Chase Petty says he feels at home on the pitching mound.

Last spring, the recent Mainland Regional High School graduate’s house had a lot of visitors.

There were big league scouts behind home plate and fans that surrounded the field to watch the MLB Draft prospect with the fastball that sometimes reached triple digits.

Petty led Mainland to the South Jersey Group III final. He finished 6-1 with a 1.15 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 48⅔ innings.

The Somers Point resident is The Press Baseball Player of the Year and the Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year.

The Minnesota Twins selected the Mainland pitcher with the 26th pick in the first round of the draft July 12. Petty was the first Cape-Atlantic League player to be selected in the first round since the Los Angeles Angels chose Trout with the 25th pick in 2009.

Cedar Creek won the most thrilling game of the season to finish 13-0 when it beat Camden's Woodrow Wilson 35-34 to win the South/Central Group III regional championship game at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium on Dec. 4.

The game came down to one play and one video review.

Wilson trailed by one point and had the ball on fourth-and-goal at the Cedar Creek 7-yard line. Running back Naz’sir Oglesby slipped out of the backfield and caught a swing pass from quarterback Devin Kargman. Oglesby headed for the goal line. Pirates linebacker C.J. Resto tackled him 6 inches short of the goal line with 10 seconds left.

But officials quickly announced the play was under review. Video review was used this year in the championship games played at Rutgers and at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

Everyone in the stadium seemed to stare at the giant video board above one of the stadium’s end zones. Wilson fans cheered when one angle was shown. Pirates fans roared when another angle was shown.

It was that close.

Finally, the officials ruled Oglesby had been stopped short of the goal line, making Cedar Creek the winner.

The Ocean City baseball team took advantage.

Ocean City combined the stinginess of three future NCAA Division I pitchers with the unexpected clutch hitting of Jack Perry to win the first state championship in the program’s history with a 3-2 victory over Pascack Valley at Bob DeMeo Memorial Field in Mercer County’s Veterans Park on June 21.

Perry knocked in the winning run with a squeeze bunt in the top of the 14th inning. High school baseball games normally last seven innings. Ocean City pitchers Gannon Brady, Matt Nunan and Duke McCarron combined to allow four hits and strike out 11.

Meanwhile, pitcher Dave Hagaman delivered a memorable performance, allowing one run and three hits in six innings as Spirit beat Morristown-Beard 7-1 at Bob DeMeo Memorial Field on June 16. The victory gave Holy Spirit its fourth state championship in the program’s history and its first since 2015.

The Holy Spirit graduate went from the local Atlantic County Baseball League to the brink of the big leagues in less than a year. He was 1-1 with one save, a 3.65 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 30 appearances with the Phillies triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The Phillies signed Adams in January after watching him pitch at a showcase event at the Maplezone Sports Institute in Philadelphia. Adams’ fastball hit 98 mph. Most baseball prospects are signed in their teens or early 20s.

The 6-foot, 190-pound senior running back and linebacker led the Thunderbolts to a 12-1 record and the Group IV South/Central regional championship.

Allen rushed for 1,658 yards and 22 touchdowns on 189 carries through 11 games. He caught 13 passes for 204 yards and three TDs.

The ShopRite LPGA Classic is usually held in the spring.

But in 2020 and 2021 it was held in the fall because of the pandemic.

This year it was held with fans and with its customary two-day pro-am.

Celine Boutier, of France, earned a stunning victory. She shot a career-low 8-under 63 on the Bay Course at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway Township to win the Classic by one shot over Brooke Henderson, Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko on Oct. 3.

The ninth-seeded Gaels qualified for the NCAA Tournament after beating seventh-seeded Fairfield 60-51 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final at Jim Whelan Boardwalk in Atlantic City on March 14.

Pitino, 68, had been out of college basketball since 2017 when he parted ways with Louisville in the wake of a recruiting scandal.

The MAAC signed a three-year deal with Boardwalk Hall to host the conference’s postseason tournament. The pandemic canceled the 2020 MAAC Tournament. The 2021 event was before limited crowds of players’ family members.

The then Egg Harbor Township senior won her second Meet of Champions title in the 200-meter dash at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield with a time of 24.22 seconds.

Princz led a remarkable showing by local athletes. Fabian Gonzalez of Southern Regional won the discus with a toss of 184 feet, 9 inches. Julia Bannan of Holy Spirit won the girls discus with a 129-foot throw. Mariah Stephens of EHT won the girls triple jump (37-10.25).

Two Press-area athletes were big reasons why the Scarlet Knights (5-7) got the bid.

Wide receiver Bo Melton of Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City led the team with 55 catches for 618 yards.

Running back Isaih Pacheco of Vineland led Rutgers in rushing with 647 yards.

It is not known whether Melton and Pacheco will play in the Gator Bowl, however, as both have established themselves as NFL Draft prospects.

Other local players for Rutgers include freshman defensive back Max Melton (Bo's brother and also from Cedar Creek) and freshman linebacker Tyreem Powell from Vineland.