Tag: Somerset County Tournament

by Mike Pavlichko

First Round of Somerset County Tournament gets underway with just one minor upset among first six games

The Somerset County Tournament is underway for both the boys and girls, and there was just one first-round upset out of the six opening round games played, as 13th-seed Montgomery beat 12th-seed Ridge on the girls’ side, 38-37.

Everything else went to chalk, and now Thursday night’s winners advance to Saturday’s second round, with games to be played at higher seeds.

From here on out, all the remaining games will be played on successive Saturdays, starting with this weekend’s second round. The quarterfinals next weekend are at higher seeds, but the semifinals on February 14 will be played at Franklin High School, with games at 10 am, noon, 2 pm and 4 pm, though tip times for individual games will depend on who advances.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the semis, as well as the finals. Those will be held on Saturday, February 21 at Montgomery High School, with the girls’ championship at 1 pm, and the boys’ title tilt at 3:00.

Here’s a rundown of Thursday night’s first-round SCT action, along with next round matchups.

SCT GIRLS’ TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND

(13) Montgomery 38, (12) Ridge 37: The Cougars managed just seven combined points in the second and third quarters, but overcame a six-point deficit heading into the fourth to win by one. Trailing 37-35, Senior Sophia Lehmann knocked down a three with 24 seconds to go from the left wing – her only basket of the game – to put Montgomery up 38-37. Ridge got the ball into the frontcourt and called timeout with 12.4 seconds left, and they eventually got a look at a long triple that fell short, with Monty getting the rebound in the paint to secure the win. Aliza Schulberg and Alia Johnson led the Cougars (8-6), while Ridge (7-9) got 15 from Maggie Kiessling.

(11) Mount St. Mary 56, (14) Immaculata 44 (OT): Sophia Crum scored 20 points – including her own 5-0 run late in the fourth to force overtime, where the Lions eventually got the win, just their fifth of the season (5-10). Crum then had all six points for Mount in overtime. The Spartans (7-10) had an eight-point hafltime lead, 27-19, in a low-scoring game, but the Lions were able to get it closer, took a two-point lead with over a minute to go and held Immaculata off the board for the rest of the way to survive and advance.

(10) Bridgewater-Raritan 57, (15) Manville 14: Three players scored in double-figures for the Panthers, who got 19 from Amanda Ciser, 12 from Safaa Fakhry and 11 from Juliet Kohutis, moving above .500 (9-8) with the win. Manville (8-6) got seven in defeat from Sadie Fleming.

Second Round and Beyond…

  • (9) Watchung Hills at (8) Somerville (11 am), winner at (1) Rutgers Prep
  • (13) Montgomery at (5) Bound Brook (noon), winner at (4) Hillsborough
  • (11) Mount St. Mary at (6) Pingry (1 pm), winner at (3) Franklin
  • (10) Bridgewater-Raritan at (7) Bernards (2:30 pm), winner at (2) Gill St. Bernard’s

SCT BOYS’ TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND

(12) Bernards 51, (13) Manville 47: The Mountaineers (8-9) held off a furious Mustang fourth-quarter rush to move on the second round. Ahead 41-22, Bernards was outscored 25-10 in the final period on inspired nights from Jimmy Cuadra – who scored 19 points – and Josh D’Ambrosio, who added 18, connecting three times from downtown. Manville dropped to 11-7 with the loss, after they secured their first outright division title since 1987 Wednesday night with a win over College Achieve Central. Casey Hockele scored a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds, while Ryan Frame added 18, 15 of which came on a quintet of treys.

(11) Watchung Hills 60, (14) Bound Brook 55: The Crusaders (13-6) got out to a 19-13 lead after one, but the Warriors (4-9) chipped away and used a strong third quarter – outscoring the Crusaders 17-11 – to get by Bound Brook at home by five. Four players scored in double-figured for Watchung Hills, led by 21 from Brady Simo and 14 from Will Randolph, as the Warriors hit nine times from beyond the arc. Bound Brook nailed seven from downtown, including three from Jasahn Canary, who finished with 15. Dorian Roundtree led with 18 in defeat.

(10) Somerville 72, (15) College Achieve Central 30: The Pioneers (12-6) played smothering second-quarter defense, extending a five-point lead to 43-14 at the half on the strength of a 26-2 period. Of the dozen players who got in the game for Somerville, eleven scored, led by 17 from James Hampton and another 12 from Messiah Bradley. Jayden Halley finished with 14 to lead College Achieve (1-11).

Second Round and Beyond…

  • (9) Franklin at (8) Ridge (noon), winner at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s
  • (12) Bernards at (5) Immaculata (3 pm), winner at (4) Pingry
  • (11) Watchung Hills at (6) Hillsborough (10:30 am), winner at (3) Montgomery
  • (10) Somerville at (7) Bridgewater-Raritan (1 pm), winner at (2) Rutgers Prep

by Mike Pavlichko

SCT’s top seeds weren’t unexpected, but that doesn’t mean we know what to expect once things get underway

It’s a rule of life, or maybe of simple mathematics. No matter how many groups of teams you make, or how balanced they are, there’s always going to be a division champion, and there will always be a last place team. That’s the way it is.

But one look around Somerset County basketball this season and you realize just about anything can happen when it comes to tournament time.

Just ask last year’s Rutgers Prep girls’ team, which was 17-4 last season when they were bounced from the county tournament by eventual Group 4 champion Hillsborough. Not that it was a shock in its own right; we all know how good Hillsborough has been, now victors of two straight sectional championships and a state title in 2025, but it had almost come as a given Rutgers Prep would be in the finals.

In fact, they had won seven of the last nine SCT titles heading into last season – and lost to Franklin there in 2018 and 2019.

That said, could this year’s tournament be as wide open?

It certainly looks so on the boys’ side. While no one but Rutgers Prep or Gill St. Bernard’s has won a title since 2014 – the year late Ian Progin’s Hillsborough squad won its first-ever SCT – a number of teams might be able to pull it off.

Gill is the top seed on the boys’ side (see the full bracket and story here), but let’s take a look at who beat who:

Gill St. Bernard’s: The Knights haven’t lost to a Skyland opponent all year, and they’ve beaten all the top teams they’ve faced in Somerset County. That includes a 90-84 home win over Rutgers Prep back on January 10th. They won by eleven at Montgomery two nights before, and came back and beat Pingry by 31.

Rutgers Prep: The Argonauts beat Montgomery, 89-73, but then lost to Pingry and Gill, both by six, both on the road. Still, the coaches voted them the two seed, and it’s likely out-of-conference schedule and wins came into play here.

Montgomery: The Cougars’ only three losses have come to Prep, Gill and Linden in non-conference play. It should be noted that Montgomery, Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep all have lost to Linden this year, but Ethan Lin and company came the closest, falling by two at the Warrior Classic down at Manasquan on January 3rd.

Pingry: The Big Blue got the fourth seed behind Montgomery and Rutgers Prep, even though Pingry beat Prep head-to-head, 64-58 back on January 8th. But Pingry also had the big loss to GSB, and a five-point loss at home to Hillsborough just a couple days later. Their remaining schedule strength may have played a factor as well, but that doesn’t mean you can count them out.

But they aren’t the only ones who can win this tournament.

What about Immaculata? The Spartans are 12-3, 4-1 in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division behind Pingry, which they only lost to by five earlier this month. They lost to Rutgers Prep by just six at home and play Gill St. Bernard’s tonight (Tuesday).

Or Bridgewater-Raritan? The Panthers started the year 8-0 before getting knocked off by Immaculata, 64-57, on January 8th. They also have losses to Prep by six, to Gill (74-46) and to Hillsborough by 18. They’ve lost four of their last seven, but there’s still time to right that ship, and the Saturday schedule in the SCT could benefit them.

The way the brackets go, with the top four-seeds getting first round byes, here’s how the quarterfinals would look if it all went chalk, with previous results:

  • (8) Franklin at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s (will meet Feb. 10)
  • (5) Immaculata at (4) Pingry (Pingry won 64-59 on Jan. 6)
  • (6) Hillsborough at (3) Montgomery (Montgomery won 53-37 on Jan. 13)
  • (7) Bridgewater-Raritan at (2) Rutgers Prep (Rutgers Prep won 72-56 on Jan. 13)

Over on the girls’ side (see the full bracket and story here) it could get interesting, too. Rutgers Prep got the top seed over Gill St. Bernard’s, with the two having pretty similar records (Argos 14-2, Knights 13-3) and having not met head-to-head yet. They’ll play Thursday, in fact, in Somerset at 5:30 pm, a game you can hear live on Central Jersey.

“Being named the No. 1 seed, I think there’s a lot of respect there,” said Argonauts’ head coach Mary Klinger. “But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to win games.”

Prep’s lone losses have come to Red Bank Catholic by three in the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic down in Toms River on December 29th, and by ten to Cardinal O’Hara (PA) at the Blue Star Invitational in Pennsylvania on January 4th.

Gill isn’t a total surprise as the defending champions, but considering they lost one of their top stars every in Gandy Malou-Mamel to graduation (UConn) as well as Sidney Quinn, Maya Abramson, Tessa Lozner and Cassidy Moore – 70 percent of last year’s scoring – the two-seed is quite an accomplishment indeed.

And last year? These two blew out each other, an oddity in their rivalry: Rutgers Prep 61-38 on December 17th, and Gill St. Bernard’s 64-27 in the rematch on January 16th.

