Middlesex wins pitchers’ duel, tops Colonia 3-1 behind solid Kozak in GMC 1st Round

Knowing that Middlesex beat Colonia this year 2-0 and Colonia got ’em back with a 1-0 win, the conventional wisdom was that their third meeting – this time in the GMC Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament’s first round would be a good one, and it was.

The tenth-seeded Blue Jays topped the seventh-seeded Patriots on the road in the rubber match, 3-1, Monday afternoon at Colonia High School. The deciding runs came in the sixth inning of a 1-1 game.

Leadoff hitter Dom Parenti started the inning with a walk, and Dylan Ianiero followed with a single to center that bounced off Nick Minue’s glove and went behind him. With the left fielder backing up the play on one side, the ball bounded away from him, and by the time he got to it, Parenti had scored and Ianiero was on third with a triple. A single by Own Reynolds knocked him in to make it 3-2.

Middlesex starter Chris Kozak went the distance, allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, but getting the next six hitters out in order to close the game. He scattered five hits, walked one and struck out five in improving to 3-3 on the year. Kozak took the loss in the 1-0 regular season defeat to Colonia.

The Patriots (14-4) got on the board In the bottom of the first. Picture Corey pascarella singled, and moved up to second on a sac bunt by Dylan Chiers, then advanced to third on a fly ball to center by Colin Kroner, and came home on a wild pitch to Matt Fasulo.

Middlesex (14-4) tied it at one in the third.  With one out, Dom Parenti reached on an infield hit. Then Dylan Ianiero singled to right, which sent Parenti to third.  On the throw in, Ianiero tried for two, and as the ball was fumbled after the tag, Parenti used the decoy to come home and even the score.

The Blue Jays now move on to Wednesday’s GMCT quarterfinals against second-seed South Plainfield, which easily dispatched of 15th-seed Perth Amboy 11-0 Monday afternoon. Game times and field assignments for the quarters – which are set for North Brunswick Community Park at with two games at 4 and two games at 7 pm – will be determined by the GMC after Monday’s games are finished.

Click below for postgame reaction from Middlesex starting pitcher Chris Kozak and head coach Blaze Iannetti, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: