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.”

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.