The Raritan Rockets will venture away from home to square off against the Freehold Boro Colonials at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Raritan has nine straight victories, Freehold Boro has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Raritan and Holmdel meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Monday. The Rockets walked away with a 5-0 win over the Hornets.
Katelyn Ruta
| 04/21/25 @ Holmdel | 7 |
| 04/19/25 vs Lacey Township | 9 |
| 04/17/25 vs Manalapan | 8 |
| 04/16/25 @ Matawan Regional | 7 |
| 04/10/25 vs Monmouth Regional | 7 |
Not much got past Katelyn Ruta, who gave up just five hits and racked up seven Ks to keep Holmdel off the board. Ruta has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Brie Brosonski, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. That home run marked the first that she has launched this season. Another player making a difference was Janelle Clausi, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
Marlboro hit Freehold Boro with a four-run seventh inning on Saturday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Colonials came up short against the Mustangs, falling 12-2.
Freehold Boro saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Olivia Edmonds, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one double.
Raritan's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-0. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Freehold Boro, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-10.
Freehold Boro's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Raritan hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .342. It's a different story for Freehold Boro, though, as they've only averaged .246. Will they be able to contain Raritan's hitters?
Everything went Raritan's way against Freehold Boro in their previous meeting on April 2nd, as Raritan made off with a 14-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rockets since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