But they’re not the only ones with a chance. There’s Hillsborough, despite losing the school’s all-time leading scorer – girls’ or boys’ – in Cesci Schiro, plus fellow starters Reghan Bice and Mya Loniewski, whose sisters are still on the team.

The Raiders were 26-6 last year, but through 16 games are a win better than last year, when they were 13-3 at this point; they’re currently 14-2. In fact, the only public school they’ve lost to the last two years is Franklin. ‘Boro’s other loss this year is to Gill.

We saw them last week in a solid win over probably the second-best team in the GMC, East Brunswick, and they look crisp, like they know what they’re doing. What they don’t look like is a team trying to figure it out after massive graduation losses. The epitome of picking up where you left off.

Which brings us to the fourth-seeded Warriors. They’re playing for their third coach in four seasons, after longtime mentor Audrey Taylor stepped down in 2023, Daryl Robinson took over the last two years, and Jimmy Kreie is now leading the program.

The Warriors have been pesky, but lost double-digit games each of the last three years. This season, they are 10-6, even after a rough 1-4 start the the season in which they lost to Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s, Demarest (15-2) in the Shore games before the holidays, and Immaculate Heart in the Holiday Hoopfest (12-3) over the break.

But they’ve gone 9-2 since and beat Hillsborough 72-44 on the road back on January 6th, pulling away with a big second quarter.

If all went to chalk, here would be the quarterfinal matchups, with only one of them having met already; the other three haven’t, nor do they have a regular season matchup on the schedule:

  • (8) Somerville at Rutgers Prep
  • (5) Bound Brook at Hillsborough
  • (6) Pingry at (3) Franklin (Pingry won 57-40 on Jan. 13)
  • (7) Bernards at (2) Gill St. Bernard’s

Bound Brook-Hillsborough could be the most entertaining of the bunch. They haven’t played since 2023, and 82-69 Raider win.

by Mike Pavlichko

Defending Somerset County Tournament champion Gill St. Bernard’s boys get top-seed, with Rutgers Prep, Montgomery and Pingry also getting double-byes and top four seeds

Defending champion Gill St. Bernard’s was awarded the top-seed in the boys’ basketball Somerset County Tournament in a vote by the coaches Monday night.

The Knights are 15-2 overall, and the Skyland Conference Delaware Division champs, 5-0 in division play with wins over two other teams seeded in the top four, Rutgers Prep and Montgomery.

The rest of the top four seeds go to Rutgers Prep (11-6) at No. 2, followed by Montgomery (14-3) third, and Pingry (11-4) in fourth. All of the top four seeds get double-byes to the quarterfinals, which are scheduled for Saturday, February 7 at the higher seeded schools.

First round byes go to seeds five through nine, who will jump ahead to the second round this Saturday’s. Immaculata was awarded the fifth seed, followed by Hillsborough, Bridgewater-Raritan, Ridge and Franklin.

The last six seeds in the 15-team field went to Somerville at ten, followed by Watchung Hills, Manville, Bernards, Bound Brook and College Achieve Central.

First-round games will be Thursday night, with the following schedule at higher seeds, times TBD:

  • (15) College Achieve Central at (10) Somerville, winner at (7) Bridgewater-Raritan
  • (14) Bound Brook at (11) Watchung Hills, winner at (6) Hillsborough
  • (13) Manville at (12) Bernards, winner at (5) Immaculata

Below is the full 2026 Somerset County Tournament Boys’ Basketball bracket:

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the SCT semifinals on Saturday, January 14 at Franklin High School, with games to be broadcast to be determined. We’ll also broadcast live from the finals on Saturday, January 21 at Montgomery High School. The girls’ final will be at 1 pm, the boys’ at 3 pm.

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls awarded top seed in Somerset County Tournament; Gill St. Bernards, Franklin, Hillsborough round out top four

The top-seed in the Somerset County Tournament for girls basketball has gone to Rutgers Prep, in a vote by the coaches Monday night.

The Argonauts are 14-2 on the season, and are tied for first in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division with Gill St. Bernard’s, which is 13-3 overall. However, both teams are 3-0 in the division, and will square off for the first and only time this regular season on Thursday night at 5:30, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Gill is the defending SCT champion, but Rutgers Prep won the last four prior, in 2020 and 2022 through 2025. There was no county tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The top four seeds were rounded out with Franklin (10-6) third and Hillsborough (14-2) fourth. The top four seeds get double-byes to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Saturday, February 7 at higher seeds.

Seeds five through nine get first round byes to this Saturday’s second round. Those went to Bound Brook at five, followed by Pingry, Bernards, Somerville and Watchung Hills.

The last six seeds in the 15-team field went to Bridgewater-Raritan at ten, followed by Mount St. Mary, Ridge, Montgomery, Immaculata and Manville.

