Brendan Callanan of Ridge pitches in the top of the fourth in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater on April 27, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
When Brendan Callanan struck out five six of the first seven batters he faced, retiring the first seven he faced, one could be forgiven if they thought: “Could it happen again?”
No, Callanan didn’t throw a perfect game like Connor Byrne did Tuesday in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals against Bernards, but he pitched a pretty good game himself. He gave pitched five shutout innings, scattering three hits and struck out eleven, as second-seed Ridge (10-2) beat Pingry (6-4) in the first of two SCT semifinal games at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater Thursday afternoon, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Zoned Sports Academy.
Callanan took a 1-0 lead into the second after catcher Nick Rossi blasted a one-out solo homer to left in the bottom of the first. It was the first homer of his scholastic career.
For a while, that looked like it was all Ridge would need, until Pingry got two runs in the seventh on a two-RBI single by Nick Lorenzo.
Ridge got three runs in the third, on an RBI single by Julian Kielb, and a two-RBI single by Connor Byrne, which chased Pingry starter Alex Payne.
The Red Devils added two more in the fourth on a two-RBI single by Callanan, helping his cause.
Ridge moves on to play either top-seed Bridgewater-Raritan or 12th-seed Rutgers Prep, which played in the later semifinal at 4 pm.
It will be the third straight trip to the finals for defending champion Ridge, which made it in 2019 (there was no tournament in 2020 or 2021) and won it last season.
Click below for postgame reaction from Ridge, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!
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