LINWOOD – It’s not the season the Mainland Regional baseball team had hoped for so far, but as the postseason approaches, the Mustangs believe they can be a “dangerous” team despite a losing record.
Mainland returns home this week to face Cherokee on Wednesday and Holy Spirit on Friday with an 8-11 record, and 5-7 in the brutal Cape-Atlantic League’s American Division. After that, comes the CAL tournament and then the NJSIAA Group III playoffs, where the Mustangs bowed out in the second-round last year.
Last Thursday and Friday was an example of their topsy-turvy season. At home, the Millville Thunderbolts pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of fielding errors to 10-run rule Mainland in Linwood 12-2.
The next day, though, it was Mainland who scored four runs in the first inning as the Mustangs held on for a 10-7 victory in Millville.
“We keep trying different combinations,” Mainland coach Billy Kern said last Thursday in the Millville loss. “We’ve had multiple starters at different positions, trying to find the right combination.
“I feel good about our guys on the mound. We can be a dangerous team, but we need to get some consistency in back-to-back games. It’s been frustrating but we’ll keep trying to find the right combination that’s going to get us over the hump.”
Senior Joe Sheeran, one of Mainland’s leaders this season, said he believes Mainland’s turnaround will start with his teammates pulling for each other and thinks the Mustangs are not far off from making things happen in the postseason.
“I think it starts in the dugout honestly, starting to cheer for each other and getting a little rowdy,” Sheeran said on Thursday. “I would like to see us improve on the camaraderie and team bonding. We’re not doing badly right now, it’s that we can’t seem to find that one hit to get us going, but I think we’re going to find it.”
Sheeran has done his part statistically this season, batting .383 while leading the team in hits (23) and runs scored (16). Junior Cohen Cook has 16 runs batted in to lead the Mustangs in that category along with three home runs.
What has been missing for the Mustangs this season, though, has been the timely hit. While Mainland found themselves down early Thursday against Millville, 7-0 going into the bottom of the third inning, the Mustangs had their chance to get back into the contest.
Mainland loaded the bases against Millville starter Garrett Shapiro with one out, only to see Shapiro get a key strikeout to wiggle out of the inning. In the fourth inning, the Mustangs loaded the bases with no outs, but again, Shapiro and Millville’s defense came up with three straight outs to close that rally as well.
“We left 12 runners on base [on Thursday],” Kern said. “In the third inning, it was a seven-run game but we had a good chance to cut the lead in half twice with timely hits.
“It’s not even a matter of getting hits because everyone’s trying to get hits. It’s just a matter of having more high-quality outs. I thought we were a little selfish in the box trying to get that first run across. We’ve got to get some confidence.”
Sheeran said it is just a matter of Mainland regaining its confidence in those situations.
“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get that one hit to get us going a little bit,” Sheeran said. “It’s in there somewhere and I know we’re going to find it. We have to continue to be patient. I know it’s been a struggle these past couple of games, but it’s in this team and I have confidence that we’re going to pick it up.”
Mainland, though, was able to find that consistency Friday in Millville. The Mustangs jumped out to an early lead and when Millville tied the contest at five, Mainland scored three more runs in the third inning to hang on for a much-needed American Division victory.
In Friday’s contest, Sheeran scored three runs with two hits and one RBI. Senior Nick Wagner added two runs and two hits while Bryan Perez drove in two more runs.
“Mainland is an awesome program,” Millville coach Dan Fimiani said on Thursday. “I’m close to their coaching staff. We have to completely flip the script and scratch and claw against them anytime you play them. They’re a well-respected program and I have a lot of respect for the guys over there.”
Kern said he was impressed with Shapiro in his ability to get out of potentially disastrous innings and coming up with the big outs against the Mustangs.
“You have to tip your hat to Garrett because he pitched a good game against us,” Kern said. “He pitched himself into trouble and out of trouble against us all game long.”
The Mainland coach said he would like to see the Mustangs field the ball better. In Thursday’s game, errors opened the door for Millville to score two runs in the first inning and the Mustangs never recovered. Kern admits fielding has been an issue for Mainland all season.
“[Millville’s] a good team and spotting them two runs in the first inning with multiple mistakes we made in the field made it an uphill battle,” Kern said. “I’d like to field the ball more consistently. Every time we’ve had success, we threw strikes and eliminated walks on the mound and fielded the baseball cleanly.
“You can’t explode offensively all the time. In games like that, you have to come up with timely hits to score a run or two and then field the ball well defensively to eliminate runs on the other end. If we can get the outs by fielding the ball behind our pitchers, we’ll be in good shape.”
Those issues have prevented Mainland from building any consistency this season. The Mustangs have collected back-to-back wins just once in 2023 — a 10-0 win over Oakcrest on April 6 and a 5-3 win over Ocean City on April 12.
On the flipside, the Mustangs are still trying to overcome a four-game losing streak that has left them with a losing record so far this season. In that stretch, Mainland lost back-to-back games against CAL American Division foe Vineland on April 17 (9-1) and April 18 (12-7), along with losing to Highland 6-4 on April 21 and Egg Harbor Township on April 24 (2-0).
Kern and Sheeran, though, said they believe that hiccups are behind them and hope they will get that extra needed hit to string together victories in the playoffs.
The Mustangs host Cherokee at 4 p.m. today and will take on Holy Spirit at 6 p.m. Friday at Birch Grove Park.
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
