Baseball – After Leading RBC to Fourth Straight Shore Title, Stanyek Wins SCT Player of the Week

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Ocean County Sports Medicine Player of the Week: SCT MVP

Alex Stanyek, Red Bank Catholic

Red Bank Catholic has owned the Shore Conference Tournament since 2019 and that ownership continued this season thanks to a total team effort that culminated with the pitching performance of the same hard-throwing right-hander that pitched the Caseys to last year's SCT title.

Alex Stanyek pitched only once during the Shore Conference Tournament and his start in the SCT final against Ranney on May 21 was just his fourth appearance on the mound this season. When he is on the mound, though, Stanyek is a force and he was just that against the then-ranked No. 1 team in the state.

Facing Ranney for a second time, Stanyek pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and four walks while striking out 11. Stanyek walked five batters in the first three innings while working through trouble, but did not issue a walk did not allow Ranney its first hit until the bottom of the fifth and did not issue another walk until his final batter of the outing.

Stanyek reached the single-game pitch limit of 110 pitches with a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh that brought the tying run to the plate, but Ethan Marzo came on and finished off the game with a strikeout to clinch Red Bank Catholic an unprecedented fourth straight SCT championship.

Although he had a quiet championship game in the offensive box score, Stanyek made loud contact at the plate throughout the SCT. In the semifinals against CBA, he went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs scored as part of a 3-1 Caseys win over the rival Colts.

In the championship game, Stanyek took an 0-for-4 at the plate vs. Ranney's tough left-handed duo of Marcello Mastroianni and A.J. Gracia, but one of his outs was a right-centerfield bomb to the warning track at ShoreTown Ballpark in Lakewood that Ranney rightfielder Glen Cantalupo ran down for a tremendous catch.

The offense that night in Lakewood was secondary for Stanyek, who again turned in an impressive pitching performance against a top-tier opponent. Stanyek's four starts have come against Rumson-Fair Haven, Gloucester Catholic and twice against Ranney and he is 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA and 37 strikeouts against eight walks over 23 2/3 innings.

Stanyek won a two-man race for the winning vote total, beating out Middletown North sophomore Gabe Ahlemeyer. Stanyek seized 39 percent of the vote, with Ahlemeyer raking in 33 percent.

For winning the Player of the Week, Stanyek will receive a Player of the Week shirt courtesy of Ocean Count Sports Medicine.