Tag: Max Newill

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:

by Mike Pavlichko

State-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan to face Watchung Hills in second SCT semifinal Monday

Call it the Old Bridge model.

Well it’s not a model, per se, but at least a somewhat similar track on which Bridgewater-Raritan hopes they’re taking.

Last year, Old Bridge won the Central Jersey Group 4 title, but didn’t make the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. This year – again considered a favorite in the section – they went all the way to become county champions.

A year ago, Bridgewater-Raritan earned the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament, and didn’t make it to the final, but they went all the way to the sectional title game, losing in the North 2, Group 4 final at home to Bayonne. With another year of experience, Max Newill’s squad is hoping not only to reach the SCT final, but bring home some hardware.

On the other side is Watchung Hills, a young squad hovering around .500 ball all season long. But they were awarded the fourth seed, and here they are, in the semis at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater Monday, with the final four of the county tournament all going to chalk.

You can hear Monday’s semifinal Between the Panthers and Warriors live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – presented by Zoned Sports Academy of Bridgewater – starting at 4 pm, immediately following the 1 pm semifinal featuring second-seed Immaculata and third-seed Ridge. Mike Pavlichko, Dom Savino and Vin Ebenau will be on the call; click here to listen.

Bridgewater-Raritan (21-3) is the only Skyland Conference team to reach 20 wins so far this season – though several others are within striking distance – and the Panthers have won five-in-a-row coming in. Their latest was an 11-0 victory over 8th-seed Montgomery in the SCT quarterfinals Thursday, a five-inning ten-run rule game in which starter Owen Crimmins pitched a no-hitter – striking out six and walking just one – while six different players drove in runs.

Kellen Komline will get the start for the Panthers, 3-0 with a microscopic 0.49 ERA. And there are plenty of options in the bullpen, including Cory Rible, who has made the transition in his senior year to closer. In 12 appearances, Bridgewater hos not lost a single one of the games where he’s been on the mound. His two wins have come in his longer outings, five innings in a 7-1, ten-inning win over Immaculata, and 4 2/3 against Cherokee in another ten-inning win at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.

On the season, Bridgewater is hitting .297, and has some key guys over .400, including senior Matthew Fattore, who leads the team at .409, with 24 runs batted in, and 15 HBPs on the season. Junior catcher JR Rosado is just a shade below at .403, with a team-leading six doubles and two home runs. He’s also a superb defensive catcher.

Click below to hear Dom Savino talk with Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill:

For Watchung Hills (13-12), it’s a young team, but qualifying for the finals might put the Warriors ahead of schedule.

They got a tremendous starting effort in the quarterfinals from Robert Centamore, who threw nine of the 11 innings in a walk-off 1-0 win over Franklin Thursday afternoon (and evening). He struck out nine, scattering three hits, and didn’t allow a single walk. Ethan Byrd closed it out, pitching two innings of one-hit ball, with four Ks and one walk, and got the win, his fourth of the season, tied for the team-lead with junior Max Eder. But the junior Byrd is expected to go Monday for the Warriors.

Hills is a lighter hitting team than Bridgewater, batting .246 on the year. Senior Michael DiSarno heads the team at .333, while junior Jake Kierstead is hitting .319 with 17 runs batted in and a team-high 10 doubles, along with a triple and home run. Senior Will Hunsinger leads the squad with 20 RBIs, three home runs, and 13 stolen bases.

Overall, its literally been an up-and-down season for Watchung Hills. They’ve been at or above .500 more of the season than they haven’t, and after a touch stretch where the lost four in a row in late April/Early May, they’ve now won four of their last five and two straight coming in, including a 4-1 regular season non-league victory over Middlesex Saturday.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Watchung Hills head coach Joseph Tremarco:

by Mike Pavlichko

Six unanswered runs give top-ranked Bridgewater 6-2 win at No. 7 Ridge, solidifying top-seed in upcoming Somerset County Tournament

Trailing 3-0 after three innings, the Bridgewater-Raritan bats weren’t exactly hitting lasers all over the field.

