SOFTBALL - CONTINUING TO IMPRESS: RBC 5, TR EAST 0

By Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer

    RED BANK -- When Brittany O'Donnell is on top of her game, you are going to need plenty of luck to get a win over Red Bank Catholic. Add in some timely hitting and solid defense and you have a dominant team that can beat any squad New Jersey has to offer.
    The Caseys proved that on Monday when they hosted Toms River East, ranked No. 1 in both the DigitalSports Shore Conference Softball Top 10 and the state. O'Donnell tossed her conference-best ninth no-hitter of the season against a formidable Raiders lineup while No. 3 RBC got clutch two-out RBI singles from Marie Flego and Kaitlyn O'Donnell for a statement-making 5-0 victory at Count Basie Park. O'Donnell had 15 strikeouts, surrendered four walks and hit a batter. The Raiders didn't get a ball out of the infield, made six errors and consequently suffered their first loss of the season.
    "I'm just so confident with (sophomore catcher) Jess (Long) behind the plate and our defense behind me," O'Donnell said. "I just blank everything out and do what I have to do."
    "You know, she just always comes through in the clutch," said Caseys head coach Tracey Yarosz-Lombardi. "She's throwing no-hitters left and right and she's extremely focused this year. She knows what she wants and she's going out and getting it done."
    O'Donnell was perfect through four innings before walking and hitting a batter in the fifth inning. She worked out of that mini-jam just as she has done all season. Her already-staggering season numbers just keep getting better, too. In 94 innings she has allowed just seven hits and still has an earned run average of 0.00.
    But even if it's just one, even the greatest pitcher in the world needs run support. Last season the Caseys struggled at times to put runs on the board, however that hasn't been the case in 2008. The five runs plated by the Caseys against star pitcher Lyndsey PeQueen were aided by six Toms River East errors, but RBC hit the ball hard as well, especially in its seven-hit, four-run barrage in the fifth inning that put the game out of reach.
    The Caseys were able to get runners on base in the first and third innings via either errors or walks, but neither team had a hit until the fourth inning. After O'Donnell just got under a fastball and flied out to left field to lead off the inning, Flego reached on a bunt single by deadening the ball perfectly a third of the way up the first baseline and barely in fair territory.
    Then the Raiders defense started making some uncharacteristic mistakes. With Flego on first, left fielder Sam Bowlsby did a great job of bunting the ball over the drawn-in infield and into no-man's land behind the circle. The throw from shortstop Holly Luciano glanced off the glove of second baseman Mary Johnson and caromed out of play to put runners on second and third with one out. Alana Dimaso then hit a ground ball to third where Alyssa Paul checked the runner back but threw wide of first to allow Flego to score for a 1-0 RBC lead. With runners on second and third, PeQueen got a groundout and a strikeout to get out of the inning without further damage.
    "We were very sloppy with the defense and that's an area we can definitely improve on," said Raiders head coach Debbie Schwartz. "We didn't handle the pressure very well today."
    "Everyday we work in the little stuff: bunting, covering bunts," said Yarosz-Lombardi. "Because if you put the ball in the play you can force people to make mistakes. Sometimes you have to play small ball to win games."
    The Raiders threatened in the top of the fifth when Paul checked her swing on a 3-2 pitch and drew a leadoff walk. After a strikeout, Chelsea Guttridge was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. During the next at-bat, the Caseys made a great defensive play to derail a would-be Toms River East rally. With the infield in as Alisha Cumberton squared to bunt, both East runners broke on a double steal. In a full sprint to the bag, RBC shortstop Alana Dimaso got there just as Long's throw did, and she slid into foul territory while applying the tag to Paul's leg for out No. 2.
    "I had too much momentum going so I had to slide or I would have missed the ball," Dimaso said. "I knew I had to make that play or we would have been in trouble."
    "We went over that because we knew Toms River East was big on stealing second and third," Yarosz-Lombardi said. "Alana did an excellent job. She read it before I did."
    "Their shortstop made a phenomenal play," Schwartz said. "Quite frankly, most people don't make that play."
    O'Donnell eventually got Cumberton swinging to end the inning and allow the Caseys to tack on four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Kristen Travers led off with an infield single and was moved to second and a perfect sacrifice bunt by Liz Black. Long then singled and moved to second while the Raiders were preoccupied with Travers at third. O'Donnell grounded out to third on the first pitch she saw from PeQueen, but with two outs, Flego lined a single up the middle to score Travers and Long and extend the Caseys' lead to 3-0.
    "The first pitch I fouled off and the second pitch I was looking inside and that's where it was and I hit it," Flego said. "We always want to get more than one because it takes the pressure off. I knew what I had to do and I was able to do it."
    "Mentally you can't rattle her," Yarosz-Lombardi said of Flego. "She loves to hit when there's runners on base and she's been a big contributer for me."
    Bowlsby followed with her second hit of the game and Dimaso reached on an error once again to load the bases for Kaitlyn O'Donnell with two outs. The freshman singled to right to score Flego and Bowlsy followed when the ball was misplayed in the outfield for a 5-0 lead.
    O'Donnell struck out the side in the top of the sixth and then got Kaila Conboy and Paul on strikes in the seventh before getting Guttridge to pop out for the final out and her ninth no-hitter of the season.
    "I'm really not thinking about the no-hitter at that point," O'Donnell insisted. "Just three outs."
    Her coach definitely noticed a difference, though.
    "Absolutely, she had a little bit more adrenaline," Yarosz-Lombardi said. "Everyone pins her against PeQueen and she wanted to go out and prove she was the better pitcher."
    And that's exactly what she did. So far, there's been no one better in the Shore and probably the state. That's not a knock on Toms River East and PeQueen, the Shore Conference's single-season strikeout record-holder and an elite pitcher in her own right. Just a nod to the brilliance of Red Bank Catholic and Brittany O'Donnell.
   


Box Score

Red Bank Catholic 5, Toms River East 0

Toms River East (17-1)     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 6
Red Bank Catholic (15-1)  0 0 0 1 4 0 X - 5 7 0

WP: Brittany O'Donnell
LP: Lyndsey PeQueen



E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com