Red Bank Catholic Captures Second Straight Monmouth County Tournament Title By Mike Ready

LAKEWOOD – Sixth-seeded Red Bank Catholic successfully defended its Monmouth County Tournament title with a 5-1 victory over 12th-seeded St. Rose at First Energy Park in Lakewood.

The Caseys were making their sixth appearance in the MCT final in eight years and took home their second consecutive championship despite starting just one player – junior centerfielder David Glancy – from last season’s MCT championship teams starting lineup.

Only fittingly, it was Glancy who was one of the stars of the game along with senior pitcher Blaise Panzini (3-1), who picked up the win going five strong innings allowing one run, and four hits while walking two and striking out nine on 90 pitches.

“You’ve got to set the tone,” said Panzini, who did just that striking out the tournament’s hottest hitter, St. Rose slugger Riley Maypother, to lead off the game. “We’ve got all these young kids out here, so we as seniors and experienced players had to come out and show leadership and show these kids what it’s all about playing in an environment and a game like this. You have to come out and compete, and that’s what I feel I did today.”

The Caseys won their third MCT title in the last six years with sophomores starting at the corners and behind the plate and juniors manning second base, shortstop, right field and centerfield. Designated hitter Dan Ianelli, Panzini and left fielder Nick Merlo were the only seniors to start the game.

Sophomore pitcher John Nimeth finished up for Panzini with two sterling innings of shutout ball out of the pen permitting just one hit and one walk while striking out three throwing 36 pitches.

Glancy went 2-for-4 drilling two doubles to left field, scoring two runs and driving in a run. He doubled over the left fielder’s head leading off the bottom of the first and came around to score the Caseys first run of the game. After moving to third on a ground out by junior second baseman Alex Gonzales, he scored on groundout by junior shortstop Vincent Bianchi to take a 1-0 lead.

“The first inning is huge, especially in a game like this,” said Glancy. “You get on the board and get all your confidence as a team and the bench gets even louder. So my first at-bat, I was just trying to drive the ball as hard as I can. I got the pitch I could hit and jumped on it.”

Glancy was also in the middle of the Caseys threerun third inning driving in courtesy runner Elijah Ally with his second double of the game to push the score to 2-0. Gonzales then brought Glancy home with an RBI single to center and later scored on a two-out RBI single by Merlo for a 4-0 lead.

“He’s (Glancy) a very good player and I’ve been trying to sell it to colleges left and right,” said RBC head coach Buddy Hausmann. “After that second double, I was shaking my head, like, ‘How is this guy not committed (to college).’ I still don’t get it. He’s got five homers and he hit the ball very well again tonight. He’s just a very good player.”

After St. Rose closed the gap to 4-1 scoring a solo run in the top of the fourth on a Patrick Ferrante groundout that scored Evan Peeke, Merlo capped off the Caseys scoring hammering an RBI double off the wall in left field scoring Bianchi from second base for a 5-1 lead.

Merlo finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI for the Caseys in his first starting assignment in a championship game.

“To wait three years to play and start on this team and get another championship feels great,” said Merlo. “You wait your turn and you make the most of the opportunity. Every year, we lose players and it’s somebody’s job to step up and fill in.”

The Caseys are now 3-3 in MCT championships games and will set their sights on the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament and state playoffs.

In the Shore Conference Tournament, the Caseys will be looking to avenge last season’s 5-0 loss to Toms River North in the final and they’ll be doing it with one of the youngest Casey teams in recent memory.

“We kind of had to revamp it a little bit,” said Hausmann. “It’s such a young group. I’m used to replacing seniors with seniors.” “It’s scary to think we’re this young,” said Panzini, who was selected as the tournament MVP. “If we’re doing this stuff now, it’s going to be crazy to see what they’re doing next year."

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