Connor Byrne remembers sitting down the first-base line at TD Bank Ballpark the last time Ridge played in the Somerset County Tournament championship game before Monday.
It was in 2019, and Byrne witnessed Ridge losing in 12 innings to Immaculata. He told himself then that he wanted to be on the field the next time Ridge had the chance to win the county title.
And Byrne delivered against Rutgers Prep on Monday.
Byrne tossed a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts as top-seeded Ridge, the No. 7 team in the NJ.com Top 20, defeated sixth-seeded Rutgers Prep 6-0 in the Somerset County Tournament final at TD Bank Ballpark.
It is Ridge’s first county tournament title since 2011 and the school’s seventh overall.
Byrne’s performance on the mound was masterful. He allowed just two hits and didn’t allow a runner to reach past second base. At one point, he retired eight and nine batters in a row, respectively, and sat down 18 of the last 22 Rutgers Prep batters he faced.
He opened the game with a lot of emotion, with adrenaline coursing through his body. Pumping his fist and letting out several roars. The junior was able to calm himself down during the middle innings and kept throwing pitches past the Argonauts’ batters.
“It was a big game, and I had to step up, and we had to step up as a team,” Byrne said. “I don’t really know what to say. That was awesome. I was having a lot of fun.”
Ridge (20-2) couldn’t get its offense going through the first three innings against Rutgers Prep freshman ace Zach Fronio. Fronio was cruising along the first portion of the game as the lefty had plenty of movement on his pitches and was missing barrels.
Things changed in the bottom of the fourth when Ridge outfielder Mike Olivo smacked a double. He later came around to score on an error, but the Red Devils put up a three spot in the frame. An inning later, Ridge added three more runs, with Olivo hitting an RBI double in the frame, all but sealing the win with the way Byrne was pitching.
Ridge had six hits, and all of them were for doubles.
“A slow start for us, but we knew the bats would eventually pick up for us,” said Olivo, who went 2-for-3 at the plate. “We got a real deep lineup, a great hitting team. Stuff just wasn’t going our way in the beginning, and we knew once we kind of settled in we would kind of get it going.”
With the backing of his offense, Byrne continued to settle into a rhythm.
Rutgers Prep (18-5) tried to get Byrne out of it by taking timeouts in the batter’s box, but it was always going to be a challenge to string together hits.
Byrne said he hadn’t been at his best in the last few weeks and in the semifinals against Bridgewater-Raritan, he was struggling with an illness. That wasn’t the case on Monday.
“He was sharp as can be,” Ridge coach Tom Blackwell said. “In the semis, he was very sharp early on, but kind of ran out of gas because he wasn’t fully healthy while tonight, he just got stronger and stronger.”
The tournament triumph was Blackwell’s second as Ridge’s coach, and he reflected on it after watching his ace pitch the Red Devils to their first county title in 11 years.
“We have a very storied tradition at Ridge, and we expect to compete for these,” Blackwell said. “To get here and complete the deal is pretty special. I’ve been doing this a long time, and to have two of these is definitely a highlight in the career.”
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You can reach Luis Torres at ltorres@njadvancemedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter @ByLuisTorres.
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