Ridge catcher Quinn Dashefsky squeezes the final strike of an 8-6 home win over Rutgers Prep on April 19, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
It wasn’t always pretty, but sometimes, when you’re one of the top teams in the area, you take the W and move on.
That’s what top-ranked Ridge did Saturday afternoon in an 8-6 win over Rutgers Prep – heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – giving the Red Devils a pair of wins on the afternoon following an 8-4 win at Pingry earlier in the day.
Sophomore Casey Kucerka drove in four of his team’s eight runs, two with a single in the third and another two on a double in the fifth.
Rutgers Prep struck first, taking a 1-0 lead ion the third on an RBI single by Li Perez, the Argonauts’ starting pitcher. He knocked in Matt Bilmes, who’d reached on an error.
Ridge came back with a vengeance on Perez in the bottom of the inning. Sawyer Paul got hit to lead it off, then Matt Bober singled. After a pop up to second by Jake Dolan, Kieran Callanan walked to load the bases. That’s when Quinn Dashefsky made it 2-0 with single. And after Bode Ganny popped up foul to the first baseman, Kucerka singled to drive in his first two runs and make it 4-0.
The Argonauts answered back with three in the third. Mason Cimini worked out a one-out walk, then Micah Kruger-Serrano singled, and Jake Treonze walked to load the bases. That was the end of Ridge starter Connor McLachlan’s day. But reliever Andy Yuan allowed Okasha Asrar to reach on a fielder’s choice to score a run, while a bad pickoff move allowed a second run to score.
A walk to leadoff hitter Matt Bilmes signaled the end of Yuan’s day, with Kucerka coming in to pitch. And Alex Perez, the first batter he faced, hit one to short that Callanan threw short to first. On that error, Perez reached, but the first baseman Ganny threw across the diamond to try to get Asrar at third, but he threw it away as well, allowing Asrar to score and tie the game at 4-4.
Both teams got two runs in the fifth. Prep went ahead 6-4 on a two-RBI single by Asrar – the nine-hitter who finished the game with three runs batted in – and Ridge to two on an double by Kurcerka, making it 6-6 after five.
That’s when Ridge closer Jake Dolan came in and gave his team a chance to win, but not without a touchy moment in the fifth. He struck out his first batter, Alex Perez, but then gave up an infield hit to Li Perez and walked Ethan Nepomuceno and Maddox Chu. But with the bases loaded, he got Cimini swinging and Kruger-Serrano looking to get out of the jam.
The Red Devils got two to go ahead in the bottom of the sixth. Toby Nicholson led off with a single, then after a flyout by Paul, Matt Bober walked and Jake Dolan got an infield hit off the field umpire, driving in Nicholson. After a walk to Callanan, a sac fly to right by Dashefsky made it 8-6.
In the top of the seventh, Dolan faced a little less drama, but was just as dominant. He threw a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side to win the game. In the end, he got the win, his first decision of the year, with all six outs he recorded coming via the strikeout.
Anuj Bandireddy took the loss for Rutgers Prep (6-4) to fall to 0-2.
Ridge improved to 8-2 with the win.
Click below to hear from Ridge sophomore Casey Kucerka and head coach Tom Blackwell:
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