S. Jersey Boys: Eastern posts upset for tennis title

Brady Akman and Ray Kildany earned a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win at first doubles and sparked Eastern to a 3-2 upset of top-seeded Toms River North in the South Jersey Group 4 boys' tennis championship match at Mercer County Park on Tuesday.

The seventh-seeded Vikings beat the top three seeds in the sectional competition on their way to earning a berth in the NJSIAA state tournament Thursday at Mercer County Park.

Seth Rose gave Eastern a 6-1, 6-2 win at second singles, and Kunal Agrawal and Brandon Feldstein chipped in with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph at second doubles.

S.J. Group 3. Moorestown (22-8) added another sectional trophy to its trophy case by topping Hammonton, 4-1, at Eastern.

Pierce Cooper and Bryce Cody combined to lose a total of just four games in their straight-set wins for the Quakers, who lost only at second singles.

S.J. Group 2. Haddonfield improved to 24-2 with a 5-0 championship win over Middle Township at Pitman.

Luke Grabiak won the closest match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, over Jeremy Novick at second singles, and Max Oberholtzer and Matt Godlewski added straight-set singles wins.

S.J. Non-Public A. St. Augustine's first-doubles tandem of Bryan Balchiunas and Andre Moffa survived a pair of tiebreakers to nail down the Hermits' 3-2 sectional championship win over Christian Brothers at Monsignor Donovan.

Shane Monroe and Matt Monroe provided easy wins and first and second singles, and Balchiunas and Moffa won, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), in the clincher.

S.J. Non-Public B. Moorestown Friends swept the doubles and added a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win from Jake Brown at third singles to capture the sectional title with a 3-2 win over St. Rose at Veterans Park in Hamilton Township.

Jarrett Berkowitz and Eric Harkaway posted a 6-1, 56-2 verdict at first doubles, and Austin Harris and Karan Hiremath added a 6-0, 6-2 win at second doubles.

Sam Tomlinson carded a 79 and led Haddonfield to the state Group 1 team championship in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions at the par-72 Neshanick Valley Country Club.

Middle Township's Alex Hicks was South Jersey's best individual finisher, posting a 74 for a share of eighth place while helping the Panthers take second place in Group 2, 2 shots behind Rumson.

Shawnee tied for second in Group 4 and Woodstown placed second in Group 1.

Audubon captured the Colonial Conference Patriot Division title with a 13-4 win over visiting Haddon Township.

Boomer Wickersham drove in four runs with two homers, and Bret Phillips went 4 for 5 with three doubles and four runs scored.

Burlington County. The Liberty Division championship went to Rancocas Valley for the second straight year after a 12-5 blitz of host Pemberton. Nick Cieri hit a grand slam in support of pitcher Nick Chieco.

Down by a run in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and no baserunners, Northern Burlington came back to beat visiting Burlington Township, 7-6. Dan Hornyak tied the game on Frank Bilancio's infield hit, and Bilancio scored on Mike Kendall's second double of the game.

S.J. Group 4. Winslow Township surprised host Absegami, 4-1, as Robert Humes struck out seven and scattered four hits in a complete-game effort, and also singled, doubled and scored twice. David Robey and Nick Barnstein homered for the Eagles.

C.J. Group 4. Pennsauken, seeded 10th, rallied from a 6-1 seventh-inning deficit and won an 11-6 upset at No. 7 seed South Brunswick. Alex Polanco tied the game in the seventh with a three-run homer, and homered again in the eighth to give the Indians the lead. Kyle Hohwald added a three-run double in the eighth.

Olympic. Down by 5-1, Eastern took the lead on Matt Lawson's two-run homer in the fifth inning and beat host Cherokee, 7-5. The Vikings are ranked No. 4 in South Jersey by The Inquirer and Cherokee is No. 6.

Tri-County. Alec Matchett and Brendan Looby had two hits each and combined for five RBIs as Pitman posted a 7-3 win over visiting Highland, ranked No. 5.

Colonial. Tony Urban poked his 100th career hit and Tom Jakubowski hit his eighth homer of the spring to steer West Deptford past visiting Gateway, 9-6.

Cape-Atlantic. St. Augustine first baseman Cory Dick rapped his 100th career hit, and Carlo Randazzo (four runs) and Chris Carmolingo (four RBIs) had three hits each in a 14-1 win at Oakcrest.

Gloucester Catholic, seeded 10th in an 11-team field in the state Non-Public B tournament, edged host Moorestown Friends, 9-7, in a first-round game.

Pat Richardson scored three goals, Jake Turner had four assists, and goalie John Coppola made a dozen saves against the No. 7 seed Foxes.

Group 3. Shawnee's defense, anchored by goalie Dylan Gallimore with nine saves, dominated a 15-3 first-round win over visiting Wall Township. Owen Demmerly led the offense with seven goals and two assists, and Rob DiOrio had two goals and six assists.

Kingsway, seeded 13th, managed a 12-9 upset at No. 4 seed Mount Olive and earned a quarterfinal berth against Moorestown, a 17-5 winner over West Morris.

Group 4. Tenth-seeded Eastern advanced to the quarterfinals via a 10-4 upset at No. 7 seed South Brunswick.

Washington Township, seeded fourth, bowed out of the tournament with a 13-9 upset loss to visiting North Hunterdon, the No. 13 seed.

Adam Coughlin registered 15 kills and Sam Pisker added 10 to help Clearview squeeze past visiting Sterling, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20, in a South Jersey tournament first-round matchup.