PISCATAWAY - In order to win a third straight state championship, the Governor Livingston Highlanders had to not only solve Ramsey left-hander Joe Scarnecchia but overcome some questionable umpire calls that didn't go their way.
GL managed to tie the game for a second time with a single run in the bottom of the fifth, but yielded two, one of them unearned, in the top of the sixth and that turned out to be good enough for its Bergen County opponent.
North 1, Group 2 sectional state champion Ramsey scored twice in the top of the sixth to take the lead for a third time and for good en route to downing three-peat Central Jersey, Group 2 sectional state champ GL 4-2 in the Sunday, June 14 Group 2 state championship game played at Rutgers University's Bainton Field.
Two of Ramsey's four runs were unearned.
Scarnecchia tossed a three-hitter which included two earned runs, two strikeouts, four walks and two hit batters. He gave up only one run in the bottom of the third when GL had the bases loaded, nobody out and the top of the order up. Zach Geertsma drove in GL's first run that inning with a sacrifice fly to right which tied the game at 1-1. Geertsma also drove in GL's second run in the fifth that tied the game at 2-2 with a two-out, hard-hit, RBI-single to left.
Reid Bazydlo didn't get the same defensive support Scarnecchia received but pitched extremely well. Bazydlo gave up four runs, just two earned, on five hits while striking out seven, walking one and hitting one batter.
"Reid pitched lights out," GL head coach Chris Roof said..
GL had a 17-game state tournament winning streak come to an end. The last time it lost a state game was May 22, 2023 at home to Manasquan 5-2 in a CJG2 first-rounder.
The Highlanders lost a game in seven innings for the first time since May 16, 2024 and were defeated by more than one run for the first time since April 26, 2024.
GL had gone 70 straight games without losing in seven innings before facing Ramsey, which is perhaps even more remarkable than the state record it established earlier this year by producing a 40-game winning streak.
For the third straight season GL won 28 games, going 28-5. The Highlanders also repeated as Union County Conference-Watchung Division champions, finishing 11-1 in league play.
"This was a great experience," said Geertsma, who is committed to playing at Mississippi State. "We got to three of these games and put two on the wall. That's special."
GL fell one game shy of setting the program record for wins in a season at 29. The 2011 team went 28-6, the 2024 squad closed at 28-5, the 2025 team was perfect at 28-0, and this year's unit finished 28-5 for the second time in three years.
Including a 17-7 mark in 2023, the seniors were part of a four-year record of 101-17. GL went 84-10 the past three seasons, the best stretch under Roof, who has been at the helm since 2004 and after the game said he will continue to guide the Highlanders next season.
GL seniors include Geertsma, Bazydlo, Michael Basile, Michael Novotny, Aidan Feldman, Keith Mann, Michael Healy, Noah Ornstein, Dominic Labisi, Jaiden Fernandez, Ryan Pappas and Matt DiRado.
Pappas almost tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when he flied out to deep left.
"We soaked up every single day," Roof said. "Not only are they special players, but they are better human beings. They are great leaders and great teammates."
Ramsey Capped Big Day For Bergen County In Baseball Public School State Finals
For Ramsey, which was also the 2022 Group 2 state champions, it was certainly a magical day to conclude what was a memorable Sunday for Bergen County baseball teams as Old Tappan (5-0 over Brick Memorial in Group 3) and Ridgewood (7-6 vs. Kingsway in Group 4) also captured state championships to take home to Bergen County.
Indicating the overall strength of Bergen County none of the three 2026 group state champions had advanced past the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament.
The big Bergen County accomplishment on Sunday, June 14, also marked just the second time that three different Bergen public schools won a baseball state title to cap the same season. In 2019, Emerson Boro (Group 1), Pascack Hills (Group 2) and Ridewood (Group 4) also emerged as a triple-champion for the Bergen faithful.
The only other of the state's 21 different counties to accomplish the feat of three different public schools capturing baseball group state titles was Camden County back in 1989.
2026 GROUP 2 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP AT RUTGERS' BAINTON FIELD
N1-Ramsey (22-8) 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 - 4 5 0
CJ-Gov. Livingston (28-5) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 - 2 3 3
WP: Joe Scarnecchia, junior left-hander.
LP: Reid Bazydlo, senior right-hander.
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