BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
Beyond the typically outstanding pitching of sophomore Brittany O’Donnell, the Red Bank Catholic girls softball team didn’t look too good against rival St. John Vianney on Monday.
But even after watching her team get two-hit by Diana Sansevera in a 3-0 loss, RBC head coach Tracey Yarosz-Lombardi is not ready to panic.
“We really didn’t give them much of a fight,” she said. “But we always start off the season with a loss for some reason. I think I have a really good team this year.
“They were pretty good through the preseason,” she added. “We only had four scrimmages, so it was pretty much all practices. It was tough for them to have their first game against SJV.”
It was the Caseys’ defense that failed them on Monday, as the Lancers scored three runs in the first two innings on just one hit. In the first, the Lancers’ Katie DeBlaso reached on one error and then score on another, while in the second inning, following a pair of hit batsmen, Kasey Bulman laced a two-out, two-run single to cap the scoring.
And that was all the scoring that Sansevera would need, as she struck out 11 batters and didn’t allow a base runner until the fifth inning, when Meghan Marley singled through the middle.
The win for the Lancers avenged a 1-0 loss to the Caseys in last year’s Monmouth County Tournament final, when O’Donnell struck out 14 batters to pace the win.
While O’Donnell took the loss on Monday, her performance should give the Caseys confidence that they will able to play with the very best teams in the Shore once again this year.
O’Donnell shared the circle with Jackie Battaglia last year, but put together some brilliant numbers – 12-3 with a conference-best .33 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 102 innings.
And while the loss to the Lancers on Monday gives SJV the early edge in what should be a tight Class A Central race, one loss does not a season make.
That’s a point that Yarosz-Lombardi was quick to make following the loss. This team, which features a host of new faces, will get better as the season progresses.
“I’ve only got two returning starters, and I’m starting two freshmen,” the coach said. “All around, they just need to come together as a team. We graduated 10 seniors last year, and the older girls that are back didn’t have a lot of experience. It’s like throwing a whole new team out there this year.”
The Casey lineup is a formidable one, led by junior center fielder Liz Black and junior utility player Marissa Massaro.
“Black and Massaro are both slap hitters and I have them batting first and second,” Yarosz-Lombardi said. “They set the table.”
Freshman third baseman Jessica Long bats third, and should quickly assert herself as one of the top young players in the Shore Conference, according to her coach.
“Jessica is an all-around athlete,” Yarosz-Lombardi said. “She is good fundamentally, and she has plenty of big-game experience because she plays on a competitive summer team. She’s got an amazing swing.”
Senior shortstop Kerry Griffin, a 353 hitter last year, bats clean-up, followed by O’Donnell, who hit .325 as a freshman. Senior first baseman Marley bats fifth, while junior catcher Laura Iwanyk follows.
Another freshman, second baseman Marie Flego, is seventh, a spot that will also see junior Jackie Ostendorf, while senior right fielder Tricia Cevasco bats eighth.
The other players who will filter in and out of the Casey lineup are senior infielder Meghan McCarthy, junior Lexi Elahskar, freshman Holy Klodin, who will also pitch from time to time, senior left fielder Alex Morano and junior Jackie Weaver.
While the Casey defense may be a bit of a work in progress behind O’Donnell, Jarosz-Lombardi is confident her team will hit against just about anyone.
“Griffin, O’Donnell, Black, Marley and Massaro are all good offensive players,” she said. “It’s never a high-scoring game anymore. The pitching is just too good. But I think I have one of the better hitting teams than I’ve had in the past.”
So despite Monday’s loss to SJV, the coach remains optimistic about her team’s potential this season.
“I’m happy. I just need them to get experience and start playing as a team,” she said.
But will the Caseys emerge as one of the elite teams in the Shore Conference once again?
“Absolutely, I definitely think they have it in them,” the coach said.