By Andy Loigu

A pair of district and region champs from Warren County are heading to prominent Division I wrestling programs.

Quinn Melofchik of Belvidere ended his career with the Warren County record for career wins (he finished 147-19) and will keep flying high at the Air Force Academy. He went to the state championships in Atlantic City three times and captured two medals. In his senior season with Big Red he won the gold in District 12 and Region 3 at 113 pounds, capping a glorious year with a 39-3 season record.

He may modestly wonder why I refer to him as “The Mighty Quinn” all the time. That was the title of a popular song on the hit parade, which was getting played on American Bandstand when I was a high school senior, over 50 years ago.

Former Warren Hills Blue Streak Cody Harrison finished his career with Phillipsburg after transferring. He was 40-3 as a Stateliner senior, finishing with a 125-24 career mark. He won the 152 pound crown at District 13 and Region 4 and then capped it off with a third place finish at Atlantic City and a win in the New Jersey versus Pennsylvania Lions Classic. He’ll continue to represent New Jersey in the Big 10 Conference for Rutgers.

Baseball Tournament Time

The seedings have been set for the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex baseball tournament. With a fifth and sixth seed, respectively, Warren Hills and Hackettstown are likely to reach the quarterfinals if the “chalk” holds up. However, in baseball, the better team does not always win in a “one and done” elimination situation. There is a reason why the World Series is best four out of seven and the college playoffs are double elimination. 

Pope John, who won the tournament in 2017, is the top seed and Delaware Valley (where former Warren Hills Blue Streak Marty White has built a winning tradition) is the second seed. We can hope to see the Blue Streaks and Tigers match up with them in the semifinals. That would be a lot of fun.

Jake Continues To Rake

Former Hackettstown Tiger Jake Hall will play in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League this summer with the Jersey Pilots. Many players from the league have advanced to the majors. It is a prominent, highly scouted league, for players with pro potential who wish to keep playing and building their skills in the summer while maintaining their college eligibility and amateur standing.

With 14 regular season games and the playoffs still ahead of him, Hall tied the single-season home run record at County College of Morris recently. In the process, he had an amazing game, going 3-for-5 with two homers and seven runs batted in. That’s a season for some players.

Hall is no home run or strikeout Dave Kingman at bat. After 37 games his batting average at CCM stood at .381 to go along with his 13 homers and 48 RBI. Also, he is an outfielder who covers ground and has an accurate rocket launcher for an arm. Scouts have already seen him and there will be more. I remember seeing those scouts, with their radar guns, when former Tiger Cole Kimball pitched for Centenary College. Kimball later climbed the minor league ladder and pitched for the Washington Nationals, becoming the first Hackettstonian to play in the majors.

If there is a burgeoning slugger out there named Oates, perhaps he can team up with Jake in the future as a famous slugging duo known as Hall and Oates. Well, five decades ago the Orioles had a pitcher named Dick Hall and a catcher named Johnny Oates, but Hall and Oates were not a thing in the music world yet.

*********Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.