County title on the line: South Plainfield to face Old Bridge Saturday for 2024 GMC crown

There’s always debates about seeding, scheduling and crossovers, but one thing is certain: Whether it’s basketball or baseball, the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament is one of the best in the state.

The games come in rapid fire fashion, and it’s never a dull moment. And this year, it was widely considered a wide-open tournament.

This Saturday, the 2024 GMC will crown a baseball champion. And for the first time in three years, we’ll have two new teams vying for the title. Top-seed and GMC Red Division champion South Plainfield will battle third-seed Old Bridge for Middlesex County Supremacy, and Central Jersey Sports Radio will be there.

Click here to listen to the live broadcast!

Of course, weather could be an issue. As of Friday morning, The Weather Channel is calling for cloudy skies in the morning with a few showers later in the day. For first pitch, it would be 63 degrees with a 30 percent chance of showers.

The GMCT finals rain date is Sunday, with the forecast calling for a mix of sun and clouds and a high of 74, with only a six percent chance of precipitation all day.

Scroll through this story for the finals at-a-glance, interviews, links to our coverage of both teams, how they got here, team records and finals history, and other notes and stats.

GMC FINALS AT-A-GLANCE

Teams:
(1) South Plainfield (19-4-1*, 10-2, GMC Red Champions, #11 in NJ)
(3) Old Bridge (17-7, 9-3 GMC Red, 2nd place, #18 in NJ)

Head Coaches:
South Plainfield: Scott Gleichenhaus, 4th season (67-37-1)
Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue, 6th season (99-70)

Probable Starters:
South Plainfield: Kevin Penny (2-0, 1.67 ERA)
Old Bridge: Frank Papeo (3-1, 0.23 ERA)

Date and Time: Saturday, May 18 – 2:00 pm
Location: Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School (Rues Lane, East Brunswick)
Listen On: Central Jersey Sports Radio, Pregame 1:25 pm (Click here to listen live!)
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko & Justin Sontupe

PREVIEW STORIES

• With Red Division title in its pocket, South Plainfield needs one more to rule GMC
• South Plainfield’s Robinson tears it up for the Tigers, who keep underdog mentality heading into GMCT title game against Old Bridge

• Old Bridge chomping at the bit to get to Saturday, take aim at South Plainfield in GMC final
• South Plainfield’s Robinson tears it up for the Tigers, who keep underdog mentality heading into GMCT title game against Old Bridge

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

South Plainfield:
First Round: bye
Second Round: def. (17) Perth Amboy, 11-1
Quarterfinals: def. (8) South Brunswick, 10-9
Semifinals: def. (5) Edison, 8-3

Old Bridge:
First Round: bye
Second Round: def. (14) St. Joseph-Metuchen, 6-4
Quarterfinals: def. (11) North Brunswick, 8-5
Semifinals: def. (10) Sayreville, 10-0

TEAM LEADERS:

South Plainfield*:

• Batting Average: Zack Robinson (.479), Dan Kapsch (.410), Jayden Alvarez (.386)
• RBI: Jayden Alvarez (24), Zack Robinson (23), Nick Irizzary (19)
• HR: Zack Robinson (3), Dan Kapsch, Kevin Penny (1)
• Walks: Aiden McCarthy (17), Zack Robinson (16)
• Stolen Bases: Nick Irizzary (30), Zack Robinson (21), Jayden Alvarez (20)
• Wins: Zack Robinson, Mike Castagna (4)
• ERA (min 12 innings): Ryan Balent (0.70 in 20 IP), Aldo Pigna (1.67 in 29 1/3 IP)
• Strikeouts (Pitcher): Aldo Pigna (410< Kevin Penny (25), Mike Castagna (23)

*Note: Stats heading into Friday’s game vs. Notre Dame

Old Bridge:

• Batting Average: Akhil Penkala (.436), John Smith, Justin Hascup (.371)
• RBI: John Smith, Michael Altman (150), JT Meyer, Frank Papeo (13)
• HR: Frank Papeo, Evan Smith (2)
• Walks: Frank Papeo (13), John Smith (10)
• Stolen Bases: John Smith (2), Christian Cavanaugh (1)
• Wins: Justin Hascup, JT Meyer (5)
• ERA (min 12 innings): Frank Papeo (0.23 in 30 1/3 IP), JT Meyer (0.91 in 38 1/3 IP)
• Strikeouts (Pitcher): Justin Hascup (51), Frank Papeo (40)

Coverage of South Plainfield:

