Final 2025 Courier News Skyland Conference and area Union County Top 10: State champs rule
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1. Hunterdon Central (25-3) – preseason No. 2 – With eight seniors in the starting lineup, the Red Devils won the program’s first state Group 4 championship since 2011 and then headed to prom. Along the way, they won their first sectional title since 2015, finally breaking through in their fifth straight trip to the final. Central also went to the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament final for the sixth straight season and shared the Skyland Conference Delaware Division championship after splitting a pair of regular-season games with Watchung Hills, which the Red Devils beat in the state final.
2. Watchung Hills (23-7) – preseason No. 1 -- The Warriors won their third North 2 Group 4 championship in four seasons, and second straight, returning to the state finals for the second straight year and third time in four seasons. Watchung Hills shared the Skyland Delaware title with Hunterdon Central and advanced to its fourth straight Somerset County final.
3. Immaculata (15-11) – preseason No. 4 -- The Spartans held their own against a brutally tough Skyland Delaware and non-conference schedule, parlaying a No. 6 seed in the Somerset County Tournament into their second straight championship.
4. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (20-7) – preseason No. 7 – The Raiders reached heights they hadn’t seen in 24 years last season and took an even bigger leap forward this year, posting, perhaps, their best campaign ever. SPF’s 18 wins last season was its most since 2001’s 19 victories. This year’s 20-win season is the most in at least three decades. The Raiders also captured the program’s first Union County Tournament championship since 1977.
5. Pingry (22-3) – preseason No. 6 -- The Big Blue tore through the program’s previous single-season wins record as a Skyland Conference program, cracking the 20-win mark for the first time this century and claiming the Raritan Division championship. The Big Blue, who went to the Somerset County semifinals for the second straight year, also won their second straight state Prep A championship.
6. Governor Livingston (17-9) – preseason No. 5 – The Highlanders reached the 17-win mark for the third straight season and notched their fifth consecutive winning campaign, finishing just a game behind A.L. Johnson in the Union County Conference Watchung Division race.
7. Westfield (14-11) – preseason not ranked -- The Blue Devils mixed in some key upperclassmen in a lineup that featured four freshmen and a sophomore and finished with their second straight winning season., advancing to the Union County Tournament semifinals.
8. Bridgewater-Raritan (15-8) – preseason No. 8 -- The Panthers enjoyed their first winning season since 2017, riding an airtight defense and prolific offense to finish second in the Raritan Division in Sandy Baranowski’s 28th and final year as head coach.
9. North Hunterdon (14-12) – preseason No. 3 – The Lions notching their eighth straight winning season and some big moments, going to the HWST semifinals, but didn’t get past the second round of the state tournament.
10. Bound Brook (17-12) – preseason NR – The Crusaders shook off a slow start to win 15-of-18 to close out the season, becoming the first No. 12 seed in 28 years to knock off a No. 5 in the Somerset County Tournament’s second round and first to reach the semifinals since that 1998 season. Bound Brook then captured the Central Group 1 championship, the program’s first sectional title since 1999.
ALSO RECEIVING CONSIDERATION: Delaware Valley (18-7), Somerville (20-6), Warren Hills (12-9).
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: NJ Softball rankings: Final Courier News Skyland, area UCC Top 10
