Ocean City, Mainland baseball tight through 5 innings before big hit in 6th
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – Mark Elliott was not thinking home run in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and undefeated Mainland Regional clinging to a 4-3 road lead over archrival Ocean City Saturday night.
Nevertheless, his long home run over the left-field wall broke open the ballgame to give the Mustangs an 8-3 victory, propelling them to 10-0 on the season. Mainland tried to keep its winning ways going Monday against Holy Spirit, a team it edged 5-2 to open the season last month, and will play Cedar Creek on Wednesday.
“It feels amazing to be 10-0 at this point of the season,” Elliott said after the game. “Our goal obviously is to win every time we go out but we want to keep this going as long as we can.”
Ocean City fell to 5-4 on the season. The Red Raiders played at Millville Monday and at Atlantic Tech on Tuesday before returning home against Atlantic City Wednesday.
The backbreaker came in the sixth inning with Mainland holding onto a 4-3 lead. Ocean City starter Matt Nunan, who struck out nine Mustangs over the first five innings went over 100 pitches and was pulled after walking leadoff batter Sam Wood.
With Dante Edwardi on the mound, Alex Agigian and Christian Elliott walked with one out to load the bases.
“I’m not a home run hitter so I wasn’t even thinking that way,” Mark Elliott said about his at-bat in the sixth inning. “I had all my teammates cheering me on and all I was trying to do was put the ball in play and I got something I could hit hard. I thought if I could drive in some runs, that could give us a bigger lead.”
Elliott said he was thrilled to see the ball go over the fence for the game-changing grand slam home run.
“For me, it felt amazing,” he said. “The whole crowd was out there cheering and like I said, I’m no dominant home run hitter. I guess it really shocked me.”
On the mound, Will Hoover stepped in for starter Brody Levin with one out in the third inning and managed to blank the strong-hitting Red Raiders over the next four-plus inning.
“Out of nowhere, Brody said his arm was hurting so they told me to come in,” Hoover said. “I was always ready. Coming to this game we were all hyped up to play Ocean City and you know they’re big, big competition for us.
“I came in and just did what I do best and throw strikes. My team was amazing out here to back me up. They had hit balls and made contacts. We made amazing plays out here,” Hoover said.
The junior, though, saved his best for the fourth inning. With two men on and Ocean City’s most dangerous hitter up, Brady Gannon, Hoover knew had to be careful. Gannon crushed a pitch over the left-field fence in the first inning to help the Red Raiders take an early 2-1 lead.
But with the full count, Hoover managed to get the senior out swinging, ending Ocean City’s best chance to overtake Mainland. Hoover finished the game giving up six hits over 4 2/3 innings but no earned runs.
“I knew he was a really good hitter and took us deep earlier,” Hoover said about the pitching to Gannon. “My catcher told me to throw curveballs. I missed a few but then I got it back to a full count. When I was able to strike him out, it was the best feeling in the world, honestly.”
For Hoover, who spent the first two seasons on Mainland’s junior varsity, it was a “dream come true” to play such a pivotal role against the Mustangs’ cross-bay rival. For Mainland coach Billy Kern, it was something he has come to expect from rangy Hoover.
“Hoover has been fantastic for us all season,” Kern said. “From Day One, he actually won the job in the preseason through scrimmages and then he’s been fantastic for us on the mound. Every time we put him out there, he’s been able to make the big pitches. We feel good about where we’re at when he’s on the mound.”
Ocean City’s coach Andrew Bristol said his team just couldn’t come up with the right combination to keep the runs coming after the first three innings.
“I mean, it’s Mainland, your biggest rival,” Bristol said. “Just because of that, you’re going to scratch, claw and fight until the end. That grand slam was a big hit. My hat’s off to them. They’re a very good team. They’re well-coached and they hit the ball. The thing about them, it’s not just one or two people. They put a lot of things together and that’s a mark of a good baseball team.”
Mainland scored the first run of the game when Levin reached base on a walk and later scored on a Cole Campbell single. Gannon’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning and Joe Repetti scoring off an error gave the Red Raiders a 2-1 advantage. Gannon finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Mustangs, though, took the lead for good in the top of the second inning. Agigian and Mark Elliott reached on walks and with two outs, Chase Petty drove a long ball to the centerfield fence for two RBIs.
Mainland added another run in the third inning on Campbell’s leadoff double and Wood’s perfectly-placed RBI squeeze bunt.
“Yeah, we had contributions everywhere,” Kern said. “The squeeze early was big. We were able to extend innings with walks and running the bases well. We did a lot of good things, too.
“Defensively, we threw a couple runners out behind the play, so all of those things just came together. That was just a total team effort up and down the lineup. That’s what it’s going to take if we want the kind of accomplishments we’re looking for,” Kern said.