Jordan Martins of Edison – shown here in a May 2, 2022 game at South Brunswick – is hitting .571 with 3 RBIs for Edison, which has scored 46 runs in three games.
The season may be shorter this year, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played between now and the GMC Tournament, and then the state playoffs.
And yet, it’s never early to look at how things are going after the first week of the 2023 season.
The GMC Red Division is feasting on itself…
To wit, five of the seven teams picked up two wins this past week, but none are undefeated.
Defending GMC Tournament champion North Brunswick (2-1) split a pair with South Plainfield (1-2) and beat Monroe at home in the first of a home-and-home that wraps on the Falcons’ home field Tuesday afternoon. Monroe (1-2) knocked off last year’s GMCT runner-up St. Joseph-Metuchen on opening day before dropping the rematch and its first of two against the Raiders, who are tied for first with East Brunswick.
The Bears (2-1) split with South Brunswick then won big at South Plainfield Saturday. St. Joe’s (2-2) split a pair of split two-game series… falling to Monroe on Opening Day, then at Old Bridge Tuesday, before earning wins at Monroe Wednesday and at home against Old Bridge on Saturday.
Old Bridge (2-1) began 2-0 with wins over JP Stevens and St. Joseph at home before falling to the Falcons in Metuchen. South Brunswick (2-1) split with East Brunswick and won at Perth Amboy.
Dramamine, anyone?
Edison bats are hot, hot, hot…
During the COVID-shortened year, Edison was a pretty good baseball team, but in 2022, the Eagles struggled mightily at the plate. As a team, they hit just .209, almost a hundred points lower, with key guys like centerfielder Matt Yascko checking in with a .175 average.
Fast forward a year, and the Eagles have moved down to the White Division, and apparently have been hitting the batting cages.
Yascko – now a senior, and coming off a state sectional championship in football – is hitting .400 with 2-for-5 and three walks – that’s what you want out of a centerfielder – while seniors Jackson Ferrer and Jordan Martins are batting .571, and the Eagles (3-0) are checking in at .427 as a team.
And the run production is there in a big way, too. The two wins over Perth Amboy came by mercy rule: 14-0 and 23-0. In a 10-1 victory over the Patriots, Edison saw its scoreless pitching streak to start the season end at 12.
And that’s where the arms have been solid, allowing just eight hits in 17 innings across three games, while amassing 25 strikeouts. Paul di Pasquale two-hit Amboy in the opener. Jaxon Appelman did it again in the next game, fanning seven. And then Robert Roma and Dom Innocenti combined for a five-hitter and 23 Ks against Colonia.
The Eagles are back at it Monday with the finale of the home-and-home with Colonia on their own red turf, then play two against the bombers before opening a home-and-home with in-town rival JP Stevens Saturday at noon, a game you can hear right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Spotswood also piling on the runs…
After winning a narrow decision over Metuchen at “The Swamp” – the Chargers’ affectionate name for their home field, Spotswood (3-0) exploded for 23 runs in their next two games, and kept both the Bulldogs and North Plainfield off the scoreboard in a 13-0 win at Metuchen Thursday, and a 10-0 home win over the Canucks on Saturday afternoon.
The Cumiskey brothers are tearing the cover off the ball, a combined 11-for-21 with Carter, the sophomore, hitting .500 with 3 RBIs, while his older brother, Casey, the senior, is hitting .545 with four runs driven in, to lead the team.
Casey’s also a solid pitcher, and after throwing 2/3 of an inning – getting both via K – to get the save against Metuchen on Tuesday, he got the start against North Plainfield and showed immense control in four shutout innings, allowing just one hit, walking none, and striking out eleven.
Two unbeatens in the Gold…
With the creation of the new Silver Division, there’s now one more division below the Gold, a mix of Gold and Blue teams from last season. Little surprise that East Brunswick Magnet and Carteret are leading the pack here in the early going, with both teams 3-0 to start the season, the only division with two unbeaten teams remaining.
The Ramblers won their first three games by a combined 36-3. They opened with a 14-0 win at New Brunswick, then swept the Zebras with a 12-2 home win in the rematch Wednesday at home. Their third win came at South Amboy Thursday, 12-2.
Senior infielder/pitcher Jhoalvin Ledesma is crushing it, 7-for-11 in the first three games for a .636 batting average, while sophomore Drexler Rodriguez leads the team with 6 RBIs. And thought he’s just 2-for-4 at the plate, he has also walked five times, and the Ramblers are averaging just under ten walks per game.
Good eye!
As for EB Magnet, we saw the Tigers on Opening Day on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as they picked up a 16-4 win at Timothy Christian, and completed the sweep back at Ray Cipperly Field on Wednesday with a 10-6 win, before winning at Somerset Tech Friday 6-2.
On the air…
The broadcast schedule this week on Central Jersey Sports Radio includes two games, one in each county. Thursday, we’re in Somerset County as Somerville travels to Rutgers Prep for a 4:00 game. Then, we’re back to the GMC on Saturday at noon as Edison takes on JP Stevens in the first of a home-and-home.
Click here to listen to all the action live, and for free, on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
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