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ABOUT THE COVER
Winning the faceoff is a huge part of any boys lacrosse team’s success, and Ocean City has one of the best in the business in senior Billy Kroeger, who has won 76 percent of the faceoffs he’s attempted this season. But Kroeger is much more than just a faceoff specialist, he’s a three-sport star and, more importantly, one of the top students in the school. He carries a 4.3 GPA and scored better than 1300 on his SATs, and plans to attend NJIT to play lacrosse and study biomedical engineering. Flip to page 10 to read more about one of the Red Raiders’ top athletes. — 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: 22 Overall Issue Number: 129. 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 Red-hot: Jaden Millstein and the Ocean City Red Raiders are the
hottest team in the Cape-Atlantic League, having won nine straight games to improve to 14-3 overall. During the winning streak the pitching and defense have been dominant, as Ocean City has not allowed more than one run in any of those nine games, and also has two shutouts. But the offense has been just as good, as the Red Raiders have outscored opponents 70-7. u All-Prep finals: The CAL boys tennis championships featured six players from St. Augustine Prep, as Phil Ritchie beat teammate Vince Coira for the singles title, and Casey Burhanna teamed up with Conor Franz to get past their doubles teammates, Reilly Burhanna (Casey’s older brother) and Rob Ritchie (brother of Phil). u Cooke-ing up a big win: The Mainland boys lacrosse team kept its hold on first place in the CAL National Conference with a recent win over Absegami, as Colin Cooke racked up six goals to pace the Mustangs to a 12-4 victory.
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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OLD CAPE RECYCLING SCHOLAR ATHLETES
Nawrocki brothers team up for success Robbie, Jake rely on each other in order to be their best at Cedar Creek By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer obbie and Jake Nawrocki, currently a senior and junior, respectively, on the Cedar Creek lacrosse team, claim that when they first started playing lacrosse back when Robbie was in seventh grade, they only broke one neighbor’s window. It might take a canvasing of their Port Republic neighborhood to verify that claim, but, given their academic standing at the Egg Harbor City high school, it’s probably safe to say we can take their word for it and trust them. Robbie, a midfielder, is in the top 10 of his senior class and Jake, the Pirates’ goalie, currently is the No. 1 student in his junior class, and they both are a big reason why the Pirates have become a more competitive lacrosse program the past couple of years. This edition’s Old Cape Recycling Scholar Athletes have helped Cedar Creek to a 6-7 record, following a 16-1 win over Atlantic City on May 6, and the Pirates are third in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference behind only more established programs like Mainland and Absegami. “We’re competitive. Having him on the field, if I’m having a bad game he’ll tell me where to shoot, with him being a goalie and me as attack. There’s a rivalry between us that’s unsaid,” Robbie said. “I’m just a competitive person. In everything I do, I want to be the best I can be. I want to be the best I can on the field helping teammates, I want to be my best in the classroom and do the best I can every time. I think that’s a testament to who you are, so that’s why I try so hard in everything I do.” “Robbie is a kid who, as soon as he came in as a freshman, he was out on the field for us. Just a high-motor player, a captain, and he’s definitely one of the leaders on this team. On offense, everything kind of runs through him,” said Cedar Creek coach George Cappuccio. “On the bus to away games, Jake will be doing advanced Calculus during the ride. We give him a hard time and joke around about it, but it comes from a good place and he gets a kick out of it. They are both really good kids and it’s been fun to watch their high school careers.” The only sons of Rob Nawrocki and Deanna Krupp
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Robbie, left, and Jake Nawrocki have enjoyed success both on and off the lacrosse field at Cedar Creek. They both are in the top 10 in their class academically and the Pirates currently are in third place in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference. said they typically get along pretty well, and spend many nights at the kitchen table grinding out homework, even after long days of school and either lacrosse, cross country or swimming. Robbie is planning on attending Fairleigh Dickenson University next fall to study Psychology, while Jake, who still has one more year of high school to go, is hoping to get into an Ivy League school. “I’m not really a big math guy, like AP Calculus. I like classes like Anatomy, Psychology, Physiology, those types of classes. At FDU I’ll be majoring in Psychology,” Robbie said. “(Jake) pushes me and just having him there, I always have somebody to rely on and talk to. If I’m having a bad game, or if he’s having a bad game, we each have somebody we can talk to. And since we play different positions we can help each other.” Growing up in the tiny town of Port Republic and attending the K-8 Port Republic School, there weren’t a lot of sports options, so when the boys were younger their father encouraged them to give lacrosse a try, and both said they took to it right away.
So much so that they would spend hours on summer nights, sometimes well after dark, working on their game in the family’s backyard. “My dad said a while ago that I should start playing lacrosse and eventually we started playing. We started a little later than most kids, but I knew as soon as I started playing that I loved it,” Robbie said. “Just everything about it, it’s kind of like basketball — it’s like a couple of sports in one, it’s fast-paced and competitive, and that’s what I like about it.” “It’s been nice. When I came on the team as a freshman I was already friends with a lot of the guys (through Robbie), the upperclassmen, so that was cool. It was nice being on the team, and he helped me on the field, telling me what I can improve on,” Jake added. “You have that dream duo of a goalie and a middie. He loves ripping shots on me in the backyard. He’s always telling me to suit up and I’m like, ‘OK, I guess I’ll get a couple more black-and-
See Nawrocki, page 7
May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 7 Nawrocki, from page 6 blue marks today. Sometimes it gets dark and I’m like, ‘dude, I’m not even seeing it!’ And he’ll say, ‘I won’t hit you in the leg or the face.’ Sometimes we’ll be out there until 9 p.m. in the summer.” Rather than bicker like some teenage brothers might, the Nawrocki boys actually team up a lot to increase the chances of individual success. And, they actively root for each other to continue to improve, both on the field and in the classroom. “It’s nice because if I’m having trouble academically, it’s like having a tutor sometimes. He’s always there helping me with all my assignments. Sometimes on the field you get too caught up in the game and you’re not playing well, and you just need someone to calm you down, and there is no better person than a brother or sibling who knows how you act to be able to calm you down,” Robbie said. “I usually go to my room and he goes to his, and around 9 p.m., if I’m having trouble we’ll end up doing our homework at the kitchen table. For the most part we stick to our separate rooms, but I’m the one who will go to his room if I’m having trouble. Everyone knows he’s No. 1 in the class, but he deserves it with the amount of time he puts in. I’ll be in bed watching YouTube or something or watching film and he’s at the kitchen table, writing away, doing all
his work, but you get to be No. 1 by doing all that.” “Once you start thinking about (your class ranking) too much, then the pressure starts getting to you and you’re not helping yourself. So, I just focus on the best I can do, and what happens, happens. Like today, Robbie and I just took a national AP exam, so during lacrosse season it can be a little bit of a grind. Last year, we had our first playoff game in school history and on the ride to the game I was studying for an AP test. We had a rain delay and I kept studying. It can definitely be difficult to balance (sports and academics) and spring is a little tough with all the classes coming to an end,” Jake said. “We’re in two or three of the same classes this year and we’ll love being like, ‘how you’d do on this test? Or, how’d you do on that quiz?’ We’re always comparing, but it’s good because we’re always helping each other out at the kitchen table at night.” Next year will offer a little different dynamic as only Jake will be left at home. He says he’s looking forward to having more personal space in the house, but his mom warns him that it won’t take long for him to start missing his older brother. Jake agreed. “It’s going to be rough next year,” he said. “My mom says I’m going to miss him and I’ll say, ‘no, I’m not.’ But I probably will.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Robbie Nawrocki, above, leads the Pirates in goals and Jake, the team’s goalie, has more than 100 saves so far this season.
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GREATE PERFORMANCES
SPONSORED BY GREATE BAY RACQUET & FITNESS
Absegami’s Flukey twirls perfect game The Absegami softball team has had an upand-down season, but starting pitcher Kaylin Flukey (pictured) was definitely on her game on May 6, as she hurled a perfect game during the Braves’ 7-0 home victory over Holy Spirit. Flukey fanned nine batters and got some bigtime help from her defense, and also helped her own cause with an RBI. u Bella Canesi, Mainland softball: Canesi went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot, and drove in three during Mainland’s 7-2 victory over rival Ocean City in the teams’ annual “Strike Out Cancer” matchup. Canesi, just a freshman, is hitting close to .500 so far this season and has quickly become one of the most feared sluggers in the Cape-Atlantic League. u Jess Ingram, Mainland softball: Ingram, the Mustangs’ No. 1 pitcher, has been dominant the past few weeks. She struck out 16 in a victory over previously unbeaten St. Joseph, snapping the Wildcats’ 18-game winning streak to start the season. She then fanned 11 and walked just one in a 7-2 win over Ocean City, and followed that up with another 11-strikeout performance in Mainland’s 4-1 win over Cedar Creek. u Russell Riek, Cedar Creek baseball: Riek, an outfielder and senior captain, had a huge day at the plate in the Pirates’ 9-2 win over Mainland on May 6. He finished with three hits, including a three-run homer. u Katrina Cabinian, EHT golf: Cabinian helped lead the Eagles to a 164-222 win over Atlantic City at Brigantine Golf Links by shooting a 3-over-par 39, leading all scorers, as the Eagles improved to 11-2. u Cole Vanderslice, St. Augustine Prep baseball: Vanderslice had a tough day recently on the mound against Bishop Eustace, but bounced back in a big way against Gloucester Catholic at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Mainland Regional. He pitched six shutout inning and worked himself out of a huge jam in the first inning without allowing a run despite having two runners on and less than two outs. “He’s back. He hasn’t been the same this year
a little bit, but that was a tremendous effort by him, a gutsy effort,” Prep coach Mike Bylone said. “That was the Cole of last year, no doubt. He’s pitched all the big games for us, he’s been on this stage. He wanted it, and you have to put a lot of stock in that. He pitched in the state championship game last year, and (today) was a tremendous effort from him. I’m proud of him.” u Mikey Vanaman, St. Augustine Prep boys lacrosse: The Hermits trailed Ocean City 2-0 early on May 6, but then Vanaman, a senior who is headed to Wagner, scored a hat trick as part of a 5-0 run that ultimately led to an 8-7 win by St. Augustine. He finished with a gamehigh five goals as the Hermits improved to 10-2 overall. “When Mike gets it in his mind that he’s beating his matchup, we encourage that, even if it means we’re not in one of our traditional sets. He has the kind of speed, IQ and lateral ability to make plays, and that’s what we asked him to do. He did a good job with it,” said Hermits coach J.C. Valore. “Obviously, last year it was an emotional loss on our Senior Day. We were all hurt by that, and coming into this year, this was one we saw
on our schedule where we’d be lying to you if we said we were going to treat this game like a regular game,” Vanaman said. “We were fired up to play this game and they were fired up, too. They brought their ‘A’ game and played a heck of a game, too.” u Charlie Dahl and Christian Kuhn, Ocean City boys lacrosse: During that matchup against St. Augustine Prep, Kuhn scored a pair of goals, including the 100th of his career, and Dahl finished with 15 saves. u Phil Ritchie, St. Augustine Prep boys tennis: Ritchie has been the Hermits’ third singles player this year, but he got hot at the CapeAtlantic League tournament and won the individual title by beating teammate Vince Coira in straight sets. “All the singles guys have been working really hard, and the doubles guys, too. I was just trying to be very consistent. I didn’t feel too much pressure, I was confident so I just had to let the pressure roll off my back. I thought I had a pretty good day. Vince is a very good player who hits the ball really hard, and he has a very good first serve, so I just tried to get every ball back, be consistent and hit it deep,” Ritchie said.
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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY
X
marks the spot
Scholar athlete Billy Kroeger of Ocean City is a master at the possession game By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ossession is 9/10 of the law. That’s an expression that means that ownership is easier to maintain if someone has possession of something, and difficult to prove if someone does not. In lacrosse, possession is everything. If a team can dominate possession, it’s going to win a lot of games. The faceoff position in lacrosse is known as the “X” position, and for good reason. Win a lot of faceoffs and you’ll set a great eXample for your team. Lose a lot of them, and you’ll get a quick eXit from the game and spend a lot more time on the bench. There’s a reason Ocean City annually is one of the best boys lacrosse teams in South Jersey, and it’s because the Red Raiders seem to always have a great faceoff player. The past couple of years have been no different, as Billy Kroeger, now a senior, has been the guy starting everything off for Ocean City. His numbers this year are staggering for a faceoff player — he’s won 211 of 277 faceoff attempts, or 76 percent. Most teams don’t even have a player who can win 50 percent. And he’s had success against great teams, too. In a May 6 loss to St. Augustine Prep, Kroeger won 10-of-18 attempts and against Cape Henlopen (Del.) he won 19-of-24. Cedar Creek won just one faceoff against Kroeger, and Bishop Eustace only two. The only team to stifle Kroeger has been Salesianum, which won 11-of-15 against him. “I’m excited for him moving forward. As much as you don’t want to see somebody go, they have to move on to bigger and better things. One of the best traits he has is he knows he’s not the greatest fundamental player on the field, but where he makes up for that is with his work ethic. In faceoffs, you’re either good because you have done it so many times and
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Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Not only is Ocean City senior Billy Kroeger a star athlete in three sports, he’s also one of the high school’s top students, carrying a 4.3 GPA and scoring 1360 on his SATs. you are quick enough to escape a physical faceoff guy, or you’re a grinder like him who grinds on every faceoff. He does a really good job of varying his moves and counter moves throughout a game so the other faceoff guy and wing guys don’t know exactly what we’re doing,” said Ocean City lacrosse coach Joe LaTorre. “We’re one of the few teams in the state that actually has a faceoff system that we implement. Our wing guys know exactly where we’re putting the ball, and it shows. Aside from one game this year, we’ve been in the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties as far as percentage of faceoffs won. It doesn’t help you when you don’t have the ball. There are teams that don’t care about faceoffs because they have enough talent that they know they are eventually going to get the ball, but complete teams have a faceoff crew, a solid offense and a solid defense. If you want to compete at the highest level you have to have all three phases executing at a high level.” Kroeger said that when he first started high school, he just wanted to be a guy who contributed in some way and figured he’s just be an average guy on the
team. He’s been much more than average. He was a two-way starter on a football team that has made big strides the past couple of years, was a wrestler who made it to the Region 8 Championships this year, and has been a huge part of the boys lacrosse program’s success the past four years. He’s also become a leader in the senior class, scored a 1360 on his SATs, carries a 4.3 grade-point average, and, oh yeah, by the way, just happens to be headed to NJIT this fall to begin studying biomedical engineering. “When I was coming into high school, I hoped my career would turn out this way. I hoped I could contribute on all my teams. But, at first, I didn’t expect it to go this well. It was a jump from middle school sports, but I’ve always liked playing against older kids. I knew I had to keep getting better so I could contribute to the teams and make a name for myself. When I came in to play football I thought I would just be a middle-of-the-road type of guy, I never expected to be a team leader, but I like being a leader and al-
See Kroeger, page 11
May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 11 Kroeger, from page 10 ways hoped to be one. Coaches were always telling me I needed to be more vocal. It was a bit of a jump, but I got used to it,” he said. “Most of my drive comes from my parents, they’ve always driven me and made sure school work came first. If all my homework wasn’t done before practice, I couldn’t go. Grades always came first, and I knew if I got a bad grade I wouldn’t be able to play. There are sacrifices, but you have to sacrifice something in order to succeed.” “He’s a kid who got better every year. He started for us as a sophomore probably more out of our necessity, but he wasn’t afraid or intimidated with playing varsity football,” said Red Raiders football coach Kevin Smith. “Each year he became more of a leader and got more experience. He’s so smart that it’s like having another coach on the field. We were able to give him a lot of responsibility because he could handle it.” The three sports he plays are very demanding. In football, he was a tight end and outside linebacker, rarely com-
