Glen Ridge HS baseball team’s inspiring run comes to end in Group 1 state semifinal loss to Emerson

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GLEN RIDGE, NJ – The Glen Ridge High School varsity baseball team enjoyed an inspiring run in the postseason.

The Ridgers, under second-year head coach Liam Penberthy, fell to Emerson, 8-3, in the NJSIAA Group 1 state semifinals on June 6 at Kean University in Union to finish the season.

Despite the disappointing loss, the Ridgers can look back at the season with much satisfaction. They won the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 1 state tournament title for the first time since 1993. Winning the section title was sweet redemption, after they made it to the final last year for the first time since 1994, only to lose to Bloomfield Tech.

Competing against mostly bigger schools, the Ridgers this season struggled. After bouncing back with three straight wins following the season-opening loss to West Essex, the Ridgers lost seven games in a row to fall to a 3-8 record. They regrouped to win the next three games, but struggled down the stretch, losing the final three games of the regular season.

Entering the postseason with an 8-13 record, the Ridgers went on a incredible run. The seventh-seeded Ridgers defeated 10th-seeded Secaucus, 8-3, in the first round at Hurrell Field, before posting three straight shutouts. They upset second-seeded Roselle Park, 11-0, in the quarterfinals  on the road and blanked 14th-seeded North Arlington, 8-0, at Hurrell Field in the semifinals.

Then in the championship game, the Ridgers rode a five-inning no-hitter by junior Owen Hannigan to knock off top-seeded Dayton, 11-0, in Springfield.

But the Ridgers’ run was stopped by a strong Emerson team in the state semifinals. The Ridgers led 3-2, but Emerson scored one run in the top of the fourth to tie it 3-3 and scored four runs in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Emerson, the Section 1, Group 1 champion, added a run in sixth.

Junior Brian Schnack went 3-for-4 with an RBI; senior Joe Hellevig went 1-for-3 with an RBI; sophomore Max Haberman wa 1-for-4 with a run; freshman Jack Cotrone was 1-for-3 with a run; senior James Malik scored a run; and senior Grant Naylor went 1-for-3 for the Ridgers, who finished with a 12-14 record.

  Glen Ridge High School baseball