Junior Connor Byrne holds the 2022 Somerset County Tournament Championship trophy. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Nobody’s perfect all of the time, but even if Connor Byrne isn’t tonight, he still has a chance to be.
Byrne pitched a perfect game against exactly two weeks ago, a 1-0 win in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals against Bernards. But if he doesn’t duplicate the effort tonight in the SCT title game against Rutgers Prep – presented by Zoned Sports Academy on Central Jersey Sports Radio – he still may be unblemished.
That is: 2-0 in county finals, a rare feat.
You can hear the game Tuesday night as second-seed and defending champion Ridge takes on 12th-seed Rutgers Prep live from TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas call all the action. Pregame starts at 6:40; click here to listen.
The Red Devils started the season 3-2, with the losses coming to Hunterdon Central and Bridgewater-Raritan. But that defeat to the Panthers – the SCT’s top-seed, who got knocked out in the semis by Prep – was on April 11th, their last loss, coming nearly a month ago. That means Ridge is riding a 14-game winning streak, their latest victory a 5-3 road win just yesterday afternoon at Seton Hall Prep, a game in which they took the lead down to their final out in the top of the seventh.
Back to that rare feat: 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.
Click below to hear Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell talk about the Red Devils’ quest for a second straight Somerset County title:
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