RAIDER ROUNDUP: “Tournament Week continues for OCHS teams”

By TOM WILLIAMS

Another Tournament Week for Ocean City High School’s spring sports teams continues tomorrow (Monday) in the NJSIAA Group 3 baseball tournament at 5^th & Bay.

(Here is a pause for your laughter.)

Seriously, it would be miraculous for Andrew Bristol’s Raiders to play on that field after the heavy rains Sunday night and the terrible way that field drains. There is a much better chance that the game will be on Tuesday or even Wednesday. The second round game is scheduled for Thursday but could be played on Friday.

The first opponent will be Delsea (6-12). If the Raiders (15-4) win that game they will play either Absegami (12-5) or Seneca (15-5) in the second round. The third round game – a South Jersey semifinal – would be on May 29 against either Triton (13-7), Toms River East (11-9), Cumberland (9-11) or …. (drum roll) …. Mainland (13-5). As the No. 2 seed, Ocean City would play its first three tournament games at home and would only travel if it reached the South Jersey final against No. 1 seeded Central.

This past week was a long one as OCHS played just once and found out why Bishop Eustace Prep was ranked No. 1 in the state. The Crusaders knocked the Raiders out of the Diamond Classic, 19-6, in five innings. Syd Unsworth had a home run, double and three RBIs for the Raiders and Shane Ferry had a double, RBI and run scored. Every other scheduled baseball game was postponed or cancelled by wet grounds. Ocean City still has to defeat either Cedar Creek or Oakcrest to clinch the Cape-Atlantic League National championship. At this writing, the Raiders are scheduled to go to Oakcrest on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the OCHS girls lacrosse team (16-1) will try to make history. Alyssa Morrison’s Raiders will host Seneca (13-5) at Carey Stadium at 4 p.m. in an attempt to become the first OCHS lacrosse team ever to win two tournament games in the same season. Ocean City spanked Central, 17-2, in its first game with Emily DiMarino scoring four times, Ashley Devlin and Danielle Donoghue three times and Anna Devlin, Ali Hendricks and Morgan Pizagno twice each.

The Raiders got a bye in the first round so a win on Tuesday would move them into the South Jersey final on Friday against either Moorestown (17-2) or Mainland (12-3), two teams they have already played and had mixed results against. Ocean City defeated Mainland, 13-4, this year to win the CAL. Its only loss was to Moorestown, 18-3.

On Friday and Saturday at Delsea, the boys and girls track teams will compete in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 Meets. At the CAL Meet last week, Alexa Palmieri (below) was the top performer, finishing second in both the 1600 and 3200 meters. Sophia Gresham was third in the long jump. On the boys side, Kevin King was second in the 110 hurdles, Liam Bergman third in the triple jump and Jaden Tocci-Rodriguez third in the high jump.

On Saturday the boys lacrosse team finished a successful season with a 16-4 record after losing to Somerville, 8-6, in an NJSIAA Group 2 game played in a steady rain, occasionally heavy, at Carey Stadium. Marty Cattie, Chris Raniszewski, Anthony Inserra, Noam Levy-Smith, Kyle Saul and Christian Kuhn each scored once for Ocean City. There was a scuffle between players just as the game ended and there were player ejections. If the game officials recommend suspensions, the OCHS players involved could be forced to miss the first two games of next season.

Tim Kelley’s boys tennis team also finished a good season (15-5) with a pair of shutout losses. The Raiders were beaten by undefeated Middle Township, 5-0, as the Panthers clinched the CAL National championship. And Ocean City lost to Moorestown, 5-0, in the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. Moorestown is ranked No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 8 in the state.

The Ocean City golfers finished third in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 Tournament at Running Deer, just five strokes short of qualifying for the state competition. The Raiders tied Clearview for third with scores of 336. The top two teams advanced and West Windsor-Plainsboro North was second with a 331 score. Josh Brown led OCHS golfers with an 81 for 18 holes. Issac Royster brought home an 83.

Follow the day-to-day results of the OCHS spring teams at http://www.oceancitysports.com/OCDiary.html.