RICHLAND – Down 8-1 with only a handful of outs left in the Cape-Atlantic League title game, the Mainland Mustangs needed anything to go their way against the No. 1 seed St. Augustine Prep Hermits.
That is when the entire Mustang team came back to life in the top of the fifth inning. They sent 14 batters to the plate and scored eight runs to stun St. Augustine.
Brady Arena hit the game-tying double and put the go-ahead run on second base. Luca Bruno brought home the final runner with an RBI single to bring the score to 9-8 and give Mainland its first lead of the game.
The one-run lead was not enough to keep the Hermits down. In the bottom of the sixth, they reclaimed the lead and secured the CAL title with a 10-9 rollercoaster win over Mainland on Tuesday, May 20.
Mainland came into the game red-hot with a nine-game win streak but were held in check through early parts of the game.
Colton Donahue was the leadoff hitter for the miraculous fifth-inning rally and was one of five Mustangs to bat twice in the inning. He was walked in both of his appearances and reached home both times.
A key factor in the comeback was Mainland’s smart base running and out management. The first two outs of the inning both advanced the runners into scoring position and they scored five runs after picking up the second out.
Jake Lodgek managed to narrowly beat a throw to first to avoid a third out and score another run.
St. Augustine pulled starting pitcher Jameson Dobis in the middle of the action, but the Mustangs continued to chip away at the lead despite the fresh arm of Ethan Suppi on the mound.
Anthony Nodado continued the safe but effective offense by Mainland and safely bunted to first, loading the bases. However, an overthrown ball to first base let a run score which marked the second error by the Hermits as the pressure started to mount. Christian Madamba also took not one but two for the team as he was hit twice by pitches in his two at-bats.
Mainland cut the deficit to 8-4 after running through nearly their entire lineup and had the heavy hitters set up with runners on base.
Once the Mustangs reached the top of the order, senior Chase Camac did not let his moment slip away and batted in two more runs to put the lead within striking distance. Arena and Bruno brought the remaining Mustangs home to complete the rally.
After taking the lead, Mainland put star pitcher Lodgek on the mound to ride out the rest of the game. Lodgek got himself into a jam in the bottom of the fifth and had a runner reach third with only one out, but he powered through and stranded three runners without surrendering a run.
Unfortunately for Mainland, the momentum swung back towards the St. Augustine dugout. Hermit Marco Christopher tied the game in the sixth inning after two consecutive errors in the field. The next batter, Joe Peacock, brought Christopher home from third for the eventual game-winning run for St. Augustine.
The Mustang’s final three outs did not have any magic left in the tank and were eaten up by Hermit pitcher Jack McNamee.
Arena, Nodado and Lodgek each had two hits and Finnegan Haines, Camac and Bruno had one each. Arena and Camac had two RBI and Bruno, Nodado and Lodgek had one each.
The Prep’s Alex Weingartner led his team with two doubles and three RBI, Gabe Gillespie had a double and Adam Williams had two singles.
Lodgek, who shared pitching duties with Bruno and Will Hickman, took the loss. The Prep’s Jack McNamee, who came on in relief for Suppi after Jameson Dobbs started the game, earned the win.
The loss snapped Mainland’s win streak that included the first Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic championship trophy in school history. Before the streak started, the Mustangs had a 7-8 record and needed each win to not only qualify for the CAL tournament but earn a much greater position in the playoffs.
With a week until the start of the postseason, the 16-9 Mustangs can expect to have a top seed in the South Jersey Group III bracket that will give them home field advantage at least though the sectional finals. The first round of the playoffs is set to begin on May 27.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
