Immaculata High School Athletic Director tom Gambino presides over the whiteboard at the Somerset County Tournament baseball seeding meeting on April 18, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
SOMERVILLE – The Somerset County baseball coaches have awarded the No. 1 seed in the 2022 county baseball tournament to the Ridge Red Devils, who are 5-0, the only unbeaten team remaining among the group of 15.
Ridge will host the winner of the 8/9 game between 8-seed Immaculata and 9-seed Gill St. Bernard’s in one of four quarterfinal games set to take place at higher seeds on Saturday, April 30th.
The other top four seeds – with byes to the quarters – went to Somerville at No. 2, Montgomery at No. 3, and Bridgewater-Raritan at No. 4.
The Panthers and Pioneers will square off in a regular season game Thursday in Bridgewater ithat can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with first pitch set for 3:45 and pregame at 3:30. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will call all the action; click here to listen live, with no paywall.
Seeds five through nine, which get first round byes, are Watchung Hills, Rutgers Prep, Pingry, Immaculata and Gill St. Bernard’s.
There will be three first round games involving the bottom six seeds, with Franklin at 10, followed by Bernards, Hillsborough, Bound Brook, Manville and North Plainfield.
Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast the SCT Semifinals and Finals, scheduled to be held at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, home of the Somerset Patriots.
It’s the first Somerset County Tournament since 2019, after the entire 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, and last year’s shortened season didn’t allow for a full county tournament.
2022 SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (games at higher seeds through quarterfinals):
- First Round: April 20
- Second Round: April 23
- Quarterfinals: April 30
- Semifinals: May 9 (4 and 7 pm, live on CJSR)
- Finals: May 23 (7 pm, live on CJSR)
Here are the matchups for all teams:
- 14-Manville at 11-Bernards, winner at 6-Rutgers Prep, winner at 3-Montgomery
- 15-North Plainfield at 10-Franklin, winner at 7-Pingry, winner at 2-Somerville
- 13-Bound Brook at 12-Hillsborough, winner at 5-Watchung Hills, winner at 4-Bridgewater-Raritan
- First round bye, then 9-Gill St. Bernard’s at 8-Immaculata, winner at 1-Ridge