Bridgewater-Raritan catcher Michael Lobosco (7) hits against Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Through two innings, Bridgewater-Raritan was in some trouble.
The Panthers trailed Rutgers Prep 4-0 in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, and starter Kellan Komline had already approached the 50-pitch mark.
Argonauts’ starter Li Perez, on the other hand, used his powerful fastball to breeze through the opening stretch of the order to start.
But by the time the dust settled in Somerset, fifth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan took down fourth-seeded Rutgers Prep 10-5, outscoring the Argonauts 10-1 the rest of the way,
Rutgers Prep plated three runs in the first inning, as designated hitter Maddox Chu brought in the first run with a grounder. Left fielder Micah Krugar-Serrano launched a fly ball to right-center field, scoring two more with the bases loaded, but a strong relay home ended the inning as the Argonauts looked to clear the bases.
The Panthers threatened with two runners on and nobody out in the second inning, but Perez reared back and struck out the next three straight batters to get out of trouble.
Rutgers Prep added another in the bottom half of the second, as catcher Ethan Nepomuceno dunked a single into the outfield to put the Argonauts up 4-0.
Nobody scored in the third, but the Panthers started to rally in the fourth. They notched three straight hits to start the inning, handing Perez his first earned run of the season on a Kevin Kelly single, and first baseman Connor Price cut the deficit in half with an RBI groundout.
After a rough start, Komline found his stride in the middle innings, throwing just 20 total pitches in the third and fourth frames.
Perez worked through a scoreless fifth while Rutgers Prep added an insurance run to extend the lead to 5-2.
That’s when the trouble started.
Perez was replaced after facing two batters in the sixth, allowing a walk and a single, up against his pitch count. He was replaced by Jake Brown.
He struck out Price to open the outing on a positive note, but DH Stephen Pikulin quickly put a stop to that.
He crushed a game-tying, three-run home run off an electrical pole way past the centerfield fence, knotting the game at five runs apiece.
After the next three sides went scoreless — including a clutch bases-loaded defensive stand by the Panthers in the bottom of the seventh — they headed to extras.
In the eighth, Price singled, followed by a Pikulin strikeout. Then Nico Moore — after relieving Komline on the mound — singled himself.
Right fielder Josh Moore dialed up a long RBI double to put Bridgewater-Raritan in front. Then after a walk by leadoff centerfielder Andrew Schmieder, Komline did his job with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Then catcher Michael Lobosco came up.
On a 2-2 count, he torched a fastball over the left-field wall to break the game open with a three-run blast.
Moore would shut down the side in the bottom half of the inning to seal the victory.
The Panthers outscored the Argonauts 10-1 after the second inning, with two home runs and contributions from all across the lineup.
Moore earned the win with two innings in relief, while Brown was given the loss in his three innings out of the pen.
Bridgewater-Raritan will advance to face top-seeded Immaculata — who defeated Montgomery 11-1 on Thursday — in the SCT semifinals on Monday at TD Bank Ballpark. It’ll be a matchup of the last two Somerset County champions.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Bridgewater-Raritan seniors Kellan Komline and Stephen Pikulin, and head coach Max Newill, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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