Here is the holiday sports schedule for Salem County teams through New Year’s Day

MONDAY, DEC. 23
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Washington Twp., 11:30 a.m.
Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Woodstown vs. Holy Spirit, 7:30 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem Tech at Pennsville, noon
TRACK
Penns Grove at Ocean Breeze Complex
WRESTLING
Pennsville at Mainland 

THURSDAY, DEC. 26
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Boardwalk Classic 
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs Millville, 1 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
West Deptford Holiday Tournament
at RiverWinds Community Center
Lindenwold vs. Absegami, noon
Schalick vs. West Deptford, 4 p.m.

FRIDAY, DEC. 27
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pennsville at Buena, 10 a.m.

Audubon Tournament
Penns Grove vs. Deptford, 12:30 p.m.
Cedar Creek vs. Audubon, 3:30 p.m.

ACIT Holiday Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, noon
ACIT vs. GCIT, 3 p.m.

Haddon Twp. Tournament
Woodstown vs. Cherry Hill East, 10:30 a.m.
Pennsauken vs. Haddon Twp., 12:30 p.m.

Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Bridgeton, 11:30 a.m.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Penns Grove at Delsea, 9:30 a.m.
Pennsville at Buena, noon
Salem vs. Westampton Tech at Deslea, 5 p.m.

West Deptford Holiday Tournament
At RiverWinds Community Center
Consolation game, noon
Championship game, 4 p.m.

ACIT Holiday Tournament
Salem Tech vs. Camden Tech, 9:30 a.m.
ACIT vs. GCIT, 1:30 p.m.

Warrior Holiday Classic
At New Egypt
Woodstown vs. Pinelands, 12:30 p.m.
Steinert vs. New Egypt, 3:30 p.m.

WRESTLING
Pennsville at Overbrook Tournament
Penns Grove, Schalick at Clayton Tournament
Salem at Freehold Twp. Tournament

SATURDAY, DEC. 28
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Audubon Tournament
Consolation game, 12:30 p.m.
Championship game, 3:30 p.m.

ACIT Holiday Tournament
Consolation game
Championship game

Haddon Twp. Tournament
Consolation game
Championship game

BOYS BASKETBALL
ACIT Holiday Tournament
Consolation game
Championship game

Warrior Holiday Classic
At New Egypt
Consolation game, 12:30 p.m.
Championship game, 3:30 p.m.

TRACK
Woodstown at Ott Center, Philadelphia
WRESTLING
Audubon, Long Branch, Northern Burlington at Woodstown
Pennsville girls at Clayton Tournament
Schalick at Clayton Tournament

MONDAY, DEC. 30
BOYS BASKETBALL
Schalick at Gloucester City, 11:30 a.m.

Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Oakcrest, 2:45 p.m.
Penns Grove vs. St. Augustine, 7:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, DEC. 31
BOYS BASKETBALL
Boardwalk Classic
Wildwood Convention Center
Salem vs. Millville, 10 a.m.

Regular-season champion and overall South Jersey Group I No. 1 seed Glassboro dominated the WJFL Diamond Division all-star team as selected by the coaches Monday night. The Bulldogs had 11 of the 28 first-team selections, including quarterback and all three receivers.

Salem County teams pulled down 13 first-team spots, including both specialists. Division runner-up Woodstown led the way with six selections. Schalick had five and Penns Grove two.

Here are the coaches choices for the WJFL Diamond Division all-star team. All the division teams will become official after an athletics directors vote later.

Cover photo: Woodstown’s Garrett Leyman (10) and Bryce Belinfanti (3) both made the Diamond Division First-Team, Belinfanti as a running back and Leyman as a defensive back.

First-Team Offense

POS	PLAYER, SCHOOL	GRADE
OL	Jayce Grays, Glassboro	11
OL	Amon Wright, Glassboro	10
OL	T.J. Hymer, Schalick	12
OL	Braiden Gould, Woodstown	12
OL	Camille Carter, Woodbury	12
QB	Kris Foster, Glassboro	10
RB	Kenny Smith, Glassboro	12
RB	Bryce Belinfanti, Woodstown	12
WR	Amari Sabb, Glassboro	11
WR	Xavier Sabb, Glassboro	10
WR	Mekhi Parker, Glassboro	9
ATH	Kenai Simmons, Schalick	12
ATH	KaRon Ceaser, Penns Grove	10
K	Jake Ware, Woodstown	12

HONORABLE MENTION: RB Reggie Allen, Schalick; OL Kyle Williams, Glassboro; OL Raymond Brown, Penns Grove; QB Tim Holmes, Woodbury; OL Corbin Walz, Woodstown.

