Tag: Aidan Stieglitz

by Mike Pavlichko

Stieglitz sparkles – again – and throws complete game shutout over Bridgewater-Raritan to send top-seed Ridge into North 2, Group 4 semis

Anytime Aidan Stieglitz is on the mound, the Ridge baseball team has a very good chance to win the game.

Red Devils’ head coach Tom Blackwell knows it, so does Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill.

Then again, his guy – Jack Lanum – also was cruising through this one, a pitchers’ duel between two starters who won their regular season matchups against the other team.

But on this day, the ninth-seeded Panthers’ couldn’t give Lanum any run support on the mound, and top-seed Ridge came away with a 3-0 win in a North 2, Group 4 quarterfinal game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio Thursday afternoon.

Ridge (19-5) will now play 4th-seed Elizabeth (22-7) in next Tuesday’s sectional semifinals.

A scoreless game through four, Ridge picked up the only run it would need in the fifth. Kieran Callanan led off with an infield hit, deep in the hole to short. Jake Dolan walked, and Quinn Dashefsky’s sac bunt led to a force at third when it died in front of the plate and JR Rosado got the lead runner, Callanan.

But after a fly ball out to left by Ryan Luo, Casey Kucerka singled home the first run of the game.

The damage could have been worse. The inning before – on a single, walk and sac bunt that Sawyer Paul beat out for a base hit – the Red Devils had the bases loaded, but Lanum struck out the next three hitters to escape.

In the sixth, Ridge added two more. Toby Nicholson got hit to start the inning, and after a fly out by Dan Rafanello, then a sac bunt by Matt Bober moving Nicholson to second, he scored when Callanan reached on an error on the throw to first. After Callanan stole second, Dolan doubled to make it 3-1.

Stieglitz allowed just four Panther hits over seven innings, walking one, striking out ten, to improve to 8-3, and drop his ERA further from the 0.98 number he had before the game. Jack Lanum (3-3) took the loss, as Bridgewater – the defending Group 4 champ beset by injuries all year – finished its season at 7-18.

Click below for postgame reaction from Ridge starter Aidan Stieglitz and head coach Tom Blackwell, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Three home runs help Ridge walk off Rutgers Prep, 11-0, in SCT semifinals; will face Immaculata for the title Wednesday night

The runs came in waves for the Red Devils.

After a run in the first, top-seeded Ridge put together a five-run second, fueled by a three-run homer by Jake Dolan, his third of the year. Then it was a five-run fifth, capped by a two-run homer by pinch-hitter Bode Ganny – his first – that ended the game, giving the Red Devils an 11-0 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Zoned Sports Academy of Bridgewater.

That puts Ridge back in the Somerset County finals for the fifth straight season, where they will meet Immaculata Wednesday night at six back at TD Bank Park. Immaculata was a 1-0 winner over 11-seed Franklin in the day’s first semifinal, behind a no-hitter from Ryan Auten.

The Spartans are in the finals for the first time since 2019, when they won the second of back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. They beat Ridge that year, and this will be their sixth all-time meeting in the finals.

Ridge got on the board in the first, when Ryan Luo led off with a double. He went to second on a wild pitch and came in on a sac fly by Quinn Dashefsky.

In the second, after a leadoff strikeout of Sawyer Paul, Nicholson doubled, but was caught stealing third. Dan Rafanello singled, and Matt Bober walked. Then Luo popped one up in the infield that was dropped, scoring a run, and Dolan hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 5-0. After Kieran Callanan was hit by a pitch, and a stolen base, a single by Dashefsky made it 6-0.

Ridge starter Aidan Stieglitz was cruising, and Rutgers Prep starter Peter Wheeler started to settle in, throwing scoreless frames in the third and fourth.

But the wheels came off in the fifth. Callanan walked to lead off the inning. Dashefsky singled and reached second when Callanan beat a throw home to make it 7-0. That was the end of Wheeler’s day, byt Ryan Takacs didn’t fare much better. He was greeted by two-run homer by Kucerka to make it 9-0, and after Sawyer Paul reached on an E6, Ganny’s two-run blast to left ended it.

Aidan Steiglitz went four innings, allowing juts two hits, striking out six; he got the win to improve to 7-2 for Ridge. The loss went to Prep’s Wheeler, who’s now 4-2.

