Hoover strikes out 11, MRHS steals four bases in 2-1 win; the Prep is next
OCEAN CITY – The Mainland Mustangs baseball team punched its ticket to the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament title game Monday with a 2-1 comeback win over the Ocean City Red Raiders.
The Mainland offense put together better at-bats as the game went on and came up with just enough timely hits.
“Even in the fourth and fifth when we hadn’t scored yet, we had great at-bats,” head coach Bill Kern said. “We put balls in play, we weren’t giving away at-bats, we weren’t striking out. So it was just a matter of coming up with that big hit, getting somebody to second. Brandon Sharkey with two strikes, just battling and hitting that ground ball, and then Nick Wagner with a big two-out hit an inning later. I’m super happy with the way our guys competed in the box today.”
Meanwhile, Mustang pitcher Will Hoover tossed a gem after settling in.
“Will Hoover has been that way for two seasons now,” Kern said. “He pounds the strike zone, doesn’t really walk people, our guys fielded behind them, and that sixth inning is about as much of a gut-check as you’re going to get for a senior.”
“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of starts this year,” Hoover said, “so I was able to work on my fastball, curveball, changeup, get those all down, and I just felt really confident up there coming out.”
“Hats off to Hoover,” Raiders head coach Andrew Bristol said. “He pitched great.”
Raider starter Tom Finnegan was dominant as well, especially early as he didn’t allow a base-runner until the fourth inning.
But the Ocean City offense cooled after being unable to take full advantage of opportunities to extend their lead.
“We let them off the hook early,” Bristol said. “The first inning we had a bad base-running play that I thought would have gotten us a run if we tagged up. But he assumed it was a base hit. Then we had the bases loaded with one out and we didn’t get anything. So now the momentum shifts and it’s always bad karma when you leave that stuff out there. You leave yourself no margin for error.”
Speaking of errors, the Raider defense was burned by four of them, which always come back to hurt in a tight battle.
“You can’t make errors,” Bristol said, “because those errors are magnified. If you score a couple runs early, it’s a different game and now you can make that error. Hopefully they learn from that.”
Ocean City (16-7) pushed a run across in the second on an RBI single by Shawn Repetti.
“I’m just sitting back, I know our guys are going to take care of it,” Hoover said. “I’m kind of just patiently waiting for them to score, and they got it done. You can always rely on them.”
The Mustangs were able to squeeze out single runs in the fifth and sixth innings with small ball to nudge ahead.
“I said to our athletic director today I thought we’d need three to win,” Kern said. “I said I wasn’t sure if we’d get it but hopefully we’d compete to win.”
“We didn’t answer the bell today,” Bristol said, “and they made the plays when they had to.”
Hoover racked up 11 strikeouts in the game before giving way to freshman Finnegan Haines for the high-leverage save. He gave up one hit before shutting the door.
“We had talked about going to Finn in the sixth, and Will has earned it, he earned the opportunity to try and keep us in the game and he was fantastic the whole way,” Kern said.
Haines looked unfazed by the moment.
“That was our game plan coming in, to try and get Hoover five and Finn the last two,” Kern explained. “I think it’s a testament to the talent that is still coming through the leagues, when both teams are going to freshmen in one-run games. Evan (Taylor) is going to be great and Finn has been that way since we called him up from J.V. a couple weeks ago. He’s going to throw a lot of big innings for us down the stretch, so he was as advertised today.”
“He’s good for us, and there was no doubt in my mind he was going to close it out,” Hoover said.
The Mustangs were hawkish all game on the base paths, stealing four bags while the typically steal-happy Raiders had none.
“They were aggressive on the bases which helped them,” Bristol said, “and when you have a catcher like Cole Campbell it’s hard to be aggressive on the base paths. That changed the game. He definitely changes my approach, so I’m glad he’s graduating.”
The game was not just a chance to move on to the league championship, it was also a primer for the postseason for two programs that always expect to contend for hardware.
“My mentality is always just to go out there and throw strikes,” Hoover said. “Try not to let it get to you or get in your head. Sure, it’s a big game, but it’s just like any other game we’ve had this season.”
“What I take way from this – and remember, a lot of these kids are doing this for the first time – is this is where you have to learn it’s ‘win or go home’ time. So you’ve got a taste of playoff baseball. This was a dress rehearsal.”
The Mustangs (17-5) will travel to St. Augustine Prep (21-1) for the CAL final Thursday.
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports