Baseball ranking and notes: Skyland Conference and area UCC Top 10 after Week 6
This is a busy week for area baseball fans with the Union County and the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament finals and the Somerset County Tournament second round and quarterfinals.
Teams are also vying for postseason berths as the NJSIAA cutoff for power points is Saturday, May 18.
More: UCT baseball semis: Governor Livingston jumps to lead; Westfield wins in extras
More: 'A program win': North Hunterdon tops Hunterdon Central in 10 innings in H/W/S/T quarters
The seeding for the sectional tournaments is May 20 with the non-publics starting May 22 and the public schools beginning May 23.
This week’s Top 10
(records through Sat., May 11)
1. Bridgewater-Raritan (18-3) – last week No. 1: Only St. Joseph (Montvale) in Non-Public North A has more power points in the state than the Panthers. Kingsway (South), Manalapan (Central) and Hackensack (North 1) are the other Group 4 leaders who trail B-R. Impressive window dressing, but the Panthers are out to end an almost 30-year drought (1996) without a Somerset County Tournament title by B-R clubs. The task begins in the county quarterfinals Thursday against the winner of Monday afternoon’s second round Bernards at Montgomery game.
2. Westfield (16-3) – last week No. 2: The Blue Devils had a couple of great escapes to survive two-time defending Union County Tournament champ Cranford before winning 8-7 in nine innings. Westfield led 3-0, fell behind 5-3 in the sixth, rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh, fell behind again 7-5 in the ninth before winning it with three in its ninth. They play for their 16th county championship this Monday against second-seeded and No. 3-ranked Governor Livingston at 6 p.m. at Kean University.
3. Governor Livingston (18-3) – last week No. 3: The Highlanders left little mystery in Saturday’s Union County Tournament semifinal, clubbing Scotch Plains-Fanwood 10-0 in 4 ½ innings. They earned their 10th county final berth — making their first in 1996. The second-seeded GL will play top-seeded Westfield in this Monday’s 6 p.m. final at Kean. GL has won three county crowns.
4. North Hunterdon (15-5) – last week No. 5: Winners of 11 straight, eight by shutout, North Hunterdon is the No. 5 seed in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and face No. 6 Phillipsburg on Wednesday afternoon in the final at P’Burg at 4 p.m. Lions beat the Liners 5-4 on April 6 in a Skyland Conference inter-division game at Pburg. Junior Chris Sand pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout Saturday as the Lions ousted top seed Pope John 4-0. The Lions are looking for their first HWS title since they won in 2016.
5. Ridge (13-6) – last week No. 6: The Red Devils are the last team to beat North Hunterdon. That was April 23 when Ben Larner went 6 2/3 inning to win 2-0. They are 9-3 since and will open the Somerset County Tournament in Thursday’s quarterfinals against the winner of Monday’s No. 11 seed Pingry at No. 6 Hillsborough game. No. 3 seed Ridge has made two-straight county finals, losing to Rutgers Prep last season after beating the Argonauts in 2022.
6. Phillipsburg (15-5) – last week No. 7: Eight straight wins have moved the Stateliners from the unranked to No. 7 to No. 6. The sixth seeded Liners rallied from an 8-6 deficit Saturday to outlast No. 2 seed Sparta 10-9 in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament semis. They host No. 5 seed and fourth-ranked North Hunterdon for the title at 4 p.m. Wednesday. They last won the HWS in 2012. Pburg also beat Delaware Valley 4-2 on Thursday to clinch the Skyland Valley Division title.
7. Immaculata (12-3) – last week No. 8: The Skyland Raritan Division champs went 10 innings Tuesday with No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan before falling 7-1. Senior Nick Bozzo threw 5 2/3 strong innings. They bounced back with a 5-4 inter-division win over Hillsborough on Thursday. They begin play in the Somerset County Tournament quarters Thursday against the winner of Monday’s No. 10 Manville at No. 7 Somerville game. Immaculata has won 14 county tournaments, its first in 1991 and last in 2019.
8. Hunterdon Central (9-9) – last week No. 9: The Red Devils waged a memorable 10-inning battle in the H/WS/T quarters with No. 4 North Hunterdon, losing 1-0. Central recovered to beat defending North 2 Group 4 champ Bayonne 5-2 on Thursday as Mike Contiliano went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Senior Greg Kasperek earned the win.
9. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (14-5) – last week No. 4: The Raiders fell to St. Thomas Aquinas 2-0 Tuesday in a non-conference game before Saturday’s 11-0 loss to No. 3 Governor Livingston in a Union County Tournament semifinal. The Raiders are still in the hunt for a Union County Conference Watchung Division title. They are 6-2 in division with games left with Westfield (6-3), Governor Livingston (7-2), A.L. Johnson (0-10) and New Providence (2-8).
10. Watchung Hills (11-11) – last week unranked: The Warriors let a 3-1 lead against No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan get away in a 4-3 loss last Monday as the Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Watchung Hills won 5-0 at East Brunswick on Friday and 5-4 Saturday against Delaware Valley. They open the Somerset County Tournament as the No. 4 seed in Thursday’s quarterfinal against the winner of Monday’s game between No. 13 seed and defending champ Rutgers Prep and No. 5 Franklin.
Dropped out: Delaware Valley (9-6-1)
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: Skyland and area UCC Top 10 and notes after Week 6
