Old Bridge senior Frank Papeo hits a two-run homer against North Brunswick in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals on May 8, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Third-seed Old Bridge avoided an upset at the hands of 11th-sedd North Brunswick in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals, rallying for four runs in the sixth inning to beat the upset-minded Raider as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
The Knights move on to face the winner of the 7 pm semifinal between 8th-seed South Brunswick and top-seed South Plainfield, Saturday afternoon at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick
North Brunswick got the lead first, in the fourth, and held it until the Knights’ comeback.
In the North Brunswick fourth, Kyle Anderson led off with a single, Connor Levine walked, and Willy Pena got hit to load the bases. DH Avery Price then roped a ball down the left field line to plate two runs. And after a pop-up and strikeout, leadoff man Tim DeGaetano hit a roller to shortstop that John Smith booted, allowing two more runs to score.
Old Bridge got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but could have had more. Justin Hascup led off with a walk and scored on an RBI single by JT Meyer, but Akhil Penkala got caught in a rundown as MJ Altman behind him got caught close to third, forcing Penkala to try and score. That wild play ended the inning.
And after a 1-2-3 top of the fifth for North Brunswick, Old Bridge would get even closer, with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Christian Cavanaugh led off with a single, followed another from John Smith. Chris Crosta singled in a run to make it 4-2, and head coach Jake Rosenberg took out Jabar, going with Chris Rosario from third to pitch.
Frank Papeo promptly singled to drive in a run and make it 4-3, then Hascup tied it with an RBI ground out to short before Rosario got two Ks to end the inning.
North Brunswick grabbed the lead back in the top of the sixth. With one out, Danny Breheney rolled a grounder past the shortstop to drive in Pena, making it 5-4 Raiders.
But Old Bridge tied it, then took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the inning. Altman and led off with a double, then JT Meyer singled him in to make it 5-5. After a sac bunt by Cavanaugh and a flyout by Smith, Crosta roped a double over the centerfielder’s head to give Old Bridge its first lead of the day, scoring Meyer.
Then came an even bigger blow, when Frank Papeo homered to left field to drive in Crosta, giving the Knights at 8-5 lead.
Luke Hagen came in to close the game out, and after two strikeouts, walked the next two hitters, Levine and Pena, before getting Price – who’d doubled in his last two at bats – to hit a fly ball to right. It could have been another two-bagger in the gap, but Akhil Penkala saved the game with a diving catch to end it.
Hagen got the save in relief, while Hascup got the win to improve to 5-1, while Rosario took the loss to fall to 1-2.
Click below to hear postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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