First-round games will be Thursday night, with the following schedule at higher seeds, times TBD:

  • (15) Manville at (10) Bridgewater-Raritan, winner at (7) Bernards
  • (14) Immaculata at (11) Mount St. Mary, winner at (6) Pingry
  • (13) Montgomery at (12) Ridge, winner at (5) Bound Brook.

Below is the full 2026 Somerset County Tournament Girls’ Basketball bracket:

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have coverage of the SCT semifinals on Saturday, January 14 at Franklin High School, with games to be broadcast to be determined. We’ll also broadcast live from the finals on Saturday, January 21 at Montgomery High School. The girls’ final will be at 1 pm, the boys’ at 3 pm.

by Mike Pavlichko

Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational Finals Preview: GMC Gold Co-Champs East Brunswick Magnet, New Brunswick tussle Friday for title

When the Greater Middlesex Conference realigned its baseball divisions this year, with more emphasis on results and team strength than purely school size, conference leadership felt they had it right.

Well, here we are, Memorial Day weekend upon us, and the two teams that shared the Gold Division title are playing for the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational title.

East Brunswick Magnet and New Brunswick both have had excellent seasons. The Tigers started the season 10-0, while the Zebras have taken just two losses all year.

Of course, one of those losses came to EB Magnet, but then again, the Tigers also lost to New Brunswick, splitting the series as evenly as possible. Yes, each team beat the other by identical 5-3 scores. How much more even can you get?

The rubber match will decide it on the field, Friday afternoon on the red turf of Edison High School

RAY CIPPERLY GMC INVITATIONAL FINAL AT-A-GLANCE

Teams:
(2) East Brunswick Magnet Tigers (20-4, 12-2, GMC Gold Division co-champions)
(5) New Brunswick Zebras (14-2, 12-2, GMC Gold Division co-champions)

Head Coaches:
East Brunswick Magnet: Sean Radu, 1st season (20-4)
New Brunswick: Nico Vargas, 2nd season (21-11)

Probable Starters:
East Brunswick Magnet: Anthony Bienvenue (9-1, 1.58 ERA)
New Brunswick: Yeuri Garcia (3-1, 5.60 ERA)

Date and Time: Friday, May 23
Location: Edison High School
Listen On: Central Jersey Sports Radio, Pregame 5:40 pm (Click here to listen live!)
Announcer: Mike Pavlichko

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

East Brunswick Magnet coach Sean Radu

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

East Brunswick Magnet:
First round bye
Quarterfinals: def. (6) Dunellen, 9-4
Semifinals: Def. (2) North Brunswick, 8-7

New Brunswick:
First round bye
Quarterfinals: def. (4) Piscataway, 3-1
Semifinals: def. (1) JP Stevens, 4-2

TEAM LEADERS:

East Brunswick Magnet:

  • Batting Average: Braeden Cullen (.429), Jack Clements, Tommy O’Neill (.395)
  • RBI: Nomar Carreras (35), Stephan Zappola (26), Jack Clements (25)
  • HR: Nomar Carreras (5), Jack Clements (4), Anthony Bienvenue (2)
  • Walks: Joshua Carreras (19), Jack Clements, Anthony Bienvenue (17)
  • Stolen Bases: Tommy O’Neill (28), Nomar Carreras (26), Jack Clements (25)
  • Wins: Anthony Bienvenue (9), Nomar Carreras (5)
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Charlie Misura (0.89), Tommy O’Neill (1.40)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Anthony Bienvenue (74), Nomar Carreras (62)

New Brunswick:

  • Batting Average: Kelvin Heuston (.581), Joel Ramos (.389), Jose Omar Abreu (.385)
  • RBI: Jacob Henderson (22), Jose Encarnacion (15), Jose Omar Abreu (14)
  • HR: Jacob Henderson (1)
  • Walks: Kelvin Heuston (18), Ronaldy Peralta (15), Jacob Henderson, Alex Rodriguez (14)
  • Stolen Bases: Kelvin Heuston (33),Jose Omar Abreu (23), Devin Heuston, Ronaldy Peralta (13)
  • Wins: Elkin Reyes (5), Jacob Henderson (4)
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Jacob Henderson (0.97), Elkin Reyes (2.44)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Elkin Reyes (34), Jacob Henderson (16), Yeuri Garcia (15)

TEAM NUMBERS:

  • Runs Scored: East Brunswick Magnet 239 (10 per game), New Brunswick 169 (10.6 per game)
  • Runs Allowed: East Brunswick Magnet 88 (3.7 per game), New Brunswick 56 (3.5 per game)
  • Batting Average: East Brunswick Magnet .329, New Brunswick .319
  • Home Runs: East Brunswick Magnet 11, New Brunswick 1
  • Stolen bases: East Brunswick Magnet 162 (6.75 per game), New Brunswick 114 (7.1 per game)
  • ERA: East Brunswick Magnet 2.41, New Brunswick 2.67

PREVIOUS COVERAGE of the RAY CIPPERLY GMC INVITATIONAL

NOTES AND NUGGETS:

First timers…

Not only have East Brunswick Magnet and New Brunswick never won the GMC Invitational – which is only in its sixth season – or the main tournament, they’ve never been to a final in either event. So this is a new experience for both of these programs, and one will claim its first hardware ever.

Already a champ…

Ok, maybe it’s not a totally new experience for one of these teams. East Brunswick Magnet won three games to take the title in the New Jersey Technical Athletic Council (NJTAC) Tournament for Groups 1 and 2. Their first game – in the quarterfinals – was all the way back on April 10th, when they beat Piscataway Magnet, 10-3. From there it was a 2-0 win over Pennsauken Tech in the semifinals on May 12th, and this Tuesday they won the championship in dramatic fashion, beating Newark Tech 7-6, after trailing 6-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Stephen Zappola knocked in the tying and winning runs with a two-out, two-RBI single.

Both pitchers were winners…

In the Somerset County Tournament final on Wednesday, Ridge’s starter had lost to Immaculata in their regular season matchup, and the Spartans’ starter did the same against the Red Devils. In this one, it’s the opposite. East Brunswick Magnet and New Brunswick each beat the other team, 5-3, in splitting the season series. The Tigers took the opener, and Anthony Beinvenue got the win, allowing seven hits and three runs – all earned – while striking out nine and walking three. But when the Zebras got them back, Yeuri Garcia got the win, though he only pitched three innings. He gave up three runs, walked one, and struck out one.

Another Magnet?

In 2023, Perth Amboy Magnet became the first of the former Middlesex County Vo-Tech schools to win a GMC tournament title of any kind, taking the Invitational as a four-seed over the Tigers. Piscataway Magnet has never been to either final.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY:  SCT Finals: (1) Immaculata 3, (2) Ridge 0

Second-seed Immaculata won its record 15th Somerset County Tournament Championship with a 3-0 win over top-seed Ridge, thanks in part to a solid six innings from starter Jackson Trego, and a two-RBI double by Colin Kassai that gave the Spartans’ starting pitcher some breathing room.

Click below to listen to Alec Crouthamel and Dylan Allen call all the action, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on May 21, 2025:

GAME STORY: Spartans win! Immaculata tops Ridge, 3-0, to win record 15th Somerset County title

MORE COVERAGE:

Immaculata’s 15th SCT championship came after four seasons of hard work by Cust and his program to bring home another trophy

This one brought CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko a smile: Immaculata’s Jayden Capindica wins a championship in the ballpark where he grew up

by Mike Pavlichko

This one brought CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko a smile: Immaculata’s Jayden Capindica wins a championship in the ballpark where he grew up

He thinks his first time at TD Bank Park, to see a Somerset Patriots game, was when he was about three. So give or take, Jayden Capindica has been around the ballpark in Bridgewater for some 15 years.

He and his family were a constant fixture at games, and I was the on field host for many years, entertaining fans with karaoke contests, musical chairs, dizzy bat races, and whatever else the Patriots’ marketing team could draw up.

Making my way to all corners of the ballpark, you’d get to know the regulars. The Superfans, we’d call them, the ones who were there every night, whether it was 50 degrees and drizzling, or 90 and with high humidity on a blazing summer Sunday in August.

Capindica was one of them. He’d run around the concourse, being chased around by his mom – or sometimes me – eventually paying more attention to the games as he got older. I was there for the opening season in 1999 – well before he was born – then came back in 2007 and continued on for 12 more seasons, getting introduced every night by longtime, now retired, PA man Paul Spychala.

We lost touch when I left, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then, in 2022, our first time covering Somerset County baseball on CJSR (we began with baseball in 2021, but only did the GMC in a short season where there was no SCT) our opening game was out at Diamond Nation in Flemington. It was April 20th, the Spartans taking on Somerville.

On a blustery day – which also destroyed our tent as l was going through starting lineups – I’m looking through the lineups, and a woman popped her head around, and said, “Hey, do you remember me, I’m Jayden’s mom!”

Of course I did. One of the thrills of this job is seeing high school players go on to college, and sometimes they turn pro, and you can say “I covered them at 16!” Anthony Davis, Kyle Wilson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and many more to mention, I covered in high school. But this was different.

The kid with the Million Dollar Smile was now playing high level high school baseball, and he was good, too.

Wednesday night back at TD Bank Ballpark – where he is such a fan of the team that he actually works concessions at the stadium – it all turned surreal. Here was a kid who would scamper around the middle concourse, and run the bases in the postgame run the Patriots would have on Sunday afternoons, dreaming it would be him out there one day.

On Wednesday night, he scored the first run of the game after hitting a one-out double in the fourth, coming to the plate after an error on a ground ball to short.

Wonder if he ever thought that, when he was crossing home plate as a four-year-old, he’d be bringing home what turned out to be the winning run for his high school baseball team on a field that now is full of future Yankees’ stars.

If he didn’t then, he’s thinking about it now. Congrats, Jayden! You earned this one!

“It’s truly a storybook ending,” he told me after the game. And before I let him go, I had to get a picture.

Enjoy!

Listen to Immaculata’s Jayden Capindica after the Spartans’ 3-0 win in the SCT title game.
by Mike Pavlichko

Immaculata’s 15th SCT championship came after four seasons of hard work by Cust and his program to bring home another trophy

Kevin Cust, the Immaculata baseball team’s head coach, has won Somerset County titles as both a player for the Spartans and as their head coach, but this one had to be extra special.

‘Lata won the county in 2018 and 2019, then COVID hit, and baseball went away for a season. The next few years were a bit of up and down. They went just 8-13 in 2021, the first year back, but went to the Non-Public South B semifinals in the state playoffs, with no SCT that year due to the short season.

The next year, 2022, was a 14-13 campaign, but brought a North B sectional championship, a miraculous come-from-behind win over Gill St. Bernard’s, though they would fall to upstart Ranney in the Group B final, 10-1, down in Hamilton.

In 2023, they went 9-15, and last year made it to the semifinals and lost to Ridge at TD Bank Park, finishing a stronger 17-9. And Cust felt good about this season, especially with the addition of a stud pitcher who transferred in from Del Val, Ryan Auten.

From the get go, Immaculata was winning close games. They shared the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title with Ridge, both going 7-3 in the division, but the Red Devils got the top seed.

Wednesday night, at TD Bank Park, Immaculata decided it on the field, winning its record 15th SCT trophy with a 3-0 win behind a solid start from Jackson Trego, with help from a key Ridge error that led to three unearned runs, and got to the final on a 1-0 no-hit win over Franklin Monday in the semis thrown by Ryan Auten.

So really, this was a culmination of all those years of hard work, for a group of seniors like Jayson Labrador, Colin Kassai, Aiden English and Jayden Capindica, and also younger players, like Auten and Jackson Trego, juniors who got wins in the semis and finals, respectively. Plus many other players who played key roles throughout the year, no matter how large or small.

Here’s what Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust had to say about the Spartans’ championship after the game, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spartans win! Immaculata tops Ridge, 3-0, to win record 15th Somerset County title

For the first 40 minutes or so of Wednesday night’s Somerset County Tournament final, the story was Ridge starting pitcher Aidan Steiglitz, who was mowing down Immaculata’s hitters. Through three innings, he had struck out eight, nine straight, five in a row looking.

The game turned in the top of the fourth though, where top-seed Ridge made two errors, and second-seed Immaculata capitalized, scoring three runs. It was all they would need in a 3-0 win over the Red Devils that gave them their record 15th county championship overall, and first since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019, the second of which came over Ridge.

In the decisive fourth, Luca Catanzarite led off and hit a fly ball to right that was misplayed by Toby Nicholson for an error, leaving Catanzarite on second. But he got picked off with the next batter at the plate.

That was Jayden Capindica, who scored – after a strikeout by Jayson Labrador – when Owen Schilling hit a ground ball to deep short. Kieran Callanan made a good throw to first, but first baseman Sawyer Paul missed it, and Capindica came around to score to make it 1-0.

Justin Labrador then singled, and with two on, Colin Kassai delivered what would be a big blow, a two-RBI double to right field that scored two more unearned runs, and gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

From that point, ‘Lata starter Jackson Trego got more confidence. He got Ridge out 1-2-3 in the fourth. And he wound up going six shutout innings, allowing just four hits, walking none, hitting one batter.

Ridge had a chance in the fifth. Toby Nicholson got hit by a pitch to lead it off, and Dan Rafanello singled. But on a sac bunt by Matt Bober, catcher Jackson Lewis fielded and got a force at third, then Trego got a fly ball out and a K to end the inning.

Ridge (16-5) would get one on in each of the last two innings, but fail to score.

Trego got the win for Immaculata (14-7) to improve to 4-1. Stieglitz dropped to 7-3, striking out 12 and allowing just four hits and three unearned runs in a hard luck loss.

Click below for postgame reaction from Immaculata’s Jackson Trego and Colin Kassai, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

SCT Finals Preview: Skyland Delaware Co-Champs Ridge, Immaculata will settle it on the field for Somerset County title

After a split in the regular season series, and a sharing of the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title, the coaches in Somerset County awarded Ridge the No. 1 seed in the county tournament, and even Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust felt they deserved it.

But seeds don’t mean anything. They’re just an orderly way to assign games to teams. If they were a ranking of who was expected to win, why bother playing the tournament?

But they did play the tournament, and they will play the final – when, thanks to Mother Nature, is another question – and it will feature the No. 1 seed Ridge vs. the No. 2 seed Immaculata, just like many figured it would play out.

Now, it’s time to decide the top team in Somerset County on the field.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT FINALS AT-A-GLANCE

Teams:
(1) Ridge Red Devils (16-4, 7-3, Skyland Conference Delaware Division co-champions)
(2) Immaculata Spartans (13-7, 7-3, Skyland Conference Delaware Division co-champions)

Head Coaches:
Ridge: Tom Blackwell, 19th season (304-197)
Immaculata: Kevin Cust, 12th season (165, 137)

Probable Starters:
Ridge: Aidan Stieglitz (7-2, 1.15 ERA)
Immaculata: Jackson Trego (3-1, 1.58 ERA) or TBA

Date and Time: Wednesday, May 21, 6 pm
Location: TD Bank Park, Bridgewater
Listen On: Central Jersey Sports Radio, Pregame 5:40 pm (Click here to listen live!)
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko & Alec Crouthamel

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

Ridge coach Tom Blackwell
Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Ridge:
Double-bye to quarterfinals
Quarterfinals: def. (8) Bernards, 7-1
Semifinals: def. (4) Rutgers Prep, 11-0 (5 inn.)

Immaculata:
Double-bye to quarterfinals
Quarterfinals: def. (7) Hillsborough, 10-9
Semifinals: def. (11) Franklin, 1-0

TEAM LEADERS:

Ridge:

  • Batting Average: Jake Dolan (.477), Sawyer Paul (.378), Quinn Dashefsky (.362)
  • RBI: Quinn Dashefsky (21), Jake Dolan (20), Casey Kucerka (14)
  • HR: Jake Dolan (3), Casey Kucerka, Aidan Steiglitz, Bode Ganny (1)
  • Walks: Kieran Callanan (19), Casey Kucerka (11), Jake Dolan (10)
  • Stolen Bases: Jake Dolan (20), Kieran Callanan (10)
  • Wins: Aidan Stieglitz (7), Jake Dolan (3)
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Casey Kucerka (1.08), Aidan Stieglitz (1.15)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Aidan Stieglitz (68), Lucas Liston (30)

Immaculata:

  • Batting Average: Justin Labrador (.359), Jason Labrador (.347), Owen Schilling (.339)
  • RBI: Owen Schilling (23), Connor Quinn, Colin Kassai (14)
  • HR: Owen Schilling, Connor Quinn (3), Colin Kassai (2)
  • Walks: Colin Kassai (12), Jayson Labrador (11), Jackson Lewis (11)
  • Stolen Bases: Justin Labrador, Luca Catanzarite (12), Jayden Capindica (9)
  • Wins: Ryan Auten (5), Jackson Trego (3)
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Jonathan Feltre (0.84), Jackson Trego (1.58)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Ryan Auten (60), Jackson Trego (29), Jonathan Feltre (23)

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Somerset County Tournament

Immaculata

Coverage of Ridge

NOTES AND NUGGETS:

Winningest SCT programs…

Between the Red Devils and Spartans, they’ve won the most Somerset County Tournament titles in the event’s 50-year history. Immaculata has won 14 times in 22 appearances, with ten of those coming in a 12-year span from 1998 to 2008, the most successful run in school history. They won from 1997 through 2002, again in 2004, and three more from 2006 through 2008. Two of those wins – in 2000 and 2002 – came over Ridge. But the Red Devils also have won their share. They’ve been to the finals 17 times and won seven, their first coming in 1976, and their most recent in 2022, when they were the top seed and beat sixth-seed Rutgers Prep, 6-0. Immaculata last won in 2019, the second of back-to-back wins, and that one came over Ridge, 6-5 in 12 innings, the most recent extra inning game in the SCT finals.

One losing pitcher will win…

Ridge and Immaculata split their two games this season, and both starters in the final pitched in that series, but in separate games, and their teams lost both. Aidan Steiglitz took the loss in a 10-4 defeat at Diamond Nation on April 9th, while Jackson Trego got the L in an 8-0 defeat at Ridge the next day. Stieglitz gave up seven runs, six earned, in that game, while much of the damage the Red Devils did in their win was after Trego departed, his team trailing 1-0.

Managing Pitches…

With a 6-0 lead and Ridge looking very much in control in the semifinals against Rutgers Prep, head coach Tom Blackwell decided he trusted his relievers enough to pull Aidan Stieglitz after three innings and just 45 pitches to keep him in the running to start the SCT final. And it paid off, since the bullpen – a combined two-inning effort from Casey Kucerka and Lucas Liston – shut out the Argonauts while the offense walked it off with five runs in the fifth with a pair of homers. That means he can come back Wednesday and will have 105 pitches to work with. (Same, if the final is postponed to Friday.) Ryan Auten of Immaculata threw 105 Monday, so he wouldn’t be able to come back Friday, needing four days’ rest per NJSIAA pitch count rules.

Familiar faces in finals, to each other…

Ridge and Immaculata have met five times in the finals. The first meeting came in 1984, a 2-0 win for the Red Devils, who beat the Spartans again in 1985, 5-0 for the county title. But Immaculata has won three straight finals meetings since then: 2-0 in the 2000 final, 10-0 the year after, and in 2019, 6-5 in 12 innings, the longest game in SCT finals history, innings-wise.

In that game, Ridge tied it in the bottom of the seventh, and no one would score until the 12th, when the Spartans’ Ryan Kabus hit a soft liner to right field to bring in Justin Pinckert, who beat out a bouncer to shortstop for an infield hit to lead off the inning.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

Ridge (7-10):

  • 1976:  Ridge def. Watchung Hills, 4-3 (10 inn.)
  • 1979:  Hillsborough def. Ridge, 2-0
  • 1980:  Ridge, def. Franklin, 7-1
  • 1984:  Ridge def. Immaculata, 2-0
  • 1985:  (2) Ridge def. (1) Immaculata, 5-0
  • 1987:  Somerville def. Ridge, 2-1
  • 1988:  (6) Bridgewater-Raritan West def. (1) Ridge, 3-1
  • 1989:  (1) Ridge def. Bridgewater-Raritan West, 5-4
  • 1995:  (1) Somerville def. (3) Ridge, 7-6
  • 2000:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 2-0
  • 2002:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 10-0 (ten-run rule)
  • 2011:  (8) Ridge def. (3) Hillsborough, 4-3 (8 inn.)
  • 2014:  (4) Hillsborough def. (2) Ridge, 4-3 (9 inn.)
  • 2019:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Ridge, 6-5 (12 inn.)
  • 2022:  (1) Ridge def. (6) Rutgers Prep, 6-0
  • 2023:  (12) Rutgers Prep def. (2) Ridge, 1-0
  • 2024: (1) Bridgewater-Raritan def. (3) Ridge, 10-7
Ridge players celebrate with the 2022 Somerset County Tournament Championship Trophy on the field at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on May 23, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Ridge is the only school in Somerset County to make the finals in every decade it’s been played. They had two finals appearance in the 1970s, six in the ’80s, one in the ’90s, two in the 2000s, three in the 2010s, and this will be their third in the 2020s.

Immaculata (14-8):

  • 1981: Manville def. Immaculata, 4-1
  • 1984: Ridge def. Immaculata, 2-0
  • 1985: (2) Ridge def. (1) Immaculata, 5-0
  • 1991: (1) Immaculata def. North Plainfield, 11-3
  • 1993:  (3) Watchung Hills def. (1) Immaculata, 5-4
  • 1994: (3) Immaculata, def. (1) Watchung Hills, 5-2 
  • 1996: (6) Bridgewater-Raritan def. (1) Immaculata, 7-5
  • 1997:  (2) Immaculata def. (1) Bridgewater-Raritan, 2-0
  • 1998:  (3) Immaculata def. (1) Bridgewater-Raritan, 3-2
  • 1999:  (1) Immaculata def. (6) Hillsborough, 8-0
  • 2000:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 2-0
  • 2001:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Montgomery, 6-1
  • 2002:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Ridge, 10-0
  • 2004:  (3) Immaculata def. (1) Hillsborough, 1-0
  • 2005:  (2) Hillsborough, def. (1) Immaculata 5-1
  • 2006:  (1) Immaculata def. (7) Pingry, 8-0
  • 2007:  (1) Immaculata def. (3) Hillsborough, 12-11 (10 inn.)
  • 2008:  (1) Immaculata def. (2) Hillsborough, 9-1
  • 2010:  (2) Montgomery def. (1) Immaculata, 13-3 (ten-run rule)
  • 2013:  (6) Bernards def. (5) Immaculata, 6-5
  • 2018:  (3) Immaculata def. (9) Montgomery, 6-5
  • 2019:  (2) Immaculata def. (5) Ridge, 6-5 (12 inn.)
Immaculata with the 2019 Somerset County Tournament championship trophy. (Source: Diamond Nation)

Immaculata is the winningest program in Somerset County Tournament history, with 14 titles, while Ridge is second with seven. Hillsborough is right behind the Red Devils with six county championships, while Somerville has won four.