Immaculata coach Kevin Cust, flanked by assistants Josh Ake and Chris Thompson, address team after 7-6 victory over Bridgewater-Raritan in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.
A series of huge at bats turned a two-run sixth inning deficit into a lead and Immaculata, No. 8 in the NJ.com statewide Top 20, fended off a very game Bridgewater-Raritan squad, 7-6, in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater.
The semifinals afternoon doubleheader opened with Watchung Hills’ 4-2 victory over Ridge. Top-seeded Immaculata (19-4) and second-seeded Watchung Hills (14-7) will square off for the county title at 6 p.m. on Wednesday back at TD Bank, home of the Somerset Patriots. Immaculata and Watchung Hills, ranked No. 18, split their two Skyland Conference games this season.
That Immaculata is still breathing in the tournament is a credit to its ability to face down a two-run deficit with just five outs left in its SCT life against a determined Bridgewater-Raritan team.
“You think in that situation as a coach, hey we are down to just five outs,” said Immaculata coach Kevin Cust. “Our guys are never really scared, though. They don’t think like that. I’m super proud of our guys. They battle every pitch.”
Junior Justin Labrador delivered what was surely the biggest hit of his young life when he laced a double into the left-center field gap to deliver the two runs that tied the game at 6-6. Catcher and No. 3 hitter Owen Schilling followed with a sac fly to right field to score Labrador with the go-ahead run.
“The pitch was up middle, a fastball,” said Labrador. “There were no nerves there. Three at bats into the game, you’re calm. My big thing is, take one big breath before I step into the box.”
Righthander Bryson Auten, who entered in the fourth inning in relief of a struggling Cole Raymond, closed out the victory with a scoreless top of the seventh inning, ended neatly by Schilling’s caught stealing of Bridgewater’s Connor Price.
That sixth inning rally was built, like so many Immaculata rallies this season, with good at bats that pieced things together before the big hit. Jackson Lewis (2-for-3), Immaculata’s No. 9 hitter, came to the plate with one out and fell behind 1-2 in the count. Lewis got the count to 2-2, fouled off another pitch, then singled into center field.
It is simply impossible to overstate the importance of Lewis’ hit.
“I knew he was spinning it,” said Lewis. “I faced him twice already and I was expecting a curve there. It was up in the zone and I just connected. The approach there is to just get on base somehow in that situation, whether it’s a walk or a hit. Just make sure you get on. In order to win that game it had to happen.”
That set the stage for the dangerous top of the Spartans order steered by irrepressible sophomore, Luca Catanzarite and Labrador. Cantazarite, already 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI to his credit, ripped a shot at third baseman Kevin Kelly that was too hot to handle. Suddenly, Immaculata had two baserunners.
Justin Labrador, left, and Jackson Lewis delivered enormous hits during Immaculata’s three-run, sixth-inning rally in SCT semifinals.
Labrador didn’t waste time after Catanzarite reached, latching onto reliever Nico Moore’s first pitch and sending into the left-center field gap to chase both runners home and tie the game.
“I step in full of confidence, knowing I’m that guy and it was time to produce for the team,” said Labrador.
Quickly Schilling knew his at bat could not be wasted.
“Lab’s hit was serious, so I knew I couldn’t try to do too much, just drive that run in,” said the righty-hitting Schilling, who jumped on the second pitch from Moore and drove it in the air the opposite way. “It was the same mentality as always. Drive the ball.”
Bridgewater-Raritan, playing more like the school’s 2024 NJSIAA Group 4 championship team than the team that came into the contest at 10-14, extended the lead to 6-4 in the top of the sixth courtesy of Andrew Schneider’s one-out RBI triple. Schneider went 4-for-4 with three singles, scored a run and had the RBI in certainly his best game of the season.
“Bridgewater is a very good team,” said Cust. “Don’t believe that record. They have a really tough schedule. They can play.”
The Panthers erased early 2-0 and 3-2 Immaculata leads. The big hits were Price’s RBI double in the second and Stephen Pikulin’s three-run double in the third that staked Bridgewater to a 5-3 advantage.
Immaculata inched to within 5-4 in the fifth when Andrew Wheeler, another sophomore, laced a two-out single to left to score pinchrunner Tyler Kasper. Owen Riverbank, yet another sophomore, had started the rally with a one-out double to left-center.
Immaculata’s defense saved some runs as well.
Second baseman Catanzarite and shortstop Labrador combined for a pretty 4-6-3 double play that got Raymond out of danger in the first inning. Then left fielder Conor Quinn alertly turned a lined drive out by Kellan Komline into an inning-ending double play in the second, catching the runner off second base. That kept a two-run Bridgewater rally from turning into something bigger.
First baseman Wheeler threw out two Bridgewater runners at the plate. Pikulin tried to score from third base in the third when Raymond threw to first base on a pickoff attempt. He caught Josh Moore leaning the wrong way, but, instead of chasing Moore in a rundown, Wheeler turned and fired home to just nip Pikulin for the third out.
Wheeler was drawn in when he made a nice play on a chopper by Michael Lobosco in the sixth. Schneider tried to beat the throw home to extend the lead to three runs, but Wheeler nailed him for the second out.
Immaculata’s final great defensive play ended the game. Auten, working some nasty off-speed stuff, had struck out two batters around a single to left-center by Price in the seventh. Auten was 0-2 on Moore when Price broke for second base on the third pitch of the at bat. Schilling unleashed a laser and got Price on a bang-bang play at the bag as Labrador applied the tag for the game’s final out.
“I think I blacked out at that point,” said Schilling.
Auten permitted just one run on two hits over 3⅓ innings, struck out two and walked one. Most impressive, he harnessed his break stuff in the final inning-plus and really had Bridgewater off balance.
“Yes, we went to more breaking stuff,” said Schilling, “trying to get them on their toes.”
The Marist-bound Raymond entered the game at 5-1 and with an ERA below 3.00, but the senior, who has impressively overcome a series of injuries in his career, could not get over the hump as he grinded. He struck out the first two batters in the fourth inning, but he was pulled after surrendering singles to Schneider and Lobosco.
Bridgewater’s reliever Moore, very nearly had a performance to hang on his mantle. He relieved starter Gavin Butch with one out, a run in and a runner on second in the second inning. He retired the next two batters to get out of the jam. He then held Immaculata scoreless the next two innings before allowing his first run in the fifth. But Immaculata would overcome it all in its final at bat.
“We did a pretty good job of making adjustments on their reliever in the last couple innings,” said Cust. “We were trying to catch his breaking ball up.”
Quintessential leadoff man Catanzarite is batting a robust .449 after his 3-for-4 performance in which he scored two runs and knocked in a run.
Watchung Hills 4, Ridge 2
Robbie Centamore pitched a two-hitter, struck out 13 and walked three to guide Watchung Hills. Only one of the runs he allowed was earned in his complete game effort.
Centamore also went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Watchung Hills defeated Immaculata, 10-0, on May 5 and Immaculata responded two days later by defeating the Warriors, 6-0.
Recent SCT History
Bridgewater-Raritan won the SCT crown in 2024, when it went 30-3 and also won the Group 4 championship.
Immaculata is looking to repeat in the SCT final. It defeated Ridge, 3-0, in last year’s final. Immaculata owns a Somerset County-high 15 SCT championships.