A Few Questions About Spring Sports

A Few Questions About the South Jersey Spring Sports Season

Another new South Jersey sports season is upon us. Here are a couple of items to look for during the spring.

1. Will Gloucester Catholic resume its place on top of the South Jersey baseball rankings?
The Rams had won four consecutive state championships until falling in the South Jersey playoffs last year. This is a program that has several Division I recruits, including junior pitcher Tyler Mondile, who has already committed to one of the best college baseball programs, Florida State.

Mondile and many others were members of Brooklawn’s American Legion team that won a second straight World Series title. Gloucester Catholic coach Mike Rucci will again have his team playing an ambitious schedule and has the depth to handle it. 2. Who will be Gloucester Catholic’s biggest challenger?
It might be an old rival, Bishop Eustace. (Those two teams were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the preseason of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s ratings). Eustace has several Division I players including pitcher Justin Hagenman (Penn State), infielders (Maryland) and Chris Jones (High point). Coach Sam Tropiano is among the best in the business. What is interesting is how difficult Non-Public A will be this year. The preseason No. 3 team is yet another Non-Public A squad, St. Augustine. Other schools like defending champion St. John Vianney, which beat Gloucester Catholic 3-2 in last year’s South Jersey final, and Christian Brothers Academy, make Non-public A the deepest South Jeresy section this year.

3.Will Moorestown remain among the top girls’ lacrosse teams in the country?
The answer seems to be yes, despite a massive rebuilding job by coach Deanna Knobloch.

Moorestown improved its win streak to 79 when it beat defending state Group 1 champ Mountain Lakes, 5-3. That was the Quakers second win of this young season. In three different polls, Moorestown is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The standards are so high, that this year’s team is considered a notch below last year’s squad, and still, there are 10 players who have made college commitments. Those players are Melanie Becker (Vanderbilt), Courtney Bodine (La Salle), Abbey Brooks (Rutgers), Jess Button (Holy Cross), Abbey Cooper (Catholic U.), Keira Dalmass (Connecticut), Maggie Handlan (Michigan), Alex O’Donnell (Brown), Adriana Pendino (Michigan) and Emily Troy (Gettysburg). 4. Who is the person to watch in track?
As usual, there is no shortage of track talent in South Jersey. But one person to watch is Haddon Township senior Luke Petela. During the fall, he was the Meet of Champions champ in cross country. He later qualified for the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego. Petela then won the 1,600 meters in the NJSIAA indoor track Meet of Champions. Recently, he finished seventh in the 1,600 during the New Balance National Indoor Championships in New York.

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Author: Marc Narducci