CMC Sports

Parity the theme in So. CMC softball

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 18:17:06 GMT

There figures to be a lot of parity in area high school softball this season.

The two best teams in the area – Middle Township and Wildwood Catholic – will both still be competitive but have some holes to fill due to graduation losses. Meanwhile, Cape May Tech, Lower Cape May and Wildwood all seem to have a chance to be better than they were last season.

The following is a look at each of the area’s high school softball teams:

Southern Cape May County baseball preview

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 17:58:15 GMT

It may seem hard to believe, the way the weather has been around here, but most of the area high school baseball teams are scheduled to begin their regular seasons next week.

Middle Township and Wildwood figure to be the area’s best teams, as both teams bring back some excellent players from last year and feature deep pitching staffs. Cape May Tech, Lower Cape May and Wildwood Catholic will be rebuilding, the latter two under new head coaches.

The following is a look at each of the area’s teams:

LCM, Middle excited for lacrosse season

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 14:40:00 GMT

The four area high school boys and girls lacrosse programs each posted winning seasons last spring. The Middle Township girls were the best of the lot, enjoying an undefeated league season and a Cape-Atlantic League championship. The Middle boys won 16 games, the Lower Cape May boys were over .500 and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time and the Lower girls had a more-than-respectable 12-win season.

All four teams have a good chance for more success this spring.

In fact, Lower Cape May’s teams have already experienced some success. Both posted victories over Atlantic City in their season openers on Wednesday, the boys winning 16-0 behind four goals from Pete Tomlin and the girls victorious by 14-1 behind six goals from Ashley Hunt.

Wildwood senior selected for state all-star game

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 01:07:16 GMT

The Wildwood High School football team won just one football game last fall. That didn’t stop standout two-way starter Mikal Poteat from getting some major recognition, however.

Poteat, a 6-2, 265-pound senior offensive lineman and linebacker, has been selected to play in the prestigious Phil Simms New Jersey North-South All-Star Football Game on June 29.

“I was surprised to get picked,” Poteat admitted. “I didn’t expect that a lot of people were watching our games or seeing my stats.”

Childhood gift pays dividends for Tech grad

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 01:05:15 GMT

A little more than 15 years ago, Brian Ferrante was a wide-eyed 8-year-old on Christmas morning eagerly waiting to open the last of his gifts in his family’s Dennis Township home.

“We kind of had a little tradition in our family where we’d save the best gift for last,” he recalled.

After tearing the wrapping and ripping open a box that was too big for its contents, however, Ferrante was a bit disappointed to see a new set of Spaulding golf clubs.

“I was absolutely upset at the time because I had no idea what golf was then,” he said with a laugh. “But being an 8-year-old kid, I never knew it would be the best gift ever.”

Award-winning cheer career winds down for Middle grad

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Jacob Schaad Jr.) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 01:01:59 GMT

It is not inevitable, despite the nature of their athleticism, that all cheerleaders will suffer the wounds of their accomplishments.

One of the cheerleaders who has not been so fortunate is 21-year-old award-winning Gabby Mattera of Middle Township who, in her 15 years as cheerleader, acrobat and tumbler has broken her foot twice and suffered a multitude of muscle pull injuries in her legs.

Not too many years in the future, however, Mattera may be going the opposite route as an emergency care doctor giving medical help to cheerleaders whose bodies have rebelled against the stresses forced by the field of athletics. This September she will begin her education and training to become an emergency care doctor.

McGann to play at D II Flagler

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:29:26 GMT

Wildwood Catholic High School senior Pat McGann is set to continue his soccer career at Flagler College, a Division II school located in St. Augustine, Fla., near Jacksonville.

McGann said he is not initially receiving athletic scholarship money but added that he has earned some academic scholarship money to Flagler, at which he plans to major in sports management.

“I just wanted to get away from this weather and play soccer year round in a comfortable setting and go to the best team I could possibly get myself on,” McGann said. “But I also wanted to be sure I wanted to go to that school, so I chose Flagler first. And then it went from there with the soccer.”

Kerr’s brilliant college career ends

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:27:19 GMT

Garret Kerr’s record-setting college basketball career came to a close last weekend in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Kerr, a 2011 Middle Township High School graduate, poured in 34 points and collected 12 rebounds in his University of the Sciences team’s 59-53 loss to Southern New Hampshire in a second-round game on Sunday.

Kerr finished his career as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder at Sciences, ending with 2,434 points and 1,391 rebounds. For his career, he averaged 22.1 points and 12.6 rebounds while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor.

Teammates, then rivals, now teammates again

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:25:34 GMT

They were teammates growing up and opponents while in high school. Next fall, Jared Irwin and Sal Zampirri will be teammates once again.

Irwin, of Wildwood High School, and Zampirri, of Wildwood Catholic, two of the top soccer players in Cape May County, will continue their careers at Division III Cabrini College.

Irwin, a striker for Wildwood last fall but who has also played in the midfield during his high school career, broke two significant programs records by netting a program-record 30 goals as a senior and a program-record 56 goals for his career.

Teammates, then rivals, now teammates again

cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com (Brian Cunniff) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:25:31 GMT

They were teammates growing up and opponents while in high school. Next fall, Jared Irwin and Sal Zampirri will be teammates once again.

Irwin, of Wildwood High School, and Zampirri, of Wildwood Catholic, two of the top soccer players in Cape May County, will continue their careers at Division III Cabrini College.