Sports roundup: Lions advance to H/W/S quarterfinal

Nick Struble singled with two outs, stole second and scored the game-winning run on a double by Andrew Pami in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift fourth-seeded Pope John XXIII Regional High School to a 7-6 victory over 13th-seeded Lenape Valley.

With the win in the second round of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament at home Saturday afternoon, May 3, Pope John (7-7) advanced to the tri-county quarterfinal round, where it will host fifth-seeded Vernon on Wednesday, May 7.

“They’re a resilient bunch,” said head coach James Manco. “Vernon will be a tough challenge, but we’re getting better with each game and hopefully we can continue. This is the time of year you want to be playing your best.”

Evan Johnson went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run; Brody O’Hara singled in two runs; Jack Portman doubled, stole a base and scored twice; Will Ryan doubled, stole two bases and scored twice; and Struble finished with three singles, two RBI, a stolen base and two runs.

Here’s how other Pope John teams fared recently:

Softball

Emily Fuchs was 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and three walks; Grace Bobbie doubled in two runs and scored; Kylie Otero singled twice, drove in a run and scored; Abbey Davis singled, walked twice, drove in a run and scored; and Olivia Cilli singled, walked twice and scored twice to power Pope John to a 10-0, five-inning victory over High Point at home April 28.

Cilli pitched a two-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks to earn the win in the circle.

Pope John (8-4) is seeded second in the H/W/S Tournament and is scheduled to play host to seventh-seeded High Point in a quarterfinal game May 7.

Boys lacrosse

The top-seeded Lions received five goals and two assists from Hunter Parrillo and Travis Heller to roll past eighth-seeded Delaware Valley, 18-2, in the quarterfinal round of the H/W/S Tournament at home May 3.

Sam Conetta (two goals, four assists), Brody Pilek (two goals), Jack Gallucci (one goal, three assists), Mikey Ramirez (one goal, five assists, won 20-of-21 face-offs), and goalies Daniel O’Leary (two saves) and Owen Houle (one save) aided the win.

Pope John (12-1) is slated to meet fourth-seeded Sparta in a H/W/S semifinal Tuesday, May 6.

Girls lacrosse

Pope John, seeded seventh, bowed to 10th-seeded Kittatinny in the second round of the H/W/S tournament at home April 29.

The Lions were led by Olivia Zywicki (three goals, four ground balls, three draw controls, two forced turnovers), Serena Lorenzo (two goals, two ground balls), Jordyn Smith (one goal, two assists, four draw controls, two forced turnovers), Keira Donegan (one goal, one assist, two ground balls, five draw controls, two forced turnovers) and Giuliana Ramirez (one goal) in the setback.

Pope John (5-7) is scheduled to play host to Parsippany Hills at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10.

Outdoor track

Joshua Watson (15.66 in 110 meter hurdles), Spencer Prudenti (6-2 in high jump), Jarrod Cofrancesco (147-6 in discus), Nick Vannatta (189-0 in javelin) all were gold-medal winners for the Pope John boys, who won the overall team title at the H/W/S Championships on Thursday, May 1 at Wallkill Valley Regional High School.

On the girls side, Casey Carney was first in the 400 meter dash in 57.97 and the 4x400 meter relay team of Julia Ireland, Tessa MacMullin, Katelyn Nolan and Casey Carney crossed the tape first in 4:03.78 to pace the Lions to a fourth-place team finish.

The Pope John boys coasted to the team title with 107.5 points among 15 competing teams. The girls were fourth overall among 17 teams with 44 points.

Other top three place winners for the boys included Joey Rozynski (second at 100-meter dash in 11.23, second in 200-meter dash in 22.64, second in long jump in 19-11.75), Watson (third in 400-meter hurdles in 59.01), Jordan Perez (second in discus in 145-10, second in javelin in 162-3) and Cofrancesco (second in shot put in 44-9).

MacMullin also placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.14.