Tag: Max Newill

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan travels to Ridge Wednesday for North 2, Group 4 semis, rubber match between Panthers and Red Devils, with trip to a title game on the line

The first meeting between Ridge and Bridgewater-Raritan this year was a 4-3 win for the Panthers, the second was a 4-3 win for the Red Devils.

Which means the rubber match between the two, Wednesday afternoon up in the Somerset Hills, should be a doozy.

Fifth-seed Bridgewater-Raritan will play top-seed Ridge at 4 pm at Hall Field in Basking Ridge in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 semifinals of the NJSIAA state tournament, with a trip to the championship game on the line. And you can hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Pregame is set for 3:45 pm, with first pitch at 4:00. Click here to listen.

In the first of two between the teams, it was Bridgewater-Raritan rallying for four runs in the sixth, benefitting from a bases loaded walk that brought in one run, and a balk that brought in another. In the second, Ridge trailed led 1-0 heading into the sixth, then gave up three in the top of the inning. But they clawed back with a run in the bottom to cut it to 3-2, tied it with a run in the seventh, then won it on a Toby Nicholson walk-off single in the gap in the bottom of the eighth.

For the Panthers, the season has been a challenge, having not brought back much in the “returning starter” department. Bridgewater started the year 1-5, but has played about .500 ball since, coming in at 13-16, a misleading number that belies that fact they play in one of the toughest divisions in the state.

Both Immaculata and Ridge had been ranked at various points this year, the three of the four teams in this section’s semifinals are from the Skyland Delaware, with third-seed Watchung Hills visiting two-seed Bayonne this afternoon in the other semi game. (That one starts at 4:30 pm.)

Ridge, meanwhile, comes in at 17-10, and got off to a red-hot start at 11-1, before dropping five in a row that included a pair against Immaculata, one against perennial contender North Hunterdon, the loss to the Panthers, and defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion Hillsborough.

But in their first two games on the state tournament, they’ve won twice by the ten-run rule. They took a 13-3 win over 16-seed Barringer on a walk-off in five innings, scoring five in their final at bat, then blanked Phillipsburg 10-0 in six, walking it off with three in their final at bat. That leaves Ridge outscoring its opponents 23-3 in the state tournament.

Bridgewater has done similarly, though. They topped 12-seed Plainfield in the opening round 11-0 in five, then won at four-seed JP Stevens 10-0 in six, scoring the final run to kick in the mercy rule in the top of the sixth.

This one probably won’t be decided that way, but with long-time rivals going at it instead of two teams that may not be familiar with each other from different conferences, expect a tight one, with a little extra juice – a championship game-type atmosphere.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
by Alec Crouthamel

Bridgewater-Raritan run-rules for second straight game, advances to North 2, Group 4 semifinals, 10-0, over JP Stevens

You don’t usually see back-to-back run-rule victories in the state tournament. Especially as the lower seed in one of those games.

But Bridgewater-Raritan is white-hot at just the right time, and did just that.

The fifth-seeded Panthers (13-16) tacked on runs early and often en route to a 10-0, six-inning victory over fourth-seeded JP Stevens in the North 2, Group 4 quarterfinals, to advance to their second sectional semifinal in three years. The Hawks’ (18-9) season came to a close, finishing up their best campaign since 2019.

It was obvious from the first pitch of the game that Bridgewater-Raritan was locked in on its approach, a three-pronged message from the top: Throw strikes, make plays, and get quality at-bats.

The Panthers did all three to near-perfection on Friday, winning by double-digits for the second straight game after an 11-0 win over 12th-seeded Plainfield in the first round

On the mound, Nico Moore went the distance with six shutout innings in just 89 pitches, allowing four hits.

Bridgewater-Raritan got started early with a run in the first inning, as second baseman Nick Spirra grounded into a bases-loaded double play with nobody out to strike first. Though JP Stevens starter Nolan Overmeyer got out of the inning with just the one run after the jam, it was clear the Panthers were ready for anything the Hawks could throw at them.

