Ocean City High School Baseball Team to Play for State Title

Ocean City, NJ -- The Ocean City High School baseball team is back in the state championship game, and is looking for a different result this time around.

The Red Raiders defeated Nottingham, 10-8, in the semifinals of the NJSIAA State Group 3 playoffs at Cumberland County College on Tuesday, according to nj.com.

Ocean City will face Northern Highlands, a 6-1 winner over Cranford, in the state championship game on Saturday in Toms River.

The Red Raiders scored five runs in the bottom of the second to take a 6-2 lead. They added three more runs in the third, and held a 10-3 lead going into the seventh.

Northern Highlands rallied with five runs in the top of the seventh, but Ocean City held off the Northstars to advance to its first state final since 2010.

Winning pitcher Josh Arnold left 15 stranded and escaped jams when he needed to.

Arnold fanned 11 batters and walked six, throwing 120 pitches, according to the Ocean City Gazette. He also hit a two-run triple.

Sean Mooney hit a three-run double, and Nick Artymowicz and Jeremy West each had an RBI double.

Ocean City will play for a state title for the first time since 2010, when it fell to Cranford, 15-3, in the final.

Ocean City won its first South Jersey title since 2010 last week, when the Red Raiders defeated Highland Regional, 5-0, in the final.

Nottingham was the Central Jersey Group 3 champion.

Northern Highlands was the North 1, Group 3 champion.

Ocean City entered the South Jersey Group 3 playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

It opened the playoffs with a 13-5 win over No 16 Absegami.

The Red Raiders followed their win with a 6-0 win over No. 9 Central Regional.

In the semifinals, they defeated No. 4 Mainland, 3-2.