Olympic/Colonial Reached Semifinals of the Carpenter Cup Baseball Tournament

by Marc Narducci | Jun 22, 2026

The Carpenter Cup baseball tournament, sponsored by the Phillies, is always highly competitive and South Jersey often has teams competing for or winning titles.

Last year for instance, Burlington County was the Carpenter Cup champion.

The three teams from the seven-county South Jersey area which compete are Olympic/Colonial, Burlington County and Tri-Cape.

The Olympic/Colonial consists of all the schools in the Colonial Conference and the majority in the Olympic. The teams in the Olympic from Burlington County, play for the Burlco franchise in the Carpenter Cup. The Tri-Cape consists of players from the Tri-County and Cape Atlantic Leagues.

Normally, the first two rounds are played at Philadelphia’s FDR Park with the semifinals and finals at Citizens Bank Park. This year, due to several factors, no games were played at Citizens Bank Park. And due to construction at one of the fields at FDR Park, some of the games were played at Rutgers Camden.

This year the Olympic/Colonial made the best run, advancing to the semifinal before losing a 3-2 decision to Delaware County. (In the championship, The Philadelphia Catholic League beat Delaware County, 5-0.)

The Olympic/Colonial opened with a 9-1 win over Chester County, which was last year’s runner-up in the 16-team tournament. Carpenter Cup rules allow for pitchers to throw a maximum of two innings per game and recent Paul VI graduate Christian Williams and rising Cherry Hill West senior Brayden Falcone of Cherry Hill West each pitched two scoreless innings. Recent Cherry Hill West graduate Isayiah Pierce-Gonzalez allowed one unearned run in two innings and Cherry Hill West rising senior Jim Miller finished matters with a scoreless seventh inning. The key hit for the winners was a two-run single by rising Cherry Hill West senor second baseman Derek Hughes. Recent Eastern graduate Vinny Milillo scored twice after being walked two times.

Next up was a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Philadelphia’s Inter-Ac/Independents. Recent Bishop Eustace graduate Dan Passalacqua got things started with two shutout innings. A Delaware commit, Passalacqua struck out three.

Haddon Heights rising senior Cole Simon also pitched two shutout innings as did West Deptford rising senior Landon Delaney.

Haddonfield rising senior Jackson Gayer earned the save with one hitless innings. Gayer also hit an RBI double. Milillo was 2-for-2 with a run scored and recent Bishop Eustace graduate Mason Rosenberg was also 2-for-2. Recent Haddon Heights graduate Kevin Clark had an RBI and recent Bishop Eustace graduate Gabe Yates had an RBI single.

The run ended with a 3-2 loss to Delaware County in the semifinal.

Delaware County trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning before scoring twice to win.

Paul VI’s Williams and West Deptford’s Delaney each threw two scoreless innings, while Cherry Hill West’s Falcone threw one scoreless frame. Cherry Hill West’s Hughes was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

The other South Jersey teams, Burlington County and Tri-Cape, both lost in the first round.

Burlington County opened with a 3-1 loss to champion Philadelphia Catholic League. Recent Pennsauken graduate Kelwin Batista and recent Bordentown graduate Andrew Forster each pitched two scoreless innings.

Recent Doane Academy graduate Jacob Powell was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

The Tri-Cape lost an opening round 10-6 decision to Bux-Mont. Recent GCIT graduate Alex Valay pitched a scoreless inning. Delsea rising senior Ethan DuBois went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Landon Delaney of West Deptford pitching / Marc Narducci

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Author: Marc Narducci

Olympic/Colonial Reached Semifinals of the Carpenter Cup Baseball Tournament

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