At the start of this week, Buddy Hausmann was lamenting the fact that, despite his Red Bank Catholic baseball team’s stellar record, half his lineup was struggling.
“I’m 9-3 and I’m complaining,” he said this past Monday, May 1. “But I have a feeling starting today we’re gonna start going in the right direction.”
Weather forecasters should be so accurate.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Caseys enjoyed their highest scoring outputs this season in a 17-2 win over Holmdel and a 12-3 triumph over Wall in the Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinals. On Wednesday they beat Holmdel again, 8-0.
Entering this week, the top of the order had glittering stats, including Shane Andrus (.438, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 11 RBIs), Alex Stanyek (.436, 5 five doubles, 3 HRs, 11 RBIs) and Frank Scrivanic (.400, 6 doubles, 12 RBIs). Dylan Passo was hitting a productive .273 with 10 RBIs.
“They’re all three-year starters, they’re carrying us,” Hausmann said. “I would think guys would feed off of them and learn. All three have a ton of varsity at-bats. When they don’t get a hit, you’re like ‘Oh wow!’ because you’re shocked.”
The rest of the lineup scuffled through 12 games but started to rumble this week. Matt Dantoni was 6-for-8 with six RBIs against Holmdel and Wall; and Matt Brunner was 3-for-3 with a double, triple and six RBI vs. Holmdel. Most encouraging is that Sean Griggs, whose playing time was limited due to a pulled muscle, appeared to be back in form going 4-for-7 with two triples and four RBIs in two games.
The pitching remains outstanding, as RBC has allowed three runs or less 13 times. The staff ERA is 1.49 behind the hurling of Declan Leary (3-0, 1.29), Ryan Prior (1-1, 0.44), Steve Svenson (3-2, 1.83), Dominic Mallamaci (3-0, 3.75) and Stanyek (1-0, 0.64).
“They’ve all been strong, we haven’t had one bad outing,” Hausmann said. “Every one of them has been very good. They’ve had quality starts every outing.”
Combine that with an offense that may be finding its rhythm, and RBC looks like a threat in the MCT and the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament, which it has won the past two years. The SCT seeding meeting is May 8.
“I think in the end we’re gonna be fine,” said Hausmann, who has 10 college commits on the roster. That prompted NJ.com to rank the Caseys No. 1 in its preseason state ranking, although they have since slipped to No. 17.
“I think that preseason stuff put a little pressure on us,” Hausmann said. “Some of them took it a little bit to their heads, thinking they’re better than they are. You gotta take care of it on the field, you can’t just show up.”
The focus is now on the MCT, as RBC hosts Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, in the May 6 semifinals.
“If we win, we should get Ranney,” Hausmann said. “The kids really want to play CBA and Ranney.”