Exclusive 100-hit club at LCMR could be adding new member

Posted: May 13th 2024

Evan Shoffler of Lower Cape May takes 99 career hits into Thursday's game against Middle Township

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

The 100-hit club at Lower Cape May Regional High School is rather exclusive.

There are just three current members. 

Matt Szczur is the all-time leader with 140 hits, capping a wonderful high school career with a South Jersey record .681 batting average as a senior in 2007. He later played baseball and was a national champion in football at Villanova. He went on to play parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs, with whom he was a World Series champion in 2016, and the San Diego Padres. He is back living in the area and has developed an ardent following as an artist. 

Dan Olson is next at 121 hits. A prodigious slugger, Olson belted 22 home runs in his final two seasons at Lower, including 12 as a senior in 1993. He went on to become a three-time all-Missouri Valley selection at Indiana State and later was a minor league all-star in the Chicago White Sox system, reaching as high as Double A before retiring with 44 professional home runs. Olson is now a high school teacher at his alma mater and has become a popular batting instructor for local youth baseball and softball players.

The third is Mike Mulligan, an excellent all-around athlete who also starred in football at Lower Cape May as a quarterback. He finished his baseball career in 2012 with 102 hits. Mulligan served in the United States Army for 7 ½ years after graduation and currently resides in Aberdeen, Md., working as a recruiter for the Maryland Army National Guard.

Evan Shoffler now has a chance to join those three standouts.

A senior shortstop and pitcher, Shoffler went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI in Monday’s 12-5 loss to Timber Creek to bring his career total to 99. He’ll get his next chance to reach the coveted milestone Thursday at home at 7 p.m. against rival Middle Township.

EVAN SHOFFLER

“Obviously we have an awesome rivalry with Middle,” Shoffler said. “It’s a night game, too, so that’ll make it even more fun to have a chance to do it then.”

Shoffler is a four-year starter at Lower. He has recorded 63 hits over the past two seasons through Monday. Shoffler has surprising power for his size (5-8), with 26 extra-base hits over the past two seasons, including 17 this season. He is hitting .375 so far this season and leads all Cape-Atlantic League players with five home runs. He leads the Caper Tigers in hits with 30 and is tied for the team lead with Hunter Ray in both runs scored with 20 and stolen bases with 12.

As a pitcher, Shoffler has posted a 2.86 earned run average with 65 strikeouts and just 20 walks in 41 2/3 innings pitched.

Shoffler said reaching 100 hits was a goal of his from the time he entered Lower Cape May as a freshman.

“We have the banners in the gym where you can look up and see the names and ever since my freshman year I wanted to try to be up there with the best,” he said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind but while I’m playing I always just try to help the team win and do whatever I can.”

Longtime Lower coach Ryan Slaney has witnessed Shoffler’s development over the past four seasons.

“He’s our smartest player as far as pitch selection and his approach at the plate,” Slaney said. “Even the balls that aren’t hits, a lot of them are line drives and smoked ground balls. You rarely see him have a poor at bat. If he does, he makes a quick adjustment.

“Everyone talks about having hard work and dedication. He’s had it since a young age and we’re seeing it pay off for him.”

Shoffler, who is set to play college baseball at Division II Shippensburg University, is one of the leaders of a Lower team that has been playing its best baseball of the season of late. Monday’s loss at Timber Creek snapped a six-game winning streak that included three total victories over CAL heavyweights Hammonton and Mainland.

“We’ve been putting up some crazy upset wins in some games that I’m sure not a lot of people thought we could win,” Shoffler said. “Our pitchers have been pounding the zone and the defense behind them has been making the plays. Baseball is a strange game. Anything can happen.”

Lower (12-11) is playing the kind of baseball Shoffler had anticipated after the Tigers won the CAL United Conference title last season.

“I had big expectations for myself and the team,” he said. “We struggled a little bit early but we’re finally playing to our potential as a team. We just have to keep it rolling and go out on a good, strong note.”

LCMR BASEBALL ALL-TIME HITS LEADERS

Player                 Hits           Gr. Year

Matt Szczur          140            2007

Dan Olson            121            1993

Mike Mulligan      102            2012

Evan Shoffler*       99            2024

* - active