Ocean City won the South Jersey Group III baseball championship Saturday with a 6-1 win over Cape Atlantic League archrival Mainland.
Though it was a great team win for Ocean City, which earned its first sectional title since 2016 and avenged a CAL loss to the Mustangs in May, there was no mistake about it: this was the Gannon Brady Show.
Brady, a senior righthander, twirled a five-hitter and struck out nine. He also smacked a two-run double in the second inning, which proved to be the winning hit.
“I got my curve over early in the count,” he told reporters. “I wanted to command more than velocity and that really helped me.”
“I was pretty locked in with both (the fast ball and curve),” added Brady, who pitched a one-hitter over Central Regional in the quarterfinals and is headed to Fordham University next year.
Gannon Brady was absolutely dominant on the mound all game.
In the second inning, Ben Liebrand knocked in Ocean City’s first run with an RBI single, followed by Brady’s clutch double to make it 3-0.
Mainland came into the game with a 23-3 record and ranked first in New Jersey in one statewide poll. They had won 10 of their last 11 games and five straight.
An overflow crowd looked on at the Mustang Corral as the home team cut the lead to 3-1 on Cole Campbell’s sacrifice fly.
The Mustangs made it to the final by beating Moorestown behind the 17-strikeout performance of Chase Petty, who is expected to be a first-round draft pick in the upcoming MLB draft.
Ocean City was also hot, ranked ninth in a statewide poll, and was hitting its stride in the latter part of the season. In the fifth inning, James Mancini’s sacrifice fly plated Matt Nunan, after a one-out double by Tom Finnegan.
From there it was all Brady. With the win, the Raiders earned a spot in the state semifinals. They will face Central Jersey champs Colts Neck in Monday’s semifinals.
The celebration started on the field immediately after the last out.
The students joined the party soon after and there were smiles everywhere.
