Red Bank Catholic softball scores late to take down Ocean

The Red Bank Catholic High School softball team has dealt with inconsistency this season. The Caseys are probably the dark horse no one wants to face when Shore Conference or South Jersey Non-Public A brackets come out. They have wins over No. 4 Middletown North and No. 16 Mount St. Dominic but also have three losses, dropping their opening-round game of the Monmouth County Tournament to Marlboro in their last contest. On Tuesday night, some of those inconsistencies cropped up in the same game. RBC roared out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against Ocean Township at Count Basie Park but then its bats went quiet for five innings. They woke up in time as Alexandra DiBenedetto’s two-run triple gave the Caseys a 5-3 lead, snapping a 3-all tie in the top of the seventh. DiBenedetto, who allowed just four hits and struck out 10, set Ocean down in order in the bottom of the frame as RBC improved to 8-3. “We were a little worried (when Ocean tied it), but we knew we were capable of coming back,” said DiBenedetto. “We were going to count on each other to pick each other up. We had confidence in each other. We’ve had crazy wins and crazy losses. Anything’s possible this season. We had to really give it our all to get the job done.” Ocean, which lost the previous meeting to the Caseys, 7-0, fell to 4-8. “We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Red Bank Catholic coach Tony Flego. “Ocean pitcher (Giana Graziano) is a great pitcher and she’s just coming back. We had a lot of opportunities. We didn’t take care of them early. Thank goodness we took care of them late.” Allison Tomaino, who was 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and RBI, singled with one out in the seventh. Gabby Ciancio followed with a single and DiBenedetto lined a triple down the right-field line to score two. As she rounded third, Tomaino face-planted, then tried to scramble back to third, but Flego pointed her towards home plate. She scored easily with the trail runner right on her heels. “My feet were going too fast,” said Tomaino. “I was trying to get home. I was trying my all to get there. My ankle just gave out.” Ocean’s all-state catcher Emma Vasen was 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair of runs with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the fourth that tied the game. She singled in the sixth to put two runners on with two outs, but DiBenedetto pitched out of trouble with a strikeout. “She doesn’t really hug the plate, so I just tried throwing low and outside (to Vasen),” said DiBenedetto. “I knew she had the power to drive it hard.” DiBenedetto and RBC coach Tony Flego considered the effort against Vasen a win. “We kept her in the park,” said Flego. “A lot of people walk her, but we’ll challenge her. These are kids. Let them play. DiBo had some success against her. We didn’t have any place to put her any way. We had to take our chances and it paid off in the long run.” Lane singled to start the game, Tomaino tripled home one run, Ciancio knocked in another with a double and the last run came home on a double steal. It was a short sport that showed what the Caseys are capable of if they put it all together. “Those (statement) wins (early in the season) gave us a lot of energy, the momentum and made us want to win more,” said Tomaino. Said Flego: “It’s been been looking for consistency. We’re still working at it, not getting many preseason at-bats. Hopefully we’ll get in a stretch where we’ll settle on things and go from there. We have the pitching nobody wants to face. If our lineup is going strong, we’ll be OK. I’d like to think we’re in the running for anything.”

RED BANK CATHOLIC SOFTBALL SCORES LATE TO TAKE DOWN OCEAN

NJ.COM

nj.com | 4/30/2018