Moore worked two shutout innings, allowing just one baserunner, as Bridgewater-Raritan’s offense broke the game open in between.

First baseman Stephen Pikulin and right fielder Josh Moore reached with one out on a walk and hit-by-pitch – Moore’s fourth in the last two games – respectively, before shortstop Cody Rible sent a fly ball into the left-centerfield gap for a double to bring home Pikulin.

Centerfielder Kellan Komline added an RBI single to bring home Moore, and stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Left fielder Andrew Schmieder poked a single into right field to bring home both runners and made it a four-run inning and a 5-0 lead. But the Panthers weren’t done yet.

Catcher Michael Lobosco singled to put Schmieder on third, and courtesy runner Matt DeLucia worked a pickoff rundown to allow Schmieder to come home easily. By the time the inning ended, Bridgewater-Raritan led 6-0 and chased Overmeyer out of the game, as his replacement, right fielder Aarush Patel, recorded the final two outs.

Moore continued his dominance on the mound, coupling his fast pace between pitches with a nasty fastball and curveball combination to keep the Hawks off balance all afternoon.

Patel and Moore each recorded shutout sides of the third inning, and in the top of the fourth, it looked like Patel was headed for another solid frame after retiring the first two batters.

But the Panthers stuck to their approach, and grew the lead because of it. Five straight hitters reached base after Schmieder struck out to record the second out, as they tacked on three more insurance runs to expand the lead to 9-0. Within that stretch, Bridgewater-Raritan faced several two-strike counts, but the Panthers just kept battling and refused to go down. Pinch-hitter Joey Confalone ripped an RBI single down the first-base line to bring home DeLucia, third baseman Connor Price brought in another with an RBI single of his own, and Pikulin scored another with an infield single.

By that point, Bridgewater-Raritan put its stamp on another postseason victory.

Both teams were shut out in the fifth, but the Panthers scored the pivotal tenth run in the top of the sixth inning. Lobosco sent a fly ball down the left-field line for a double – reaching base for the fourth time – and DeLucia came around to score from third on a sacrifice fly by Price two batters later.

With the end of the game in sight, Moore worked three straight groundouts in the bottom half to send Bridgewater-Raritan home happy an inning early.

Moore earned the win with six shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Overmeyer was given the loss with six earned runs in an inning and a third, allowing five hits with a walk and hit batter. Patel was solid in relief, going four and two-thirds innings of four-run ball, with two strikeouts four walks, allowing five hits.

The Panthers will move on to face Skyland Delaware division foe and top-seeded Ridge in the North 2, Group 4 semifinals on Wednesday, after the Red Devils defeated eighth-seeded Phillipsburg with a six-inning, 10-0 of their own in the opposite quarterfinal on Friday.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Bridgewater-Raritan pitcher Nico Moore, catcher Michael Lobosco, and head coach Max Newill after the Panthers’ 10-0 win over JP Stevens in the North 2, Group 4 quarterfinals, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Alec Crouthamel

Fourth-seed JP Stevens, fifth-seed Bridgewater-Raritan vie for North 2, Group 4 semifinal bid

Some of the most fun postseason matchups come between adjacent seeds, regardless of the sport.

Another high-power matchup will come to North Edison on Friday in the North 2, Group 4 quarterfinals between the fourth seed, JP Stevens, and the fifth seed, Bridgewater-Raritan, in a GMC/Skyland Conference crossover.

In a battle between two ascending teams over the course of the season, one will earn a bid to the sectional semifinals, with the Panthers (12-16) looking for their second in three years after a Group 4 title in 2024, while the Hawks (18-8) look for their first appearance in the semifinals since 2008, where they lost to eventual Group 4 state runner-up North Hunterdon.

It all gets started at 4 pm at JP Stevens, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame starts at 3:45 with Alec Crouthamel on the call; click here to listen.

Both teams are coming off resounding first-round victories against their double-digit seed counterparts.

Bridgewater-Raritan played strong all-around baseball to take down 12th-seeded Plainfield 11-0 in five innings. The Panthers put up three runs in the first inning, six in the third, and two in the fourth to seal the run-rule victory, along with a near-perfect outing for starter Jack Braswell. He allowed just one baserunner – a fourth-inning single with two outs – while striking out eight.

JP Stevens put up double-digit runs as well, defeating 13th-seeded Ferris out of Jersey City 11-2. In their first playoff victory since 2019, the Hawks got another gem from starter Soham Prajapati, who struck out 13 in a complete game effort, giving him 102 on the year and 247 in his career. The bats also came alive as the game went on, with three runs in the third inning, two in the fifth, and six in the bottom of the sixth to break the game open after the Bulldogs cut their deficit to 5-2 in the top half.

Both teams have been tested to date, Bridgewater-Raritan playing in the Skyland Delaware division, and JP Stevens finishing in an 11-3 three-way tie atop the GMC Blue division.

They bring another similarity in that the experiences this year have built true development to put both teams in a better spot than they started in late March.

But only one can come away victorious in the sectional playoffs. Each team will take the lessons they’ve learned and their high-level developments into the do-or-die showdown to keep their seasons alive come the month of June.

Click below to hear both head coaches talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel about their teams’ first-round victories and upcoming matchups in the North 2, Group 4 quarterfinals:

JP Stevens head coach Tyler Jackow
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
by Alec Crouthamel

Fifth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan stays hot, rolls over 12-seed Plainfield 11-0 in North 2, Group 4 first round

There’s an all-too-familiar adage in postseason sports: When the brackets come out, throw the win-loss records out the window.

Bridgewater-Raritan is the latest example.

The Panthers (12-16) earned the fifth seed in the North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 bracket after a tough start to the year, dealing with a rugged Skyland Delaware division, giving their young group a bit of trial by fire against some of the top teams in the area.

Now? Bridgewater-Raritan is playing its best baseball at the right time, as the Panthers – winners of six of their last eight – knocked off 12th-seeded Plainfield 11-0 in five innings to advance to the North 2 Group 4 quarterfinals for the fifth straight year.

With another run in the sectional tournament a week after making it to the Somerset County Tournament semifinals – where they almost knocked off top-seeded Immaculata – the group is finding its stride and could be a dangerous dark-horse as the tournament moves along.

Junior pitcher Jack Braswell got the ball on Wednesday and set the tone immediately. He struck out the first two Plainfield batters on the way to a 1-2-3 inning to open the game, then Bridgewater-Raritan’s red-hot bats got their chance in the bottom half.

The Panthers plated three runs in the first, with the first four batters reaching base before an out was recorded. Junior second baseman Nick Spirra put a line drive into right field with the bases loaded to score two. Then, with two outs and the bases re-loaded, right fielder Josh Moore got plunked to bring in another.

The two teams traded scoreless frames — as Braswell retired all nine Cardinals the first time through the order — until the bottom of the third inning, where Bridgewater-Raritan got its big inning.

It looked like another quiet inning through two batters, with a strikeout and lineout, but the Panthers put together some two-out magic to break the game wide open. They loaded the bases in three batters — including another hit-by-pitch for Moore — before leadoff left fielder Andrew Schmieder put another line drive into right field to score two runs.

Senior Kellan Komline brought in another with an infield RBI single. Schmieder stole home to score on the ensuing at-bat, before senior catcher Michael Lobosco powered a double into centerfield to score Komline. Spirra brought in another with an RBI single back into centerfield.

All of a sudden, Bridgewater-Raritan built a commanding 9-0 lead after three.

Braswell worked another shutout inning — though he did lose his perfect game bid thanks to a two-out single by Plainfield left fielder Franyer Genao — to send the lineup back to the plate.

The Panthers got the job done again with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game in run-rule territory. Junior Stephen Pikulin reached on a one-out infield single, and Moore got hit by a pitch for the third time to put runners on first and second.

Sophomore shortstop Cody Rible singled to left field to score Pikulin and give Bridgewater-Raritan double digits on the day. Skipper Max Newill started to empty his bench from there, and sophomore Matt DeLucia registered his second RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to make it 11-0.

Braswell retired the side in order for the fourth time to secure the dominant victory. He earned the win on the mound with five shutout innings, striking out eight while only allowing one hit.

Now, after a full regular season, the Panthers have taken their lumps and found their footing to become a threat in the section. They’ll have another challenge at hand on Friday, heading on the road to Edison to face fourth-seeded JP Stevens in the quarterfinals. The Hawks (18-8) finished in a three-way tie atop the GMC Blue division at 11-3, and defeated 13th-seeded Ferris 11-2 for their first playoff win since 2019.

A challenge, to be sure, but Bridgewater-Raritan has shown in the last month it’s ready for anything the bracket can throw at it.

Click below to hear Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill talk about the Panthers’ 11-0 win over Plainfield in the North 2 Group 4 first round with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Alec Crouthamel

Five-seed Bridgewater-Raritan rallies, defeats four-seed Rutgers Prep 10-5 in extras in SCT quarterfinals

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:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan still figuring things out as Panthers head up to Watchung Hills seeking series split

A look at the score from Tuesday’s 9-1 loss to Watchung Hills doesn’t quite tell the whole story of how that game went down.

It was a 2-1 game until Bridgewater-Raritan got dinked and dunked to the tune of four runs by the Warriors, and it ended up being a 9-1 final.

Maybe a more experienced team wins that game later in the season. Maybe without early-season pitch limits set by coaches so they don’t burn out arms in April, Kellan Komline goes a little longer.

They’re not excuses, but the reality of the situation. Then again, all you can do is get back on the horse, and try, try again.

That’s what the Panthers will do on Thursday afternoon when they travel up to Warren Township for the finale of the two-game home-and-home set against Watchung Hills. That’s a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with first pitch at 4 pm and pregame at 3:40, with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Komline is one of the biggest returning veterans. He’s 1-1 on the season, and has struck out 14, walking eight, while allowing five earned runs, seven total.

He and catcher and fellow senior Michael Lobosco are the only two full-time returning starters from last season. Lobosco hit .295 last year with eleven runs batted in. Komline threw 41 innings, with a 0.68 ERA, while hitting .272 at the plate, playing centerfield when he wasn’t on the mound.

And yet, this season’s top two hitters – yes, it’s early still – are freshmen. There’s Nick Spirra, who’s likely to start at second base Thursday, hitting .417 with a team-best five RBIs, while leadoff hitter Andrew Schmeider – a rightfielder with a “physicality you don’t see much in a freshman,” according to head coach Max Newill, it 4-for-8 on the year with three runs batted in, and already a team-high six walks.

That’s just what you want for a leadoff hitter. Now – with just five regulars hitting better than .200 – the Panthers hope that hitting truly is contagious, and will work its way down through the rest of the lineup.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Bridgewter-Raritan head coach Max Newill about the first week of the season, and Thursday’s game against Watchung Hills:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan looks for bounceback year in 2026 with an experienced group, after major graduation, tough luck losses in 2025

Sometimes, the cyclical nature of public school high school sports is more powerful than any coaching or skill level can overcome.

That was the case in 2025 for the Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team, which was dominant en route to winning the state Group 4 title the year prior with a veteran group that had played together for years.

But so many key players graduated from that squad, and that – coupled with a ton of close losses and some injuries – resulted in a 7-18 campaign in last season, after going 30-3 in 2024.

Gone were big hitters like Matt Fattore, Michael Taylor and Frankie Verano, along with closer Corey Rible, who allowed just just six runs all season over four games out of a total 17 appearances, never taking a loss.

