Jersey Boys

Fans ask Jersey Boys star Jarrod Spector one question more frequently than any other: "Is that your real voice?" The Philadelphia native will showcase that voice Thursday night when he takes a break from his falsetto-intensive Broadway role as pop legend Frankie Valli   . He'll give a free performance in the Live from Loews concert series, recounting his journey to the spotlight. The stories, like the well-trained voice, are all his. In "Minor Fall, Major Lift," a 70-minute memoir in music, Spector will drop the accent he assumes for the Broadway hit about '60s hit-makers the Four Seasons.

Westampton Tech won the New Jersey Vocational Tournament boys' basketball championship for the first time on Wednesday, as Shaun Russell had 17 points to lead a balanced attack in a 73-59 victory at North 13th Street Tech. Bazil Jackson (14 points), Marquel Davis (13) and Marcus Stewart (10) also scored in double figures for the Panthers, who seized control with a 23-12 second-quarter spree. Nonleague. Xavier Lundy pumped in 30 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished off four assists in guiding third-ranked Paulsboro to a 77-55 win at Woodrow Wilson.

It's nostalgic. It's ebullient. It's the American dream, with twists. It makes you happy. And, I admit, it was a surprise to me when Jersey Boys won the Tony for best musical. Predicting who will win awards is always a crap-shoot, and you'll probably do better rolling the dice in Atlantic City than attempting to guess who'll take home Broadway's highest honors. Everything becomes clear in hindsight. Plenty of people, taken by the goofy delights of the dark-horse late-season opener called The Drowsy Chaperone - it had 13 nominations, the most of any show this season - believed it was a virtual shoo-in for best musical in Tony's 60th annual awards ceremony, aired from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night.

WHERE would "Jersey Boys" be without the "Jersey Girls"? The success of the world-beating Broadway musical about 1960s chart-toppers the Four Seasons may ultimately depend on the individual and collective talents of the male actors who portray the four musicians from North Jersey in the tune-filled, rags-to-riches story that's on the Forrest Theatre stage through Jan. 14. But without Kaleigh Cronin, Natalie Gallo and Ruby Lewis, there wouldn't be...

First Team Position   Player   School   Yr.    Forward   Zack Curl   Haddon Township   Sr.    Forward   Jeff Morgan   Timber Creek   Sr.    Forward   Giuseppe DeLuca   Timber Creek   Sr.    Forward   Mike Ryan   Cherokee   Sr.    Midfield   Ramadan Bayyan   Cherry Hill West   Sr.    Midfield   Angelo Dambalas   Cherokee   Sr.    ...

The Inquirer TOP 10     BOYS' LACROSSE Team   Record Records are through Tuesday. Last week's rankings in parentheses. 1. St. Augustine (1)   7-3 2. Moorestown (2)   6-2 3. Haddonfield (3)   8-0 4. Eastern (4)   7-2 5. Kingsway (5)   9-2 6. Seneca (6)   6-1 7. Lenape (7)   7-3 8. Shawnee (8)

Straight-set wins from the doubles teams of Anthony Merlino and Steve Nguyen, and Dillon Storms and Nick Vasalli carried host Delsea to a 3-2 win over upset-minded Seneca on Wednesday in the South Jersey Group 3 boys' tennis quarterfinals. The Crusaders, seeded third in the 13-team field, added a 6-0, 6-3 win at third singles by Joe Roussin to earn a berth in Thursday's semifinals at second-seeded Ocean City. Seneca was seeded 11th. South Jersey Group 4. Lenape beat visiting Eastern for the third time this season, 4-1, in a quarterfinal, including Mike Perrone's 7-5, 6-3 victory at third singles.

Burlington Township won the NJSIAA State Group 3 and Tournament of Champions boys' team golf titles on Monday at Hopewell Valley Country Club. The Falcons carded an overall score of 303, led by Kevin Sarlo - the individual runner-up in Group 3 with a 1-over-par 73. Sarlo was joined on the leaderboard by teammates Brandon Roche (third, 74) and Nick Carpetti (fourth, 76). Mainland was third to Burlington Township in Group 3 with a 339. Middle Township, paced by David Hicks (second, 74)

  BOYS' LACROSSE Team Record Records are through Tuesday. Last week's rankings in parentheses. 1. St. Augustine (1) 10-5 2. Moorestown (2) 11-4 3. Shawnee (3) 12-5 4. Kingsway (7) 13-5 5. Eastern (6) 12-5 6. West Deptford (9) 13-5 7. Haddonfield (4) 12-4 8. Washington Twp. (10) 8-9 9. Seneca (8) 11-4 10. Lenape (5)

The top seeds held form in the South Jersey boys' tennis tournament Wednesday, as Pitman, Haddonfield, Moorestown, and Atlantic City each claimed semifinal wins. Zac Castagna battled past Jack Peterson, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, at first singles to help Pitman oust Schalick, 5-0, in Group 1, and Haddonfield lost a total of six games in blanking Woodstown, 5-0, in Group 2. Moorestown hammered Hammonton in Group 3, 5-0, with Dan Schafhauser and Zach Morrow pulling out a 6-0, 6-7 (4-7)

David Hicks won with a 71 and teammate Kevin O'Donnell carded a 78 to finish fourth, leading Middle Township to its third consecutive South/Central Jersey Group 2 sectional golf championship Monday at Wildwood Golf and Country Club. The top two teams and top five individual finishers qualify for Monday's NJSIAA state championship at Hopewell Valley. Tom Hughes of Delran, who was third at 76, also qualified out of Group 2. Burlington Township, led by individual winner Kevin Sarlo (74)

John Adryan belted a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning, and reliever Jake Doll pitched three scoreless innings to lift Holy Cross over Buena, 4-2, in a Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic baseball opener on Saturday at Washington Township. In other opening-round action: Keith Wallace struck out 12, did not walk a batter and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and Alex Tafaro batted 3 for 4 with four RBIs to help Bishop Eustace top Audubon, 5-3, at Washington Township.

Chance Embler opened the scoring with a third-inning double and Dan Schurer pitched a five-hit shutout, as No. 8 seed Moorestown upset top-seeded Holy Cross, 2-0, on Friday in the Burlington County League baseball tournament. Nick Savino batted 3 for 3 in support of Schurer, who struck out seven in improving to 4-0. Tri-County. Matt Miniconzi of Highland singled to lead off the seventh inning, breaking up Kingsway pitcher John Beshada's no-hit bid, but the host Dragons still came out on top, 2-0, thanks to Brody Moran's two RBIs.

Haddonfield scored three times on bases-loaded walks on Saturday, opening the door for a 6-3 home win over Audubon, the No. 3 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey baseball Top 10. Rob Perkins and Mike McLaughlin each had a run-scoring single in the Colonial Conference game, and Bulldogs junior righthander Jason Cavanaugh shut out Audubon after allowing three runs on three hits in the first inning. Lee Ware Tournament. Winning pitcher Steve Rodier drove in three runs, while Brandon Cornelius and Billy Burton added two RBIs apiece for Timber Creek, which jumped on top early and cruised past Pennsauken Tech, 15-2, in the championship game at Woodstown.

Brett Tenuto became Gloucester Catholic's third baseball player this season to reach 100 career hits, as the senior third baseman batted 3 for 3 with two runs scored and four RBIs in Friday's 14-0 romp at Tri-County Conference rival Woodstown. John Brue and Elliott McCummings previously reached the milestone for the Rams, who are ranked No. 2 in South Jersey by The Inquirer. Tenuto and Brue (1 for 2, 2 runs, 1 RBI) each had a home run and Joe Santone had a bases-loaded triple in support of Steve Mondile, who blanked the Wolverines on five hits.

Cody Danzen of St. Augustine shot a 1-under-par 71 to win the individual title, and the Lafferty brothers helped Cherokee to its first team title in the 31st annual Carl Arena/Al Rifkin golf tournament on Thursday at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove. Danzen finished two shots ahead of Vince Kwon of Cherry Hill East and Washington Township's Joe Russo, who tied for second at 73. Blaine and Liam Lafferty joined teammates Brett Fernandes and Colin Geary in carding a 319 for Cherokee, which edged runner-up Middle Township (322)

Brenden DelMonte had the Pennsauken batters mesmerized on Monday, when the Cherry Hill West senior lefthander set a school single-game record with 18 strikeouts - including 17 in a row - and his teammates picked him up with a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the Olympic Conference baseball game, 2-1. DelMonte, who has an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, retired the third and fourth batters of the game on strikes and...