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ABOUT THE COVER
The Egg Harbor Township baseball team came into the season ranked No. 16 in the nj.com preseason Top 20 poll, but then stumbled out of the gate, losing their first four games. By the end of April it looked as though the Eagles were dead and buried, but outfielder Robbie Petracci and the rest of the seniors didn’t want to end their careers with a disappointing season. So Petracci led the charge with a tremendous offensive season that helped catapult the Eagles all the way to the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals. Although they didn’t win a sectional title, Petracci and the other seniors left their mark on a program that is now mentioned among the best in South Jersey. In this edition, we take a look at Petracci and our other spring sports Players of the Year, from softball, boys tennis, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse, as well as our spring sports all-stars. Athletes were selected from Atlantic County schools that play in the CAL as well as Ocean City (and St. Augustine Prep for boys lacrosse). We’ll feature out track and field POYs and all-stars in a separate upcoming edition. Hope you enjoy! — Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE General contact: 609-788-4294/advertising@acglorydays.com Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher: sully@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDsullysays Giuseppe Ungaro, Managing Editor: gungaro@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDgisepu Amy D’Adamo, Graphic Design: advertising@acglorydays.com Bill Lynskey, Director of Advertising: bill@acglorydays.com STORY IDEAS/ADVERTISING: Have a story you’d like to see told in Glory Days Magazine? Want to get your business noticed with a marketing campaign in our digital or specialty print platforms? Call us anytime at 609-788-4294. Volume: 6 Issue: 25 Overall Issue Number: 132. Cover Photography: Dave O’Sullivan. 2019 Glory Days Magazine. All rights reserved.
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MAKING HEADLINES Sully takes a closer look at the athletes, coaches and teams who are generating news and highlights in the Cape-Atlantic League and throughout South Jersey.
u The boys of summer: The Atlantic County Baseball League’s reg-
ular season is quickly coming to a close, and the intensity is about to go up a few notches as the playoffs close in. Last year, Northfield shocked perennial powerhouse Margate, beating the Hurricanes in two straight games in the semifinals to reach the championship series. Then, the Cardinals dominated Hammonton on the strength of some outstanding pitching from guys like former Mainland Regional standout Anthony Capasso (pictured above). Margate, however, has just one regular-season loss this year and should be able to lock up the No. 1 seed soon. The Hurricanes are out from some revenge this summer and have their eye on winning another championship.
glory days digital Want the best high school sports coverage every day of the week? Visit glorydaysonline.com for game coverage, features and more! You can also like us at facebook.com/acglorydays, and follow Sully on Twitter @GDsullysays. Get the best. Every day.
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Glory Days Boys Tennis Player of the Year Phil Ritchie St. Augustine Prep/Junior Ritchie missed nearly all of last season with a broken wrist, and when he came back this year found himself starting the season at the No. 3 singles position. But he continued to work hard and progress, and scored a couple of upsets in the Cape-Atlantic League individual tournament to find himself in the championship match against teammate Vince Coiro. Ritchie outlasted Coiro to win the first league title of his career. Ritchie also had a tremendous year during dual meets, playing mostly at third singles, and helped the Hermits rack up a 20-1 record that included a South Jersey championship. The Hermits’ only loss came in the state final to Delbarton.
OTHER BOYS TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Vince Coiro St. Augustine Prep/Sophomore Coiro was the driving force behind the Hermits putting up one of their best seasons in school history. He had the arduous task of playing the No. 1 singles position against some of the best competition in the state in the playoffs, and was brilliant throughout the dual-meet season. He advanced to the championship match of the CAL Tournament, and should be one of the favorites to win his first title next spring. He went 22-6 this season.
Anand Thakkar Mainland/Senior Thakkar quietly had a great career for the Mustangs, and this season the senior was a big reason why Mainland Regional was one of the best teams in South Jersey Group 3. He helped lead the Mustangs to a 15-3 record and his only losses came against St. Augustine Prep, Millville, Rancocas Valley and Clearview. With Thakkar leading the way, the Mustangs blanked Timber Creek and Central in the sectional playoffs before falling in the semifinals.
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BOYS TENNIS u MIKE GIUNTA, St. Augustine Prep: Giunta won the Cape-Atlantic League individual tournament in 2018, and while he wasn’t able to defend his title this spring, he still was a huge part of one of the best teams in the state. He played second singles and helped lead the Hermits to 20 victories in 21 dual meets, including a 3-2 victory over Christian Brothers Academy in the Non-Public A South championship match. u CASEY BURHANNA and CONOR FRANZ, St. Augustine Prep: Casey had a difficult task in going up against his brother, Reilly, in the CAL doubles final, but he and Franz were able to score the victory. u ROB RITCHIE and REILLY BURHANNA, St. Augustine Prep: The Hermits’ other team also had a sensational season and made it to the league doubles championship match. u RYAN PELLEGRINO and DANIEL WISE: Pellegrino is known more for his exploits on the soccer pitch, but he teamed with Wise to have a very good year at first doubles for the Mustangs, a sectional semifinalist. u SANTO CARROCCIA, Mainland Regional: The junior gave the Mustangs one of the top 1-2 punches in the CAL, along with Thakkar, and helped lead Mainland to 15 victories. He’ll likely make the jump up to first singles next year, and could be a player to watch in the 2020 league tournament. u AUSTIN SNYDER, Absegami: The freshman came in and played first singles for the Braves and was outstanding, leading the squad to a 10-6 overall record. He scored straight-sets victories over 10 CAL opponents. u ANDREW YUEN, Egg Harbor Township: The Eagles finished with an 8-8 team record, but Yuen was a tough out all season. He scored key CAL wins against Ocean City, Bridgeton, Vineland and Oakcrest, and hung tough in matches against the likes of Mainland, St. Augustine Prep and Millville.
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Junior Santo Carroccia will be a player to keep an eye on when the 2020 Cape-Atlantic League individual tournament rolls around next spring.
snapshots BOYS TENNIS
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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY Glory Days BASEBALL Player of the Year
Born to be a ballplayer He wears No. 7 because his dad said he swung like Mickey Mantle as a kid. From the start, Robbie Petracci was destined to make an impact on the EHT baseball program. By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer hen Robbie Petracci was a toddler, his father, Robert, said the youngster’s swing reminded him of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. And that’s the reason that throughout his life Petracci has worn No. 7. The sweet swinging lefty right-fielder realized his potential this season, leading one of the more surprising late-season surges in recent Cape-Atlantic League baseball history. Egg Harbor Township was highly touted in the preseason, as the Eagles were ranked No. 16 in nj.com’s preseason Top 20 poll. But four straight losses to start the season, and a lackluster month of April, had the Eagles on the brink of not even making the state playoffs. The Eagles got back to 4-4 with a win over Bridgewater-Raritan on April 18, but EHT still limped into May with a 6-8 record. Petracci and the rest of his senior teammates knew they had come too far during their careers to see it end like this. “We got off to a rough start, obviously, and we all got together as a team without the coaches and said, ‘listen, we’ve been playing together since we were little kids and if we don’t turn it on now we’ll never get a chance to.’ And that really fired us all up. I knew I was going to put the work in, individually, to put my best out there, and I think a lot of the other guys did, too, and that really changed the course of our season,” said Petracci, Glory Days’ Baseball Player of the Year. “I’ve said this a million times, but we knew we had the guys and the talent. We really never lost confidence in each other. We knew we were having some fluke losses — both games against St. Augustine Prep, against Vineland we were up like seven runs. We knew we just had to start closing out
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games. It wasn’t hard to stay confident, we just had to stay hopeful that we had enough games left to turn it around.” The Eagles went 4-3 in May before the cutoff date for the state playoffs, and did just enough to earn the No. 16 seed in South Jersey Group 4. That meant a road game against top-seeded Shawnee in the opening round, and the Eagles scored a surprising 5-3 victory. They advanced all the way to the sectional semifinals before falling 5-0 to Cherry Hill East and finishing the season 13-12. Petracci did all he could to keep his senior season going, racking up 39 hits, 32 RBIs, 28 runs, 10 doubles, two home runs, 12 walks and nine stolen bases. He batted .464 in 84 at-bats. For his career, Petracci hit .380 with four homers, 62 RBIs, 78 hits, including 21 doubles, 58 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.
