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Sports

West Deptford Majors Hit Early, Often In Victory Over Glassboro

West Deptford hit three home runs in the first inning, a sign of things to come in a 20-5 win over Glassboro.

Three pitches into their semifinal game Wednesday night, the already led 2-0 on the back of two home runs.

The insanely quick start was not a fluke or aberration.

It was simply a warning for what was to follow.

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West Deptford hitters made their aluminum bats look like they were fungo bats Wednesday night, trouncing Glassboro, 20-5, in five innings to advance to the District 15 championship.

The local boys hit four homers in all and scored in all five innings of the victory.

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West Deptford will face Woodbury in the District 15 final on Friday. The game is a rematch of a .

West Deptford wasted no time making an opening statement. Kyle Kaminski sent the second pitch of the game deep over the left field fence to open the scoring. Jared Schultes followed with a line drive home run to center on the very next pitch.

“I guess I was trying to do the same thing as the leadoff hitter did: Just mash the ball,” Schultes said. “It just kept flying and went over the fence.”

A few batters later, it was Adrian Mason’s turn. Mason blasted a three-run shot as West Deptford was off to the races with a 5-0 lead.

The quick start was a welcome sight for West Deptford manager Gus Knestaut, who entered expecting Glassboro to put up a real fight.

“I was a little nervous coming out tonight, only because (Glassboro) beat Clayton 20-1 (Tuesday night) and they had been beating up on teams in their pool,” Knestaut said. “We figured it would be a tight game. I was surprised that we came out the way we did, to be quite honest. We started slow (Tuesday) against Harrison and then came out like gangbusters tonight.”

The team got production up and down the lineup, but no one was hotter than Schultes, who was 5-for-5 with six RBIs. Schultes had a two-run double in the third to help West Deptford stretch its lead to 9-2 and two hits—including a two-run double—in the team’s eight-run fifth inning.

“You just feel really confident at the plate,” Schultes said of being in the groove. “I have never had a day like this. It feels really good.”

All of the run support made for a relatively easy evening for winning pitcher Tommy Sampson, who went 4 1/3 innings before reaching his pitch limit. Sampson also joined in the offensive fireworks, connecting on a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

Wednesday’s performance was the definition of a team effort, as all 10 players scored at least one run.

“We have been doing it the entire tournament,” Knestaut said. “Our four, five and six hitters have been mashing the ball.

"Today, our one, two and three hitters were mashing the ball and our four, five and six hitters were still mashing the ball. We get to the bottom of the order and a guy like Jake Keuler, who hit last, has 10 or 11 hits this tournament.”

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