Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Before Saturday night’s Group 4 title game, one of the local scribes mentioned that after last year’s disappointing loss to Bayonne in the North 2, Group 4 final, the first thing Bridgewater-Raritan baseball coach Max Newill said was, “We’ll be even better next year.”
And they were.
Last year’s 23-7 campaign was a solid season. But there was disappointment, falling in the semifinals of the Somerset County Tournament, and losing to the Bees in the sectional title game at home.
This year? All they did was set a new program record for wins with 30. And win their division. And win the SCT. And win the section,
And Saturday night in Hamilton, in the absolute last game of the high school baseball season in New Jersey, the Panthers won the school’s first-ever state championship, beating Eastern – the two-time South Jersey Group 4 champion – 6-4 at Bob DeMeo Field in Veterans’ Park in Hamilton, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
It was a fitting end to a fantastic season. We’ve talked all year about the Panthers getting the timely hit, playing good defense, getting excellent starting pitching, and having a lockdown closer.
All of those things came into play Saturday night, to send Bridgewater-Raritan and its fans home happy.
Newill won his 250th game Wednesday in the Group 4 semis, but he wasn’t interested much in the milestone. He wanted 251, the one that would make the Panthers state champs.
And he got it. Well done.
The winner will play Saturday at 7 pm at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton in the state Group 4 final, against the winner of Wednesday’s other Group 4 semi between Central champion Jackson Memorial (18-10) and South champion Eastern (24-6), which was eliminated last year in the semis by Old Bridge.
Click below to see Max Newill talk to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
Discover more from Central Jersey Sports Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.