Ridge players celebrate a second-inning home run by Jake Dolan that gave the Red Devils a 5-0 lead over Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on May 19, 2025. (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)
The runs came in waves for the Red Devils.
After a run in the first, top-seeded Ridge put together a five-run second, fueled by a three-run homer by Jake Dolan, his third of the year. Then it was a five-run fifth, capped by a two-run homer by pinch-hitter Bode Ganny – his first – that ended the game, giving the Red Devils an 11-0 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Zoned Sports Academy of Bridgewater.
That puts Ridge back in the Somerset County finals for the fifth straight season, where they will meet Immaculata Wednesday night at six back at TD Bank Park. Immaculata was a 1-0 winner over 11-seed Franklin in the day’s first semifinal, behind a no-hitter from Ryan Auten.
The Spartans are in the finals for the first time since 2019, when they won the second of back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. They beat Ridge that year, and this will be their sixth all-time meeting in the finals.
Ridge got on the board in the first, when Ryan Luo led off with a double. He went to second on a wild pitch and came in on a sac fly by Quinn Dashefsky.
In the second, after a leadoff strikeout of Sawyer Paul, Nicholson doubled, but was caught stealing third. Dan Rafanello singled, and Matt Bober walked. Then Luo popped one up in the infield that was dropped, scoring a run, and Dolan hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 5-0. After Kieran Callanan was hit by a pitch, and a stolen base, a single by Dashefsky made it 6-0.
Ridge starter Aidan Stieglitz was cruising, and Rutgers Prep starter Peter Wheeler started to settle in, throwing scoreless frames in the third and fourth.
But the wheels came off in the fifth. Callanan walked to lead off the inning. Dashefsky singled and reached second when Callanan beat a throw home to make it 7-0. That was the end of Wheeler’s day, byt Ryan Takacs didn’t fare much better. He was greeted by two-run homer by Kucerka to make it 9-0, and after Sawyer Paul reached on an E6, Ganny’s two-run blast to left ended it.
Aidan Steiglitz went four innings, allowing juts two hits, striking out six; he got the win to improve to 7-2 for Ridge. The loss went to Prep’s Wheeler, who’s now 4-2.
Click below for postgame reaction with Aidan Steiglitz, Jake Dolan and Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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