By Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer WALL --
Already with back-to-back shutouts - check that, back-to-back
no-hitters - against two of the state's top three teams, it had been a
very good week for Red Bank Catholic's softball team. It got that much
better on Saturday evening.
With two on and two out in the
bottom of the ninth inning, sophomore infielder Holly Klodin blooped a
single that landed just fair down the right-field line to score Alana
Dimaso from second base and give the Caseys a classic 1-0 victory over
Mater Dei in the final of the Monmouth County Tournament at Wall High
School. RBC junior right-hander Brittany O'Donnell allowed just two
hits and struck out 16 to out-duel Seraphs senior Sara Cline and give
the Caseys their first MCT title since 2006.
"I was just focused
on getting the ball in play and putting pressure on the defense,"
Klodin said. "It was an outside pitch and I just went with it. I had my
head down running and when it dropped in I was so happy."
"When
she got up it was so exciting because we knew one hit was going to win
us the Monmouth County Tournament," said sophomore third baseman Marie
Flego, who went 2-for-4 in the game. "When she hit it I was just like,
'Please drop in and stay fair'."
Cline got the first two outs of
the bottom of the ninth relatively quickly by inducing both Flego and
Sam Bowlsby to ground back to the circle. But with two down she hit
Dimaso on the leg and then walked Katelyn O'Donnell to put the winning
run in scoring position. That set up Klodin to deliver the No. 1 Caseys
their 16th consecutive victory.
O'Donnell was once again
masterful for RBC and added to her already gaudy numbers by beating the
Shore Conference's hottest team, other than her Caseys of course. Mater
Dei had just one loss coming in and defeated Wall, which was ranked No.
2 in the state at the time, in the MCT semifinals to advance to their
first final in school history. O'Donnell allowed just two hits, a bloop
single by Danielle Murphy in the sixth inning and an infield single by
Erin Carroll in the ninth. She struck out the side in the second, third
and fifth innings and Murphy's single was the only ball hit out of the
infield. Upon Murphy singling in the sixth, the Mater Dei crowd went
wild as she broke up O'Donnell's bid for a third straight no-hitter.
"People will say and do what they want when you're the favorite and I
take that as a compliment," said Caseys head coach Tracey
Yarosz-Lombardi. "I would do the same thing if the roles were reversed
and my batter got a hit off one of the best pitchers in the state."
For Mater Dei, coming so close to a title and walking away
empty-handed has done nothing to temper the team's enthusiasm. It has
already been a tremendous season for the Seraphs that is most likely
not without a few more special moments. Just as they did in the
semifinals, the Seraphs, ranked No. 3 in the DigitalSports Shore
Conference Softball Top 10, proved they are one of the best teams in
the conference.
"I said to the girls that I'm going to walk off
this field as proud as a peacock," said Seraphs head coach Jeanne
Dickinson. "RBC is a great team and I couldn't be prouder with how, No.
1 we got here, and No. 2 we held our own. It's a great feeling."
Red Bank Catholic looked like it might jump out to an early lead in
the first inning. Freshman Kristen Travers led off the game with a
single and, after being sacrificed to second, went to third on Jess
Long's single. Long went to second on defensive indifference to put
runners on second and third with one out. But Cline beared down and
struck out O'Donnell before getting Flego to ground to third. The
Seraphs had two runners on with two outs in the top of the third but
O'Donnell got Murphy looking with a nasty changeup to get out of
trouble. RBC also had two on with two out in the third but Cline got
O'Donnell to ground back to the mound. The Seraphs had a runner on
second in the seventh but could not convert, and did not get a runner
into scoring position the rest of the game. In the fourth inning, Flego
led off with a long single off the centerfield fence and went to second
on a wild pitch with no outs. Cline, however, retired the next three
batters to escape unscathed and did not allow a runner into scoring
position until the ninth inning.
Ranked No. 1 in the Shore and
No. 2 in the state, RBC has generated the kind of momentum that usually
leads to something special. O'Donnell is clearly one of, if not the,
best pitcher in the state and the Caseys have a young and deep lineup
that can beat you with someone different every game. No team is
invincible, but the Caseys sure look the part right now.
"Our
team definitely feels, not what we can't lose, but that we should be in
position to win every game," Klodin said. "This definitely gives us
more momentum. We just come to play every game and put it out there."
Box Score
(4) Red Bank Catholic 1, (6) Mater Dei 0
Mater Dei (16-2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 1
Red Bank Catholic (17-1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 5 0
WP: Brittany O'Donnell (17-1)
LP: Sara Cline (16-2)
E-mail:
badders@digitalsports.com