Mainland has top-notch pitching, but bats are critical
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
GOSHEN – After his Mustang baseball team clobbered Middle Township on the road late Thursday afternoon, Bill Kern said what has excited him most as coach is the team’s hitting.
In the first six games this season, the Mustangs have scored 65 runs, while allowing 17, an imbalance that has kept Mainland undefeated so far.
Much of the attention his team has received this spring has revolved around potential Major League Baseball draftee Chase Petty, a senior pitcher whose fastball has been clocked at more than 100 mph and who struck out 18 batters the day before the game against the Panthers. Kern acknowledges the attention on Petty is well deserved.
However, Kern said the offense is what has propelled his team forward this year, ahead of where they’ve been in recent years.
“We’ve faced some really good arms so far and our guys are pretty comfortable against them,” he said. “And we’re fielding the baseball. We’re not walking a ton of people so we’re doing a lot of good things to put us into a position to win.”
Kern acknowledges he has “an old team, which is good.” That means a lot of seniors are starting for the Mustangs. “They kind of know what our routine is and they worked hard in the offseason.”
This season is so packed with games, there is little time to practice.
“The coaches and I have talked about still feeling a little bit behind and needing to get back to basics at practice. Really we’ve been doing fundamentals … just tons of ground balls, tons of swings, so they feel good. It’s really a sprint to the finish,” he said. “We’re five games in six days next week so we’ll practice tomorrow and Sunday and not again until next Friday, Kern said on Thursday after the team’s 11-1 win over Middle Township. “You’re really kind of fixing things in-game and kind of keeping a list for the next time we get a chance to practice of this is what we want to do,” he laughed about the busy schedule.
The coach is satisfied with his pitching staff, which includes Petty and a number of others who have been key so far.
“Chase will throw once a week. Obviously he gives us a fantastic chance to win. He’s everything that everybody writes about him. It’s nice to have him at the top,” Kern said, moving right along to Will Hoover, who “has been fantastic for us. He has been kind of our No. 2. He really emerged throwing in that Cherokee game. His confidence is up.”
After Hoover, the coach said he has “five right-handed arms … who are all strike-throwers, which is nice.” He lists John Wood, Jason Hoopes, Jared Wilson and Noah Meyers and then continues with Tommy McGowan and Brandon Sharkey. All of them, he said, are “guys who can just go in there and keep us in the game.”
He explained the importance of what his roster of pitchers can do.
“All of high school baseball is just throwing strikes and letting guys put the ball in play,” Kern said. “Unfortunately, most of the tight losses in high school is because of an error or a walk here or there. So very rarely do you get outslugged. I feel really good where we’re at with our pitching staff this year.”
Backing up those pitchers is another critical position – catcher.
Cole Campbell, Kern said, “is probably as important as Chase is. Having a guy who has that velocity, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a backstop. (Campbell) has been fantastic. He is hitting over .600 and he receives so well. We kind of gave him a break today (against Middle). We had Will LaPointe, a freshman, behind the plate. Which is good for him to be in the dugout to get that experience.”
Going around the bases, Kern said sophomore Nick Wagner and senior Alex Agigian shared duties at first in the preseason but Wagner hurt his shoulder in the first game of the season against Holy Spirit and hasn’t been back since.
Up the middle are seniors Brody Levin and Luke Sharp and at third is junior Sam Wood. “Our outfield is old too in Clayton Sands and Mark Elliott. They have been starting for us for three years. Joey Sheeran is a sophomore in left.
“We also have a deep bench,” the coach said. “It’s a good group of kids. They really enjoy being around each other and everybody kind of feels how bad missing last season was so it’s kind of just enjoy every day together because you don’t know what’s going to happen with that stuff.”
6-0 so far
The Mustangs started the season with three wins their first week, over Holy Spirit (5-2), Cedar Creek (19-5) and Cherokee (6-4), then followed that with three more wins the next week over Atlantic Tech (21-6), Millville (3-0) and then Middle Township (11-1).
Against Spirit, Levin and Campbell each had home runs and Petty had two singles along with striking out 13 on the mound. Campbell also had a double as he collected three RBI, and Mark Elliot had a double.
Against Cherokee, Hoover and Levin each struck out four as they split pitching duties with Elliott. Elliott, Sheeran and Campbell each had doubles and Sheeran had three RBI.
Hoover pitched a complete game against Middle Township, striking out five in five innings.
Elliott, Levin, Agigian and Luke LaPointe each had two singles and Sheehan, Clayton Sands and LaPointe each had a single.
Setting goals
“We just want to play well every day,” Kern said about the team’s outlook on the season. “We talk about four outcomes of a game – play well, lose; play well, win; play poorly and win; play poorly and lose. We just want to try to play well as much as we possibly can and let the scoreboard take care of itself.”
The coach wants the players to give themselves an opportunity to play at home in the playoffs. “We’re off to a good start with that goal,” he noted. In addition, he’d like the Mustangs to “win our division and incrementally maybe make an appearance in the Diamond Classic and see what we can do there. We’re off to the right start, but five games in six days next week you have to stay focused because you can be on the wrong end of this real quick.”
On Saturday, at the end of the week, the Mustangs will play a night game at Ocean City, which is 4-2 on the season. Game time is 7 p.m. under the lights at the Red Raider field at Fifth Street and Bay Avenue.