When Dennis Township native Bobby Smith enrolled at Lawrenceville Prep as a high school freshman, he figured he’d make his mark at the school athletically as an ice hockey player.
His ice hockey career turned out just fine – he made the prep hockey all-state team as a senior – but these days Smith is known much more for what he’s doing on the lacrosse field.
Now a senior at Notre Dame, Smith is a key member of the Fighting Irish team that will compete in the NCAA Final Four this weekend. Notre Dame earned a berth in the Final Four thanks to last weekend’s 12-10 victory over Virginia in a national quarterfinal held at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.
Wildwood Catholic High School graduate Bryan Toland has helped the University of Southern New Hampshire baseball team reach the NCAA Division II College World Series.
SNH earned its first-ever trip to the tournament, scheduled to begin this weekend in Cary, N.C., by defeating LeMoyne College, 4-3, in the East Region title game on Sunday.
Toland, a freshman third baseman, batted .333 with five hits in 15 at bats and scored four runs in five games during the East Region tournament. The Penman went 4-1 under the double-elimination format, winning three straight games after losing their second-round game.
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – It took the Middle Township High School softball team only a little more than an hour to win a state playoff game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Panthers, seeded eighth in the South Jersey Group II Tournament, scored runs in the second and fourth innings and got excellent pitching and defense in a 2-0 win over ninth-seeded Deptford Tuesday afternoon.
Sadie Robertson went 2 for 3 and scored both runs, the first on an RBI double by Victoria Raffaele in the second inning and the second on an RBI single by Taylor Franchville in the fourth inning.
Ocean City's NJSIAA Group 3 baseball game with Woodrow Wilson has been moved to Hammonton Lake Park at 4pm, because of wet grounds in Ocean City. It is one of a number of changes to the Tuesday schedule.
The NJSIAA Group 3 softball game at Moorestown has been moved to Wednesday. So has the home boys lacrosse game with Woodstown. The girls lacrosse game at Absegami has been postponed until Thursday.
The OCHS golf match with Egg Harbor Township at Greentree and the boys tennis match at Atlantic City are being played as scheduled.
WILDWOOD – Devon Bradshaw went 3 for 4, circling the bases on a three-base error after one of his singles, and Brendan Phillips gave up no earned runs in six innings pitched to lead the Wildwood High School baseball team to a South Jersey Group I playoff victory Monday afternoon.
The Warriors’ 5-2 victory over Cape May Tech advances them to the second round, which is scheduled for Friday. Wildwood, the sixth seed in the tournament, will take on third-seeded Pennsville or 14th-seeded Gloucester.
The Middle Township High School golf team was on the losing side of a pair of playoffs at the Tournament of Champions Monday afternoon.
The Panthers lost on the second playoff hole in team play and freshman David Hicks was defeated on the first playoff hole in individual play as both finished second in the state in Group II.
Hopewell Valley, playing on its home course, captured the Group II title with the playoff victory after the teams were tied at 315 following 18 holes. And Hopewell Valley’s Will Young birdied the first playoff hole to edge Hicks – the individual South-Central Group II champ – for the individual title after the two were even at 74 following 18 holes.
The NJSIAA Group 3 baseball game between Ocean City and Woodrow Wilson scheduled for Monday afternoon has been postponed because of wet grounds. It has been re-scheduled for Tuesday at 4pm on the OCHS field at 5th Street and Bay Avenue.
That postponement forces Ocean City to postpone its game at Buena, oroginally scheduled for Tuesday. The Ocean City-Buena game, which could decide the CAL's National Conference title, has not yet been re-scheduled.
In addition to the Group 3 baseball game with Woodrow Wilson on Tuesday, the OCHS softball team will open play in Group 3 with a game at Moorestown.
In other Tuesday action, the Raiders boys lacrosse team hosts Woodstown. The girls lacrosse team, which leads the CAL and controls its own destiny, goes to Absegami. Also, boys tennis is at Atlantic City and golf meets Egg Harbor Township at Greentree.
Watch for more on these teams and other sports in your next Gazette.
The complete OCHS spring sports schedule, plus results, is here.
Shawnee is ranked No. 5 in the state of New Jersey in girls lacrosse and, on Friday afternoon, Ocean City found out why. The Raiders, leaders of the Cape-Atlantic League, traveled to Medford and dropped a 19-5 decision to the Renegades in the second round of the NJSIAA Group 3 Tournament. Shawnee will now face either Colts Neck or Wall in the South Jersey semifinals.
Mike Wray, Justin Healey and Vince Terry each had three hits as Ocean City defeated Bridgeton, 21-5, on Friday in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. The Raiders scored eight runs in each of the first two innings. Wray had a triple and two singles, Healey had a double and two singles with Terry getting three singles. Matt Locotos added two singles with Beau Hall smacking a triple. Sophomore Ricky Dillenberger was the winning pitcher. OCHS hosts Woodrow Wilson on Monday in the opening round of the NJSIAA Group 3 Tournament.
A pair of local high school baseball teams will face each other in a first-round state playoff game next week, according to seedings released today by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Wildwood, has earned the No. 6 seed in South Jersey Group I and will host No. 11 Cape May Tech at Maxwell Field on Monday. The Warriors and Hawks met last weekend in the Warrior Classic baseball tournament, with Wildwood earning a 7-0 victory.
Ocean City is the only other Cape May County team to earn a home game. The Raiders are seeded sixth in South Jersey Group II and will host No. 11 Woodrow Wilson on Monday. Also in the section, No. 10 Lower Cape May will travel to No. 7 Delsea on Monday.
Middle Township is the No. 13 seed in South Jersey Group II. The Panthers will play at No. 4 Haddonfield on Monday.
Wildwood Catholic chose not to participate in the state tournament this season.
His name was Jude Sangillo and he was Lower Cape May’s pole vaulter in 1997.
Why is he the answer to a trivia question? Because he was the last pole vaulter not from Ocean City High School to win the Cape May County championship.
A big reason for that success is John Oberg, the volunteer OCHS pole vaulting coach. Since Oberg began working with the Ocean City vaulters, the Raiders are 15-0 in the county meet, 24-0 if you count the girls pole vault.
“He has been a great part of our program,” said Ocean City coach Matt Purdue. “We think he might be the best pole vault coach in the state. He’s done a great job with our vaulters but he also helps out kids on other teams, too. Its remarkable the number of state finalists he’s coached.”
For Oberg, it all started with Jon Howell, who won the county title three times (1998-2000) and set an OCHS record (14 feet, 6 inches) that still stands. The next two years it was Dan Tamburini, then Tom Tyrrell. In 2004, his son, John, became the OCHS vaulter and he won the county title three times. After that came Steele Nugent, Mike Coletta and Ryan Mazzeo. Coletta set the county meet record that was broken last week by Ed Albright. In between Mazzeo and Albright was Mike Oberg, who was county champion twice.
