Woodstown’s Chase Swain is looking to make an impression, increase draft stock, playing in the MLB Draft League

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

TRENTON – All Chase Swain has ever wanted since he was an 8-year-old swinging away in the local Little League is a chance to play in the big leagues. He’s closer to that dream today than he has ever been before, and with a productive next couple of weeks and a little good fortune he could be even closer still.

The former Woodstown standout just completed his first week with the undefeated Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League where prospects already on the radar of major-league scouts put their skill on display in the run up to next month’s amateur draft.

Swain has played summer league ball before, but not with stakes this high. As an older prospect he doesn’t have as much leverage as the kids coming out of high school, but he just wants a shot. 

“The competition is definitely a bit of a step up,” he said. “It’s kind of cool because everybody’s got the same goal. In summer leagues prior I feel like some guys are trying to kind of sharpen their tools and get ready for school, but these guys are trying to be seen to get a call in July. It’s a step up in competition but at the end of the day it’s just baseball. It’s the same game. You can’t make it more than it is because once you start making it more than it is and start thinking about July you kind of forget what you’re doing it for.

“Of course I want a call in July like anybody else. I’m doing it for the 8-year-old kid of me that was dreaming of things like this. Looking up in the crowd last night, it was Little League Night and they had a ton of promotions and there were kids when I was there age I was walking around the outfield and now I’m one of those guys. I dreamed of being in that position. I’m really blessed to be in the position that I am now and forever comes comes. It’s God’s plan. It’s really cool.”

The clock, of course, is ticking. His contract with the Thunder expires July 5. That’s 29 games to make a final impression.

If Swain does go in the draft, the guess is between Rounds 10 and 20, depending on how well he does here. If he doesn’t, there’s always the free agent route. He’s already had invites for private workouts from a couple undisclosed teams. If he is drafted, he’ll be the first player from Salem County to go since Pennsville’s Max Dineen was taken in the 35th round by the Reds in 2018.

Until then, it’s wait and hope and continue to work.

“I can’t predict the future, but as long as I continue to do what I’ve done the last four years of my career I think a back-end draft of a free agent signing is totally in my cards,” he said. “Professional baseball is what I want to do. I don’t want to go get a ‘real’ job, but at the same time I’ve put a very, very strong college career together and I’m throwing it all the wall right now.” 

He’s off to a slow start at the plate – just 1-for-11 going into Tuesday’s first road game at the West Virginia Black Bears – but he hasn’t seen live pitching since the end of his college season at LaSalle. Still, he continues to put in the work at the ballpark as if he’s hitting .400 – he had 250 hits in his college career — and even though his average is down he’s shown his versatility by playing multiple positions in the field and done some neat things on and off the field every night to endear himself to his new team and its fans.

He led off the Thunder’s season opener with a walk, quickly stole second and scored their first run of the season. The next night he delivered a go-ahead two-run single that put the Thunder up 3-2, was named Player of the Game and then spent time after the game visiting with fans and signing autographs until they closed the gates. He has three stolen bases.

“I haven’t seen live pitching in a little while, but I’m trusting what I’ve got works,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s baseball. I know I’m going to get going, just trust what I got and enjoy the moment. 

“You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. You’re not guaranteed a spot in July, so I’m just being where my feet are and enjoying the moment. I’m not trying to make this more than it is. I’m not trying to feel all the pressure, even though pressure is a privilege, at the same time I’m just trying to have fun, be with my teammates and work hard.

“I can’t be mad at myself if I feel like I did everything I can to prepare for tonight’s game. All I can control is if I’m going in there competing and that’s what we’re going to go do. I’m going to the yard to compete tonight.”

Caught in the Draft

Here is a list of Salem County players taken in the MLB Draft over the years

Top photo: Chase Swain draws a walk in his first at-bat of the season with Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League. He later stole second and scored the team’s first run of the season. (Photo by Michael Olechowski)

Hassler provides 4 1/3 innings of one-hit, shutout relief, locks down Woodstown’s 2-0 win over Maple Shade for Wolverines’ first South Jersey Group 1 baseball title since 2022 state title; play at Pt. Pleasant Beach in state semis

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Friday’s games
SOUTH: Woodstown 2, Maple Shade 0
CENTRAL: Pt. Pleasant Beach 9, Shore 1
NORTH I: Pompton Lakes 3, Waldwick 0
NORTH II: Cedar Grove 11, Hanover Park 5

GROUP I FINAL FOUR
Monday’s games
Woodstown (21-8) at Pt. Pleasant Beach (18-6)
Pompton Lakes (21-7) at Cedar Grove (20-9)

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
June 14, 4 p.m., at Rutgers

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – In the playoffs it’s never too early to get a second pitcher ready. The only sin is waiting until it’s too late.

