Baseball – Week 6 Jersey Mike’s Team of the Week: Red Bank Catholic

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Red Bank Catholic is the champion of the Shore Conference for the second straight season and it is no surprise that senior right-hander and University of Virginia commit Shane Panzini was the unofficial Most Valuable Player during the championship run, which ended on Monday with a 7-0 win over Middletown South in the championship game.

Without the efforts of a whole list of players, though, that championship would not have been possible. The Caseys got contributions from all over the field last week - both in beating Manalapan and Middletown South to complete the championship run, as well as hold serve against both Raritan and Rumson-Fair Haven to clinch the Shore Conference Class A Central championship.

With two championships clinched in four days, Red Bank Catholic is the sixth Jersey Mike's Team of the Week in 2021.

Sophomore Alex Stanyek had a huge week for the Caseys, going a combined 3-or-8 in the two SCT wins over Manalapan and Middletown South, including a two-run triple in the final on Monday. He also blasted a go-ahead home run in the top of the fifth inning in Friday's game at Rumson-Fair Haven, which ended in a 5-5 tie when rain halted the game at the end of the sixth inning.

Stanyek also came up big on the mound, striking out six in three scoreless relief innings at Manalapan and closing out the championship game against Middletown South with a perfect seventh inning.

Leadoff hitter Anthony Borriello went 3-for-5 with a two-run double in the extra-inning, SCT semifinal win at Manalapan and gutted out a walk in the fifth inning that led to RBC's third run despite injuring his shoulder earlier in the at-bat.

Brothers Frank and Matt Scrivanic came up with key RBI in the final two SCT rounds, with Matt Scrivanic driving in the tying run in the seventh inning at Manalapan and Frank Scrivanic going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI in the championship game on Monday.

Freshman Sean Griggs continued to show poise beyond his years, delivering a go-ahead two-run double in the top of the ninth inning of RBC's 6-3, extra-inning win at Raritan on May 24. He also started that game on the mound and played a key role in the SCT win at Manalapan, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a sacrifice bunt that set up the winning rally.

Speaking of the winning rally against Manalapan, second baseman Nico Gonzalez was the hero with the bat in that game, coming up with the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the eighth inning with one out. Gonzalez occupied the No. 7 spot in the order, right ahead of sophomore catcher Shane Andrus who, on top of yeoman's work behind the plate, also picked up hits in both wins over Manalapan and Middletown South that led to RBC runs.

Senior Sean Ettore has been productive out of the No. 9 spot and solid at shortstop for the Caseys and he came up with a big two-out, RBI single in the fourth inning Monday against Middletown South to give the Caseys a two-run cushion.

The pitching depth carried the Caseys through the week as well, with senior Dylan Wanagiel pitching three solid innings at Manalapan to keep RBC in the game, plus underclassmen Griggs, Dominic Mallamacci and Declan Leary giving the Caseys quality innings in the division games against Raritan and Rumson.

Then, there was Panzini. The senior swooped in for two dominant innings of relief to pick up the win at Manalapan, then pitched six shutout innings with 12 strikeouts against three hits and no walks allowed in the final vs. Middletown South. At the plate, Panzini crushed a two-run home run to open the scoring at Rumson-Fair Haven, went 1-for-2 in the win at Raritan and was 2-for-4 with a double in the win at Manalapan.

RBC hopes to ride those contributions to at least one more championship, with the Caseys drawing the No. 4 seed in the NJSIAA South Jersey, Non-Public B Playoffs and the No. 2 seed in the Monmouth County Tournament.