Cherry Hill West Falls To Shawnee In Diamond Classic; State Playoffs Set To Begin

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Chace Sgouros went 1-for-3 with a run, but it wasn’t enough as the Cherry Hill High School West baseball team fell to Shawnee, 5-2, in the quarterfinals of the 44th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic on Saturday, according to nj.com. The Diamond Classic is the unofficial South Jersey championship tournament for high school baseball. Following its elimination, the Lions were set to re-focus on the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 championship tournament, which begins this week.

Joey Moore went 2-for-2 with two RBI for Shawnee, according to the report. Winning pitcher Sean Heine picked up the win on the mound with four shutout innings.

In the semifinals, Shawnee fell to St. Augustine Prep, 2-0, according to the Courier Post. St. Augustine went on to claim the tournament championship with an 8-5 win over Gloucester Catholic.

Cherry Hill West defeated Cinnaminson, 11-1, in the first round of the tournament. A total of 16 teams from what is traditionally considered the South Jersey area competed in the tournament, with 10 teams qualifying because they were in first place in their division at the cutoff date and six other teams earning at-large bids. Cherry Hill West earned an at-large bid to the tournament.

The loss dropped the Lions to 13-6. Cherry Hill West is the No. 7 seed in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 playoffs, and will host No. 10 Ocean City in the first round which was scheduled for Monday, but postponed until Tuesday due to inclement weather.

Image via Shutterstock