The Falcons’ Andrew Goldan throws a pitch in the fourth inning of the 2021 GMC Tournament title game.
Andrew Goldan wasn’t on the mound when his 2nd-seeded Falcons recorded the final out.
He couldn’t be, because of his pitch count limit.
But Colin Leyner put the exclamation point on it for him, striking out Joey Chegus to finish setting down 5th-seed South Brunswick 1-2-3 in the seventh, giving the Falcons a 2-0 win and the GMC Championship.
St. Joe’s improved to 7-1 all-time in GMC title games, all since 2004, which was their first appearance.
And they did it once again behind the strong arm of Andrew Goldan.
Here was the line for the junior Sunday afternoon: 6 2/3 innings, 2 hits, no runs, one hit batter, and ten strikeouts, including the first two hitters he faced in the top of the seventh.
Here was the line for Goldan in the GMC Tournament: 20 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 5 walks, 20 strikeouts, with a 0.34 ERA.
Not only was he unstoppable Sunday, but he was unflappable, escaping some tricky situations.
There was first and third with one out in the second after he plunked South Brunswick’s Jared Lauri on the back of the helmet with one out, and allowed an infield hit to Ryan Kessler. But he fanned the next two batters to escape.
Two innings later, he allowed a leadoff single to Pete Cortez, who advanced to third when Kessler reached on a throwing error byt the Falcons’ shortstop. Again a pair of Ks left Goldan and St. Joe’s unscathed.
In the fifth, Logan Blevins led off with an infield hit, then a walk by drawn by Frankie Sanchez left first and second with two out. But Cortez grounded into a force out, 4-6.
Those were the only innings South Brunswick managed any baserunners.
Click below to hear the full game broadcast – including the extended pregame show – of the GMC Tournament Championship Game, presented by Bellamy & Son Paving:
