Tag: Max Newill

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 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:

by Mike Pavlichko

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Bridgewater-Raritan will stick to the script in Group 4 Final vs. Eastern

The recipe for success has been much the same for the Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team the entire season, which is the main reason they’ve been able to run the table so far: Skyland Conference Delaware Division championship, Somerset County Tournament Championship, and North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 Championship.

And if they are to win the state Group 4 title for the first time in the merged Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s history, there will be no new Coke here, no tinkering with the formula. It’ll be Panthers Classic, thank you very much.

For the uninitiated, that’s solid pitching, timely hitting – some small ball mixed with power – and sound gloves in the field. It’s worked so far to the tune of a program record 29 wins. But 30 would be the biggest.

Saturday night at 7, Bridgewater (29-3) will face South Jersey Group 4 champ Eastern (25-6), in the NJSIAA Group 4 state title game down at Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ park in Hamilton. Pregame is set for 6:40 pm with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Click here to listen.

The Panthers are sectional champs for the first time since 2010, and were especially hungry for one after losing in last year’s North 2, Group 4 final to Bayonne. Everyone has contributed.

In the Group 4 semis against Livingston, an 8-1 win Monday for the Panthers, Matt Fattore hit a two-run homer to open the scoring. Frankie Verano, hitting just .167 battling an injury – but somehow with 14 RBIs – knocked in the third run, and, later, a fourth, to be a major contributor in the game.

And the early lead staked to Kellan Komline took any pressure off, and kept head coach Max Newill – who earned his 250th coaching victory in the game – from having to use his excellent stopper/closer Cory Rible, keeping him fresh for Saturday night.

Everyone contributing: another part of the Panthers’ success in 2024.

Click below to hear Bridegwater-Raritan head coach Max Newill talk about the Panthers’ and their Group 4 title game matchup against Eastern:

by Mike Pavlichko

Panthers make the finals! Bridgewater-Raritan tops Livingston 8-1 in Group 4 semis behind Komline’s pitching, Fattore’s dinger

Bridgewater-Raritan East made a Group 3 final in 1971, and Bridgewater-Raritan West won a Group 2 title in 1989.

But for the first time since the 1992 merger of those two schools, the Panthers are headed to the state finals.

They are there because of solid pitching by Kellen Komline, who wasn’t overpowering, but stranded seven runners on base in the first four innings and pitched a 1-2-3 fifth, while his team built up a 7-0 lead over the first three.

They are there because of a lot of things, but also Matt Fattore’s two-run homer in the first that was part of a four-run inning that left Komline comfortable enough to pitch out of jams.

The end result was an 8-1 win over visiting Livingston to clinch a trip to the Group 4 finals.

Bridgewater-Raritan (29-3) will travel down to Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton Saturday night for the state Group 4 final at 7 pm against Eastern. The Vikings (25-6) beat Jackson Memorial 7-5 Wednesday in their Group 4 semifinal.

Fattore’s home run started things off in the first after Devin Goldberg flew out but Matthew Lehberger reached on a single. Komline hit a grounder to second that made it 3-0, and Frankie Verano drove in the fourth run with a double.

The Panthers got three more in the third on an RBI single by Verano and a two-RBI single by Joe Spirra.

Livingston got its only run in the fourth, on a pair of doubles. Alex Yang reached with one out, then Julian Schultz knocked him in.

But Bridgewater got it right back in the bottom of the inning. Goldberg reached on an infield hit, stole second on catchers’ indifference, then came home after he tried to steal third but the throw from catcher John Marco Maiello deflected off the third baseman’s glove to the vacant shortstop position.

Komline got the win to improve to 3-0. Mike Lentini pitched the last two innings to close it out. The loss went to Livingston’s Tyler Chen, who fell to 3-1.

Bridgewater improves to 29-3, while head coach Max Newill picked up a milestone win. He’s now 250-186 in his 17 seasons with the Panthers.

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 for postgame reaction, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Bridgewater-Raritan first baseman Matt Fattore, pitcher Kellan Komline
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
by Mike Pavlichko

Sectional trophy in hand, Bridgewater Raritan’s not done yet as Panthers host Livingston for trip to state Group 4 title game.

The Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team already has had a record-setting year. They’ve won 28 games so far, more than any other team in program history.

But there’s still more to go.

Three trophies will be added to the display case outside the Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium when the infield dust settles: for winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, for winning the Somerset County Tournament, and for winning the NJSIAA’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 playoff section.

Next? They want one for a state championship.

But to get opportunity to play for one, the Panthers (28-3) will have to get by one more opponent. Wednesday afternoon, they’ll host the Livingston Lancers – who are 22-7-1 and won the North 1 title over Montclair in walkoff fashion Monday – in the state Group 4 semifinals. Game time is 4:00, and Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live play-by-play of the contest with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Pregame is at 3:40 pm; click here to listen.

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 and South champion Eastern, which was eliminated last year in the semis by Old Bridge.

