Sports
Flego, Coppola Lead Red Bank Catholic Into SCT Quarterfinals
Flego's bat, Coppola's arm prevail in Casey's 6-3 win over Marlboro
Photo's above: The stars of the game, Flego and Coppola
RED BANK – Senior shortstop Anne Flego and sophomore pitcher Colby Coppola combined to help No. 7 seed Red Bank Catholic take care of No. 10 seed Marlboro beating the Mustangs 6-3 Tuesday at Count Basie Field with the Caseys now advancing to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Flego went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, three RBI and two-runs scored while playing flawlessly at short including a diving stab of a sinking line drive for the second out of the inning in the top of the third with the Caseys holding onto a 4-2 lead at the time.
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The Caseys advanced to the quarterfinals a year ago before being eliminated in a one-run loss to Matawan, but Flego is hoping this year’s team can make a run into the finals.
“I’ve always dreamed of winning the Shore Conference Tournament,” Flego said. “I watched my sister do it and it’s always something I’ve dreamed of. We made it this far last year so I just want to make it as far as we can, to make the season last in my last year. We just have to approach it one game at a time and if we win one, we move on, so we just have to keep winning.”
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The Caseys put a run up on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Flego reached first on a fielder s choice and was moved to second on Tess Griswold’s single up the middle before coming home on a line drive RBI single into left field by Lindsey Benitez. However, a potential big inning was squashed on an inning-ending 4-3 double play.
Coppola gave up two runs (one earned) in the second - her only shaky inning of the game. Two doubles were the big blow but an error and passed ball contributed to the Mustangs two-run inning.
The young right-hander settled down after that retiring 15 of the final 19 batters she faced only giving up a slow tapper in front of the plate that the runner just beat out, a harmless single with two outs in the last inning and a walk. A hit batter and passed ball that allowed the runner to go all the way to third and a sacrifice fly accounted for Marlboro’s third run in the sixth.
For the game, Coppola allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits, walked two and struck out one in picking up her 15th win of the season.
“It’s difficult at times because I’m so young,” Coppola said. “But I have all the upperclassmen to help me out and my catcher (Griswold) helps me out all the time. My field is always behind me picking each other up all the time; no one’s ever down. I can always count on my offense. If someone gets out the next person picks us up.”
That offense made life a little easier for Coppola scoring three runs in the bottom of the second with Flegos two-run single being the big blow then in the fourth the Caseys added two more runs to take a four-run lead.
Leadoff hitter Taylor Lane got things started in the fourth, drilling a double into the left-centerfield gap and scored on Flego’s RBI double off the base of the centerfield fence to make it 5-2. Flego then scored on a two-base throwing error by the shortstop to up the lead to 6-2.
Lane finished 2-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs scored while patrolling centerfield and making several pretty running catches.
“Taylor has all the tools,” Red Bank Catholic head coach Tony Flego said of his star centerfielder. “She’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever coached. She can do anything. She can run, she can hit, she does it all.”
The Caseys will have their hands full in their quarterfinal matchup facing No. 2 seed St. John Vianney who came back from a 5-0 deficit scoring nine runs in the sixth inning to beat Wall 9-5 to advance. The Lancers (20-1) are ranked No.1 in the Shore and No. 2 in the state.
“We can hit the ball so we can stay with anybody,” Flego said. “We got to play great defense and keep the ball in the park. I give us as good a chance as anybody. The schedule we played was ridiculous. I think the teams we played were 190-100 or something like that. So playing the Mount Saint Dominic’s and teams like that helped prepare us. So I give us a good chance.”
The Caseys (18-9) banged out 12 hits in the game and in addition to Flego and Lane, Tess Griswold went 2-for-4, Dana McCulloch added two hits in three at bats and scored a run while Lauren Cleary added a hit and a run scored and Lindsey Benitez walked twice and had an RBI single.
