A Bright Future for South Jersey Baseball
One of the things that the recent Carpenter Cup baseball tournament show is how much talent there is in South Jersey. The Olympic-Colonial won the 16-team all-star tourney with teams from the tri-state area. Keep in mind that the champions didn’t have the Burlington County teams (Seneca, Shawnee, Lenape, Cherokee), who competed for Burlington County.
And speaking of Burlington County, that franchise advanced to the championship before falling 7-2 to the Olympic-Colonial.
The other South Jersey entry, Tri-Cape, held a 13-5 lead before losing, 14-13 in the second round to the Olympic Colonial.
So South Jersey flexed its baseball muscles, but what the tournament also showed is how many talented players there will be retuning next high school season.
One of the most impressive young players was Delran rising junior R.J. Moten. There probably wasn’t a faster player in the tournament than Moten, who is also a football standout. In one game he hit a triple and raced to third in what looked like the blink of an eye.
Moten played in all four games for Burlington County and was 3 for 10 (.300) with three three runs and two RBI. He has the type of athletic ability that will surely attract scouts over his final two years, if they haven’t already.
Cherry Hill West rising senior lefthander Eli Atiya went 2-0 with a save and a 0.00 ERA in 4 1/3 innings. He allowed just one hit, an infield single.
West coach and Olympic-Colonial manager Dan McMaster said that Atiya’s performance in the Carpenter Cup drew more college attention and rightly so.
Another rising senior who pitched well at the Carpenter Cup was Rancocas Valley righthander Bryce Mangene. In four appearances he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, striking out 13 and walking two in 8 2/3 innings. He also surrendered seven hits.
Mangene was also the starting quarterback for the Red Devils, but certainly helped his stock in this tournament.
The leading hitter for Burlington County was Lenape rising senior catcher Cade Hunter who went 5 for 9 (.556). Hunter had a team-high four RBI and even stole a base.
Gloucester Catholic rising senior outfielder Lillo Paxia showed great power by hitting a home run in a 14-13 loss to Olympic-Colonial. In his two games he was 3 for 5 with the home run and two RBI. He has committed to Florida State, one of the top programs in college baseball.
Collingswood rising senior lefthander Alex Margot pitched nine innings for the Olympic-Colonial. He ended his Carpenter Cup with three shutout innings in the championship. Margot, who has committed to Kentucky, had 11 strikeouts in the nine innings.
These were just a few of young standouts from South Jersey who will be competing next season and likely attracting their share of attention from college and/or professional scouts.
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For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
Author: Marc Narducci; Photo by Marc Narducci
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