Montgomery, Franklin pull upset wins in opening round of Central 4 NJSIAA playoffs; Old Bridge, Edison, Hillsborough also advance on Day One

The NJSIAA baseball tournament isn’t even out of the first round, and already there were two upsets in the Central Jersey Group 4 bracket. And both teams responsible hail from Somerset County.

At Memorial Stadium in the Hub City, 12th-seed Montgomery shot past five-seed New Brunswick, 14-2, while 11-seed Franklin was a 2-1 road winner over six-seed East Brunswick Tuesday afternoon.

Three other CJSR-area teams also advanced out of the first round, including Edison, Hillsborough, and Old Bridge.

(12) Montgomery 14, (5) New Brunswick 2 (5 inn.): After a scoreless first inning, the Cougars (9-14) finally got the bats going, knocking out 12 hits in the win. They scored two in the second, six in the third and five more in the fourth, all with only one extra base hit in the game. Patrick Fogerty and Mason Neufeld each knocked in two runs apiece, while Montgomery hitters worked out nine walks. Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational champion New Brunswick (15-3) committed two errors in the game. Cougars’ head coach Peter Mueller earned career win No. 301, after taking his 300th over the weekend against Bernards. Next up, Monty gets a trip to second-seeed Hightstown, a team they played in Game One of the season back on April 2nd, taking a 5-3 loss.

(11) Franklin 2, (6) East Brunswick 1: All the scoring came early in this one, as the Warriors (11-8) got a run in the top of the second on a sac fly by Patrick Ziegler to score Elijah Zavatsky, then another in the top of the third when Mike Schiermeyer reached on an error by the shortsctop, scoring Izaiah Robinson. The Bears (11-13), though, could only get one back, on a Tyler Zeichner triple that scored Sean Christie. The Warriors will play Thursday at third-seed Edison.

(3) Edison 4, (13) Sayreville 2: After a gut-wrenching walk-off loss to St. Joseph-Metuchen Saturday in the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship game, the Eagles (16-10) bounced back with a victory. They fell behind 1-0 in the first on a bases loaded walk to Thomas Schlaline, but tied it in the bottom of the second when Teddy Eyler grounded into a fielders’ choice. The Bombers (10-15) again went up a run in the top of the third , on a single by Chase Cannan, but Edison again knotted the score on a groundout by Ray Tavarez, bringing in Anthony Calantoni. The score stayed that way until the fifth, when the Eagles took their first lead, when Robert Roma doubled with one out to score Calantoni, and they got more insurance in the sixth when Sam Kentos singled to knock in Dom Innocenti, who had led off the inning with a triple. Edison will host 11-seed Franklin Thursday.

(2) Old Bridge 13, (15) North Brunswick 0 (5 inn): The Knights (16-10) made short work of the Raiders (5-16), scoring four runs right out of the gate in the bottom of the first, with two more in the third before they exploded for seven more in the bottom of the fourth, as starter John Smith allowed just two runs in five innings for the win. Noah Balbeuna went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, while Jared Volpe was 2-for-2 with a couple of runs batted in as well. Next up, Old Bridge will host 10-seed Manalapan on Thursday.

(9) Hillsborough 6, (8) Freehold Twp. 2: The Raiders (11-10) picked up a road win in a battle of two .500 teams that were both 10-10 coming in. The Patriots (10-11) opened the scoring with a run in the first and another in the fifth, but Hillsborough answered the 2-0 deficit with a five-spot in the top of the sixth. After a hit by pitch, a fielder’s choice and a single, Drew Kipila drove in a wun with a single, then Jason Williams tied it at 2-2 with one of his own. Kipila then scored on a wild pitch with TJ Westlake at the plate, who later walked. Andrew Advani doubled to score Williams, and Brayden Fox lined a shot to right to bring in Advani and Westlake, making it 6-2. Aidan Cooper got the win in relief, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and retiring all six batters he faced once the Raiders had taken the lead. They’ll visit top-seed Hunterdon Central Thursday, a division-mate in the Skyland Delaware with whom they split two games this season – albeit almost two months ago – losing 4-3 on April 1st, but rebounding with a 2-1 win on April 3rd.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP 4 QUARTERFINALS
THURSDAY SCHEDULE:

(9) Hillsborough at (1) Hunterdon Central
(12) Montgomery at (4) Hightstown
(11) Franklin at (3) Edison
(10) Manalapan at (2) Old Bridge