Summertime session: West eager to tackle gridiron PAGE 2 www.southjerseysportsweekly.com
Shawnee baseball helped fuel Carpenter Cup championship month after taking Diamond Classic
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JULY 3-JULY 9, 2019
Burlington County pride
By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
Most of them had met each other a dozen years earlier, as they were first learning the game. They grew up in Medford youth athletics and then starred together at Shawnee High School as they hit their teenage years. While the month of June was celebratory with graduation ceremonies, it was also bittersweet as the Renegades baseball players are all going their own way for college. But the senior core of Shawnee’s team sure went out with a proverbial bang. Burlington County’s entrant in the 34th annual Carpenter Cup was crowned champion of the celebrated Philadelphia-area tournament on June 18 at Citizens Bank Park, where they overcame deficits twice in their final five at-bats to beat Lehigh Valley 4-2. The victory was extra sweet for Burlington County since they’d lost in the finals on the same field a year earlier to a South Jersey rival, Olympic-Colonial. For Shawnee’s six players on Burlco’s team, it capped a 2019 season that saw them win both the premier, Delaware Valley postseason tournament (Carpenter Cup) and South Jersey’s esteemed in-season tournament (the Diamond Classic) a month earlier. “It’s great, I’ve been playing with these guys for my whole life, my whole entire baseball career,” said senior catcher Joey Moore. “To go out on top in a tournament like this, it’s awe-
MILES KENNEDY/The Phillies Burlington County celebrates its fourth Carpenter Cup championship since 2006 on June 18 at Citizens Bank Park. some.” “It feels really good,” said senior shortstop Connor Coolahan. “ I know we went out (early) in (state) playoffs, but at least we got one championship and some of us got another, so it feels good.” Shawnee’s fingerprints were all over Burlco’s successful run in the Carpenter Cup. Senior Jackson Balzan, the star of the Diamond Classic championship game in May, threw three scoreless innings and Coolahan hit a sacrifice fly in the team’s 3-2, semifinal win at Citizens Bank Park over Philadelphia Catholic. In the
championship game win over Lehigh Valley, Moore had two hits, including a game-tying hit in the fourth inning, and a stolen base; junior Bobby Falese and Coolahan turned a tough, clutch, 4-6-3 double play to thwart a rally in the fifth; senior Joe Dalsey had a single and a sacrifice bunt that set up the gamewinning rally in the eighth; and junior Dom Frigiola struck out two and allowed one unearned run in 2 1/3 innings of relief work late in the game. “Not just today, but all four games,” said Shawnee coach please see BURLINGTON, page 2
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JULY 3-JULY 9, 2019
BURLINGTON
continued from page 1 Brian Anderson, who was on Burlco’s coaching staff. “Jackson gave us six shutout innings in two appearances, Dom comes in and pitches well in a tight situation. And hitting-wise they all contributed. For three of the four games they were at third, short and second all at the same time for the first half. So it was fun to see a Shawnee infield of sorts. I’m really happy for these guys. They all came through big.” Although it was the first time some of them played at a major league ballpark – not everyone was on last year’s Burlco runner-up Carpenter Cup roster – most of the players weren’t overwhelmed by the atmosphere. Instead, it was one last chance to play with lifelong friends and leave their high school careers as champions. “It’s just fun to play here, I just go out and play hard, don’t worry about the fans,” Coolahan said. “It feels good, especially after last year when we lost in the finals. So to get it this year, as a senior, in Citizens Bank Park, it feels amazing.” Shawnee’s seniors, less than 24 hours removed from graduation when they celebrated in the Phillies home ballpark, were able to pull off the same trick Olympic Conference rival Eastern accomplished in 2018: leave high school with Diamond and Carpenter Cup trophies in their final prep seasons. “Our senior class has been a big part of our program’s success in the last three years, so it’s fitting that we had so many guys who had the opportunity to be represented in the Carpenter Cup,” Anderson said. “We trust each other,” Moore said. “We have chemistry, and we’ve had it for multiple years, we know that we’ve got each other’s backs. And that’s what it comes down to, just trust and chemistry. We know we can pull through when we need it most.” Other area players who starred in the Carpenter Cup included Delran junior R.J. Moten (a triple and a diving catch in the semifinals), Moorestown senior Brian McMonagle (three shutout innings to set the tone in the semifinal win), and Lenape senior Cade Hunter (RBI double in the 8th inning of the championship game). The Boston College-bound McMonagle also made history in the tournament: he was the first four-year player in Burlington County Carpenter Cup history. “It’s awesome,” McMonagle said of the championship. “The last three years we came up short and we got a little better each year, which was good, so to go out like this is awesome. … Everyone right away was just so comfortable with each other, like we’d been a team for a little bit. So we had good chemistry and a lot of good ball players obviously. We came together.” The Carpenter Cup win was the fourth in the history of the tournament for Burlington County – all four championships have come since 2006. Overall, South Jersey teams have won the tournament 12 times and have seven titles in the last 11 years. Current major league All-Stars Mike Trout and Sean Doolittle are among the players who have represented South Jersey teams in the tournament, which began in 1986. “You just look all around at the different parts in South Jersey and there’s so much talent, a lot of guys able to play at a high level in college,” McMonagle said. “There’s definitely a lot of talent in South Jersey.” ■
The Lion kings
RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Weekly
Cherry Hill West players Johnny Ioannucci, Jesse Filkill, Hakim Melvin and Nick Arcaroli give the Lions a multi-talented group of offensive skill position players back for 2019.
