By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
X @tortreports
GLOUCESTER CITY — It was 45 minutes before first pitch and Gloucester High coach Greg Galbraith was alone in the infield, watering down the dirt.
One might say that Galbraith was watering the seeds of a championship.
Three hours later, he was standing on that same spot handing his Lions the sectional championship trophy — one that was 50 years in the making. Gloucester edged Woodstown, 5-4, in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning to capture the South Jersey Group 1 title on Monday.
While emotion is understandably expected in a game of this magnitude, there was a next-level meaning to this contest. The Lions were playing for more than just themselves, dedicating the title and the season to 2023 GHS baseball alum Gage Myers, who tragically was killed in a car crash in March. Instead of taking a team picture behind home plate, they rushed to his memorial banner in the outfield to celebrate.
“There were so many things, (that made this title special)” Galbraith said. “We lost one of our former players that graduated last year in March. Going through that was one of the hardest ordeals I’ve ever had to deal with as a coach. Seeing those high school kids having to handle such a close loss of a personal friend. In a way, it brought us closer. They bonded over it, but it wasn’t easy. It’s still not easy.”
Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Ayden Daily hit a two-run single to give the Lions a 3-1 lead heading into the final inning. Woodstown surged ahead in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs off hits from Brent Williams and Andrew Pedrick. The Lions tied the game on a bases loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh, setting Daily up to play the hero’s role once again. The senior hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to earn the title for second-seeded Gloucester, and his message after was the same as his coach — it was for Gage.
“You know, we did it for Gage, and we’re going to continue to do it for him, too,” Daily said. “This feels really great, it’s been 50 years since we last won. Driving in those two runs was great. I was looking to get a hit to right field. I was able to get it done. This means a lot to us, it’s a really great feeling. I’m a senior now, so this is even better for me. This is the greatest feeling, it was really clutch.”
A three time region champion in wrestling and a 2,000-yard rusher in football, Jacob Zearfoss was 0-and-3 in sectional championships heading into Monday’s contest. He finally got to experience what it feels like to hold the prestigious blue trophy.
“That was a really good feeling,” he said. “I was 0-for-3 in finals appearances so far, team-wise. We lost wrestling twice and football once. This means the world to this group of guys.”
A Rider wrestling commit, Zearfoss didn’t start playing baseball until this season.
“I was out after wrestling one day waiting for a group of kids to leave that I was coaching. I happened to walk down (to the field) and saw the guys practicing, and I missed it. I missed everything, the whole team, and baseball in general. I knew this was a great group of kids and I knew we had so much potential.
“It means a lot to me. (to be a champion) My sister (Rylie) got one, too. (The Lions’ softball team defeated Haddon Heights in the South Jersey Group 2 softball final on Saturday). We’re both still going. Ever since I came back, I’ve been working with coach Steve Massaro, my hitting coach. It’s been a while since I played, he just told me to go up there, swing tall, and swing loose. I got that timing down and came through when it mattered.”
In the game that mattered most, he went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored the first run for the Lions on junior Jason Hall’s double to center field. Joey MacDonald and Seth McCormick shared time on the mound, each allowing three hits while striking out two batters.
The Lions (22-7) will host Central Jersey Group 1 champion Point Pleasant Beach (24-4) in the state semifinal on Wednesday. Woodstown finished its season at 18-10, reaching the sectional final for the third time in the past four seasons.
“The amount of people in town that are still worried about high school sports who graduated in 1960, 1970, that still care — this is for them,” an emotional Galbraith said. “The great coaches we had after Jim Kelly — Joe DiSibio, Bobby Barth, Kevin Fahy, John Oehler, they all got close. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get it done. This is for them. For all the players, the guys that came back and watched, the former players of mine that were here. I told them they were just as much part of this as anyone else is. The program will always be here, so this is part of this for them.”
