Softball rankings and notebook: Skyland Conference and area UCC, through May 13

(Records through Monday)

1. Immaculata (16-4) – last week No. 2 -- The Spartans made it four straight last week, culminating with a 3-1 over Watchung Hills in Saturday’s Somerset County Tournament final , as Immaculata claimed the program’s first SCT title since 2007. This week started with a loss to Mount St. Dominic, the state’s top-ranked team, and things don’t get any easier, with St. Mary’s of Rutherford, Steinert, Robbinsville and Pope John on the slate the rest of the week.

2. Watchung Hills (19-3) – last week No. 1 -- The Warriors had their eight-game winning streak snapped in Saturday night’s Somerset County final after a 12-2 six-inning victory over Pingry in Wednesday’s semifinals gave Watchung Hills 15 wins in 16 games. The squad will look to put the weekend’s disappointment in the rearview as it warms up for states with regular-season games against Marlboro, Bridgewater-Raritan and Bernards this week.

More: Softball ballot: Vote for Central Jersey Player of the Week for Week 6

More: Softball roundup: Daily May results and links for Skyland , GMC, area Union County

3. Hunterdon Central (10-8) – last week No. 6 -- The Red Devils made it four wins in a row with two more victories last week, a 7-4 triumph at top-seeded North Hunterdon in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex quarterfinals, before eighth-seeded Hunterdon Central handled No. 4 Pope John 8-3 in Saturday’s semifinals, avenging a 3-2 loss April 15. Central will take on second-seeded High Point in Wednesday’s tri-county final at Phillipsburg, before facing the Stateliners and Steinert to close the week.

4. North Hunterdon (13-9) – last week No. 4 – Last week started with a nice 5-1 win over Marlboro, but the top-seeded Lions were toppled by No. 8 seed Hunterdon Central in the HWST quarterfinals on Wednesday, before finishing the week by beating Delaware Valley. North gets Hillsborough, Jefferson and Phillipsburg this week to close out the regular season.

5. Bernards (13-5) – last week No. 5 -- The Mountaineers went 2-1 last week, with the loss coming 6-2 to Immaculata in the Somerset County semifinals and the wins over a pair of Group 4 programs in Roxbury and Phillipsburg. Bernards, which opened the week with a win over Delaware Valley, will also Gill St. Bernard’s and Watchung Hills as it looks to add power points for its sectional title defense before Saturday’s state-tournament cutoff.

6. Pingry (10-9) – last week No. 7 -- The Big Blue split a pair of games last week, but won the important one, 3-0 over Kent Place in Thursday’s Prep A Tournament quarterfinals. Pingry, which lost to Warren Hills 7-5 Saturday, a team it had beaten twice in divisional games, will visit Blair in Tuesday’s Prep A semi, before a game with Bridgewater-Raritan on Wednesday.

7. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (14-6) – last week No. 10 – In case the Raiders’ 4-0 week that included a regular-season victory over Governor Livingston didn’t turn heads, Monday’s 5-0 blanking of the top-seeded Highlanders in the Union County Tournament quarterfinals should get people’s attention. SPF has won five in a row and nine of 12 heading into a week that features regular-season games

8. Governor Livingston (18-7) – last week No. 3 – The Highlanders Been a rough road for the Highlanders since last Monday’s win over Dayton, losing 3-of-4, including regular-season games to Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Columbia, and then  a stunning 5-0 setback to SPF in Monday’s UCT quarterfinals where GL was the top seed.

9. Warren Hills (10-6) – last week No. 9 – The Blue Streaks have won 3 of 4 after Monday’s 7-3 victory over Ridge. They also beat Pingry and Hackettstown last week, but dropped a heartbreaker on the road at Sparta 1-0 in the tri-county quarterfinals. Warren Hills will face Delaware Valley and Voorhees this week.

10. Westfield (11-10) – last week No. 8 -- The Blue Devils scored wins over Elizabeth and Oak Knoll last week, the latter in a county game, but dropped a regular-season game in eight innings to Ridge and a 1-0 heartbreaker to A.L. Johnson in Monday’s UCT quarterfinals. Westfield’s next scheduled game is next Monday against Hunterdon Central.

ALSO RECEIVING CONSIDERATION: Bound Brook (14-3), Delaware Valley (10-7), Franklin (14-6), New Providence (12-6).

MILESTONE WATCH

Somerville senior Nicole Fitzgibbons became the latest local player to reach the 100-hit mark, doing it during a 3-for-4 performance last Tuesday against Dunellen. Fitzgibbon, a four-year starter, is hitting .493 for the season with six doubles, a triple and 15 RBIs.

Manville’s Valentina Barrios enters the week at 99 hits, with the Mustangs’ next game coming Tuesday against Boonton.

ONE CROWN LEFT

The Valley Division title is still the only unsettled crown in the Skyland Conference, although history has already been made.

Franklin (14-6), which looks locked in to its first winning season since 1992, clinched at least a share of the division crown with last Thursday’s 17-2 win over Montgomery. The Warriors can wrap up the solo title with a win Wednesday against Mount St. Mary, or a Delaware Valley loss to Voorhees on Saturday.

COUNTY TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP

One local county tournament crown has been claimed and two more should be awarded this week.

Immaculata won i ts first Somerset County Tournament championship since 2007 with its 32-1 victory over Watchung Hills on Saturday, as Caroline Colitti pitched a three-hit gem and Marli Szeirer blasted two home runs, becoming the first player at least this century, perhaps ever, to go long twice in an SCT final.

Hunterdon Central will look to claim its fourth Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex title in five seasons and eighth since Sussex joined Hunterdon and Warren counties to form the tri-county tournament in 20 when it takes on No. 2 seed High Point in Wednesday’s final at Phillipsburg. The eighth-seeded Red Devils toppled No. 1 North Hunterdon in the quarterfinals last week, before knocking off fourth-seeded Pope John in Saturday’s semis.

The Union County Tournament reaches the semifinals Wednesday after the top seed was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood toppled No. 1 Governor Livingston 5-0 Monday, setting up a meeting with fourth-seeded A.L. Johnson, which edged fifth-seeded Westfield 1-0 in nine innings. The other side of the bracket went to chalk, as third-seeded Cranford and second-seeded Dayton. They’ll also meet in the semis. The final is slated for Friday night at Kean University.

PREP TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP

Gill St. Bernard’s claimed the state Prep B championship last Thursday, as the fourth-seeded Knights toppled No. 2 Montclair Kimberly 11-7 in the final at Diamond Nation, two days after upsetting top-seeded Morristown-Beard 2-0 in the semifinals.

The Prep A Tournament reaches the semifinals, with third-seeded Pingry visiting No. 2 Blair Academy. With a win, the Big Blue would advance to Thursday’s final at Diamond Nation against the winner of Tuesday’s contest between No. 1 Hun and No. 5 Lawrenceville, which blanked Mount St. Mary 4-0 in the quarterfinals.

STATE CUTOFF LOOMS

The NJSIAA Tournament will be seeded next Monday, making this Saturday the cutoff for teams to accumulate power points that will go toward the seeding.

The state tournament begins Wednesday, May 22.

Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at CourierSoftball@aol.com . Follow him on Twitter/X @SimeonPincus

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Softball rankings and notebook: Skyland Conference and area UCC, through May 13