It’s never too early: Cherry Hill West confident about upcoming football season By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
The couple dozen teenagers threw on purple jersey tops, stretched, and scurried over to the opposite end of Richard Wackar Stadium at Rowan University on a recent afternoon. Minutes later, a whistle blared and they were throwing and catching passes with ease and slapping hands after reaching the end zone. This was the last week of June – not August – yet Cherry Hill High School West’s entrant in the Adam Taliaferro Foundation Coach Larry Ginsburg 7-on-7 Football Classic was in a
regular season-like rhythm. “The core group is coming back and the chemistry is there, and we’ve continued to work all offseason,” said West incoming senior Johnny Ioannucci. “We’ve been playing since we were younger, most of the guys, so that’s going to help us come along.” “I’m very excited, it’s (going to be my) senior year, we have the same core,” added fellow receiver Hakim Melvin, a New York City native who transferred from Camden Catholic last fall. “I got to know people last year and it was a good bond. When we get on the field, it’s like a brotherhood.” The Lions wasted little time collecting three wins on their first day of the early summer tournament, a change in format for the foundation. After 27 years of hosting a senior All-Star Game, the Taliaferro Foundation held its inaugural 7-on-7 tournament last week. The foundation was started by
former Eastern Regional standout Adam Taliaferro, who suffered a spinal cord injury while playing for Penn State in 2000. Taliaferro miraculously recovered in three months following spinal-fusion surgery and now uses his foundation to give back, providing emotional, financial and education support to people who suffer catastrophic head or spinal cord injuries in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Delaware. “It’s huge,” West coach Brian Wright said of taking part in the event. “Having gotten to know Adam through the course of the last decade or so and what they’re able to do for people who have had the unfortunate circumstance of having spinal cord injuries ... it’s something we talk to our kids about all the time, the bigger picture. What we try to do is more than football, so you want the kids to see that, and they do, they take part in how ever they can help other people out. We’ve been able to please see LION, page 3
JULY 3-JULY 9, 2019 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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continued from page 2 win some football games over the course of the last seven years, but to see where we’ve taken our kids as people, to me, is a bigger deal. It’s been neat to see.” The Lions’ success in a June 7-on7 tournament likely isn’t going to affect how they play come September, but, just two years removed from a one-win season, Wright is “extremely excited” about the potential of the 2019 team. Quarterback Nick Arcaroli, who threw over 1,600 yards with 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions as a sophomore in 2018, is back along with Ioannucci (689 yards receiving, eight touchdowns), Melvin (314 yards receiving and four touchdowns in six games) and rising sophomore Jesse Filkill (started both ways as a freshman). West won three of its last four games in 2018 to finish 6-4. “They all have varsity experience and they’re all game ready,” Arcaroli said of his teammates. “I’m excited, I just can’t wait to get on the field and play with my brothers.” ■
Gloucester Catholic players Ben Watkins, Gerry Cherry Hill West’s Chris Church and Max McCullough go airborne for a ball O’Donnell and Luke VanAuken during a break in action. with a Cumberland opponent during second day action at the Adam Taliaferro Foundation 7-on-7 tournament.
Cherry Hill West’s Max McCullough reels in a catch inside the end zone.
Cherry Hill West’s Hakim Melvin tries to make a catch in the end zone.
Cherry Hill West players walk off the field after a win over Cumberland.
Gloucester Catholic’s Cherry Hill West’s Johnny Ioannucci signals to Gloucester Catholic’s Ben Watkins keeps an eye on a Luke VanAuken releases a pass the sideline during action on June 25 at Rowan Camden player while playing defense near the goal line. against Camden. University.
All Photos: RYAN LAWRENCE, South Jersey Sports Weekly
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JULY 3-JULY 9, 2019
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