South Plainfield’s Kevin Penny is 1-0 with a 0.74 ERA in three starts for GMC Red Division leader South Plainfield. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Heading into the 2024 baseball season, everyone was talking about the veteran squad defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion Old Bridge would have back, and the solid pitching Monroe would return.
Was anyone talking about South Plainfield?
If they weren’t, they are now. The Tigers 13-3 overall, 9-2 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division, and No. 2 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten are poised to pick up the top seed in the GMC Tournament when it’s seeded Friday morning.
That’s because they’ve got explosive hitting – nine home runs – and excellent pitching. Even their two conference losses – one to East Brunswick, the other to Monroe – came by a run each, both 3-2 defeats. They have scored more runs (120), and allowed fewer (51), than anyone else in the Red.
Thursday afternoon, South Plainfield looks to finish off the division title and claim it outright when the Tigers host St. Joseph-Metuchen, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio by clicking here. Game time is 4 pm with Mike Pavlichko on the call; pregame starts at 3:45.
Even with a loss, and an Old Bridge win at Monroe today, which would leave the two teams tied for first in the Red Division, South Plainfield has the tiebreaker, sweeping a home-and-home from the Knights last week.
As head coach Scott Gleichenhaus puts it, the Tigers have some “dudes” who can hit. That includes senior Zack Robinson, who’s batting .471 with a team-best three homers, slugging .804 on the year. And even down to the expected DH in Thursday’s game, Anthony Tomei, who hasn’t played baseball in a couple of years and is hitting just .200: he slugged a grand slam to spark a rally Wednesday to come from behind in an 11-4 win over Scotch Plains-Fanwood, and drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth Tuesday against St. Joseph.
On the mound Thursday will be the Tigers’ lowest ERA pitcher, Kevin Penny, “the guy we want on the bump in a big game,” says Gleichenhaus. And why not? In 19 innings, he’s allowed just two earned runs (three overall) for a minuscule 0.74 ERA with a record of 1-0.
Click below to hear South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus talk about the Tigers and St. Joseph-Metuchen:
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