• With Red Division title in its pocket, South Plainfield needs one more to rule GMC
• South Plainfield’s Robinson tears it up for the Tigers, who keep underdog mentality heading into GMCT title game against Old Bridge
• How does South Plainfield’s current win streak compare statewide? We take a look
• INSTANT REPLAY: GMC Tournament Semifinals
• South Plainfield scores early and often in 8-3 win over Edison, to earn trip to GMC title game
• It’s South Plainfield – fresh off a stunning comeback – vs. Edison, ace Appelman, in second GMCT semifinal Saturday
• INSTANT REPLAY: GMC Tournament Quarterfinals
• Top-seed South Plainfield “stuns” South Brunswick with six runs in final at bat to advance to GMCT quarterfinals
• Top-seed South Plainfield takes GMC-best ten-game winning streak into quarterfinal matchup with South Brunswick
• Top three seeds in GMCT advance to quarterfinals, as South Plainfield, Woodbridge and Old Bridge pick up wins
• INSTANT REPLAY: No. 2 South Plainfield 11, St. Joseph-Metuchen 9
• South Plainfield earns top GMC Tournament seed; Tigers will seek second title, first since ’18
• No. 2 South Plainfield takes GMC Red outright, wins 11-9 slugfest against St. Joseph-Metuchen
• No. 2 South Plainfield looks to finish off St. Joseph, GMC Red Division when Tigers and Falcons tangle Thursday
• No. 2 South Plainfield clinches share of GMC Red, and likely top GMCT seed, with 4-2 road win at St. Joseph-Metuchen

Coverage of Old Bridge:

• Old Bridge chomping at the bit to get to Saturday, take aim at South Plainfield in GMC final
• Old Bridge standouts John Smith, Akhil Penkala, talk offense, defense, and being a role model
• Meyer is masterful, Smith shows power as Old Bridge cruises to 10-0 win over Sayreville to reach GMC Tournament final
• Battle of Route Nine will open GMC Tournament semifinals as Old Bridge, Sayreville tussle
• Old Bridge rallies in 6th to drop North Brunswick 8-5, move on to GMC Tournament semifinals
• Round 3: Old Bridge, North Brunswick to battle in GMCT quarterfinal opener Wednesday
• Top three seeds in GMCT advance to quarterfinals, as South Plainfield, Woodbridge and Old Brigde pick up wins
• No. 1 Old Bridge earns split with North Brunswick as Knights get 4-3 “road” win at home
• INSTANT REPLAY: #1 Old Bridge 5, #5 St. Joseph-Metuchen 0
• Another solid start from Papeo – and 3 RBIs – helps Old Bridge to early sweep of St. Joseph
• No. 1 Old Bridge welcomes in No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen, after the solar eclipse
• Old Bridge, Brigdewater-Raritan take top two spots in Bellamy & Son Paving Preseason High School Baseball rankings
• Defending CJ4 champion Old Bridge has solid returning cast, with sights on a GMC title

NOTES AND NUGGETS:

Click here for notes and observations from last weekend’s GMC Tournament Semifinals.

The Greater Brunswicks, Ended: With South Plainfield and Old Bridge in the final, that ends a streak of four straight GMC Tournament finals with a team calling themselves a “Brunswick.” That’s happened five of the last seven years, the GMC final has seen the surrounding Brunswicks, but not New Brunswick. East Brunswick won the GMCT in 2016, while South Brunswick made it in 2019 and 2021, losing both – there was no high school baseball in 2020 due to COVID – and North Brunswick was in the finals the last two years. That was also the second time that happened for them. The Raiders also made it in back to back years in 2009 and 2010, losing to St. Joe’s in ’09, and South Brunswick in ’10.

And with the Raiders’ win two seasons ago, all three surrounding Brunswicks – North, South and East – can claim at least one title. North Brunswick won it in 2022, East Brunswick has won five (the very first in 1986, then again in 1991, 1997, 2005 and 2016), and South Brunswick won it in 2002 and 2010.

New Brunswick has never made the GMC Tournament finals.

Red Division continues to rule: A team from the top division in the GMC has won five of the last seven finals, and it will be a Red Division team again this year, with both finalists hailing from the Red. East Brunswick won it in 2016, followed by St. Joe’s in 2017. Old Bridge won it all in 2019, while 2021 went to St. Joe’s again, and the Falcons won it last year. The only Breaks were when North Brunswick won it out of the White in 2022, and 2018 – South Plainfield’s last title. They were in the White at the time as well.In the current GMC divisional alignment, every Red and White team has won at least one title since the first tournament in 1986.

Repeat for South Plainfield? In the past two season, the lower seed has won the GMC Tournament. Last year, St. Joseph was the three-seed, and beat top seed North Brunswick. Two years ago, the roles were reversed. North Brunswick was the sixth seed, and beat top-seed St. Joe’s. But they were the first team to pull the upset in the title tilt since 2018 – the year 14th-seed South Plainfield did it, beating 12-seed Perth Amboy 2-1 in 12 innings.

Top seed, top dog? The top-seed in the GMC Tournament has only made the finals five times in 13 seasons dating back to 2011. And they’re only 2-3 when they get there. The winners were Old Bridge in 2019 over South Brunswick, and St. Joe’s in 2017 over Monroe.