Ethan Nepomuceno of Rutgers Prep homers in an April 6, 2024 game at Passaic Tech. The Argonauts are in action Monday in the Somerset County Tournament.
While the matchup is set this Saturday for the GMC Tournament championship between South Plainfield and Old Bridge, the Somerset County Tournament is just getting started.
The SCT was seeded later this year as the league coaches decided to play the semifinals and finals of the event in the same week, an effort to have a larger of body of work to dot he seeding than last year. In 2022, the seeding came just two weeks into the season, necessitated by the availability of TD Bank Park in Bridgewater for the semifinals and finals.
This year’s first round had two games – one last Wednesday and another on Saturday – narrowing the field down to 12 teams.
On Wednesday, in the opening round, 11th-seed Pingry topped 14-seed Bound Brook 11-0 in a mercy-rule shortened game. The Big Blue (3-8) piled up six runs in the bottom of the second inning, then added another four in the third and one in the fourth. Starter Shane Varneckas threw all five innings, allowing just one hit. Alex Payne knocked in four runs on a 2-for-2 day with a double and a single, and he was also hit by a pitch. They move on to play at 6-seed Hillsborough Monday.
On Saturday, 13th-seed Rutgers Prep pulled the mild upset of 12-seed Gill St. Bernard’s, coming up with a 9-2 win behind a complete-game six-hitter from Max Treonze, who struck out five. Matt Blimes, Evan Laub and Maddox Chu each knocked in a pair of runs. The defending champion Argonauts (6-11) move on to play at 5th-seed Franklin Monday.
Here’s a closer look at the second round matchups in the Somerset County Tournament, with winners moving on to Thursday’s quarterfinal round:
(9) Bernards (7-9-1) at (8) Montgomery (6-13), 4:30 pm
Winner plays Thursday at (1) Bridgewater-Raritan
Both teams have struggled in the past week or so, with Bernards dropping four of its last five, and Montgomery looking to snap a five-game skid.
Junior Matt Falzarano is the top hitter for the Mountaineers, batting .349, while Charlie Gonella drives them in; he has a team-best 16 RBIs along with their only home run. Pitching will be their X-factor. The team ERA isn’t bad at 3.01, but the numbers are on the extremes: they tend to give up a lot of runs in their losses, but three of their wins have seen fewer than two runs allowed each. Keep the runs down and they have a chance.
Montgomery’s top hitter is Lucas Heines, batting .341 on the season, and tied for second in RBIs with five, along with John Donahue and Cole Schulberg. The balanced Cougar attack has Mason Neufield leading with six runs batted in. On the mound, with the exception of Donahue (1.87 ERA in 30 innings pitched), they have struggled to the tune of a team ERA of 4.41. Montgomery is looking for the secret sauce of its three-game win streak this year, which came in mid-to-late April, with victories over Hopewell Valley, rival Hillsborough, and Immaculata.
(13) Rutgers Prep (6-11) at (5) Franklin (7-9), 4 pm
Winner plays Thursday at (4) Watchung Hills
You can’t ever count out Rutgers Prep, not after what they did last year, which was win more games in the SCT – and they won the whole thing – than they had coming into the tournament as the 12-seed, the lowest seed ever to grab the crown. But Franklin has taken both meetings with the Argonauts this year, 10-3 and 13-7.
Prep had a rough start to the year, but has won three of its last five, including Saturday’s victory in the first round over Gill. Max Treonze is their ace, and won that game, so he won’t be available Monday, but head coach Larry Santowasso has a lot of options. While the Argonauts have mainly struggled at the plate – four regulars are hitting under .200 – Evan Laub is having a helluva senior season, batting .457 with 19 RBIs to carry the team offensively. Only one other player – junior Cody Rullo – is hitting abover .300, at .340 on the season, with four runs batted in.
Franklin struggled early to a 2-4 record, then won four straight – including the pair over Rutgers Prep – but has since dropped five of six. The Warriors’ best pitcher – Ryan Mrotek – should be available – he has struck out 42 and walked just 13 with a 1.88 ERA in 26 innings pitched, second most on the staff. Senior Warren Bell (3.14 ERA, 29 IP) is also available. Franklin is led offensively by junior Izaiah Robinson, hitting .447 with 10 RBIs, while Mike Schiermeyer leads a potent offensive attack with 14 runs batted in.
(11) Pingry (7-9) at (6) Hillsborough (8-11), 3:45 pm
Winner plays Thursday at (3) Ridge
This will be the first meeting between the Big Blue and the Raiders in at least the last decade. Pingry started the year with wins over Rutgers Prep and Gill St. Bernard’s, and promptly lost nine straight, but they have since rebounded with five straight wins, the latest coming over Bound Brook last Wednesday in the SCT’s first round. Hillsborough, meanwhile, is just three games under .500, but has had a fairly up even season. They’ve never lost more than two-in-a-rown, but haven;t put together a winning streak either.
The Raiders will hope the general back-and-forth will continue, coming off a 5-4 loss to Immaculata last Thursday. They should have some good pitching options with junior Jack McLaughlin (3.07 ERA) and Krish Patel (2.36 ERA) available. Andrew Advani leads the attack, hitting .389 with five RBIs, while Jake Battagliese is hitting .370 and has a team-leading ten runs-batted in.
Pingry should be fine on pitching, too, with top arm Alex Payne ready to go pitch-wise. He’s struck out 55 and walked just 13, allowing a single earned run all year in 33 2/3 innings pitched. At the plate, though the Big Blue are hitting just .231, they are fairly balanced, all pretty close to that number, though Payne leads the team with a .326 batting average, and eight runs batted in.
(10) Manville (10-5) at (7) Somerville (7-13), 4 pm
Winner plays Thursday at (2) Immaculata
These two also haven’t played in well over a decade, but don’t let Somerville’s record fool you. They’ve played a super tough schedule in the Skykland Conference’s top Delaware Division, and are 0-9 in division play.
But that’s not to say the Pioneers haven’t struggled. They come in on a two-game losing streak and have only won back-to-back games once this season. They’re hitting just .213 as a team, almost 50 points worse than Manville. But again, they’ve generally faced much better pitching. Junior Chase Koplitz is hitting a team-best .333 with six runs batted in, while the coach’s son, CJ Banos, has knocked in a team-high 11 runs. As a team, their ERA is just under five at 4.80, so they’re going to give up some runs; they just need to get some hits.
On the other hand, though playing much smaller schools in their Mountain Division, the Mustangs are following up nicely on what was their first winning season in over a decade with one that may even eclipse last year’s win total, when they went 14-8. Winners of seven straight, Manville has been off since a an 8-1 Tuesday rout of a win at Roselle Park. They haven’t lost in almost a month, since April 20th against Morris Tech. The Mustangs are hitting a nice .260 as a team, with very even distribution of hits throughout the lineup. And they’re young, too: sophomores Brandon Shimp (.316) and Robert Petrone (.306) lead the team in hitting, while senior Sebastian Carvajal has knocked in a team-best 11 runs.
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