored eight runs in the final three innings to make things interesting.

While that has brightened the Salem players’ spirits, head coach Angel Rodriguez is looking for more as the Mighty Oaks turn toward the playoffs.

“Consistent hitting, that’s what I would like,” he said. “We just took too long to make an adjustment (Monday). We finally caught up to it and hopefully they understand when we kind of do that earlier good things will happen but we just have to be able to it do more consistently

“We’ll see if it carries in, but we’ve been very inconsistent, so we’ll see what tomorrow looks like.”

Normally, to make the Region 19 playoffs a team must have a .500 or better record either overall or within the region. After Monday, the Mighty Oaks must go 4-2 in their final six games this week to meet that criteria and have two sweepable twinbills among them, starting with Tuesday’s final home date with Morris.

Failing that, however, the Mighty Oaks are still in because it takes a minimum of four teams to make a playoff field and Salem is solidly the fourth best team evened if they struggled of late.

Playing their fourth doubleheader in five days, the Mighty Oaks were shutout in both games at Mercer over the weekend, limited to two hits in each game. They were held to one hit by Del Tech in Monday’s opener – Bella Rappa’s first-inning single – and struck out 11 times against hard-throwing Kylee Hill.

They were on track to being run-ruled in Game 2, too. They did have five hits over the first four innings, but fell behind 10-1.

Center fielder Val Hatterer gave the Mighty Oaks a chance to keep playing when she took away a potential three-run homer with her fourth homer-robbing catch at the fence.

The Mighty Oaks needed at least two runs in the home fifth to stay alive and that’s what they got. Ella Hayes got it started with a leadoff homer and when they were down to their last out consecutive singles by Tiana Wilson, Hatterer and Tessa Wise extended the game.

“Just seeing a number on the board definitely gave us confidence,” Hayes said. “Just like in basketball, once you see it in, you just get confidence and see your own bucket go in. I think that’s kind of what happened for us. Once we saw it on the board it’s almost like we can do this. Just seeing a crooked number up there was good.”

It ignited what Callie Rozak called “the drive to want to do better.” They rallied for four in the sixth on two-run singles by Bella Rappa and Wise to make it 10-7. They proceeded to get the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but Rozak flew out to right field ending the inning.

Del Tech’s Cecelia Johnston hit a three-run homer in the seventh to make it 13-7. The Mighty Oaks scored twice in their half of the inning when Hayes and Rappa both raced home on wild pitches, but they couldn’t get anything else going.

Still, they seemed to shake whatever was holding them back and the drought was over.

“Coming in we knew Del Tech was going to be a hard team, we knew that pitcher threw very fast and we had to adjust to it and we didn’t do very well adjusting to that fast pitching,” Rappa said. “Those last couple innings was us working together as a team for once, hitting our pitches not their pitches, so it was nice to come back and fight and not go 0-0 on the scoreboard.

“We do have to get more consistent but I feel like this was probably the first game we all actually at the end wanted to fight it out.”

Now they’ll see what Tuesday brings.

Baseball

On the eve of Tuesday’s Carney Point opener of its home-and-home series with No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester, Salem CC received votes in the JUCO Division III baseball poll for the first time since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) were one of four Region 19 teams receiving votes in the poll, but didn’t crack the Top 15. RCSJ-Gloucester (No. 1) and Brookdale (No. 4) made the top 15.

“Happy to get votes, happy to get recognized; one step at a time,” Salem coach John Holt said. “We’ve just gotta control what we can control.”

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of April 21-27; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

APRIL 21
BASEBALL
Kings Christian at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Salem at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 10:30 a.m.
GOLF
Woodstown vs. GCIT, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Triton at Schalick, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Delaware Tech at Salem CC, 3 p.m.

APRIL 22
BASEBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Schalick at Pitman
Woodstown at Salem
SOFTBALL
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Pitman at Schalick
Salem at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Cumberland, Running Deer CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Overbrook, Pinelands GC
Schalick girls vs. Delsea, White Oaks CC
TENNIS
Schalick vs. Pitman, Shertle Park 11 a.m.
Overbrook at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
TRACK
Salem County Championships, Pennsville, 3:30 p.m.
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 5:15 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Kingsway, 6 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at GCIT, 3:45 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
CC of Morris at Salem CC, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 23
BASEBALL
Collingswood at Woodstown
SOFTBALL
Cumberland at Salem
Kingsway at Woodstown
Haddon Heights at Pennsville
GOLF
Pennsville vs. West Deptford, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Salem Tech vs. Pitman, Pitman GC, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Pitman at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at Haddonfield
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 24
BASEBALL
Schalick at Glassboro
Woodstown at Penns Grove
SOFTBALL
Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Woodstown
GOLF
Pennsville vs. Kingsway, River Winds GC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick vs. Cumberland, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Schalick girls vs. Williamstown, Centerton CC, 3:30 p.m.
Woodstown vs. Overbrook, Town & Country, 3:45 p.m.
TENNIS
Clayton at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
Haddon Heights at Schalick
TRACK
Penn Relays
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Washington Twp.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Lackawanna, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 25
TENNIS
Schalick at Clayton
Williamstown at Penns Grove
TRACK
Penn Relays
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown at West Deptford
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Salem CC at Union, 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 26
BASEBALL
Gloucester County Christian at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
LACROSSE
Woodstown at Bishop Eustace, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Union at Salem CC (2), noon
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Salem CC at Raritan Valley CC, noon

Mixed results on road

Salem CC baseball gets strong pitching to sweep twinbill at Bergen, softball swept at Mercer

SATURDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem 4-5, Bergen 2-1
Middlesex 17, Northampton 7
RCSJ-Gloucester 10-10, Brookdale 4-1
RCSJ-Cumberland 12-5, Camden 5-3
Mercer 17, Raritan Valley 4
Morris 9-2, Lackawanna 8-10
Sussex at Delaware Tech
Delaware County 15-10, Union 8-11

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PARAMUS – Matt Murphy hit another home run, Angel Velez moved three hits closer to 100 and Salem CC got two strong outings from its starting pitchers to sweep Bergen CC 4-2 and 5-1 and sweep the weekend series.

It was the Mighty Oaks’ sixth straight weekend series win and first sweep since RCSJ-Cumberland in late March.

First-game starter Jared Vandersteur pitched six strong innings. He gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but otherwise allowed only four hits and struck out a career-high 10. Pat Seitzinger got the save, facing four batters in the seventh.

Seth McCormick threw a complete game in the nightcap. He had a one-hitter through six, gave up three hits total, lost his shutout on an unearned run in the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 12. He’s 5-2 on the season.

“Both of them grinded it out today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We needed the sweep and they stepped up and helped us get it. They picked us up today when the offense and defense needed it.”

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) scored all their runs in the opener in the first inning. Yen Rodriguez drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double, then after Demetrius DeRamus walked, Murphy cleared the bases with a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year – all on the road – and third this week.

They scored in the first inning of the nightcap, too, when Rodriguez came home on a balk. They got some breathing room with three in the fourth – Cole Dawson and Rodriguez drew bases-loaded walks and Tim Bowlby scored on a wild pitch. Murphy’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0 in the seventh.

Velez went 3-for-4 in the nightcap, leaving him with 97 for his career. Since the Mighty Oaks returned from Florida the sophomore’s role in doubleheaders has been to catch the opener and DH in the nightcap. It’s the approach that made him an all-region DH last year. In the Mighty Oaks’ last five doubleheaders this year, he is 4-for-14 in Game 1 as the catcher and 13-for-20 in Game 2 as the DH.

SATURDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Mercer 7-13, Salem CC 0-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 5-7, Brookdale 4-3
Delaware Tech 9-0, Lackawanna 0-1
Bergen at Lehigh Carbon
Ocean at Camden

WEST WINDSOR – For the second year in a row, the Salem CC softball team went to Mercer and came up empty.

The once-beaten Vikings handed the Mighty Oaks a pair of shutout losses, 7-0 and 13-0. Mercer swept them with a pair of shutouts last year and is the only team to shut out the Mighty Oaks in both games of a doubleheader since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks were held to two hits in each game and only one runner as far as second base in each game. Meanwhile, the Vikings (33-1) had 27 hits and 12 extra-base hits. Mercer hit three homers in the first game and had five doubles in the nightcap.

Mercer hit three extra-base hits in the first inning of the opener to take a 4-0 lead then hit back-to-back homers to open the fifth inning and break it open. Emily Wyzykowski homered in the first, then followed Stella Logan’s leadoff homer in the fifth with her second of the game. Logan hit three doubles and drove in four runs in the nightcap.

Tiana Wilson had a hit in each game for the Mighty Oaks. Callie Rozak had the other hit in the opener and Emma Hayes the other one in the nightcap.

Something to consider: The Mighty Oaks were blanked here last year on a one-hitter and no-hitter, then shut out the Vikings here in the first round of the Region 19 playoffs.

Hits keep on coming

Velez has Salem CC’s third five-hit game since program revival in run-rule win over Bergen; Dawson drives in five, Murphy collects 100th career hit; Salem CC softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
Salem CC 17, Bergen 6
Northampton 8-7, Middlesex 7-16
Ocean 10-3, Montgomery 8-19
RCSJ-Gloucester 4, Brookdale 3
RCSJ-Cumberland 9, Camden 6
Lackawanna 6, Morris 2
Mercer 13, Raritan Valley 2
Sussex 9, Delaware Tech 5
Delaware County at Union

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Cole Dawson thought he was done. He hit a mile-high pop up to first with bases loaded that was caught near the line for the first out of the sixth inning and was already back in the Salem CC dugout putting up his stuff but his time at bat was far from over.

You’re not done until the umpire says you are. The field ump called the Mighty Oaks infielder back to the plate, having called a balk on Bergen reliever S.G. Song for failing to declare whether he was pitching from the stretch or windup with a runner on third base.

So, instead of bases loaded with one out, J.D. Wilson trotted home with a run, Chris Kelly and Tim Bowlby advanced a base and Dawson returned to the plate with the same 1-2 count he had before the pop-up.

Given a second chance, the sophomore infielder laced Song’s next pitch into left field for his second two-run single in as many innings that put the Mighty Oaks in run-rule territory in an eventual 17-6 win. He finished the game 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs.

“When I popped it up I thought it was an out and I thought the inning was pretty much over,” Dawson said. “I was ready to get my glove and go out to the field. And then they called a balk and gave me a second chance, so I had to do something with it. You can’t give up that opportunity. Second chances don’t come like that.

“It was weird. I’ve never had that happen before. The only thing close (in high school) I think I popped up to the catcher, but I hit him on the backswing and they called catcher’s interference, so I did end up getting a second chance there.”

Dawson scored later in the inning when Song balked again. Ironically, the Mighty Oaks lost a game to current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara on their Florida trip to a similar declaration balk against Jon Gambone.

“That was God,” catcher Angel Velez said of Dawson’s reprieve. “That was God. God blessed him. God knew he needed that one and gave it to him, and Cole took advantage of it.”

“It is a weird circumstance,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt agreed.

The Mighty Oaks (19-17) had a lot of hitting heroes in the game. Matt Murphy collected his 100^thcareer hit with an RBI single in the first inning that got them on the board. He became the second Salem player to reach the milestone this month – Demetrius DeRamus did it at Northampton April 9 – and will be among four this season by the end of it. Velez (94) and Yen Rodriguez (91) are that close.

Velez was on deck when Murphy hit the mark. Whether it served as inspiration, Velez followed him with an RBI single and kept going. The sophomore catcher went 5-for-5 to move within six hits of 100 and with each at-bat his teammates let him know he was close to something special.

“These guys love to let you know when you’re doing (good),” Velez said. “They love to jinx stuff, they do. They tell me.

“After I got the fourth hit everyone was like, ‘You’re 4-for-4.’ That last at bat I swung at the change up in the dirt, that wasn’t a good swing, then I got that fastball outside called. I just didn’t want to strike out.”

It was only the third time a Salem player has had five hits in a game since the program was revived in 2019. It’s the Mighty Oaks’ first five-hit game since DeRamus went 5-for-6 in last year’s season-ending playoff loss at Northampton and their first in the regular season since Phil Sedalis went 5-for-5 at Camden April 7, 2021.

Velez had four hits in the 12-inning win over RCSJ-Cumberland on March 22 and did it three times over the final seven games last year.

“He’s that type of guy with his left-handed swing if he shoots the ball to the opposite field he’s a hard out,” Holt said. “He’s tough to pitch to if he shortens up and sprays the ball the other way. When he bought into that last year that’s when he really kind of took off as a hitter.”

The hits Murphy and Velez delivered in the first inning helped the Mighty Oaks overcome the 3-spot Bergen posted in the top of the inning. Dawson’s first hit, an RBI double in the second, extended the lead to 5-3.

The Bulldogs tied it in the third before the Mighty Oaks took the lead for good with five in the fifth. Tim Bowlby broke the tie with an RBI double and Dawson followed him with the first of his two-run singles.

“I was concerned,” Holt said. “The energy wasn’t there at the beginning of the game. With this region and its strength you cannot take anyone for granted. I was on them to kind of figure it out. It went some innings to be able to turn the thing around a little bit.”

Salem softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Cecil 14-11, Salem CC 7-6
Delaware Tech 16-12, Sussex 0-0
Harford 5-15, RCSJ-Gloucester 2-10
Lackawanna 16-9, Onondaga 3-11
Bergen 7-10, Camden 2-13

CECIL 14-11, SALEM 7-6: Tristan Canavan went 4-for-5 with six RBIs and hit two of Cecil’s three homers in the opener and the Seahawks hit two more homers in the nightcap to complete the sweep.

Salem scored in the first inning of the opener on Callie Rozak’s RBI single, but Sloane Tanner’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run second and the Seahawks never trailed again. Rozak and Ella Hayes both had three hits for the Mighty Oaks.

Salem led 3-0 after three innings in the nightcap, then Cecil erupted for seven in the fourth to take control. The Seahawks hit their two homers in the game in the sixth inning.

Rozak had a pair of doubles among her three hits and three RBIs in the nightcap for the Mighty Oaks. Hayes had three hits, while Lilly Peverelle and Jolee Robinson each had two.

Thursday roundup

Salem CC softball sweeps twinbill in big way; Pennsville, Woodstown baseball lose tough ones; Pennsville softball keeps rolling

THURSDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Salem CC 18-20, Sussex 2-4
Brookdale at Ocean
Lackawanna 27-29, Raritan Valley 2-1
Monroe at Mercer
Middlesex 11-5, Morris 8-4

By Riverview Sports News

NEWTON – The Salem CC softball team loaded up the bus and loaded up the box score in sweeping Sussex CC in a big way for the second time this season, 18-2 and 20-4.

The Mighty Oaks erupted for 11 hits in the opener and a season-high 20 hits in the nightcap. They swamped the Skylanders 13-5 and 22-0 in a doubleheader at Watson Field in March.

Ella Hayes led the way in the opener. She hit for the cycle, highlighted by a first-inning grand slam, and drove in six runs. The slam capped an eight-run opening.

Callie Rozak had two hits and Tessa Wise and Jolee Robinson had two RBIs each.

The Mighty Oaks (16-14) got big games from a lot of players in the nightcap. The top six spots in the lineup went a combined 17-for-21 with 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Bella Rappa went 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Wise went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in the third inning and four total RBIs. Rozak drove in five runs with a pair of hits. Val Hatterer had a career-high four hits and three RBIs. Hayes went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored. Jocelyn Melendez went 3-for-3.

The Mighty Oaks raised their team batting average 14 points in the doubleheader.

SALEM COUNTY HS RESULTS
BASEBALL
CUMBERLAND 2, PENNSVILLE 1: The Colts scored their first win of the season in dramatic fashion. They created a run in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead, then turned back a Pennsville threat in the bottom of the inning.

The winning rally started with Kameron Fiorani’s leadoff walk. He was sacrificed to second and scored on Jack Bodine’s single to center.
.
The Eagles (5-3) got the tying run to third base with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but the Colts got a fly out to center to end the game and their five-game winning streak.

Cumberland (1-8) grabbed a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first, but Pennsville tied it Chase Burchfield’s two-out RBI single to right.

CINNAMINSON 3, WOODSTOWN 2: The Pirates scored all their runs on three homers to power past the Wolverines.

Noah Harvey’s solo homer in the top of the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and Logan Hammell’s three-run blast in the seventh broke it open. Anthony Alessandroni opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first.

The Wolverines got a run back in the fourth on Rocco String’s steal of home and tied it on Caiden Spinelli’s RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth. They kept the threat alive, loading the bases with one out couldn’t bring the runners home.

SOFTBALL
PENNSVILLE 10, CUMBERLAND 7: Makenzie Widener went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, three other players collected two hits apiece and the Eagles came from behind to win their seventh in a row.

Graillyn Weber, Kylie Harris and Sawyer Simmons also had two hits and Avery Watson had two RBIs.

The Eagles (9-2) trailed 4-1 after one inning. They made it a one-run game in the second and took the lead for good in the third on RBI doubles by Harris, Simmons and Watson. They had six doubles in the game and won for the fifth straight game scoring 10 runs or more.

CLEARVIEW 18, WOODSTOWN 1: The Pioneers took a 4-1 lead after two innings then broke it open with eight runs in the third. Talia Guardascione had two of the Wolverines’ four hits and Lila Bowling drove home Hannah Hitchner with their only run in the first inning.

GOLF
Schalick girls at OLMA

TENNIS
Penns Grove at Schalick

PENNSVILLE 5, PITMAN 0
Gave Schneider (Pe) def. Chase Pogozelski, 6-0, 6-0
Maddox Efelis (Pe) def. Jaron Scull, 6-0, 6-2
Brody Wiggins (Pe) def. Liam Etter, 6-0, 6-0
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (Pe) def. Jonah Raymer0Ben Williams, 6-1, 6-0
Matthew Forino-Lochlann Hooks (Pe) def. Spencer Bianchini-Christian Camiscioli, 1-6, 6-3, 12-10
Records: Pennsville 8-0, Pitman 1-8.

Wednesday scoreboard

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

BASEBALL
Overbrook 19, Penns Grove 1
Pennsville 9, Salem 1
Woodstown 15, Glassboro 5
SOFTBALL
Woodstown 13, Glassboro 5
Overbrook 26, Penns Grove 1
Pennsville 20, Salem 1
GOLF
Schalick vs. Washington Twp.
Woodstown 190, Pennsville 208
TENNIS
Woodstown 3, Delsea 2
Pennsville 4, Millville 1
Overbrook at Penns Grove
TRACK
Woodstown at Schalick
Glassboro at Pennsville
Salem at Pitman
LACROSSE
Cinnaminson 6, Woodstown 2
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woodstown 14, Clearview 6

Seeking a spark

Rodriguez looking for his Salem CC softball team to find some consistency after being swept by Harford

TUESDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Harford 5-14, Salem CC 1-11
Mercer at Lackawanna, Game 1 susp.
Brookdale 10-11, Northampton 6-10
RCSJ-Gloucester 24-23, Bergen 1-4
Middlesex 14-12, Ocean 2-0
Delaware Tech 12-13, Raritan Valley 0-2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Angel Rodriguez returned to the Salem CC dugout for the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with Harford and if the Mighty Oaks softball coach was expecting to see something different from before he was sent off he was disappointed.

The Mighty Oaks were swept by the Fighting Owls 5-1 and 14-11.

Rodriguez missed Game 1 serving the final game of a three-game suspension stemming from a correctly argued point at the plate in last week’s doubleheader against Mercer. He was back in the third-base coaching box for Game 2, but returned to some of the same shortcomings that haunted the offense throughout the season.

“It was good to be back, seeing on the field and being with the players interacting,” Rodriguez said, “but, again, the storyline stays the same: We’re just inconsistent in what we do.

“We’ve just got to find that balance where we can get more consistent and we’re getting near the end so we’ve just got to do a better job of getting it. Hopefully with the more games we play this week it just comes.”

The Mighty Oaks (14-14) never led in Game 1. They were held to two hits by Harford’s hard-throwing Anna Sexton, who became the Owls’ all-time wins leader (19) with the victory. Additionally, sophomore first baseman Hayden Kobert hit her first career home run (in 92 at bats) leading off the fourth inning to give them a 3-1 lead.

Harford took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a pair of RBI singles from the bottom of the lineup. Salem pushed across a run in the third on Tiana Wilson’s sacrifice, but never got closer. The Mighty Oaks got both of their hits and two runners in scoring position after that, but couldn’t bring them home.

“We have to do a better job of finding our offensive spark; it’s hit or miss,” Rodriguez said. “Once we do that, we’ll be better.”

It looked like they would get that spark from Ella Hayes, who led off the fourth inning of the nightcap with an inside-the-park home run to touch off a four-run rally that gave the Mighty Oaks their second lead of the game. Pahola Chavez had a two-run single later in the inning to make it 6-3.

Salem starter Jill Robinson kept the Owls off the board the next inning, which should have given the Mighty Oaks even more momentum. Instead, their 9-1-2 hitters went down in order on six total pitches.

Harford rode that wave to score six runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Kobert hit her second homer of the day, this one a three-run shot, in the fifth and Juliet Sanchez hit a three-run bomb in the sixth.

“It’s just a rollercoaster,” Rodriguez said. “It’s up and down. We have to stay a little bit more consistent. Good inning, can’t capitalize with the next inning seeing six total pitches and getting three outs. We just have to do a better job of having a quality at bat.”

The Mighty Oaks made it interesting again in the sixth, rallying for five runs to get within 12-11. Tessa Wise took a big chunk off the deficit with a three-run homer. Wilson made it 12-10 with an RBI double and Val Hatterer made it a one-run game with a two-out RBI single.

“I was just thinking I was not being the last out,” Hatterer said. “I did not want to get out.”

She got to second base with the tying run, but was stranded there. Harford responded with two insurance runs in the seventh and the Mighty Oaks went down in order to end the game. Despite the loss, everybody in Salem’s Game 2 lineup had at least one hit and the Fighting Owls needed to bring in Sexton to put out the fire.

“I feel like we were fighting,” Hatterer said. “I wish we would have fought more in the beginning than in the end (and would’ve) had more energy.”

ACORNS: The Mighty Oaks were 22-6 after 28 games a year ago. Still, they are holding onto the fourth spot in the Region 19 Division II standings … The seven teams they have left are a combined 83-63 … With the doubleheader, 2B Jocelyn Melendez has completed her four-game suspension for her home-plate collision against Mercer. She’ll be back for Thursday’s DH at Sussex. The Mighty Oaks are at Mercer Saturday … OF Lilly Peverelle undergoes an MRI on the knee she injured at Camden Wednesday.

42 means more

Every day is Jackie Robinson Day to Salem High senior who wears the number, shares the name and emulates the playing style of the baseball legend; includes Salem County roundup

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – In big-league stadiums all across the country Tuesday they were celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, commemorating the day in 1947 the legendary infielder debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color barrier.

But for one Salem County baseball player, every day is Jackie Robinson Day. It is for Terrell Robinson, anyway.

Ever since his freshman year, the Salem High School senior has worn the No. 42 uniform that on every April 15 every player in the major leagues wears. Now, a lot of players wear the number – and Robinson has known several of them – but there aren’t many – and none he has crossed paths with – who have the name to go with the number like he does.

There’s just something about seeing “Robinson” and “42” on the back of a player’s jersey, especially a Black player, that stirs the soul.

And as the country celebrated Robinson’s legacy Tuesday, that connection isn’t lost on the Rams’ pitcher/catcher.

“Originally, I always wore 11, like during Little League and the first travel ball team I was on, the Pennsville Predators,” Robinson explained after practice Tuesday. “Then my first year coming to the high school, Coach (Josiah) Hughes let us pick numbers. My father was like you should go different because someone already had 11 and I wondered what I was going to do. He was like you should do 42. That’s smart. I liked that. Once I got through my freshman year I moved travel teams and stuck with it ever since and a lot of people picked up on it.

“At first it was like let’s go do that, but over time I learned to love it. I liked the number. I’ve always been a big Jackie fan. The number does mean a lot because growing up sometimes I was the only black kid on the team. It stands out to me and it just makes me feel like you’re still another player out here, you can do the same thing that Jackie did, so, yeah, it means a lot.”

Initial reactions to the name and number combination varied, but never were hostile. Some people thought he was doing it to be funny and didn’t believe Robinson really was his name – “this is definitely my name,” he told them – but it didn’t take long for them to catch on.

He had already been wearing the number for two years when current Rams coach Eric Fizur took over the program, but he picked up on the connection right away.

“I made the connection immediately,” Fizur said. “I was obsessed with that for my entire childhood. I actually thought it was quite cool in terms of the fact that here’s a young man understanding baseball history and understanding the game and making that choice. Given everything else it was kind of a wow moment.”

Robinson doesn’t just wear the number, he’s emersed himself in the story. He would do school reports on Robinson and his legacy in the game. He watches the movie that stars the late Chadwick Boseman every chance he gets. He sought out Robinson’s exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame when the Rams went to play in Cooperstown two years ago.

He even likes to think he emulates Robinson’s aggressive style as a confident hitter, aggressive base runner and sharp fielder. Just the other day he went hard for the first 4 1/3 innings of what became a combined no-hitter with reliever Chase Davis against Penns Grove. Going into Wednesday’s game at Pennsville he’s batting .429 this season and has 14 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings on the mound. He’s already committed to Rosemont College, where he hopes 42 currently assigned to a senior infielder will be available to him.

He has only played one game in his high school career on Jackie Robinson Day, but he keeps the spirit of the day alive every day of the year.

“I do love to talk about it,” he said. “A lot of people know of it, especially my teammates, and they know it means a lot to me as well.

“I just love the number. Love the number, love the player, lover the history behind it. I just love everything about it.”

**Terrell Robinson embodies the spirit and number of Jackie Robinson as a pitcher and hitter for the Salem baseball team. (Submitted photos)**

Salem County roundup

BASEBALL
PENNSVILLE 4, OVERBROOK 3: Logan Streitz hit a go-ahead triple and scored on Cohen Petrutz’ two-run double as the Eagles scored twice in the top of the seventh, then turned back a Rams rally in the bottom of the inning to preserve their fourth straight win.

The Rams scored a run in the seventh on an error and had the winning run at second with two outs, but Connor Starn got out of it with a strikeout on a payoff pitch to end the game.

Starn gave up two hits and struck out three in his two innings of relief. Luke Wood started and gave up three hits, two unearned runs and struck out seven.

SOFTBALL
PENNSVILLE 14, WOODSTOWN 1: Savannah Palverento-Brewer backed the perfect game she fashioned against Wildwood 24 hours earlier with a five-inning two-hitter and also drove in a pair of runs with two hits as the Eagles won their fifth in a row.

The Salem CC signee struck out eight and, with increased focus on reducing her walks, issued only one – to the next to last batter she faced.

“When you have the support of your teammates out on the field I think that gives you confidence,” Pennsville coach Beth Jackson said. “She found the spot to throw most of her pitches today and she was dealing pretty good.

“Something we talked about at the beginning of the season was trying to limit those walks and she did an excellent job of that (Monday). She did good today, too.”