Stone Hassler was sent down to the Woodstown bullpen four batters and a mound visit into Friday’s South Jersey Group I championship game against Maple Shade. It’s not that Blake Rodriguez was pitching badly, a little tight maybe, but Wolverines coach Marc DeCastro just wasn’t comfortable with what he was getting from his starter.

So Hassler was off. It was a hasty dash from his bench, behind home plate, past the Wildcats’ bench and on down the left field line. Once he got to the pen he was up throwing every time the Wildcats got a man on base.

DeCastro eventually brought him in with two out and two on in the third inning, and stayed with him the rest of the game.

The sophomore right-hander was as sharp as he’s ever been since returning from a mid-season elbow issue. He gave up only one hit the rest of the game – a leadoff single in the seventh inning – and finished off a 2-0 win that gave the Woodies (21-8) their first sectional baseball crown their state title year of 2022.

They will play at Point Pleasant Beach in the state semifinals Monday. The Garnet Gulls (18-6) beat Shore Regional, 9-1.

“It’s all hands on deck,” DeCastro said. “I didn’t love the way that Blake threw early and I wanted to make sure we didn’t spot them anything. It’s hard to come back in these games.

“I’m pretty sure before Clayton we had (Hassler) down there before Pitch One. I say this to these guys all the time: There is no room in these games to hope that it gets better; you have to find someone to shut the door. When you’re down 3-0 in a state tournament game the first inning it feels insurmountable. If I don’t like the way things are going I’ll treat the first inning like it’s the sixth and make sure that we stay there and figure out the rest of the game later.”

Feeding the Wildcats a steady diet of fastballs, Hassler struck out six and walked two in the longest outing of his career; he had gone four innings three times before, once this year. He faced only two batters over the minimum thanks to a pair of inning-ending double plays – a nifty 3-6-3 between first baseman Drew Sutton and shortstop Tommy Tucci in the fourth and an around-the-horn variety in the sixth. Hassler said he was in the groove the minute he entered the game and after that 3-6-3 double play completed his first full inning he was “ready to shut that team down.”

“I’ve never seen Stone more locked in in my life,” catcher Ty Coblentz said. “He proved himself today. He proved to himself he could be a great varsity pitcher and can lead us through a South Jersey final.”

“I wouldn’t have said he would have thrown that much if you would’ve asked me before the game,” DeCastro said. “The whole day I was trying to figure out who’s going to get the last three outs if we got there. I had different people in mind for their lineup and different people I wanted. Honestly, I probably should’ve gone to the lefty. I was riding Stone until I felt uncomfortable. 

“He was coming out for the kid he got out in the end. I rolled the dice a little bit there. If I had to do that 10 times I probably would make a sub six times, but he hasn’t thrown that much in a long time. Going into the year I was hoping I could count of him and he got a little bit injured and has fought his way back. He’s been ready for this for a while, he just hasn’t had the opportunity.”

While Hassler was putting up zeroes, the Wildcats weren’t giving up anything easily, either. Tucci gave the Wildcats the lead with a solid RBI single in the third – to make Hassler the pitcher of record – and Chase Harding hit his third homer in four playoff games in the fourth to add some insurance.

It may have been only one run, but once Tucci broke the ice, it “opened up the game a lot. It took a lot of pressure off everyone’s shoulders.”

They really were loose after Harding’s homer, although he doesn’t remember a lot about it.

“I was just hunting fastball,” he said. “I got it and took it for a strike outside; kind of beat myself up. The second pitch I got a fastball inside and fouled it off and third pitch was just a blur.”

The Wolverines showed the character of their program before the game. Shortly after Maple Shade arrived at the field, Coblentz went over to the Wildcats bench on behalf of Wolverines and handed their coaches an envelope containing a card signed by all the players and a small amount of cash as a token of support for Xavier Taylor, the Maple Shade 12-year-old who was critically injured after being struck in the neck with an errant throw in May. 

It was a purely player-driven initiative. DeCastro had no idea they were going to do that, but said the gesture “says a lot about who these kids are.”

“I texted the (team) chat and told them it’d be really nice if we got a card and gave them a little bit of help,” Coblentz said. “It might not be much but I feel like anything helps at this point.”

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I CHAMPIONSHIP