“It really hit me after having a little bit of success junior year that there was something I had that I could accomplish, both helping the team and personal things. That fired me up, having a little bit of success, and made me realize I had to work even harder to really achieve something. I actually started to implement sitting on off-speed pitches on the first pitch because it became so common, to the point where my best bet was to sit on the curveball,” said Petracci, who plans to continue his career at Old Dominion University in Virginia. “The way I set my goals, I wouldn’t go as far as saying I was disappointed (in myself), but I wasn’t overly impressed with myself — and as a player, unless you’re getting inducted
See Petracci, page 11
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 11 Petracci, from page 10 into the Hall of Fame, you should never be sitting there congratulating yourself. For example, I’m in a room right now (at Old Dominion) with three other Division I players who are just as good as me, if not better, so if I’m sitting there patting myself on the back, they are going to pass me by.” Petracci said the key to his breakout senior season was simply becoming more focused on a daily basis in practice. “The biggest thing for me was taking nothing for granted. Every swing (in practice), instead of just swinging because the coach said I had to take 10 swings, I had a set routine and I knew what I wanted to accomplish every time I stepped onto the field, whether it was on the tee, in the cages,” he said. “Really just having a plan every time I was working on my craft. With that, you start to become confident in the box because you know you’ve done everything you can to prepare, so there’s no shame in getting beat at that point.” Petracci is one of those guys who just looks like a baseball player, from the eye black to the taped wrists, to just the way he runs on and off the field. He looks like a guy who is comfortable in the all movements baseball players make throughout the course of the game. “I’ve always prided myself on looking the part out there. As a little kid, I was always the guy who was wearing the Evo Shield and stuff like that. There is a piece of it that some guys are born with it and some guys aren’t, to a certain degree. It defi-
See Petracci, page 13
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 13 Petracci, from page 11 nitely came from my dad. He tells me he remembers throwing to me when I was 2 years old, and he said he tried out every sport with me, and he said it was always baseball,” he said. “My dad would always say I had that lefthanded Mickey Mantle swing.” The past four years, Petracci and the rest of the 2019 senior class have helped elevate the Egg Harbor Township baseball program to now, when you’re talking about the best teams in the Cape-Atlantic League, the Eagles have to be mentioned up there along with the likes of St. Augustine Prep, Holy Spirit, Mainland, Ocean City, Vineland and Millville. “When I say you shouldn’t feel satisfied, that’s more as an individual player, but as a team, when you can go out there and kind of shock the area a little bit, that’s the best feeling in the world. At the end of the day, it’s nice to get personal accolades, but there’s nothing like winning with your brothers,” Petracci said. “Although we never took a state title or South Jersey Group 4 title, we’re going to be a team that will be remembered. I don’t know that we’ll be a team that’s really remembered around the whole CAL, but I think within the program we’ll be remembered for being hard workers and changing the culture a little bit. With the younger guys, we taught them that EHT doesn’t accept slacking off or not caring, and I
think that will stay in the program for a long time.” One thing Petracci has always been passionate about is playing for his hometown school instead of going off to a private school. He said he hopes that is part of the legacy he and his teammates leave, that you can stay at EHT and play in big games, and be in contention for championships. “It’s definitely a blessing and it’s even more cool that I didn’t have to pay to go to another school, I just went where I was meant to go to school, and just play for my town. And to be able to play in big games, meaningful games, is just icing on the cake,” he said. “It’s something that I always wanted to do, and pretty much all the seniors. We’ve seen guys here and there go to other schools, but I think there’s something to be said for guys who go in with what you’ve got and work with it, and do all you can to still come out on top.” Recently, Petracci was at Old Dominion working out with some of his future college teammates, and he said he understands the opportunity that is before him now. “I was just out there looking at the Old Dominion field and I almost cried. It’s just an honor, and being around all these guys you realize you’re not as good as you thought you were, you’re not as strong as you thought you were. It’s humbling, but it’s pretty cool.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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OTHER BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Sam Daggers/P/OF Absegami/Senior Daggers was the heart and soul of a surprising Braves team that won a share of the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference title. The No. 3 hitter in the lineup and the team’s ace pitcher, Daggers got the call on the mound in just about every big game the Braves played. He managed to hit .304 with 18 RBIs despite most teams pitching around him, and in the first round of the state playoffs he twirled a shutout in a win over Mainland. (Check out a feature on Sam on Page 16.)
Brandon Lashley/P/SS Ocean City/Senior Throughout his career, Lashley was one of the most dynamic two-way players, getting the job done on the hill as well as at the plate. He hit better than .450 with 19 RBIs, 27 runs and 11 stolen bases, and on the hill he was 6-1 with an impressive 0.74 ERA. The Stony Brook University commit walked just seven batters all season while striking out 50, and helped Ocean City to a 19-5 record, including 9-3 in the CAL National Conference.
Kenny Levari/P/SS St. Augustine Prep/Junior The Hermits won their fourth straight South Jersey championship this season, posted a 24-5 record, went 12-0 in the CAL American, and made their third straight appearance in the state championship game, largely because of Levari’s ability to get on base, drive in runs and also close games out on the mound as Prep’s top relief pitcher. He hit .400 with 18 RBIs and 19 runs, and on the mound, the Old Dominion recruit fanned 24 in 19 innings.
Luke Vaks/P/INF Cedar Creek/Junior About halfway through the season, people began to take notice of Cedar Creek, and for good reason. Vaks was striking out everybody in sight with a fastball that was reaching into the low-to-mid 90s. He finished with a 1.66 ERA and struck out 69 batters in less than 40 innings, and more importantly came through big time for the Pirates in the postseason, as they made their best run to date, reaching the South Jersey Group 2 semifinals before losing to West Deptford.
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BASEBALL u Jimmy Pasquale, Holy Spirit (Sr./1B): Pasquale was one of the key run producers in the middle of the lineup. He hit nearly .400 with three homers and 17 RBIs, and helped solidify a young infield by playing a solid first base. u Brandon Castellini, Holy Spirit (Jr./P/INF): Castellini helped the Spartans go 15-8 overall and 9-1 in the CAL United. On the mound he went 3-0 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing only five earned runs in 20 innings, and at the dish he hit .356 with 15 RBIs. u Jayden Shertel, St. Joseph (So./P/OF): Shertel was a big reason why the Wildcats were leading the CAL United for a good portion of the season. He hit .449 with 31 hits, 21 runs, 17 RBIs and 24 steals. On the mound, he was 5-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 40 innings. u Brock Mercado, St. Joseph (So./C): Mercado led the Wildcats with a .469 average that included 30 hits, 13 runs and 16 RBIs. u Alejandro Rosado, Pleasantville (Jr./P/ INF): The Greyhounds had just four wins, but Rosado is an intriguing prospect. An All-Group 2 selection, he hit .453 with three homers, 10 RBIs, 11 runs and 24 hits, and on the mound had 48 strikeouts in 34 innings. u Jake Guglielmi, Buena (Sr./C): A secondteam All-Group 1 selection, Guglielmi led the Chiefs to 16 wins by hitting .379 with 29 hits (10 for extra bases), 23 RBIs, 26 runs and 25 stolen bases. u Logan Petty, Mainland (Sr./1B): A big-time team leader, Petty hit better than .350 with 21 runs and 14 RBIs, and was one of the top defensive third basemen in the league. u Mark Elliott, Mainland (So./OF): Elliott is one of the fastest outfielders in the league and the sparkplug at the top of the Stangs’ batting order. He was one of Mainland’s leading hitters all year. u Billy Wheatley, Abegami (Sr./3B): Wheatley was a staple in the middle of the lineup for a Braves team that won a share of the CAL National. He hit .364 with 21 RBIs, 15 runs scored, 20 hits and 16 walks. u Rudy Kreutzer, Absegami (Sr./P): Kreutzer was one of the most reliable relief pitchers in the league, posting a 2.37 ERA in 20 innings. u William Hoff, Absegami (Jr./P): Hoff led the
Braves with a 7-2 record and had a 2.57 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 30 innings. u Shane Nanek, Absegami (Sr./2B): A pesky hitter, Nanek was a key part of the Braves’ lineup. He hit .339 with 21 hits, 21 runs, nine RBIs and 10 walks. u A.J. Campbell, Ocean City (Sr./P/3B): Hit nearly .400 with 34 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Half of his 24 hits went for extra bases, as he had seven doubles, a triple and four home runs. On the mound he posted a 2.38 ERA. u Gannon Brady, Ocean City (Jr./P/OF): Brady got it done on both sides, hitting .299 with nine RBIs and 18 runs scored, while going 6-0 on the mound with a 1.24 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings. u Tommy Finnegan (Fr./P): Already a verbal commit to the University of Kentucky, Finnegan went 4-2 with a 0.82 ERA while striking out 34 in 34 innings and allowing just 10 hits. u Tommy Breazeale, Ocean City (Sr./INF): The senior packed the stat sheet this year, hitting .361 with 13 runs, 22 hits, 23 RBIs and 13 walks. u Jaden Millstein, Ocean City (Sr./1B): One of the team’s leading hitters, Millstein hit .420 with 29 hits, 13 RBIs and 26 runs. He also had seven extra-base hits, 12 walks and six stolen bases. u Dan Giovannantonio, Cedar Creek (So./C): One of the top catchers in the league, Gio had a tremendous year with the bat as well, hitting .338 with 27 hits, 28 RBIs, six doubles and 10 walks. u Sean Brady, Cedar Creek (Jr./P/INF): Brady hit better than .300 with 19 runs, 26 hits, 26 RBIs, 10 doubles and eight walks, and also was outstanding on the mound, posting a 2.70 ERA while going 4-0. He allowed just nine earned runs in 28 innings. u David Hagaman, Cedar Creek (So./P/INF): Hagaman hit nearly .400 with 33 hits, 23 runs and 24 RBIs, while also posting a 3.64 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 33 innings. u Alec Rodriguez, Oakcrest (Sr./INF): A-Rod hit .414 with 24 hits, 17 RBIs, 14 runs scored and 11 stolen bases, and the senior leader also reached base 13 other times via a walk or a hit by pitch.
