Hometown Competition

by Marc Narducci | May 5, 2025

It’s a small school division, consisting of Group 1 and 2 teams, but the Colonial Conference Liberty Division, is, for its size, among the most competitive in South Jersey.

Four of the six teams are major candidates to win a South Jersey championship. Those four are Gloucester, Haddon Heights, Audubon and Haddon Township.

As for the division race, entering the week, Gloucester was the leader with a 5-1 mark, followed by Haddon Heights (4-2), Audubon (3-3) and Haddon Township (3-3). The other two teams are West Deptford and Sterling, who are capable beating any of the contenders. In fact, West Deptford already owns a win over Audubon, and Sterling has defeated Haddon Heights, so there are no automatic wins in the Colonial Liberty. Sterling and West Deptford won’t be listed among the favorites in South Jersey Group 2, but both have the ability to compete with any team in the field.

Here is a look at why these teams are contenders for a South Jersey championship with the postseason less than a month away:

Gloucester

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The Lions are the defending state Group 2 champions and they should greatly benefit from that experience. Despite losing some key players to graduation, coach Megan Mason’s team is a viable contender once again in Group 2. Even though the Lions began the week leading Haddon Heights by a game in the division, it is Haddon Heights who begins this week as the top team in the South Jersey Group 2 power points race. Yet, Gloucester is second.

Junior Emma Dick, who pitched 43.1 innings for last year’s state title team, has already exceeded that total this season. She entered the week with 48.2 innings pitched and a sparkling 2.16 ERA.

The Lions beat Audubon, 2-1 the first time the teams played. Gloucester also beat Haddon Township, 11-5, but lost to Haddon Heights, 6-1. Colonial Liberty teams face each other twice, so the second half of the regular season should be interesting.

Haddon Heights
The Garnets lost their first two games of the season to Haddon Township and Sterling, but entered the week on a 10-game winning streak.

Junior Sarah Cooley has taken over as the staff ace and classmate Brielle Connor (.371) has been one of the offensive leaders. Last year Haddon Heights lost to Gloucester, 1-0 in the South Jersey Group 2 final. It would not be a surprise if the teams meet again in the sectional final.

Haddon Township
Last year the Hawks beat Audubon, 5-2, to win the South Jersey Group 1 championship. These two are natural rivals. When they are good in the same sport, the rivalry goes up another level. In this year’s first of two regular season meetings, Audubon beat the Hawks, 2-1.

Haddon Township has one of South Jersey’s top pitchers in Jordan Strauss, who is a Siena commit. She is also among the area’s top hitters. With Strauss on the mound, the Hawks will be competitive against virtually any team. The offense is still looking for more consistency, but once again the Hawks should be a tough out in the postseason.

Audubon

The Green Wave are annual contenders, and this year should be no different. Entering the week Audubon was third in the South Jersey Group 1 power points, with Pennsville first and Haddon Township second. Audubon has been involved this season in many close games. For instance, there was a 2-0 loss to Haddon Heights, a 2-1 defeat against Gloucester and the aforementioned 2-1 win over Haddon Township. Junior Kylie Cannaday has been the mound ace with a 1.54 ERA entering the week. It will be interesting to see if these close games will help Audubon in the postseason, when one-run results among contenders is a common occurrence.

Photo: Haddon Township's Jordan Strauss / Marc Narducci

Author: Marc Narducci

Hometown Competition

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