And then, there was the hard luck. The 2025 opener turned out to be a microcosm of things to come. They had their chances against Immaculata at Diamond Nation, but lost 2-1 in a 13-inning game that took over four hours. It was their first of 13 losses – out of a total of 18 – that came by three runs or less. Nine came by two or less, and five were by a single run.

It’s a fine line.

But head coach Max Newill is looking forward to the 2026 season. On the mound, he’ll get back Kellan Komline for his senior season, after throwing 41 innings last year, going 3-1 with a 0.68 earned run average.

At the plate, the Panthers will miss a JR Rosado and a Matthew Lehberger, among others, but Newill trusts there’s enough talent – with another year under their belts – to make an impact in the rough-and-tumble Skyland Conference Delaware Division.

Click below to hear Bridgewater-Raritan baseball coach Max Newill talk about the Panthers’ upcoming 2026 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Very familiar foes, Ridge and Bridgewater-Raritan, to square off in North 2, Group 4 semis

Surely it’s happened somewhere else around New Jersey, or maybe not, but few teams have probably seen more of each other on a baseball diamond the last five years than Ridge and Bridgewater-Raritan.

Being in the same division, they play twice a year already, but then they’ll also could meet in the Somerset County Tournament, or the NJSIAA state tournament. That happened in 2022.

In fact, since the COVID interruption to high school baseball in 2020, the Red Devils and Panthers have met 14 times. Besides the usual Skyland Conference Delaware Division home-and-home, they met three times in 2021 (including a sectional quarterfinal), three times last season (the third in the SCT final) and four times in 2022 – two regular season games, an SCT semifinal, and a North 2, Group 4 quarterfinal – with all four won by Ridge.

Overall in that span? It’s seven wins apiece. Even Steven.

And that’s just about what it’s been like this year. Ridge won their April 15th game 12-0, but Bridgewater won the rematch, 9-5.

The third game will be Thursday afternoon – now moved to the turf at Diamond Nation in Flemington after yesterday’s rains in Basking Ridg – as the top-seeded Red Devils (18-5) will take on the ninth-seeded and defending state Group 4 champion Panthers (7-17) at 4 pm in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 quarterfinals. You can her that game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Pregame is set for 3:45; click here to listen.

Ridge has had a fine year, with two of its five losses coming to Immaculata, and one more each to the Panthers, Hunterdon Central – also a No. 1 seed in the states, in Central Group 4 – and Seton Hall Prep, a 1-0 rain-shortened five-inning loss where it would have been fun to see what the Red Devils could do with their final six outs, if given the chance.

Bridgewater-Raritan has struggled, coming in ten games below .500, but with a slew of injuries that compounded graduation losses. All were critical parts of last year’s squad. Owen Crimmins (shoulder) and Nick Spirra (wrist) essentially are out, with Spirra at best unable to play offense. JR Rosado has been banged up all year, while Matt Cichocki (ACL) and Matthew Lehberger (left hand) are hurt, but playing.

And yet, the Panthers have been very much in games, and could be a scary nine-seed in this bracket. Ten of their 17 losses have come by two runs or fewer, six by a single run. Only four times have they lost by four or more runs.

Ace Aidan Stieglitz (7-3, 0.98 ERA) will get the start for Ridge; he went 6 2/3 and allowed just one hit, striking out 14 in their win over the Panthers. Bridgewater will throw Jack Lanum (2-3, 2.88 ERA). He threw six innings in their win over the Red Devils and got the win.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko preview the game with both head coaches:

Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan, coming off best season ever, gets right back to work with trip to rising No. 4 Immaculata on Opening Day Tuesday

By every single metric, the 2024 season was one for the record books at Bridgewater-Raritan.

They won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division and the Somerset County Tournament. They won the North 2, Group 4 sectional title in the state tournament, then went all the way, taking the state’s Group 4 championship.