u Ty’Rell Harris, Oakcrest (Sr./OF): Harris was one of the Falcons’ leading hitters, batting .324 with 22 hits and eight RBIs, and also scored 26 runs, one of the best in the league. He added 25 walks and 17 steals. u Kevin Foreman, St. Augustine Prep (Jr./ CF): Foreman was perhaps the best leadoff man in the league this year, racking up 39 hits, 32 runs, 12 RBIs and 17 steals while hitting .438. u Rob Ready, St. Augustine Prep (Jr./1B): Ready provided some thump in the middle of the Hermits’ lineup, hitting .373 with 22 hits and 19 RBIs. He had five doubles and three homers. u Cole Vanderslice, St. Augustine Prep (Sr./P/RF): Vandeslice hit better than .400 with 24 hits and 18 runs scored and also went 2-1 on the mound with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings. u Brian Furey, St. Augustine Prep (Jr./C): Hit .277, but more importantly was one of the better defensive catchers in the Cape-Atlantic League. u Cory Kessler, EHT (Sr./P/3B): Kessler had a terrific senior year, hitting .414 with 24 hits, 19 RBIs and 15 runs scored for a team that reached the sectional semis. He also posted a 1.83 ERA as a reliever. u Mike Dodd, EHT (Sr./P/SS): Dodd became the Eagles’ go-to pitcher late in the year and finished with a 4-2 record while posting a 2.75 ERA in 40 innings of work. He also fanned 44, and at the plate he didn’t have a high average but chipped in 25 runs and 10 RBIs. u Garrett Smith, EHT (Jr./OF): Smith really turned it on late in the season and finished with a .356 average that included 26 hits (7 for extra bases), 17 runs and 17 RBIs. u Tony Santa Maria, ACIT (Jr./P/SS): Santa Maria carried the RedHawks, both on the mound and at the plate. He batted .431 with 28 hits, 23 runs scored, 14 RBIs, 21 walks and 24 stolen bases, and on the mound he finished with a 3.46 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 28 innings. u Kyle Bronco, ACIT (Sr./1B): Bronco, the team’s captain, hit .342 in 79 at-bats for the RedHawks and was a big key in the middle of their lineup. He finished with 27 hits, including four doubles and a triple, 19 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
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Glory Days Baseball Player of the Year Nominee
Leading by example Daggers set the tone for an Absegami team that shocked the CAL By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer am Daggers, a recent graduate of Absegami High School and a Glory Days Baseball Player of the Year nominee, said he doesn’t see himself as a player that jumps out as a star in any particular category. Head coach Mike DeCicco, a former assistant who took over for Brian Wastell prior to the 2019 season, begs to differ. “He was our guy. Sam was phenomenal for us, he was our big-game pitcher, batted third for us every game. For being a four-year varsity guy and a Division I commit, everyone knew who he was and had either seen him play or heard about him. And with that comes a lot of pressure, but I feel like he maxed out his year,” DeCicco said. “He was tough as nails for us. Between his defense in the outfield, obviously what he did for us on the mound, and always giving us a quality at-bat on the plate, getting on base, driving guys in, being a menace on the base paths — he
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Absegami senior Sam Daggers hit better than .300 this year with 18 RBIs, and also had a 2.46 ERA as a pitcher. had a fantastic year, and career.” Daggers, bound for Wagner College next month, certainly filled up the stat sheet this year. As a pitcher he went 5-3 in eight starts, allowed just 21 hits in 43 innings, struck out 63 batters and had a 2.46 ERA. He also pitched a shutout against Mainland in the opening round of the state playoffs, working out of a two-on, nobody-out situation in the
bottom of the sixth to help preserve the victory, the first postseason win any of the seniors had ever experienced. And at the plate — despite being pitched around for much of the season — Daggers hit .304 with 18 RBIs, 21 runs scored and 21 walks, and struck out just nine times in 83 plate appearances. But the stats tell only part of the story, as Daggers was hands-down the
heart-and-soul of an Absegami team that made a big resurgence this year and finished with a share of the CapeAtlantic League National Conference title along with Mainland Regional. “He had a better than .500 on-base percentage. It was a tough thing for him to deal with this year, getting 3-and-1 curveballs. You have to take what the other team gives you. With our lineup, and the depth we had, he didn’t have to get a hit every time and I think that helped ease him a little bit. He had close to 20 walks about 12 games into the year, so the biggest thing was he trusted his teammates and didn’t feel like he needed to press. I think last year, a little bit, he pressed at the plate, but this year he took what other pitching staffs gave him and that was big for us. You foul a 2-and-0 fastball back and you’re thinking, ‘man, that’s probably the last fastball I’m going to see.’ But he was very mature with that in mind,” DeCicco said. “He’s been a two-year captain for us and he wanted that role. Some guys might be considered a leader but might not want to deal with the responsibilities of being a leader. Before the season we had a meeting and we talked to
See Daggers, page 17
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 17 Daggers, from page 16 them about what we wanted for them this year. Then the coaches let them stay in the room and talk among themselves about what they wanted. I was sitting with the other coaches in the office, 15 minutes goes by, then 20 minutes. I was like, ‘either it’s going really well, or really horribly.’ But what they were saying was all about them. We can want for them all we want and try to do everything we can for them, but unless they have the mental approach to wanting to win and going about it the right way, it wasn’t going to happen. After that meeting, Sam stopped into the office and talked to us about it. He knew it was coming to an end at Absegami for him and a lot of the other guys, and he wasn’t afraid to step up and be the leader.” Daggers said it was frustrating sometimes the way he was being pitched to, but he knew it was coming after putting up some pretty good seasons earlier in his career and also making a name for himself in the Atlantic County Baseball League, going up against college pitching all summer the past few years. “That’s kind of how it felt at times, but I just felt like senior year was a season for me to just let go and not worry about anything, and just be with the guys one last time. Even the summer going into senior year was just realizing that high school was almost over, even though I thought it was never going to happen. Everyone always told me it goes by quickly, and in the blink of an eye it’s gone. It was cool having the season we did and to play with those guys one more time, every single day in practice, it made everything — even in the beginning of the season — a lot easier. There was no warming up to the team, we just jumped in and were like, ‘let’s go,’” he said. “I enjoyed pitching a lot this year because I knew coach DeCicco had a lot of confidence in me. I don’t really look at myself as a pitcher, which makes it easier on me if that makes any sense. I wasn’t worried about what was going to happen, I just kind of got up on the mound and threw strikes and threw as well as I could. It worked out pretty well.” Daggers said he just had to trust that if opposing pitchers worked around him, the rest of the guys in the line-
up would get the job done. And that happened more often than not, as the Braves put together a 16-6 record. “Hitting for me was a lot different for me this year because I matured a lot mentally from junior year. I got a lot of off-speed stuff early in the count. Usually, the first two pitches would be offspeed stuff that wasn’t in the zone so I’d have to take those pitches. I walked a bunch this year, which, at first, was hard for me, but if I’m getting on base and scoring runs for the team then it can’t be that bad. I just tried to be patient and get pitches in the strike zone. It was different, I had never had that feeling before, but it was something I had to get used to and adjust to,” Daggers said. “What made it worse for the other team was we had a great leadoff hitter in Kevin Snyder, then Shane (Nanek) in the No. 2 hole, so if you have one or two guys on base already, then I get walked or they pitch around me, now you have two guys on base or bases loaded and I had great hitters behind me like Billy (Wheatley), Nick (Ardente) and Sam (Muniz). I think that’s where a lot of our success came from this year, was putting ourselves in good positions and manufacturing runs.” One thing that made his high school career that much more special was playing during a time in which South Jersey baseball has reached a fever pitch. These days, there routinely are scouts at a lot of high school games in the area, and South Jersey has produced a lot of professional and highlevel college talent the past 10 years. “I’m looking forward to college baseball, but high school baseball — especially around here — is four years that I’ll never forget. All four years I was in the Cape-Atlantic League I was facing unbelievable talent, guys who are playing professional ball now and guys who are in various Division I schools. My freshman year, in my third game ever, I had to go up there and face Sean Mooney and just got blown up in three at-bats. That was the fastest walk up-and-back to the plate I’ve had in my life. If I had to face him again, I don’t see the second time going any better than the first. All the way through senior year, facing great guys,
See Daggers, page 19
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 19 Daggers, from page 17 even younger guys like Chase Petty (of Mainland), who is absolutely awesome. Seeing Nick Decker (of Seneca) and Buddy Kennedy (of Millville) hitting moon shots out of Absegami’s field. It was a crazy four years just seeing all those guys and it’s definitely something I’ll remember,” he said. “It seems like starting with guys like (Matt) Szczur and (Mike) Trout, after those guys came through, the attention around here started getting more obvious. You started to see guys come out of nowhere, and now (South Jersey) is kind of like a well for great baseball, you can go to it all the time. Every high school program around here has a couple of great studs on their team and I’m lucky to play against them.” This summer, Daggers is again playing with the Northfield Cardinals in the ACBL and has his team in line for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming league playoffs, then he’ll be off to Wagner and his career at Absegami will fade further into the rearview mirror. “I say I miss it now, but I’m probably going to miss it even more six months or a year down the road. Coach Wastell and coach DeCicco were amazing coaches to play for, and same with the guys. Playing baseball with them throughout high school, and even before that, was an amazing experience. Every year we improved a little bit more and it showed at the end. We got a playoff win senior year, which we had never done before, and that was awesome. The
Daggers, one of the CAL’s best players, plans to continue his career at Wagner College. Glory Days Magazine photo/ Dave O’Sullivan
program looks good going forward,” Daggers said. “I’m focusing on trying to improve as much as I can in every area. I don’t really look at myself with any real standout attributes. I’m not a guy who can hit the ball a million feet or run a 6.2-second 60 (yard dash). I just want to become the best version of myself and get prepared to fight for a spot on the field (at Wagner).” Added DeCicco, “I’m really looking forward to Sam moving on to Wagner. He’s such a great kid, and he absolutely left his mark as an Absegami Brave.
