LINWOOD – The Mustangs are 3-1 heading into a big week of baseball, having split their series against an evenly matched Vineland High School squad.
Game one saw Vineland travel to Mainland Regional High School and give the Mustang pitchers problems all game long. Vineland kept constant traffic on the bases throughout the game and eventually brought home enough runners to win 6-3 on March 31.
A sacrifice fly gave Vineland a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the damage was limited after the Mustang defense caught a runner in-between bases.
The Mustangs had the chance to take a big early lead in the bottom of the second inning after they loaded the bases with zero outs. Damon Herzchel was the final man on with an excellent bunt in-between home plate and the pitching mound. Colton Donahue and Bradley Delaney got on base via walk before Herzchel came up to put the offense in a prime position.
Sean Burke brought home Donahue from third base with an RBI single that cost one out at second base. Tied 1-1 the Mustangs wanted to bring at least one more runner home, but their next two outs came and went without action on the bases.
“We still have to do better with runners in scoring position,” Mainland head coach Billy Kern said. “We had the opportunities with bases loaded and no outs but could not get enough across.”
Vineland steadily built its lead throughout the game and cumulated a 6-1 advantage with two innings left.
In their last gasp to get back in the game, the Mustangs kept working and managed to load the bases in the fifth. John Franchini led off the inning with a walk after seeing 10 pitches in his at-bat. Against Vineland’s bullpen, Mainland loaded the bases and got a free score on its next batter after Anthony Nodado walked, advancing all runners.
Unfortunately for the offense the first two outs of the inning were both fly balls that were just shallow enough to freeze the runners.
Dom Deluca drew one more walk to cut the lead to 6-3 but they could not turn the game around from that five-run deficit.
“Defensively late in the game when we found the strike zone, we were fine, but just gave up a little too many free passes,” Kern said. “It was just like a typical high school baseball game where the team that walks the least amount of people and puts balls in play comes out on top.”
The Mustangs went to Vineland the next day and fixed some of the previous day’s errors thanks to a dominant game from senior pitcher Will Hickman.
Hickman had arguably his best game on the mound as he pitched a complete game and shut out Vineland. He only gave up one walk and four hits in the shutout that proved to be exactly what the Mustangs needed as they narrowly won 1-0 on April 1.
The 0-0 stalemate was eventually broken by Nodado, who scored the lone run of the game. With the run support in his pocket, Hickman continued to mow down opposing batters and made sure the one run was enough to win.
Mainland had more success hitting the ball in game two with players such as Cole Stefano, who got on base safely three times with three other Mustangs who reached a base twice.
Next up on the Mustangs’ schedule is their annual series against Ocean City High School. The two schools split the regular season series last season but it was Ocean City who got the upper hand in the playoffs and ended Mainland’s season. Both teams will have had a lot of rest heading into the series which means the pitching staffs should be fully available.
The first game of the series was Tuesday, in Ocean City, after the Sentinel went to press. Game two is at Mainland at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 8.
The Red Raiders are 1-2. They lost both games of their season-opening series against Vineland, 3-0 and 6-2, then beat Triton 11-1 on March 31.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