Kroeger is one of the top faceoff players in South Jersey, winning 76 percent of the faceoffs he’s attempted through Ocean City’s first 16 games. ing off the field, wrestling is a nearly four-month grind filled with cold nights and long Saturday tournaments, and lacrosse players run probably as much as track stars. Yet through it all, Kroeger has excelled, both athletically and academically. “This senior class is the greatest class I’ve had the chance to work with, from a work ethic standpoint and a
character standpoint. He’s one of those kids you wish you had 10 more like him. He’s one of the hardest working kids. We have practice most nights from 5-8 p.m. I’ll go out on the turf a few hours before practice to set things up, and he’s out there with his headphones in working on his faceoff game, two hours before practice. You have to put in the time and that’s why he’s so
successful. The best faceoff guys have had thousands of repetitions. And him being a multi-sport athlete, the best faceoff guys are wrestlers. They are very similar with the anticipation of the whistle. In wrestling, if you are late on the whistle you’re making things really tough on yourself, and with faceoffs it’s the same thing,” LaTorre said. “He’s mature beyond his years. He’s one of those guys who people look at him and say, ‘man, I wish I knew what he knows at that age.’ He’s ahead of his time. Most people, it takes until college to figure out what he’s figured out.” “I came into high school thinking I would be in the middle, maybe help a little bit, but then when I saw myself becoming the athlete and leader I always wanted to be, it kind of surprised me. I saw who I was as an athlete and a person, playing three demanding sports, it really shows who I was as a person as well as an athlete,” Kroeger added. “You just have to realize what your goals in life are. One extra sprint is tough, but you know it’s going to
See Kroeger, page 13
May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 13 Kroeger, from page 10 help you in the long run. Staying up late one night to do homework and being at home instead of out having fun might seem like it sucks, but you know in the long run it’s going to pay off. There are going to be sacrifices, but just knowing what your goals are in the future helps you get through a lot.” Count coach Smith among the many who marval at Kroeger’s ability to be one of the top students in the school while also competing at a high level in three sports. “I don’t know how he does it, to be honest,” Smith said. “Those are three hard sports to practice day in and day out, much less the games. I remember talking to his mom one time and she said he doesn’t know what to do if he’s not playing a sport. He’s the type of kid who thrives on the structure and the competition.” There are still a few weeks left in Kroeger’s high school career, and he’ll no doubt finish the same way he started — giving 100 percent of his effort and energy until the final whistle blows to end the 2019 lacrosse season, which will come at some point in the upcoming state playoffs. Even if the Red Raiders don’t win a state championship, Kroeger said he will have no regrets whenever he takes off his uniform for the last time. “Just playing for Ocean City has been the best part of my career. I haven’t seen many schools as
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Kroeger was one of just two Ocean City players, along with fellow senior Brandon Lashley, who played the entire football season as starters on both offense and defense. tough as us, where everybody just wants to get after it every day. Even in football, when things weren’t going well, everybody was there for each other and that showed on the field. Wrestling was the same way, everybody getting after it every
day,” he said. “I played every sport, every play, every down, every match as hard as I could, to the point where I have no regrets.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
SHORE HARDWARE INSIDE LACROSSE
O.C., Prep goalies show talent in big matchup
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t might sound a little bit crazy talking about goalies after a game in which 15 goals were scored, but sometimes you have to actually be at a game instead of just looking at a box score to realize how well a particular player performed. On May 6, St. Augustine Prep traveled to Carey Stadium, home of Ocean City, to take on the Red Raiders in a matchup that featured two of the best offensive units in South Jersey, so it wasn’t going to be an easy day for either Joey Serafine of the Hermits or Charlie Dahl of Ocean City. But both goalies came up big for their respective teams at different points in the game. Dahl, who had the unenviable task of taking over for the graduated Mark Kolmer last season, has developed into one of the top goalies in the state and it was easy to see why against St. Augustine. He made four huge saves in the first quarter that helped the Red Raiders build up a 2-0 lead, and throughout the game he kept stopping point-blank shots, which might be the toughest thing to do in lacrosse. He ended up finishing with 15 saves against one of the top offenses in the region. “Both offenses are potent and we knew coming in who they had, and they know who we have. It really boiled down to how many possessions each team would have. The whole fourth quarter, Billy Kroeger and Charlie Dahl stood on their heads to keep us in the game,” said Ocean City coach Joe LaTorre. “The biggest thing that’s going to come from this is we’re
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
St. Augustine Prep goalie Joey Serafine came up with some huge saves, including two in the final 20 seconds, to help the Hermits score an 8-7 victory over Ocean City on May 6. going to learn a lot. We’re going to learn a lot about what we need to do to finish games, it’s that simple. I told the kids, ‘I’m proud of you for the way you played. Am I mad that we lost? Do I like losing? Absolutely not. But I’d rather lose today than next week when the playoffs start. This is the best thing we could have right before the playoffs.” “This was a classic game with two very talented
teams where both went on runs,” added Prep coach J.C. Valore. “Luckily, we were able to stop one of their runs at the end. There were some great saves out there. Both teams have strong defensive personnel and dangerous offensive personnel.” Serafine finished with about a dozen saves, including two in the final 20 seconds that helped the Hermits get out of town with an 8-7 victory.
NEWS & NOTES u Big win for defending champs: Absegami came into Linwood on May 4 looking to knock off Mainland, but the Mustangs are the defending Cape-Atlantic League champions for a reason. The Stangs jumped out to a 3-2 lead after the first quarter, then outscored the Braves 6-1 over the next two quarters to take a commanding 9-3 lead before cruising to a 12-4 victory and hold their position at the top spot in the CAL National race. Unfortunately, this year there won’t be a true league champion, as the leaders in the National and American conferences, which are now Main-
land and Ocean City, don’t play each other. But with the win over Absegami, Mainland took a big step toward wrapping up the National title. The Stangs got huge performances from Colin Cooke, who had six goals, Dominic Gagliardi, three goals and five assists, and Brandon Batz, who scored twice and added three assists. On the other side, Absegami’s Luke Wescoat finished with an astounding 32 saves. u On another level: The Ocean City girls squad typically doesn’t get a whole lot of competition in the CAL, and this year has been no different. The Red Raiders are 14-2 overall
and undefeated against CAL opponents (9-0, including 6-0 in the CAL American), and their only losses have come against out-of-state opponents. They also have some very big wins to their credit, incuding victories over Red Bank Catholic, Eastern and Shawnee. Not surprisingly, senior Danielle Donoghue has been leading the way with 45 goals and 40 assists, and Emily DiMarino is second on the team with 39 goals. Anna Devlin, another senior and one of the more underrated players in South Jersey, is having a fantastic season with 29 goals and 16 assists.
bunting family pharmacy BASEBALL REPORT
AROUND THE HORN u Fly the Jolly Roger: Cedar Creek has struggled with consistency this year as a young but up-and-coming team, but when they are good, the Pirates are very good. On May 6, Cedar Creek picked up a signature win in the young tenure of head coach Ryan Flannery, as the Pirates went on the road and beat Mainland Regional, 9-2, behind a huge performance from senior Russell Riek. Riek had three hits, including a 3-run dinger, and scored three times as the Pirates continued to put pressure on the teams at the top of the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference. And with the arms Flannery has available, the Pirates could be a surprise team in the upcoming South Jersey Group 2 playoffs. Luke Vaks has really been coming on as the Pirates’ No. 1 pitcher, and he struck out 11 while giving up just four hits in six innings against Mainland. u Coming on strong: St. Joseph started out 1-6, but has battled back to 8-7, and that hot streak has included wins over some pretty good teams, like Holy Spirit and Audubon.
GAMES TO WATCH u Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m.: Haverford (Pa.) at Ocean City: The Red Raiders have been hot of late, winning nine games in a row, and they’ll host and out-of-state opponent in a Saturday morning tilt. u Saturday, May 11, 7 p.m.: Holy Spirit at Mainland (at Birch Grove Park in Northfield: This should have been the opening game of the recent Coaches vs. Cancer Classic but it got rained out, so these two rivals will try it again under the lights in Northfield. Should be a great crowd on hand for this one! u Monday, May 13, 3:45 p.m.: St. Augustine Prep at Millville: The Hermits (16-2, 9-0 as of May 6) could take another step toward wrapping up the Cape-Atlantic League American Conference title with a win over Millville (10-5, 5-2), but it’s never easy beating the Thunderbolts at Mike Trout Field.
Red-hot Red Raiders I
f you have been keeping even a passing interest in Cape-Atlantic League baseball, you probably knew that Ocean City came into this season with a pretty good team and would be a factor in the CAL National race. But, eight games into the season, the Red Raiders were a fairly pedestrian 5-3 and had lost to the three toughest teams they faced, St. Augustine Prep, Mainland Regional and Absegami. They were shut out against Prep and no-hit by three Absegami pitchers in an 8-1 loss to the Braves. But then spring break came, and a trip to Florida, and coach Andrew Bristol’s boys have been on fire ever since, winning nine straight games to improve to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference race, just a half-game behind Absegami (11-4, 7-1). The Red Raiders have been doing it with the hallmark of most good Ocean City teams the past 30 years, i.e. pitching and defense. During the winning streak, which reached nine games with a 16-1 pounding of Lower Cape May on May 6, Ocean City has allowed just seven runs, including two shutouts. The Raiders haven’t allowed more than one run in any of those nine games, and outscored their opponents 70-7. That’s not a misprint! And during the streak the wins have come in all sorts of ways. During spring break, Ocean City beat Frontier Central (N.Y.) 4-1, then outscored Canisius (N.Y.) 23-1 in a pair of victories before heading back to New Jersey. Once home, Ocean City continued to roll, scoring a close 4-1 win over Buena Regional in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Mainland. The Raiders also beat Williamstown, 3-1, and Egg Harbor Township, 5-1, before some easier wins against Mainland, Cedar Creek and Lower Cape May. They outscored those conference foes 31-2. “We’re picking up the bats, we’re hitting so much better than we were earlier in the year and that’s a testament to the guys on the team,” senior left fielder Brandon Pokrass said after the win over Buena, a game in which he had perhaps the best catch of his life, laying out for a liner slicing away from him for a big out late in the game (pictured below). “We keep working our tails off in the cages every day, just working on our craft, and it’s shown in the past couple of games. We’ve been hitting the ball really well.” — Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer
PLAYERS EDGE
SOFTBALL REPORT DUGOUT CHATTER u Streak busters: St. Joseph had an 18-game winning streak to start the season but then ran into Mainland and junior pitcher Jess Ingram. Ingram twirled a 1-hitter with 16 strikeouts as the Mustangs won, 2-0, on April 30 to knock off the last reamaining unbeaten team in the Cape-Atlantic League. Makayla Veneziale was the only Wildcats batter to register a hit against Ingram, while Bella Canesi and Lauren Toner knocked in Mainland’s runs. u Steadying the ship: After a rough 2-8 start, Holy Spirit has been playing much better softball. Heading into a May 6 matchup against Absegami, the Spartans had gone 3-3 during a six-game stretch, including wins over Bridgeton, Atlantic City and Lower Cape May.
GAMES TO WATCH u Thursday, May 9, 4 p.m.: Cedar Creek at Buena Regional: Both teams are trying to stay alive in their respective CAL conference races. u Thursday, May 9, 4 p.m.: St. Joseph at Ocean City: The surprising Red Raiders get a huge test with the CAL United-leading Wildcats coming to town. u Friday, May 17, 4 p.m.: Vineland at Millville: This game was supposed to be played on May 6 but had to be moved because of heavy rains the night before. A huge CAL American matchup, if the Bolts win they could be on their way to wrapping up the conference title.
CAL races coming into focus
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e’re coming down the home stretch in the races for Cape-Atlantic League conference championships, with just a few weeks remaining before state playoffs begin, and while there is still much to be determined, we can now see who the contenders are for conference cham-
pionships. In the CAL American, it looks like a three-team race between Millville, Vineland and Egg Harbor Township, although Atlantic City has been playing better of late and is 7-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play, so the Vikings have a chance to play the spoiler’s role. Millville is 14-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference, including a win over Vineland (14-4, 5-1). EHT is still hanging around at 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference, and the Eagles were set to play both Vineland and Millville in the second week of May. It’s also a three-team race in the CAL National, as Main- Kaitlyn Riggs and Egg Harbor Township are hot on the heels land pulled ahead by a game of Millville and Vineland in the CAL American race. over rival Ocean City by beating the Red Raiders 7-2 in their annual “Strike Out Cancer” game on May 2. The Mustangs, after a bit of a slow start, came into this week 15-5 overall and 6-1 in the CAL National, a game ahead of Ocean City (10-3, 5-2). Cedar Creek is still hanging around at 4-3 in conference play despite being 8-13 overall. The other teams in the CAL National, Oakcrest, Middle Township, Absegami and Lower Cape May, each have at least four conference losses. The CAL United has been dominated so far by St. Joseph, which came into this week 21-1 overall and 9-0 in conference play, but a conference title is anything but assured at this point, as Buena (13-3, 7-1) is hot on the Wildcats’ heels. The rest of the teams all have at least three losses, so this looks to be a two-team race to the finish. — Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer
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SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Paige Sofield, Holy Spirit
The ultimate comeback A horrific leg injury freshman year nearly ended Paige Sofield’s high school athletic career. It turns out that was just the beginning. By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer aige Sofield is a senior at Holy Spirit High School and a very accomplished distance runner and basketball player. She’s been one of the top cross country runners and point guards in the Cape-Atlantic League the past two years, and now she’s one of the better softball catchers in the league despite never having played in high school prior to this spring. She decided to come out for the Spartans softball team this year to finish up her prep career rather than run track. In a game against Our Lady of Mercy Academy in mid-April, she gunned down a Villagers base runner who had strayed a little too far off first base, jumping up like a cat out of her catching crouch and throwing a laser down the line. Again, this is a girl who hadn’t strapped on the catcher’s gear since middle school. It seems as though Sofield can do
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whatever she wants athletically, but just a few years ago she wasn’t even sure if she would ever walk again, as a horrific leg injury ended her high school soccer career before it really even began. “Initially, I was hesitant to play softball because my freshman year, during the first scrimmage of the soccer season, I took the ball up inside the box, two girls charged at me and collided with me. I ended up breaking my femur, my kneecap and all the growth plates in my right leg. It was horrible. People were saying I’d never play soccer again, I’d never run again. I was in therapy for a year and a half, and, actually, I was in a wheelchair freshman year for about five months. All I wanted to do was play basketball. Sophomore year, I still couldn’t play because I was in a leg brace, and junior year it was like starting again as a freshman because I had no high school basketball experience. Luckily, I had a pretty good year last year, scored a lot
Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Holy Spirit senior Paige Sofield, a basketball star for the Spartans, is playing softball for the first time in her career and despite taking nearly four years off from the sport, she’s one of the better catchers in the Cape-Atlantic League. of points. My leg is all healed up, but I still feel it in the back of my leg sometimes,” Sofield said. “It was nervewracking, I got rushed to the hospital, they had to do emergency surgery and
I thought my life was over because all I wanted to do was play sports. That’s why I was nervous about playing soft-