He won’t be replaced, but we’ll do our best to piece it together without him. I’m not worried about him, not only from a baseball perspective but just figuring everything else out. Going away to college isn’t easy, but he has his head on straight. That’s a testament to his parents, and him for being so focused on what he’s wanted for such a long time, and going out and achieving those goals.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Glory Days BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Hoopes earned right to be ‘The Man’ for Prep Senior capped career with 6-0 record, 1.66 ERA By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ayson Hoopes was a hard-throwing junior last spring and expected to be a big part of St. Augustine Prep’s state playoff run, but an injury had him watching from the bench as the Hermits took down Delbarton to win the Non-Public A championship. This year, Hoopes was determined to be an impact player as once again the Hermits were favored to make a repeat appearance in the state championship game. Hoopes had shown the ability to produce high velocity during his high school career, but as a senior he became much more of a pitcher than just hard thrower. Glory Days’ Pitcher of the Year was dominant from start to finish in the 2019 season, and had his best game on the biggest stage, in the state title game against Delbarton, where he was matched up against Jack Leiter, one of the best high school pitchers in the country. Hoopes allowed a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to New York Yankees first-round draft pick Anthony Volpe — but that was the only hit he allowed until he had to be lifted late in the game after reaching the 110-pitch limit. The Hermits lost that game in eight innings, but Hoopes — who plans to attend the University of Virginia despite being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 36th round of this year’s Major League Baseball Amateur Draft — had proven he was no fluke. He pitched a team-high 38 innings this year for St. Augustine, allowing just nine earned runs and striking out 65 while posting a 6-0 record and a 1.66 ERA. Think about this: he threw 661 pitches this year and allowed just 18 hits. And it wasn’t like he was facing easy lineups. This year he pitched against Toms River North, Buena Regional, ACIT, Holy Spirit, Trenton Catholic, Shawnee, St. John Vianney, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Delbarton, which finished the year as the No. 1 team in the state. Hoopes also contributed with the bat, hitting better than .300 with 19 hits, including two doubles and two home runs, and 14 RBIs. “Last year, I got hurt right before the playoffs so I didn’t have much of a shot to do anything, so this year I needed to step up. That was the biggest thing. I learned a lot,” Hoopes said. “In the state championship, after Volpe hit that home run, I fixed what
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I was doing wrong and went from throwing mostly fastballs to mostly sliders, and they didn’t get a hit the rest of the game. Going into that game, I thought we were going to win. We knew we could do it, but we just came up a little bit short.” St. Augustine was without former ace Kevin Eaise, who had graduated in 2018, and Cole Vanderslice was dealing with some injuries throughout the season which limited him to just 17 innings, so Hoopes knew he had to step up and be the man for the Hermits. He helped lead the Hermits to a 24-5 record that included a Cape-Atlantic League American Confer-
ence championship and Prep’s fourth straight South Jersey title. The Hermits also reached the state championship game for the third straight season. “I’ve always wanted to be the guy, and this year I had the chance to do that,” he said. “This was our final chance for the seniors to leave it all out there on the field, and I think that’s what we did.” According to his Perfect Game profile, the 6-foot-3, 170-pounder has topped out at 93 miles-per-hour on his fastball and has a “lean and lanky build, very pro-
See Hoopes, page 21
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 21 Hoopes, from page 20 jectable physically. Athletic up-tempo delivery, has energy at release, stays on line well and gets over his front side.” “I just have to keep my head on straight and stay focused on what I’m doing out there on the mound, don’t lose my composure. I still think I can be a lot better,” Hoopes said. “There was one game where everything felt really good, almost perfect, and from there on out I threw pretty well. I think it was the change-up that developed throughout the year the most. In the beginning of the year it wasn’t great and I couldn’t throw it for a strike at all, but I kept practicing and toward the end of the year I got pretty confident in it. That was a big factor.” Hoopes chose not to sign with the Cubs and instead pursue college baseball in the hopes of getting drafted higher after his junior year, but he said it’s still a really cool feeling to be a high school player selected in the Major League draft. “It’s awesome. I’m really thankful that they drafted me, it’s definitely
really cool,” he said. “(At Virginia) I think I just need to keep working hard.” Although Hoopes kind of burst onto the scene late in his high school career, he said it was great to be part of such a successful high school baseball program. “The best game was — even though
I didn’t play in it — the state championship victory last year. I’ll never forget that feeling,” he said. “It was really awesome. I can’t even put it into words, the feeling you get. That’s why I think guys like me, Cole, Gerry (Peacock) and all the seniors wanted to win it so bad this year because we know the
feeling of winning one and losing one, and winning feels a whole lot better. That’s what kept us focused, and even though we didn’t come out with the win, it was a good run.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Glory Days SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rookie already making big impression Mainland freshman burst onto scene with big-time power numbers By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ainland softball coach Brian Smith wanted to keep freshman Bella Canesi down in the order at the start of the season so she wouldn’t have to face the pressure of carrying the load for the Mustangs on offense. That plan didn’t even survive the preseason. “Offensively, she was without question the driving force behind our success this year. I knew she could pitch a little bit, but her ability to hit — we started to see it when we went to Florida (in the preseason). I had her batting seventh in the lineup because I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her, but all she did all year long, consistently, was just hit,” Smith said. “She drove the ball, she had the home runs and the RBIs, and that is what enabled us to go on that big run. She moved into the No. 3 spot and just continued to produce.” Canesi is just 15 years old and has only 27 varsity games under her belt, but it looks as though the Glory Days Softball Player of the Year is just scratching the surface — and that’s a scary thought for pitchers in the Cape-Atlantic League. The Mustangs’ left fielder put a hurting on pitching staffs around the league all year long, to the tune of a .460 average — which featured 40 hits in 87 at-bats — 27 runs, 28 RBIs, four doubles, two triples, eight home runs, eight walks and seven stolen bases. This from a girl who a few months ago had never even set foot in a high school batter’s box. She was the most consistent power hitter in the CAL all season long and helped lead Mainland to a 20-7 record that included a championship at the Overbrook tournament and a berth in the South Jersey Group 3 playoffs. “She was really, really good this year and surpassed all of our expectations. She had some of the biggest hits in the biggest games that helped us win tournaments and some of the big games we played in. She has so much power behind her swing. During hitting in the winter, her and I got pretty close and we’re good friends now. She’s always fun to have around and I knew she would be a good fit for our team,” said star pitcher Jess Ingram, a junior. “She was eas-
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ily the best hitter on our team.” “I wasn’t that nervous because during the offseason I trained really hard to get to where I am now. The team welcomed me really nicely. I play on a travel team and they practice all offseason, and that had me prepared for this season. I got used to everything quickly, I supported the girls and they supported me, and we bounced things off each other. We had a nice balance,” said Canesi. “I was just trying to stay to my game, trying to focus on every pitch, every game. I really just took it one pitch at a time. I’m also a pitcher — I didn’t pitch much this year because Jess is such a great pitcher — but I think of what I would do in a situation or the counts that I’m in, and I just think about where the ball is going to be placed next, whether it’s an out pitch, if the pitcher needs to get a strike, if it’s a 3-and-2 count. I just know I have to be ready.” That kind of hitter’s savvy is rare even in upperclassmen, so to see such knowledge of the strike zone — and how opposing pitchers are trying to get her out, what sequences they are using — is why if you ask Smith for some comments about Canesi, make
sure your tape recorder has plenty of battery life. “They allowed freshmen to be eligible for the Carpenter Cup this year, and this was my argument (to the selection committee): she did what she did against the best pitchers. If you look at who was the pitcher of the year, according to the coaches, and it was Nicole Ortega from Vineland. In the games we had against Vineland, Bella hit two doubles, a triple and a home run. Against the best competition, she excelled. She rose to the level of competition, and came up big. Her first hit in her first game was a grand slam. She set the standard right from the first game of the regular season,” Smith said. “Her poise — it’s kind of like a rookie in the Major Leagues, you talk about Juan Soto (of the Nationals) and that’s kind of who I think of. Someone who is able to command the zone, get pitches to hit, and when they get pitches to hit, do something with it. That’s poise beyond her years, and I really can’t say enough about her. Without her, even with Jess Ingram, we might be a .500 team because so many of our games were close
See Rookie, page 23
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 23 Rookie, from page 22 games this year. And she came up big time and again. She hit two home runs in a revenge game against Ocean City (at Birch Grove Park), and I know that field is short, but she blasted those two homers. They were going to be out of any park.” Mainland slipped past Schalick, 12-11, in the season opener, but then dropped consecutive games to Delsea, Ocean City and Vineland to fall to 1-3. But Canesi kept hitting rockets, Ingram began to find her groove and the defense starting playing well, and the Mustangs went on a 9-game winning streak that included wins over tough teams such as Millville and GCIT. “In the beginning of the season, it was a little bit rough, but once we started playing more things started balancing out and it turned out to be a really nice team. I’m really excited about what we have in store. We’re really motivated to go and get far in the playoffs. I know in recent years we’ve lost in the first or second round, but we really need to just stay determined and finish out the season strong,” Canesi said. “I have to
“Against the best competition, she excelled. ... Her first hit in her first game was a grand slam. She set the standard right from the first game.”
