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LINWOOD – With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, opening day between cross-bay rivals Ocean City and Mainland Regional came down to one wild pitch.
The Mustangs were down 4-3 with two outs Saturday afternoon. Raider reliever Matt Pashley had two strikes on the batter. Cohen Cook was taking a big lead off third base. Pashley’s wild pitch got behind Ocean City catcher Ryan Baldwin, giving the green light to Cook to sprint home for the tying run.
But Baldwin managed to corral the ball, race back to the plate and tag Cook inches away from home plate for the out. His heroics secured the 4-3 opening day victory for Ocean City after rain postponed Wednesday’s and Thursday’s games between the rivals.
“This is what you get when you play Mainland versus Ocean City,” Ocean City head coach Andrew Bristol said after the game. “It comes down to one play and no lead is safe. You know they are going to battle to the end. They are competitors and it was going to take everything we had.”
A week full of rain delays meant the rivals did not get to play their opening day game until April 6. The second game of the series is rescheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at Ocean City.
Ocean City wasted no time scoring its first run of the season. In the first inning junior Cole Laursen hit a double to center field and later reached third base thanks to a wild pitch. Shortstop Colin Thomson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Laursen home and put the Raiders up 1-0.
The Mustangs’ offense responded immediately and quickly put the pressure back onto Ocean City.
Raider pitcher Evan Taylor faced heavy base traffic early as the Mustangs loaded the bases against him in each of the first two innings. Mainland batters were patient at the plate and were rewarded with four walks.
Brady Blum got the Mustangs on the board with a single to left field that brought Chase Camac home from third base.
Blum’s RBI single was the only run Taylor gave up in the innings as Mainland stranded six base runners.
“I was a little wild at points but just locked down and kept with it,” Taylor said afterwards.
Taylor quickly paid back the earned run with interest as he slammed a two-run home run in the next inning. The metal bat echoed throughout the field and gave the Raiders a 3-1 lead five pitches into the third inning.
The junior is considered one of the top prospects in New Jersey and proved it last season with unbelievable numbers. As a pitcher he recorded a 1.31 ERA and had a .514 batting average to cement his standing as a dominant two-way player.
After an explosive first three innings, the defenses and pitchers started to settle into the game.
Mustang Tanner Levin came in relief of Jake Lodgek in the middle of the fourth inning and gave up only one hit in three innings of action.
Ocean City made a pitching change after Taylor threw 91 pitches and put junior Travis Large on the mound.
Mainland’s offense got back in rhythm in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Leadoff hitter Christian Elliot hit a double to deep center field which brought a runner home from first base to cut the lead to 3-2. Elliot reached third off Brady Blum’s sacrifice fly.
Jake Blum hit the ball but was unable to beat the throw to first base. The Raider defense stopped another run being scored by inches and took a one-run lead into the final frame.
Raider Dan Leiser walked to start the seventh inning. He eventually scored a vital insurance run off a fielding error by Mainland. The costly mistake gave Ocean City a 4-2 lead with Mainland down to its final three outs of the game.
Two straight walks by Large without any outs brought Pashley, a senior, into the game to take over pitching duties. After another walk, Mainland found itself in prime position with the bases loaded and zero outs.
Ocean City’s defense saved a run after Camac hit the ball to Joshua Heng at first, but rather than tag the base he smartly shot it back to his catcher to save the run at the plate.
The next batter hit a high arcing fly ball that held all the base runners in place. Two quick outs put pressure back on Mainland to finally turn runners in scoring position into runs.
Pashley had one run to play with thanks to the insurance run in the top of the inning and walked another batter. Down 4-3, the Mustangs had the tying run on third with Cook and the winning run on second.
With two outs and two strikes, the wild pitch bounced around the backstop behind home plate as Cook sprinted towards home. Baldwin got the ball, spun around and tagged Cook just before he could score.
The ballpark was silent for a second while everyone waited for the umpire’s ruling. When the umpire called the out, the Ocean City dugout erupted in celebration on the field as they held on to beat the rival Mustangs in thrilling fashion.
“We pride ourselves on playing good defense and pitching, that’s always going to be our big thing,” Bristol said. “We go into every game expecting to make big plays when we have to and today was no exception. We made the plays we had to and that’s why we came out on top.”
“It’s a big win and we worked all preseason to get here,” Pashley said.
Mainland will try to tie the season series Thursday in Ocean City.
– Story by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– Photos by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
