OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School baseball team will look to bounce back after a tough series of games.
The Raiders took on powerhouse St. Augustine Prep at home on April 19 and fell to the Hermits 7-1. Ocean City quickly fell into a 6-0 hole after the first three innings. The Hermits were patient at the plate, as they rarely swung at anything that was not directly down the middle.
After St. Augustine’s initial burst of runs, the Raiders responded and put up three scoreless innings defensively.
“They’re young kids and can get caught up in the moment playing probably the best team in the league and one of the best teams in South Jersey,” Ocean City head coach Andrew Bristol said. “We couldn’t throw strikes early, but I think we learned some things today. I thought Nolan Boushard pitched well today and that is going to go a long way with us.”
Boushard entered the game in the top of the second inning with the bases loaded and only one out. He gave up some contact to the batters, which allowed the Raider defense two routine plays in the field to get out of the jam and strand three base-runners.
The junior gave the Raiders two more scoreless innings and finished his day with 3.2 innings pitched and three runs.
Bristol put closer Matt Pashley in to start the sixth inning. He quickly racked up two strikeouts and forced another batter into grounding out for an impressive inning.
Hermit Jake Meyers hit a solo home run off Pashley in the seventh inning but Pashley got one more out before his work was finished.
Catcher Ryan Baldwin scored the team’s lone run in the game with a fly ball to left field that brought Evan Taylor home from second base.
Taylor and the rest of the Raider defense stepped up in the second half of the game. Taylor had multiple balls come his way at third base that he turned into outs. When Boushard first came into the game Taylor made a diving catch down the third base line that saved at least two runs.
The day prior, Ocean City lost to St. Augustine Prep 14-2 in five innings on the road. The Raiders dropped to 4-3 on the season after playing four games in a five-day span.
The Raiders’ next game will be the highly anticipated rematch against Mainland Regional High School. Originally scheduled to start the season, the battle between rivals was postponed multiple times due to poor weather conditions.
At 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, the Raiders will host Mainland in another battle with their their cross-bay rivals.
Ocean City won the first matchup of the season in a 4-3 thriller on opening day. The game came down to the last pitch, when Baldwin tagged out Mustang Cohen Cook by mere inches as he was trying to steal home to tie the game.
Mainland currently sits with a 5-1 record so far with the one loss being against the Raiders.
Later in the week, Ocean City will participate in the 12th annual Coaches vs Cancer baseball event held at Mainland. The event will feature many schools from New Jersey playing games throughout the weekend. Ocean City’s game is scheduled for April 28 versus Lenape High School. Game time is 11:30 a.m.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
