Regular season Game of the Year? James Scott pitches Hunterdon Central to the win over Ridge
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RARITAN TOWNSHIP – He wore the red and black of Hunterdon Central, threw left-handed and was dominant in perhaps the premier game of the regular season.
He wasn’t Central ace lefty Kyle McCoy, but the results were definitely McCoy-like.
Junior lefty James Scott pitched six superb innings Tuesday to lead No. 1 Hunterdon Central to a 5-1 win over No. 2 Ridge in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division meeting at Central. Both teams were ranked in the latest Courier News Skyland Conference and area-UCC Top 10.
Central (11-3) beat Ridge 7-6 in its season opener April 4 in Bernards and Ridge (13-2) followed with a 12-game win streak snapped by Central. So now both are tied atop the Delaware with 8-2 records. But Central has the head-to-head tiebreaker if it happens to stay that way.
Central took an early 4-0 lead. Chris Petino led off the home first with a homer to right and added a two-run single in the second to make it 4-0. Second baseman Chase Moskowitz’s RBI-single to right opened the scoring in the inning.
The way Scott pitched, four runs were plenty.
“When his curveball is on, he’s as good as it gets,” Central coach Kevin Cuozzi said. “He’s dynamic when he throws like that.”
He threw 88 pitches, allowed four hits, a walk, hit two batters and struck out 11. Scott said he relied on off speed and curveballs. Last season, he also went six, one-hit innings to beat Ridge 3-1. He struck out 12 in that one.
“His curveball was very good today,” said Ridge coach Tom Blackwell
Senior righty Jake Stollar pitched a scoreless seventh for Central.
What It Means
The game was the start of the second cycle of divisional games for both. If Central and Ridge both go 8-0 in division the rest of the way, Central would repeat as Delaware champs since it’s beaten Ridge twice. The win could also catapult Hunterdon Central past Ridge in the North 2 Group 4 power point race. Defending section champ Ridge was No. 1 and Central No. 4 in the latest calculations.
Key Plays
The first two innings were big. Ridge right fielder Adam Meiner looked to have Chris Petino’s fly ball tracked, but the ball carried over Meiner’s head and the fence.
They Said It
“I like being another good punch to the rotation,” Scott said. “I knew they would attack the fastballs, so once I got the first strike either with a fastball or curveball I was switching it up and throwing a lot of curveballs or change ups and keeping them off balance. Most of my strikeouts were curveballs or changeups.”
What’s Next
Central plays at Phillipsburg Thursday in another division game before Saturday’s Hunterdon Warren Sussex Tournament semifinal against North Hunterdon at Lenape Valley. Ridge plays at Montgomery Thursday and then prepares for the Somerset County Tournament semifinal against Bridgewater-Raritan Monday night at TD Bank Ballpark. Central and Ridge are top seeds in their respective tournaments.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: James Scott pitches Hunterdon Central to win in key game against Ridge