Morris Knolls baseball wins first state championship, ends Mainland's magical postseason

HAMILTON TWP. – The Morris Knolls High School baseball team couldn’t have started the NJSIAA Group 3 state final any worse Saturday.

The Golden Eagles committed three consecutive errors to begin their game against Mainland and entered the bottom of the first inning looking at a 3-0 deficit.

There was no panic when they came off the field though.

They had two walk-off victories during the sectional tournament and won the North 1 Group 3 title eight days earlier after falling behind 2-0 in the opening frame.

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“They have to get us out 21 times,” head coach Eric Mindrebo told his team.

Perseverance was at the heart of their run to the state final, and it showed up again against the Mustangs.

Morris Knolls put up three runs of its own in the bottom of the first inning and kept flying from there, downing Mainland 9-3 to capture the program’s first-ever state championship at Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans Park.

“I don’t even know what to say,” junior Luke Dickerson said. “I’m at a loss for words. We were dreaming about this since Day 1.”

“Oh my God! One of one. That’s our motto, and there’s no better feeling that that,” added junior Michael Simone. “… We’re the only team in school history to win a group. We were one of four when we won the section, we’re one of one now. Nothing left to do. Job’s finished.”

Here’s how Morris Knolls made history.

The comeback begins

“We know we hit the ball,” Simone said of the team’s mindset after entering the bottom of the first down 3-0. “We know we hit the ball well. We’re one of the best hitting teams in the state.”

That showed the second Dickerson, a Virginia recruit, stepped into the batter’s box to begin the bottom of the first inning.

He ripped a double on the second pitch he saw to get some juice back into his team.

“I’m just trying to help out these guys,” said Dickerson, who finished 2-for-2 with 3 runs. “Leading off the game, I’m just trying to give them someone to hit in and get us on the board and rally back after what happened.”

Dickerson and Brodie Freker crossed home on Simone’s two-run double, and Joe O’Toole smacked an RBI single with two outs to even the score at 3-3.

“It was game over from there,” Dickerson said.

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Morris Knolls offense keeps foot on the gas

The Golden Eagles had at least one extra-base hit in each of the first four innings.

While they couldn’t capitalize in the second, they did in the third as No. 8 hitter James Kahn poked a go-ahead, two-run double to right field to put his team ahead 5-3.

“That’s a great moment for him,” Mindrebo said. “He’s had some struggles offensively, but he’s working on it, working on it, working on it, and for him to drive the ball the other way there is fantastic. Outstanding kid.”

Morris Knolls put the game out of reach in the fourth as it made it 6-3 on a wild pitch and 8-3 on Simone’s two-run blast to left field.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Simone, who finished 2-for-2 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs. “There’s no other feeling than that. It’s a dream come true.”

Joe O’Toole delivers after disastrous start

Joe O’Toole made one of the three errors that led to Mainland’s early advantage, but he was unflappable after that.

He went six strong, allowing 3 runs (none earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts for the win.

“He’s the guy we want,” Mindrebo said. “There’s nobody we’d rather have on the mound in that situation.”

Mainland’s magical postseason ends

Mainland entered the playoffs 9-13. The No. 9 seed in the South Jersey Group 3 tournament wasn’t supposed to make it to Veterans Park.

But in head coach Billy Kern’s eyes, it wasn’t a magical “run.” It was just quality baseball.

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“I’m proud of my guys,” he said. “I’m proud of what they put together, not just in the last two weeks, but all season. I know everybody will kind of point to the run or whatever, I hate that phrase only because it’s not basketball. You don’t get to call timeouts. You don’t get to stop the bleeding when things are going bad. Baseball, you got to show up every inning and every game and every new opponent. It’s a grind, and to win these five games to get here, I don’t think it’s a run. I think it’s good baseball they played, that they were capable of all year.”

Kern protects his player with starting pitching choice

Mainland had two possible starting pitchers Saturday – Miami commit Jake Lodgek and star athlete Cohen Cook.

Lodgek had been lights out in the postseason entering the final, going 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA and 20 strikeouts. Cook was strong too, posting a 2-0 mark with a 0.51 ERA and 12 K’s.

Both were allowed to go, but Lodgek threw 109 pitches in the state semifinal, which is why Kern went with Cook. Cook wound up allowing five runs in three innings, but Kern would’ve made the same decision again.

“Coaches often get the opportunity to kind of talk about how they’re going to take care of their arms and worry about pitch count, and when you’re actually put in that position, you have to take care of kids,” Kern said. “I didn’t want to run (Lodgek) out there for 100 again for Monday and Saturday. He’s obviously got an enormous career ahead of him, a college commitment, and I have total confidence in Cohen Cook. He’s the best athlete in South Jersey in my opinion.”

They said it

“We’re a young team still. We got three seniors. We’re coming back next year and we’re going to fire it back.”

– Morris Knolls junior Luke Dickerson

“Perseverance, grinding. We started the season in Disney World with 16 guys trying to gel and come together. I think a lot of people probably thought we were a year away, especially with Finn (Haines) not being available to us all year. So to get here without our full complement of arms all season and to not throw a pitch with a senior all year and do this, it’s something special.”

– Mainland coach Billy Kern on the lasting memory of the 2023 team

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Morris Knolls baseball beats Mainland in NJSIAA Group 3 state final