Ocean City overcomes rough first inning, rebounds to win rivalry game 5-3
OCEAN CITY – The Red Raiders baseball team overcame a nightmarish first inning for a huge comeback win over the rival Mainland Mustangs Monday afternoon.
On their home field, the Raiders prevailed 5-3 to grab their first victory on the year.
“We had a nice start,” Mainland head coach Billy Kern said. “The kids had a good approach throughout the game. The difference, I thought, was in the middle innings we had base-runners but we couldn’t come up with that big hit. Ocean City did. They were just singles, but they were in timely situations. They came up with the big hit today.”
Ocean City sent out ace Tom Finnegan and the senior picked up two quick outs to start the ballgame.
He then hit Mustang Cole Campbell in the back with a pitch in what proved to be the start of trouble.
After a stolen base and an error at first, the Mustangs were on the board.
Another error put Cohen Cook on third.
Sam Wood came through for Mainland with an RBI knock.
Nick Wagner smoked a ball to right-center to bring Wood home for a 3-0 lead.
One would think going in that three runs off of Finnegan in the first would make Mainland feel rather confident.
“You don’t have to be on the other side,” Ocean City head coach Andrew Bristol said. “If you get three off of Finnegan in the first, I thought we were in trouble. I thought, ‘I threw Duke (McCarron) on Saturday and Tommy today, and we’re giving up runs and not scoring runs. Ugh, we’re in trouble.’ But I knew that this team needs to learn to grow up. It was just a matter of when they’re going to start growing up. Today they took a big step in the right direction.”
“It didn’t really faze anyone,” Raider Riley Gunnels said, “especially with Tommy on the mound. Everyone knows what he can do. Everybody is confident in him and Tommy is confident in himself. So nobody had their heads down or let it get to them.”
Cook, pitching for the Mustangs, shut the Raiders down in the first.
Finnegan bounced back to blank the Mustangs for the rest of his five innings of work.
Ocean City answered in their half of the second inning.
Gunnels worked a lead-off walk and Noah Harrington followed with an infield single.
Cook retired the next two hitters and seemed on his way to working out of the jam.
But Jack Hoag came up with the crucial two-out, two-run double to pull the Raiders within one.
The offense slowed from there as both pitchers settled in and posted zeroes until the bottom of the fifth.
“Cohen pitched a really good game,” Gunnels said. “He shut it down in the first inning, then we got two good runs in the second with Jack Hoag having a big hit.”
“Cohen was fantastic today,” Kern said. “Tommy worked around that first inning and threw great. It seemed like every time we needed to come up with a hit, they got a strikeout.”
Hoag robbed Joe Sheeran from a possible home run in the third as the left fielder reached over the fence to snag the out.
“Everyone has trust in each other,” Gunnels said, “no matter where they are on the field. Tommy knows he doesn’t have to strike everyone out. He knows we’ll make a play in the field even if they do hit it. That’s exactly what happened.”
Mainland was aggressive on the base paths throughout, stealing four bases in the game.
“That was out of respect for Tommy,” Kern explained. “We didn’t anticipate being able to get multiple hits in a row against a fantastic pitcher. So we wanted to take advantage and try to get runners in scoring position when we could.”
Time and again, both pitchers reached back and came up with key strikeouts when they needed them.
“I thought we competed in the box,” Kern said. “I thought we just needed a little bit better of an approach with two strikes. We didn’t really put pressure on Ocean City to make plays with guys on base.”
“I think of the senior leadership,” Bristol said. “I was so proud of Tommy that he didn’t change his approach. He didn’t do anything differently after that first inning, he didn’t hang his head, he didn’t blame. He led and he kept his team in the game. He battled all the way into the fifth. He showed why he’s been a four-year starter.”
Cook was able to avoid damage in the third despite runners on the corners with no one out, striking out two in the frame.
In the decisive fifth inning, Finnegan drew a walk to set the table.
Dylan Oliver singled to put two on to bring up Gunnels.
A ball in the dirt saw both runners advance, then Gunnels crushed a ball to right field to bring them home and put the Raiders ahead 4-3.
“I kind of just stayed patient with two strikes,” Gunnels said of what ended up the game-winning play. “I just got the hit when I needed to.”
“He’s a varsity player in multiple sports,” Bristol said. “He’s not going to shy away from big moments. I knew that. He had to get his pitch and he did. He didn’t miss it and he got a big hit. I had faith in him.”
After walking the next batter, Cook was relieved by Brandon Sharkey.
Dante Edwardi then poked a seeing-eye single through the infield for an insurance run.
From there, Evan Taylor took over on the mound for the Raiders and took full advantage of the opportunity.
Taylor struck out four in two innings for the save, giving up one hit.
“I asked him if he could go two, and he said, ‘Yeah I can go two,’” Bristol said. “He’s not a typical freshman. He’s dealing. He’s a special kid and I’m glad to have him. He got his baptism right away and he’s ready to go.”
The Raiders pulled out a tough win in what felt like a postseason battle in early spring.
“To play a rivalry game the second game of the season, it’s a pretty big deal,” Gunnels said. “Everyone just treats it like any other game though. Then we have them again at their field tomorrow, so that should be interesting.”
The teams met again Tuesday at Mainland after the Sentinel went to press.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Kern said. “I like the new format. I think it’s going to really show teams’ depth and create some good baseball. That was a great game for early April and I hope we get another one tomorrow.”
“It’s always just another baseball game and it’s only the second game of the season,” Bristol said, “but you can’t help but think it’s your rival. We’re all good friends; I’m great friends with Billy (Kern). So it’s a friendly rivalry, there’s no animosity there. But you want to get that win because it’s a league game and we’re coming off a loss. You really want to get that win to start the season. I think we could lose any game sometimes, so once you get that first one it’s so much better.”
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports
