Baseball – Red Bank Catholic Defeats Middletown South for Shore Conference Tournament Championship

Get our free mobile app

Shore Conference Tournament Championship - Bracket

Monday, May 31, 2021

At Count Basie Park, Red Bank, 1 p.m.

No. 3 Red Bank Catholic 7, No. 3 Middletown South 0

Shane Panzini fired six dominant innings and the Red Bank Catholic bats came alive in the second half of the game to deliver the Caseys a second straight Shore Conference Tournament championship by beating the Eagles.

Red Bank Catholic won the 2019 tournament with Panzini pitching a one-hitter in the championship game against Manalapan. The tournament was not contested in 2020 after the spring sports season in New Jersey was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Red Bank Catholic scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning against Middletown South senior Matt Pontari, who pitched a no-hitter his last time out on May 23 in a round-of-16 win over Colts Neck. Pontari went three more innings without allowing a hit and with one out in the fourth, RBC freshman Sean Griggs dropped down a bunt and beat it out to start the rally.

After a walk by junior Nico Gonzalez, RBC sophomore catcher Shane Andrus hit a ground ball to third. Middletown South junior Evan Wood tagged third for the second out but his throw to first got away and Gonzalez scored from first with the game's first run. Senior shortstop Sean Ettore then followed with an RBI single to extend the Caseys lead to 2-0.

In the top of the fourth, Middletown South mounted its best threat against Panzini. Sophomore Ben Schild ripped a line-drive single to left, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error - all with two out. Panzini, however, punched out the next batter on a 3-2 fastball.

Sophomore Frank Scrivanic pushed the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI triple to the left-centerfield gap, chasing home pinch-runner Dan DeFlores. Pontari, though, avoided further damage with three strikeouts in the inning.

RBC broke the game open with four runs in the sixth, highlighted by RBI hits by Scrivanic and sophomore Alex Stanyek. After DeFlores plated a run with a sacrifice fly, Scrivanic singled home another for a 5-0 RBC lead. Stanyek capped the scoring with a two-out, two-run triple to the fence in right-center.

With Panzini at 85 pitches through six innings, Red Bank Catholic coach Buddy Hausmann opted to close the game with Stanyek on the mound. The sophomore right-hander retired the side in order on 10 pitches, including a pair of strikeouts.

By staying under 91 pitches, Panzini will be available to throw up to 65 pitches in Friday's NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A quarterfinal game against St. Joseph of Metuchen.

Check back for more coverage of RBC's championship win.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Tweets by Matt_Manley