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May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 21 Sofield, from page 20 ball, because I didn’t want to get hurt. But this year, I said, ‘why not try?’ I’d rather do it and regret it later. “My doctors were great, they ended up saving my leg. They put two screws in that went across my kneecap. When it would get cold, they would freeze inside my leg, and sometimes when I was sleeping I’d be in excruciating pain,” she continued. “Then, I was almost healed up and I had to get another surgery to take the screws out. It was horrible. It was like being in a bad car accident. I remember the first day I went to therapy and they tried to get me to ride the stationary bike and I couldn’t even move the pedals. I was like, ‘there’s no way I’ll ever be able to do this.’ But, I just kept pushing.” Sofield changed her whole approach to not only sports, but life in general. After healing from the injury, she became a workout fiend and adopted a strict athletic diet. She was so fit that she’s been a contender for the CAL cross country championship the past two years and rarely had to be taken out of a basketball game, aside from foul trouble. And, she is so naturally gifted athletically that she picked softball back up again as if she had taken only a week off, and not four years. “It’s been fun. She’s so fast, and to see her jump right in as a catcher — she played all the way up through eighth grade but then broke her leg freshman year playing soccer here, then wound up doing track once she got healthy and never played softball. But, now that she’s going to college for basketball, she said she wanted to take this season off from track and come out for softball, and we said, ‘absolutely.’ She didn’t make up her mind for the first few weeks, but came out about halfway through March, and we’re glad she did. She’s so fast and some competitive, she brings a different spirit to this team,” said Steve Normane, Holy Spirit’s athletic director and former baseball coach who took over coaching the softball program last spring. “She has no fear and it’s hard to stop her on the base paths once she gets a head of steam going. It’s been cool to see, because there is always that learning curve in baseball or softball with timing and hand-eye coordination, but she has it. She’s such a good athlete that she picked it up and that has allowed us to become better. Emily Magee was our catcher last year and now we can use her as a pitcher along with Nicolette (Calabrese). Paige coming in was huge because it allows Emily to play third base and also pitch.” It wasn’t easy to get Sofield to come out for the softball team this year. She was set on taking the spring off and just continuing to work on her basketball skills, but, eventually, cajoling from softball players got the better of her. And, she’s not the type of athlete who can take any time off. There’s too much competitive fire burning in her belly. “Everyone was thrilled. Once they found out she
During her two years of varsity basketball, Sofield was one of the most dynamic point guards in the CAL.
wasn’t going to run track they all started texting her and talking to her in school, trying to get her to come out for softball. I guess they wore her down,” Normane said. “But now that she’s out here, she’s loving it and you can see how much she enjoys playing. I can put her in center field, at shortstop, third base — she can probably pitch, for all I know. I’m glad she didn’t just take the whole season off.” “They’ve always asked me to play, but I never played in high school because of cross country, basketball and track. This year, I ran cross country as usual, played basketball, as usual, and I’m going to Kean University for basketball. So, I wasn’t sure if I was going to run track senior year. I had planned on taking the track season off and just continue to work on basketball, but (the softball players) kept asking me to play, saying they really needed me, and coach Normane was always trying to get me to play. One day, I was working out for basketball and saw them practicing and it just felt weird not playing a sport. I’ve never had an offseason. So I went up to coach Normane and said, ‘OK, I’ll play.’ It’s been a great decision, I love the team and the girls. I was nervous joining the team senior year because I hadn’t played in four years, but I got right back to how I was playing before,” Sofield said. “The first day I was catching and having a blast. It’s mostly hand-eye coordination. I have a thing I put around my head every night and I punch a tennis ball and it keeps coming back at me, so my hand-eye coordination has always been there. I made a deal with coach Normane, I said I’d come out and play but I had to catch. As a catcher, you’re involved with every play, and I always want to be in on every play. I love catching. I had an insidethe-park home run and that was fun. I actually hit another one, against Buena, but they said I missed first base. I’m pretty fast, so if I hit the ball into the outfield, I’m going. “It’s fun, the girls are great. We have such a good time, and coach Normane is the best guy ever.” Injuries have ended many athletes’ promising careers, but every so often they can define a particular
athlete’s career. Sofield won’t end up with the 12 varsity letters she had hoped for by the time she graduates in a few weeks, but she has earned something much more valuable — the knowledge that she is strong enough to overcome life’s most difficult challenges. “To watch her grow up for four years has been pretty cool. She was very immature and wasn’t really sure who she was her freshman and sophomore years, but these last two years she has grown into Paige Sofield, and she’s not shy or afraid of it, and that’s cool to see. She’s become her own woman, and she’s going to do well in college,” Normane said. “It’s been crazy to see, she has a couple home runs already. In a scrimmage, she hit a ground ball to second base and went diving into first base. She beat out a routine ground ball to second base. I’ve never seen anything like that.” “I wish I never broke my leg, obviously, because that put me back two years. I’m upset that I wasn’t able to get the 12 varsity letters I wanted, but at the same time, I don’t think I’d be where I am today if that didn’t happen. That injury made me so much stronger and able to overcome anything. I can’t imagine where I’d be if I didn’t have that injury. I treat my body like a temple now. I’m very aware of what I eat and what I do,” Sofield said. “For the first time in my life, nobody was saying my name. I was watching everyone else win and do their thing, seeing them in the paper, and I was thinking that my life was over because all I knew was sports. But I think it helped me because it made me a lot stronger. It made me mentally stronger and more physically fit. I was in a cast from my groin to the bottom of my toes, and my mom would wake up at 1 a.m. and be screaming at me because I’d be on the pull-up bar, cast and all. I didn’t want to get out of shape. All I wanted to do was work out and make myself better. So, it really helped me in the long run. It’s a crazy story.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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BASEBALL
The message remains strong Coaches, players know what they are playing for at Coaches vs. Cancer Classic By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer early a decade ago, Mainland Regional assistant baseball coach Mike Edwards — who then was an assistant under Roy Hallenbeck at Millville — helped start the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, an event that has evolved to become one of the premier South Jersey showcase events every spring along with the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic. The inspiration was Edwards’ mother, Kathy, who lost her life to ovarian cancer when Mike was in his first year with the Thunderbolts. The event used to be seven games over two days, but since moving to Mainland last year has been expanded to nine games over three days. Mainland was set to kick off the tournament on Friday, April 26, under the lights at Birch Grove Park in Northfield against Holy Spirit, but that game was rained out and now will be made up on Saturday, May 11, at 7 p.m. Still, the weekend — as it always is — was a huge success with some very competitive games, and a new twist this year. The player of the game for each game this year was awarded a ball signed by Major League Baseball star Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Trout is a former star at Millville who graduated in 2009 and has been one of the best players in the majors the past seven years. “It’s an honor to play in this. It feels like a playoff game and that’s what I like about it. There are good crowds here, a lot of baseball people in the crowd and they get to see us play. You’re kind of on display here,” said Ocean City coach Andrew Bristol,
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Mainland Regional head coach Billy Kern works on the field prior to the final game of this year’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. In nearly a decade since it began, the showcase event has raised tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research. whose team started off the Sunday slate of games with a 4-1 victory over Buena Regional. “My mom is a survivor, and it puts everything in perspective — just to be able to play this game and have fun playing it. Sometimes you take that for granted, but you should never take it for granted and just be thankful for everything you have.” The tournament raises thousands of dollars each year for cancer research and features some of the best matchups in South Jersey. This year, the marquee game was St. Augustine Prep vs. Gloucester Catholic in the Sunday afternoon matchup, a game that featured two of the top non-public teams in the state. The Hermits got out of a big jam
