Freshman Jaxon Appelman struck out eight and one-hit South Plainfield through 6 1/3 innings in a 7-2 GMCT quarterfinal win Tuesday over South Plainfield.
It’s not like Edison hadn’t beaten South Plainfield in years. In fact, their last win over the Tigers was in their first meeting in 2019.
But Tuesday night’s 7-2 win at North Brunswick Community Park over their White Division foes was monumental, in that it sent the third-seeded Eagles to the GMC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2008, when they lost to Old Bridge 2-1.
In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, powered by Bellamy & Son Paving, freshman pitcher Jaxon Appelman held third-seed South Plainfield (17-3-1) to just one hit through 6 1/3 innings, allowing two unearned runs in the seventh.
But the Edison bats did a job as well, scoring seven runs against a South Plainfield team that entered the game with a 0.86 team ERA. The run total was the second highest allowed all season by the Tigers (Woodbridge scored nine in a 12-9 South Plainfield win on May 13th), and they had surrendered fewer than five runs in all but five games before Tuesday night.
Senior centerfielder Evrin Virola knocked in three runs on a 2-for-4 night, including a two-run double in the third that made it 3-0 Edison.
The win pits third-seeded Edison (15-6) against second seed St. Joseph of Metuchen (16-8), which beat 10th-seed Spotswood 14-3 in five innings Tuesday night. The Eagles and Falcons will play in Saturday’s 2:30 semifinal at East Brunswick Tech, a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Click below to hear postgame reaction from Edison’s 7-2 GMCT quarterfinal win over South Plainfield: