Red Raiders then knock off Delsea to make it to South Jersey finals
BERLIN — The Red Raider softball team won its second playoff game Thursday on their second consecutive day at Eastern High School’s turf softball field.
The Ocean City High School girls (22-6) have home-field advantage given their top seed in the South Jersey Group III tournament, but their home field was flooded. The location didn’t faze them.
They made the most of it against No. 8 seed Timber Creek, winning 12-2 May 28, the day after beating No. 16 seed Cherry Hill West 7-2 in the opening round of the sectional tournament.
Against Timber Creek (14-8), everyone in the Red Raider lineup made it on base.
Sophomore Leah Catto had the big stick, driving in six runs on three singles and a double. Freshman Avery Watson added a double and senior Brooke Douglas almost hit for the circuit with a single, a double and a home run. Douglas accounted for four of the 11 RBI.
Senior pitcher Jessica Mooney, with 9 strikeouts and a good defensive team behind her, kept Timber Creek from scoring in five of the six innings, allowing only five hits and two earned runs.
Before the game, Ocean City head coach Carrie Merritt was confident of her team’s pitching, but had valid concerns about Timber Creek pitcher Joselyn Bermudez, who struck out 10 Ocean City batters. She knew her team would need to get some runs to win the game and boy, did they — four in the third and four in the fourth before Timber Creek plated two of its own in the fifth. Leading 8-2, the Red Raiders scored three more in the bottom of the fifth and ended play early by scoring one more in the bottom of the sixth to trigger the 10-run rule.
“We knew coming in they had a kid who could fire the ball. Sure enough, she could fire the ball, but our kids made fantastic adjustments all day long,” Merritt said. “From batter number one to batter number nine, even if they didn’t get a hit, they were making her throw pitches to get full counts, to get walks, which help the batters thereafter.”
Freshman Maeve Daily got things started with a single in the third. Watson followed that with a double and then Catto drove them both in. Mooney singled to move Catto to third and the throw home to keep her there went high. Catto raced home and slid under the tag for a 3-0 lead. Douglas’s double scored the fourth run.
In the fourth inning, Daily and Watson walked and Catto slammed a ball into the outfield, scoring Daily. That’s when Douglas hit her three-run homer, making it 8-0.
In the fifth, after Timber Creek scored two runs, Daily walked again and senior Kiley McCorristin bunted her way onto base. Catto hit to send both home for the 10-2 lead. After Ocean City scored another run, Timber Creek did not score again. In the bottom of the sixth, Catto’s hit earned her the sixth RBI and ended the game.
Mooney and Douglas were feeling good afterward even though they know their four-year varsity careers as team leaders are winding down.
“I was really nervous going into it, but once we started hitting and getting people on, I knew we were good,” Mooney said.
Both are pitchers who play in the infield when not on the mound, Douglas at shortstop and Mooney at first.
Both surpassed 500 career strikeouts this season. Mooney reached the milestone in the opening round of the playoffs and Douglas on May 12 against Bordentown.
“It’s just really crazy because me and Brooke both have 500 and that’s not very common,” Mooney said. “It’s not common to hit 500 alone, let alone two pitchers (on the same team). “I know if I’m not having the best day, I know she’s right behind me to pick me up,” she said.
“We’re good friends and we balance each other out so well in the field. She’s always there for me,” Douglas said. She added that she is proud of all of her teammates and being able to produce. “I’m going up to bat today and I asked the Lord to just give me peace and give me strength so that I’m not antsy and then I can just really be there for my team and hit for them,” Douglas said.
She is headed to play Division I softball for the University of Rhode Island, but sees a bright future for her teammates.
“I love them all, and they all have so much potential. They’re going to be so good. I’m so proud of them all,” she said.
Mooney said it’s starting to hit her that her time as a Red Raider is dwindling.
“I’m getting really sad because this is going to be some of my last games with some of my best friends,” said Mooney, who decided against a D1 offer to stay close to home at Stockton University, where she plans to study pre-med and graduate in three years.
Merritt said some people thought she was crazy for wanting another bus ride to Eastern, but said the big, beautiful turf field “makes it an event for these kids.”
The girls responded.
“They all stepped up huge, but I think our freshman, Maeve Daily out here in left field, she found a way to like break the pitcher. And once that happened, the flood gates opened,” Merritt said. She noted Daily’s nice defensive play in the outfield, catching a fly ball and then firing it to second to catch the runner off-base for a double play.
“So I give that freshman some kudos today,” the coach said.
Raiders earn way to S.J. finals
On Tuesday, the Red Raiders beat No. 5 Delsea 7-1 to earn their way to the South Jersey Group III finals. They will host No. 3 Clearview.
Brooke Douglas was on the mound against the defending South Jersey champions and struck out 13 batters in the contest.
It was a 2-0 game heading into the bottom of the sixth inning when Ocean City exploded for five runs. Alex Rothman had only one hit in the game, but she made it a big one – a home run that drove in three runs.
Delsea (16-10) managed one run in the top of the seventh.
Ava Seeberg had a double, Leah Catto a double and single, Jessica Mooney two singles and Avery Watson a single for the Red Raiders.
Ocean City will host No. 3 seed Clearview (18-8) on Thursday. Clearview beat No. 2 seed Hammonton (22-5) in the other semifinal.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
