Ridge celebrates an Opening Day win over Immaculata at Diamond Nation in Flemington on April 4, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Through the first week of the high school baseball season, there was little movement at the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving rankings, even though all four teams – in fact, every team in the preseason rankings – took at least one loss.
Note: All team records are as of Sunday, April 9 and do not include games on Monday, April 10.
Ridge (2-1) remained No. 1 after opening with a 2-0 win over Immaculata and a 7-3 win over Rutgers Prep Saturday, sandwiched around an out-of-area loss to Hunterdon Central, 1-0.
North Brunswick (2-1) held in second split a pair with South Plainfield, winning the opener on the road, but falling at home two days later. The Raiders bounced back with a 10-0 blanking of Monroe Saturday.
St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-2) remained in fourth despite starting 0-2 with losses against Monroe at home, then at Old Bridge, because they rebounded with a road win against the Falcons and a shutout home win at home against the Knights.
Woodbridge (2-1) stays at No. 4 after starting 2-0 thanks to a home-and-home sweep of Colonia, before losing to Sayreville 3-0 Saturday afternoon.
The next two teams saw the biggest moves of the week.
Unranked Old Bridge (2-1) joined the rankings at No. 5. The Knights topped JP Stevens 10-0, then came up with a big win over defending Red Division champ St. Joe’s 10-8 at home, before falling to the Falcons in Metuchen 3-0 on Saturday.
And Bridgewater-Raritan moved all the way up from tenth to sixth on the strength of a 3-1 start, with wins over Watchung Hills, St. Joseph-Montvale and Hillsborough. Their lone loss was to out-of-area Roxbury, 10-3 on Saturday.
As a result of the Panthers’ move, the next four teams all moved down a spot.
East Brunswick (2-1) checks in at No. 7, after splitting a pair with South Brunswick, then winning at South Plainfield.
In eighth is Monroe (1-2), which had a big division win over St. Joe’s, 6-5 on Opening Day, but then lost the rematch, and was shutout by North Brunswick.
Ninth is Pingry, which is 2-1 after wins over Warren Hills and at Bernards to start the season, but ended the week Saturday with a 2-1 out-of-area loss to North Hunterdon.
And in tenth is Immaculata (1-2). The Spartans lost a tough one, 2-0 on Opening Day to Ridge, then came back with a 8-7 win over Watchung Hills on the road, before falling in a non-league game at West Morris, 3-2.
Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Week One rankings:
