With the baseball season opening in full force this week, here is our first Top 10 for Courier News teams in the area Skyland Conference and Union County Conference.
The ranking will be posted Monday morning all season, which promises to have plenty of twists and turns.
Top 10
(last season’s records in parenthesis)
1. Bridgewater-Raritan (30-3) – The dream season has passed into legend, leaving present and future Panther squads a very lofty standard to chase. B-R has enough returning players who contributed to last season’s state, section, county and division titles to make it a reasonable goal to contend for all. First the Skyland Delaware Division has to be conquered once more (the Panthers were co-champs in 2023) and it could be turbulent with the likes of Hillsborough, Immaculata, North Hunterdon and Ridge to conquer. Senior catcher Jayden ‘JR’ Rosado and an experienced and talented pitching staff led by seniors Jack Lanum and Owen Crimmins and junior Kellan Komline are a solid core to start.
2. Governor Livingston (28-5) – The Highlanders captured their fourth state Group 2 title and the Union County Tournament championship and matched a program record for wins in a season. They return plenty of players who made it happen and could do it all again. Junior shortstop Zach Geertsma, a University Virginia commit, and senior Stetson University-bound right hander Matty Diskin return. And there’s much more behind those two. They look to repeat as state and county champions for the first time.
3. North Hunterdon (20-6) - The Lions are the defending Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament champions. Why not do it again and maybe make a run for North 2 Group 3 section and Skyland Delaware Division titles? The talent is present. Senior lefty and Boston College-commit Zach Fronio and senior Brandon Suler will lead the staff. Suler went five scoreless innings last Friday in the season-opening 8-1 win over Hopewell Valley. Senior righty Chris Sand (Rutgers commit) had Tommy John surgery in the offseason but may get time in the infield.
4. Hunterdon Central (16-11): The Red Devils beat Ridge before losing in the North 2 Group 4 sectional final to Bridgewater-Raritan. Senior Ryan Lundari leads all returners. He fanned 48 and made All-Skyland Delaware first team. He will be accompanied on the mound by Soren Gregor and Anthony Petino. Depth is never a shortage at Central and players like Gregor, Danny Contiliano and Jesse Allen will head a long list of contributors.
5. Ridge (21-9): The Red Devils were beaten in the Somerset County Tournament final by Bridgewater-Raritan, then by Hunterdon Central in the North 2 Group 4 semifinals that denied them a fourth game with the Panthers. Senior Aidan Stieglitz looks like he could be an ace here. Junior infielder Kiernan Callahan and junior outfielder Jake Dolan were second-team All-Skyland Delaware last season.
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