Tuesday’s All-GMC CJ4 semi between Edison, Old Bridge, will send one to face Skyland foe – Hillsborough or Montgomery – in title game

One thing is for sure:  The 2025 Central Jersey Group 4 final in the NJSIAA state tournament will feature two teams from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area. 

More specifically, it’ll be the GMC against the Skyland Conference for the title.

And while one side of that matchup will be the “chalk” teams – second-seed Old Bridge or third-seed Edison – the other side will be two clubs that pulled off a pair of “upsets” each with road wins: 12th-seed Montgomery and nine-seed Hillsborough.

On the GMC side, the Knights and Eagles were the fifth- and seventh-place teams, respectively in the GMC Red Division.  And if you’re thinking that’s not very good, think again.

The Red beat each other up this year, to be sure.  No one has won 20 games (yet) but both are 17-10 and a win away from the finals. Edison made it to the GMC finals, where they lost to St. Joseph-Metuchen, the fourth-place team in the Red Division.

So much for standings.

You can hear that CJ4 semifinal between Edison and Old Bridge Tuesday at 5 pm on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko on the call.  Pregame is at 4:40.  Click here to listen.

Meanwhile, Alec Crouthamel will be covering the other matchup between the Raiders and Cougars, with first pitch set for 4 pm.  Follow Alec on Twitter for updates here.

All four could easily bring home a title at this point.  Edison and Old Bridge are very similar, besides their records.  Both have multiple excellent pitchers, good defense, and they’re aggressive at the plate and on the bases. 

They split in the regular season, and in the first round of the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament, the Eagles ousted the Knights in an epic, 12-inning, 2-1 game that both coaches look back on now with the feeling that it could have gone either way.

John Smith (5-3, 1.36) will get the starting nod in this one, while Connor Murphy (5-3, 1.82 ERA) will get the start for Edison. 

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, while both teams got here via “the road,” neither may be much of a surprise upon closer inspection. Besides the GMC Red, the Skyland Conference Delaware Division – home to Hillsborough and Montgomery – also is among the toughest in the state.

It’s home to Somerset County Tournament champion Immaculata, defending Group 4 champion Bridgewater-Raritan, and North 2, Group 4 top-seed Ridge. It also has North Hunterdon – the four seed which will visit top-seed Colonia in North 2, Group 3 Tuesday. Hunterdon Central was the one-seed in CJ4, but the Raiders knocked them out, 3-1, in the quarterfinals in Flemington last Friday, after splitting with the Red Devils in the regular season.

Yes, it was another division where everyone beat everyone else up.

For the Raiders to be one of the last three teams left in the states from the six-team division (Immaculata and Bridgewater-Raritan also are out) is a testament to how head coach Matt Mosko – a Hillsborough alum – has kept the train on the tracks.

A win would put them in a sectional final for the first time since 2012, when they went all the way to the state Group 4 final under legendary head coach Norm Hewitt. Montgomery last won a title in 2005, taking North 2, Group 3, but fell in the state Group 3 semifinals.

And the Cougars have been a tale of two seasons. After starting the year 3-11, a win over Manville at TD Bank Park on May 7th was the start of a stretch where Montgomery is 7-3 since, including upset wins at five-seed New Brunswick, 14-2, in the first round, and 5-4 at No. 4 seed Hightstown Thursday in the quarters.

For both, the prevailing thought is: Why not us?