early on then rode the pitching of Cole Vanderslice and Kenny Levari to a 3-0 victory. “I’ll play (Gloucester Catholic) every day if it’s to raise money for cancer research,” said Levari, who came on for the seventh inning in relief of Vanderslice and picked up the save. “In a game like this, on a Sunday afternoon when people could be sitting at home, a lot of people came out and it was a fun atmosphere. It reminded me a playoff game.” “It’s cool to come out here and play because it makes you realize how much bigger things are than baseball. With so many people being affected by cancer, to come out here and play for a cause
like this is something I’d do every year. It’s awesome, I love this whole tournament,” Vanderslice added. “Bishop Eustace, after I pitched so badly, after that game, it makes you realize that things could be a lot worse and (in baseball) you’re always going to have an opportunity to make up for (a bad game). I’m very grateful, obviously, to play in this. It’s just a great cause and we’re happy to play in this tournament.” “This is awesome. It’s close, you get to see kids from all over, and there are always really good games,” said Ocean City freshman Tommy Finnegan, who
See Message, page 23
May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 23 Message, from page 22 got the starting nod on the hill against Buena. Cancer has touched so many families in South Jersey, which is why it is so important to these high schools to continue to raise money and awareness for a good cause. Hallenbeck lost his father to liver cancer, and his wife is a breast cancer survivor. Millville is a team that has been involved in the tournament since its inception, and has an open invitation every year to compete. Buena coach Harry Grose said he was upset with his team’s loss to Ocean City, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a loss on a baseball diamond, not in life, and that’s what he wants his players to understand. “We love it. We love the opportunity for Buena, a little Group 1 school, to come out and have a chance to battle with the big guys. It’s a great opportunity and I love the cause. Cancer is bad, and anything we can do to help, that’s what we have to do. It’s killing our society and I hope they come up with some cures, it’s been a long time waiting,” he said. “Our principal right now is going through it, our 10th grade pitcher, Brady Betts, his mother is fighting it — so it touches
Ocean City freshman Tommy Finnegan got the start for his team against Buena Regional in the prestigious Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in late April. Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
everybody, nobody escapes being touched by it. We love coming out and being a part of this. And South Jersey baseball is awesome, the scouts are out. They come to watch because they want to see good baseball. Added Ocean City senior outfielder Brandon Pokrass, “It’s great to be a part of this because I feel that anytime you can honor people who are fighting this battle — it’s harder than anything any of us have to go through on a daily basis. Some days it’s hard
for us to get out of bed early, go through school, but to watch someone who is going through cancer, it allows you to just step back and say, ‘man, maybe I don’t have it so rough.’ And just to be able to honor the people who are fighting that battle is great. My grandparents, my parents, they’ve lost people to cancer and have seen people fighting it, and to just be able to honor these people, I feel this is a great thing.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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SOFTBALL
Bella’s blasts highlight Mainland vs. Ocean City ‘Strike Out Cancer’ game By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer hroughout the country every year, high school sports teams are playing games in which teams wear pink uniforms, wristbands, hair bows, eye black. It’s an unfortunate reality that so many people are fighting cancer, and even most teenage athletes know at least one person who has been directly affected by the disease. Teams are trying to raise awareness and money to help battle a disease that has taken the lives of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Last week, the Mainland Regional and Ocean City softball teams played in their annual “Strike Out Cancer” game at Birch Grove Park in Northfield, and Mustangs freshman Bella Canesi had a lot on her mind. She was thinking about her aunt Mackenzie, who passed away last summer at age 60 after battling cancer. Canesi said she really wanted to hit a home run as a special way of honoring her aunt. She did better than that, blasting a pair of home runs — a solo shot to left field in the first inning and a two-run dinger to left-center in the third that put Mainland up, 3-0. That early offense, combined with the dominant pitching of Jess Ingram, helped lead the Mustangs to a 7-2 victory over their rival. Ingram went all seven innings, striking out 11 while allowing just five hits and one walk. Canesi also drew a walk, and the one time she did make an out it was a screaming line drive that Ocean City third baseman Savanna Holt somehow snagged. That came when the bases were loaded, and Red Raiders coach John Bruno seriously considered walking Canesi to force in a run, even though his team was trailing at
T Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Not to be overshadowed by her freshman teammate, Mainland pitcher Jess Ingram, a junior, pitched a great game against Ocean City, striking out 11 batters and allowing just two runs in the Mustangs’ 7-2 victory over the rival Red Raiders in the annual ‘Strike Out Cancer’ matchup at Northfield’s Birch Grove Park.
that point. “I was really excited to play for my aunt who just passed away last summer, and I was excited to get this win against a big rival,” Canesi said. “I was really trying to play for her, she was on my mind and she’s been on my mind for a while. I was really just trying to get one for her.” Mainland coach Brian Smith said Canesi has had to prove herself to get playing time as a rookie, but that took all of about a week of preseason. Coach Smith recognized early on that Canesi was likely going to be his No. 3 hitter for the next four years. The Mainland softball team came into the second week of May sporting a 15-5 record and was in first place in the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference race, and Canesi has been a huge part of the Mustangs’ success. She’s hitting .492 with 31 hits — including four doubles, a triple and six home runs — to go along with 20 runs scored and four stolen bases. She also fills in at pitcher from time to time, and has a 2-2 record with 34 strikeouts in 30 innings. “She had to work her way into the lineup. Freshmen have to prove themselves, and she’s done it. We have two freshmen starters and Bella has basically forced my hand — not that it was a very difficult decision. She’s putting quality at-bat after quality at-bat together, and even the outs she’s making are hard outs. It’s really easy to pencil her name into that No. 3 spot and let her do her thing. Even that line drive, Holt made a tremendous play. Bella is waiting for the pitch in her zone and putting great swings on it. She’s not trying to hit home runs, she’s just trying to put
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May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 25 Bella, from page 24 level swings on it and letting her natural power and ability do the rest. It’s quality at-bats against good pitching, and to have that composure and have that ability to recognize pitches out of the pitcher’s hand is a tribute to her talent, but she also works hard. It’s enjoyable to see her have such success,” Smith said. “You hate to hear these stories, but you love to hear about Jess Ingram the players thinking about it and consider junior pitcher who in their lives are on freshman important to them, and the fact that they outfielder are able to come out Bella Canesi here and represent those people. For Bella to come out here and do what she did for her aunt is tremendous for her.” “She’s insane. She’s so good. I can’t imagine being that good as a freshman,” added Ingram, a junior. Canesi said that, like any freshman, she was nervous about joining a varsity team filled with older players. But her teammates have taken quite a liking to her. Hitting nearly .500 will do that for a player. “My season has been really good. Starting out as a freshman, I was a little nervous coming into varsity, but I always do whatever I can to help my team, whether it’s base running, offense, defense — whatever I can do to help us win,” Canesi said. “I was just looking for pitches in my zone. I was waiting for my pitch and ready to drive the ball. I think we’ve really been coming together as a team, and having fun.” After the game coach Smith talked about the im-
“She’s insane. She’s so good. I can’t imagine being that good as a freshman.”
