Tag: Somerset County Tournament

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.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY:  SCT Semifinals: (1) Ridge 11, (4) Rutgers Prep 0

Top-seed Ridge walked off fourth-seed Rutgers Prep in a ten-run rule win, 11-1, fueled by three home runs – by Jake Dolan, Casey Kucerka and Bode Ganny – in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, clinching its fifth straight berth in the title game.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the action, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on May 19, 2025:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY:  SCT Semifinals: (2) Immaculata 1, (11) Franklin 0

Junior Ryan Auten struck out 13 hitters en route to a no-hitter, helping second-seed Immaculata get past 11th-seed Franklin, 1-0, to get to its first Somerset County Tournament final since 2019, when it won the second of back-to-back championships, and its record 14th SCT title overall.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the action, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from TD Bank Park in Bridgewater on May 19, 2025:

by Mike Pavlichko

Three home runs help Ridge walk off Rutgers Prep, 11-0, in SCT semifinals; will face Immaculata for the title Wednesday night

The runs came in waves for the Red Devils.

After a run in the first, top-seeded Ridge put together a five-run second, fueled by a three-run homer by Jake Dolan, his third of the year. Then it was a five-run fifth, capped by a two-run homer by pinch-hitter Bode Ganny – his first – that ended the game, giving the Red Devils an 11-0 win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Zoned Sports Academy of Bridgewater.

That puts Ridge back in the Somerset County finals for the fifth straight season, where they will meet Immaculata Wednesday night at six back at TD Bank Park. Immaculata was a 1-0 winner over 11-seed Franklin in the day’s first semifinal, behind a no-hitter from Ryan Auten.

The Spartans are in the finals for the first time since 2019, when they won the second of back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. They beat Ridge that year, and this will be their sixth all-time meeting in the finals.

Ridge got on the board in the first, when Ryan Luo led off with a double. He went to second on a wild pitch and came in on a sac fly by Quinn Dashefsky.

In the second, after a leadoff strikeout of Sawyer Paul, Nicholson doubled, but was caught stealing third. Dan Rafanello singled, and Matt Bober walked. Then Luo popped one up in the infield that was dropped, scoring a run, and Dolan hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 5-0. After Kieran Callanan was hit by a pitch, and a stolen base, a single by Dashefsky made it 6-0.

Ridge starter Aidan Stieglitz was cruising, and Rutgers Prep starter Peter Wheeler started to settle in, throwing scoreless frames in the third and fourth.

But the wheels came off in the fifth. Callanan walked to lead off the inning. Dashefsky singled and reached second when Callanan beat a throw home to make it 7-0. That was the end of Wheeler’s day, byt Ryan Takacs didn’t fare much better. He was greeted by two-run homer by Kucerka to make it 9-0, and after Sawyer Paul reached on an E6, Ganny’s two-run blast to left ended it.

Aidan Steiglitz went four innings, allowing juts two hits, striking out six; he got the win to improve to 7-2 for Ridge. The loss went to Prep’s Wheeler, who’s now 4-2.

Click below for postgame reaction with Aidan Steiglitz, Jake Dolan and Ridge head coach Tom Blackwell, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: