Ocean City’s Red Raiders, Braves come to the plate, introduced by Dan Baker
OCEAN CITY – Senior Day May 1 for the Ocean City High School baseball team was more special this year as legendary Philadelphia Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker called the game live from behind home plate.
The Red Raiders hosted Absegami High School in a game elevated by Baker’s iconic voice that has been a fixture of Phillies home games for 54 years.
Baker has been the Phillies public address announcer since 1972 and after a busy doubleheader at the ballpark the day prior, he helped give both high school teams a game to remember.
The whole day was put together by Ocean City assistant coach Frank Coppenbarger, who was the longtime clubhouse manager and director of team travel for the Phillies.
After the game, Baker talked about how he and Coppenbarger made it happen.
“We were together at a South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame function about 10 years ago when Dan Stephenson, who does the Phillies’ highlights films, had his son pitching for Ocean City and I offered to do a game then,” Baker said.
Baker later showed off an old Ocean City baseball hoodie he wore underneath his usual Phillies gear which came in handy on a cold, windy day for baseball.
“We just thought the kids might enjoy it and the players and their families seemed like they appreciated it,” Baker said.
“Coach Copp is a one-of-a-kind guy, and he loves that he can bring this to these kids because it’s so special and I am glad they understand that,” Ocean City head coach Andrew Bristol said.
Baker called each senior and their families to the field before the game to be honored for their contributions to the Ocean City program over the last four years.
“It’s a great thing to have here and everyone knows his voice so when you hear your own name from his voice it’s pretty cool and something these seniors and all these players will remember forever,” Bristol said.
After both teams’ starting lineups were announced, another special guest, Al Norfleet, came out to the field to perform the national anthem. Norfleet was a longtime bus driver for the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies who previously had performed the anthem for both teams before games.
“This was my second time down here and I’ve obviously worked with Frank with the Phillies and when he asks me, I’m here,” Norfleet said. “The last three years I’ve taken the kids to North Carolina for their spring training, so they all know me. They are great kids and I enjoy being around them.”
Once the cheers for Norfleet’s performance subsided, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian awarded him and Baker with keys to the city and ever valuable free parking passes for the upcoming summer season.
After all the pregame festivities concluded, the Red Raiders started off strong and picked up a much needed 8-3 win over Absegami. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Ocean City as the team started May off on the right foot.
“We had a brutal part of our schedule and I try to do that in April to get us ready for May,” Bristol said. “Last year we were 8-2 in May, so we want to get ready and get better. The only way to do that is to face good teams. We took our lumps for awhile there so now we are trying to build our confidence and get some momentum going.”
Senior pitcher Kameron Street on his rest day got the momentum rolling in the bottom of the first inning with a double that turned into a run-scoring triple after an errant throw to second base. Street later scored from third base after Wes Andrews drove in the first of his four RBI of the game. Andrews had his best stat line of the season playing in front of Baker, who has seen all the great players in person over the last 54 years.
Josh Lenko was on the mound for Ocean City and delivered five innings, allowing four hits, for his second-longest outing of the season.
Eventually Absegami took a small 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning that stranded two runners on base.
After losing the advantage, the Raiders did not wait a moment to recapture the lead. They blew the game wide open in the next half inning. Ocean City sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs. The top four of the lineup all got on base and were cleared out by Andrews with a 2-RBI single that retook the lead for Ocean City. Looking for insurance runs up 4-3, Lenko kept the traffic on the bases moving with his own 2-RBI single to extend the Raider lead to 6-3.
“What I really liked today was, yeah, they gave up the lead, but they immediately fought back and regained it with timely hits, which is what it’s all about,” Bristol said.
Senior Kyle Williams came in to clean up the final two innings for Lenko and made sure to close out the one-of-a-kind senior day on top. Williams did not allow a hit and struck out four batters in his two innings of work.
The Raiders (6-10) will look to build upon the win over Absegami with back-to-back home games against two teams with positive records in Holy Spirit and Egg Harbor Township. Holy Spirit High School comes to Ocean City on May 8 with a 4 p.m. first pitch. Egg Harbor Township High School arrives the next morning on May 9 with an 11 a.m. start time.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
