Back in the semifinals, back to their ace for North Brunswick in GMC Tournament

The GMC Tournament is a “Wednesday” Tournament.

With everyone’s top pitcher going in Monday’s second round – the opening games for the top 12 seeds – and that same guy coming back on Saturday in the semifinals, Wednesday is the day you have to get through.

Hope your starter can go deep, keep the bullpen out of it, win and move on.

For the top seed and defending champion North Brunswick, it didn’t really matter who was on the mound. Their bats did all the work.

The Raiders have scored 35 runs and surrendered none in two GMCT games so far – against South River and Edison – and now are a win away from a repeat trip to the finals, a chance to defend their 2022 crown.

But still, they love to have their ace out there: Zack Konstantinovsky.

The Rutgers-bound senior has been a dominant pitcher for nearly three years now. This season, he’s 6-0 with a 0.19 ERA. He’s only allowed two runs all year, one earned, in 37 1/3 innings of work, walking only six, and striking out 50.

Put it this way, he’s hit more home runs the last two seasons (ten, with six coming this season) than he’s given up earned runs the last two seasons (eight).

Saturday, in the GMC Tournament Semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet School’s Ray Cipperly Field, North Brunswick (13-5) will take on fourth-seed Monroe (8-6) in the second game of a doubleheader you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison.

Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action with first pitch set for 2:30. Click here to listen.

But the Raiders aren’t just about Zack K, whether his arm or his bat. Yomar and Omar Carreras can hit, and Justin Batts – a transfer from Bergen Catholic who lives in North Brunswick and played with many of his teammates since they were young – is heating up at the plate just a week-and-a-half into his season, after sitting out 30 days because of the transfer rule.