CHAMPS! Rutgers Prep wins pitchers’ duel, 1-0 over Ridge to claim Argos’ second Somerset County title

A leadoff double, a bunt and a single.

That’s all Rutgers Prep would need – oh, and a masterful pitching performance from junior Max Treonze – to win its second Somerset County title, and exact revenge for a loss to Ridge in the title tilt last year.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – presented by Zoned Sports Academy of Bridgewater – 12th-seed Rutgers Prep topped 2nd-seed and defending champion Ridge 1-0. In the process, they broke their own record to become the lowest seeded team ever to win an SCT title; their 2017 victory came as the 10-seed.

In the first inning, Ethan Nepomuceno led off with a double on the second pitch of the game. Planning to play small ball to try and get to Ridge ace Connor Byrne early, Evan Laub dropped a bunt down the third base line that Ridge wasn’t prepared for. Third baseman Luke Somelofske fielded it cleanly, but had no play at first or third.

Andrew Parisi singled home Nepomuceno to give Prep a 1-0 lead, but that was all they’d get, as Byrne got a strikeout and two groundouts to end the inning.

Good thing they got to Byrne early for as little as they did, because Prep wouldn’t get another hit until the sixth inning as Byrne really settled in. But Treonze was hot, too, and after giving up two hits in the first and one in the second, also didn’t allow another until the sixth.

Meanwhile, both pitchers were mowing guys down.

Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh, still 1-0 Rutgers Prep, and Ridge got a two-out double by Ezra Sadowski, putting Treonze in a bit of a spot with Connor Byrne coming up, who already had a double back in the second inning. With Jack Latourette coming in to pinch run at second, Byrne blooped a single into right. James Jackman fielded it on a hop, threw to first baseman Zach Fronio, the cutoff man, who fired a perfect strike to home plate to nail Latourette by a mile.

That left Steve Dresner – Byrne’s courtesy runner – on first for DH Andrew Reynolds, who struck out to end the ballgame.

The win got Rutgers Prep back to .500, at 9-9 on the season. Ridge had a 14-game win streak snapped, as the Red Devils fall to 17-3.