The Eagles (7-2) snapped a 1-1 tie with five runs in the third inning and broke it wide open with eight in the fourth.

Palverento-Brewer broke the tie with an RBI single. Avery Watson hit a bases-loaded triple on a ball that blew up chalk on the third-base line to make it 5-1 and she scored on Makenzie Widener’s RBI single.

Lily Edwards highlighted the big fourth inning with a three-run double and the run-scoring hits kept on coming. The double was followed by RBI singles from Graillyn Weber and Kylie Harris and a triple by Palverento-Brewer.

It’s the eighth time in a row the Eagles have beaten Woodstown in the regular season. The Wolverines’ only win in the series since 2018 came in the 2023 South Jersey Group I quarterfinals.

“It’s always a competitive game,” Jackson said. “It’s usually a competitive game, back and forth. It’s always good to beat a rival county team. That’s always a nice feeling to have.”

GOLF
SOUTH JERSEY GIRLS INVITATIONAL
WOODBURY – Mainland senior Kasey O’Brien posted a 7-over-par 43 to win medalist honors and Clearview placed three golfers in the top 10 to win the team title in the SJGIT at Westwood CC.

Schalick and Woodstown both had golfers in the field. Schalick finished fifth in the team competition, two shots out of a tie for third. Abby Willoughby posted the Cougars’ low round (47), tied for sixth. Julia Swierczynski had Woodstown’s low round (54).

TEAM SCORES: Clearview 190, Moorestown 202, Washington Twp. 212, Haddonfield 212, Schalick 214, Mainland 221, Delsea 244.

INDIVIDUAL TOP 20: Kasey O’Brien, Mainland 43; Lydia Bernardi, Clearview 44; Stella Bernardi, Clearview 45; Francesca O’Neil, Haddonfield 45; Astor Broeing, Moorestown 46; Camryn Hall, Clearview 47; Tessa Reilley, Washington Twp. 47; Abby Willoughby, Schalick 47; Nicole Tarquinino, Cumberland 47; Paige Weber, Washington Twp. 49; Phoebe Wang, Moorestown 49.
Shree Desai, Moorestown 50; Lindsey Harris, GCIT 52; Lena Virga, Schalick 52; Madisen Klumbach, Haddonfield 53; Maahishee Patel, Cumberland 53; Julie Swierczynski, Woodstown 54; Anna Lomonaco, Clearview 54; Cali Fisler, Schalick 55; Lakshmi Shetty, Northern Burlington 55; Dannica Bailey, Washington Twp. 55; Alaina Wilson, Timber Creek 55.

TENNIS
PENNSVILLE 4, SCHALICK 1
Gabe Schneider (P) def. George Gould, 7-6 (7-4)
Maddox Efelis (P) def. Rocky Monticolo, 6-0, 6-1
Brody Wiggins (P) def. Conor O’Toole, 6-2, 6-2
Lucas Cooksey-Sawyer Humphrey (P) def. David Santana-Anthony McGrath, 6-1, 6-2
Christian Negron-Kaden Barnes (S) def. Carter Willis-Matthew Forino, 6-2, 6-3
Records: Pennsville 6-0, Schalick 4-4.

WOODSTOWN 4, TIMBER CREEK 1
Drew Stengel (WO) def. Paxton Haynes, 6-0, 6-4
John Farrell (WO) def. Kyle Clark Blanding, 6-1, 6-1
Adam He (TC) def. Joseph Kurpis, 6-4, 6-1
Luke Shaw-Mason Shimp (WO) def. Colin Pritchard-William Rice, 6-2, 6-2
Ben Stengel-Jake Lewis (WO) def. Derek Sarpong-Tristan Hill, 6-2, 6-2
Records: Woodstown 6-2, Timber Creek 1-4.

GIRLS LACROSSE
CINNAMINSON 13, WOODSTOWN 11: Delaney Walker scored six goals for Woodstown to move within three of 100 for her career. Jaime Deal had a career-high three goals and Emma Morgan had two.