Ocean City Baseball Team Opens Diamond Classic Play Saturday

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Ocean City High School baseball team begins its quest for the unofficial South Jersey championship this weekend.

The Red Raiders face Bishop Eustace in the first round of the 45th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic on Saturday afternoon, 1 p.m., at Maple Shade High School, according to the Courier Post. The winner plays the winner of the game between West Deptford and Riverside in the quarterfinals.

Ocean City grabbed the top at-large bid to the tournament. Bishop Eustace qualified by being in first place in the Olympic Conference National Division at the cutoff.

A total of 16 teams from what is traditionally considered the South Jersey area will compete in the tournament, with 10 teams qualifying because they were in first place in their division at the cutoff date and six other teams earning at-large bids.

Ocean City is 13-1 this season, with the team’s only loss coming against Canisius (NY), 4-3, early in the season, according to nj.com. Ocean City has shut out six of its opponents this season.

Bishop Eustace is 15-2, but has lost to just one New Jersey team (Eastern), according to nj.com.

Quarterfinal games are set for May 19, and the semifinals and finals are set for May 20, according to philly.com.

The following is the schedule for the first round, according to South Jersey Sports Digest:

at Maple Shade
10:30 a.m. West Deptford vs. Riverside
1 p.m. Ocean City vs. Bishop Eustace

at Deptford
10:30 a.m. Gloucester Catholic vs. Holy Spirit
1 p.m. Gloucester vs. Seneca

at Hammonton
10:30 a.m. Clearview vs. Gateway
1 p.m. Haddonfield vs. Eastern

at Washington Township
10:30 a.m. Wash. Twp. vs. Bordentown
1 p.m. Shawnee vs. St. Augustine

Photo credit: Shutterstock /David Lee