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How’s this for an eventful week of action ― six teams change spots in our Greater Middlesex Conference Top 10 with a new squad entering. Here are league-wide notes followed by our rankings.
More: Vote: Central Jersey Area Readers’ Choice Baseball Player of the Week poll for Week 2
More: Baseball April roundup: Results, analysis, links for GMC, Skyland and area Union County
More: Baseball Player of the Week: North Plainfield's Bennie Sokolowski wins award
A pair of double-take games: Baseball never ceases to amaze. Take two games last Wednesday that one doesn’t quite see every day. Metuchen beat South River 8-6 as Lucas Malamug (5 1/3 innings) and James Fenton (1 2/3 innings) combined on a no-hitter – along with 15 walks, three hit batters and Metuchen made two errors. The two pitchers did have 16 strikeouts to help limit damage.
Then Perth Amboy Magnet topped Somerset Tech 21-19 as the teams combined for 21 hits ― and 14 errors. Somerset’s Caden Winnicki was a double away from the cycle and went 3-for-6 with seven RBIs.
Strong rebound seasons: North Plainfield is off to a 7-1 start, which has already matched last year’s win total and has included a key Blue Division sweep over Metuchen. The Canucks have two senior starters, but several returning players, and that experience is paying off. The team is hitting .218 but has gotten timely knocks and the pitching has been top-flight with Bennie Sokolowski (17 IP, 0.00 ERA, 22 Ks), Tommy Zotollo (15 2/3 IP, 3.13 ERA, 17 Ks), Davyn Ciriaco (10 IP, 0.70 ERA, 19 Ks) and Ian Lameira (9 IP, 0.78 ERA, 16 Ks) leading the way.
In the Gold Division, New Brunswick (4-1 overall and in the division) has already equaled last year’s division win total. That includes splitting with Dunellen (4-2 in division). Kelvin Heuston is hitting .562 (9-for-16) and Devin Heuston and Jacob Henderson are both batting .375 (6-for-16). Elkin Reyes is the ace with a 1.75 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 16 innings.
Series to watch: Woodbridge (8-1 Red Division) is off to a great start but meets the two division favorites this week. First, the Barrons host South Plainfield (5-3) Tuesday in the second game of the series. Then, they meet Old Bridge (5-3) on Thursday and Saturday.
(Records through Saturday)
1. Old Bridge (7-4) – last week No. 1: Now that’s the type of baseball we expect from the Knights. After a 2-3 start, Old Bridge has won five of six with three shutouts. Pitching was a question beyond ace Justin Hascup, but guys who threw sparingly last season have stepped up such as seniors John Smith and Akhil Penkala and sophomore Brady Meyer. The latest was Saturday’s win over non-public power Seton Hall Prep.
2. South Plainfield (7-3) – last week No. 2: A key to staying afloat in the Red Division race is to get those two-game splits. The Tigers lost to No. 9 Monroe last week in Game 1 but came back three days later to beat the Falcons 4-2 behind Aiden McCarthy’s strong 6 2/3 innings. South Plainfield then took the first game against previously undefeated Woodbridge 7-3, keyed by McCarthy’s three RBIs and Mike Castagna’s start.
3. Colonia (6-2) – last week No. 3: The Patriots hold steady at No. 3 despite splitting with Middlesex last week in two cleanly pitched games. Cory Pascarella twirled a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts and no walks in Colonia’s 1-0 win. Middlesex bounced back to win 2-0 in the second game.
4. Woodbridge (8-1) – last week No. 6: The Barrons begin the movement in this week’s poll. Woodbridge jumps two spots after starting 8-0 with GMC Red Division sweeps over No. 6 St. Joseph, South Brunswick, East Brunswick and last week’s sweep over then-No. 4 Edison. Impressive. No. 2 South Plainfield snapped Woodbridge’s run with a 7-3 win Saturday. Ryan Leach has a 1.67 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 21 innings after missing last season with a knee injury.
5.St. Thomas Aquinas (7-3) – last week No. 8: The Trojans also get a bump in the rankings with a 4-0 week in the White Division with balanced hitting. That includes a sweep over then-No. 5 Spotswood and wins over North Brunswick for the series sweep and a victory over Perth Amboy.
6. St. Joseph (4-3) – last week No. 9: The Falcons’ bats had to cool off at some point, which they did in a 9-0 loss to Old Bridge on Thursday. That snapped a four-game winning streak, one which saw St. Joseph score 50 runs with 55 hits. The Falcons have a split with No. 1 Old Bridge and a win over No. 2 South Plainfield. The big boppers include Luke Palermo, who’s hitting .500 (11-for-22 with 14 RBIs) and JP Zayle, who has a .421 batting average (8-for-19 and 10 RBIs).
7. Spotswood (5-5) – last week No. 5: With the ups comes the downs, and Spotswood is the first team to drop this week. The Chargers did earn a nice 10-8, eight-inning win Saturday over Middlesex. Spotswood hosts Middlesex to conclude the series Tuesday.
8. Edison (4-6) – last week No. 4: The Eagles’ pair of losses against Woodbridge drops them to the back half of our top 10. However, the body of work counts, and Edison has splits with No. 1 Old Bridge and No. 9 Monroe. Their pitching keeps Edison in just about every game. Example A: Robert Roma threw a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in Saturday’s 5-0 win over South Brunswick.
9. Monroe (4-5) – last week No. 7: The Falcons slide a couple spots in the midst of a 1-4 stretch. There’s no question, though, they’re a quality team. Witness their split with No. 2 South Plainfield last week and an earlier split with No. 8 Edison.
10. (tie)Sayreville (5-3) – last week No. 10: Talk about a nail-biting week where every pitch matters, the Bombers went 3-0 highlighted by a sweep over pesky White Division opponent Perth Amboy. Pitchers Thomas Schlaline and Logan Kaufman each went the distance in 4-3 and 4-2 wins. Sayreville has key division games against Colonia (the Patriots won 8-3 on April 4) and a series with St. Thomas Aquinas this week.
10. Middlesex (6-3) – last week unranked: Simply, the Blue Jays deserve to be ranked. They have a winning record and splits with No. 3 Colonia and No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas. However, there were no logical team to take out, so we’ll add a tie at No. 10 for now. Dominic Long continues to shine for the Blue Jays and threw a four-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Colonia and was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball ranking and notes: GMC Top 10 through April 19
Continue reading...
More: Vote: Central Jersey Area Readers’ Choice Baseball Player of the Week poll for Week 2
More: Baseball April roundup: Results, analysis, links for GMC, Skyland and area Union County
More: Baseball Player of the Week: North Plainfield's Bennie Sokolowski wins award
Notes
A pair of double-take games: Baseball never ceases to amaze. Take two games last Wednesday that one doesn’t quite see every day. Metuchen beat South River 8-6 as Lucas Malamug (5 1/3 innings) and James Fenton (1 2/3 innings) combined on a no-hitter – along with 15 walks, three hit batters and Metuchen made two errors. The two pitchers did have 16 strikeouts to help limit damage.
Then Perth Amboy Magnet topped Somerset Tech 21-19 as the teams combined for 21 hits ― and 14 errors. Somerset’s Caden Winnicki was a double away from the cycle and went 3-for-6 with seven RBIs.
Strong rebound seasons: North Plainfield is off to a 7-1 start, which has already matched last year’s win total and has included a key Blue Division sweep over Metuchen. The Canucks have two senior starters, but several returning players, and that experience is paying off. The team is hitting .218 but has gotten timely knocks and the pitching has been top-flight with Bennie Sokolowski (17 IP, 0.00 ERA, 22 Ks), Tommy Zotollo (15 2/3 IP, 3.13 ERA, 17 Ks), Davyn Ciriaco (10 IP, 0.70 ERA, 19 Ks) and Ian Lameira (9 IP, 0.78 ERA, 16 Ks) leading the way.
In the Gold Division, New Brunswick (4-1 overall and in the division) has already equaled last year’s division win total. That includes splitting with Dunellen (4-2 in division). Kelvin Heuston is hitting .562 (9-for-16) and Devin Heuston and Jacob Henderson are both batting .375 (6-for-16). Elkin Reyes is the ace with a 1.75 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 16 innings.
Series to watch: Woodbridge (8-1 Red Division) is off to a great start but meets the two division favorites this week. First, the Barrons host South Plainfield (5-3) Tuesday in the second game of the series. Then, they meet Old Bridge (5-3) on Thursday and Saturday.
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GMC Top 10
(Records through Saturday)
1. Old Bridge (7-4) – last week No. 1: Now that’s the type of baseball we expect from the Knights. After a 2-3 start, Old Bridge has won five of six with three shutouts. Pitching was a question beyond ace Justin Hascup, but guys who threw sparingly last season have stepped up such as seniors John Smith and Akhil Penkala and sophomore Brady Meyer. The latest was Saturday’s win over non-public power Seton Hall Prep.
2. South Plainfield (7-3) – last week No. 2: A key to staying afloat in the Red Division race is to get those two-game splits. The Tigers lost to No. 9 Monroe last week in Game 1 but came back three days later to beat the Falcons 4-2 behind Aiden McCarthy’s strong 6 2/3 innings. South Plainfield then took the first game against previously undefeated Woodbridge 7-3, keyed by McCarthy’s three RBIs and Mike Castagna’s start.
3. Colonia (6-2) – last week No. 3: The Patriots hold steady at No. 3 despite splitting with Middlesex last week in two cleanly pitched games. Cory Pascarella twirled a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts and no walks in Colonia’s 1-0 win. Middlesex bounced back to win 2-0 in the second game.
4. Woodbridge (8-1) – last week No. 6: The Barrons begin the movement in this week’s poll. Woodbridge jumps two spots after starting 8-0 with GMC Red Division sweeps over No. 6 St. Joseph, South Brunswick, East Brunswick and last week’s sweep over then-No. 4 Edison. Impressive. No. 2 South Plainfield snapped Woodbridge’s run with a 7-3 win Saturday. Ryan Leach has a 1.67 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 21 innings after missing last season with a knee injury.
5.St. Thomas Aquinas (7-3) – last week No. 8: The Trojans also get a bump in the rankings with a 4-0 week in the White Division with balanced hitting. That includes a sweep over then-No. 5 Spotswood and wins over North Brunswick for the series sweep and a victory over Perth Amboy.
6. St. Joseph (4-3) – last week No. 9: The Falcons’ bats had to cool off at some point, which they did in a 9-0 loss to Old Bridge on Thursday. That snapped a four-game winning streak, one which saw St. Joseph score 50 runs with 55 hits. The Falcons have a split with No. 1 Old Bridge and a win over No. 2 South Plainfield. The big boppers include Luke Palermo, who’s hitting .500 (11-for-22 with 14 RBIs) and JP Zayle, who has a .421 batting average (8-for-19 and 10 RBIs).
7. Spotswood (5-5) – last week No. 5: With the ups comes the downs, and Spotswood is the first team to drop this week. The Chargers did earn a nice 10-8, eight-inning win Saturday over Middlesex. Spotswood hosts Middlesex to conclude the series Tuesday.
8. Edison (4-6) – last week No. 4: The Eagles’ pair of losses against Woodbridge drops them to the back half of our top 10. However, the body of work counts, and Edison has splits with No. 1 Old Bridge and No. 9 Monroe. Their pitching keeps Edison in just about every game. Example A: Robert Roma threw a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in Saturday’s 5-0 win over South Brunswick.
9. Monroe (4-5) – last week No. 7: The Falcons slide a couple spots in the midst of a 1-4 stretch. There’s no question, though, they’re a quality team. Witness their split with No. 2 South Plainfield last week and an earlier split with No. 8 Edison.
10. (tie)Sayreville (5-3) – last week No. 10: Talk about a nail-biting week where every pitch matters, the Bombers went 3-0 highlighted by a sweep over pesky White Division opponent Perth Amboy. Pitchers Thomas Schlaline and Logan Kaufman each went the distance in 4-3 and 4-2 wins. Sayreville has key division games against Colonia (the Patriots won 8-3 on April 4) and a series with St. Thomas Aquinas this week.
10. Middlesex (6-3) – last week unranked: Simply, the Blue Jays deserve to be ranked. They have a winning record and splits with No. 3 Colonia and No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas. However, there were no logical team to take out, so we’ll add a tie at No. 10 for now. Dominic Long continues to shine for the Blue Jays and threw a four-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Colonia and was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball ranking and notes: GMC Top 10 through April 19
Continue reading...
