South Jersey Baseball History:
Dateline: May
Wednesday, May 2, 2001
By Charlie Schick
South Jersey Baseball Historical Society
Dateline is a diary of South Jersey baseball that highlights area players, games, events, and outstanding accomplishments in the past history of the great game of baseball. The June dates and facts listed below are taken from the manuscript entitled "A Day's Walk Through South Jersey Baseball."
May 2, 1898 The Burlington County Semi-pro League, the oldest in the State of New Jersey, played their first league game on this date. The Beverly Athletic Association and the Burlington Athletic Association were opponents for this history making event. The Beverly ball club was the overwhelming victor on this day beating Burlington 9 to 3.
May 5, 1966 Bridgeton High second baseman Dick Lacavers stroked 5 singles to lead his mates to an 11 to 6 win over Pennsauken High. Lacavers' 5 singles gave him a perfect 5 for 5 at the plate. The crafty infielder also scored 2 runs and drive-in 2 mates in the victory that awarded Bridgeton at least a tie for the Group 4 League title.
May 8, 1981 Haddonfield High pounded out 18 hits to blast Paulsboro High 24 to 8. The winner's J.D. Paternoster hit for the cycle, single, double, triple & homerun, and teammate Paul Levin collected 4 hits and 3 RBI to lead the offense. The Haddon's scored in every inning and had a 16 to 0 advantage after just 3 innings.
May 12, 1968 Glassboro State College's Sal Ingemi became only the second pitcher in the school's history to throw a no-hitter, when he downed Newark State College 13 to 0. He struck out 7 and walked 5 in improving his season record to 4-0. Glassboro's Chuck Dougherty and Jim Kovalsky had 3 hits each for a 16 hit attack.
May 16, 1947 Penns Grove High's ace hurler Wyatt Spencer tossed a no-hit, no-run game to defeat Salem High by the count of 9 to 0. Spencer struck out 12 batters in hurling his tremendous game. The winners collected 13 hits, with Spencer and shortstop Joe Ryan, home run, each producing 2 each.
May 18, 1937 Pleasantville High's ace right-hander Max Manning pitched another brilliant game as he struck out 22 Atlantic City High batters. Even with Manning's fabulous effort, Pleasantville lost to Atlantic City 3 to 2 in 9 innings. This contest was for bragging rights for the best team record on the Jersey shore.
May 20, 1963 Pennsville High's 32-game winning streak came to an end when they lost to Gunning-Bedford High of Delaware by a 5 to 4 score. The defeat also ended pitcher Ed Rieger's phenomenal 25-game string without a loss. The chunky right-hander came into the contest in relief and was charged with 2 unearned runs that caused his heartbreaking loss.
May 22, 1977 Mike Manders, Haddon Heights High graduate, pitched Camden County College into the Junior College World Series, when he helped defeat Allegheny Community College by the score of 9 to 1. Offensive heroes for the winners included John Nicholson, Chuck Boehmer, Lou Piergross and Robbie Potts.
May 26, 1951 Camden Catholic High out slugged Collingswood High by the score of 12 to 8. The hard fought victory wrapped up Catholic's first undefeated baseball season in the school's history. First baseman Don McComb had 3 hits including 2 doubles and Joe Strippoli added 3 hits with a 3-run home run, to lead the Irish explosive offense.
May 28, 1993 Cherry Hill West High School captured an unprecedented seventh straight South Jersey Group baseball championship. In a major upset victory, the Cherry Hill squad won a hard fought 7 to 6 game over Toms River East High. The victory gave the winners the South Jersey Group IV title. The winning pitcher was Pete Woznitzer and Brad Napoll was credited with the game winning hit.
May 30, 1985 Shawnee High's Todd Nichols mashed 3 home runs, a 3-run blast in the first, a solo shot in the third and a 2-run homer in the fourth, in a game against Pemberton High. The Renegades hit 2 additional round trippers on their way to a 10 to 2 victory over Pemberton in Burlington County League play.
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