First-Team Defense

POS	PLAYER, SCHOOL	GRADE
DL	Brandon Simmons, Glassboro	11
DL	Jordan Gravener, Glassboro	12
DL	Amir Carter, Woodbury	12
DL	Walter (Bump) Carter, Woodstown	12
LB	Tasheem Butler, Glassboro	10
LB	Roneem Thomas, Schalick	12
LB	Jason Soloman, Woodbury	12
LB	Bobby Donahue, Woodstown	12
DB	Knowledge Young, Penns Grove	12
DB	Dylan Sheehan, Schalick	11
DB	Marquis Taylor, Woodbury	12
DB	Garrett Leyman, Woodstown	12
ATH	Dayshawn Day, Glassboro	12
P	Hunter Dragotta, Schalick	11

HONORABLE MENTION: DE Rocco String, Woodstown; LB Riley Papiano, Schalick; DL Tyler Bright, Glassboro; LB Tre Brown, Penns Grove; DB Elijah Young, Woodbury; DL Junior Serrano, Glassboro.

Sports agent Buck, journalist Cudemo to be enshrined in All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey Hall of Fame Saturday

By Riverview Sports News

BRIDGETON – The All-Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey will welcome two new members into its Hall of Fame this weekend when it inducts sports agent Andre Buck and retired local sports journalist Mike Cudemo in formal ceremonies Saturday.

Buck, a Bridgeton native, graduated Cumberland Regional High School in 1989 where he was an outstanding student-athlete, earning varsity letters in basketball, soccer and track.

He went on to the University of Delaware, where he majored in Finance and played guard on the basketball team. The Blue Hens handily won the 1991-92 North Atlantic Conference with a 27-4 overall record, a 14-0 NAC conference championship record and with the NAC Tournament Championship to earn the school’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The eventual Final Four Cincinnati Bearcats foiled the Hens’ bid to advance beyond the opening round.

Buck earned his Juris Doctor Law Degree from Widener University, and subsequently practiced law as a Certified Sports Agent with three corporate firms before starting his own firm, ASA, LLC. He also has given his time and experience to the legal community as an adjunct law professor at Wilmington University and as a guest speaker at several universities including Villanova Law School, Penn’s Wharton Graduate School of Business, Ohio State University Law School, commencements and sports banquets.

His desire to represent a select group of NBA players, devoting his personal attention to each client, has earned him the respect of the industry and recognition as a top 100 NBA agent.

Cudemo graduated Shawnee High School in Medford 1974, earning varsity letters in football and track. His interest and desire for a career in sports journalism led him to Glassboro State College, where he graduated in 1978 with a degree in Journalism/Communications.

His career in print media included sports reporter positions with the Bridgeton Evening News and the Vineland Daily Journal and Sports Editor, Copy Editor and Columnist for the Daily Journal. At the Journal, he was responsible for the planning, design, content and coverage of local, regional and national sports events. His Sports Section was twice voted “Best In The State” by the New Jersey Press Association.

In 1993, Cudemo ventured into the non-profit corporate service industry, utilizing his knowledge of multimedia relations as the Vice President of Planning for Gateway Community Action Partnership. For the next 30 years, he developed and implemented nationally recognized programs, wrote federal and state funded grants and managed the Agency’s communications functions, contributing to the Agency’s tremendous growth.

Also a community volunteer, he served as an officer and director for numerous professional and civic organizations, particularly and proudly as an eight-term President of the Bridgeton Lions Club, and as current Board Chairman and 10-year member of the Cumberland County 4-H Advisory Board.

The All Sports Museum and Hall of Fame recognizes sports luminaries with a connection to the state’s eight southernmost counties. Buck and Cudemo bring to 137 the members of the Hall of Fame.

Among the more than 15,000 artifacts on the premises are Willie Mays’ 1960 Gold Glove Award, Harry Gamble’s Bert Bell Award, Goose Goslin’s personal collection, memorabilia of the late Johnny Gaudreau, Lydell Mitchell’s game-used jersey and a full wall recognizing the career of Mike Trout.

“This is a real gem,” recent Hall of Fame inductee Al Morganti said. “It’s incredible what they’ve got here. You could spend a day (going through it and) the stories that go into it.”

