Red Raider baseball team doing well in one of the best divisions in state
OCEAN CITY – Like any team that’s on a hot streak, Ocean City’s baseball team really wanted to take the field Friday and Saturday, but the rain would not let them.
Red Raiders coach Andrew Bristol is hoping the small break doesn’t cool off his team too much. Ocean City went into the week 8-6 and 3-5 in the Cape-Atlantic League American Division, averaging nearly 9 runs a game.
“Our division is one of the best in the state,” Bristol said. “My expectations are this is where I thought we would be, but we’ve given away a couple of games. Those are games I thought we had a chance to win but we just didn’t finish. We could be a little bit better, but actually, I’m OK where we’re at right now.”
Winners of five of their last six games, the Red Raiders opened this week against perennial power St. Augustine Prep on Tuesday after the Sentinel sports section went to press.
Bristol said he had hoped for pitching to be Ocean City’s strong point this season but injuries to some of his key hurlers have seen the Red Raiders give up an uncharacteristic amount of runs. Ocean City is surrendering about 5 runs per contest.
“Our pitching has always been our strength and we thought our pitching this year would be our strength again,” Bristol said. “We’ve been a little banged up with a couple of our top pitchers not really throwing a lot. Our No. 1, Duke McCarron, hasn’t pitched since opening day.”
But as the pitching staff starts to come around, Bristol admitted it took a little bit of fighting words from state high school forecasters that got his team fired up about the offense.
“Having a veteran team coming back, I knew we could hit, and they’ve really started to hit the ball right now. At the beginning of the year, there were people up north who said Ocean City’s good but they can’t hit. I told them that and they kind of ran with it.
“They’ve really played with a chip on their shoulders at the plate. We’ve been having a really good approach at the plate right now.”
Bristol cited the play of sophomore Evan Taylor and McCarron, for providing the Red Raiders with some offensive punch.
“The middle of our lineup is really strong,” Bristol said. “That has really been satisfying to see.”
Bristol said the bottom of the Red Raiders’ lineup has always been effective, allowing Ocean City to produce double-digit runs in six games this season. He said Isaac Peterson, who was hurt most of last season, is now having a breakout season as the Red Raiders’ clean-up hitter.
“I knew [Peterson] was going to hit for us but he missed most of last season,” Bristol said. “He’s really hitting the ball well and has been a big bonus for us.”
Bristol said the game that really caught his attention about his squad’s sharpness at the plate was the April 25 home game against Millville. Ocean City was coming off of a heartbreaking 9-8 loss to the Thunderbolts at Millville where the Red Raiders scored 5 runs in the final two innings to tie the contest, only to see Millville score the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh inning.
In the rematch, McCarron, Peterson and Colin Thompson all hit home runs as the Red Raiders left little doubt in a 14-3 victory. The Red Raiders banged out 11 hits in that game and played an errorless contest in the field.
“We lost a tough one at their place and I really liked the way we responded in being able to 10-run them,” Bristol said. “I was really surprised by how well we swung the bats against them in that second game and I think that was a big momentum swing for us and a confidence booster.”
Ocean City followed that up with an 11-9 victory over Northern Burlington before the weekend rainouts with Prep.
Bristol said the continued challenge for his team has been consistent pitching, but he believes that will get significantly better when they get healthy arms back in the rotation.
“We’ve had to put our staff together with a lot of different pieces because our top guys really can’t go, and if they can, now they’re not back to the form they would have been at this point of the season,” Bristol said. “Some young guys have really stepped up like Travis Large. He’s a sophomore who really has taken advantage of his time out there.”
Large has a 1.43 ERA in six appearances this season. Bristol said he is also high on freshman Kameron Street, who has also gained valuable playing time on the mounds.
“Kam is getting his experience now,” Bristol said. “He’s getting bumped up a little bit, but it’s all good and he’s growing from it. Then we have Tommy Lex, who’s come out of the bullpen and has been providing some big breaks for us.”
Ocean City said their next big test will be next week when they play Vineland, who went into the week 11-3.
“They are just one of the best teams in the area and they are playing like it,” Bristol said. “Of course, Prep is the cream of the crop. Those games will pretty much tell us where we are as we start to move into the playoffs. I like how we are starting to shape up for the rest of the season.”
Bristol said probably the best thing he can say about his squad at this time is that they have developed their own defining character this season, which will help them play to their strengths and minimize their weaknesses the rest of the way.
“I think this group has finally found its identity,” Bristol said. “They are a real tight-knit group They found that it takes different ways to win baseball games on different days. They’re starting to figure that out that some days it’s going to be hitting and other days the hitting won’t come but it’ll take pitching and defense.”
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
