East Brunswick Magnet, New Brunswick earn trips to Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational Final with Monday semifinal wins

The finals of the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational Tournament are set for this Friday, with 2023 champion East Brunswick Magnet set to take on New Brunswick, after both teams won their semifinal games on Monday afternoon.

(3) East Brunswick Magnet 8, (2) North Brunswick 7: The Tigers rallied from a 7-3 deficit heading into the seventh to win behind a five-spot in the top of the inning at North Brunswick. The Raiders (5-14)trailed 2-1 after 3 1/2 innings, but got two in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, and after East Brunswick Magnet tied it at three in the top of the fifth, the Raiders added three in the fifth and one in the sixth to lead 7-3 after six on an RBI double by Connor Levine and two RBI singles that followed.

In the decisive top of the seventh, Tommy O’Neill – who ended up getting the win in relief – led off by reaching on an error on the centerfielder, getting all the way to second. Nomar Carreras struck out, and Jack Clements grounded out, bringing in O’Neill with the first run after he’d stolen third, cutting it to 7-4.

The rest of the rally all came with two outs. Braeden Cullen followed with a double, and Stephen Zappola reached on an infield hit that scored courtesy runner Braeden Chase Myers. Another double by Joshua Carreras moved Zappola to third, then a walk to Anthony Bienvenue loaded the bases. Andrew Teleposky got plunked to make it 7-6, Jedwin Crespo reached on an E6 to make it tie the game, and O’Neill walked to make it 8-7, before Nomar Carreras struck out looking to end the inning.

O’Neill – who got the last two outs in the sixth, threw a 1-2-3 seventh – with a strikeout, groundout and a strikeout – to preserve the win.

(5) New Brunswick 4, (1) JP Stevens 2: The Zebras (14-2) took a four-nothing lead with two runs apiece in the second and fourth, and held off the Hawks, who managed two runs in the sixth, but that was all.

In the second, Jose Encarnacion reached base on an E3, driving in Ronaldy Peralata, then Joel Ramos scored from third on a wild pitch with Jose Omar Abreu batting. The runs in the fourth came from Ramos on a dropped third strike, and another wild pitch that brought home Encarnacion.

JP Stevens got its runs in the sixth on a single by Collin Casey, and a balk.

First Pitch for Invitational Final moved up…

Baseball tournament director Mike O’Donnell told Central Jersey Sports Radio that Friday’s final – originally set for 4 pm at Edison High School, has been moved up to a noon start. O’Donnell says a number of schools – including East Brunswick Magnet and New Brunswick – had unused snow days, and this Friday happens to be one of the days both schools now have off. So, the game was moved earlier, likely a good idea also since the forecast calls for some rain Friday. And while it’s too early to tell, better to try and start early if there’s a window to play, than to sit around and wait for a later start that might not happen.

Central Jersey Sports Radio has tentative plans to broadcast the final, so long as it doesn’t conflict with the Somerset County Tournament final. That’s scheduled for Wednesday at 6 pm at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, but the weather Wednesday – and Thursday, too – doesn’t look great, and the rain date is Friday. If that doesn’t happen, the SCT might not get to have it’s title game until next week, with backup site Diamond Nation in Flemington often full of youth baseball events on weekends. Their Memorial Day classic, featuring seven different age groups from 9U to 15U, is schedule for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.