With state title in hand, Hillsborough still looking for more as Raiders host one last home game with heavy-hitting Cherokee on tap

When the Hillsborough baseball team – the nine-seed in Central Jersey Group 4 – hosted 12-seed Montgomery last Tuesday in a sectional semifinal game, it was a surprise. Even if they’d made a run to the finals and won their first sectional title since 2012, the figured they’d be on the road the whole way.

They played on the road in their next game, back on Thursday, and after falling behind 6-3 in the fourth, scored ten unanswered runs to beat second-seed Old Bridge 13-6, winning the title, their first in 13 years.

Now, everything else is gravy, but it sure would be nice to bring home one more trophy. To get that opportunity, Cinderella Hillsborough (14-10) will have to pull off one more upset: beating a solid Cherokee team that’s 25-3 and fresh off its second South Jersey Group 4 title in Monday’s Group 4 semifinals.

That game will be played at 4 pm Monday, and you can follow Alec Crouthamel for updates, along with postgame reaction and a recap here afterwards.

The Raiders are a Cinderella, but they’re also not. The record may be deceiving, After all, they are in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division with a bunch of really tough teams. Immaculata (17-8) won the Somerset County Tournament and the Division title. Ridge (20-7) shared it with them, went to the SCT final, and got the top seed in North 2, Group 4, where they lost in the finals to Westfield. North Hunterdon (14-11) made the North 2, Group 3 semifinals. And even Bridgewater-Raritan (7-18) finished ahead of the Raiders and Lions, who tied for last in the division at 3-7.

And then there’s Hunterdon Central. They finished 6-4 in the division, right behind Immaculata and Ridge, and were the top-seed in Central 4. Hillsborough “upset” them, but had split their regular season series. So in the end, the Raiders took two of three from Central.

Which begs the question: Are they really a Cinderella?

They may be if they knock off Cherokee, which will be favored to win Monday. Ranked No. 9 in New Jersey by NJ.com (and they never fell below 11 in the Top 20 all year ) the Chiefs are hitting .332 as a team and have hit 24 home runs on the season, and are likely to throw Rutgers commit Henry Radbill, who’s ranked the No. 8 left-handed pitcher among New Jersey seniors.

Radbill is 7-0 in ten starts this season – Cherokee only lost one game he started, 2-1 to Eastern on May 19th – with a 1.04 ERA, striking out 89, while walking just 18. He’s allowed just seven earned runs in 47 innings pitched.

But Hillsborough is playing its best baseball at the perfect time of year. Regardless of the outcome, the Raiders – who have won six straight for the first time since 2019 – also are guaranteed a winning record for the first time since that season. In four tournament games, they’ve outscored the opposition 32-9.

The winner will play in the state Group 4 title game Saturday at 10 am at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton. They’ll get the winner of the other Group 4 semifinal Monday between North 1 champion Passaic Tech (24-6) and North 2 champ Westfield (19-6).

Click below to hear Hillsborough head coach Matt Mosko talk about the Raiders’ season, their Central Jersey Group 4 title, and Monday’s semifinal matchup with Cherokee: