Staff Report
Pitching and defense can take you a long way in the high school baseball playoffs.
Ocean City, the No. 9 seed in the South Jersey Group 3 tournament, got an outstanding effort from senior Evan Taylor earlier this week when the Red Raiders went on the road to knock off No. 8 Cherry Hill West. The team only had to ride a few miles over the 9th Street bridge on Friday afternoon, and got an even better performance on the hill from junior Kameron Street to knock off top-seeded Mainland Regional with a 3-1 victory.
Only one of the top four seeds in the bracket advanced into next week’s semifinals, as No. 2 Toms River East will host No. 6 Shawnee. Ocean City advances and will travel to No. 5 Toms River South on Tuesday in the other semifinal.
Street allowed just four hits through six-plus innings, striking out six and walking one, and freshman Preston Pahang came on in relief and picked up his second straight save in the state playoffs. Ocean City got the runs it needed from Josh Pashley, who went 1-for-2 with a pair of RBIs, while Street, Taylor and Cole Laursen each scored runs.
Ocean City improved to 14-11 and has now won three straight and nine of its last 11 games. Mainland, the Diamond Classic champion this season, finished 17-10 in head coach Joe Smith’s first season after coming over from Delsea Regional.
Here’s a quick look at who’s still alive in the other sectional tournaments:
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 1
Semifinals: No. 1 Audubon vs. No. 5 Maple Shade; No. 2 Schalick vs. No. 6 Woodstown.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 2
Semifinals: No. 1 Haddonfield vs. No. 5 West Deptford; No. 2 Haddon Heights vs. No. 6 Collingswood.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 4
Semifinals: No. 1 Cherokee vs. No. 4 Kingsway Regional; No. 2 Eastern Regional vs. No. 6 Vineland.
NON-PUBLIC A SOUTH
Semifinals: No. 1 CBA vs. No. 4 St. Joseph-Metuchen; No. 3 St. Augustine Prep vs. No. 2 Red Bank Catholic/No. 10 Donovan Catholic winner.
NON-PUBLIC B SOUTH
Semifinals: No. 1 Gloucester Catholic vs. No. 4 Ranney School; No. 2 Bishop Eustace vs. No. 3 Doane Academy.
