Tough losses for Spotswood, Middlesex in title games down the Shore

The run for the small schools in the GMC Conference in the state tournament has come to an end.

Spotswood fell to Rumson-Fair Haven in the Central Jersey Group 2 title game, its first appearance in a sectional final since 2010, while Middlesex dropped the Central Jersey Group 1 final for a second straight year to Point Pleasant Beach, a team it had beaten in the finals the two seasons prior, in 2019 and 2021.

Central Jersey Group 2 Final: (1) Rumson-Fair Haven 8, (3) Spotswood 3

The Bulldogs (21-5) scored early and often en route to repeating as Central Jersey Group 2 champs. They got three runs against Spotswood starter Casey Cumiskey, then hen-pecked the Chargers (21-8) with a single run in each of the following five innings. Rutgers commit John Goodes kept Spotswood off balance all day. Cumiskey hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh as the Chargers tried to rally, but fell just short.

Rumson will go on to play South 2 champion Seneca – the nine-seed from that section – in Monday’s Group 2 state semifinals.

Central Jersey Group 1 Final: (1) Point Pleasant Beach 4, (3) Middlesex 1

The Garnet Gulls (23-5) got all four of their runs in the second inning, and held on to beat the Blue Jays for a second straight year for the CJ2 title, this time on their home field after winning last year at Middlesex (17-9). Starter Alfonso Esposito gave up all four runs – but only one was earned – on five hits. The lone Middlesex run came in the top of the sixth, and was the first run Point Beach allowed in the entire four-game run through the section.

Next up for Point on Monday in the Group 2 statewide semifinals is Buena, the South 2 champion and top-seed from that section.