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A day of upsets in Group 2 baseball tournament

Friday's South Jersey Group 2 baseball tournament turned into a house of horrors for all but one of the favored teams, as the top three seeds were eliminated from the quarterfinal round.

Friday's South Jersey Group 2 baseball tournament turned into a house of horrors for all but one of the favored teams, as the top three seeds were eliminated from the quarterfinal round.

The most shocking outcome saw No. 8 seed Haddonfield cruise to a 14-1 win at top-seeded Haddon Heights. The upset avenged a pair of regular-season Colonial Conference losses, in which the Garnets outscored Haddonfield, 24-8.

The Bulldogs wasted no time taking command, running out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, and Kevin Davis widened the advantage with a three-run home to left field in the second.

Mike McLaughlin doubled twice, batting 3 for 5, with two RBIs, and one run scored, and winning pitcher Nick Cavanaugh kept Haddon Heights off balance - yielding two hits and no walks over five innings.

Another surprise involving a Colonial Conference squad came when No. 10 seed West Deptford jumped on top early and then held on for an 8-5 victory over host second-seeded Delran.

Tony Urban, who picked up the save in relief of winner Jason Fox, aided the Eagles' offense with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Brandon Thayres knocked in two runs with a pair of singles for West Deptford, which won for just the third time in its last eight games.

The third upset cut short third-seeded Buena's bid at a title, as 11th-seeded Point Pleasant Boro used a four-run first inning and a six-run outburst in the third to breeze home with an 11-3 win.

The Chiefs managed just two doubles and a single after banging out 17 hits in a tournament-opening 22-0 rout of Medford Tech on Monday.

The lone higher seed to survive the carnage was No. 4 Lower Cape May, with Zach Dunbar providing two scoreless innings of relief to preserve a 6-3 triumph over fifth-seeded Cinnaminson.

Marvin Evans and Curtis Gift combined for four hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Tigers.

South Jersey Group 4. Winning pitcher Jeff McGarry gave Lenape new life with a full-count, two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Kevin McGarry capped the improbable rally by stroking a three-run walk-off homer, lifting the eighth-seeded Indians over No. 16 seed Cherry Hill East, 7-5.

Jesse Gold homered for East, which came within an out of its second big upset of the week. The Cougars eliminated top-seeded Washington Township, 2-0, on Monday.

Andrew Biggs did not give up an earned run in limiting seventh-seeded Cherokee to two hits, and No. 2 seed Millville took control early in cruising to an 8-1 home win.

Matt Lawson went 3 for 4, drove in two runs and scored once in leading No. 4 seed Eastern to a 9-2 triumph over 12th-seeded Williamstown.

South Jersey Group 1. Ridge Herrman batted 4 for 4, drove in seven runs and scored three times to highlight fifth-seeded Pennsville's 16-2 triumph at No. 4 seed Gloucester.

Herrman hit a solo home run in the fourth and followed with a bases-loaded double in the fifth. Timmy Mathias (3 for 3) picked up three of his four RBIs on a homer in the third, and Dane Evans contributed two doubles and a single in the Eagles' 16-hit attack.

Boomer Wickersham doubled in one run and Zack Welsher had two RBIs to help No. 2 seed Audubon edge seventh-seeded Maple Shade, 6-5.

Reliever Kevin Griese pitched five shutout innings to earn the win, and was 3 for 3 with two runs and four RBIs, allowing No. 3 seed Haddon Township to rally past sixth-seeded Gateway, 10-2. Matthew Butrica came through with two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Hawks.

South Jersey Group 3. Dan Schurer fanned 11 batters in pitching a three-hit shutout, and a two-out, four-run rally in the fifth inning enabled second-seeded Moorestown to get past No. 10 seed GCIT, 4-0. Nick Savino's two-run double was the key blow for the Quakers.

J.P. Beshada's two-run triple in the first inning put third-seeded Kingsway on track for a 5-1 win over No. 11 seed Deptford. Casey Kincaid went the distance for the Dragons, striking out eight while scattering six singles and three walks.

South Jersey Non-Public A. Dene Vespe's leadoff homer in the fifth inning proved the difference, as No. 8 seed Bishop Eustace held off ninth-seeded St. John Vianney, 4-3.

Paschal Petrongolo hit a pair of two-run home runs and Andrew Gallagher ripped a bases-loaded triple to power No. 5 seed Paul VI past 12th-seeded Camden Catholic, 10-7. The Irish made it interesting with a three-run blast by Tyler Faiola in the seventh.

Central Jersey Group 1. Riverside squandered an early 1-0 lead, as No. 4 seed Metuchen rallied for four runs in the sixth to defeat the 12th-seeded Rams, 5-1.

Central Jersey Group 2. Taylor Zackman went 3 for 4 with one RBI and Joey Gutowski knocked in two runs, but fifth-seeded Bordentown surrendered two runs in the bottom of the seventh to fall, 5-4, at No. 4 seed Middlesex.

Central Jersey Group 4. A three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh wasn't enough for No. 4 seed Rancocas Valley in a 9-8 loss to fifth-seeded Monroe Township.

Cape-Atlantic. St. Augustine clinched the American Conference title, Ed Charlton picked up his 100th career hit, and Carlo Randazzo homered and drove in five runs as the Hermits rolled, 15-2, at Egg Harbor Township.

Nonleague. Elliott McCummings stroked a two-run, two-out double in the fifth inning to put top-ranked Gloucester Catholic ahead to stay for a 3-1 win at third-ranked Washington Township.

Cody Brown scattered four hits to earn the victory, while Mark Scarpa took the loss despite allowing just three hits.

Softball

Carolyn Griffin closed out her Cherokee career on a high note - pitching her second no-hitter in five days - and the Chiefs' offense awoke just in time to pull out a 4-1 win at Olympic Conference rival Eastern.

Griffin, who held Winslow Township hitless on Monday, yielded an unearned run in the first inning as Eastern capitalized on a two-base error and a pair of passed balls. But the senior righthander kept the Vikings off the scoreboard the rest of the way, finishing with three strikeouts and four walks.

Eastern pitcher Steph Vuono was nearly as untouchable, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

But Gina Gryniuk opened the seventh with a single, and was followed by basehits by Krystine Rice and Griffin to load the bases. Gina Carassai then ruined Vuono's shutout bid with a two-run double, and the Chiefs added runs on a sacrifice fly and a passed ball.

Cherokee finished the season 11-8 overall and 6-2 in division play.

The loss halted Eastern's 15-game winning streak and prevented the Vikings (18-3, 5-3) from claiming a share of the American Division title with Washington Township. Eastern had not lost since a 2-1 setback at Cherokee on April 15.

In another Olympic Conference game, Sam DeSalvo's two-run single in the first got host Lenape started toward an 8-1 season-ending victory over Cherry Hill West.

Burlington County. Cinnaminson's Heather Porrini walked one batter in tossing a no-hitter, and the Pirates scratched out an unearned run in the sixth to edge visiting Delran, 1-0.

Cape-Atlantic. Maria Santiago batted 3 for 5, scored twice and drove in two runs to back the three-hit pitching of Brittany Scott in Buena's 16-1 romp at Vineland.

Kelly Lupton struck out 16 in hurling a one-hit shutout and also starred at the plate for Absegami, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs as the host Braves swamped Ocean City, 10-0.

Bridgette Alessandrini singled, doubled and drove in three runs to highlight Hammonton's 6-5 home win over Oakcrest.

Nonleague. Camden Catholic's Laura Messina allowed just two hits, but Sacred Heart's Rosie LaGrotta won the pitchers' duel as the host Lions scratched out single runs in the first and sixth innings to edge the Irish, 2-0.