Washington Township

Robert Raymond Rambo, a mechanic who works nights at a trucking company outside San Francisco, was awakened about a week ago by pounding on his front door. Outside was a person from his South Jersey past: Washington Township Detective Sgt. James Fanelli. Lawrence Magid, a Gloucester County prosecutor, was with him. They wanted to talk about a murder. According to court records obtained yesterday, it was Rambo who led authorities to suspect Robert F. Brown in the August 1981 kidnapping and slaying of Karen Sewekow, the only daughter of a Medford Lakes insurance executive.

In something of a microcosm of the national midterm elections, Washington Township, home to many South Philadelphia natives, swung Republican in a local council race for the first time since 1998. After a hard-fought campaign, Republicans captured the three open seats on the five-member council, which Democrats in Gloucester County's most populous municipality have long dominated. The Democrats had fielded three political newcomers. But the new GOP majority will be tempered by a Democratic mayor, Matt Lyons, who has veto power.

Donna Costa took over the Washington Township girls' basketball team seven years ago, after the nucleus of the three-time South Jersey Group 4 champion had graduated. Costa, who played on a Township team that won an Olympic Conference title in 1972, has managed to field competitive teams since starting the rebuilding project. But the Minutemaids hadn't been able to regain a place among the area's elite teams - until this season. Township is currently 12-1 and rated No. 2 in South Jersey by The Inquirer.

Less than 24 hours earlier, the Washington Township girls' basketball team was in the middle of a 90-minute bus ride, exhausted from a loss to Cardinal O'Hara, one of the top teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The lingering effects didn't show Monday night in the Minutemaids' 52-42 home win over Shawnee. The win moves Township, ranked No. 2 by The Inquirer, into the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group 4 tournament. "Your body wears down on you," said Kylie Giedemann, a junior guard who led all players with 19 points.

What are Washington Township's most outstanding attributes? How would you describe the township to someone who was planning to move there? What advice would you give that person? What are the township's strengths? Are there any drawbacks - traffic, perhaps? How do you think the township will look 10 years from now? Send essays of 200 to 500 words to S.J. Voices, 53 Haddonfield Rd., Suite 300, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08002. E-mail sjvoices@phillynews.com. Fax 856-779-3221.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - They were rested and battle-tested after competing in South Jersey's deepest division and winning the Group 4 sectional tournament. They were resilient, twice rallying from deficits and putting the tying runs on base after they were down to their last strike in the seventh inning. They also were realistic. "That was the best team we played all year," Washington Township coach Bill Alvaro Jr. said after the Minutemen dropped an 8-6 decision to Central Jersey champion Jackson Memorial in Wednesday's state Group 4 semifinal at Rider University.

Pete Ferris of Washington Township has made an oral commitment to play football for Syracuse University. Ferris, a first-team all-South Jersey punter last season, will punt and kick for the Orangemen. He averaged more than 45 yards per punt and was an all-Olympic Conference running back last season. He chose Syracuse over New Hampshire. Well, sort of. New Hampshire gave Ferris a deadline of last Wednesday at 8 p.m. to commit there or risk having his scholarship offered to another player.

Anthony Corrado had heard it before. "I feel like I get asked the same question every game," the Rancocas Valley coach said. The topics were commonplace: The dominance of Lauren Moses, the depth of his team, the balance, the tough defense, the ability to answer, emphatically, every run an opponent makes. All of it was on display Thursday night in a 52-37 win over Washington Township in a Group 4 state girls' basketball semifinal at Deptford. In 32 minutes, Rancocas Valley again showed every reason that it just might be the scariest team in the state entering a Group 4 championship matchup with Paterson-Eastside on Sunday at Toms River North.

Riverside entered Monday afternoon's South Jersey Group 1 first-round baseball game at Maple Shade as the underdog. The two teams compete in the Freedom Division of the Burlington County League and the favored Wildcats had edged the Rams twice in the last two weeks by a combined margin of two runs. The third time proved to be a charm, though, as No. 11 seed Riverside upset sixth-seeded Maple Shade, 3-1, in nine innings. The Rams struck early as junior Cody Ercol drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning.

This was a baseball game that said as much about the losing side as the winning one. So many positives can be stated about both teams after Washington Township held on for a 7-5 win over Audubon on Saturday in a quarterfinal of the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic at Deptford. Township jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Audubon scored one run in the fourth and four in the fifth and sent the potential winning run to the plate in the sixth and the potential tying run in the seventh. "There is no game we think we are out of," Audubon third baseman Bob Panico said.

BASEBALL Team Record Last week's rankings in parentheses. 1. Washington Township (2) 21-5 In their 12-game winning streak, the Minutemen have outscored opponents by 106-36. 2. St. Augustine Prep (5) 16-6 Junior Zach Warren is 5-1 with a 1.20 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 402/3 innings. 3. Bishop Eustace (4) 19-7 Junior first baseman Dan Marano had a pair of RBIs in a 4-3 loss to Camden Catholic in the Diamond Classic semifinals on Sunday. 4. Eastern (1)

This is the team that they all saw when they closed their eyes in the winter. Now it's late spring, and Washington Township is everything they imagined, and maybe a little more. "We're trying to make history," Washington Township senior catcher Ryan Long said after the Minutemen completed a remarkable tour de force on Sunday with a pair of imposing victories in the semifinals and finals of the 40th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic. Long was 3 for 4 with a pair of triples, and senior third baseman Tom Hildebrand was 3 for 4 with four RBIs as Washington Township beat Camden Catholic, 14-1, in the championship game Sunday night at Eastern.

Devin Smeltzer walked off the mound after the win the same way he walked onto it in the first inning. It was the same stone-faced attitude he used to recover from allowing an RBI single with no outs in the second inning. Nothing appeared to faze the 6-foot-2 lefthander, and his Bishop Eustace baseball team latched onto that mind-set Saturday in a 6-1 victory over Eastern in the quarterfinals of the Diamond Classic at Washington Township. "I just kept going at them," said Smeltzer, who threw a two-hitter, striking out nine and walking two. "I try to keep my emotions in check, settle in, and hit my spots.

Colan Miller waited his whole career for Camden Catholic to push into South Jersey baseball prominence. Maybe that's why the senior righthander worked so quickly and efficiently in Saturday's Diamond Classic quarterfinals. Miller pitched a three-hitter with five strikeouts as Camden Catholic beat Pitman, 2-1, in a game that took just 74 minutes at Washington Township. "The tempo was perfect for me," Miller said. "I love to work fast. " With the victory, Camden Catholic (16-8)

Baseball DIAMOND CLASSIC QUARTERFINALS Camden Catholic 2, Pitman 1 Vineland 1, Cherry Hill West 0 Washington Township 7, Audubon 5 Bishop Eustace 6, Eastern 1 BURLINGTON COUNTY LIBERTY Northern Burlington 1, Pemberton 0 TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE CLASSIC Pennsville 12, Gloucester 0 NONLEAGUE Gloucester Catholic 5, Cherokee 3 Sterling 4, Overbrook (N.J.) 3 Pennsauken 5, Riverside 4 Softball CAPE-ATLANTIC LEAGUE NATIONAL Sacred Heart (N.J.)

See and hear from Washington Township first baseman Shaine Hughes and Audubon coach Rich Horan. www.philly.com/rallyvideos