Click below for postgame reaction with Aidan Steiglitz, Jake Dolan and Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Steady diet of Stieglitz gives Ridge win, and Week 9 Chris’ Auto Body “Drive of the Week”

Thanks to our newest sponsor, Chris’ Auto Body of Lambertville and New Hope, we have a new segment this football season on Central Jersey Sports Radio: “The Chris’ Auto Body Drive of the Week.”

Each week, we’ll pick the best drive from the previous weekend’s games, as shot by our high school football analyst Marcus Borden. And you’ll be able to watch the drive right here on cjsportsradio.com.

This week, it’s Ridge and star runningback Aidan Steiglitz, who capped an early fourth quarter drive with a 25-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion to give the second-seeded Red Devils a 22-14 win over seventh-seed Rahway in the opening round of the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 playoffs.

Click below to watch the “Chris’ Auto Body Drive of the Week” for Week Nine:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge outlasts Rahway in North 1, Group 4 opening round behind big game from Stieglitz

On 20 carries, Aidan Stieglitz powered his way for 178 yards and all three of his team’s touchdowns in a 22-14 win for second-seed Ridge over visiting seventh-seed Rahway Friday night at Lee Field in Basking Ridge.

The Red Devils now move on to next Friday night’s sectional semifinals at home against third-seed Ramapo, which topped 6-seed Randolph 47-27 in their opening round game.

Stieglitz staked Ridge to a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run with 6:50 to go in the first half, but Rahway tied it up on Andrew Avent’s run from a yard out just over two minutes late.

That held until 49 seconds before halftime, when Stieglitz punched in a six-yard score to give the Red Devils a 14-7 lead at the break.

After a mostly scoreless third quarter, Jaquan Robinson scored from six yards out to knot the score at 14 with just 25 seconds remaining in the third.

Just 90 seconds into the fourth, Stieglitz saved his longest touchdown of the night for last … scoring from 26 yards out to give his team a 20-14 lead, then adding a two-point conversion to make it 22-14 with 10:30 to go.

The Ridge defense played bend-but-don’t-break football the rest of the way. Rahway moved the ball, but got stopped on fourth down with 4:30 left, but despite calling all three of their time outs, Ridge held onto the ball to pick up the win.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

by Mike Pavlichko

Steiglitz’ 3 TDs, strong ground game, propel Ridge to 28-21 win over No. 1 Phillipsburg

The Ridge linemen – on both sides of the ball – controlled the line of scrimmage, and Aidan Stieglitz did the rest, scoring three touchdowns en route to a 28-21 win over visiting No. 1 Phillipsburg Friday night in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The win was the first for the Red Devils (2-1) over the Stateliners (2-1) since 2003, their first win in a series in which P’burg had won the next nine – until this year.

Stieglitz carried 23 times for 217 yards and three scores. He had the first and last touchdown of the first half for Ridge, which saw them go into the lockerroom up 14-7.

Joseph Dachnoqitz scored on Ridge’s first possession of the second half to build a two-score lead, but Phillipsburg had some tricks up its sleeve.

They cut it to 21-14 on a two-yard touchdown catch by tight end Luke Hywel. Quarterback Jett Genovese rolled right and looked like he might run it in himself, but Hywel was wide open, and caught a soft toss in the back of the end zone.

Then, with 6:09 to play, Matthew Scerbo caught a 25-yard touchdown pass, but not from Genovese. It was from Felix Matos, his first career touchdown pass and only second attempt of his career. Matos took it on a handoff and tossed it on the option, tying the score with the PAT.

Ridge, though, got the lead right back, just three plays later, on a six-yard run by Stieglitz, who had his way with the Stateliner defense. It could have been too soon though.

Phillipsburg got down the field and had a pass completion inside the red zone, but Felix Matos fumbled as he was hit after the catch. The ball sat on the field for a near-eternity before Ridge fell on it.

And it still wasn’t over. They got just past midfield, after P’burg used all its timeouts, and still had to convert a fourth and inches.

They did, and then it was over.

The win gives Ridge head coach Andy West his 30th career win. He’s now 30-10 in his fifth season at the helm in Basking Ridge.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with senior Aidan Steiglitz and head coach Andy West, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: