Tag: Ryan Auten

by Alec Crouthamel

Immaculata lefty Ryan Auten takes a big senior leap, and is 2026 CJSR Somerset County Player of the Year

Ryan Auten was already on a solid pace after his junior season.

The tall lefty sported a 2.80 ERA in 40 innings, with 69 strikeouts and 32 walks in his first season as a Spartan, after transferring in from Delaware Valley.

But Auten and his coaches knew there was still room to get even better.

The Wake Forest-bound southpaw took all of that room and then some, closing out his high school career with a dominant senior campaign, and has been named Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Player of the Year.

COMING TUESDAY: Central Jersey Sports Radio’s GMC Player of the Year

On the season, he finished 7-1 with a 0.74 ERA in 57 innings, all career bests. He also attacked hitters at a wildly efficient level, upping his strikeouts to 114 this season alone — he came into the year with 142 over the previous three years combined — and just 12 walks.

Auten went from pretty good to flat-out dominant, thanks to a strong offseason plan to focus on attacking batters early in the count, and finishing them off, with plenty of simulated game environments leading up to the year.

He allowed just six runs all year, no more than two in any outing, and struck out double-digit batters in all but one start.

Even from the first time he stepped on the rubber as a senior, it was apparent Auten was in for a big year. He finished off an opening week sweep of Hillsborough with a four-hit shutout, striking out 15 Raiders in 100 pitches flat.

With a daunting fastball and wipeout breaking ball combination, Auten was able to put Immaculata in a good position to win every single time he went out to pitch. The Spartans won seven of his nine starts this year, with the only losses coming against Winter Park (FL), where he still struck out 12 batters in five innings, and in an epic 1-0 pitcher’s duel against Watchung Hills in the Somerset County Tournament final. Auten pitched into the extra eighth inning in that one and struck out 15, before ultimately reaching his pitch count.

This year gave him a bonus, as well. He got to share the field with his younger brother, Bryson, for the first time as a senior and a freshman in high school. The younger Auten contributed heavily at the plate and on the mound, looking into his bright future, as well.

After a stellar prep career, Auten is headed to the ACC with the Demon Deacons, where he committed in November of his junior year. Wake Forest has made five straight NCAA Tournaments, and will look to continue its high level with Auten joining the fold next season.

Click below to hear CJSR’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Immaculata pitcher Ryan Auten, the 2026 CJSR Somerset County Player of the Year:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

  • Li Perez, Rutgers Prep: A four-year varsity player, Perez had his best year on the mound, going 6-2 with a 1.49 ERA, striking out 102 – a year after he came up one shy of 100, logging 99 last season. But he also contributed at the plate, hitting .356, with 15 RBI and two home runs.
  • Rob Centamore, Watchung Hills: A big reason for the Warriors’ success in 2026, he did it with his arm and his bat. As a pitcher, the senior was 8-0 with a 0.97 ERA, best on the team. And a big win in the Somerset County Tournament semis propelled them to the finals, where they beat top-seed Immaculata. He also hit .353 (second to Jacob Jaconski at .460) with 22 RBI and led the team with three home runs.
  • Jake Dolan, Ridge: A senior centerfielder, not only did he hit .436 to lead the Red Devils, with a team-best 36 RBI – the most by any Ridge player since at least 2011, and the fourth-best single season total in program history – he was an excellent reliever. He pitched a perfect final inning and two-thirds to clinch the North 2, Group 4 championship, in a 3-2 win over Watchung Hills. In nine appearances, he allowed runs in only three.
  • Michael Lobosco, Bridgewater-Raritan: The senior catcher took over from the excellent JR Rosado full-time in 2026 and managed ten different pitchers this season, and even threw two innings himself. In addition to managing the staff well, helping guide the Panthers to semifinal berths both in the county tournament and state sectionals, he hit .352 to lead Bridgewater, with 26 RBI and one homer.
  • Luca Catanzarite, Immaculata: Just a sophomore, the Spartans’ centerfielder and leadoff hitter led the team with a .427 batting average, while knocking in 19 runs and hitting two home runs. He’ll be a centerpiece of the offense – and the middle defense – for years to come.
by Mike Pavlichko

Ryan Auten’s two-hit gem gives No. 1 Immaculata 6-0 win over No. 2 Ridge, two-game sweep of Red Devils

Wake Forest-bound Ryan Auten threw his second complete game of the year, and No. 1 Immaculata picked up a 3-0 home win over No. 2 Ridge Wednesday at Diamond Nation in Flemington, sweeping the season series, and all but securing the top-seed in the Somerset County Tournament.

Auten was throwing fire, as he always does, right from the first pitch of the ball game. 

He struck out the side in the first, and wound up fanning 13 overall across seven innings of work.  It was his first complete game since he won a 3-0 contest here in Flemington against Hillsborough in the opening series of the season.

