SCT Finals Preview: Skyland Delaware Co-Champs Ridge, Immaculata will settle it on the field for Somerset County title

After a split in the regular season series, and a sharing of the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title, the coaches in Somerset County awarded Ridge the No. 1 seed in the county tournament, and even Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust felt they deserved it.

But seeds don’t mean anything. They’re just an orderly way to assign games to teams. If they were a ranking of who was expected to win, why bother playing the tournament?

But they did play the tournament, and they will play the final – when, thanks to Mother Nature, is another question – and it will feature the No. 1 seed Ridge vs. the No. 2 seed Immaculata, just like many figured it would play out.

Now, it’s time to decide the top team in Somerset County on the field.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT FINALS AT-A-GLANCE

Teams:
(1) Ridge Red Devils (16-4, 7-3, Skyland Conference Delaware Division co-champions)
(2) Immaculata Spartans (13-7, 7-3, Skyland Conference Delaware Division co-champions)

Head Coaches:
Ridge: Tom Blackwell, 19th season (304-197)
Immaculata: Kevin Cust, 12th season (165, 137)

Probable Starters:
Ridge: Aidan Stieglitz (7-2, 1.15 ERA)
Immaculata: Jackson Trego (3-1, 1.58 ERA) or TBA

Date and Time: Wednesday, May 21, 6 pm
Location: TD Bank Park, Bridgewater
Listen On: Central Jersey Sports Radio, Pregame 5:40 pm (Click here to listen live!)
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko & Alec Crouthamel

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Ridge:
Double-bye to quarterfinals
Quarterfinals: def. (8) Bernards, 7-1
Semifinals: def. (4) Rutgers Prep, 11-0 (5 inn.)

Immaculata:
Double-bye to quarterfinals
Quarterfinals: def. (7) Hillsborough, 10-9
Semifinals: def. (11) Franklin, 1-0

TEAM LEADERS:

Ridge:

• Batting Average: Jake Dolan (.477), Sawyer Paul (.378), Quinn Dashefsky (.362)
• RBI: Quinn Dashefsky (21), Jake Dolan (20), Casey Kucerka (14)
• HR: Jake Dolan (3), Casey Kucerka, Aidan Steiglitz, Bode Ganny (1)
• Walks: Kieran Callanan (19), Casey Kucerka (11), Jake Dolan (10)
• Stolen Bases: Jake Dolan (20), Kieran Callanan (10)
• Wins: Aidan Stieglitz (7), Jake Dolan (3)
• ERA (min 12 innings): Casey Kucerka (1.08), Aidan Stieglitz (1.15)
• Strikeouts (Pitcher): Aidan Stieglitz (68), Lucas Liston (30)

Immaculata:

• Batting Average: Justin Labrador (.359), Jason Labrador (.347), Owen Schilling (.339)
• RBI: Owen Schilling (23), Connor Quinn, Colin Kassai (14)
• HR: Owen Schilling, Connor Quinn (3), Colin Kassai (2)
• Walks: Colin Kassai (12), Jayson Labrador (11), Jackson Lewis (11)
• Stolen Bases: Justin Labrador, Luca Catanzarite (12), Jayden Capindica (9)
• Wins: Ryan Auten (5), Jackson Trego (3)
• ERA (min 12 innings): Jonathan Feltre (0.84), Jackson Trego (1.58)
• Strikeouts (Pitcher): Ryan Auten (60), Jackson Trego (29), Jonathan Feltre (23)

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Somerset County Tournament

• Three of top four seeds advance in Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, as Ridge, Immaculata, Rutgers Prep earn wins; 11-seed Franklin upsets Watchung Hills in 8 innings
• Three of four higher seeds win in SCT second round, as Bernards, Somerville, Franklin, Hillsborough all advance to quarterfinals
• Ridge earns top seed over fellow Skyland Delaware Co-Champion Immaculata in 2025 Somerset County Tournament

Immaculata

• INSTANT REPLAY:  SCT Semifinals: (2) Immaculata 1, (11) Franklin 0
• VIDEO: Watch the final out of Ryan Auten’s no-hitter for Immaculata in the SCT semifinals!
• Ryan Auten complete game no-hitter sends Immaculata to SCT finals for first time since 2019 with 1-0 win over Franklin
• Franklin seeks first SCT finals berth in 45 years when Warriors, Immaculata clash Monday
• Immaculata wins slugfest 15-6 at Hillsborough as Capindica, Kassai go deep for Spartans, who claim share of Skyland Delaware Division title
• First Top Ten after Opening Day finds Immaculata taking the top spot after sweep of Bridgewater
• INSTANT REPLAY: No. 4 Immaculata 2, No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan 1 (13 inn.)
• How’s that for an opener? No. 4 Immaculata edges No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan 2-1 in 13-inning walk-off Opening Day marathon
• No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan, coming off best season ever, gets right back to work with trip to rising No. 4 Immaculata on Opening Day Tuesday

Coverage of Ridge

• INSTANT REPLAY:  SCT Semifinals: (1) Ridge 11, (4) Rutgers Prep 0
• Three home runs help Ridge walk off Rutgers Prep, 11-0, in SCT semifinals; will face Immaculata for the title Wednesday night
• Rematch of ’22, ’23 SCT finals in 2025 semis, as Ridge, Rutgers Prep battle for trip to title game
• INSTANT REPLAY: No. 1 Ridge 8, Rutgers Prep 6
• No. 1 Ridge tops Rutgers Prep, 8-6, in a game with a little of everything, goes 2-0 Saturday
• Crossover battle in Basking Ridge Saturday as No. 1 Red Devils entertain Rutgers Prep
• Ridge gets key starter Stieglitz back from injury, looks primed for more tourney deep runs

NOTES AND NUGGETS:

Winningest SCT programs…

Between the Red Devils and Spartans, they’ve won the most Somerset County Tournament titles in the event’s 50-year history. Immaculata has won 14 times in 22 appearances, with ten of those coming in a 12-year span from 1998 to 2008, the most successful run in school history. They won from 1997 through 2002, again in 2004, and three more from 2006 through 2008. Two of those wins – in 2000 and 2002 – came over Ridge. But the Red Devils also have won their share. They’ve been to the finals 17 times and won seven, their first coming in 1976, and their most recent in 2022, when they were the top seed and beat sixth-seed Rutgers Prep, 6-0. Immaculata last won in 2019, the second of back-to-back wins, and that one came over Ridge, 6-5 in 12 innings, the most recent extra inning game in the SCT finals.

One losing pitcher will win…

Ridge and Immaculata split their two games this season, and both starters in the final pitched in that series, but in separate games, and their teams lost both. Aidan Steiglitz took the loss in a 10-4 defeat at Diamond Nation on April 9th, while Jackson Trego got the L in an 8-0 defeat at Ridge the next day. Stieglitz gave up seven runs, six earned, in that game, while much of the damage the Red Devils did in their win was after Trego departed, his team trailing 1-0.

Managing Pitches…

With a 6-0 lead and Ridge looking very much in control in the semifinals against Rutgers Prep, head coach Tom Blackwell decided he trusted his relievers enough to pull Aidan Stieglitz after three innings and just 45 pitches to keep him in the running to start the SCT final. And it paid off, since the bullpen – a combined two-inning effort from Casey Kucerka and Lucas Liston – shut out the Argonauts while the offense walked it off with five runs in the fifth with a pair of homers. That means he can come back Wednesday and will have 105 pitches to work with. (Same, if the final is postponed to Friday.) Ryan Auten of Immaculata threw 105 Monday, so he wouldn’t be able to come back Friday, needing four days’ rest per NJSIAA pitch count rules.

Familiar faces in finals, to each other…

Ridge and Immaculata have met five times in the finals. The first meeting came in 1984, a 2-0 win for the Red Devils, who beat the Spartans again in 1985, 5-0 for the county title. But Immaculata has won three straight finals meetings since then: 2-0 in the 2000 final, 10-0 the year after, and in 2019, 6-5 in 12 innings, the longest game in SCT finals history, innings-wise.

In that game, Ridge tied it in the bottom of the seventh, and no one would score until the 12th, when the Spartans’ Ryan Kabus hit a soft liner to right field to bring in Justin Pinckert, who beat out a bouncer to shortstop for an infield hit to lead off the inning.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

Ridge (7-10):

• 1976:  Ridge def. Watchung Hills, 4-3 (10 inn.)
• 1979:  Hillsborough def. Ridge, 2-0
• 1980:  Ridge, def. Franklin, 7-1
• 1984:  Ridge def. Immaculata, 2-0
• 1985:  (2) Ridge def. (1) Immaculata, 5-0
• 1987:  Somerville def. Ridge, 2-1
• 1988:  (6) Bridgewater-Raritan West def. (1) Ridge, 3-1
• 1989:  (1) Ridge def. Bridgewater-Raritan West, 5-4
• 1995:  (1) Somerville def. (3) Ridge, 7-6
• 2000:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 2-0
• 2002:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 10-0 (ten-run rule)
• 2011:  (8) Ridge def. (3) Hillsborough, 4-3 (8 inn.)
• 2014:  (4) Hillsborough def. (2) Ridge, 4-3 (9 inn.)
• 2019:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Ridge, 6-5 (12 inn.)
• 2022:  (1) Ridge def. (6) Rutgers Prep, 6-0
• 2023:  (12) Rutgers Prep def. (2) Ridge, 1-0
• 2024: (1) Bridgewater-Raritan def. (3) Ridge, 10-7

Ridge is the only school in Somerset County to make the finals in every decade it’s been played. They had two finals appearance in the 1970s, six in the ’80s, one in the ’90s, two in the 2000s, three in the 2010s, and this will be their third in the 2020s.

Immaculata (14-8):

• 1981: Manville def. Immaculata, 4-1
• 1984: Ridge def. Immaculata, 2-0
• 1985: (2) Ridge def. (1) Immaculata, 5-0
• 1991: (1) Immaculata def. North Plainfield, 11-3
• 1993:  (3) Watchung Hills def. (1) Immaculata, 5-4
• 1994: (3) Immaculata, def. (1) Watchung Hills, 5-2 
• 1996: (6) Bridgewater-Raritan def. (1) Immaculata, 7-5
• 1997:  (2) Immaculata def. (1) Bridgewater-Raritan, 2-0
• 1998:  (3) Immaculata def. (1) Bridgewater-Raritan, 3-2
• 1999:  (1) Immaculata def. (6) Hillsborough, 8-0
• 2000:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 2-0
• 2001:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Montgomery, 6-1
• 2002:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 10-0
• 2004:  (3) Immaculata def. (1) Hillsborough, 1-0
• 2005:  (2) Hillsborough, def. (1) Immaculata 5-1
• 2006:  (1) Immaculata def. (7) Pingry, 8-0
• 2007:  (1) Immaculata def. (3) Hillsborough, 12-11 (10 inn.)
• 2008:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Hillsborough, 9-1
• 2010:  (2) Montgomery def. (1) Immaculata, 13-3 (ten-run rule)
• 2013:  (6) Bernards def. (5) Immaculata, 6-5
• 2018:  (3) Immaculata def. (9) Montgomery, 6-5
• 2019:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Ridge, 6-5 (12 inn.)

Immaculata is the winningest program in Somerset County Tournament history, with 14 titles, while Ridge is second with seven. Hillsborough is right behind the Red Devils with six county championships, while Somerville has won four.