Moorestown

There are two times that matter most for leadoff hitters and seniors: Early in the game and late in the season. Andrew Lisa is making the best of both. Lisa reached base five times and scored three runs Wednesday to spark Moorestown to a 15-7 victory over Winslow Township in the first round of the South Jersey Group 3 baseball tournament. Lisa, a senior shortstop, also collected three hits and two RBIs as third-seeded Moorestown (15-6) won for the 12th time in 13 games and advanced to face sixth-seeded Ocean City in Friday's second round.

Every year, there is a slogan - splashed across T-shirts worn all the players, usually yellow letters on black cotton. And this year's theme is as fitting as there has ever been: The endless pursuit of perfection. Hyperbole for some teams. For the Moorestown girls' lacrosse squad, it's a way of life, a standard of working and playing, proved repeatedly across generations. The Quakers are fresh off a 26-0 campaign, including a Tournament of Champions title - a perfect season.

About the only thing that didn't go right for Haddon Township yesterday afternoon against Moorestown was that pitcher Bill Murray didn't get his shutout after baffling the home team for six innings. The Hawks (13-6) were dominant in handing Moorestown - the No. 3 baseball team in The Inquirer's South Jersey ratings - a 12-2 non-league defeat. The Quakers (14-3), who edged No. 1 Florence nine days ago by a 2-1 score, lost for the first time in 10 games - against a team that it may meet again in the second round of the South Jersey Group 2 tournament.

This was supposed to be the year the cracks started to show in the Moorestown girls' lacrosse dynasty. The young Quakers returned five starters and went into the season with the mounting pressure of defending three straight state titles. But in the end, it was Moorestown that won an unprecedented fourth straight crown, which no girls' lacrosse team ever accomplished before. The Quakers finished the season 22-1 overall, with a state-record 82-game winning streak. For its achievements, Moorestown is the girls' lacrosse team of the year in South Jersey.

"Moorestown is enjoying the greatest boom in its history. What an opportunity for investing! What an ideal place to live!" - a 1926 real-estate brochure. "One of Moorestown's greatest assets is our remaining undeveloped land. . . . Unless we determine now the kinds and locations of open spaces which should be preserved, sprawling urban development will make the decision for us. " - "Now or Never - Preservation of Open Space in Moorestown," a 1964 township Planning Board report.

Kerry Krauss wishes she was just a bit taller. Add three or four inches to her 5-foot-6 frame, and Krauss envisions herself as a dominant offensive player on the volleyball court. "I always wanted to be on the attack," she said. "That's always been my dream, but I guess I'm a little too short to be up there. " Fortunately for the Moorestown volleyball team, Krauss is the perfect height for a defender, and her skills have enabled the Quakers to make a run for a state title.

There were more than a few tears shed by Lenape's lacrosse players after their 9-6 win over Moorestown on Monday. "They finally felt they had done something, and that's a big accomplishment," coach Joe Mulhern said after his Indians beat the defending state champion. It was the first loss for the Quakers in two years. They went 20-0 last year. Mulhern's team trailed, 5-0, after the first 10 minutes and was beaten in every phase of the game during that span. The coach decided to call a time-out and made a key substitution, inserting juniors Sheri Shifren and Nina Soto.

This afternoon at 2, it will be deja vu all over again for the Clearview and Moorestown girls' soccer teams. For the second time in three seasons, Clearview and Moorestown will meet in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 soccer championship. Most of the host Quakers (16-3) weren't there when Moorestown defeated Clearview, 2-1, three years ago. Today's starting lineup is made up of mostly sophomores. Ninth-seeded Clearview (13-7) has a young team, just like second-seeded Moorestown, but the Pioneers have a couple of players who have not forgotten what it feels like to lose in the final: senior captain Kelly Giffear and junior captain Maria Dorris.

The fact that Hunterdon Central's lacrosse team beat Moorestown during the regular season meant just one thing to Quakers senior attack Jon Lefferts. "It's locker-room material," Lefferts said. "You hang it on the locker. Coaches preach it all week. " It worked. The fifth-seeded Quakers stormed to a big lead and withstood a late comeback for a 12-10 victory over the fourth-seeded Red Devils in an NJSIAA Tournament of Champions quarterfinal game at Bridgewater's Basilone Field yesterday.

Bordentown and Delran, teams that brought home state titles last season, were the preseason favorites in the Burlington County League Freedom Division soccer race this year. Burlington was also highly touted. Palmyra? Well, the Pals, with only five returning starters from a 9-8-2 team, figured to finish in the middle of the pack. Right near Moorestown. Yet, with the season almost two weeks old, the only two Freedom teams that own unbeaten league records are . . . Yep, Palmyra and Moorestown.