Kelly, LaScala share a Philly Junior Tour victory for a second straight day in the Rehoboth Junior Open

 

   A day after finishing in a tie atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Plantation Lakes Golf & Country Club, Salesianum teammates Joseph Kelly and Luke LaScala did it again in the Rehoboth Junior Open at Rehoboth Beach Country Club June 9^th.

   Kelly and LaScala, still on a roll after helping the Sallies cruise to the team crown in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship last month at Baywood Greens Golf Course, each carded a solid 2-over-par 74 at Rehoboth Beach to again share a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Kelly, who claimed the individual crown in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens, got started with a birdie at the second hole, went back-to-back with birdies at six and seven, added birdies at nine and 13 and had seven pars on his scorecard.

   Kelly’s four birdies on the outgoing nine at Rehoboth Beach enabled him to tour the front side in 1-under 35.

   LaScala, who finished in a tie for seventh place in the DIAA Championship, also got started with a birdie at the second hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 11 and 12 and had 10 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from 13 to 16.

   Kelly and LaScala will be seniors at Salesianum beginning in the fall.

   Another of Delaware’s top scholastic players, Jake Hollerback, capped his junior season at Sussex Central by finishing in fourth place in the DIAA Championship on his home course at Baywood Greens in defense of the individual title he won a year ago.

   Hollerback made birdies at the ninth and 12^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, finishing up his round with six straight pars, at Rehoboth Beach as he ended up a shot behind Kelly and LaScala in third place with a 3-over 75.

   Kie Shaw, who wrapped up his junior season at the Delaware Military Academy by finishing in a tie for fifth place in the DIAA Championship, ended up a shot behind Hollerback at Rehoboth Beach in fourth with a 4-over 76.

   Cole Henning, a senior on the Souderton golf team, finished in fifth place with a solid 5-over 77.

   There was a four-way logjam for sixth place at 6-over 78, a foursome that included Shane Cornell, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Avon Grove last fall, Brooks McCall, a junior on the Wilmington Friends School golf team, Joey Higgins, a junior on Philadelphia Academy Charter’s Public League championship team last fall, and Jaxon Niman, a senior on the Central Dauphin golf team.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Billy Nikolaidis, a junior on the Muhlenberg golf team, and Landon Shoczolek of North Cape May, N.J. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for a 79.

   Cole Martin, an invader from McLean, Va., matched the feats of Kelly and LaScala by repeating his Philly Junior Tour victory at Plantation Lakes in the 13-to-15 division as he shared  first place at Rehoboth Beach with Charles Blok of Downingtown, each landing on 4-over 76.

   Martin got it going on the outgoing nine at Rehoboth Beach, going back-to-back with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes and adding another birdie at nine. He went back-to-back again with birdies at the 11^th and 12^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard.

   Blok made birdies at the 12^th and 14^th holes and had nine pars on his card, including a run of five straight pars from two through six, to get a share of the top spot with Martin.

   Tucker Detwiler, a West Chester resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, Hunter Pearson of Medford, N.J. and David Padgett of Barnegat, N.J. finished in a tie for third place, each tallying a 7-over 79.

   Detwiler made birdies at the fourth, ninth and 12^th holes and had six pars on his card. Pearson made birdies at the second and fourth holes and had seven pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from five through eight. Padgett made birdies at the second, fourth, 12^th and 17^th holes and had six pars on his card.

   Ian Lu, taking a road trip from Edison, N.J., took sixth place with an 81 and Owen Ciesielka, like Detwiler a West Chester resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, and Jack Ferry of Port Deposit, Md. finished in a tie for seventh place, each recording an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was the trio of Beckett Kush of Yardley, Ben Meixell, a sophomore on the Salesianum golf team, and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each registering an 83.

   The best score among the girls emerged out of the 13-to-15 division as Dahlia Garrick, coming off a fourth-place finish in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens as a freshman at the Tower Hill School, made a birdie on the 16^th hole and had 10 pars on her scorecard, including a run of six straight pars from six through 12, on her way to a solid 7-over 79 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills, moving up after being one of the top players in the girls 12-and-under division in 2025, had four pars on her card as she finished in second place with an 88.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Hannah LeGrow, coming off her freshman season on the Ursuline Academy golf team, as she made a birdie on the fourth hole and had three pars on her card, finishing in third place with a 90.

   LeGrow completed both ends of the two-day Philly Junior Tour’s Delaware stops as she was the lone entry in the 13-to-15 division at Plantation Lakes a day earlier and registered a 96.

   Kiera Post, who reached the second day of the District One Class AAA Championship as a sophomore at Avon Grove last fall, finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division as she made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had eight pars on her scorecard on her way to an 85.

   Post is the daughter of Brendon Post and Patty Post, the husband-wife team at the helm of the Delaware golf program. Patty Post oversees both the men’s and women’s teams as the director of golf programs and Brendon Post is mostly involved with the men’s team for the Blue Hens.

   Gabrielle Hamstead, coming off her freshman season at Cape Henlopen, had 10 pars on her card, including a string of four straight pars from the fourth through the seventh holes, as she earned runnerup honors with an 88 that left her three shots behind Post.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Ellie Walls, who capped her sophomore season at Indian River by finishing in third place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens, as she took third place at Rehoboth Beach, making six pars on her way to an 89 that left her a shot behind Hamstead in third.

   Walls completed both ends of the two-day Philly Junior Tour’s Delaware stops as she was the lone entry a day earlier in the 16-to-18 division at Plantation Lakes and posted an 87.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. made birdies at the sixth and eighth holes and had four pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a 1-over 37.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. had six pars on his card, including four straight pars to close out his round, as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 39. Rollins was coming off a victory in the boys 12-and-under division a day earlier at Plantation Lakes.

   Ben Adkins of Lewes, Del. had four pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 42.

   A trio of Wilmington, Del. guys, Alex Cheng, Chris Pilcher and Jackson Larrabee, shared fourth place, each ending up with a 45.

   Landon Post, another member of Lincoln University’s Team Post, took seventh place with a 46, James Hall of Hebron, Md. was eighth with a 57 and Luca Lancelloti of Wilmington, Del. rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished ninth with a 65.

   Skylar Crutchfield of Elkins Park was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and she made a birdie on the third hole on her way to a 50.