By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
CHERRY HILL — The Ocean City High baseball team came into this year’s state playoffs just one game above .500 and as the No. 9 seed in the 16-team South Jersey Group 3 tournament. So why were the Red Raiders so confident they could go on a 90-minute road trip and knock off host Cherry Hill West, yearly one of the top teams in the section?
Because they have Evan Taylor.
The University of Alabama recruited the Ocean City senior for his bat, but he’s still got a few innings of high school baseball on the mound in him. He made the most of the opportunity on Tuesday afternoon, shutting down the Lions for six-plus innings in a 6-3 upset win by the Red Raiders. Standout freshman Preston Pahang came on in relief and got the final three outs for the save after West’s Aiden Ryder led off the bottom of the seventh with his second solo home run of the game. His first came on Taylor’s second pitch of the game.
“That’s going to happen, it’s baseball. But it’s how you bounce back. That home run hurt, but we had the lead and I knew my guys had my back on defense. I just had to throw strikes,” Taylor said. “I definitely was trying to throw my off-speed for strikes and that really worked for me today. I think around the fifth inning I was starting to peak, then I got a little tired. But (Pahang) reminds me of myself back in the day. He’s really good and we know we can rely on him in a big game.
“It’s how you prepare for games like this, honestly. We prepared for them, we were ready and we beat them.”
Taylor finished with nine strikeouts while allowing just two earned runs on four hits.
“He can get some velo, and he has everything (in his arsenal),” senior catcher Ryan Baldwin said. “He’s a really good pitcher and he knows when to turn it on, and he turned it on today. We were super hyped up and we brought the energy. We knew we had to come with energy today.”
“We finally feel like we’re healthy. We’ve been battling injuries all year, but we really felt good going into our last week. The energy from everybody — the whole roster has just been energized and ready for this. We think preparation is the key to success, and I really feel like we were prepared today,” said Ocean City coach Andrew Bristol. “We knew what we were up against coming in, we knew we had to throw our best against them, and it took everything from our best to win this game. That’s why we felt good no matter where or who we were going to play. We knew we were going to have Evan on the mound, and we’d be ready for everybody.
“He still had a lead after that (first-inning home run), and that (Ryder) kid was great today. But we were just a little bit better.”
Ocean City (13-11) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and led the entire game. A great bunt down the third-base line by Colin Thompson plated the first run and Matt Pashley drove in the second run with an infield single. The Red Raiders tacked on a run in the second on an RBI single to left by Thompson, and junior outfielder Kameron Street padded the lead to 4-1 by roping a run-scoring double into the gap in right-center field in the top of the fourth.
“At first, I’m not going to lie, I thought he was a pitcher, but once he started to swing that stick — he really swings it,” Taylor said of Street.
“It’s maturity. He was thrown in there as a freshman and now he’s a junior. He’s learned every year and has taken a step forward every year,” Bristol said of the player who has improved in nearly every offensive category from last year. “I think it was against Delsea last year when he realized he could be one step higher than he was. He’s become really confident.”
Taylor then wiggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the fourth by getting a couple of flyouts, and the Red Raiders tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh on a squeeze bunt and an error. Those runs came in handy, as the Lions (16-10) rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh before Pahang could work his way out of trouble.
Now, the Raiders turn their attention to their arch nemesis, Mainland Regional. The Mustangs are the top seed in the sectional tournament and won their opening-round game, 6-0, over Deptford. The teams split their season series, 1-1, with each team winning, 3-2, on their home field. The game is slated for Thursday afternoon in Linwood.
“We’re fully healthy now. We’ve been struggling with injuries all year, and it’s great to have everyone pretty much fully healthy and swinging the bats well. We just wanted to come in here and swing it and do our jobs. Everyone has a role on this team, and when you do your job that contributes and helps the next guy,” Baldwin said. “Playing the team across the bridge — we all want to play that game. It’s definitely going to be a great game.”
“Nobody knows them like we know them, and nobody knows us like they do, so it’s going to be a classic Mainland vs. Ocean City game and you can’t ask for a better game than that. We’re looking forward to it,” Bristol added.
Said Taylor, “does it get better than that, facing your rival senior year? We’re definitely going for the win and I can’t wait for that game. This is the most confidence I think we’ve had all year. We’re ready.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 9 Ocean City at No. 1 Mainland Regional in the South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinals, Thursday, time TBD. Cherry Hill West’s season is complete.
