Justin Labrador of Immaculata crosses home plate in the bottom of the first against Bridgewater-Raritan in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on may 18, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
It was one of those type of games that in football, you might say the last team to have the ball will win, or in basketball the team with the last shot will win.
In a back-and-forth second Somerset County Tournament semifinal of the day at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater – as heard and seen live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – top-seed Immaculata scored three runs in the sixth, then ended the game catching a Bridgewater-Raritan runner stealing, picking up a 7-6 win in the SCT semifinals, and sending the Spartans to the finals for a second year in a row, with a chance to defend their 2025 title.
The Spartans (19-4) will face second-seed Watchung Hills (14-7) Wednesday at 6 pm at TD Bank Park in the county final. You can hear that game live on cjsportsradio.com, or watch live on our YouTube channel.
The two teams split a pair in the regular season this year.
Immacualata got two on the board in the bottom of the first, when Luca Catanzaraite led off with a single and Justin Labrador followed with one of his own. Owen Schilling then hit a ground-rule double to make it 1-0, and Owen Rivenbark followed with a ground ball to short, driving in another run to make it 2-0 Spartans.
But the Panthers would tie it up with two in the top of the second. Kevin Kelly got aboard with a leadoff single, and Connor Price quickly knocked him in with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 2-1. Stephen Pikulin walked, and Josh Moore reached on an infield hit to load the bases; Rivenbark at third fielded it, and tried to tag Price heading to third, but missed, and his throw to first was late to catch Moore. Cody Rible, the nine hitter, then tied it at 2-2 with a fielder’s choice to short.
Immaculata would get the lead back in the bottom of the second, though. DH Bryson Auten singled to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a sac bunt to the third base side by Jackson Lewis. Catanzarite knocked him in with his second single of the afternoon, making it 3-2 Spartans, and that would be all for Bridgewater starter Gavin Butch, as head coach Max Newill brought in Nico Moore, who ended the inning, getting a fly out to right and a 4-3 groundout.
And then, it was Bridgewater’s turn for some more runs.
Andrew Schmeider started the rally with a single, then Michael Lobosco walked and Nick Spirra reached on a 6-4 fielder’s choice, but Kevin Kelly got plunked to load the bases with one out. After Connor Price struck out, Pikulin came up with the bases loaded, and roped a double to clear the bases, putting the Panthers up 5-3.
They had a chance for more after Josh Moore got hit by a pitch, putting runners at the corners with two out, but Raymond saw Moore breaking for second on a decoy for the runner at third. He tossed to first, Pikulin broke for home, and first baseman Andrew Wheeler threw home to Owen Schilling, who applied the tag for the final out of the inning.
No one would score again until the bottom of the fifth. Rivernbark struck a one-out double for Immaculata, then was brought in on an RBI single by Andrew Wheeler. Conor Quinn, though, grounded into a fielders’ choice to end the inning, but the Panther lead was cut to 5-4.
Bridgewater-Raritan would get its two-run lead back in the top of the sixth, when Kellan Komline worked a one-out walk, and was driven in by a Schmieder triple to the wall in left. But that was all they’d get, as Lobosco followed with a ground ball to first, reaching on a fielder’s choice as Wheeler threw home and Schilling got the tag down to get Schmeider. Spirra grounded to short to end the inning.
And then came the decisive bottom of the sixth. After Bryson Auten struck out to end the inning, nine-hitter Jackson Lewis singled, and Catanzerite reached on a sharp liner to third that went off Kevin Kelly’s leg. Justin Labrador then delivered a triple to the the gap in left center that went all the way to the wall, bringing in two to tie the game at six. Schilling then scored Labrador on a sac fly to right to take a 7-6 lead, before Rivernbark grounded to second to end the inning.
Still, it got tense in the seventh, with Immaculata holding a precarious one-run lead. Kelly struck out to start the inning, but Price singled to left center. Brandon DeMatos came in to pinch run, and stayed at first while Pikulin struck out. Then, on an 0-2 pitch to Josh Moore, DeMatos took off for second. But Schilling made a great throw to second, Catanzerite applied the tag, and the game was over, sending the Spartans back to the title game to defend their title.
Reliever Bryson Auten got the win for the Spartans, while Nico Moore took the loss. Auten went 3 1/3 innings, and allowed just two hits and one run, walking one and striking out three.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel with Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust, senior Owen Schilling and freshman Bryson Auten, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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