Defending GMC Tourney champion Old Bridge looks for more in 2025, but will need to replace three key pitchers to top last season

Despite a GMC Tournament championship in 2024, the season didn’t end the way the Old Bridge baseball team would have liked.

Then again, whose does? Only a handful of teams – sometimes even fewer – win a sectional title, and even fewer go all the way like Bridgewater-Raritan did in 2014, sweeping their division, the SCT, their state section, and the group title.

But for the Knights, who won Central Jersey Group 4 in 2023 and went to the state finals in Hamilton, it was still a disappointing end.

All that said, Old Bridge will have some question marks when it comes to the 2025 season, which opens next Tuesday at 4 pm when the Knights host Red Division foe East Brunswick, against whom they’ve won three straight, two via shutout.

On the mound, Justin Hascup returns. The senior threw 57 2/3 innings last year, more than anyone on the staff, and he’ll anchor the crew again this season. But Justin Meyer, Frank Papeo and Luke Hagen are gone; they combined to throw 110 innings in 2024. Head coach Matt Donaghue says it will be tough to replace them, but is confident he has some arms.

He plans to have senior John Smith as his No. 2 starter behind Justin Hascup. Donaghue calls him a “high-end” pitcher, who only threw an inning last year, mainly playing shortstop. He has other guys who can throw strikes, and as Donaghue says, “that’s half the battle.”

Offensively, Donaghue also is excited about John Smith, who hit .412 last year and was tied with now-graduated Michael Altman for the team lead in RBIs with 17. Donaghue believes he’s the best all-around player in Middlesex County. Akhil Penkala – who hit a team best .443 last season – Justin Hascup and Akhil Penkala also will be top-of-the-order guys for the Knights.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue talk more about the upcoming 2025 season for the Knights with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: