Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School’s baseball team returns five starters, including its entire infield, as it looks to rebound from a disappointing finish to last season.
Last spring, the Caseys fashioned an 18- 7 mark and won 16 of their first 18 games. However, coach Buddy Hausmann’s team struggled thereafter and went 2-5 the rest of the way, losing to Freehold Township High School in the Monmouth County finals, falling to Jackson Liberty High School in the Shore Conference Tournament’s round of 16, and coming up short in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Non- Public A South tournament.
“We’re very focused on not letting the end of last season happen again,” Hausmann said. “With so much talent back, our expectations are high, but we have to remember the fundamentals and get better every day. You don’t win by just showing up.”
With seniors Ron Robinson and Mike Rescigno on the corners, and juniors Al Molina and Brendan Madigan in the middle, RBC boasts a powerful offensive and defensive infield. Rescigno, who patrols the hot corner, is coming off a .423 campaign with three home runs, 20 RBIs and 25 runs scored. Robinson, the first baseman, led the Caseys with 28 RBIs to go along with three round-trippers and a .392 average. Opposing pitchers were careful around him, as Robinson also drew 19 walks.
Molina is another key offensive cog. A year ago, the shortstop, who has committed to Coastal Carolina University (Conway, S.C.), hit .411, belted four homers, drove home 25 runs and scored 22 times. Madigan, the second baseman, hit .347 and drove home 14 runs. Hausmann also welcomes back Joe Iacobellis, who will move to center field after playing left field last season. The senior hit .406 with a homer and 16 RBIs. He also stole eight bases.
The remainder of the lineup will include Nick Daniele and junior Matt Kurdewan, who will split time in left field, as well as right fielder Anthony Yaccarine. Junior Mike Alescio will be behind the plate, where he will be backed up by fellow junior Danny Sullivan.
“We have a lot of power and speed, and I expect we should be able to score plenty of runs,” said Hausmann, whose team put 202 runs on the board in its 25 games last spring.
That should give the Caseys’ hurlers some room to work. Although RBC lost aces Ryan Spahr and Ryan Slate to graduation, Rescigno is ready to be the No. 1. Last season, he went 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA. In 26 1/3 innings of work, Rescigno struck out
49 batters. John Selden, who was 3-
0 with a 2.47 ERA, will see more work this spring.
Rounding out the staff are Tom Curry, Shane Drumm and Mike Marley, as well as juniors Mike Cosentino, Tom Puza and lefthander Jack Kissinger. Hausmann said he will likely use Molina as the closer.
Like most area teams, RBC has less scrimmage action than Hausmann would have liked due to the weather, but with a new all-turf field, they were more fortunate than most. This past week, the Caseys got in three, including one against powerful Millburn High School, and were generally happy with the results.
“We played pretty well, and we were able to score a lot of runs this week, so we’re ready to go,” the coach said.
RBC was scheduled to open the season at Shore Conference Class A North Division rival Monmouth Regional High School on April 2 and will visit Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School on April 4. On April 5, Hausmann’s team will play host to St. John Vianney High School in its third divisional game in a row, before welcoming Randolph High School on April 6 in a nonconference contest.