Rematch! Ridge, Rutgers Prep will do it again tonight for Somerset County Tournament title

The same two teams as last year will battle it out Tuesday night at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater as 2nd-seed Ridge and 12-seed Rutgers Prep rematch for the Somerset County Tournament title.

You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with all our tournament coverage presented by Zoned Sports Academy in Bridgewater. Game time is 7:00.

The Red Devils topped the Argonauts in last year’s title game, 6-0, behind a gem from Connor Byrne, and is looking for its eighth title overall. Rutgers Prep is seeking its second, with the first title coming in 2017.

Click the logo above to learn more about baseball training and more at Zoned Sports Academy in Bridgewater!

Pregame coverage on Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday night begins at 6:40 pm. First pitch is set for 7:00 with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas calling all the action. Click here to listen live and for free.

Scroll through this story for links to coverage of both teams this season, the finals at-a-glance, how they got here, team record in the finals, and other notes and stats:

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT FINALS AT-A-GLANCE:

Teams:
(2) Ridge (17-2 UPDATE, 8-2 Skyland Conference Delaware Division) CLICK FOR PREVIEW
(12) Rutgers Prep (8-9, 1-7 Skyland Conference Raritan Division) CLICK FOR PREVIEW

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 9 at 7 pm
Location: TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater
Weather: 66 degrees, partly sunny, wind ENE 5 mph (in from left field)
Listen on: Central Jersey Sports Radio (click here)
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko, Chris Tsakonas

Starting Pitchers:
Ridge: Connor Byrne (3-0, 0.59 ERA)
Rutgers Prep: Zach Fronio (0-1, 2.06 ERA) or Max Treonze (4-0, 0.25 ERA)

Head Coaches:
Ridge: Tom Blackwell, 182-138 (18th season)
Rutgers Prep: Larry Santowasso, 320-262 (27th season)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Ridge:
First and Second Round bye
Quarterfinals: def. (10) Bernards, 1-0 (Connor Byrne pitched a perfect game)
Semifinals: def. (6) Pingry, 6-2

Rutgers Prep:
First Round: def. (13) Watchung Hills, 8-0
Second Round: def. (5) Franklin, 5-4
Quarterfinals: def. (4) Somerville, 3-2
Semifinals: def. (1) Bridgewater-Raritan, 4-3

Streaks:

Ridge has won 14 straight, with the last loss coming almost a month ago, on April 11th, to Bridgewater-Raritan, their only defeat at the hands of a Somerset County opponent all year.

Rutgers Prep has only two winning streaks all year, a two-gamer with wins on April 18th and 19th against Phillipsburg and Watchung Hills, with the game against the Warriors their opener in the Somerset County Tournament. They then dropped one, and won their next four, the first three of which were one-run games in the SCT, over Franklin, Somerville and Bridgewater-Raritan.

PREVIOUS TEAM COVERAGE:

Read and listen to more about Ridge:

Read and listen to more about Rutgers Prep:

FINALS HISTORY:

Ridge (7-8): The Red Devils are the defending champs, and before last season, had been to the finals twice since their last title in 2011, when they beat Hillsborough 4-3 in eight innings. They lost in the 2014 finals to the Raiders 4-3 in nine innings, and lost in 2019 to Immaculata, 6-5 in 12 innings, matching the longest game in SCT finals history. Technically, this is a third straight SCT finals appearance for the Red Devils, since there was no tournament in 2020 or 2021. Current head coach Tom Blackwell won his first of three SCT rings as a player, in the Red Devils’ 1989 win over Bridgewater-Raritan West.

1976: Ridge 4, Watchung Hills 3 (10)
1979: Hillsborough 2, Ridge 0
1980: Ridge 7, Franklin 1
1984: Ridge 2, Immaculata 0
1985: Ridge 5, Immaculata 0
1987: Somerville 2, Ridge 1
1988: Bridgewater-Raritan West 3, Ridge 1
1989: Ridge 5, Bridgewater-Raritan West 4
1995: Somerville 7, Ridge 6
2000: Immaculata 2, Ridge 0
2002: Immaculata 10, Ridge 0
2011: Ridge 4, Hillsborough 3 (8)
2014: Hillsborough 4, Ridge 3 (9)
2019: Immaculata 6, Ridge 5 (12)
2022: Ridge 6, Rutgers Prep 0

Rutgers Prep (1-1): The Argonauts had won their only trip to the finals in 2017 before last year’s defeat to Ridge. In ’17, they beat top-seed and defending champion Montgomery 7-2. They were the 10-seed that year, and won a huge game over 2nd-seeded Watchung Hills in the quarterfinals. In the title game, starting pitcher Sam Beck went the distance, allowing just five hits. That’s believed to be the lowest seed to win a Somerset County Tournament title, but if they do it this year – as a 12-seed – they’ll break their own record.

2017: Rutgers Prep 7, Montgomery 2
2022: Ridge 6, Rutgers Prep 0

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY BEHIND ALL EIGHT TITLES WON BY RIDGE AND RUTGERS PREP!

Click the logo above to learn more about baseball training and more at Zoned Sports Academy in Bridgewater!

Head-to-Head:

Ridge and Rutgers Prep were supposed to meet last year in the regular season, the game – the Friday before the Monday final – was cancelled as warmups were wrapping up, with heavy thunderstorms passing through. So, last year’s final was their first since 2015.

They got their regular season meeting in this year, with Ridge winning 7-3 in basking Ridge on April 8th, the first week of the season. Luke Somelofske got the win in relief as the Red Devils scored twice in the fifth and four times in the sixth after falling into an early 2-0 hole.

In the last five meetings, the Red Devils have won the last four (this year’s regular season meeting, last year’s final, plus 7-5 in 2015, 4-3 in 2014) and the Argonauts have won once (3-2 in 2012).

No-No?

While Connor Byrne’s perfect game came against Bernards in the semifinals of the tournament, there has been one no-hitter thrown in the Somerset County finals. It came in 1997, when Immaculata’s Scott Allan shut down Bridgewater-Raritan for a 2-0 win. He struck out nine and walked four in his third no-hitter of the season. He was so good, he had allowed only two earned runs all year to that point.

Long Games, Short Game…

In the last ten Somerset County Tournaments, four of the finals have gone to extra innings, including Ridge’s loss to Immaculata, 6-5 in 11 innings, in 2019.

Before 2019, the 2014 title game saw Hillsborough beat Ridge 4-3 in nine, the Raiders beat Bridgewater-Raritan 4-3 in 12 innings in the 2012 title game, and Ridge beat Hillsborough the year prior 4-3 in eight innings.

That means last year’s final was the first Ridge coach Tom Blackwell has been to that did not take extra innings to decide.

Since 2010, there’s only been one mercy-rule-shortened final, and that came in 2010 when Montgomery stunned Immaculata with a five-run first-inning and an eight-run fourth en route to a 13-3 victory. There have been three ten-run rule wins in the SCT finals all-time. In addition to the 2010 final, Ridge lost 10-0 to Immaculata in 2002, and Watchung Hills beat Bridgewater-Raritan West in 1982 by a 15-0 score.

Byrne could join rare company…

With a win, Connor Byrne could be among the few pitchers to win two SCT title games in his high school career.

The last time a starting pitcher won two SCT finals was in 1999 and 2000, when Casey Cahill did it for Immaculata during the Spartans’ run of six straight titles and ten in 12 seasons.

But two wins came more recently for Dylan Finer of Hillsborough, who got the win in both the 2014 and 2015 title games. However, in 2014’s win, he was the starter. He got the victory in 2015 in a relief effort.

Many rematches…

There have been six rematches in Somerset County Tournament finals, but this will be the first since 2007 and 2008, when Immaculata beat Hillsborough twice in a row. They also faced off in 2004 and 2005, with the Spartans winning the first, but the Raiders returning the favor in ’05.

Immaculata at Bridgewater-Raritan met for three straight years from 1996 to 1998, with the Panthers winning the first of the meetings, and the Spartans winning the next two.

In 1993 and ’94, Watchung Hills and Immaculata met back-to-back years, with the Warriors winning the first, and the Spartans winning the second. It was also the first time the tournament featured the same starting pitchers in back to back finals – Ben Matsil for Hills and Jason Ryan for ‘Lata.

The 1988 and ’89 finals featured Ridge and Bridgewater-Raritan, with the Panthers winning the first, and the Red Devils taking the second; that was the team that featured current Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell, who scored a run in the victory in 1989.

And the first rematch in the SCT final came in 1985, when Ridge won its second straight title – and fourth overall – blanking Immaculata 5-0.

Overall, there have been seven rematch games, with repeat wins coming in three of them: Ridge in 1985 and Immaculata in 1998 and 2008.

Ready for the Postseason?

Since baseball returned from COVID in the 2021 season, Ridge is 11-2 in its last 13 postseason games. There was no county tournament in 2021, but the Red Devils won four games to claim the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title over Franklin, but fell to Montclair in the Group 4 semifinals. In 2022, they won all three games they played in the SCT to take home the championship, then won their first two in the states before falling to Woodbridge in 11 innings in the North 2, Group 4 semis. This year, they are 2-0.

As for Rutgers Prep, they are just 8-9 this season, but it breaks down to 3-9 in regular season play, and a perfect 5-0 in playoff games. They won four SCT contests to get to Tuesday’s final, and also beat Princeton Day 13-2 last Thursday in the Prep B Tournament quarterfinals.