Coach Brian Smith
stay focused and remain calm and disciplined at the plate. I’m looking forward to the next couple of years to see what I can do to help this team win.” Smith said that what makes Canesi such a dangerous hitter is that she’s able to consistently do damage on pitches in the strike zone. “It’s about being able to hit hittable pitches. It’s one thing to swing at pitches you can hit, it’s another to do something with them. She was smoking line drive after line drive on pitches she could handle. We talk a lot about being aggressive in your zone. You might only get one good pitch in an at-bat, are you going to be ready for it, and are you going to do something with it? And more often than not, she did damage with pitches she could handle. The
sky is the limit for her,” he said. “She had a few bloopers, but I’d say 95 percent of the balls she hit, she barreled them up. She has the ability to get the barrel to the ball.” Next spring the real challenge will begin, as now everybody knows what she can do and teams will be very stingy about giving her anything good to hit. Canesi knows that she’ll have to become a very disciplined hitter, and be willing to take walks when teams elect to pitch around her. “I’m looking forward to next season already, I’m really just preparing, looking forward to the offseason and getting ready. Pitching more and hitting more so I can be even better. I learned a lot this year, about different teams and different ways to approach those teams,” Canesi said. “Like Nicole Ortega, she’s a really good pitcher and I really had to focus against her. Like these good pitchers from teams like Vineland and Millville, I had to figure out what their stuff is because I hadn’t seen them before. I’m going to continue to make adjustments next year. The first time we faced Vineland, I knew Ortega was good and my first at-bat I struck out. I
knew what I did wrong — I swung at a pitch above my hands, so I knew I had to adjust and was thinking about that. I had to make a correction the next atbat, and I hit a triple.” For now, though, Smith said he wants Canesi to enjoy the accolades and attention she’s getting. Nobody is more deserving, he said, even if she is just a freshman. “When you get honors, when you’re All-South Jersey as a freshman, and when you have the kind of year she had, certainly word will get out. She’s only going to be a sophomore, so I don’t want to put too much pressure on her, but she carried the load this year. This was a team that won 20 games and we only had two girls finish better than .300,” Smith said. “Bella was our offense this year, for the most part. She deserves the recognition. She might be a freshman, but that doesn’t mean anything to me. She performed from game No. 1, and performed all season. She was consistent and impressive.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Glory Days SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Ingram was ready to be Mainland’s ace Junior righty finished with 16 wins, more than 200 strikeouts By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he Mainland Regional softball team has had its share of quality pitchers the past few seasons, as Bailey Arena helped lead the Mustangs to the South Jersey Group 3 final a few years ago, and last year ace Gillian McCarthy returned from injury to pitch Mainland into the state playoffs again. There was absolutely no drop-off this year, as junior Jess Ingram took over full-time inside the circle, and put together one of the best seasons in South Jersey. The Glory Days Pitcher of the Year went 16-5 and allowed just 27 earned runs in 140 innings, as Mainland went 20-6 overall, won the CapeAtlantic League National Conference title and earned another state playoff bid. Ingram allowed 93 hits in those 140 innings, walked just 27, and struck out more than 200, finishing with 216 Ks, just five off the school record for a single season. Last year, South Jersey softball got a preview of what might be coming, as Ingram struck out 84 batters in 63
JESS INGRAM/MAINLAND/JR.
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2/3 innings. She also allowed just 23 hits and five earned runs all year as a sophomore. “I knew coming in that she was going to get the bulk of our innings based on that sample last year. She split time with some of the seniors we had last year, but she earned that ace role coming into this season, and she certainly lived up to that billing. She was unbelievable this season,” said Stangs coach Brian Smith, who is in his second year after taking over for Frank Marascio. “She’s not overpowering
and she doesn’t have that intimidating look you see from some pitchers. She doesn’t look like an ace pitcher, but she certainly commands the circle like an ace. She has terrific movement and location, and that’s what really sets her apart. The movement she has on her pitches and her ability to hit spots is what throws people off. I wasn’t surprised by Jess Ingram. I really had the belief in her coming into the season, and all she did was validate that belief. I had strong feelings about her ability, and she lived up to them. That being
said, the number of strikeouts she had and her ability to throw so many innings — that definitely impressed me. She was just tremendous.” “I had a lot of goals for the team, as well as personal goals. We started off kind of rough but we were able to turn that around, and I think that spoke well of our team this year,” Ingram said. Ingram said when she saw the final tally of her strikeout numbers this year, she was a little shocked. “I was really surprised. I didn’t think I would get near that number this year,” she said. “I worked really hard during the offseason to increase my speed and overall athleticism. I worked really hard on my strength. I was ready to take over this year. I pitched a lot last year, so I figured it would be me this year. I knew that coming in this year, so I mentally prepared for it, and I had some great support behind me.” “Jess is an amazing pitcher. Her rise ball is so good. We play games in practice, and I struggle against her. She gets people out, and coming in I didn’t really know who was here, but I met Jess and she’s a really great teammate and a very good athlete. She locates pitches really well and her rise ball has a lot of movement,” added freshman phenom
See Ingram, page 25
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 25 Ingram, from page 24 Bella Canesi, Glory Days’ Player of the Year. “She stays focused at all times. She’s going to be even better next year. I know she’ll strive for new goals and I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do.” What separated Ingram from a crowd of good pitchers was her ability to pitch well in big games. She twirled a shutout in a 2-0 victory over a St. Joseph team that came in sporting an 18-0 record. In the Overbrook tournament, she picked up three wins in one weekend and struck out nearly 40 batters as Mainland won the championship. She also helped the Stangs rip off a 9-game winning streak in the middle of the season. “It was a matter of who wanted it more in most games, and I think our team wanted it more, in general,” Ingram said. “I think we bounced back from some bad games in the beginning and that says a lot about how mentally tough we were. That winning streak was one of the highlights of the season. Nobody thought we would be that kind of team because we lost a lot of seniors, but we pulled it off and showed how tough a team we had.” “If you look at some of the games she had, she had three games with 16 strikeouts, she averaged 10 strikeouts per game, and some of the victories she had — in the Overbrook tournament, we won four games in three days, all against teams with winning records. Millville was No. 13 in the state at the time. She threw 28 innings in three days and had three victories, including over GCIT in the championship game,” Smith said. “And she struck out 16 against St. Joe and handed them their
first loss of the year, and they came in 18-0 at the time. She only gave up one or two hits in that game.” The biggest challenge Ingram faces in her upcoming senior year in 2020 will be getting the Mustangs farther in the state playoffs. Two years ago, the Stangs were upended by Pinelands in the opening round, and this year they lost another home playoff game as Moorestown scored a 2-0 upset in the sectional quarterfinals. “I’m going to work hard, like I did last offseason, and I want to try to add one more pitch into my rotation. I think that will help me. And I just want to get stronger and keep doing what I have been doing. I’ll be playing in the summer and fall, and also have winter workouts,” she said. “Winning South Jersey Group 3 would be nice. That was one of our goals this year. I think we have a shot next year. We have to fix some of the things that led to some of our losses this year. (The playoff losses) will definitely motivate us. Last year, losing to Pinelands was a really big disappointment. This year we got a little bit farther, but I think we can definitely make it farther next year. It just adds more fuel to the fire.” “I don’t want to set the bar too high, but, believe me, I’d be more than happy if she could just repeat her performance from this year. That being said, she has the desire and a little bit of a chip on her shoulder,” Smith added. “She wants to prove people wrong. Whatever she’s able to do next year, it wouldn’t surprise me. She has that bulldog tenacity and she has a desire to win and to achieve.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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OTHER SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Lindsay Konick/SS Ocean City/Senior Konick didn’t receive a lot of media fanfare during her fouryear varsity career with the Red Raiders, but she was one of the best defensive shortstops in the league the past couple of seasons. This year, she took on more of a leadership role, along with four other seniors, and helped lead the Red Raiders to their best season in the 20-year tenure of coach John Bruno. Konick also was one of the top hitters in the middle of the Red Raiders’ order.
Bridgette Gilliano/SS Buena Regional/Junior The Chiefs just have a quiet way of putting together 20-plus win seasons, and they did it again this year. Gilliano is one of the top infielders in the Cape-Atlantic League, especially with the bat. She hit .563 with a dozen extra-base hits while knocking in 25 and stealing 31 bases. With Gilliano pacing the offense, Buena went 24-5, won a share of the CAL United Conference title, and also captured the South Jersey Group 1 championship.
Katie Master/P/OF Atlantic City/Junior Master, the younger sister of former Vikings star pitcher Megan Master, is beginning to make a name for herself as she turned in another outstanding campaign as a junior. The Vikings were competitive in the CAL American because of Master’s big bat, as she hit .450 with a .550 on-base percentage. She tallied two homers, six doubles and four triples, and also racked up 24 RBIs, 23 runs and 16 steals.
Sarah Brosman/CF Oakcrest/Junior The revitalized Falcons were a tough team to beat in the CAL National, and it’s because they could hit and defend. Brosman was solid with the bat, finishing the year with 40 hits, including an impressive 15 doubles, while also driving in 28 runs and scoring 28. She’s also one of the better defensive center fielders in the league, and helped lead the Falcons to 13 victories and a spot in the state playoffs.
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 27
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SOFTBALL u Emily Jost, St. Joseph (Sr./INF): The best offensive weapon for the Wildcats, Jost racked up 44 hits and 46 runs from the leadoff spot. She also walked 11 times and stole 17 bases for a team that went 30-3 and won a sectional title. u Makayla Veneziale (So./P/INF): A true dual threat, Veneziale hit .426 with 40 hits, 31 RBIs and 15 runs, while also going 20-3 with 194 strikeouts inside the circle. u Leilani Colaneri, St. Joseph (So.): She hit .438 with 35 hits, including two homers and 10 doubles, and added 27 RBIs, 24 runs and 11 walks. u Natalie Ampole, Buena Regional (Jr./P): The Chiefs won 24 games and a sectional championship, largely on the right arm of Ampole, who went 22-4 with 141 strikeouts and a sparkling 1.38 ERA. u Gabby D’Ottavio, Buena Regional (Jr./1B): D’Ottavio hit .388 from the clean-up spot, hitting four homers and five triples while adding 28 runs scored. u Sophia Pasquale, Holy Spirit (So./SS): Pasquale hit nearly .400 for the Spartans and helped solidify the infield by playing quality defense at shortstop. u Maggie Wilkinson, Mainland (Jr./OF): The Mustangs won 20 games and the CAL National title, and Wilkinson was a big reason why. She hit .337 with 29 hits, 21 runs and 11 RBIs while adding 10 walks and nine steals. u Megan McManus, Mainland (Sr./1B): The senior was one of the more durable backstops in the league and handled the bat well, hitting .256 with 21 hits, including four doubles and three homers, and adding 19 RBIs.
Kaylin Flukey, Absegami u Lauren Toner, Mainland (Sr./2B): A gritty defensive player, Toner was also a sparkplug at the plate, hitting nearly .300 with 24 hits, 15 runs scored and eight RBIs. u Alex Vitola, Ocean City (Sr./2B): A solid defensive player, Vitola also was one of the top leadoff hitters in the league, hitting .405 with 19 hits, 20 runs, nine RBIs and six steals. u Hailey Neville, Ocean City (Jr./P): The Raiders relied heavily on Neville during their run to the sectional semis, and she responded, posting a 5-2 record with 30 strikeouts in 40 innings. u Christina Barbella, Ocean City (Fr./OF): Barbella started her career in style, batting .375 with 21 hits, 25 runs and 22 RBIs. She also had five doubles, three triples and five homers. u Kaylin Flukey, Absegami (Sr./P/INF): Flukey won eight games inside the circle and recorded 93 strikeouts in 116 innings, and at the plate she hit .444 with a team-high 32 hits and 19 runs.
u Emily Martin, Absegami (Sr./INF): Martin was another big bat in the Braves’ lineup, hitting .328 with 21 hits, 13 runs and a team-leading 26 RBIs. u Haley Korsak, EHT (So./P): The Eagles faced some really tough competition in the CAL American, but Korsak held her own as the team’s new ace pitcher, helping the Eagles win 11 games and earn a spot in the playoffs. u Jessica Sarni, EHT (Jr./INF): Sarni was one of the leaders of a young Eagles squad and a solid infielder, and also was one of the key hitters in the middle of EHT’s lineup. u Jaiana Gautier, ACIT (Jr.): One of the best hitters on a team that won 11 games, Gautier hit .467 with 35 hits, 36 RBIs and 19 runs scored. She finished with 11 extra-base hits, including three homers. u Ivonne Gautier (Sr.): The senior helped lead the way for the RedHawks, batting .311 with 23 hits, 22 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
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Glory Days BOYS LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR MARTY CATTIE/OCEAN CITY/SENIOR/MIDDIE Senior Marty Cattie scored 28 goals and added 24 assists this season, bringing his career totals to 130 goals and 90 assists. He also led the Red Raiders to 19 wins and a berth in the sectional semifinals. Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Style and substance Cattie brought a lot to the table during record-setting career at Ocean City By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer arty Cattie certainly has the look of a standout lacrosse player. He has the long, flowing brown hair, the war paint splashed across his cheekbones. But even though the recent Ocean City graduate has plenty of style, he also has an abundance of substance to go with it. Cattie, Glory Days’ Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year, didn’t lead the Red Raiders in goals scored,
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nor was he the top assist man on the squad. But he was Ocean City’s most important player, the engine that drove an offense that helped the Red Raiders to a 19-3 record that included a pair of state playoff wins. Ocean City’s only three losses came to Salesianum (Del.) and St. Augustine Prep, two powerhouse programs, in the regular season, and to Shawnee in the South Group 3 state semifinals. Cattie, the program’s all-time scoring leader, faced double- and sometimes triple-team defense throughout the year, but the attention he drew allowed other players to enjoy tremendous seasons. Noam LevySmith led the team with 49 goals, Christian Kuhn added 46 goals and 24 assists, Trent Laveson had 44 goals and 20 assists, Jake Schneider finish with 32 goals and 38 assists, and Anthony Inserra added 21 goals and 48 assists. For his part, Cattie scored 28
goals and added 24 assists, bringing his career totals to 130 goals and 90 assists. He scored more than 30 goals three times during his career, and had more than 20 assists three times. “I didn’t really care (about scoring) because our whole offense was so evenly spread out that if opponents were going to double-guard me, Noam, Anthonly, Christian, Trent, Schneider — we had all those guys, so it was just going to hurt them when they doubled me. I just looked at it in that way, wanting to win instead of getting goals. (Double-team defense) started to happen to me last year and I figured it was just going to pour into this year even more, so I was ready for it,” said Cattie,
See Cattie, page 30
Page 30 w Glory Days Magazine w July 8, 2019 Cattie, from page 28 who plans to play college lacrosse at Salisbury State in Maryland. “Obviously, nobody wants to get locked up, it’s no fun when you’re just getting shut off. But it was nice to see the score at the end of the game and us always winning. It was nice to see other kids do well this year, too. Like Noam, he just went crazy, had a ton of goals. “I just had to work more off the ball and try to get open when I didn’t have the ball,” he added. “I learned a lot from Noam with that because he’s really quick and sneaky. He’s always cutting away from the ball and then scoring, so I learned a lot from him. I learned a lot of passing and just tried to pick up on other people’s little tricks.” Cattie said he and the rest of the Red Raiders seniors were eagerly awaiting this season, as they knew they’d have a loaded lineup that included some stalwarts on defense and a second-year goalie in Charlie Dahl, one of the best in the Cape-Atlantic League. The season came to a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to Shawnee in the sectional semifinals, as the Red Raiders’ frantic comeback at-
tempt in the final two minutes came up one goal short. “The past two years we’ve all been focused on this year, we were all looking forward to it. Obviously, we were
focused last year, but we were excited for our senior year because we knew it had the potential to be our best season. We were trying to keep it going as long as we could. Good things come to an end and you have to get over it and move forward, but it’s tough. I was upset after that loss because it was the last time we’ll ever play together, but I’m excited to see the program continue to grow,” Cattie said. “Next year I think Ocean City will absolutely continue to get better, and we’ll see what coach (Joe) LaTorre can do in the next couple of years. All really good lacrosse players want to go play in college, and everybody thinks St. Augustine Prep is the way to go because if you go there you’re going to get looks, but I think this year helped us because we’re on the map now. People know we’re not just a public school that nobody has to look at, and we showed there is talent outside of private schools.” This year, Cattie was a much more mature player and learned to deal with the frustration of seeing double-team defenses thrown at him, and his ability to find the open man created a ton of scoring opportunities for Ocean City. He also grew as a young man, he said, and feels like the leadership of coach LaTorre and his staff have helped him prepare for the next level.
“I’ve learned a lot inside lacrosse and outside of lacrosse, just how to react to things and work with things instead of just getting mad at myself. I’ve learned how to work through it and get better. Going into freshman year, I was nervous. I knew I understood the game because I’ve been playing it and watching it my whole life, but high school is much different than just playing in middle school or on rec teams. I’ve learned tons of things and how to react to different situations,” he said. “The one thing I’ll remember is coach LaTorre always being tough on us, that really kept us in line. In school we all did well. We were disciplined and that’s going to help because you have to be disciplined in college. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. He wasn’t tough on us to the point where it was bad, but he kept us in line and wanted the best for us.” People likely will remember Cattie for the long hair flowing out of the back of his helmet, and his distinctive jersey No. 66, but he hopes they’ll remember something more. “I hope people remember the stuff we did with Ocean City, how we changed the program for the better.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 31
OTHER BOYS LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Mikey Vanaman/Attack St. Augustine Prep/Senior Vanaman was one of the toughest players in South Jersey to guard this season, as evidenced by his team-leading 41 assists. He also scored 33 goals, including a couple of huge goals during a late-season victory over Ocean City, the best team in the Cape-Atlantic League. Prep plays an independent schedule, and Vanaman came through time and again against some of the toughest competition in the state. The Wagner commit helped lead Prep to a 14-4 record.
Colin Cooke/Middie Mainland Regional/Junior Cooke was one of the most prolific scorers in the CAL, and a reloading Mustangs team needed his efforts to keep pace with the likes of Ocean City and Absegami. Cooke led the Mustangs with an impressive 63 goals and also added 16 assists while scooping up more than 100 ground balls. Cooke helped Mainland post a 12-7 overall record, including 4-0 in the CAL National.
Anthony Inserra/Middie Ocean City/Senior The Red Raiders had one of their best seasons ever, posting a 19-3 record, and had a bunch of guys rack up some bigtime scoring numbers. What goes unnoticed sometimes is the player who puts those attack players in position to score. Inserra was one of the best distributors in the league this season, racking up a team-high 48 assists. He also scored 21 goals, one of six players on Ocean City’s roster to tally 20 or more goals.
Billy Kroeger/X/Middie Ocean City/Senior Any lacrosse coach worth his salt will tell you the key to winning games is possession, and the Red Raiders had one of the top faceoff men in the state. Kroeger won about 75 percent of the faceoffs he attempted this year, which allowed the Red Raiders to quickly get into their offense and score goals in bunches. He was also a team captain and one of the most respected players in South Jersey. Kroeger was a second-team all-state selection this season.
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BOYS LACROSSE u Charlie Dahl, Ocean City (Sr.): One of the best goalies in the league, Dahl racked up nearly 100 saves while leading the Red Raiders to 19 wins and a berth in the sectional semis. u Noam Levy-Smith, Ocean City (Jr.): Smith led the Red Raiders with 59 goals and also added 10 assists. u Christian Kuhn (Sr.): Kuhn was another of the Red Raiders’ top scoring options, as he finished with 46 goals and 24 assists. u Trent Laveson, Ocean City (Sr.): Laveson really made a name for himself this season, scoring 44 goals and adding 20 assists. u Jake Schneider, Ocean City (So.): Another guy who had better than 30-30, Schneider tallied 32 goals and 38 assists. u Kyle Saul, Ocean City (Sr.): One of the best long poles in the league, the defenseman made life a little bit easier for Dahl in goal. u Sam Phillips, Holy Spirit: Phillips led the Spartans with 28 goals while adding 12 assists and 47 gound balls. u Eric Roman, Holy Spirit (Fr.): He scored just nine goals, but led Spirit with 22 assists and 84 ground balls. u Jake Angier, Oakcrest (Jr.): Angier was the best scoring option for the Falcons, as he amassed 36 goals while adding 12 assists. u Ryan Liberty, Oakcrest: Led the Falcons in points with 58, scoring 27 goals while adding a team-high 31 assists. u Colin Veltri, Oakcrest (Fr.): Veltri was another solid scoring option for Oakcrest as he finished with 26 goals and 21 assists. u Chrish Vicchiarelli, Mainland (Sr.): Vicchiarelli was literally pulled out of the hallway after two other goalies went down with injuries, and the hockey player finished with nine wins and 112 saves. u Pat Taylor, Mainland (Sr.): Despite getting plenty of attention from defenses after a stellar junior year, Taylor still finished with 18 goals and 26 assists. u Dominic Gagliardi (Jr.): Gags finished with 34 goals and 22 assists, and also won 63 of the 77 faceoffs he attempted while adding 59 ground balls. u Kyle and Nathan Rush, Mainland (Sr.): The brothers have been some of the top defenders
Jake Angier, Oakcrest in the league the past couple of years, and they combined for more than 80 ground balls this year. u Thomas Kelly, Mainland (Sr.): Kelly was one of the better faceoff men in the CAL this season, winning 187 of 253 faceoff attempts. u Robbie Nawrocki, Cedar Creek (Sr.): Nawrocki was one of the top scorers in the league, racking up 57 goals and 19 assists, and he also led the Pirates with 70 ground balls. u Jake Nawrocki, Cedar Creek (Jr.): He’s quickly become one of the top goalies in the league. This year, Nawrocki finished with 154 saves and eight wins. u Jayson Fraone, Cedar Creek (Sr.): Fraone is an athletic attacker and scored 25 goals to go along with 10 assists. u Aidan Richardson (Sr.): A football star and a hard-hitting defenseman, he finished with 43 ground balls and set the tone defensively. u Jacob Zinckgraf, EHT (Sr.): He led the way for the Eagles, scoring 44 goals and adding six assists. u Andrew Venuto, EHT (Jr.): Venuto scored 19 goals and added 16 assists, while also winning 269 faceoffs and scooping up 176 ground balls.
u Luke Wescoat, Absegami: Absolutely fearless in front of the cage, Wescoat finished with a league-leading 223 saves and helped the Braves to a second-place finish in the CAL National. u Paul McColgan, Absegami (Sr.): A team captain, McColgan also was the Braves’ most prolific scorer, finishing with a team-high 31 goals and 25 assists. u Matt Maggi, Absegami: Another great scoring option for the Braves, Maggi added 29 goals and 13 assists. u Sean Drew, Atlantic City (Sr.): The senior finished with 160 saves this season and 582 for his career. u Joey Serafine, St. Augustine Prep (Jr.): Arguably the best goalie in South Jersey, Serafine finished with 13 wins and 138 saves against a very tough schedule. u David Burr, St. Augustine Prep (Jr.): One of the top players in South Jersey, Burr scored 44 goals and added 23 assists. u Steve Dellemonache, St. Augustine Prep (Jr.): One of the best faceoff men in South Jersey, he won 106 of 173 attempted and gave Ocean City fits in a big win over the Red Raiders late in the season.
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Glory Days GIRLS LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Donoghue continued to dominate Ocean City senior finished career as best player in CAL By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer any Cape-Atlantic League sports fans might not even know that Ocean City senior Danielle Donoghue plays lacrosse. That’s how good a basketball player she was during her four-year career. Donoghue — Glory Days’ Female Athlete of the Year last year as a junior — spent a lot of time helping Paul Baruffi and the Red Raiders rack up CAL and South Jersey championships on the hardwood, but her future is going to be on the lacrosse field at Mount St. Mary’s. Donoghue, Glory Days’ Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year, was one of the most dominant players in South Jersey this year, leading the Red Raiders to perhaps their best season ever. Ocean City went 19-3, including a perfect 12-0 in the CAL, and advanced to the South Jersey Group 3 championship game for the second straight season. She finished the season with a team-high 66 goals while also adding 55 assists, and she won 164 faceoffs in 22 games. Donoghue also forced 25 turnovers and scooped up 38 ground balls. “I feel like we had much more competition this year. Our coaches really wanted to play more highintensity games outside the CAL. We played some North Jersey teams that gave us that competition that we really needed,” Donoghue said. “Like we did last year, we wanted to make it back to the South Jersey Group 3 championship, and going against Moorestown again was our team’s goal. First, we wanted to win the CAL and just move on from there.” “Danielle is a great player. I played against her even in the youth leagues. She’s the type of player who leads on the field, and off of it as well,” said recent Mainland Regional graduate Ciara Reeves, who, as a goalie, had the misfortune of trying to stop Donoghue from scoring the past four years. “Not only does she have great leadership skills, but on-field skills as well. She can rip a shot. When she gets the ball, it can be intimidating because of how good her shot is. She’s been a great player for four years.”
DANIELLE DONOGHUE/OCEAN CITY/SENIOR
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Donoghue had a great year as a junior, posting 47 goals and 51 assists, and at the draw position she won 163 draws. She didn’t rest on that success, however, and increased all of her numbers during her senior season. “There’s always room for things to be improved, especially at my position at the draw,” she said. “I put in a lot of extra work to be able to improve my position. That was my main focus (in the offseason) because that’s one of the biggest parts of the game.
There’s a lot of pressure to win the draw so you can maintain possession.” Donoghue’s older brother, Andrew, was a recordsetting quarterback for the Red Raiders and now plays at The College of New Jersey, so she said it took a little while for her to break out from the long shadow he cast.
See Donoghue, page 35
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OTHER GIRLS LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Emily DiMarino/Attack Ocean City/Senior Throughout her career, DiMarino has been one of the most dynamic scorers in South Jersey, and her senior season was no different. DiMarino, one of the toughest players in the CAL to guard, racked up 58 goals, second on the team to Danielle Donoghue, while also adding 16 assists for 74 points. With DiMarino and Donoghue leading the way, Ocean City posted a 19-3 record that included a second straight trip to the South Jersey Group 3 championship game.
Haleigh Schafer/Attack Absegami/Sophomore The Braves didn’t have a sparkling record this year, but made some big strides nonetheless under second-year coach Anna Gordon. Absegami hosted a state playoff game for the first time in school history, and a big reason for that was the play of Schafer, one of the best scorers in the CAL. Schafer used her experience on the basketball court to get around defenders to the tune of 45 goals despite consistently drawing doubleand triple-team coverage.
Abbey Fenton/Goalie Ocean City/Junior Goalie is one of the toughest positions to play in the sport of girls lacrosse, but there was, perhaps, nobody better at the position in all of South Jersey this season. The Red Raiders rarely face a lot of shots during Cape-Atlantic League play, but Fenton stepped up big against some very good nonconference opponents, helping the Red Raiders beat teams like Shawnee, Red Bank Catholic, Eastern, Seneca and Lancaster (N.Y.), as well as the CAL’s best, like Mainland and Middle.
Casey Murray/Midfielder Mainland/Sophomore The Mustangs finished second to Middle Township in the CAL National race and posted 11 wins under first-year coach Kelly Klever, and the key to Mainland’s success has been its young corps of offensive talent. Murray, in just her second varsity season, has already cemented herself as one of the league’s best scorers, as she tallied 64 goals while adding 17 assists this season. She also showed she can play some defense, forcing 32 turnovers.
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 35 Donoghue, from page 33 “I was definitely ‘Andrew’s little sister,’ but it was cool looking up to him and being able to follow in his footsteps,” Donoghue said. “To leave a legacy like he did is pretty cool. It’s a good feeling to not just be the little sister anymore. High school definitely flew by, especially with the different seasons, and it’s just starting to hit me that I don’t have to stay after school for a practice, or get up early for a morning lift. But it’s a cool feeling that I’m going to be able to take it to the next level at college and improve my game even more.” Donoghue certainly has left her own legacy, both in lacrosse and basketball. In lacrosse, she finished her career with 185 goals and 171 assists, and in basketball she played in 80 games, registering 91 steals, 131 made free throws, 48 three-pointers and 172 rebounds. As a senior, she averaged nearly 12 points per game and she finished her career with more than 700 points. “I’ll probably miss my lacrosse team the most. This year we were very close, both on and off the field. We were never not with each other, we did everything together. And the coaches weren’t just coaches, they were our best friends off the field, too,” Donoghue said. “It’s going to be weird not being around the girls anymore.” Donoghue said she’ll remember tough games against Shawnee the most. The Renegades seemed
to always give the Red Raiders more than a handful every time they played. “I don’t know why, but we always seemed to pull through when we played Shawnee. They were fun games to play in. Everyone was determined to win those games. If I could go back to high school and play one more game, I’d want to play against Shawnee because they were a very good team, they were great competition for us, and we really stepped up our game against them,” she said. Now that her high school career is over and she has
a shelf full of championship trophies, Donoghue said she’s excited to get to Mount St. Mary’s to begin her collegiate career. She’ll head to Emmitsburg, Md., in August. “Being able to take it to the next level and see what I can do there, and just being in the college atmosphere, I’m pretty excited about it,” she said. “And I’ll be able to focus on just one sport and the things I need to do for that.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Glory Days Girls Lacrosse All-Star Feature
Dedication and inspiration Ciara Reeves has set the standard for goalie play at Mainland By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer bout six years ago, Ciara Reeves donned the lacrosse goalie equipment for the first time, and she said her parents were a little scared for their daughter. And for good reason. Parents usually are a little apprehensive when players are whipping shots at their kid. But now, after an outstanding career at Mainland Regional, and with a younger sister coming up right behind her, the Reeves are fully entrenched in the goalie lifestyle. “When I was in sixth grade there was an opening for goalie, and at the time I was thinking, ‘why not?’ I just wanted to step up for my team, and ever since then I’ve been a goalie. Throughout the years I’ve had different coaches — probably about six coaches — and input from all of them helped me. When I was that young, I was scared, but over time I realized I didn’t have to be scared,” Reeves said. “My mom and dad were a little bit scared. My freshman year, my dad realized I wasn’t wearing any knee pads, so one night he went out and bought those baseball shin guards, but after one half the next game I took them off. But they love it, my mom has ‘goalie mom’ sweatshirts and car stickers. They love the goalie atmosphere. And Gabby has been preparing to take over.” Reeves earned the starting job as a freshman, and four years later, now that’s she’s graduated, she might be considered the best goalie in school history. During her rookie year she notched 11 wins and saved 134 shots, and those statistics stayed very consistent throughout her career. As a sopho-
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Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Recent graduate Ciara Reeves was one of the top goalies in the Cape-Atlantic League, finishing with 151 saves as a senior and more than 500 for her four-year career. more, she finished with 11 wins and 129 saves, 14 wins and 127 saves as a junior, and 10 wins and a career-high 151 saves as a senior. For her career, Reeves posted 47 wins and 541 saves. “It was a lot of pressure (freshman year), but I was close with a lot of the seniors and they helped me out with dealing with that because they had all been through it. The support with my teammates, and especially my defense, has been huge. In four years there has been a lot of girls who have played defense, but whoever came in they knew how to handle every situation. And even the girls on the sidelines would be helping us out with communication,” said Reeves, whose younger sister, Gabby, is a rising junior and should battle for the starting job next spring. “Freshman and sophomore year, some-
thing I really struggled with was my mental toughness. Coach T.K. (Taylor Klever) really helped me out a lot my junior and senior year. She was allowed to yell at me if I got in my head, and during timeouts she would come and talk to me, and that really helped me out a lot.” Reeves and her teammates had to deal with a coaching change prior to the 2019 season, as assistant coach Kelly Klever took over for longtime skipper Bernadette Daley, the only coach the program had ever known. “The mentality this year, especially with coach Klever in her first year, it was kind of a clean slate. We had an approach of ‘grit.’ That was our team motto, and it just meant putting everything into it, no matter how hard it was. That was our mentality. Cherry Hill
West, we played them earlier in the season and lost by seven, but that playoff game was crazy. It was neck-and-neck the whole way, and I’ve never seen that many people in the stands before for a high school girls lacrosse game, so the atmosphere was great. It was a good way to go out for us,” Reeves said. “Last summer, coach Klever sat down with all the seniors. We had her as an assistant coach last year, so it wasn’t like someone new coming in, and we all love her. She did a great job this year in her first year. Coach Daley has been a go-to for me, she’s been kind of like a second mom on the field. She’s always been there for us, even when she wasn’t the head coach anymore.” “She is amazing. We call her Super
See Reeves, page 37
July 8, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 37 Reeves, from page 36 Woman. I can’t say enough positive things about Ciara Reeves. From her freshman year to senior year, she’s shown the amazing character she has. She’s been nothing but dedicated and a positive influence on her team, her teammates and her school, and the work ethic she puts behind it is inspiring,” Klever said. “She’ll get drilled and will shake it off and be right back in there. She’ unfazed.” In girls lacrosse, when a team has a standout goalie, it can make a big difference between winning and losing close games. Klever said she’s glad there is another Reeves coming up through the ranks. “The Ocean City goalie (Abbey Fenton) is legit, and it’s huge to have a player like that. A lot of times they are momentum swingers, where Ciara will come up with a save and that momentum just trickles down the field. You can get that by scoring goals, but the goals are scored by everybody on the attacking end. When your goalie is coming up with huge saves, that just gives you a rush of adrenaline. Gabby is a sophomore and she’s just as amazing. She has a great work ethic, too. They both are just genuinely awesome kids. They are like two peas in a pod and constantly working together, so if you’re working with Ciara, you’re going to improve,” Klever said. “(Ciara) won our team MVP this year, and we don’t really ever give that out, it’s very hard to achieve. But this year it was a no-brainer. Every teacher, every person she comes in contact with in the building never has a bad thing to say about her. We’re going to miss her, more so as a person and a leader. Hopefully she’ll come back one day and join the coaching staff. “One thing about Gabby is she’s already showing that great goalie mentality where you can shake it off and get right back in the game when the other team does score, so that is something the coaching staff is already noticing, and that’s a great trait to have,” she added. Reeves is headed to Wingate (N.C.) in less than two months, and said she may try make the women’s
“She is amazing. We call her Super Woman. I can’t say enough positive things about Ciara Reeves. From her freshman year to senior year, she’s shown the amazing character she has. She’s been nothing but dedicated and a positive influence on her team, her teammates and her school, and the work ethic she puts behind it is inspiring.”
Kelly Klever Mainland girls lacrosse coach
lacrosse team as a walk-on while studying sports management. Even if she doesn’t end up playing college lacrosse, she knows her time on the Mainland team has prepared her for the next chapter of her life. “I’ve learned so much from lacrosse. Without it, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. It’s crazy, not only how much I’ve grown, but also the people around me. We wanted to leave a legacy and help the under-
classmen, especially my younger sister because she’s a goalie, too. I hope the younger kids take what I’ve learned and put it into perspective, too,” she said. “I’m ready for the next step. I’m excited about the new beginnings.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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GIRLS LACROSSE u Anna Devlin, Ocean City (Sr.): Devlin quietly had one of the best careers in program history, capping it off with a senior year that included 45 goals, 26 assists, 73 draw controls and 43 ground balls. u Ashley Devlin, Ocean City (Jr.): Following in her sister’s footsteps, Ashley racked up 39 goals and 24 assists for a team that went 19-3 and made it to the sectional championship. u Molly Reardon, Ocean City (Sr.): One of the top defenders in the league, Reardon will be moving on to play college lacrosse. u Emily Gargan, EHT (Fr.): Gargan was maybe the most dynamic rookie in the league this year, scoring a team-high 60 goals while leading the Eagles to 12 wins and a playoff berth. u Hayley Henderson, EHT (Fr.): Henderson tallied 50 goals and added nine assists, while also contributing 60 draw controls and 73 ground balls. u Laine Walterson, EHT (So.): Walterson also was a big-time scorer for the Eagles, finishing with 43 goals and five assists. u Olivia Elwell, EHT (Sr.): A true full-field player, Elwell scored 22 goals, added 15 assists and played outstanding defense as a midfielder. u Liz Picardi, Absegami (Sr.): Picardi might be the toughest player in the CAL, and her grit set the tone for a team that earned its first-ever home playoff game this year. She finished with 49 goals to lead the Braves. u Radhika Pandya, Absegami (Jr.): Playing goalie is a thankless job, but Pandya proved she was up to the task this year and came on strong at the end of the season, playing perhaps the best game of her career in a playoff loss to Lacey. She finished with 100 saves. u Lexi Marker, Cedar Creek (Sr.): A team
Jules Medina, Mainland leader and captain, Marker led the way for the Pirates with 37 goals and more than 100 for her career. u Jules Medina, Mainland (Fr.): Another promising rookie the CAL has to offer, Medina was a scoring machine this year, pouring in 51 goals and finishing with 78 points. u Robin Spector, Mainland (Jr.): Spector was a good scoring option to go along with Medina and Casey Murray, as she scored 28 goals and added 13 assists. u Courtney Wolf, Mainland (Sr.): Wolf was all over the field, scoring 24 goals and also playing some solid defense in the midfield. u Jolena Cordasco, Holy Spirit (Jr.): Cordasco
led the way for the Spartans with 25 goals and added 20 draw controls. u Leah Corkhill, Holy Spirit: Corkhill helped the Spartans reach the state playoffs by scoring 22 goals and adding 28 draw controls. u Catherine Agostini, Atlantic City (Sr.): The Vikings’ offensive sparkplug scored a teamhigh 44 goals while adding 10 assists. u Mackenzie Smith, Atlantic City (Sr.): Smith chipped in 26 goals and six assists for the Vikings. u Phoebe Ohnuemuller, Oakcrest (Sr.): The Falcons didn’t score any wins, but Ohnuemuller was a tough defender throughout her career who will move on to play college lacrosse.