High School Baseball: Haddon Township Advances to Rohrer Classic Tournament Finals Sunday, April 9, 2006 By Stu Franklin SJSports Special Correspondent April showers paid us a visit for most of the day on Saturday and the meteorologist suggests that the area is in much need for rain. Caught in the middle of the rain drops were the teams participating in the Rohrer Classic Baseball Tournament. Burlington Township, Haddon Township, Lower Cape May and Timber Creek were the teams participating in this year's tournament. The preliminary round started off with Burlington Township taking on Timber Creek at one location and at the same time at another location, Haddon Township hosted Lower Cape May. With Haddon Township and Timber Creek advancing to the finals of this tournament, it would be the Hawks from Haddon Township outlasting the Chargers to win it all. The Falcons from Burlington Township and Timber Creek had the honor of playing at the Recchino Field. The Falcons were looking to end a mini losing streak after winning their first game of the season. The Chargers were getting run support so far this season, but the wins were hard to come by. So when both these teams met on the field, it would be Timber Creek who got the early start on their opponent by scoring two runs during the first inning. Starting pitcher Gary Thompson would shut out the Falcons through six innings to pick up the 14-3 win. Burlington Township would avoid the shutout by scoring all of their runs during their last at bat. The Hawks have gotten off to a good start this season by winning three of their first four games on their schedule. Lower Cape May were able to win their first game of the season but had dropped their next two games from their division. Haddon Township hosting the Tigers were not hospitable host as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first two innings were completed. The Tigers would respond by scoring two runs during their top half of the third inning. But the Hawks would get those runs right back. When this five inning game was completed, Haddon Township had picked up the 14-2 win. Pete Bannon provided a lot of run support with a double and a home run for the Hawks. Tom MacAlpine also homered, Robert Harrington smashed two doubles and Rhitman picked up the win for Township. During the championship game with Timber Creek being awarded the home team against Haddon Township, there were a total of nine runs scored during the first three innings with three lead changes. The Hawks appeared to have the early momentum when they scored three runs during their first time at bat. The Chargers would cut their deficit to 3-2 after their first at bat but took the lead, 4-3, after two innings. Right back battled the Hawks to regain their one run advantage. Haddon Township would then take what appeared to be a safe lead at 13-6 with Timber Creek having one last at bat, but the Chargers would come up two runs short. Haddon Township would win the Rohrer Classic Baseball Tournament by a 13-11 score. Photos by Mark Fletcher