Veteran Rutgers Prep coach Larry Santowasso (left) talks with Bernards head coach Jeff Falzarano before a Skyland Conference Valley Division game on April 16, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Larry Santowasso has been through enough of these to know what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t.
Sometimes hitting is just not enough. Timely hitting is the key.
Rutgers Prep (12-2) has got that, and that – along with four rock-solid starters – is why the sixth-seeded Argonauts are the only “non-chalk” seed to be alive and playing in Monday’s Somerset County Tournament Semifinals at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater.
Prep will take on second-seed Somerville (10-7) in the 4:00 semifinal, which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame scheduled for 3:40 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will have the call; click here to listen.
The game will be followed at 7 by the other semifinal, top-seed Ridge and fourth-seed Bridgewater-Raritan.
Rutgers Prep has only lost twice on the season: once to Voorhees – and they’ll get another crack at the Vikings Thursday – and once to Montgomery. But they avenged that loss to the Cougars with an 8-3 win over the third-seed in the SCT quarterfinals just over a week ago.
It’ll be Prep’s first meeting with Somerville – typically a frequent opponent, even before joining the Skyland Conference – since 2018.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Rutgers Prep head coach Larry Santowasso: