In The Dirt 0501

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★ ★ ★ STANDINGS* CAPE-ATLANTIC LEAGUE American Conference I Div. Conf. Overall Millville 4-0 6-0 9-0 Vineland 2-2 3-4 5-5 Absegami 1-2 2-6 3-7 Egg Harbor Twp 1-3 4-3 5-3 Atlantic City 0-2 0-5 1-6 American Conference II Div. Conf. Overall Hammonton 2-0 4-1 6-1 Mainland 3-1 5-2 7-3 Oakcrest 1-2 3-3 3-4 St. Augustine 1-2 3-4 4-7 Ocean City 0-2 1-4 1-5 National Conference I Div. Conf. Overall Buena 4-0 7-1 10-4 Holy Spirit 3-1 8-1 11-1-1 Middle Twp 2-1 6-2 6-2 Lower Cape May 1-2 2-4 3-5 Bridgeton 0-6 0-8 1-10 National Conference II Div. Conf. Overall Sacred Heart 2-0 4-1 10-3 St. Joseph 2-1 4-4 6-7 Wildwood Cath. 0-1 2-4 2-4 Cape May Tech 0-2 0-8 0-9 TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE Classic Division Div. Overall Pitman 9-0 12-2 Gloucester City 7-1 8-4 Clayton 3-4 5-6 Schalick 2-5 2-8 Salem 1-5 2-9 Wildwood 1-8 4-9 Diamond Division Div. Overall Gloucester Cath. 5-0 9-3 Penns Grove 2-2 5-3 Pennsville 2-2 7-4 Woodstown 2-3 5-3 Glassboro 2-4 6-4 GCIT 1-3 3-9 Royal Division Div. Overall Cumberland 4-0 8-1 Highland 3-0 8-1-1 Williamstown 2-1 5-1 Deptford 2-3 5-5 Kingsway 1-5 3-7 Clearview 0-1 3-1 Delsea 0-3 2-6 OLYMPIC CONFERENCE American Division Div. Overall Cherokee 2-0 5-3 Washington Twp 2-2 8-4 Eastern 1-1 8-2 Cherry Hill East 1-1 6-3 Lenape 1-3 6-5 Patriot Division Div. Overall Shawnee 4-1 8-4 Cherry Hill West 3-1 5-4 Winslow Twp 2-1 7-5 Pennsauken 1-4 3-7 Triton 0-3 1-6 National Division Div. Overall Seneca 2-1 5-2 Camden Catholic2-2 3-4 Bishop Eustace 1-1 10-2 Timber Creek 1-1 5-6 Paul VI 1-2 3-5 COLONIAL CONFERENCE Conf. Overall Haddonfield 6-0 7-0 Haddon Twp 6-1 8-2 Haddon Heights 6-2 9-2 Sterling 5-3 5-4 Gateway 3-1 6-2 Audubon 3-2 4-5 Paulsboro 3-3 3-5 West Deptford 2-4 3-4 Overbrook 2-4 3-8 Lindenwold 1-6 5-6 Collingswood 0-5 1-9 Woodbury 0-7 0-9 BURLINGTON COUNTY CONFERENCE Liberty Division Div. Overall Rancocas Valley 3-0 6-3 N. Burlington 2-0 3-4 Westampton Tech 0-0 2-5 Willingboro 0-1 2-4 Moorestown 0-2 4-3 Pemberton 0-2 1-6 Patriot Division Overall Div. Cinnaminson 5-0 10-3 Delran 3-2 9-2 Holy Cross 3-2 7-3 Burlington Twp 1-1 4-5 Bordentown 1-2 6-4 Medford Tech 0-5 1-9 Freedom Division Div. Overall Maple Shade 3-0 4-3 Florence 5-1 5-2 New Egypt 3-2 4-4 Riverside 2-3 3-7 Palmyra 2-4 2-6 Burlington City 0-2 1-4 Trenton Catholic 0-3 0-4 *Records through Tuesday

Friday, May 1, 2009 – C5

SPORTS

Bringing readers the best of the action on the diamond every week

Game day, every day Thanks toApril showers, players get a look at what big league life is like igh school players are getting a chance to live the dream. The extended rains of April washed out many early-season games, leaving most teams scrambling to schedule makeups in May. The resulting schedule leaves most teams playing a game virtually every day, just like the Major Leaguers. What might be a dream for the players, though, is a nightmare for some coaches. While players just suit up and play, coaches are concerned with finding enough games to get to .500 by the state tournament cutoff date on May 8 and with aligning pitching staffs that never seem to have enough arms. A South Jersey big four has emerged, consisting of Bishop Eustace, Gloucester Catholic, Millville and Cherokee, who have enough depth to stay afloat in any schedule. The rest of South Jersey is more than a little concerned. “It’s going to be crazy,” said Vineland coach Tim Jess, who virtually holds open pitching tryouts among players in his program every practice. “That’s the type of situation that helps teams like Millville, not that they need any more help. They’ll have four or five pitchers once May comes around. I don’t have that luxury. Most teams don’t. “We’re just trying to throw things together. Joel (Rodriguez) just became a pitcher last week. That’s how it works.” Among the most relentless schedules are those belonging to Buena, which will play six consecutive days heading into the state tournament, and Vineland, which will celebrate the passing of the cutoff by playing five

★ ★ ★ Raining champs

South Jersey teams had their schedules thrown into disarray by the persistent inclement weather. Here is a breakdown of the number of weather-related postponements and cancellations for every local team as of Thursday.

Team Buena Millville Schalick Vineland St. Augustine Bridgeton Cumberland Sacred Heart Delsea

H

Rainout 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 4 2

DIAMOND CLASSIC UPDATE ■ Sunday is the cutoff date for the 36th Annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic. Ten division leaders from South Jersey’s five leagues, plus six at-large selections based on the Courier-Post’s Top 20, earn a spot in the 16-team field. ■ The tournament begins Saturday, May 9 at Washington Township, Deptford, Overbrook and Maple Shade high schools. The championship game will be played at Campbell’s Field on Sunday, May 17. ■ Defending champion Sacred Heart is in position to qualify for the classic for the fourth straight year. ■ The field will be determined Sunday evening and announced Monday. ■ Check blogs.thedailyjournal.com/inthedirt on Monday to view the draw. KEY INFO May 9 — Tournament begins May 17 — Championship (at Campbell’s Field) Defending Champion: Sacred Heart

Staff photo/Craig Matthews

Wheelin’ and dealin’

Luis Gomez delivers to the plate during one of Vineland’s recent games. The Fighting Clan, like many other South Jersey teams, have had to dig deep for pitching help with all the rescheduled games that were rained out in early April.

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We’re just trying to throw things together. Joel (Rodriguez) just became a pitcher last week. That’s how it works.” Tim Jess Vineland coach (on what his team has had to do because of a host of rescheduled games in May)

Ben Watanabe games in six days. The Chiefs even dropped a game this week, canceling a Cape-Atlantic League non-conference game with St. Augustine Prep. For the Hermits, the nonstop schedule may come at an even more inopportune time. Before beating Absegami on

Tuesday, St. Augustine had lost four straight and coach Mike Bylone wondered when he would be able to address the mistakes he saw during the losing streak. “It’s going to be difficult to change things, because we don’t have any practice days coming up,” Bylone said. “That’s the way the season is.” Ben Watanabe covers high school baseball for The Daily Journal. Contact him at (856) 563-5259 or [email protected].

Staff photo/Cody Glenn

Sacred Heart’s Allen Rivera delivers to the plate during the Lions’ home game against Wildwood Catholic on Wednesday.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Ron Gordon

SJ Mean 15 1. Millville (10-0) Last week: 2 2. Bishop Eustace (10-2) 1 3. Gloucester Catholic (9-3) 3 4. Cherokee (6-3) 4 5. Washington Twp. (8-4) 8 6. Cherry Hill East (6-3) 6 7. Holy Spirit (12-1) 14 8. Sacred Heart (11-3) NR 9. Pitman (12-2) NR 10. Buena (10-5) 5 11. Cumberland Reg. (8-1) 7 12. Williamstown (6-1) 10 13. Gateway (7-2) NR 14. Shawnee (8-4) 9 15. Haddon Twp. (8-3) 12 Under consideration: Haddonfield (7-0); Clearview (4-1); Highland (8-1); Hammonton (7-1) *Rankings are set by Ben Watanabe and based on records reported to area newspapers through Wednesday.

The cutoff for the 36th Annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic is Saturday. Every team that is in first place in its conference, plus seven atlarge teams based on the Courier-Post’s Top 20, will earn a spot in the 16-team field. Sacred Heart, the defending champion, is in line to participate for the fourth consecutive year. … The Cape-Atlantic League American Conference is having a forgettable year. Millville, Hammonton and Mainland are the only clubs with records above .500, while Egg Harbor Township and St. Augustine Prep, two teams that were expected to contend for the conference title, are battling just to get into playoff contention. … Hammonton has been a pleasant surprise in the conference, however, leaning on the arms of co-aces Steve Melchiorre and Nick Crescenzo. Each pitcher has two wins for the 6-1 Blue Devils, who lead CAL American II. … Was it something I said? Three days after it said in this space that Buena centerfielder Ken Miles was having a better season so far than Millville’s Mike Trout,

Trout went 4-for-4 with two home runs (a grand slam and a three-run inside-the-parker), seven RBIs and five runs against rival Vineland. Consider Trout back on top of the heap. … Miles, not to be outdone, went yard in a win over Middle Township the same day. … East Carolina, Trout’s planned college destination, edged into the Baseball American College Baseball Top 25 this week for the first time. The Pirates (32-13) debuted at No. 25. … Sacred Heart acquires a boost to its pitching depth with junior Isaac Gonzalez and sophomore Chris Bell due to return today. Gonzalez and Bell were academically ineligible for the first month of the season, Lions coach John Triantos said. … Yankees fans might have recognized the guy pitching against their team on Wednesday. Seton Hall Prep product Rick Porcello, 20, carried a onehit shutout into the fourth inning against the Yankees before giving up five hits and six runs and leaving with two outs in the inning. — Ben Watanabe

BLOGS.THEDAILYJOURNAL.COM/INTHEDIRT

The Daily Journal player poll THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

WILLIAMSTOWN

The Daily Journal’s

Unplayable field 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

Junior

CF

If you were building a team, what position would you start with?* Shortstop 6 votes

Catcher 6 votes

Cumberland coach Rich Husted quipped earlier this year that the Braves “had Vince Coleman out there in centerfield.” Husted wasn’t far off in his comparison. Gordon, a speedy center fielder, lopes to fly balls and line drives most outfielders only dream of tracking down. Upcoming games: ➤ Saturday at Highland, 4 p.m. ➤ Monday vs. Cumberland, 4 p.m. ➤ Wednesday vs. Clearview, 4 p.m.

Pitcher 33 votes

*Based on responses from 45 local baseball players. Staff graphic/Joe Moore

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