GLEN RIDGE, NJ – The Glen Ridge High School varsity baseball team, under second-year head coach Liam Penberthy, featured several outstanding players who were instrumental in helping the Ridgers capture the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 1 state tournament title this season.
The Ridgers had four players who earned All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division honors.
Junior catcher Brian Schnack and junior shortstop/pitcher Owen Hannigan each made Second Team and sophomore pitcher Max Haberman and senior first baseman Matt Myles each made Honorable Mention.
Schnack was a strong hitter with a whopping .472 batting average. He collected 34 hits, including 12 doubles and two triples, and drove in 25 runs.
Hannigan batted .348 with 23 hits (9 doubles and 2 triples), 12 RBI and 17 runs scored. On the mound, Hannigan had a 5-2 record with a 3.02 earned run average. In 41 2/3 innings pitched, he struck out 44. Hannigan pitched a five-inning no-hitter in the 11-0 win over top-seeded Dayton in the North Jersey Section 2,Group 1 state tournament championship game.
Myles had a .346 batting average with 27 hits (3 doubles) and 16 RBI.
Haberman led the team in runs scored with 20 and batted .294 with 20 hits (2 doubles) and 13 RBI. As a pitcher, he was 3-2 with a 4.13 ERA. In 42 1/3 innings pitched, he struck out 22.
In Penberthy’s first two years as head coach, the Ridgers have reached the North Jersey Section 2, Group 1 state tournament title games. In 2016, they lost to Bloomfield Tech in the final.
The Ridgers overcame a tough regular season this spring to win the section title for the first time since 1993. GRHS finished with a 12-14 after losing to Emerson in the NJSIAA Group 1 state semifinals at Kean University on June 6.