Mustangs upset their way to ultimate game, but fall to Morris Knolls
HAMILTON – The Mainland Mustangs’ exciting, upset-filled run through the playoffs took them all the way to the state championship game Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park in Hamilton, but that’s where it ended.
The .500 team surprised opponent after opponent, claiming a South Jersey title and a win in the state semifinals. But that team ran into the 21-10-1 Morris Knolls Eagles who showed off their skills with the bats.
After an exciting first inning that saw the Mustangs and Eagles each put three runs on the scoreboard, it was all Morris Knolls from there. The Eagles scored five runs over the third and fourth innings to build an insurmountable lead.
Over 32 games this season, the Eagles scored 203 runs on 265 hits, including 183 singles, 58 doubles, 8 triples and 16 home runs.
Compare that to the Mustangs, which came into the playoffs with a 9-13 record and then won five straight games, all upsets. Mainland scored 120 runs over the course of their 14-14 season on 163 hits, which included 125 singles, 25 doubles, 4 triples and 9 home runs.
With solid pitching from Cohen Cook and Jake Lodgek on in relief, the Mustangs just couldn’t match the hitting that propelled the Eagles to their state title.
“Any time you lose a ball game and you don’t make an error and you get out-hit, you have to give credit to the other team,” Mainland head coach Bill Kern said.
“We made some great pitches. Even a couple of the doubles down the right field line, in the right field gap, were down and away great pitches that their guys made good swings on,” he said. “They had 10 hits today. You have to give them credit …. We played a clean game defensively. We tried to pound the strike zone and we did with both of our guys. I loved both of our guys on the mound today. They were just a little better than us defensively.
The Eagles scored 9 runs on 10 hits while the Mustangs scored 3 on 6 hits – two by Christian Elliott and one each by Joe Sheeran, Lodgek, Jake Blum and Bryan Perez, whose hit brought in two of the Mustangs runs.
“I feel like we really brought it together as a team. We didn’t have a really great regular season but the regular season doesn’t matter,” Elliott said. “It’s when you get to the playoffs. It’s all one-game series. The coach talks about that all the time.
“We had a really powerful first inning and we were hitting balls around hard, but nothing was dropping. Props to the other team; they hit really well today,” he added.
“It just took teamwork” to make it to the state finals, said Nick Wagner, one of the team’s three seniors with Perez and Sheeran.
“Off the field we were always meeting with each other so we had that camaraderie, finding each other, believing in each other, finding that confidence. I’m so proud of our team for the run we had,” Wagner said.
“No one expected us to be here. No one thought we were going to be here. We proved everyone wrong. This one stings a little bit, but I’m so proud of everyone. I know they’re going to do great next year,” he said.
“We were putting the ball into play but they were finding gloves. I’m proud of our effort,” Wagner added. “I feel great about this season and I’m so proud of my teammates.”
In the regular season, the Mustangs were not able to string together three wins in a row in their tough regular schedule, but there were few teams that beat them twice.
The Mustangs split games with St. Augustine, Ocean City, Egg Harbor Township, Hammonton and Millville, but ended up with a 9-13 record heading into the Group III South Jersey sectionals as the No. 9 seed.
It was in the sectionals where they proved the point that seeds don’t matter.
The Mustangs took out No. 8 seed Cumberland in the first round, 4-1, then knocked off No. 1 seed Shawnee in the quarterfinals, 3-1. In the semifinals, they beat No. 4 Hammonton 3-0 and in the South Jersey finals, after being down 4-2 early, came back and beat No. 2 Delsea 6-4 to win the sectional.
In the Group III tournament, the Mustangs traveled to Middletown North and beat that team 5-4 to make it to the state finals.
Sheeran led the Mustangs with 27 hits this season and Wagner led in runs with 19. Lodgek, a sophomore, was tops with 58 strikeouts and Cook finished the season with 17 RBI and 3 home runs.
The fast start in Saturday’s game was part of the Mustangs’ “recipe.”
“The kids knew what we were going to do. We were going to bunt. We were going to move runners,” Kern said. “We were going to try to get as many guys into scoring position as possible. We did it in the first and Bryan Perez’ two-out hit was enormous.” That hit scored two runs.
“Honestly, in the second, third and even though the seventh inning we had guys in scoring position and we hit a ton of balls hard,” the coach said. “It was just a matter of they didn’t get through, they didn’t find the hole today.”
Overall, Kern is proud of his team.
“We’ve got 22 fantastic ball players in there that just competed, showed up to play and ignored any predictions and seeds,” he said. “We have a bunch of multi-sport athletes in there that had success in the fall and success in the winter and that’s kind of a recipe for a high school sports program. I’m super proud of them and the ride they took this community on.”
He noted they will lose three seniors to graduation this week but return the bulk of the squad next near.
“We’re going to lose our first baseman (Wagner), our third baseman (Perez) and our left fielder (Sheeran), and no pitchers on the mound,” Kern said. “We didn’t pitch with a senior this year so we feel good about where we’re going to be. The expectation will be to play meaningful baseball in June again next season.”
The game
On the first pitch of the game, Christian Elliott hits a single into the outfield. Joe Sheeran bunts, makes it safely to first, moving Elliott to second. Nick Wagner bunts and when the pitcher overthrows first, Elliott races home to score. 1-0.
Cohen Cook advances Wagner to second, but is thrown out at first. After a strikeout, Jack Haines walks to load the bases.
Bryan Perez threads a single into the outfield, scoring Sheeran and Wagner. 3-0.
A fly out ends the inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Morris Knolls Eagles respond with three runs of their own. 3-3.
In the top of the second, Jake Lodgek singles. Elliott follows that with a single to put runners at first and second. Sheeran bunts, is thrown out at first, but advances the runners to second and third. Wagner connects with the ball and it goes to the first baseman who holds the runners and then tags the bag. Cook gets thrown out at first to end the threat, stranding two runners.
After a fly out, a grounder goes to Bryan Perez at third. Perez throws to first for the out. Two down. Eagle Carter Seely sends the ball to the fence for a double. Cohen intentionally walks Luke Dickerson to put two Eagles on base. Dylan Fitzsimmons hits to left field. As Seely races around third and heads toward home, Sheeran fires the ball from the outfield to catcher Brady Arena, nailing the runner at the plate. No score. The second inning ends. 3-3.
In the top of the third, it’s three up and three down for the Mustangs.
In the bottom, after a fly out, Cook hits the batter with a pitch to send him to first, then strikes out the next batter. Two down. Two singles load the bases. James Kahn slams a shot to deep right field, scoring two runners. The Eagles take the lead, 5-3.
In the top of the fourth, with two out, Elliott doubles, but is stranded.
In the bottom of the inning, Cook moves to right field and Lodgek comes in to pitch for the Mustangs. Dickerson singles to start and advances to second on a wild pitch. A walk puts runners on first and second. After a double steal to move the runners up, Lodgek strikes out the next batter. On a wild pitch, the third-base runner steals home. 6-3.
Eagle Ryan Iberer sends the ball over the fence for a two-RBI home run. 8-3, Morris Knolls.
In the top of the fifth with one out, Cook walks and steals second but is stranded.
In the bottom, Lodgek sandwiches two strikeouts around a fly out. Three up and three down for the Eagles.
In the top of the sixth, Jake Blum singles to get on base and steals second on a wild pitch, but is stranded.
In the bottom, Dickerson is brushed with a pitch and takes first. A walk puts runners on first and second. A sacrifice fly brings Dickerson home. 9-3.
Sheeran singles to start the top of the seventh. Wagner walks to put runners on first and second. The next batter hits to the shortstop who steps on second and throws to first for the double play. Sheeran is stranded as the Eagles celebrate their state title.
Mainland’s upset-filled run comes to an end.
Photos and story by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