The Panthers continue to be a consistent ball club. They have been a state-ranked team much of the year, currently at No. 4, while they are ranked No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, a perch they are unlikely to get knocked from regardless of the outcome Wednesday.

But the Panthers aren’t resting on their laurels. Last year, they were the top-seed in the county tournament, and got knocked out in the semifinals by eventual champion and 12-seed Rutgers Prep. they were the second-seed in North 2, Group 4, but lost in the finals to Bayonne.

The Panthers came back hungry, and so far, all they have done is eat, eat, eat.

Click below to hear Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill talk about the Panthers’ and Wednesday’s Group 4 semifinal game against Livingston:

by Alec Crouthamel

Second time’s the charm! Bridgewater-Raritan wins North 2, Group 4 title, blanking Hunterdon Central 2-0 with dominant pitching

Despite coming into the game with a 14-year sectional championship drought – including a loss last year in this game at home to Bayonne – the top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers brought expectations of a victory into the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title game against seventh-seeded Hunterdon Central.

It’s safe to say those expectations were met, as the Panthers beat the Red Devils at home Monday, 2-0, for their first sectional crown since 2010, and second under head coach Max Newill.

Bridgewater-Raritan struck first in the second inning, as Joe Spirra hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score JR Rosado. It remained a 1-0 battle until the bottom of the sixth, when Matt Cichocki reached base on an infield single and proceeded to steal second, advance to third on a groundout before scoring a crucial insurance run on a wild pitch. Those two runs proved to be the difference in a fast-moving pitcher’s duel

The Panthers were dominant on the mound, keeping the Red Devils off the scoreboard. Starter Jack Lanum battled through a shaky first inning to settle in and shut down Central. He finished with 4 shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out two. Michael Taylor came in for the fifth inning and retired his first three batters.

After he allowed a leadoff single in the sixth, head coach Max Newill made a big move and brought in closer Cory Rible, who Newill has kept faith in all year long as their premiere bullpen arm. Newill’s trust paid off and then some, as Rible retired all six batters he faced and stranded the potential tying run in the sixth. In the seventh, he struck out the side in dominant fashion – coming one ball shy of an immaculate inning – to close out the Panthers’ first sectional championship victory since 2010.

Rible has appeared in 16 games this year, all out of the bullpen, and Bridgewater has won all 16 of those contests.

The Red Devils had a very solid game on the mound in their own right. Starter Ryan Lundari also had to work through a long first inning, but he settled in nicely to finish with five innings pitched and six strikeouts while only allowing four hits.

The Panthers (28-3) will move on to play in a Group 4 semifinal at home Wednesday, hosting Livingston (22-7-1). The Lancers – the third-seed in North 1, Group 4 – won that title Monday with a walkoff, 4-3, victory over fourth-seed Montclair.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Bridgewater-Raritan pitchers Cory Rible, Jack Lanum and outfielder Matt Cichocki
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill


by Mike Pavlichko

Panthers’ pitching primed to make Bridgewater’s first trip to SCT final in 12 years pay off

The Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team has had immense success over nearly two full seasons now. 

They have been Skyland Conference champions two years running.  But, boy would they love to erase the sting of a semifinal loss in last year’s Somerset County semifinals.

If this year’s Panthers have their way, that will all change sometime around 8:00 Friday night.

Armed – quite literally – with excellent pitching, including a stopper/closer who hasn’t involuntarily surrendered a walk all year, Bridgewater-Raritan is all ready to go.

They’ll need to be Friday night when the top-seeded Panthers (24-3) take on the red-hot third-seed in the Ridge Red Devils (20-7) in the 50th Somerset County Tournament championship game at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater.

You can hear all the action on Central Jersey Sports Radio – presented by Zoned Sports Academy in Bridgewater – with pregame starting at 5:40 pm and first pitch set for 6:00 from the home of the Somerset Patriots. Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau will be on the call; click here to listen.

The Panthers have been the top team in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division all year. The first 20-game winner in the league – and, of course, Somerset County – the Panthers’ losses have all been out of league: to Howell, Lawrence and West Morris.

They are a veteran group, that more often gets the timely hit and has stellar starting pitching, plus a closer in Cory Rible who locked down Watchung Hills in the semifinals.

He came into Monday’s semifinal game with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth. He got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, struck out the side in the fifth, went 1-2-3 in the sixth, and after a one-out single, induced a game-ending double-play in the seventh with the tying run at the plate.

Of course, none of it happens without the big solo homer to lead off the fifth by Matt Fattore, his first home run of the year.

In Ridge, however, the Red Devils will face a team that has scored ten or more runs in four of its last five games, and has scored 27 in two not-even-full Somerset County Tournament games. (Monday’s semifinal was a five-inning, ten-run rule game.)

That’s a big swing from when they started the year 1-4, and their average of 4.3 runs a game through their first 19, the Red Devils are averaging 9.8 runs a game in their last eight.

Click below to hear Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill talk about the Somerset County Tournament championship game against Ridge: