BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
If you ask them, there are no limits to what the Red Bank Regional Bucs are capable of when Corey Young is on the mound.
“In our minds, we can beat anyone when he’s pitching,” head coach Steve DePolo said. “Bring on the Mets. I’m not saying we would beat them, but we feel like we could.”
While beating the Mets might be a bit of a reach, Red Bank certainly has proven to be as good as anyone in the Shore when the Seton Hall University-bound Young has the ball in his hand. The senior right-hander has been downright dominant this year, posting a 5-0 mark (all complete games), with an earned run average of .19. Through Monday’s 4-2 win over Wall Township, Young has fanned 69 batters in just 37 innings, allowing just 12 hits and 11 walks.
PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, Red Bank Regional’s Chris Johnson is greeted by his teammates after blasting a two-run home run during the Bucs’ win over Freehold on April 29. At left, senior Eric Krangel fires a pitch to the plate. It’s no wonder the Bucs feel invincible on his start days.
“We’re kind of shocked when someone gets on base against him,” DePolo said. “He’s been that good.”
This year’s RBR squad entered the season with lofty expectations, despite being picked to finish third in their own division, the Class B North, behind Monmouth Regional and Wall. The Bucs return a slew of three-year starters and are an upperclassman-oriented team.
“Senior leadership is definitely one of our strengths,” DePolo said. “We’ve made some runs over the past two years, whether it was at the division or in the Shore Conference and state tournaments, but have just fallen a little short.”
The Bucs did manage a share of the division two years ago, the first time in 11 years that an RBR baseball team earned a divisional banner, but this year’s senior-laden squad is looking for more. They will not be satisfied with coming close.
“Been there, done that,” DePolo said. “These guys expect to break through this year.”
And they’re certainly on their way, at 9-3 overall and 8-2 in the division, holding a share of the division lead with Monmouth Regional. Those two teams will battle for the top spot on Saturday in a rematch of an early season 2-0 RBR win.
That first game was a match-up of future teammates as Young got the best of Keith Cantwell in what was a classic pitchers’ duel between the two Seton Hall signees. Expect the same on Saturday.
On Monday, Young and the Bucs knocked Wall a game out of the division lead with a 4-2 win, as Young went the distance with nine strikeouts, three walks and one earned run.
While the Bucs are looking forward to tournament play, DePolo insists his team is keeping its eye on the present.
“It’s very important to this team to win the division,” he said. “This is what we’ve been gearing for all year. The tournaments come later.”
Once they reach tournament play, however, the Bucs will need to rely on some of their other pitchers to step up when Young is not available.
That’s where guys like seniors Tyler Maurer (2-1 1.50 ERA) and Eric Krangel (1-1 following a complete-game win over Freehold on Friday) will come into play.
DePolo also has some other live arms he can use when in dire straits.
“We have a lot of young guys who could be doing more if we didn’t have Corey out there,” the coach said. “He just eats up innings.”
Offensively, the Bucs have yet to really peak — a scary thought for the opposition.
The Red Bank lineup starts with senior designated hitter Eric Kelly, who got off to a slow start, according to DePolo, but has been coming on of late with three doubles, four stolen bases and 11 runs scored.
He’s followed by senior shortstop Chris Bacque, a solid .349 hitter who also has 11 runs scored. In the third spot is senior catcher Chris Johnson, a four-year starter who will be playing ball at James Madison University next spring. Johnson is off to a solid start, batting .372 with a pair of doubles and triples, a home run and 14 RBIs.
In the cleanup spot is Rutgers-bound center fielder Mike Livingston, one of the top all-around players in the Shore. Livingston is the team’s hottest hitter thus far, according to DePolo, batting at a .487 clip with three triples, two doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs.
Batting fifth is senior third baseman Maurer, who was hurt early in the season and is beginning to bounce back from a slow start. Next up is senior left fielder Doug Jackson (.306), followed by junior first baseman Chris Griffin (.318), whom DePolo called a very steady player.
Right fielder Pat Karl, also a junior, is hitting about .250, but is coming around, according to his coach, and plays an excellent right field.
That leaves junior second baseman Ryan Young, whose .375 average has been a difference-maker for the Bucs thus far.
“I like having him in the nine-hole because he does a great job of turning the lineup over,” DePolo said.
Among the other players the coach uses on a frequent basis are junior pitcher/first baseman Chris Ridgeway, junior pitcher/utility player Ryan Martin and senior pitcher/DH Joe Meklin.
“We’re deep as a team, and that’s a strength,” DePolo said. “We’ve won with pitching and hitting so far, but we’ll need some guys to step up when we get into playing the two tournaments at the same time, since we can’t split Corey in half.”
DePolo also said his team needs to work on limiting mental mistakes, which could prove costly in a big spot.
“We’ve had some lapses at times,” he said. “Sometimes you kind of get happy when the paper comes out and says you’re ranked third, and the result is mental lapses. We need to keep our focus the whole time.
“We made six big mistakes in the game against Wall, but Corey’s pitching bailed us out,” he added.
And the Bucs are hoping to be relying on Corey’s pitching well into the postseason.