Tri-County Royal Baseball Division Among The Best in South Jersey

by Marc Narducci | Apr 8, 2026

There are several top divisions in South Jersey baseball, and the Tri-County Royal is among them. Gloucester Catholic is once again considered the leader of the pack, but Kingsway and Clearview are considered Top 15 South Jersey teams, and GCIT is a team capable of joining that category.

The other two teams, Williamstown and Washington Township, are competitive ball clubs, whether they challenge for the division title or not.

The difficulty of the division has been shown in the early going as there was only one undefeated team in the division after most of the teams have only played two games.

That would be Gloucester Catholic, which opened its division schedule with a 10-6 win over Kingsway. Gloucester Catholic is a three-time defending NJSIAA Non-Public B state champion.

The winner for Gloucester Catholic was its ace, senior righthander Jude Morgan, who allowed six runs, but only three were earned against a high-powered Kingsway offense. He will be pitching in many of the big games for the Rams.

As for the offense, the top three in the Gloucester Catholic – shortstop Noah Danza, second baseman Jason Bogart and catcher Braeden Lipoff went 6-for-10 with four runs and seven RBIs.

It will be hard for any team to beat Gloucester Catholic with that type of top of the order production. Danza, a Mississippi State recruit, is the key to the attack with his ability to reach base.

Gloucester Catholic started the season in the USA High School Baseball Invitational, staged in Cary, North Carolina. The Rams went 2-2, which is even more impressive is that the opponents were from four much warmer weather states.

Those teams have been playing much longer than the Rams, who were unable to begin practice until March 9, according to NJSIAA rules. Gloucester Catholic’s first day in the tournament was March 25.

After a 10-0 loss to Venice, Florida, the Rams won two in a row, beating Wakefield, North Carolina, 4-3 and Nolensville, Tennessee, 11-3 before ending with a 4-0 defeat to Aquinas, California.

That Venice, Florida team would play in the championship game, losing to fellow national power Orange Lutheran of California.

Back in NJ, the Rams then beat the Hun School, 7-1 before the aforementioned win over Kingsway.

That is a Kingsway team that also beat fellow division foe GCIT, 6-0, and Jackson, 11-5 before facing Gloucester Catholic. Junior Kevin Magsam, who was 4-1 with a 0.80 ERA last year, earned the win over GCIT with 4 2/3 shutout innings.

Kingsway beat senor ace Andrew Valay, a Rhode Island commit, who in fairness allowed two runs in three innings, but both were unearned.

To show the balance in the division, GCIT earned a 5-4 win over a Clearview team that will definitely be among the contenders in South Jersey Group 3. Besides having a veteran squad, Clearview got an outstanding high school debut from freshman right-hander Luke Yeager who pitched a five-inning complete game in an 11-1 win over Audubon. Yeager stuck out six, in a game that ended early due to the 10-run rule.

Even a so-called non-contender like Williamstown proved it can compete with the best in the division with an opening 1-0 loss to Clearview. The Braves bounced back with an 8-2 victory over division rival Washington Township.

So depending on pitching matchups, anything can happen in the high-caliber Tri-County Royal Division, although one thing remains the same – Gloucester Catholic is once again the team to beat.

Gloucester Catholic P Jude Morgan / Marc Narducci

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Author: Marc Narducci

Tri-County Royal Baseball Division Among The Best in South Jersey

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