Baseball Game Preview: Hillsborough Raiders vs. Somerville Pioneers

The Hillsborough Raiders will venture away from home to take on the Somerville Pioneers at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Hillsborough not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since May 8, 2024 (when they won 8-2). Their pitcher stepped up to hand Manville a 6-0 shutout.

Not much got past James Drinkwater, who gave up just three hits and racked up 13 Ks to keep Manville off the board. Those 13 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for Drinkwater.

Andrew Advani

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/12/25 vs Manville	3
04/01/25 @ Hunterdon Central	2
04/19/25 @ Ocean Township	1
04/05/25 @ Steinert	1
03/24/25 @ West Windsor-Plainsboro South	1

At the plate, Andrew Advani was incredible, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Apoorva Nigam also deserves some recognition as he got his first hits of the season.

Hillsborough always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .529. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Somerville ultimately got the result they hoped for on Saturday. They had just enough and edged out Rutgers Prep 8-7. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Pioneers have posted since April 1st.

Somerville now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Hillsborough, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 9-10.

Hillsborough came out on top in a nail-biter against Somerville when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 8-6. Do the Raiders have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Pioneers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.