Mighty Oaks Defeat Nationally Ranked Roadrunners

The Mighty Oaks kicked off the season today by defeating No. 2 Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) Gloucester Roadrunners on the road.

Head Coach John Holt is excited about the win and thinks there is still more work to be done by saying "They (RCSJ Gloucester) are a great program, and walking out of there with a win is a great feeling. The boys worked hard, but I still think that we still have some things that we can improve."

Coach Holt also praised the pitching staff for their performance tonight. Pat Montagna (Pennsville, NJ / Pennsville Memorial High School) got the start on the mound for the Mighty Oaks and ended up throwing five innings and allowed only one unearned run on four hits prior to Tre Matthews (Newark, DE / Newark Charter School) replacing him for the remainder of the game. Montagna received the win and Matthews picked up a save tonight for Salem.

Salem took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning off of a Drew Tongue (Glassboro, NJ / Glassboro HS) double and never looked back as they held the lead the rest of the game. The Mighty Oaks offense came alive in the fifth inning scoring five total runs to give them a 7-1 lead. The following inning the Roadrunners did score four runs to make it a 7-5 game, but it was not enough as the Mighty Oaks continue to separate themselves from the Roadrunners by capitalizing on a wild pitch to score another run in the eighth inning and Caleb Ritchie's (Clarksboro, NJ / Kingsway HS) ninth inning homerun.

The Mighty Oaks will next be action this Friday, March 12, when they travel to RCSJ Cumberland for a doubleheader against the RCSJ Dukes. Fans can keep up with the Mighty Oaks at sccmightyoaks.com. Be sure to follow Salem Athletics on Twitter @sccmightyoaks for updates and news on all Salem athletics.