Eyes on the Prize

by Marc Narducci | Jul 2, 2025

For the second time in three seasons, Tri-Cape has won the prestigious 16-team Carpenter Cup softball tournament sponsored by the Phillies.

Consisting of players from the Tri-County and Cape Atlantic League, Tri-Cape will be honored by the Phillies before their Aug. 4 game against the Baltimore Orioles. Tri-Cape will be joined by another South Jersey squad, as Burlington County’s baseball team will also be honored at that same Phillies game after winning the Carpenter Cup baseball championship.

Tri-Cape needed to win three games on the final day of competition to capture the championship. In addition, the players had to compete in sweltering weather that neared 100 degrees.

Unlike baseball, the Carpenter Cup softball teams only consists of players who competed as freshmen, sophomores and juniors this past season, as graduating seniors are prohibited from playing.

Pitchers can throw as many as four innings per game.

On the final day of competition, which took place at Philadelphia’s FDR Park, Tri-Cape opened with a 9-0 quarterfinal win over Jersey Shore.

Kingsway’s Ava Snyder pitched the first four innings and Ocean City’s Jessica Mooney threw the final three. This is the same sequence that Tri-Cape would use for all three games.

It was a relatively close game until Tri-Cape scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. (Games were seven innings long).

Ocean City third baseman Brooke Douglas was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a triple and three RBI. St. Joseph Hammonton centerfielder Alaina Dorsey was 2-for-2 with a run scored and Mooney and Egg Harbor Township shortstop Kaci Velardi each drove in two runs.

In the semifinal, Tri-Cape emerged with a 2-1 victory over Delaware County.

Kingsway’s Snyder tied the score in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly. From there it was a pitcher’s duel until the seventh inning.

For the game, Snyder allowed just one run over four innings on three hits, while striking out four. Mooney pitched three hitless and shutout innings to earn the win.

In the bottom of the seventh, Mooney got Tri-Cape’s rally going when she was hit by a pitch with two outs. EHT’s Velardi then walked and St. Joseph’s Dorsey reached base on a wild pitch after striking out to load the bases. Oakcrest’s Trinity Brown, who was pinch-running for Mooney, then scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

Dorsey went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Hammonton catcher Hannah Hines was 2-for-2.

The championship game was another nail-biter, with Tri-Cape earning a 3-2 decision over Delaware South. Delsea outfielder Tori Jester broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring Snyder who had led off the inning with a single.

Velardi tripled and scored on a wild pitch for Tri-Cape’s first run in the first inning, while Snyder’s bloop RBI single in the third inning accounted for the second run.

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- Seizing the Moment

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- Representing South Jersey

Two South Jersey teams proudly advanced to the quarterfinals of the Carpenter Cup.

Velardi went 2-for-3 with a run scored while Snyder was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Synder allowed one run on four hits in four innings. Mooney surrendered one run on four hits in three innings.

This was the 20^th annual Carpenter Cup and the third title for Tri-Cape, which also won in 2023 and 2014.

Photo / Marc Narducci

Author: Marc Narducci

Eyes on the Prize

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