Watchung Hills catcher Jacob Jaconski and pitcher Nick Minetti talk on the mound during a Skyland Conference Delaware Division game in Warren Twp. on April 9, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
The Somerset County Tournament semifinals will be all Skyland Conference Delaware Division teams, as top three seeds Immaculata, Watchung Hills and Ridge won quarterfinal games on Thursday, while fifth-seed Bridgewater-Raritan knocked off Rutgers Prep in extra innings.
Monday’s semifinals – which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from TD Bank Park in Bridgewater – will feature second-seed Watchung Hills and third-seed Ridge in the 1 pm opener. The second game is scheduled for four pm with fifth-seed Bridgewater and top-seed and defending champion Immaculata. Click here to listen as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the action.
Read through for recaps on three of the four games, and a link to Alec Crouthamel’s game story on the Panthers and Argonauts, followed by the schedule for the rest of the SCT.
(1) Immaculata 11, (8) Montgomery 1 (6 inn.): The Spartans (16-4) led the Cougars (9-14) 7-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, when they scored four runs to walk-off with a ten-run rule win out at Diamond Nation in Flemington. After Ryan Auten pitched a scoreless first, Immaculata got on the board with a five-spot in the home half of the inning. After a leadoff double by Luca Catanzarite, Owen Schilling hit a one-out, two-run homer. A double by Owen Rivenbark followed, then another by Nehemiah Diaz made it 3-0. And Diaz was driven in on a two-run homer by Andrew Wheeler.
The Spartans got two more in the second – on RBI singles by Justin Labrador and Rivenbark – to take a 7-0 lead before Montgomery got on the board in the fifth on a triple by Kenta Komatsu. And then came the sixth. Catanzarite, Labrador and Schilling all walked to begin the inning, then Rivenbark drove in the first two with a single to right. Nick Diaz singled to make it 10-1, and the final run came on a comebacker by Wheeler and an error on the pitcher, allowing Rivenbark to score.
Auten struck out 16 and walked just one for Immaculata, and improved to 6-0 on the season, with a 0.83 earned run average.
(5) Bridgewater-Raritan 10, (4) Rutgers Prep 5 (8 inn.): The Argonauts (13-5) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after two innings, but the Panthers (9-14) got back into it, tying the game at five with three runs in the sixth, then winning it with a five-spot in the top of the eighth inning.
Bridgewater-Raritan went yard twice in the game. Stephen Pikulin hit a three-run homer in the fifth to tie the game off reliever Jake Brown, and Michael Lobosco did the same in the fifth to extend a 7-5 lead to 10-5, after a Josh Moore double to break the tie, and a Kellan Komline sac fly to extend the lead to two.
It’s the Panthers’ fourth trip to the semifinals in the five tournaments since COVID – there was no SCT in 2020 due to the pandemic, nor in 2021 due to a shorter season – having only missed last season.
(2) Watchung Hills 9, (1) Franklin 5: The Hustlin’ Warriors (Watchung Hills, 12-6) fell behind early to the Franklin Warriors (6-9) with a rough start to the ballgame, but rebounded nicely for the win, to earn their second trip tot he SCT semifinals in three years, their last appearance coming in 2024.
Franklin scored twice in the top of the first off Hills’ starter Lucas Sheehan, who got the win to improve to 5-2. He surrendered a one-out homer to Mason Bonds, then after a double and hit batter, a second run came in on an error. Unfazed, Watchung Hills would answer in the home half of the inning.
Brody Griffith and Jacob Jaconski singled. Rob Centamore grounded into a fielder’s choice, and an error allowed Griffith to score. After a walk to Max Payne, Landon Pudlak tied the game at two with a sac fly to center, , and after a walk to Stefano DeGeronimo, a groundout to third by Brady Simo gave the Hustlin’ Warriors a 3-2 advantage.
It was short-lived. A sac fly by Franklin’s Kelvin Heuston tied the game at three in the top of the second, but Hills came right back to take a 4-3 lead they’d never relinquish in the bottom of the inning, on a fielder’s choice by Max Payne.
Watchung Hills got one more in the third, taking a 5-3 lead on a Jacob Jaconski single, plating Griffith for his second of three runs scored. And in the bottom of the fifth, they blew it open.
After a one-out walk by Lucas Ricci, James Esposito doubled to make it 6-3. After a ground out for the second out, Jaconski doubled to score Esposito, Centamore followed with the same to score courtesy runner James Perruna for Jaconski, and Payne singled to center to score Centamore, giving Hills a 9-3 lead.
Franklin got two more in the top of the seventh to make it interesting – on a fielder’s choice and an infield hit – but reliever Jacob O’Sheal got a pop out and a K to end it.
(3) Ridge 7, (6) Hillsborough 0: Dimitri Romer pitched six innings of one-hit ball and Lucas Liston finished out the seventh to team up for the shutout for the Red Devils (14-8), who are back in the semis for a third straight year.
Ridge got on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Sawyer Paul. Then, they burst out with a four-spot in the second, all on singles. After a leadoff strikeout, Toby Nicholson and Matt Pypcznski reached back-to-back. Kieran Callanan followed with a single to left, driving in Nicholson for a 2-0 lead. A fourth straight single by Lucas Grob loaded the bases before Jake Dolan popped up and the infield fly was called for the second out. But Casey Kucerka singled to score one, and Paul singled to plate two, giving Ridge a 5-0 lead.
They would add two more in the fifth on a two-run homer by Nicholson, his first of the year.
SCT SCHEDULE
Monday, May 18
Semifinals at TD Bank Park, Bridgewater
- 1 pm: (2) Watchung Hills (12-6) vs. (3) Ridge (14-8)
- 4 pm: (1) Immaculata (16-4) vs. (5) Bridgewater-Raritan (9-14)
Wednesday, May 20
Finals at TD Bank Park, Bridgewater
- 6 pm: Watchung Hills/Ridge winner vs. Immaculata/Bridgewater-Raritan winner
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