Senior Day resuledina special day for the Bridgwater-raritan High School softball team.
On Thursday, May 8, not only did retiring Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Sandy Baranowski lead her final pregame ceremony honoring the graduating seniors. Baranowski’s following seven team members of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Class of 2025 marked her largest senior class ever in 28 years leading the Panthers: Jess Paxson, Sienna Newsome, Madalyn Dolly, Evelyn Fresco, Faye Gallou, Cai Mahovetz, and Angela Tremarco.
Even more, Bridgewater-Raritan has been the middle of its best season since last winning the Somerset CountyTournament and reaching the state sectional finals eight years ago, but it had been even longer since the Panthers had slayed the dragon known as North Hunterdon Regional High School: 14 years, to be exact.
Baranowski’s players knew what they signed up for on Senior Day, and they made a statement.
Trailing by one run heading into the bottom of the third inning against North Hunterdon (11-7), Bridgewater-Raritan (11-4) safely put four of its first five batters on base to highlight a stretch capped off by three straight runs on back-to-back infield errors by the Lions.
Those mistakes by the visitors were the difference on a historic day that saw Bridgewater- Raritan’s defense turn in an error-free, complete-game outing led by freshman pitcher Rachael Eng (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HB) on the way to a massive 3-2 victory at the North Bridge Street Softball Complex in Bridgewater.
“They’re super fun to be around and have a great bond together,” Baranowski said after the game about what makes her Class of 2025 seniors so special. “They play loose, carefree, and for one another. We had a really amazing game here today, but I didn’t schedule a cupcake for Senior Day.”
“I wanted to make sure that whoever the heck we were playing was a really good team.”
The Panthers’ monumental triumph snapped a 19-game losing streak to North Hunterdon since heir last victory over the Lions on May 3, 2011.