The Personal Injury Attorney in Township of Washington, NJ, You Can Trust

Ben Doney has had four at-bats in five games, all coming off the bench.

A corner infielder, the Clearview junior went 0-for-3 against Williamstown, GCIT and Gloucester Catholic.

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Given a chance against Washington Township on Wednesday, Doney earned a spot in the lineup for his team’s next game.”

“He’ll find his way in the lineup on Tuesday for sure,” coach Nick Core said.

Doney ignited a three-run seventh inning with a leadoff home run and visiting Clearview rallied for a 4-2 victory in Tri-County Royal action. It was his first varsity homer.

“Oh, my goodness,” Doney said. “That feeling off the bat … man, that can’t be replicated.

“You sit on the bench, but you’re always ready - let’s go, get up. It’s 3-1 and I’m thinking ‘if he leaves me one, leaves me my pitch, I’m smacking it.’ That’s exactly what I did. Whenever coach needs me - big spot, little spot - I’m ready if he calls on me.”

The home run to left tied the game at 2-2 after Washington Township (4-4) took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Reed Miller’s RBI single. The Pioneers (4-1) added two more runs on a wild pitch, with Giovanni Marinucci picking up the victory with 2 1/3 innings of relief.

“Ben’s a great kid, the kids love him. He’s an Energizer bunny for us,” Core said. “He’s been swinging it pretty good and that’s a huge energy spark for us right there. If he doesn’t get a hit, I don’t know if we win the game. He’s definitely going to get more opportunities down the road.

“He’s a guy that continues to work hard, proves himself. If he doesn’t get in the lineup, it doesn’t bum him out. He’s still into the game, getting his teammates up. We love having Ben here and he’s a leader for us.”

Clearview finished with just three hits in the win - Sawyer Wood adding a third-inning single and Alex Muenzenberger collecting a single as part of the decisive seventh. Both also scored a run.

For Washington Township, Giovanni Cristinzio went 2-for-3 and Andrew Robinson was 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. Peyton Andrie tied things at 1-1 with a home run in the fifth.

“The kids have been playing hard. We’re young and we’re going to go through some growing pains. We went through a couple more today,” Washington Township coach Bob Kelly said. “We’ve been getting good starting pitching. We’ve just got to be more consistent with guys coming out of the pen and really more consistent just throwing strikes. We’re killing ourselves with walks.”

Rebounding from a tough 2-1 loss to top-ranked Gloucester Catholic, Core knows there is still plenty of work to be done.

“I’ve told these guys since beginning of the year, the sky’s the limit for this group. But I’ll be honest, I don’t think we’ve played close to our best baseball,” Core said. “Opening Day we played really well against Williamstown, but I don’t think we’ve played really to our potential since we played GC tough the other day. But again, that wasn’t really our ‘A’ game today.

“When the weather warms up a little bit, our bats will warm up. I think the world of this team and I hold them accountable. We have high standards and sometimes we get on them, but we just want the best out of them.”

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Kevin Minnick covers South Jersey baseball. He can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kminnicksports

Oh good, more rain. Yes, we still really need it, with about three-quarters of New Jersey still officially in drought status. The dreary weather and the unseasonable temperatures are getting old at this point. We are craving another round of springtime warmth — but it's not coming until early next week.

Our next storm system will be slow to arrive Thursday and slow to depart Saturday. The biggest push of rain will be Friday night.

It's all gloom and no doom — other than an inch of rain and maybe a few snowflakes, I do not see any hazardous weather threats for the state.

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Thursday starts dry and ends wet.

We are starting off on the chilly side. You'll be reaching for the heavier jacket and the car heater with temperatures mainly in the 30s. Skies will be partly sunny, as we probably stay dry throughout Thursday morning.

As clouds thicken up and a stiff breeze kicks up Thursday afternoon, showers will creep in from west to east. By late afternoon, I suspect most of New Jersey will be overcast and damp.

High temperatures on Thursday will reach the lower 50s. Similar to Wednesday, and still almost 10 degrees below seasonal normals.

Occasional showers are expected Thursday night. Mainly rain, although I could see some snowflakes along and north of Interstate 80. Overnight lows will dip to around 40 degrees.

Not a nice weather day.

Expect periods of rain through Friday morning and afternoon. But that also means we will see periods of dry-ish weather along the way too — Friday is not a total washout.

It will be cloudy and breezy and miserably cool. High temps only reach about 45 to 50 degrees.

Starting around sunset Friday, we enter the "brunt" of this storm system — the period with the steadiest, heaviest, most widespread rain. There could be some localized downpours and rumbles of thunder overnight, but I do not think severe weather or flooding will be prominent issues.

Saturday will also be a less-than stellar day. And there are some big question marks about precipitation type and when rain will end across New Jersey.

There is one model — the Euro — that shows a flip to snow and wintry mix in North Jersey (north of I-78), potentially leading to multiple inches of accumulation. I do not buy it though — I do not think temperatures will be cold enough to sustain all-snow, and the ground will be too wet and too warm for substantial snow to stick. Still, the chance for slippery spots is there are worth watching.

I believe we'll have residual showers, mist, and drizzle through Saturday morning. And then the afternoon will trend drier. However, skies will stay overcast and temperatures will be uncomfortably cool. Thermometers will be stuck in the 40s all day.

Sunday will be the better weather day of the upcoming weekend.

Skies will remain mostly cloudy, but I am keeping a dry forecast for Sunday. Temperatures will respond nicely to the departure of our pesky storm system, pushing into the mid 50s through Sunday afternoon. Still below normal — but warmer than we have been all week.

60s return on Monday, with a mix of clouds and sun. That should be a pleasant April day.

Tuesday will inch closer to 70 degrees, although it will be a cold front day. That means we could see some spotty showers around New Jersey. And then it will turn breezy and colder late-day.

Cooler air returns on Wednesday. Typical of spring in New Jersey, we will probably see more temperature flip-flops between cold and warm through the Easter Weekend.

5 DAY FORECAST: New Jersey Weather Center

POP QUIZ: Can you name all 10 interstate highways in New Jersey?

Dan Zarrow is Chief Meteorologist for Townsquare Media New Jersey. Follow him on Facebook for the latest forecast and realtime weather updates.

An enlightening tour of Washington, NJ ... all six of them!