Clearview tops Williamstown in South Jersey Group 4 baseball
Three home runs and a five-hitter led Clearview to a 6-3 win.
Clearview seniors Trip McCaffrey, Joe Sponheimer, and Steve Schanne were playing their last game against archrival Williamstown.
They wanted to make the most of it.
Clearview sophomore Brandon Drapeau was playing his first game against Williamstown.
He wanted to make the most of it, too.
The three seniors and one sophomore combined to lead Clearview to a 6-3 victory over Williamstown on Tuesday in the first round of the South Jersey Group 4 tournament.
McCaffrey, Schanne, and Drapeau hit home runs, and Sponheimer worked five strong innings to earn the victory as seventh-seeded Clearview (15-8) advanced to meet the winner of Wednesday's Egg Harbor Township-Kingsway game in the quarterfinals Thursday.
"This is huge," said McCaffrey, a centerfielder who cracked a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Sponheimer, a crafty lefthander, allowed four hits and just one earned run.
"There's just so much energy when we play them," Sponheimer said. "I've been waiting for this game, to beat Williamstown in the playoffs, since I came in the program."
The game matched the last two South Jersey Group 4 champions. Williamstown won in 2015 and Clearview in 2016.
The Tri-County Royal Division rivals split in the regular season, with the first of those games marked by a bench-clearing squabble after a bang-bang play at the plate.
Senior Zach Martinez had a two-run single for Williamstown (12-11), the No. 10 seed.
Williamstown 000 120 0 - 3 5 1
Clearview 005 001 x - 6 10 2
WP: Joe Sponheimer. LP: Max Keegan.
2B: C-Tim Dezzi, Hunter Kelly, Aiden Hoffman; 3B: C-Aiden Hoffman; HR: C-Brandon Drapeau, Steve Schanne, Trip McCaffrey.