Ocean City Completes Sweep of Mainland in Baseball

With the playoffs starting soon, the Ocean City High School baseball team will take any win it can get.

The fact that Monday's victory completed a season sweep over rival Mainland is that much sweeter.

The Red Raiders used a four-run second inning and a solid pitching performance from Kolya Stephenson to defeat the visiting Mustangs, 5-3.

Ocean City defeated Mainland, 6-2, April 14 in Linwood.

"It's definitely a great feeling," said Ocean City senior Tom Ballezzi, who registered two hits and knocked in two runs. "Beating Mainland is always a good feeling, especially to beat your rivals twice as seniors."

"It's a nice win, because Mainland being such a rivalry in all the sports," Ocean City coach Craig Mensinger said. "Plus, right now we aren't playing as good of defense as we did early in the year, so every win we are excited about. We got excellent timely hitting and excellent pitching."

Stephenson earned the complete game win, striking out five, walking one and allowing no unearned runs.

"He had nice velocity on his fastball," Mensinger said. "His curveball wasn't outstanding and his changeup wasn't outstanding, but because he had those pitches he kept batters out of stride.

He got the tough outs. They could have scored more runs, because they had runners in scoring position, but he got an out on a lazy pop-up and a groundball."

"It's a big rivalry game," Stephenson said. "We all know how big of a game this is. We all wanted to go in and beat them. Mainland is our main rival and we were all pumped up for the game."

Justin Healey tied the game at one in the second inning, scoring on an error after he stole second and moved to third on a groundout.

Ballezzi and Beau Hall knocked in runs in the second inning, and another scored on an error as the Red Raiders took a 4-1 lead.

Ballezzi plated another run on a single to pad the Red Raiders' lead.

"It definitely felt good to get two hits and a couple of RBIs, especially since this was Seniors and Parents Recognition Night," Ballezzi said.

The Mustangs scratched out two runs late on errors, but the lead was enough for Stephenson and the Red Raiders to end the game with the win.

"I gave up an early run and my teammates picked me up," Stephenson said. "We were able to tack on a few runs with two outs. We all felt comfortable at that point."

"Today was a huge win. We have been stumbling a bit and we lost our last game against Egg Harbor Township. We needed a win, and this is a boost to our confidence going into the playoffs. There is nothing better than beating Mainland."