Witkowski keys Allentown win

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Ray Clark

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

UPPER FREEHOLD "" Allentown High catcher Erin Drennan has been mired in a mild slump of late and yesterday she came into the Redbirds' state-tournament game with Red Bank hoping she'd break out of her slump.

Mission accomplished, as the freshman did more than break out, she actually took an Ashley Hines fastball deep and out over the left-field wall to help Allentown to an impressive 4-0 victory over Red Bank. Now, the 'Birds have to swing back into action today and travel to Middletown South, the top seed and the top team in the state in round No. 2.

Allentown jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Kristin Taft home run over the right-field fence to give winning pitcher Carly Witkowski the early lead. From there, Witkowski had no problems throughout, scattering five Bucs' hits while striking out seven for the shutout, moving her pitching record to 9-5.

Even though Taft's homer was all Witkowski needed, the Birds still kept trying to push runs across the plate. In the fifth, Bryana Smith led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Maddie Brunck, making it 2-0. Dana Sensi then reached on a outfield error, stole second and scored when catcher Drennan jumped on a 2-0 fastball and drove it far and deep over the left-center field fence to five Allentown a 4-0 cushion.

"It's my first home run of the year," said Drennan. "I've been working on hitting the ball hard and once I hit it, I could feel it. It's a good way to break out of my slump, I've been hitting pretty badly of late. I don't know why I haven't been hitting the ball, maybe its because I've been nervous a lot when I was going up to bat.

"That ball that I hit (in the fifth) was probably the longest ball I've ever hit. We had the lead (2-0) when I hit it and those two runs gave us two more insurance runs. But we couldn't have done it without Carly; she really threw the ball well today."

Witkowski gave up two bunts for base hits, two bleeders and a double to Red Bank shortstop Jackie Bohannan in the fourth, but came back strong, allowing only a bunt single the rest of the way in finishing off the shutout.

"I think that double was the only ball they really hit hard all game long," said Witkowski. "I was a little bit nervous about pitching this game, being it was a state-tournament game, but as the game went on I felt fine.

"Early on, when we only had that 1-0 lead, I was a little worried. I figured they could still come back, and I was saying to myself, "Oh my god, I don't want anyone to get on.' And my fielders did a good job behind me and we came away with a good win."

Coach Bob Dubina's squad will have a huge hill to climb today against top-seeded Middletown South, who will enter the game with a 25-1 record. Still, the Allentown coach wanted to savor yesterday's win first and worry about MidSouth tomorrow.

"We played a competitive game against a competitive team and it was a good start for us," he said. "(Today) we've got nothing to lose, they're one of the best teams in the state and they're the one-seed.

"Today we got a great effort from everyone, on defense, pitching and with some timely hitting, especially from our freshman catcher, Erin Drennan. She's not been hitting like we know she can, but today she really put a charge into that home run, that was a big boost for the team and for Erin's confidence.

"She's hit some real shots this year and she needed a game like this. She's going to be outstanding for us for a long time; she's got three more years to play for us. And pitching-wise, Carly pitched well for us the whole game and I think she'll pitch tomorrow. The only worry I have is that she's never thrown in games on back-to-back days. But we're going to go as far as she can take us."

Allentown 4, red bank 0

Red Bank (11-13) 000 000 0 "" 0 5 1

Allentown (14-9) 100 030 x "" 4 8 1

2B "" (RB) Bohannan; (A) Sensi. HR "" (A) Taft, E. Drennan.

WP "" Carly Witkowski (9-5). LP "" A. Hines.