But two big extra base hits in key spots by Frankie Verano and Kellan Komline drove in five of the top-ranked Panthers six runs, who picked up a 6-2 win at No. 7 Ridge Tuesday afternoon, in a game heard of Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The win makes Bridgewater 14-1 on the season, 8-0 in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, and all but locks up the top-seed in the Somerset County Tournament in advance of Monday’s seeding meeting in Somerville.

Ridge scored the first two runs of the game, getting on the board in the first and third innings with a run each.

Nick Sellitti led off the game with a double, then a sac fly to center by Jake Dolan moved him to third, and Ezra Sadowsky knocked him in with an RBI single.

In the third, starting pitcher Andrew Reynolds helped his cause with a leadoff double. He moved to third on an infield hit from Sellitti, a hard hit ball to third that Bridgewater’s Joe Spirra knocked down, the best he could do. After a single by Jack Dolan loaded the bases, Sadowski drove in his second run of the game with a sac fly to center. But Nick Rossi grounded into a double play, limiting the damage for the Panthers.

Andrew Reynolds had been cruising for Ridge heading into the fifth inning, setting down ten BR batters in a row going back to the final out of the first. But the Panthers would tie it, getting a leadoff single by JR Rosado, then another by Kellan Komline. After a lineout to right by Michael Taylor, Frankie Verano – the hero Monday night against Cherokee in an extra inning win at Trenton Thunder Ballpark, but hitting just .117 coming into the game – ripped double to knot the game at two.

Though Reynolds escaped the inning with any more damage, the Panthers came back for more in the sixth.

Matthew Lehberger led off by reaching on an E-5. Matt Fattore singled, too, chasing Reynolds for Matt Faltas. The submarine righty walked Matt Cichocki to load the bases, then plunked Rosado on the first pitch, giving BR a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.

That’s when Komline broke the game open with a bases clearing double on a 3-2 pitch to make it 6-2.

Taylor had come in from second base to get the last two outs of the fifth for starter Jack Lanum, and pitched two more full, shutout innings to get the win in relief, improving to 2-0. Reynolds took the loss to fall to 3-2.

Ridge falls to 10-6 on the year, 5-4 in Skyland Conference Delaware play, but with only two losses to Somerset County opponents – both coming to Bridgewater-Raritan.

Click below to hear postgame reaction – presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen – from Bridgewater-Raritan senior Frankie Verano, head coach Max Newill, and sophomore Kellan Komline:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan faces stiff challenge at rejuvenated, No. 7 Ridge Tuesday

Timely hitting, solid pitching, great fielding.

Those three elements are key to any baseball team, and they’ve been present on a consistent basis for the Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team. Sitting at 13-1 and riding a five-game win streak since a loss to West Morris – their first of the season – Max Newill’s club is poised to get the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament when it’s all figured out next Monday night.

But the key word there is poised, and skids can happen at any time. Just see what happened to the top two teams in the GMC Red Division last week, with Old Bridge and Monroe each going 1-3, and South Plainfield passing both to earn the inside track to the top seed in the league tourney.

On Tuesday, when the Panthers play Ridge on the road, they’ll face a very different Red Devil team than they one they beat 8-4 on April 11th. That loss was Ridge’s fourth in their first five games. They have won nine of ten since.

Tuesday’s game starts at 3:45 pm, with pregame at 3:30 on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko will call all the play-by-play; click here to listen.

If you want to know how good the Panthers’ pitching has been, consider that Tuesday’s starter will be Jack Lanum. He’s 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA, which isn’t even the best on the team. The team ERA is 2.07, and they’ve only allowed more than three runs in a game three times, going 2-1 in those games. One of those came Monday, when the Panthers beat Cherokee 5-4 in ten innings at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.

And while the team is hitting under .300, their hits have come at the right time, like Monday, or early, to set the tone, as the Panthers did when they plated three runs in the first last Thursday against Hillsborough en route to an 8-1 road win.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rosado’s 3-run blast, Lanum’s solid start power No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan past Hillsborough

And the hits, literally, just keep on coming for the Bridgewater-Raritan baseball team.

The Panthers – No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten – got a three-run homer from JR Roasdao and four innings of five-hit, one-run ball from starter Jack Lanum to defeat Hillsborough on the road Thursday afternoon, sweeping the two-game, home-and-home season series from the rival Raiders.

The win is the third-straight for Bridgewater, since an 11-7 loss to West Morris spoiled their 8-0 start. The Panthers are now 11-1, 7-0 in the Skyland Conference’s Delaware Division, and clinched at least a share of the division title with the win. Hillsborough drops to 5-8, 4-2 in the Delaware.

The Panthers got on the board in the top of the first, small-balling three runs across. Devin Goldberg led off the game with an infield hit, and Matt Lehberger singled. After a double steal, Matt Fattore walked, but Goldberg scored on the wild pitch fourth ball, and Lehberger moved to third. Lerhberger scored on a ground-out by Matt Cichocki, and Fattore came in to score and make it 3-0 when he tried to steal third and the throw went into the outfield.

Hillsborough would get a run back in the second. Jason Willliams hit a one out double, then advanced to third on a passed ball. He scored on a JJ Lotierzzo grounder to second to make it 3-1 Bridgewater.

The game would hum along until the fifth, with ‘Boro starter Krish Patel still on the mound. Devin Goldberg led off with a fly ball to right field that was dropped. But after the two-base error, he was picked off second when Patel’s throw to second caught him in a rundown.

After Lehberger flied to left for the second out, the Panthers did some damage. Fattore got plunked, Cichocki walked, and then JP Rosado cranked a three-run homer over the left field wall to make it 6-1, chasing Patel from the game.

As Michael Taylor shut down the Raiders in relief for two innings, Bridgewater-Raritan added a run in the sixth on a sac fly to center that scored Frankie Verano, and an RBI double by Cichocki that drove in Lehberger, who’d reached second on a grounder to third when the throw sailed over the first baseman.

Corey Rible came on to close it out, pitching a 1-2-3 seventh for the Panthers, as the bullpen finished with three-innings of two-hit shutout ball.

Click below for postgame reaction from Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 2 Bridgewater-Raritan survives early rain, late scare, to top Rancocas Valley in opener

Not many baseball teams in New Jersey were able to get their games in on Opening Day Monday, but somehow, some way, Bridgewater-Raritan managed to do it.

And the No. 2 Panthers made it count, facing a tough out-of-conference matchup in their opener against a Rancocas Valley team that – like them – reached a state playoff sectional final last season.

Bridgewater scattered five runs in the first three innings – literally led off by Devin Goldberg, who smacked a home run on the first pitch the Panthers saw all year to give his team a 1-0 lead – then survived a late scare when the Red Devils got the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh.

JR Rosado added an RBI single in the first to make it 2-0 after one

Then, in the third, Matt Fattore made it 3-0 with a first-pitch RBI double, Joey Letko drove him in with a single, and and JR Rosado scored Letko when he reached on an throwing error by the Red Devils’ shortstop to make it 5-0 after two.

Rancocas Valley added a run in the fifth, although the damage could have been worse. Jack Lanum – working middle relief in his debut varsity appearance – picked up two key strikeouts – the last of which came looking with the bases loaded – to end the inning.

And more drama would follow.

In the seventh, Rancocas closed the deficit to 5-3 with two out in Corey Rible’s second inning of work for the Panthers. But he got out of the jam with a backwards K to end the ballgame.

Click below for postgame reaction from Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill on the Panthers’ Opening Day win over Rancocas Valley, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

The Panthers (1-0) are coming off a 23-7 season in which they reached the North 2, Group 4 title game, falling 9-2 at home to Bayonne. Bridgewater is scheduled to be back in action Tuesday morning at 11 am, weather permitting. A number of games were wiped out on Opening Day Monday, and the weather doesn’t look any better until perhaps late Thursday, or even Friday morning, based on the latest forecasts.