By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
X @GDsullysays
LINWOOD — Christian Elliott has racked up 246 at-bats during his four-year baseball career at Mainland Regional High. One of the biggest won’t even count among his final stats, however.
On Monday afternoon, Elliott worked a two-out walk on a 3-and-2 count with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, forcing in the game-winning run as top-seeded Mainland edged No. 2 St. Augustine Prep, 1-0, in the Cape-Atlantic League championship game. Elliott fouled off a couple of fastballs from reliever Dom D’Ottavio before leaning to look at an outside fastball just off the plate.
The walk forced in shortstop Colton Donahue, who had re-entered to run after Will LaPointe worked a two-out walk as a pinch hitter.
The rally was classic Mainland baseball, as the Mustangs loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsman before Elliott’s heroics. And it was the bottom of the lineup getting the job done, as No. 8 hitter Jake Lodgek was hit by a pitch after being down in the count early, and nine-hole hitter Brady Arena walked, setting the stage for Elliott, the Stangs’ leadoff hitter.
“I was just trying to keep my heart at a steady beat. Pressure is all made up in your head, and I just did the job,” said Elliott, younger brother of former Mainland star outfielder Mark Elliott. “(My heart) was racing a little bit, but after every pitch, step out, take three deep breaths. That’s all I did. Walking down the line and touching first base was awesome. It doesn’t always end with a hit. I thought it was a ball all the way. You can’t leave it in the hands of the umpire, but as outside as that was, I don’t think I could have touched it anyway.”
“That’s our guy. We wanted nobody else up there. I trusted him — we all did — and there’s nobody better in that situation,” said fellow senior Brady Blum, who earned the win in relief of junior Finnegan Haines despite facing just one batter.
St. Augustine Prep (15-8, 10-2 Cape-Atlantic American) threatened in the top of the seventh after being shut down by Haines for most of the game. A couple of walks and a groundout put runners at second and third with two outs, and Mainland coach Billy Kern decided to go to the bullpen. Prep coach Mike Ney countered by pinch hitting for Gabe Gillespie with Will Childs, but Blum was able to get a strikeout to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
“I don’t think anybody expects five (curveballs) in a row but I trust my stuff. Even throwing a breaker with a 2-and-2 count — I’m always comfortable throwing it no matter what the situation. I’m not going to overpower anybody with velo, but I do what I have to do,” Blum said. “I knew what I was coming into, so I had to slow the game down. I had to see what was in front of me and go get the batter. I had a base open — second and third — so I had a base to work with if anything were to go the wrong way. I knew what I was getting myself into. The past couple of week’s that’s been my role, and I just go out there and do my job. The kid who came up was a pinch hitter and that can be rough, coming in cold off the bench. With (Rutgers commit Joe) Erace on deck, he’s a good ballplayer and well all know that. So I was just going after (Childs) and showed him my stuff.”
“Brady has been outstanding the whole year and he’s a strikeout guy. He’s been hovering around two strikeouts per inning. Gabe was up at that time and I didn’t want him to get a third chance at Finnegan. With a righty there, and Erace behind him — Brady’s stuff has been so good. I figured it was going to be all-or-nothing and I would take the blame if it went south,” Kern said. “Brady started in both spots in the middle infield for us, he’s been behind the plate when we need him. He’s been arguably one of our best pitchers with a sub-1.00 ERA. He’s just a guy who is a calming presence for us in any type of situation. We got him loose a half hour earlier and he was ready to go. He’s been the guy and there was total confidence in the dugout that he was going to get it done.”
The game was a pitchers’ duel throughout, as Northwestern commit Matt Kouser threw 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball to start for Prep, allowing just two hits while striking out six. D’Ottavio was nearly as good, fanning four and allowing just one hit the rest of the way. Haines, who missed his entire sophomore year with an arm injury, allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out six in 6 2/3 innings for Mainland (19-5, 10-2 CAL American).
“I was thrilled with the way Finnegan threw today, and I can’t say enough about having Brady Blum in your back pocket all the time. He’s been so good all season long. Being able to go to Brady was fantastic. We were just waiting for somebody to get that big hit. Hats off to Kouser and D’Ottavio as well, they were fantastic,” Kern said. “Finn not throwing last year was a shame because he’s an outstanding pitcher. He kind of came onto the scene a little bit at the end of his freshman season. I’m happy that he’s back to what we expected him to be two years ago. Him and Lodgek, and with Cohen (Cook) and Brady out of the bullpen, that’s difficult to beat.”
Kern said he had a feeling the game was going to be decided on a quirky inning. Hits were tough to come by all day for both squads.
“That whole inning leading up to Christian’s at-bat, I’m just so proud of the way our guys grinded out at-bats. The thing that stands out to me in that whole inning is Will LaPointe, cold of the bench, walks to keep the inning alive. Then we get hit, Brady Arena works a six- or seven-pitch at-bat. That rolled it over to Christian and he’s our all-time leading games played guy here. There’s nobody else in terms of experience that you’d rather have up (in that situation). He had an at-bat just like a guy who has had 200-plus at-bats in his career,” Kern said. “We talk to our kids all the time that very rarely in high school baseball do you get out-slugged. Usually it’s who makes a mistake first or somebody walks more guys or there is a mistake here or there. Hats off to both teams defensively. They stacked a couple more runners than we did and I’m happy with the way Finnegan pitched with runners on second and third, those kinds of situations. We knew it was going to come down to one play and I’m happy it was Christian in that spot.”
Mainland — which went on an unexpected run to the Group 3 state championship game last spring — won’t be sneaking up on anybody this year as the Mustangs turn their attention to the South Jersey Group 3 tournament, which begins on Thursday with Mainland as the No. 5 seed in the 16-team sectional bracket.
“This win is big for us. It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, like they always say, but we were able to do it. We know what kind of team we are. We’re a good, solid team. We weren’t surprised when we did what we did last year, but this year it’s expected,” Blum said. “(Having that target on our back) changes things a little bit, but we have our minds set on one thing and that’s not going to change. We’re going to go out there and put our best effort on the field every day.”
Still, the Stangs may take a day — or at least a few hours — to enjoy their league championship.
Said Elliott, “this means a lot. Prep is awesome, they are a really good baseball team, but so are we. This means a lot and hopefully will lead to a far run in the (state) playoffs. This means a lot for me. I’ve been here for four years and this is the first (CAL championship) for me.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
