St. Joe’s senior Andrew Goldan – shown here in the 2021 GMC Tournament final – will get the start Tuesday against Monroe. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Last season, Monroe beat St. Joseph in Metuchen late in the year to earn the top-seed in the GMC Tournament. The purple-and-gold-Falcons got knocked out early, while the ones in green won the whole thing.
So in the end, does this week’s home-and-home between the two teams really matter?
Absolutely.
Monroe-St. Joe’s has become one of those games both teams, and even fans of some others, will circle on the calendar. After rain made many grass fields across the state unplayable Tuesday, the opener of the series now will be in Metuchen at 11 am Wednesday. That was originally to be the rematch game, but now that will be Thursday at 9:30 am in Monroe.
Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast Wednesday’s contest from Metuchen, with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action, beginning with pregame at 10:45 am, and first pitch at 11. Click here to listen live, and for free.
St. Joe’s (6-0) has been atop the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten the entire season, and is one of three undefeated teams left in the Greater Middlesex Conference, after East Brunswick Tech (5-1) lost Monday at Carteret. Spotswood (7-0) and Timothy Christian (2-0) are the other unbeaten teams in the league.
Monroe (6-2) has only one league loss, by two runs to Old Bridge. Their other loss came Saturday against Somerville.
Click below to hear both coaches talk about their teams and preview the matchup: