Spring Playoff Previews: Phillipsburg Baseball and Softball Prepare for NJSIAA Tournament

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ - The NJSIAA baseball and softball tournament pairings were released on Monday with Phillipsburg High School’s baseball team receiving a No. 5 seed while the softball team is seeded No. 12. Both teams play in the North 2 Group 4 section.

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Baseball

The Stateliners (16-8) host 12 ^th -seeded Piscataway (11-9) on Thursday at the Phillipsburg Athletic complex at a time to be determined. The winner of that game plays the winner of No. 4 Westfield (17-5) and No. 13 Perth Amboy (8-15) in the quarterfinals on May 29 at the site of the higher seed.

The semifinals are scheduled for May 31 and the sectional final on June 3.

Bridgewater-Raritan (22-3) is the top-seeded team in North 2 Group 4, Scotch Plains-Fanwood (18-8) is the second seed, and Ridge (19-7) is seeded third.

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P’burg was on a nine-game winning streak, it’s longest in over a decade, entering last week before running into a rough patch with losses to Hunterdon Central (2-1), Madison (7-6) and North Hunterdon (8-5 in 11 innings) in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament title game.

The ‘Liners beat Elizabeth, 6-5, in last season’s first round before falling to Bayonne, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

Phillipsburg batting average leaders: Jr. 3B Dylan Wayne (.388), So. RF Mike Bracco (.368), Sr. SS Nick Stettner (.333), Sr. DP-P Eddie Weindel .321, Sr. C Garrett Bobrowski (.307), Sr. CF Kevin Burgess (.307), Jr. 2B Felix Matos (.303).

Pitcher’s W-L record with ERA: So. Mike Bracco (1-0, 0.00), Jr. Matt Scherer (1-0, 5.25), Sr. Jared Diefenbach (3-0, 1.93), Weindel (4-2, 3.00), Sr. Jacob Kisselbach (3-2, 2.08), So. Nick Yaccarino (4-3, 4.89), Jr. Cole Parsons (0-1, 5.00).

Softball

The Stateliners (9-11) travel to fifth-seeded Elizabeth (11-11) on Wednesday in a first-round encounter. The winner plays either No. 13 Edison (7-13) or Hunterdon Central (12-10) in the quarterfinals on May 28.

The semifinals are scheduled for May 30, and the sectional title game is set for June 1.

Bayonne (22-4) is the top-seeded team in the section, Watchung Hills (22-3) is seeded second, and Scotch Plains-Fanwood (16-8) is the third seed.

The ‘Liners last state win came in 2021 when they defeated Ridge, 9-3, before losing to Westfield, 15-1, in the quarterfinals.

It’s been a streaky season for P’burg which won four straight games after losing its opener. It followed with six straight losses, won four in a row and then lost three straight before splitting its last two games.

Phillipsburg batting average leaders: Jr. 1B Ava Colentrelle (.422), Sr. RF Riley Santos (.358), So. SS Shantalina Blake (.349), Jr. 3B Kayla Melsky (.304).

Pitcher’s W-L record with ERA: Fr. Hannah Wodtke (4-5 3.21), So. Samantha Lane (5-6, 5.53).

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