By TONY MARQUIS | The Voorhees Sun
Eastern lost to defending Group 3 state champions Kingsway, 10–1, on
Thursday at home. The Vikings (1–3) have lost their last three games.
Last year, Eastern went 16–5 and lost in the second round of the NJSIAA
South Jersey Group 4 playoffs to Absegami. But seven starters graduated from the 2008 team.
On Thursday, one of the two returning starters, Samantha Lemm went 1–4 with a double — one of Eastern’s three hits. Gabby Kozlowski, the only returning senior starter for the Vikings, went 1–3 and scored Eastern’s run after reaching on an error in the third inning.
The Vikings had opportunities to score, but stranded nine runners.
After Kingsway took a 10–1 lead from four hits and five errors by Eastern, both teams shuffled their lineups in the fifth inning.
Vikings coach Jamie McGroarty moved freshman Steph Vuono from shortstop to pitcher replacing Lemm. Vuono, one of five freshmen starters, had two walks, two strikeouts and gave up two hits in three innings, shutting down a mix of Kingsway’s starters and reserves. It was Vuono’s first time pitching in high school — Lemm is 1–3 with a 3.23 ERA including a complete-game shutout against Bishop Eustace in the season opener.
See the April 22 print edition of The Sun for a story on the team.