With new coach, hot bats and stellar arms, East Brunswick Magnet off to hottest start in years

Once again this year, Greater Middlesex Conference baseball teams found themselves shuffled around to different divisions, and some even landed in the new, fifth division, the GMC Silver.

East Brunswick Magnet – coming off a 10-10 campaign in 2024 – stayed where it’s been for years, in the GMC Gold.

And so far, it’s been Home, Sweet Home for the Tigers.

Under first-year head coach Sean Radu – who spent the last ten seasons as the head coach at Plainfield – EB Magnet is off to a 7-0 start, one of only two schools in the GMC to be undefeated in the third full week of the season.

While they won’t get the No. 1 seed in the county tournament, at this point they should at least be a favorite if they’re seeded into the GMC Invitational Tournament, which was recently named after the late former EB Tech Athletic Director, baseball coach, and architect of their amazing baseball field, Ray Cipperly.

Radu replaces Todd Sak, who spent 16 years (15 seasons) as head coach at East Brunswick Magnet, going 159-142 in that span, with double-digit win totals in each of the past four seasons since the 2020 season was wiped out due to COVID-19.

Noting that excellent foundation, Radu says he wanted to change the culture just “a little bit.”

The result? This year’s squad has been tremendous. The Tigers lead the Division at 7-0 overall, 6-0 in the Silver, two full games ahead of second-place New Brunswick, at 3-1 overall and in the division.

It’s the program’s best start since winning its first ten games en route to a 14-5 campaign under Sak in 2017.

They’re outscoring opponents on average by an average of more than ten runs a game, scoring 82 times in seven games, allowing just eleven per game, 1.5 runs per contest.

The Tigers aren’t just winning. They’re dominating. Four of their seven victories have come via the ten-run rule.

As a team, they’re hitting .380, led by senior outfielder Tommy O’Neill (.522, 5 RBIs) and junior shortstop Jack Clements (.524, 12 RBI), while senior Nomar Carreras has driven in a team-best 13 runs.

On the mound, only three of six pitchers who have seen game action this year have given up an earned run, and only four have been scored upon. Junior Anthony Bienvenue has thrown 17 innings and struck out 18, walking only five, with a team-leading 0.82 ERA, while sophomore Charlie Misura is at 0.88 in eight innings pitched.

Click below to hear East Brunswick Magnet first-year head coach Sean Radu talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Tigers’ 2025 season so far:

East Brunswick Magnet is back in action Thursday afternoon with a 4 pm home game against Union County foe Rahway (3-2, 3-0 in the Union County Conference Valley Division.)