The encore begins Tuesday.

That’s when the top-ranked Panthers will travel to Flemington to take on No. 4 Immaculata in a big battle on Opening Day that you can hear right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio. First pitch is set for 4 pm at Diamond Nation with pregame at 3:45 as Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the action. Click here to listen.

Jayson Labrador of Immaculata hits against Ridge in the semifinals of the Somerset County Tournament on May 20, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

If Bridgewater-Raritan is the team that’s arrived, Immaculata is coming right up behind, and this season, the two are in the same division. One of the toughest in the state, the Skyland Delaware also includes Ridge, Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough and North Hunterdon.

The Panthers said goodbye to a number of seniors in 2024, including Matt Fattore, Devin Goldberg, Joe Spirra, Frankie Verano, Mike Lentini and Cory Rible, the latter of whom was Bridgewater’s closer last year. They won every game in which he pitched.

There are some veterans back, too, including infielder and pitcher Jack Lanum, first-baseman Matt Cichocki, and catcher JR Rosado among the seniors, and junior Kellan Komline, who’ll get the Opening Day nod. While he may not blow hitters away, he was 5-0 last year in nine appearances with a 0.66 ERA in 42 2/3 innings pitched.

Komline and Lanum combined for 12 wins last year, with a collective ERA under one, in over 80 innings pitched, and one or the other led the team in virtually every statistical pitching category.

Immaculata lost some big boppers, too, including Troy Rabosky and Josh Thompson, who each hit over .400 last year, with Rabosky connecting for four homers and knocking in 28 runs. But they have plenty of ammunition back, including Jayson Labrador – who hit .344 last season and drove in 12 runs – and a host of others like Colin Kassai (.338, 22 RBIs) and Owen Schilling (.304, 15 RBI).

There’s plenty of pitching back, too – though ace Nick Bozzo graduated – but the rotation has been boosted by the addition of Ryan Auten, who transfers in from Delaware Valley. The left-handed Wake Forest commit threw 37 innings as a sophomore and was 3-2 last year with a 2.46 ERA, striking out 65 while walking just 18. He’ll get the ball on Opening Day against the Panthers.

Click below to hear previews with both head coaches of Tuesday’s Opening Day matchup between No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan and No. 4 Immaculata:

Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust

by Mike Pavlichko

Newill said this year’s Panthers would be even better, and they proved it with state title

Before Saturday night’s Group 4 title game, one of the local scribes mentioned that after last year’s disappointing loss to Bayonne in the North 2, Group 4 final, the first thing Bridgewater-Raritan baseball coach Max Newill said was, “We’ll be even better next year.”

And they were.

Last year’s 23-7 campaign was a solid season. But there was disappointment, falling in the semifinals of the Somerset County Tournament, and losing to the Bees in the sectional title game at home.

This year? All they did was set a new program record for wins with 30. And win their division. And go undefeated in their conference. And win the SCT. And win the section,

And Saturday night in Hamilton, in the absolute last game of the high school baseball season in New Jersey, the Panthers won the school’s first-ever state championship, beating Eastern – the two-time South Jersey Group 4 champion – 6-4 at Bob DeMeo Field in Veterans’ Park in Hamilton, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was a fitting end to a fantastic season. We’ve talked all year about the Panthers getting the timely hit, playing good defense, getting excellent starting pitching, and having a lockdown closer.

All of those things came into play Saturday night, to send Bridgewater-Raritan and its fans home happy.

Newill won his 250th game Wednesday in the Group 4 semis, but he wasn’t interested much in the milestone. He wanted 251, the one that would make the Panthers state champs.

And he got it. Well done.

The winner will play Saturday at 7 pm at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton in the state Group 4 final, against the winner of Wednesday’s other Group 4 semi between Central champion Jackson Memorial (18-10) and South champion Eastern (24-6), which was eliminated last year in the semis by Old Bridge.

Click below to see Max Newill talk to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: