Staff Report
While every high school baseball sectional tournament in New Jersey is exciting in its own way, this year’s South Jersey Group 3 bracket has a chance to be one of the most thrilling in the state.
Consider this: Mainland Regional is coming off a Cape-Atlantic League championship and is ranked No. 18 in the most recent nj.com tally of the state’s best 20 squads. The Mustangs are the No. 7 seed in SJG3. Lacey Township is a double-digit seed, but the Lions have a 2.27 team ERA. Ocean City is a No. 13 seed yet has won seven of its last nine games. Hammonton, the No. 14 seed in the 16-team bracket, has won 5-of-6. Cherry Hill West won 14 straight games to start the year, and its pitching staff has fanned nearly 200 batters in 24 games.
Needless to say, whoever comes out of this bracket will definitely be tested enough to advance to a state championship game.
Cherry Hill West coach Dan McMaster reposted on X the South Jersey Sports Zone’s Top 15 rankings last week, and seven of the teams on the list reside in South Jersey Group 3, including Clearview (ranked No. 2), Mainland (7), Cherry Hill West (9), Delsea Regional (10), Shawnee (12), Cumberland Regional (14) and Moorestown (15).
Here’s a quick look at how the bracket stacks up, with play set to begin on Wednesday afternoon. They’ll go Wednesday, Friday in back-to-back weeks to crown a champion, with the title game set for Friday, June 5 at the highest remaining seed.
TOP OF THE BRACKET
16-Timber Creek at 1-Clearview; 9-Toms River South at 8-Highland Regional; 12-Moorestown at 5-Cumberland; 13-Ocean City at 4-Delsea.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Don’t be completely shocked if you see a few first-round upsets here. Ocean City has been playing well, and Cumberland is in an unfamiliar spot as a high seed. But the Colts are loaded with seniors and looking to make a statement, and they have the pitching and a deep enough lineup to fend off Moorestown and make a run. A Clearview vs. Highland second-round game could be really interesting. Highland swept Delsea this year, has a big win over Eastern, split with Cumberland and also has wins over Hammonton and Vineland. Clearview has some work to do if the Pioneers want to make it through to the semis.
BOTTOM OF THE BRACKET
14-Hammonton at 3-Toms River East; 11-Absegami at 6-Shawnee; 10-Lacey Township at 7-Mainland Regional; 15-Triton at 2-Cherry Hill West.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Can Mainland stay hot? The Stangs had a lot of turmoil going on earlier in the season with head coach Joe Smith stepping down right before the season and athletic director and former coach Billy Kern stepping in, but they seemed to have gotten on a roll lately, winning four of their last five, including a league-tournament victory over highly touted St. Augustine Prep. If they get past Lacey, though, Cherry Hill West might be waiting in the quarterfinals.
West has a really nice 1-2 punch on the mound in Isayiah Pierce-Gonzalez and James Miller, and the Lions can hit. They don’t hit for a ton of power, but draw a huge number of walks (128 in 24 games) and hit .305 as a team during the regular season. West has four hitters with more than 20 RBIs this season. If double-digit seeds like Hammonton or Absegami can steal a win in the opening round, this side of the bracket gets really interesting.
Who will survive and advance? We’ll know by Wednesday night!