The museum is open Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 16-21; all football 7 p.m. unless noted, all others 4 p.m. unless noted

MONDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick at OLMA
BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Glassboro
Salem at Pennsville
Wildwood at Salem Tech
Woodstown at Schalick
GIRLS SOCCER
Glassboro at Penns Grove
Pennsville at Overbrook
Pitman at Salem
Salem Tech at Wildwood
Schalick at Woodstown
GIRLS TENNIS
Glassboro at Salem
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Overbrook

TUESDAY
CROSS COUNTRY
Pennsville, Penns Grove, Salem, Schalick, Woodstown at Cumberland
FIELD HOCKEY
Deptford at Salem
Pennsville at Gloucester Catholic
Woodstown at Schalick
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Pitman

WEDNESDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Clayton at Schalick
Gloucester Catholic at Woodstown
Pitman at Pennsville
Salem at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Glassboro
Wildwood at Penns Grove
GIRLS SOCCER
Glassboro at Salem Tech
Overbrook at Salem
Pennsville at Pitman
Penns Grove at Wildwood
Schalick at Clayton
Woodstown at Gloucester Catholic
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Wildwood
Woodstown at Schalick
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at GCIT

THURSDAY
FOOTBALL
Salem at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Paulsboro at Collingswood, 6 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville at Gateway
Woodstown at Audubon, 7 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Audubon at Woodstown
Gateway at Pennsville
FIELD HOCKEY
Gloucester Catholic at Schalick
Pennsville at Glassboro
Salem at Overbrook
Woodstown vs. Delsea (Total Turf)
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville at Kingsway, 3:45 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Pennsauken Tech, 3:45 p.m.

FRIDAY
FOOTBALL
Overbrook at Florence, 6 p.m.
Audubon at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Schalick, 6 p.m.
West Deptford at Camden Catholic
Woodbury at Woodstown
BOYS SOCCER
Paulsboro at Salem Tech
Salem at Burlington Twp.
GIRLS SOCCER
Buena at Salem
Salem Tech at Paulsboro
Schalick at Williamstown
GIRLS TENNIS
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
Mainland at Woodstown
CROSS COUNTRY
Salem Tech, Woodstown at Stockton

SATURDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown at Cedar Creek, 9:30 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown vs. Delsea at Rowan, 3 p.m.

Cover photo: Reggie Allen (4) and his Schalick teammates take on Penns Grove in another Salem County football showdown Friday night. (Photo by Heather Papiano)

Woodstown’s Mingin becomes softball program’s all-time hits lead after going 4-for-4 against Glassboro

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – Dave Wildermuth took great pride in reading off all the accomplishments of the nine players he introduced during Woodstown’s Senior Day softball celebration.

One by one the Wolverines coach described what each player did and what they meant to the program. They still had a softball game to play and the next name on the list had a lot on her resume, so when Wildermuth got to Tulana Mingin’s segment in the program he simply described her as “the most decorated player in school history.”

That about covered it. The Wolverines’ senior shortstop added another milestone to an already impressive list of accolades Tuesday when she became the program’s all-time hits leader after going 4-for-4 in a 5-0 victory over Glassboro.

“(Getting the record) means a lot; it feels great, honestly,” Mingin said. “I know it’s a really big deal, but it doesn’t really feel like that. Looking at it from an outside perspective makes me realize how cool it really is.”

The East Stroudsburg signee entered the game needing three hits to tie the record (131) Gracee Roberts set before graduating in 2018. She got those with bunt singles in the first, second and third innings as the Wolverines were building a 5-0 lead and then got the record-breaker on a slap ground single to left in the fifth.

It was her second four-hit game this season and fourth in the last two years. She now has 35 hits this season and is batting .593, which is only a few points shy of her career best .597 set in 2022.

“I knew it was definitely possible (Tuesday),” she said. “I’ve done it before, gotten that many hits in a game, but I wasn’t counting on it because I know that there’s some stuff I can’t control like walks and reaching on errors and just the game of softball, it’s hard to get a hit every at-bat.”

Even Wildermuth thought it might take another game or two for the record to fall, but once Mingin got the first two bunts down all that changed.

“We knew she was going to get it,” he said. “It was just a matter of when.”

When she first started playing varsity softball getting 100 hits was a goal. Becoming the school’s all-time leader in hits wasn’t anywhere on the radar.

“When I was a freshman I was not thinking about that at all, I was just focused on earning a spot,” she said.

In the years that have passed, she had seasons of 14, 43, 40 and this year 35 hits. There have been only 12 games in her career where she has been held hitless.

When she got the milestone hit, they stopped the game briefly, recognized the feat and tossed the ball to Mingin’s dad. The team made her a poster to mark the occasion, but something more elaborate to commemorate the moment will have to wait.

“I’m not done yet,” she said. “If they’re going to do a banner they have to wait to the end of the season because I’m not done yet.”

And the Wolverines plan to play for a long time.

The win was Woodstown’s 26th straight in division and clinched at least a share of their third straight Diamond Division title. They hold a two-game lead in the loss column on Overbrook with two games to play, but they beat the Rams in both games of their series this season.

Liv Boultinghouse spun a four-hit complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts. The only two other baserunners the Bulldogs had reached on errors. Four runners reached scoring position, but only one got past second base.

Everybody on the roster played. Kayla Brown had two hits and two RBIs, Grace White drove in a pair of runs and Shannon Pierman had two hits (and got a game ball).

