Group 4 Final Preview: Bridgewater-Raritan to battle Eastern for school’s first state ‘chip

Most teams never know when they will play their last game. Especially those who make the state playoffs.

In high school baseball, that’s about 300 teams. Only a dozen will know it’s their final game: those that make the state finals.

Saturday night, in the final game of the New Jersey high school baseball season, Bridgewater-Raritan will take on Eastern for the Group 4 state championship. The Panthers – in a historic season – will be looking for a fourth trophy for their case.

They already have the Skyland Delaware, Somerset County, and North 2, Group 4 trophies in hand. They want one more: for the state Group 4 championship.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast Saturday night’s title game. Scroll through this story for news, notes, stats, interview, links to past coverage and championship history:

GROUP 4 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers

29-3 overall (school record for wins)
10-0, Skyland Conference Delaware Division champions
Somerset County Tournament champions
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 champions
#4 ranking in New Jersey

Eastern Vikings

25-6 overall
5-3, Olympic Conference, American Division (2nd place)
Camden County Tournament Finalist
South Jersey Group 4 champions

Date and Time: Friday, June 8, 2024 – 7 pm
Location: Bob DeMeo Field, Veterans Park – Hamilton, NJ
Coverage: Live broadcast on Central Jersey Sports Radio (Click here to listen!)
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau

Head Coaches:
Bridgewater-Raritan: Max Newill, 17th season (250-186)
Eastern: Rob Christ, 20th season (272-212-1)

Pitching Probables:
Bridgewater-Raritan: Owen Crimmins (7-0, 2.06 ERA)
Eastern: Logan Dawson (6-1, 1.93 ERA)

Previews:

Bridgewater-Raritan: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Bridgewater-Raritan will stick to the script in Group 4 Final vs. Eastern
Eastern: Adversity? Eastern has overcome it to reach Group 4 state final vs. Bridgewater-Raritan

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Bridgewater-Raritan (#1 seed, North 2, Group 4):
First Round: def. (16) Union, 3-0
Quarterfinals: def. (9) Edison, 3-0
Semifinals: def. (4) Westfield, 10-0 (5 inn.) (RECAP)
Finals: def. (7) Hunterdon Central, 2-0 (RECAP)
Group 4 Semifinals: def. Livingston (North 1 champ), 8-1 (RECAP)

Eastern (#5 seed, South Group 4):
First Round: def. (12) Pennsauken, 7-0
Quarterfinals: def. (4) Cherokee, 6-0
Semifinals: def. (9) Washington Township, 10-4
Finals: def. (7) Egg Harbor Township, 4-2
Group 4 Semifinals: def. Jackson Memorial (South champ), 7-5

PLAYOFF STAT LEADERS:

Bridgewater-Raritan:
Batting Average – Matt Cichocki (.600, 6-for-10), Matt Fattore (.550, 6-for-12) Devin Goldberg (.385, 5-for-13)
RBIs: Matt Fattore (7), Matt Cichocki (4)
HR: Matt Fattore (1)
Stolen Bases: Devin Goldberg (6), Matt Cichocki (5), Matthew Lehberger (4)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Kellan Komline (11), Jack Lanum (5)
ERA: Five pitchers have given up zero earned runs, only Kellan Komline has allowed an earned run (1 vs. Livingston)

Eastern:
Batting Average: Sean Karback (.538, 7-for-13), Spencer Haldeman (.429, 6-for-14), Sam Winsett, Vinny Millillo (.400, 4-for-10)
RBIs: Sean Karbach (7), Spencer Haldeman, Anthony Cataldo (5)
HR: Sean Karbach (1)
Stolen Bases: Ryan Haldeman (5), Spencer Haldeman (3)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Logan Dawson (22)
ERA: Logan Dawson (0.70), Cade Michalski (1.40)

THE LOWDOWN:

Eastern head coach Rob Christ says his intel tells him Bridgewater-Raritan is “the class of Group 4.” The Panthers have been that the entire season.

They were a very good baseball team last year, as well, mind you, but this year’s team has been something special. They have come ready to play every game. To wit, in a 29-3 season, they have scored first 24 times and won 22 of those games. Even in the games where they haven’t scored first – eight of them – they are 7-1, the only loss being a 5-2 defeat to Lawrence.

The recipe for success has been everything you want from a team: solid starting pitching, timely hitting, good defense, and a rock-solid stopper/closer in Cory Rible, who has appeared in 16 games this year, exclusively out of the bullpen, with the Panthers winning all 16 of those games.

One example of how good he has been: in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals at Diamond Nation on May 20th, he came in the game to relieve Kellan Komline in the fourth with the bases loaded and just one out. He struck out the two batters he faced to get out of the inning, struck out the side in the fifth after an E6 and a single put two on with no one out, then pitched 1-2-3 sixth and seventh innings, allowing only one base runner in the seventh, who was erased on a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

And while he was in, Matt Fattore slugged a solo homer in the fifth that turned out to be the game-winning run. That’s Bridgewater-Raritan baseball in a nutshell.

