As wild a day as the GMC had in its Championship Tournament Monday – with several upsets, five one-run games, and four that went to extra innings – things went a little more by the book in Somerset County.
Higher seeds Bernards, Somerville and Hillsborough all advanced, while 11-seed Franklin knocked off six-seed and defending champion Bridgewater-Raritan. That sets up the quarterfinals Wednesday at higher seeds – weather permitting – as the four top seeds all begin play with home games.
Here’s a recap of Monday afternoon’s Somerset County Tournament second round action.
(8) Bernards 12, (9) Gill St. Bernard’s 2 (6 inn.): The Mountaineers walked this one off in the sixth with a three-run inning that gave them a mercy-rule win. Casey Hoeckele got the win for Bernards (9-9), which got seven runs in the first inning, then added another each in the second and fifth, but also tore it up at the plate with a 3-for-4 day, knocking in five runs with two doubles and a triple. Gill falls to 9-9 with the loss. The Mountaineers will visit top-seed and Skyland Delaware Division co-champion Ridge (14-4) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
(5) Somerville 6, (13) Pingry 4: The Pioneers scored five times in the bottom of the first to take a 5-0 lead the Big Blue would chip into, but never recover from. Andrew Kessler drove in three runs for Somerville (10-7), which got a complete game three-hitter from Michael Meyers, who allowed four unearned runs, and struck out two, walking just one. Pingry falls to 5-15 with the loss. The ‘Ville will visit fourth-seed and Skyland Valley Division champ Rutgers Prep (10-7) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
(11) Franklin 4, (6) Bridgewater-Raritan 3: A tight game throughout, all seven runs scored in this one came in different innings. Franklin (8-7) scored in the top of the first, Bridgewater (11-14) tied it in the bottom, and Franklin went ahead 2-1 in the top of the second. The Panthers tied it 2-2 in the third, then both teams scored in the fifth. The decisive blow came in the sixth, a solo home run by Elijah Zavatsky, to put the Warriors up 4-3. Then, Defraily Sosa – who came on in relief of Dylan Shah, who pitched the first four innings – pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, and closed out the seventh after back-to-back walks with a ground out and two strikeouts to pick up the win. The defending SCT champs have had some tough luck this year, losing four one-run games and two by two runs. The Warriors will play in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at third-seed Watchung Hills (11-7).
(7) Hillsborough 6, (10) Manville, 0: The Raiders (8-9) got a stellar outing from starting pitcher James Drinkwater, who threw seven innings of three-hit ball, fanning 13 and walking just two. Andrew Advani was red hot at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and three RBIs, while also picking up a walk and a stolen base, one of five for Hillsborough on the day. They picked up a run each in the first and second, then added four more insurance runs in the sixth. Manville drops to 9-9 with the loss, while the Raiders will play in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round at second-seed and Skyland Delaware co-champion Immaculata, out at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS – WEDNESDAY:
(8) Bernards (9-9) at (1) Ridge (14-4)
(5) Somerville (10-7) at (4) Rutgers Prep (10-7)
(11) Franklin (8-7) at (3) Watchung Hills (11-7)
(7) Hillsborough (8-9) at (2) Immaculata (11-6)
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