By David Weinberg
It’s championship season for the Atlantic and Cape May County’s spring sports teams.
Several baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, and boys and girls track and field squads are vying for South Jersey and state titles in the coming weeks.
Atlantic Tech (Group 4), Mainland Regional and Ocean City (Group 3), Cedar Creek and Lower Cape May Regional (Group 2), Wildwood (Group 1), and St. Augustine Prep (Non-Public A) are still alive in the South Jersey baseball tournaments.
Atlantic Tech has been the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. The Red Hawks (10-14) entered the South Jersey Group 4 section as the 16th seed and proceeded to upset top-seeded Rancocas Valley in the first round last week. They take on 9th seed Washington Township in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 29.
In Group 3 baseball, 3rd seed Mainland will meet 6th seed Clearview Regional and 5th seed Ocean City will face 4th seed Delsea Regional on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Group 2 will feature a matchup of CAL rivals when 5th seed Cedar Creek plays host to 5th seed Lower Cape May. The Pirates beat the Caper Tigers twice earlier in the season.
In Group 1, 7th seed Wildwood will play 2nd seed Gloucester on Wednesday while 2nd seed St. Augustine Prep opened its tournament Tuesday against 7th seed Union Catholic.
Eight local softball teams – Egg Harbor Township (Group 4); Hammonton, Mainland and Ocean City (Group 3); Middle Township (Group 2), Buena Regional (Group 1) and St. Joseph Hammonton, Holy Spirit and Wildwood Catholic (Non-Public B) are still in contention.
Fourth-seeded EHT has advanced to the semifinals and will play 1st seed Kingsway Regional on Wednesday. 2nd seed Ocean City and 10th seed Mainland renewed their rivalry Tuesday in the Group 3 quarterfinals. Ocean City beat the Mustangs 6-3 on May 3. Hammonton, the 12th seed, played 4th seed Delsea in the quarterfinals Tuesday. Buena, the 2nd seed in Group 1, faced 10th seed Gateway Regional Tuesday.
In Non-Public B, top-seeded St. Joseph will face 8th seed Wildwood Catholic Wednesday. Holy Spirit (3rd seed) will play 6th seed St. Rose.
Mainland, Ocean City, Holy Spirit and St. Augustine are still alive in the boys lacrosse state tournament. Ocean City is the 3rd seed in South Jersey Group 3 and will play 6th seed Toms River East Wednesday. Mainland, the 5th seed, will take on 4th seed Clearview. Holy Spirit is the 3rd seed in the state Non-Public B bracket and will play 11th seed Dwight-Englewood in the quarterfinals. Seventh-seeded St. Augustine faces 2nd seed Seton Hall Prep in the Non-Public A tournament.
Ocean City, Mainland, Lower Cape May, Holy Spirit and Our Lady of Mercy are still playing in the girls lacrosse tournament. Ocean City, the 4th seed in Group 3, will play 5th seed Clearview on Wednesday while 6th seed Mainland will meet 3rd seed Cherry Hill West. In Group 1, 11th seed Lower Cape May upset Cinnaminson in the first round to earn a game against 3rd seed Madison Wednesday.
Holy Spirit is the top seed in the state Non-Public B tournament and will play Atlantic County rival OLMA on Wednesday. The Spartans are 2-0 against the Villagers this season.
The South Jersey Track and Field championships are scheduled to be held Friday and Saturday. Groups 1 and 4 will compete at Pennsauken High School while Groups 2 and 3 head to Delsea. The top six finishers in each individual event qualify for the state group meets on June 7-8.
SSSBL season gets underway The fourth season of the South Jersey South Shore Baseball League starts play this week.
The Margate Hurricanes, who joined the SJSSBL last season, are the defending champions, while the two-time champion South Jersey Surf are again expected to be contenders.
The ‘Canes will be bolstered by the return of a former ace. Right-hander Mike Adams is back with the team after a two-year stint (2021-22) in the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league system. Adams, who also co-owns Baseball Performance Center in Egg Harbor Township, spent last season with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
The 13-team league also includes a new team in the Cape May Whalers, which was a member of the now-defunct Atlantic County Baseball League back in the 1980s.
Other teams in the SJSSBL are the Absecon Outlaws, Buena Blue Dawgs, Egg Harbor City Knights, Egg Harbor Township Eagles, Galloway Mustangs, Hammonton Hot Shots, Northfield Cardinals, Ocean City Water Dogs, Somers Point Captains and Ventnor Baysox.
Boxing back in A.C.
Professional boxing returns to Atlantic City on June 8 at Bally’s Atlantic City.
Millville middleweight contender Thomas LaManna (37-5-1, 16 KOs) takes on Juan Carlos Abreu (26-7-1, 24 KOs), of the Dominican Republic for the WBA gold middleweight title.
LaManna, who is ranked third by the World Boxing Association, will be fighting for the 23rd time in Atlantic City and for the eighth time at Bally’s. The 31-year-old actually made his pro debut there 13 years ago as a senior at Millville High School, gaining a first-round TKO over Anthony Williams on Feb. 11, 2011.
A convincing win over Abreu would put LaManna in position to gain another fight against at WBA world champion Erislandy Lara. Lara stopped LaManna in one round on May 1, 2021.
One week later, on June 15, former WBC super-lightweight champ Danny Garcia tries his hand at promoting with a card at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom. Unbeaten Philadelphia heavyweight Sonny Conto (12-0, 9 KOs) headlines the card against Quintin Sumpter (7-2, 4 KOs), of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