The Spartans improved to 9-2 on the season, their lone losses coming out of conference, to Winter Park on a Spring Break trip to Florida, and to Delsea in Gloucester County this past weekend.

Like it did in Monday’s 3-0 win, Immaculata got on the board early, and added insurance from there.

Justin Labrador led off with a grounder to second that was bobbled, and scored an error. Luca Catanzerite followed with a walk, and Owen Schilling then knocked a base-hit to left field. Labrador came in to score, and with the throw coming to the plate, both runners tried to take an extra base. Catanzerite ended up at third, but Schilling was thrown out at second for the first out of the inning. Nehemiah Diaz made it 2-0 with a single of his own, plating Catanzerite.

The Spartans would add another run in the fourth, on a sac fly by Jackson Lewis – scoring Conor Quinn, who had walked – making it 3-0.

And then, they got three more insurance runs in the sixth. Reliever Carson Scott had replaced starter Dimitri Romer to start the bottom of the fifth, tossing a scoreless inning, but after walking Quinn to lead it off, and giving up a single to Andrew Wheeler, head coach Tom Blackwell pulled him for Andy Yuan. He reached on a 4-6 fielder’s choice that erased Wheeler, but allowed Quinn to score from third, making it 4-0.

After a Justin Labrador line out to second for the second out of the inning, Catanzerite got aboard on a pitch that glanced slightly off his helmet, then Schilling grounded a ball to short that was booted, driving in Lewis. With Diaz at the plate, Schilling tried to steal second, but the throw got past the second baseman Lucas Grob, skittered into center field, and Catanzerite scored to make it 6-0 Immaculata.

All the while, Auten was dealing. He allowed a single to Romer in the second with one out, but stranded him after getting a fly out to center field and a strikeout. Jake Dolan singled to left with one out in the third in the third, but he was stranded when the next to batters fanned.

And that was the sum total of Ridge’s offensive output at the plate, running into back-to-back ace pitchers for Immaculata: Auten on Wednesday, Cole Raymond the day before.

Ridge drops to 11-3 with the loss, all three losses coming in Delaware Division play (3-3): two to the Spartans and one to Hunterdon Central. The Immaculata defeats are their only losses against Somerset County squads. Dimitri Romer took the loss to fall to 2-1.

Auten got the win to improve to 3-0 for the Spartans, who are 6-0 in Skyland Delaware play, with one more to go before the seeding meeting on Tuesday, May 5th, which was moved to one day earlier due to a scheduling conflict.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel with Immaculata pitcher Ryan Auten and head coach Kevin Cust, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

VIDEO: Watch the final out of Ryan Auten’s no-hitter for Immaculata in the SCT semifinals!

Pitching well in a big game is always a big deal, but throwing a no-hitter to get your team back to the county semifinals is even bigger.

But that’s what Ryan Auten did for Immaculata on Monday.

The junior transfer from Delaware Valley – who came in with much fanfare – turned in a performance head coach Kevin Cust said after the game was “the best he threw all year.”

He allowed seven baserunners – three by error, two by walk, and two by fielder’s choice – but no hits in seven innings of work, striking out 13. The seventh was the only inning he didn’t record a strikeout, and he struck out the side twice – in the second and the fourth. No runner got past first base the entire day.

Click below to watch the final out, with play-by-play as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ryan Auten complete game no-hitter sends Immaculata to SCT finals for first time since 2019 with 1-0 win over Franklin

For the first time since before COVID – and back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019 – Immaculata is going back to the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.

And a big reason why is Ryan Auten, a much-ballyhooed transfer in from Delaware Valley, who threw a complete-game no-hitter, striking out 13 in a 1-0 victory for the second-seeded Spartans over upset-minded 11-seed Franklin, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The Warriors (10-8) actually got eight baserunners against ‘Lata, but a few were errors, a couple fielders choices, and a couple of walks. But they could get nothing across.

Immaculata (13-7) got its only run in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Luca Catanzarite singled, then Jayden Capindica hit a ball of starting pitcher Dylan Shah’s glove, that was picked cleanly in front of second base by the shortstop, Mike Schiermayer. Capindica beat the throw, but it was in the dirt and got up the line, allowing Catanzarite to score.

But that was all they’d get, thanks to good Franklin defense. After a pop up out, Owen Schilling reached on a fielder’s choice to third, where Stanley Madera made a great throw to the plate, and backup catcher Jacob Gordon applied the tag to Capindica for the second out.

Auten struck out 13 in the no-hitter, and improved to 5-1. Dylan Shah took the loss to fall to 1-4.

Immaculata will face top-seed Ridge – the team they shared the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title with – in Wednesday night’s 6 pm final at TD Bank Park, which you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. The Red Devils beat fourth-seed Rutgers Prep 11-0 in five innings in Monday’s second semifinal.

Click below for postgame reaction with Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust and pitcher Ryan Auten, presented by Sportsple at Metuchen.