LINWOOD – For the first time in school history, the Mainland Mustangs are champions of the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic after an electric 4-0 win over Haddonfield Memorial High School May 15.
The 15th-seeded Mustangs took an early 2-0 lead after the third inning, but it was Christian Madamba who seized complete control with one swing of the bat.
Madamba was the leadoff hitter to start the fourth inning and midway through the at-bat he found his pitch and sent it out of the park for a solo home run. It was Mainland’s fourth home run of the season and came in the biggest game of the year. Ryan Bradly was eventually brought home in the same inning to increase Mainland’s lead to 4-0. The offense earned a four-run lead and then handed the game off to starting pitcher Jake Lodgek.
Lodgek leads the team in most statistics and started the game despite a short four days of rest since he pitched in the semifinals.
The senior pitched like he had a full week layoff as he went all seven innings and shut down Haddonfield. Lodgek finished the game with five hits and only one walk as he attacked the strike zone and came away with nine strikeouts.
Lodgek started three of Mainland’s five wins in the tournament, including a complete game against previously undefeated Northern Burlington High School on May 3. He pitched 19.1 innings in the tournament, gave up five runs on 10 hits and struck out a whopping 29 batters.
The Mustangs’ road to the Joe Hartmann title started with a 16-6 win over Cedar Creek and since that game they have won nine straight. They entered the tournament with a 7-8 record and shot all the way up to 16-8 with a great shot at a top seed in the playoffs.
Asked about his favorite part about his team during the win streak, Mainland head coach Joe Smith spoke about the team’s resilience and no-quit mentality.
“I just like their fight,” Smith said. “We could have went in the tank when we were under .500 but they just kept working every day. They want to be good and they want to win. That is probably my most proud thing about this team is that they never quit.”
The Mustangs had a quick turnaround between big games and had to move onto the Cape-Atlantic League tournament two days later on May 17.
Mainland faced off against Cedar Creek again in a tournament setting and held on to defeat the Pirates 4-3. Anthony Nodado put the Mustangs up for good after he hit a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the third inning. Madamba narrowly beat the throw to home to put the team up 4-2 over Cedar Creek.
Heading into the game, coach Smith said he had three pitchers available and planned to play each of them 2-3 innings with senior Luca Bruno as the starter. Unfortunately, Bruno’s time on the mound was cut short as he was hit by a ball on his throwing arm and had to exit the game after one inning.
Longtime pitcher Finnegan Haines cleaned up the second and third innings and only surrendered one run. He handed the torch over to junior Will Hickman with a 4-2 lead and four innings to chew through.
Hickman pushed through all the final four innings and only gave up one run on four hits. Cedar Creek got through at the very end with two outs, but Hickman closed the door with his third strikeout of the seventh inning.
“It’s awesome bringing a team to the CAL championship and it’s something special,” Hickman said. “I just want to keep moving forward and keep winning baseball games while doing what I can for the team.”
After the game, Smith praised Hickman for his performance in an unusual circumstance and said, “He’s always ready and he’s a guy who has a little fight in him, so we feel confident in Hickman whenever we put him out there. He has that bulldog mentality and I am happy for him. He is sitting behind three guys, which is not easy, but he is doing his job.”
With the Mustangs’ strong starting rotation of Lodgek, Haines, and Bruno, Hickman is primarily used as the number one reliever.
“I’ve played with those guys for a while but being able to come in behind someone who is giving it their all and then I get to come in and compete right behind them I think that is what drives me,” Hickman said. “I’m happy and we are a team that’s going to keep trying to win and get better.”
The No. 2 Mustangs were to play for the CAL championship on the road against No. 1 seed St. Augustine Prep Tuesday. The two teams played each other in the first series of the season. St. Augustine won both games.
After the CAL tournament concludes the Mustangs will await their seed and opponent for the first round of the South Jersey Group III playoffs. They were ranked No. 1 in the sectional Power Points as of Monday. The first round of the postseason is slated to begin May 27.
– By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel