Iwanyk, Early Offense Carry CBA to 1st Sectional Title since 2015

MIDDLETOWN — From the time he first attended a Monmouth County Tournament game between Christian Brothers Academy and Red Bank Catholic in 2022, CBA junior Dylan Iwanyk knew he was going to high school at CBA and he knew he wanted to pitch in a tournament game against the rival Caseys from RBC.

He had to wait 13 days since his last appearance on a game mound, but Iwanyk was ready for the chance to pitch his team to its first NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A championship in 10 years while doing it against its fiercest rival.

Iwanyk singled home a run during an eight-run first inning for CBA and struck out nine over four strong innings as CBA — the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey section — handled No. 2 RBC, 11-1, in five innings to capture its first sectional championship since winning the overall Non-Public A title and finishing No. 1 in the state in 2015.

“We can’t lose. That was the mentality,” Iwanyk said. “It’s RBC. Every single year, it’s cutthroat between us. There is no way we were going to accept losing to them three times. Thankfully, we got the upper hand today.”

“I came here my eighth grade year and watched (CBA) play RBC at home in the (Monmouth County) Tournament and when I saw that rivalry, that atmosphere, how intense the game was, I definitely wanted to play in that game. Thankfully, I had that opportunity today and I took advantage of it.”

Senior third baseman Dan Russo and sophomore second baseman Dylan Reynholds also gave CBA a major boost by combining for seven RBI, with each delivering a three-run extra-base hit in powering the offense.

“I’m happy for the kids,” said CBA coach Marty Kenney Jr., who was an assistant under his father, Marty Kenney Sr., when CBA last won a sectional title in 2015. “I get a chance to compete for a sectional every year. They don’t. This group of seniors and this team especially, they have worked really hard. They were down about losing in the (Monmouth) County (Tournament), they were down about losing in the Shore Conference (Tournament) and for these last couple of weeks, I haven’t been easy to play for. I have been trying to will them to get something. I wanted them to get something so bad and I just feel really good for them because they deserved to get a championship besides that division.”

On the mound, Iwanyk ran into trouble in the top of the fifth inning with his pitch count up to 94, but senior Shane Langan entered the game with the bases loaded and none out and shut down the threat with three straight strikeouts. RBC — coming off a seven-run seventh inning to shock St. Augustine in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal game — loaded the bases with none out in an attempt to extend the game into the bottom of the fifth, but Langan’s strikeout binge sealed the win for CBA in just five innings.

RBC loads the bases with 0 out in the 5th but Shane Langan comes in, strikes out 3 straight and nails down CBA’s 1st sectional title in 10 years. Final in 5: CBA 11, RBC 1. pic.twitter.com/VWCQj5BLLe

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 6, 2025

“During our game (Wednesday vs. St. Joseph of Metuchen), we were seeing the updates from the RBC game and we were like, ‘Oh my god, they are going to pull this off,'” Iwanyk said. “We knew they were going to have the momentum coming into our game and we just shut it down early and kept on them.”

Friday marked the fourth time CBA and RBC played one another this season, which is the most head-to-head games ever between the two programs in a single season. It was also the first time the two Monmouth County powerhouses faced off in a South Non-Public A championship game. RBC held a 2-1 edge in the three prior games this season, which included a 7-6 win that gave CBA its first loss of the year and an 8-3 win over the Colts in the Monmouth County Tournament final.

The two CBA wins, meanwhile, were both one-sided affairs. The Colts beat the Caseys, 10-0, in six innings in the second of two regular-season meetings during Shore Conference Class A North divisional play.

CBA sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and one time through the order, the Colts had five runs on just one hit — an RBI single by Iwanyk that made the score 2-0 after the first run scored on an errant back pick from RBC catcher Aiden Funk.

CBA has scored 5 and is still batting in the bottom of the 1st as RBC makes a change on the mound. Only hit of the inning is this RBI single by Dylan Iwanyk. Glen Popes coming in to pitch. pic.twitter.com/Dj3ccVpVgj

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 6, 2025

Russo dropped down a bunt to score the third run of the first inning, with courtesy runner Nick Pascucci racing across home plate before RBC freshman starter Sam French could flip the ball home for the tag. French retired the next two batters to move within an out of escaping with a 3-0 deficit, but Jared Matejicka extended the inning with a walk and an error both extended the inning and plated the fourth run.

After senior centerfielder Will Fahey drew an RBI walk to make it 5-0, RBC went to junior right-hander Glen Popes on the mound. Reynholds immediately greeted Popes with an opposite-field double that one-hopped the leftfield fence and cleared the bases for an 8-0 Colts lead after just one inning.

“I knew Popes was coming in and I just wanted to attack right away,” Reynholds said. “We have two outs and the bases loaded so I tried to help the team as much as I can.”

Reynholds saw just a smattering of playing time throughout the majority of the season, but has been CBA’s hottest hitter since Kenney Jr. inserted him into the regular lineup at second base on May 24 vs. St. Peter’s Prep. In CBA’s last four games, Reynolds is 5-for-9 with 3 doubles, a home run, two walks 6 runs scored and seven RBI.

“I knew coming into the year, the team was very competitive,” Reynholds said. “I just tried to help the team in any way I could and to stay ready when coach called my number.”

Popes settled the game down for RBC with scoreless frames in both the second and third innings and the Caseys scratched a run across in the top of the third when senior Dylan Passo singled and scored on an RBI single by junior Jake Frankel.

Dan Russo wakes up the CBA offense again in the 4th with a 3-run homer that extends the lead to 11-1. pic.twitter.com/HJQOunQBaW

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 6, 2025

In the bottom of the fourth, however, CBA’s bats went back to work. Reynholds led off with a single for his second hit of the game, followed by a walk to catcher Dan Tsimbinos. After Iwanyk flied out to centerfield, Russo got a 2-0 fastball and smashed it over the leftfield fence for his first career home run — a three-run job that extended the CBA lead to 11-1.

“He is a right, right-center, singles and doubles guy who rarely pulls the ball,” Kenney Jr. said of Russo. “I feel great for him. He is such a great kid and it was such a big moment to see him go around the bases. His father (Mark) played at CBA when I first came back as an assistant in 1997, so it’s really cool seeing that moment. It was an exhale moment for us because we have sat on some early runs recently.”

RBC had at least one base-runner in every inning vs. Iwanyk, including a runner in scoring position in every inning after the first. Iwanyk got out of a first-and-second, none-out jam in the second with a pair of strikeouts, followed by an inning-ending fielder’s choice ground out. In the top of the third, he limited the damage to one run by striking out the side around three base-runners.

“The zone was smaller today, so I definitely had to tighten up my pitches,” Iwanyk said. “I had to work with what I had. It’s not like I can change to zone, so all I have to worry about is what I can control. I was confident in my stuff. I thought if I could establish my slider, if I could establish my changeup, I can get ahead and do what I need to do.”

Dylan Iwanyk strikes out 3 more to run his K total to 9 through 4. CBA still leads 8-1. pic.twitter.com/L0LEmeiHZe

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 6, 2025

Iwanyk struck out the side for a second inning in a row in the top of the fourth, which helped him deny the Caseys a run after No. 9 hitter Luke Scaturro walked with two out and advanced to third on two wild pitches.

RBC loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with none out on a hit-by-pitch, a double by junior rightfielder Charlie Stumberger and a walk that ended Iwanyk’s day. Langan reached a full count against each of the first two hitters he faced and put both away on fastballs — one swinging and the other looking. He capped the game with a four-pitch punch-out on another fastball, setting off the CBA celebration.

“It’s nerve-wracking to see him go to 3-2 as much as he does, but he always comes through,” Iwanyk said. “He’s reliable he throws strikes, he’s an incredible kid and an incredible baseball player.”

CBA took advantage of an RBC pitching staff that did not have either of its senior co-aces — Ryan Prior and Luke Meyers — available to pitch after both threw more than 50 pitches to get the Caseys past St. Augustine on Wednesday.

“We were fired up, we were prepared, we knew who we were going to face,” Iwanyk said. “We knew we had the upper hand without Prior pitching. He is an incredible arm and we knew that without him throwing, we’re going to have a good shot at winning.”

Dylan Iwanyk gets out of the top of the 3rd with his 6th K. Bottom 3, 8-1 CBA. pic.twitter.com/YEKD5Rwzsl

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 6, 2025

CBA will face Don Bosco Wednesday in the Non-Public A championship game, which is set for a 7 p.m. first pitch at DeMeo Field inside Veterans Park in Hamilton. Don Bosco was also the team CBA faced in 2015, when the Colts rode eventual University of North Carolina standouts Luca Dalatri and Brandon Martorano to a 7-0 victory that clinched them their third NJSIAA Group championship.

The decision of then-coach Marty Kenney Sr. to start Dalatri — the Shore Conference’s all-time wins leader on the mound — was an obvious one. Kenney Jr. will have a much more complicated decision than the one his father had in 2015 given CBA’s litany of effective pitchers. Kenney Jr. indicated he might like to run a staff game in the final to mix up the looks on the mound and maximize the considerable stuff he has at his disposal.

Langan has served as the closer all season long and figures to be on notice for a late-game scenario. Junior left-hander Dan Pardini has also been used in late-game situations and would figure to be Kenney’s fifth or sixth option behind Langan and at least four of the CBA starters.

“Get the ball to Shane: that’s the way I’m thinking about it,” Kenney Jr. said. “I thought about going to him a little earlier today, but I was worried that I might have to go to (Jack) Dufficy after him, which I shouldn’t have been, because I have all the trust in the world in Duff. He had me second-guessing myself, but he went in there and was a rock star again getting us out of that.”

Junior left-hander and University of Virginia commit Sean Loggie is the hardest-throwing of the CBA pitchers and was the Colts’ most dominant pitcher for the first two-thirds of the season, but he did not get past the second inning in either one of his last two starts due to a bout with walks. Senior right-hander Jack Dufficy, meanwhile, has not pitched since the Monmouth County Tournament final loss against Red Bank Catholic and his last start was a loss to Middletown South on May 8. Both Loggie and Dufficy could play the role of opener should Kenney decide to use most of his staff.

“I’ve said to our guys all along: our advantage over RBC is our pitching depth,” Kenney Jr. said. “That’s why I liked today’s match-up and somehow, I have to find a way to use our pitching depth to our advantage in this state final game. I don’t think it’s one guy. I think, collectively, we’ve got four or five guys that can go compete and let it rip.”

The most likely choice for Kenney figures to come down to Iwanyk — who would be on four days of rest coming off 94 pitches Friday vs. RBC — and fellow junior Danny DiTullio. After an uneven first month of the season, DiTullio has been CBA’s most effective pitcher since the calendar flipped to May. Since May 1, DiTullio is 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA with 16 hits allowed, 33 strikeouts and just five walks in 27 innings. The left-hander is already 2-0 during the state tournament, with a 2-0 win over Paul VI and six innings of relief in a 6-3 win over St. Joseph Metuchen. In those two wins, DiTullio has posted a 1.07 ERA with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 16 innings.

Iwanyk, meanwhile, has been made life difficult for opponents since making his season debut on the mound on April 19 following a late start related to a hamstring strain. For the season, Iwanyk is 4-0 with a 0.72 ERA with 12 hits allowed, 21 walks and 40 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings.

“It’s a great question,” Iwanyk said of his coach’s upcoming decision. “I would love to have a gauntlet where we throw all our guys. That would be pretty fun. We’ll have to talk amongst the team and figure out what we want to do. That would be pretty awesome, but then again, if one of us gets three strikeouts in a scoreless inning, you’re obviously going to keep that guy in. I guess it would just come down to the momentum in the game.”

The silver lining for Kenney Jr. is that while his decision may be a tough one, he has no shortage of quality options to throw at Don Bosco on Wednesday under the lights.

“Go have fun,” Kenney Jr. said. “I sent a message to the guys (Thursday) night. I told them tomorrow is going to be the most fun you have ever had playing baseball. You have to enjoy this. You have worked so hard, go enjoy the game now. It’s the same thing next week. We’re going to a state final. Enjoy it.”

 

Box Score

CBA 11, Red Bank Catholic 1 (5 Innings)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
RBC (20-8)	0	0	1	0	0	X	X	1	4	4
CBA (22-4)	8	0	0	3	X	X	X	11	5	1

Pitching

Red Bank Catholic	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	PC
Sam French (L, 3-1)	0.2	1	8	3	4	0	39
Glen Popes	3.1	4	3	3	1	4	72

CBA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	PC
Dylan Iwanyk (W, 4-0)	4	4	1	1	4	9	94
Shane Langan	1	0	0	0	0	3	16

Top Hitters

Red Bank Catholic	Game Stats
Charlie Stumberger	1-1, 2B, 2 BB
Jake Frankel	1-3, RBI
Dylan Passo	1-3, R

CBA	Game Stats
Dan Russo	1-2, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
Dylan Reynholds	2-2, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
Dylan Iwanyk	1-3, R, RBI
Jayden Matejicka	1-3, SB