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Another week and another round of standout performances and impressive results around the Skyland Conference and western Union County, with records being set, winning streaks extended, and the seeds for the first county tournament of the season about to be sewn.
(Records through Monday)
1. Watchung Hills (8-0) – last week No. 1-- The last time the Warriors came off a state championship was 2023 when they got off to a mystifying 0-5 and 2-11 start before reeling off 13 straight wins, including the Somerset County Tournament title. Now, things are quite different, with the reigning state Group 4 champs undefeated through three weeks, including two lopsided wins over North Hunterdon last week, as well as triumphs over Dayton and St. Mary’s-Rutherford. Watchung Hills, which handled Immaculata on Monday, will face Hillsborough twice in conference this week, as well as playing non-conference powers Morris Knolls on Wednesday, Red Bank Catholic on Saturday, and St. Thomas Aquinas next Monday, the team tops in Middlesex County.
More: Softball ballot: Vote for Central Jersey Player of the Week
More: Softball roundup: Daily results and links for Skyland Conference, GMC, area Union County
2. Hunterdon Central (8-0) – last week No. 2 -- The Red Devils have gotten dominant pitching from Emily Van Cleef and an offense that was averaging 7.3 runs per game entering Monday’s action. Central won mercy-rule decisions over Hillsborough twice last week, while Van Cleef shut out Pope John and Roxbury. Hunterdon Central opened this week with a win over West Windsor-Plainsboro on Monday, and will continue with games against Allentown, Ridge, North Hunterdon and Bridgewater-Raritan.
3. Pingry (7-1) – last week No. 4 -- The Big Blue continue to handle their business, especially in the Skyland Raritan Division where they extended their unbeaten streak last week with two wins over Warren Hills. Add a victory over Blair and Pingry has won five straight since an April 5 loss to Pope John. The Big Blue, who are expected to get a Top 3 seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, get Phillipsburg twice this week as they look to strengthen their hold on first place in the division.
4. North Hunterdon (4-4) – last week No. 3 -- The Lions suffered through an 0-3 week with two lopsided losses to Watchung Hills and a frustrating 4-1 Saturday loss at Westfield as the vaunted North Hunterdon bats took the day off. Losing four-year starter Katie Reed (indefinitely) to an injury certainly doesn’t help matters. North looks to rebound against another tough slate of opponents with two slated against Immaculata, a makeup contest against Hunterdon Central, and games against North Jersey powers Pope John, Roxbury and Livingston coming up over the next week.
5. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (6-3) – last week No. 5 -- The Raiders are coming off an uneven week, with wins over Brearley and Middlesex, but losses to Dayton and Summit. SPF looks to get righted this week with games against Cranford, Elizabeth and A.L. Johnson in conference and a Saturday meeting with Delaware Valley that should clear some things up in the rankings.
6. Governor Livingston (6-3) – last week No. 10 -- The Highlanders are coming off a huge week with UCC wins over Cranford, Dayton and A.L. Johnson, the latter avenging a 14-3 opening-day loss and thrusting Governor Livingston back into the conversation for the top spot in the county. Big game Wednesday against Westfield and Saturday against Summit in a week that also includes meetings with Brearley and Elizabeth.
7. Westfield (6-4) – last week not ranked – The Blue Devils have gotten a big infusion of young talent to go with some key returners and after an uneven start, things have kicked nicely into gear, as freshmen pitcher Ava Heuck and leadoff hitter Darby Revok – both freshmen – have joined seniors Quinlan Doherty and Alex Laguna, and junior Kayla Reyes in helping get Westfield moving in the right direction. The club went 4-0 last week with wins over Summit, Brearley and Elizabeth, before a statement victory Saturday against North Hunterdon. Westfield opened this week with a loss to Cranford, and will continue another tough week with Governor Livingston, Dayton, Cranford again and Roselle Park over the next week.
8. Delaware Valley (7-2) – last week No. 7 - The Terriers logged two wins over Ridge to start last week, putting them firmly in control of the Skyland Valley race, and then scored a win over Middlesex on Friday. Del Val suffered its first loss Saturday, 4-3 to Warren Hills, before opening this week with a tough 3-1 setback to Nottingham. Del Val gets Montgomery twice this week before a huge test Saturday at Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
9. Bridgewater-Raritan (6-2) – last week No. 8 -- The Panthers began last week with a disappointing loss to Phillipsburg, but rebounded two days later by beating the Stateliners, before topping Mount Olive on Saturday. Franklin is on tap twice this week, before Hunterdon Central visits Saturday following a BR alumni game that will be part of a day celebrating retiring longtime head coach Sandy Baranowski.
10. Immaculata (2-6) – last week No. 6 -- The Spartans opened the week with a heartbreaking loss to Gill St. Bernard’s, but bounced back with wins over West Windsor-Plainsboro and Robbinsville, before falling to state power Morris Knolls. Immaculata, which opened this week by dropping its second game of the year to Watchung Hills, will take on North Hunterdon twice this week, before taking on Middletown South in Saturday’s Black and Gold event at Cedar Grove.
DROPPED OUT: Ridge (6-3).
Senior Taylor Francis has already had a record-breaking year at Pingry, having set the school’s all-time basketball scoring record this winter – for girls and boys. Now, the four-year starting shortstop has added the school’s all-time softball hits record to her long list of accomplishments for the Big Blue.
Francis, who is headed to Georgetown to play softball, finished her basketball career with 1,793 career points, and now owns the Pingry hits record, recoding her record-breaking 125th knock Saturday during a three-hit day against Blair.
Francis broke the mark previously held by Angelina Mayers, who finished her Pingry career in 2019 with 124 hits. Former Notre Dame standout Katie Marino is third on the list with 121 hits.
The 50th Somerset County Softball Tournament will be played this spring, with this year’s seeds scheduled to be set during a meeting of coaches Wednesday at Bound Brook High School.
The tournament began play in 1974, but wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2025 the year Central Jersey’s premier county softball tournament reaches the half-century mark.
Hillsborough won the first two crowns, topping Bridgewater-Raritan West 7-0 in 1974 and then beating BR East 8-5 the following spring.
The Raiders didn’t win again until 2003, but that set the program on a run of eight championships in 18 seasons, including 16 finals in 17 campaigns.
Overall, Hillsborough’s 10 titles and 23 finals appearances are both best all-time. Immaculata has won the second-most championships with eight, while Bound Brook and Watchung Hills have seven apiece.
Other than Immaculata, no non-Group 4 program has won the title since Bound Brook beat Manville in the 1997 final. The Crusaders’ last appearance came in 1999, with only Group 4 schools and Immaculata making it since.
The SCT has featured a ton of memorable finals, but the most memorable, arguably, came in 2004, when Hillsborough and Watchung Hills played 18 scoreless innings at North Branch Park – over two days – before the Raiders finally won it 1-0 in the 19th inning. The game was delayed to a second day in the 10th inning because of lightning.
MOST SCT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hillsborough 10
Immaculata 8
Bound Brook 7
Watchung Hills 7
BR East 5
Bridgewater-Raritan 3
Franklin 3
Montgomery 3
Bernards 1
Manville 1
Somerville 1
MOST FINALS APPEARENCES
Hillsborough 23
Bound Brook 14
Watchung Hills 13
Immaculata 11
Bridgewater-Raritan 7
BR East 6
Montgomery 6
Franklin 5
Manville 4
Ridge 3
Somerville 3
BR West 2
Bernards 1
Gill St. Bernard's 0
Green Brook 0
Mount St. Mary 0
North Plainfield 0
Pingry 0
Rutgers Prep 0
Somerset Tech 0
Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: nj Softball rankings and notebook: Skyland and western Union County
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Courier News softball Top 10
(Records through Monday)
1. Watchung Hills (8-0) – last week No. 1-- The last time the Warriors came off a state championship was 2023 when they got off to a mystifying 0-5 and 2-11 start before reeling off 13 straight wins, including the Somerset County Tournament title. Now, things are quite different, with the reigning state Group 4 champs undefeated through three weeks, including two lopsided wins over North Hunterdon last week, as well as triumphs over Dayton and St. Mary’s-Rutherford. Watchung Hills, which handled Immaculata on Monday, will face Hillsborough twice in conference this week, as well as playing non-conference powers Morris Knolls on Wednesday, Red Bank Catholic on Saturday, and St. Thomas Aquinas next Monday, the team tops in Middlesex County.
More: Softball ballot: Vote for Central Jersey Player of the Week
More: Softball roundup: Daily results and links for Skyland Conference, GMC, area Union County
2. Hunterdon Central (8-0) – last week No. 2 -- The Red Devils have gotten dominant pitching from Emily Van Cleef and an offense that was averaging 7.3 runs per game entering Monday’s action. Central won mercy-rule decisions over Hillsborough twice last week, while Van Cleef shut out Pope John and Roxbury. Hunterdon Central opened this week with a win over West Windsor-Plainsboro on Monday, and will continue with games against Allentown, Ridge, North Hunterdon and Bridgewater-Raritan.
3. Pingry (7-1) – last week No. 4 -- The Big Blue continue to handle their business, especially in the Skyland Raritan Division where they extended their unbeaten streak last week with two wins over Warren Hills. Add a victory over Blair and Pingry has won five straight since an April 5 loss to Pope John. The Big Blue, who are expected to get a Top 3 seed in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament, get Phillipsburg twice this week as they look to strengthen their hold on first place in the division.
4. North Hunterdon (4-4) – last week No. 3 -- The Lions suffered through an 0-3 week with two lopsided losses to Watchung Hills and a frustrating 4-1 Saturday loss at Westfield as the vaunted North Hunterdon bats took the day off. Losing four-year starter Katie Reed (indefinitely) to an injury certainly doesn’t help matters. North looks to rebound against another tough slate of opponents with two slated against Immaculata, a makeup contest against Hunterdon Central, and games against North Jersey powers Pope John, Roxbury and Livingston coming up over the next week.
5. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (6-3) – last week No. 5 -- The Raiders are coming off an uneven week, with wins over Brearley and Middlesex, but losses to Dayton and Summit. SPF looks to get righted this week with games against Cranford, Elizabeth and A.L. Johnson in conference and a Saturday meeting with Delaware Valley that should clear some things up in the rankings.
6. Governor Livingston (6-3) – last week No. 10 -- The Highlanders are coming off a huge week with UCC wins over Cranford, Dayton and A.L. Johnson, the latter avenging a 14-3 opening-day loss and thrusting Governor Livingston back into the conversation for the top spot in the county. Big game Wednesday against Westfield and Saturday against Summit in a week that also includes meetings with Brearley and Elizabeth.
7. Westfield (6-4) – last week not ranked – The Blue Devils have gotten a big infusion of young talent to go with some key returners and after an uneven start, things have kicked nicely into gear, as freshmen pitcher Ava Heuck and leadoff hitter Darby Revok – both freshmen – have joined seniors Quinlan Doherty and Alex Laguna, and junior Kayla Reyes in helping get Westfield moving in the right direction. The club went 4-0 last week with wins over Summit, Brearley and Elizabeth, before a statement victory Saturday against North Hunterdon. Westfield opened this week with a loss to Cranford, and will continue another tough week with Governor Livingston, Dayton, Cranford again and Roselle Park over the next week.
8. Delaware Valley (7-2) – last week No. 7 - The Terriers logged two wins over Ridge to start last week, putting them firmly in control of the Skyland Valley race, and then scored a win over Middlesex on Friday. Del Val suffered its first loss Saturday, 4-3 to Warren Hills, before opening this week with a tough 3-1 setback to Nottingham. Del Val gets Montgomery twice this week before a huge test Saturday at Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
9. Bridgewater-Raritan (6-2) – last week No. 8 -- The Panthers began last week with a disappointing loss to Phillipsburg, but rebounded two days later by beating the Stateliners, before topping Mount Olive on Saturday. Franklin is on tap twice this week, before Hunterdon Central visits Saturday following a BR alumni game that will be part of a day celebrating retiring longtime head coach Sandy Baranowski.
10. Immaculata (2-6) – last week No. 6 -- The Spartans opened the week with a heartbreaking loss to Gill St. Bernard’s, but bounced back with wins over West Windsor-Plainsboro and Robbinsville, before falling to state power Morris Knolls. Immaculata, which opened this week by dropping its second game of the year to Watchung Hills, will take on North Hunterdon twice this week, before taking on Middletown South in Saturday’s Black and Gold event at Cedar Grove.
DROPPED OUT: Ridge (6-3).
Making more history
Senior Taylor Francis has already had a record-breaking year at Pingry, having set the school’s all-time basketball scoring record this winter – for girls and boys. Now, the four-year starting shortstop has added the school’s all-time softball hits record to her long list of accomplishments for the Big Blue.
Francis, who is headed to Georgetown to play softball, finished her basketball career with 1,793 career points, and now owns the Pingry hits record, recoding her record-breaking 125th knock Saturday during a three-hit day against Blair.
Francis broke the mark previously held by Angelina Mayers, who finished her Pingry career in 2019 with 124 hits. Former Notre Dame standout Katie Marino is third on the list with 121 hits.
Milestone SCT tournament on tap
The 50th Somerset County Softball Tournament will be played this spring, with this year’s seeds scheduled to be set during a meeting of coaches Wednesday at Bound Brook High School.
The tournament began play in 1974, but wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2025 the year Central Jersey’s premier county softball tournament reaches the half-century mark.
Hillsborough won the first two crowns, topping Bridgewater-Raritan West 7-0 in 1974 and then beating BR East 8-5 the following spring.
The Raiders didn’t win again until 2003, but that set the program on a run of eight championships in 18 seasons, including 16 finals in 17 campaigns.
Overall, Hillsborough’s 10 titles and 23 finals appearances are both best all-time. Immaculata has won the second-most championships with eight, while Bound Brook and Watchung Hills have seven apiece.
Other than Immaculata, no non-Group 4 program has won the title since Bound Brook beat Manville in the 1997 final. The Crusaders’ last appearance came in 1999, with only Group 4 schools and Immaculata making it since.
The SCT has featured a ton of memorable finals, but the most memorable, arguably, came in 2004, when Hillsborough and Watchung Hills played 18 scoreless innings at North Branch Park – over two days – before the Raiders finally won it 1-0 in the 19th inning. The game was delayed to a second day in the 10th inning because of lightning.
MOST SCT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hillsborough 10
Immaculata 8
Bound Brook 7
Watchung Hills 7
BR East 5
Bridgewater-Raritan 3
Franklin 3
Montgomery 3
Bernards 1
Manville 1
Somerville 1
MOST FINALS APPEARENCES
Hillsborough 23
Bound Brook 14
Watchung Hills 13
Immaculata 11
Bridgewater-Raritan 7
BR East 6
Montgomery 6
Franklin 5
Manville 4
Ridge 3
Somerville 3
BR West 2
Bernards 1
Gill St. Bernard's 0
Green Brook 0
Mount St. Mary 0
North Plainfield 0
Pingry 0
Rutgers Prep 0
Somerset Tech 0
Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: nj Softball rankings and notebook: Skyland and western Union County
Continue reading...