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Mainland freshman outfielder Bella Canesi has been tearing it up at the plate this year, hitting nearly .500 with 31 hits, including six home runs, in 20 games while helping the Mustangs to a 15-5 record. portance of a game like this, and how each player, on both teams, had listed someone they were playing for, which shows just how prevalent the fight against cancer is these days. “Everyone has someone who has been affected by cancer, and we’re just trying to raise awareness. We had Gilda’s Club out here with a table set up, we did a 50/50, we have a sponsor in Bunting Family Pharmacy and we’re going to donate that money to Gilda’s Club to help people who are coping with cancer. It’s
such an important thing that affects everyone,” Smith said. “Every girl had someone, and some had multiple people, they were playing for. It affects all our lives. So, just to raise awareness, and the girls get excited for it, it brings more meaning to a game to play for something like that and I think they appreciate the responsibility and opportunity they have to play for something bigger than themselves.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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BUSINESS PROFILE
Solid staff key to Artistic’s success Upscale hardware store in Northfield relies on expertise of employees as it continues to evolve By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer round this time 20 years ago, Pat McCarthy — then just 34 years old — decided to start his own business after a successful run with a company called Artistic Glass in Berlin. He and wife, Sunny, already had one child, and another on the way, so it seemed a little bit crazy to go chasing after a dream of owning and running a successful high-end hardware supply store. At least, Pat McCarthy would tell his younger self today that he was crazy to even think about it back then. But, sometimes in life you have to take a chance, and betting on the work ethic of himself and Sunny has paid off for McCarthy, who owns Artistic Hardware in Northfield — a staple on Tilton Road the past six years and a big part of the Northfield and Atlantic County business communities for two decades now. “There was an opportunity for me to branch off and start my own business, and a lot of our customers and supporters encouraged me to do so. It’s all tough in the beginning, and at any stage, really. We went to the Small Business Association and got some help there, I had a partner at the time who has since retired and he had a business called Artistic Glass in Berlin. So, having him was a big help,” McCarthy said. “My wife was very supportive. I think we were probably nuts, thinking back on it now. It was a big jump and a big move and it was lean for a while there. But, we both decided it was the right time and the right opportunity, and it’s worked out well. We’ve been in business for 20 years now.” His biggest fear back then is one that haunts just about everyone who de-
“...we always try to stay on the cutting edge of design trends and market changes.We’ve been really jumping into the lighting industry and we now have a full-blown lighting showroom, and that’s an exciting new avenue we’ve been going down.”
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Pat McCarthy Artistic Hardware owner
Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Pat McCarthy, of Northfield, has built Artistic Hardware into one of the premier local distributors of high-end kitchen, bathroom and lighting fixtures during his 20 years as a business owner. cides to start their own business. “Of course, failure — not just in business, but in life, failure is always your biggest fear,” he said. “It took a while and we had a lot of support from customers encouraging me to do it. Guys like Jimmie Leeds would say, ‘whatever you’re selling, we’re buying.’ So, having people like that out there giving us support helped calm some of our fears. We have a bunch of great contractors and designers we’ve been working with through the years, and they continue to be loyal and support us.” Artistic Hardware (430 Tilton Road, Northfield/609-407-7200) specializes in unique products for homeowners and contractors — the kinds of things you might not be able to find at a big box store — and also does work on movie sets. That all got started 20 years ago when McCarthy met Chuck Potter, the set designer for the motion picture “Snake Eyes” starring Nicholas Cage. “It’s a mix. Our contractor customers and interior designers are our base, and we also work hand-in-hand with a lot
of architects, helping with specs and fixture lists. We have our little niche with movie sets and that’s something we work at on a daily basis. That’s something that our operations manager, Tommy Vasallo, does a great job with. We’re primarily a contractor and designer business, but we’re open to the public as well. I do a lot of job site visits from Cape May to Brigantine, and we’ll often take projects on around the Main Line outside of Philly, we’ll send our trucks up there once a week. We also do a lot of work in Florida, too, as a lot of homeowners around here also have homes in Florida,” McCarthy explained. “We try to focus on products that are a little more unique and higher end — not your basic materials you’ll find at a typical home center or plumbing supply house. We’ve focused on that during all these years and continue to do so. That’s always been our niche and we’ve sort of taken that to the next level. These days, our biggest challenge is the internet. You can go on the internet and find almost anything, but what you can’t go on
the internet and find is customer service. The biggest challenge people find when they try to navigate the web and do a project that way is it tends to not work out very well. We had a customer who had found two faucets for $25 less than what I could offer and I told her I couldn’t match that price. She called me back and said, ‘these faucets I got don’t have any drains with them.’ So you don’t always know when you’re looking at a website what something includes, if it’s going to work, or if it will fit. Our strength — which has always been one of our strengths — is our follow through and our attention to detail, making sure everything works so a project doesn’t end up costing you ten times more than it should. People will order stuff online and they aren’t sure of the details of what they are getting, so, yes, our product knowledge and attention to detail is one of our strong points. We have a very knowledgeable staff. I couldn’t ask for a better group of employees.” Some of those employees are Operations Manager Tom Vasallo and Showroom Manager Carol Kelly, who both have been with the company for 16 years, as well as others such as Marjorie Harmelin, Leslie Rhodes, Celina Baca and Caroline Pezzano. And of course, having a great base of custom-
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May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 27 Artistic, from page 27 ers helps Artistic Hardware remain one of the premier supply houses in the area. “We have a lot of great customers,” McCarthy said. “We work with them and they work with us, and it’s a great dynamic. It’s been a great blueprint these past 20 years and hopefully it will continue to be so going forward.” Pat and Sunny have four children; Patrick, the oldest, is 21; Gillian, 19, a former star pitcher for the Mainland Regional High softball team, now plays at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Luke is 15 and finishing up his freshman year at Mainland; and Carly is 14 and about to graduate from eighth grade. “It’s been great being able to raise our kids right here in Northfield, it’s a great community. We have two in college and two more coming up, so I won’t be retiring anytime soon,” McCarthy joked. “But, yeah, it’s been a great place to raise a family, and sports has been a big part of that. My wife, of course, has been the backbone of our family. She’s an attorney by trade but after our second child she decided not to go back into the legal field. She works here at the store doing our payables and receivables, and does a great job raising our kids.” Even with a thriving business and successful family, McCarthy said he never rests on his laurels. In his business, you can’t; there is simply too
Celina Baca, left, and Marjorie Harmelin are two members of the sales team who help keep operations at Artistic Hardware in Northfield running smoothly. much competition. “I don’t know when you are really comfortable. You’re always looking at competition and the way the market is changing. You’re always looking over your shoulder, that’s for sure, and we always try to stay on the cutting edge of design trends and market changes,” he said. “We’ve been really jumping into
the lighting industry and we now have a full-blown lighting showroom, and that’s an exciting new avenue we’ve been going down. Other than that, everything’s busy. We stay busy every day.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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BASEBALL
Eagles’ good luck charm EHT baseball team has taken a liking to John ‘Griff’ Griffith and his lucky bicycle helmet By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he Egg Harbor Township baseball team came into the season ranked No. 16 in the state by nj.com but then the Eagles struggled out of the gate, dropping their first four games. Something wasn’t quite right and one day senior Cory Kessler realized what was missing — John Griffith’s lucky bicycle helmet. No sport has more superstitions than baseball, and anything from a quirky stuffed animal to players wearing their hats inside out on the bench can be considered a vital good luck charm. For the Eagles, that good luck charm for the past two seasons has been Griffith and his trusty helmet. “He came up to me in school and said that he didn’t have the helmet the first four games, and we lost. But the past three games we won, and we won today, so maybe it is a good luck charm,” Kessler said after EHT beat Bridgewater-Raritan in mid-April as part of a four-game winning streak that got the Eagles back to .500. “He loves baseball. He can’t play (on the varsity level) himself but he loves to be out here, and we love having him. It’s awesome to have him out here, he’s a good kid.” Griffith, a 17-year-old senior, began riding his bike to home games last spring and quickly became a team favorite, as he would chase down foul balls for head coach Bryan Carmichael and his staff. That led to Griffith coming around to practices to help out, and he’s been a mainstay at Eagles home
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Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
John Griffith, a senior at Egg Harbor Township, has been a big fan of the Eagles’ baseball team the past couple of years, riding his bike to home games and including, of course, his lucky helmet.
May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 29 Griff, from page 28 games the past two seasons. Carmichael even hooked “Griff” up with an official EHT baseball T-shirt that he can wear to games this year. “I like the energy from the crowd, and the guys are my family. I’m the hype man and the good luck charm,” Griffith said after the win over Bridgewater-Raritan. “Last year, we weren’t doing so good, and I brought my bike helmet and we started winning some games. (This year) we were 0-4, I brought the helmet back and then we were 4-4.” The Eagles seemed to be turning a corner in mid-April but then the lineup was ravaged with injuries. Kessler, starting center fielder Bobby Baxter and star first baseman Jordan Sweeney, a Rutgers University recruit, all went down. Heading into the second week of May, EHT was 7-9 overall but still in line for a spot in the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs. The Eagles were 15th in the section with 246 power points, and the top 16 make the tournament. However the season plays out, John Griffith is happy to be a part of the
team, and his presence helps the players realize that they should never take their talents for granted because there are plenty of kids who would love to be out there doing what they do. “Having Griff at the field just brings up our energy, he’s always on us to stay in the game and when we’re not playing well he tells us to play better. Having him here just makes us play better as a team,” Kessler said. “He comes to all of our games and he’s awesome to be around. And he doesn’t just come out on game day, he’s out here at practices. He’s always here, and he’s just a great kid to be around. He helps set up and break down the field, helps us clean the field. His main job is chasing down the foul balls during the game,” Sweeney added. “It humbles you knowing a guy like him can come out here every day and be happy. He doesn’t have to come to practice but he comes anyway. He wants to be here and wants to be a part of this, which is awesome. He motivates us, definitely. He’s a funny kid to be around and has a lot of jokes. He’s a nice kid.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
‘Griff’ spends time during games chasing down foul balls to help out the EHT baseball team, and also shows up to practices, helping to set up and break down the field before and after the Eagles work out.
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BOYS TENNIS
All-Prep CAL finals shows Hermits’ dominance St. Augustine’s third singles player makes history By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he Cape-Atlantic League boys tennis championships are held at Vineland High School every year in early May, and the last day of the three-day event features the singles and doubles championships. Usually there are a couple of different schools represented among the last six players remaining. This year, however, the final day could have been held at St. Augustine Prep, as the Hermits occupied every single position out on the court on May 2. And, for the first time in tournament history, a team’s third singles player won the individual tournament. That gives you an idea of just how dominant the Hermits’ tennis program has become. Mike Giunta, who won last year’s individual title with a stunning upset of Mainland Regional’s Nikola Kilibarda, was St. Augustine’s second singles player this year, and lost in the league semifinals. This year’s Hermits No. 1 player, Vince Coira, was playing first doubles a year ago, and even as good as the sophomore has gotten over
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St. Augustine Prep junior Phil Ritchie became the only third singles player to win the Cape-Atlantic League individual championship when he beat teammate Vince Coira on May 2 in the finals. the past year, he wasn’t able to win the trophy this time around, as junior Phil Ritchie upset his teammate in straight sets to take home the hardware for the first time in his career. “Our singles players are all evenly matched, in my opinion,” said Casey Burhanna, who teamed up with senior Conor Franz to win the doubles championship. “Phil is an amazing player, Vince is an amazing player and Mike’s an amazing player — and Phil coming in as third singles, he’s had a pretty easy year so far, so to come in and pull this off against that kind of competition was pretty impressive.”
The finals had two sets of brothers involved, as Phil’s brother, Rob, paired up with Reilly Burhanna in the doubles championship. Yup, that’s right, Casey and Reilly Burhanna were on opposite sides of the net, battling it out for the doubles championship. In the end, Casey and Franz outlasted Reilly and Rob Ritchie to take the title. Interestingly, Franz was playing at second singles a year ago, but with the emergence of Coira, Giunta and Phil Ritchie, he wasn’t able to beat any of those three in early season challenge matches so he went back to doubles, where he had paired with Casey Burhanna two years
ago. Goes to show that simply winning a March challenge match at St. Augustine Prep is about as difficult as winning a league title. “For the doubles, I just wanted to see them playing the way we’re practicing, playing those points the way we’ve been practicing them. The singles guys are always battling each other and I know what to expect from them. When I talked to them I said, ‘it’s all gravy from this point on, you guys are playing for a CAL championship, you’re playing against your teammates, just be respectful, compete hard and don’t get too psyched out. Remember, it’s all Prep out there, enjoy the moment, look at the court next to you, see all Prep guys and enjoy the moment that you’re on such a high level tennis team,’” said second-year Prep coach Chas Berenato, a 2010 St. Augustine graduate and former player at La Salle University. “That’s a rare situation. On the singles court we had one brother and on the doubles court another brother, so seeing that was interesting. And last year, (the Burhanna brothers) played together and I feel like the chemistry was tighter this year and they are both playing better than they were last year. “Watching them win is a great feeling, but watching them get the results
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May 6, 2019 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 31 Prep, from page 30 they deserve is another feeling. I know how hard they all worked this year, in the offseason, and in these past couple of months we really haven’t taken too many days off. They are working really hard and trying to absorb everything they are learning out there,” he added. “It goes to show how much improvement they’ve had in the last six weeks, where my No. 3 can beat my No. 1 and my No. 2 in doubles can beat my No. 1 team — six weeks ago that wasn’t happening.” Casey Burhanna and Franz said it was difficult going against teammates — and in Burhanna’s case his own brother — while trying to win a championship, but they just had to keep things in perspective. “Our doubles are very interchangeable and we have a great team this year. Our singles are phenomenal — any one of them could play No. 1 and beat anybody else’s No. 1, and I’m confident in saying that,” Franz said. “It is hard and we had to put being teammates aside just while we were out on the court. We fought like brothers, and that’s our whole motto, and after we were done we hugged and shook hands. It’s just the nature of it. We were enemies on the court but we’re friends off it.” “It’s pretty much any day of the week with us, we’ve been playing against each other our whole lives. It can change any day, they beat us earlier in the season and we play every practice. We just played better today, they might play better tomorrow. We were just focused right from the start, we knew what we wanted to do and Conor kept talking me up the entire time. Every time I missed a shot he made sure I wasn’t losing my head, and that helped me stay in it,” Casey Burhanna added. “Showing up it was kind of weird because last year there were other teams here. It did kind of feel like a Prep practice, until the second set, that’s when it got a little heated. Everybody was playing tough in that second set.” Phil Ritchie’s rise to the top has been impressive, considering he missed nearly all of last year with a broken wrist suffered after competing in just two dual matches. He went for private instruction in Berlin nearly every day
St. Augustine doubles player Rob Ritchie, Phil’s brother, serves during the league championship match. of the week during the offseason in an effort to come back stronger than he ever had been. “That kind of gave me a lot of drive to work harder and prove myself. I felt pretty confident coming into this tournament, doing a lot of work with coach Chas every day (this spring). All the singles guys have been working really hard, and the doubles guys, too. I was just trying to be very consistent. I didn’t feel too much pressure, I was confident so I just had to let the pressure roll off my back. I thought I had a pretty good day. Vince is a very good player who hits the ball really hard, and he has a very good first serve, so I just tried to get every ball back, be consistent and hit it deep,” he said. “It was pretty crazy that all the finalists were from the Prep. All the hard work got us here. It feels really good, I didn’t get to play last year so it feels really good to come back and play well.” Now, the Hermits (13-0) turn their attention to the state playoffs, where they could end up meeting Christian Brothers Academy. In the most recent nj.com poll, both teams were ranked in the top 20 in the state, with the Colts coming in at No. 17 and St. Augustine Prep at No. 19. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Holy Spirit infielder Steven Petrosh waits on deck during a recent game against St. Augustine Prep. Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
St. Augustine Prep doubles player Rob Ritchie serves during the Cape-Atlantic League championships at Vineland High School.
Ocean City softball coach John Bruno gets high-fives from players Lindsay Konick and Alex Vitola prior to the start of the annual “Strike Out Cancer” game against rival Mainland at Northfield’s Birch Grove Park.
Mainland Regional’s Meghan Pellegrino defends during the Mustangs’ game against Middle Township in late April.