Even guys like Frankie Verano – who was hitting just .167, but has battled a “balky hamstring” all season long – had 14 runs batted in coming into the Group 4 semifinals. And what did Verano do in that game? He hit an RBI double in the first inning, then knocked in another with a single in the third. Sure, he still may be hitting .191, but he knocked in two of his team’s eight runs that day, and now has 16 RBIs, tied for fifth-best on the team. He’s found a way to contribute.

On the season, Matt Fattore has torn the cover off the ball all year long, hitting an eye-popping .430 on the year. He’s hit two home runs, including one against Livingston in the semifinals, the only homer the Panthers have all year. But going yard isn’t their specialty, and they’ve done just fine despite hitting only four home runs all year.

As for Eastern, they are led by senior Sam Winsett, who’s hitting a whopping .475 on the season with 25 runs batted in. Anthony Cataldo and Saturday’s starting pitcher Logan Dawson lead the team with 29 runs batted in apiece, while the Vikings have hit ten home runs on the season, though just one in the postseason so far.

Dawson and Cade Michalski are the top pitchers for Eastern. Dawson is 6-1 with a 1.93 ERA, while Michalski is 6-2, with an 0.95 ERA. Everyone is available except Will Martin, who started Wednesday’s group semi against Jackson and got the win. He’s 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA.

For Bridgewater, Kellan Komline will be the only pitcher unavailable, after getting the win Wednesday in the semis against Livingston. The Panthers have a deep staff of starters and guys who can come out of the ‘pen. But if there’s trouble, and it’s not too early, it’ll be Rible to slam the door shut if and when the Panthers need it.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Championship History…

Bridgewater-Raritan – in its current configuration – is in the state final for the very first time. The NJSIAA only began playing to group champions in 1971 – sectionals were the end of the road prior to that) – and Bridgewater East made the state Group 3 final that year, losing to West Orange. Bridgewater West made the Group 2 final in 1989, and beat Rutherford for the title.

Eastern is in its third state final. Both prior appearances have been fairly recent, and under head coach Rob Christ. In 2013, the Vikings went 29-4, winning the South Jersey Group 4 title with a 16-6 victory over Shawnee, then beating Hunterdon Central 2-1 in the Group 4 semis before topping Westfield 8-1 in the state title game. They finished 29-4.

They last time they made it in was their only other trip, coming in 2019. Eastern beat Cherry Hill for the South 4 title, 7-2, then edged Manalapan 1-0 in the semifinals. But they would lose to Ridgewood in the Group 4 title game, 2-1, finishing the season 23-9.

(Almost) Nothing but zeroes…

The one, ultimately inconsequential earned run Kellan Komline gave up in the 8-1 win over Livingston in the Group 4 semifinals was the first the Panthers have allowed in their entire state tournament run of five games and 33 innings. Of six pitchers used by Max Newill this postseason, five – Jack Lanum (9 1/3 IP), Michael Taylor (2 2/3), Cory Rible (3), Owen Crimmins (5) and Mike Lentini (2 against Livingston) have all tossed goose eggs so far.

They have outscored opponents in that stretch 36-1.

Common Opponents…

Eastern had not played anyone out of South Jersey this year – excluding their opening two games against Kentucky teams – until the Group 4 semifinals, where they beat Jackson Memorial. But Bridgewater-Raritan has played some South Jersey teams.

They beat Rancocas Valley, 5-3 in their April first opener, a team Eastern split with this year, winning 5-4 on April 26th, and falling 10-9 on May 15th, both regular season games.

The Panthers also beat Egg Harbor Township 10-3 on April 20th, rebounding off their first loss of the season, 11-7 to West Morris. Eastern beat Egg Harbor 4-2 to win the South Jersey Group 4 championship.

Bridgewater also beat Cherokee, 5-4, on April 29th. Eastern split two regular season games with the Chiefs, winning 4-3 on April 8th, then falling 3-2 in a regular season road rematch on May sixth. But the Vikings took the rubber match, a 6-0 win in the South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals.

Recent Meetings…

These two teams haven’t met since at least before 2008, the most recent year for which results are readily available online.

Group 4 Championship History…

Eastern won the Group 4 state title in 2013, while Bridgewater-Raritan is seeking its first since the East-West merger in 1992.

Hillsborough won the Group 4 title in 2005, the only Somerset County team to do so since group champions were first crowned in 1971.

Hunterdon Central – the team the Panthers beat in the North 2, Group 4 title game this Wednesday – is the most recent Skyland Conference team to win a group 4 championship. The Red Devils have won it five times, including 1987, 2008, 2009, 2016, and 2018. No other Skyland team has won more state titles.