Ranney, Red Bank Catholic Part 2 in SCT baseball final

RED BANK - It will be one of the most anticipated Shore Conference Baseball Tournament baseball championship games in memory Sunday night at ShoreTown Ballpark, Lakewood when Ranney and Red Bank Catholic meet.

Ranney (25-1), the No. 1 team in the Asbury Park Press Top 10, advanced with a 2-1 win over Rumson-Fair Haven Thursday afternoon at Count Basie Park in the first SCT semifinal.

Red Bank Catholic (20-4), the No. 2 team in the APP Top 10, advanced with a 3-1 win over Christian Brothers Academy Thursday night at Count Basie Park.

If the game is anything like the 6-5 Ranney win May 10 in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, it will be a classic.

"That loss is one of the toughest losses, we've ever had here,'' Red Bank Catholic senior Alex Stanyek said. "We're going to be ready to go. We didn't feel we played our best game against them the first time. They're a really good team, but we're going to be a tough team to beat twice.''

Red Bank Catholic coach Buddy Hausmann said the MCT final defeat is the second toughest he has had in his 15-season tenure as the head coach at his alma mater. He said the only tougher defeat was the one to St. Augustine in the 2021 NJSIAA Nonpublic South A championship game.

Red Bank Catholic had scored twice in the top of the seventh of the MCT final against Ranney closer A.J. Gracia to take a 5-4 lead.

However, it only took Ranney three batters to end the game.

"I really thought in a good spot in the bottom of the seventh that day, but they did have the heart of their lineup coming up,'' Hausmann said.

Stanyek, who led off the bottom of the first Thursday night with a single and scored the game's first run on Shane Andrus' ground out and then led off the third with a towering home run to right, was the starting pitcher in the MCT final.

He pitched the first six innings, but then could not pitch the seventh because he had reached the NJSIAA's pitch limit of 110 in a day, said he wants to be on the mound Sunday night.

"I really want the ball Sunday night. "I'm ready. Hopefully, I'm more efficient,'' Stanyek said.

"He's starting to feel better. He's ready to go,'' Hausmann said.

Red Bank Catholic will be hoping Stanyek is as effective as junior right-hander Declan Leary was Thursday night. Leary pitched a complete-game three-hitter and struck out six and walked one as he defeated CBA for the second time in 12 days. He also was the winning pitcher in the Caseys' 3-0 win in a MCT semifinal on May 7.

WHAT IT MEANS

Red Bank Catholic will be bidding Sunday night to become the first team in the 43-year history of the SCT to win it four straight times.

Currently, Toms River South (1997-99) and CBA (2000-2002 and 2014-16) are the only schools to have won it three straight times.

"It's pretty hard to win a tournament when there's 40-something teams (the Shore Conference has 46 schools that play baseball) in the running for it. To do it three straight times is amazing. But, we're not happy. The job is not done. ''

"It is technically our tournament to lose,'' Hausmann said.

KEY PLAY FOR RBC

CBA had pulled within 3-1 on Wyatt Hunt's two-out RBI triple in the fifth, but Leary escaped further trouble with a strikeout.

He then retired the side in order in both the sixth and seventh innings with two strikeouts.

Andrus drove in the Caseys' other run with a single in the third.

GRACIA SPARKS RANNEY TO FINAL

Gracia was just trying to get on anyway he could when he led off the bottom of the fifth inning Thursday in Ranney's Shore Conference Tournament semifinal game against Rumson-Fair Haven and the game tied.

The way he did get on was with a swing that turned out to be the winning run as he sent a rocket into the wind over the right field fence at Count Basie Park to give Ranney the lead.

"When I hit it, it did feel pretty good,'' Gracia said. "The wind was blowing in pretty good so, I didn't know if it was going to get out or not, but luckily, it ended up clearing the fence.''

Then, after he gave up the game-tying hit in the top of the fifth, Gracia shut the door over the final two innings as Ranney recorded a 2-1 win.

Gracia, who is one of the state's best all-around players and is a Duke University-recruit, has seen three lead, get away while he was on the mound in the last 12 days. He has been the winning pitcher in all three instances, including the MCT final and the MCT semifinal against Rumson-Fair Haven.

Gracia's bat has played a key role in making himself the winning pitcher in those cases.

"Two of the three times, I've been up the the next inning. It's a good sort of redemption for me,'' Gracia said. "But, obviously, I've got to stop losing those leads.''

Gracia allowed just one base runner over the final two innings. He stranded the tying run at third in the sixth with a srikeout looking and retired the side in order with a strikeout in the seventh.

He had come on relief of Nick Coniglio with a 2-0 count on Parker Shenman and one out in the top of the fifth.

Coniglio struck out 11, including a batter that reached on a throwing error, walked one and allowed one hit.

Ironically, Jack Riva, who hit a game-tying homer off Gracia in the MCT semifinal, delivered the game-tying single off Gracia on Thursday.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR RANNEY

Ranney is in the SCT championship game for the first time. Its MCT championship was its first title in that tournament.

"We're just trying to prove to everyone that we can win the Shore Conference,'' Gracia said. "Everyone of us will say that we haven't really performed in the Shore Conference until this year. It would be a pretty deal if we wind up winning the Shore Conference that we went undefeated in the Shore (Ranney's lone defeat this season was 7-6 to Delbarton on April 15) and kind of prove to everyone that we can hang with everyone down here.''

The Panthers are also alive for "The Quadruple Crown'' (state championship, Shore Conference Tournament title, county tournament championship and divisional title). They are halfway there with the county tournament and Class B North championships.

Wall, 2004, and Christian Brothers Academy, in 2015, are the only Shore Conference teams to win "The Quadruple Crown''.

Ranney will begin the defense of its NJSIAA Nonpublic B championship next week. It is expected to be the No. 2 seed in Nonpublic S South B when the seedings for the state tournament come out on Friday.

KEY PLAY FOR RANNEY

Besides, the home run, Gracia accounted for Ranney's other run with some alert baserunning in the bottom of the first.

After he led off with a double to right, he moved to third on Ryan Costello's ground out to first, he scored on a two-out wild pitch that did not get far away from the plate.

"Once it hit the dirt, I was going to be taking off,'' Gracia said. "It was more me trying to beat the catcher than anything.

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This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ Baseball: Ranney, Red Bank Catholic Part 2 in SCT final