White gave the Wolverines the lead with a two-run double in the first inning, Brown had a two-run double in the second and Alyssa Baber drew a bases-loaded walk in the third.  

On the cover: Woodstown’s Tulana Mingin delivers the 132nd hit of her career in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against Glassboro to become the Wolverines’ all-time hits leader. (Photo by Stephanie Hill/Capture The Moment Photography)

UPDATED
Schalick, Weber post early, wait out the field, win team title and medalist in South Jersey Group I golf championship; Woodstown, Schermerhorn T-2

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I	At Cream Ridge GC
TEAM SCORES	INDIVIDUAL TOP 10
Schalick 349	Jaxon Weber, Schalick 82
Lower Cape May 358	Alex Sekela, Lower Cape May 83
Woodstown 358	Jacob Schermerhorn, Woodstown 83
Audubon 361	Lance Creighton, Schalick 85
Cape May Tech 369	Justin Walker, Cape May Tech 86
Pitman 376	Eric Coombs, Lower Cape May 88
Gateway 397	Joey Zubert, Pitman 88
Wildwood 497	Kyle Brainard, Woodstown 88
	Rocco Monteferrante, Audubon 88
	Chase Carr, Audubon 89
	Ryan Johnson, Schalick 89

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CREAM RIDGE – The hardest part was the waiting.

Jaxon Weber and the Schalick golf team did everything they thought they could in the morning wave of the South Jersey Group I Golf Championships to have a chance Tuesday, then had to wait for the rest of the field to finish to discover if it was good enough.

It was historically good enough.

Weber and the Cougars rose up the leaderboard steadily throughout the afternoon as several teams had trouble on Cream Ridge GC’s back nine and eventually claimed titles. The team came from as many as 12 shots back with six holes to play to win their first sectional title in more than 20 years by nine shots and Weber’s 10-over-par 82 won medalist honors by a stroke.

The Cougars went out early, posted a 349 team score and then waited …. and waited … and waited for nearly three hours as the rest of the field finished.

Some teams checked out. The Cougars hung around, got something to eat, chipped and putted and talked to the coaches about how nervous they were, all the time checking the scoring app on their phones for updates.

Even the searching created some anxious moments as there was a glitch in one of the contender’s groups and everyone had to wait for the physical scorecards to determine those results.

“It was terribly nerve-wracking,” Weber said. “I saw myself at the top and I was just, ‘Please, Lord, let me win and please, Lord, look down on us and help us with this.’ At the end He came through and He let us win and I’m super grateful.”

“It was really rough,” Cougars coach Sean Collins said. “It seemed like there were a lot of little twists. We were all checking our phones every minute, letting each other know what was happening as if the other person didn’t check their phone, too. I’ve been a part of other athletic events before and that was a very unique experience.”

The Cougars shot 349 as a team. In addition to Weber’s 41-41—82, they counted Lance Creighton’s 40-45—85 (fourth place), Ryan Johnson’s 45-44–89 (T-10) and Seth Fisher’s 45-48–93. Elijah Johnson shot 51-45–96. 

Weber, a sophomore, got off to a rough start, going triple-double (8-5) right out of the box. He played the rest of the side even par with birdies at 5 and 6. He also was a little clunky coming home, playing the last four holes in 5-over with two double bogeys, and was two off the lead when he posted, but all the other contenders fell off on the back nine to bring him to the top.

“I came out the first two holes and didn’t really shoot the best and thought to myself I’ve got to pick it up from here,” Weber said. “I realized I couldn’t get out of my head because it was only two holes. I knew I had a lot of golf to play.

“I think today it was really keeping my cool after those first two holes. When I was a freshman I probably would’ve blown up and gotten angry at myself and probably would have taken myself out of the whole match. I feel like I’ve matured a lot over the past year and realized what golf is really about. It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.”

And the Cougars finished on top when it counted.

Woodstown finished tied for second with Lower Cape May (358). They were three shots better than fourth-place Audubon.

Wolverines senior Jacob Schermerhorn shared second individually with LCM’s Alex Sekela at 83.  The Wolverines also counted long-hitting first-year player Kyle Brainard’s 48-40—88 (T-6), Jeffrey Covely’s 49-43–92 and Joe Olbrich’s 46-49–95. Max Webb shot 115.

Among the top three teams, Woodstown’s four counters played the back nine the best (173) and had a 12-shot differential between the front (185) and back (173).

“I was happy, I was definitely content,” coach Kieran Keyser said. “The goal is always to do a little bit better than the previous year, which we did, and that made it that much sweeter. It was a good day. I was happy with our guys and I’m looking forward to the last two weeks of the season to try to finish strong.”

And that would be the Salem/Cumberland County Championship and the Tri-County Championship, two events that will be played under some non-traditional tournament formats.