Reschedule of GMC final throws North Brunswick pitching a curve ball for states

The NJSIAA hasn’t even released the state tournament brackets yet – those are expected to come out sometime Friday – but already North Brunswick has a pitching concern.

With rain in the forecast for Saturday, the GMC – as it should have – moved the baseball championship game to Sunday (1 pm on CJSR – click here to listen). But that poses some problems for the Raiders.

Ace Zack Konstantinovsky will take the hill, no doubt, in the final against St. Joe’s. But with the game moved to Sunday, he may be limited – if he can go at all – in a potential second round playoff game in Central Jersey Group 4, due to the NJSIAA’s pitch count rules.

St. Joseph does not have the same problem, with the Falcons expected to get a first-round bye in the states and not play until Friday, by which time the pitch clock for anyone going Sunday would reset.

For the Raiders, though – expected to earn the two-seed in Central Jersey Group 4 – Konstantinovsky never could have gone in the opening round anyway, which is scheduled for Monday, since it would have been just two days after the Saturday final. But head coach Mark Blevins would like to get him out for the second round on Thursday, May 26. That would have given Konstantinovsky four days’ rest, and set him up to pitch in a potential sectional final on Friday, June 2, eight days later.

According to NJSIAA pitch count rules, a pitcher who throws between from 71 to 90 pitches in a day, three calendar days of rest is required. Throwing 91 to the maximum 110 requires four calendar days’ rest.

Konstantinovsky has thrown four seven-inning complete games this year. His pitch counts averaged around 87, with outings of 71, 73, 102 and 103 pitches. In a 6-1 win at St. Joe’s on April 17th, he threw 102 pitches, giving up three hits, an unearned run, walked three and struck out 12, also hitting one batter.

If he can keep it under 91, he’d be free to pitch Thursday if the Raiders make it to the second round of the sectionals, but a pitcher also cannot exceed 150 pitches in a five-day calendar period. So, if he throws 90 Sunday, he’d be limited to 60 on Thursday, which would be the fifth calendar day.

If he goes over 91, he could not pitch until Friday, which means he’s out for the first two rounds. Konstantinovsky could pitch in the sectional semis on Tuesday, the 30th, but then would be limited or out of commission for a title game just three days’ later. Ideally, Blevins would want two starts, including one in the finals, out of Zack.

So the big decision for Blevins is whether to keep him under that 91 number in the GMC finals, and whether or not he goes to his bullpen. If Zack is on his game, he could conceivably get through six innings in 70 pitches or fewer, which would only require two days’ rest and make him eligible to throw as many as 80 in the second round of the states.

And if a reliever could get through under 50, they’d be good to go in the opening round for up to 100 pitches.

Of course, all that depends on how the game plays out. There’s only one Zack in the entire league, but the Raiders have highly capable pitchers beyond Zack who can finish off a game, if needed. If North Brunswick jumps out to a big lead, that could help. On the other hand, a 12-inning game could be trouble.