Five area teams to battle for public sectional titles Friday, as Bridgewater-Raritan, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Spotswood, Middlesex all advance

It was quite a night for baseball in Central Jersey. Besides the beautiful weather, five teams from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area advanced in the state playoffs Tuesday, and will play for sectional titles Friday.

Central Jersey Group 4

One section is guaranteed a winner from the GMC. That’s in Central Jersey Group 4, where North Brunswick and Old Bridge advanced with semifinal wins. The Knights blanked East Brunswick 8-0, while the Raiders were a 4-3 winner over Monroe on a walk-off solo home run in the seventh by Zack Konstantinovsky, his second home of the game. He also hit a two-run homer to tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning. Opposing starter Harrison Lollin also homered for the Falcons.

Old Bridge has beaten North Brunswick twice already this season, with one of those games taking ten innings, interrupted by a lightning delay in the final at bat. But Konstantinovsky did not start either of those games, throwing only one scoreless inning in the extra-inning loss.

Click here for a recap with audio of the Old Bridge win over East Brunswick, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

North 2, Group 4

Bridgewater-Raritan will face unlikely finalist Bayonne after a 10-9 win in eight innings over Woodbridge. Joey Letko drove in Michael Fattore with a walk-off RBI single to win an up-and-down game in which the second-seeded Panthers led 7-2 after three innings, but found themselves up only 9-8 heading into the seventh, when Woodbridge tied it. The Panthers (23-6) will face fifth-seed Bayonne (24-6), which beat 8th-seed Westfield 14-3 in a mercy rule-shortened five-inning game Tuesday.

Click below for postgame comments from Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill:

Central Jersey Group 2

Third-seed Spotswood will play at top-seed Rumson-Fair Haven on Friday afternoon, after the Chargers beat Delran Tuesday, 5-3 at home. It’s Spotswood’s first trip to a final since 2010, when they beat Governor Livingston 7-5 to win Central Jersey Group 2.

Click here for a full recap with audio of Spotswood’s win over Delran.

Central Jersey Group 1

Third-seeded Middlesex will face a familiar opponent in the Central Jersey Group 1 final after beating second-seed Shore Regional on the road Tuesday, 7-2. This will be the fourth year in a row the Blue Jays (17-8) will play Point Pleasant Beach for the title, winning in 2019 and 2021 – with no season in 2020 due to COVID, but losing last season to the Garnet Gulls at home. This one will be on the road for Middlesex, with the last three finals clashes all being at Mountainview Park.

Aiden Kozak was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the win, while Michael Canavesio went the distance, scattering seven hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out seven.

Point Beach knocked out 5th-seed Manville 10-0 in five innings on Tuesday.

Below are Tuesday’s results, followed by the immediate upcoming schedule in all sections with CJSR-area teams remaining:

TUESDAY RESULTS

Central Group 4
(1) Old Bridge def. (5) East Brunswick, 8-0
(2) North Brunswick def. (6) Monroe, 4-3

North 2, Group 4
(5) Bayonne def. (8) Westfield, 14-3 (5 inn.)
(2) Bridgewater-Raritan def. (3) Woodbridge, 10-9 (8 inn.)

North 2, Group 3
(1) Millburn def. (4) South Plainfield, 3-2

Central Group 2
(1) Rumson-Fair Haven def. (12) Ocean Township, 2-1
(3) Spotswood def. (10) Delran, 5-3

Central Group 1
(1) Point Pleasant Beach def. (5) Manville, 10-0 (5 inn.)
(3) Middlesex def. (2) Shore, 7-2

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE

Non-Public North B
(4) Montclair-Kimberley at (1) St. Mary-Rutherford
(7) Gill St. Bernard’s at (3) Rutgers Prep, 12 pm (Diamond Nation, Flemington) (LISTEN on CJSR)

Non-Public South A
(4) St. Augustine at (1) Red Bank Catholic
(6) Notre Dame at (2) St. Joseph-Metuchen, 4 pm (Diamond Nation, Flemington)

FRIDAY SCHEDULE

Central Jersey Group 4 Final
(2) North Brunswick at (1) Old Bridge, 4 pm

North 2, Group 4 Final
(5) Bayonne at (2) Bridgewater-Raritan, TBA

Central Jersey Group 2 Final
(3) Spotswood at (1) Rumson-Fair Haven, TBA

Central Jersey Group 1 Final
(3) Middlesex at (1) Point Pleasant Beach, TBA

SATURDAY, MAY 3: Non-Public Sectional Finals