So far, so good for South Brunswick baseball, as Perna helps lead Vikings to 5-2 start under Urbano

There was a lot of change in the South Brunswick baseball program in the off-season, and it wasn’t just the coaching staff.

Veteran GMC skipper Lou Urbano had to change the culture. Which is all fine and good in the fall and winter, but what actually happens on the field can sometimes be a different story.

Well, the Vikings got off on the right foot, sweeping Perth Amboy in their season-opening GMC White Division series, with 13-2 and 8-6 wins. The competition got a little stiffer when they faced Sayreville next, and the two split a pair, winning the opener 1-0, but dropping the next game, 5-1.

Next up: Middlesex, the defending state Group 1 champion. They split again, winning the opener 3-2, dropping the second meeting 6-2.

Tuesday brought a visit to North 2, Group 3 runner-up Colonia. And South Brunswick handed the Patriots their first loss of the season.

So far, so good, with a 5-2 start, already topping last year’s win total.

Many have contributed to the recent resurgence of Vikings baseball, but few more than Collin Perna. A senior playing his fourth-year of varsity baseball, Perna is hitting an eye-popping .532 on the season to lead the team, while junior Jack Whitlock is hitting .500, with five runs batted in and the team’s only two home runs.

And on the mound, Perna is the ace: already 3-1, with 26 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings, and an ERA of just 1.34.

It’s still early, and there’s a lot of baseball to be played, but Perna and Urbano know there’s something different about this team. South Brunswick isn’t that far removed from the 2021 season, in which they went 14-10 and reached the GMC Tournament final, ultimately falling to St. Joseph-Metuchen.

South Brunswick finishes the two-game set with the Patriots at home Thursday at 4 pm before heading to North Brunswick Community Park Saturday for a 7 pm Autism Awareness Challenge game against Metuchen. Find the event’s full weekend schedule here.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with South Brunswick senior Collin Perna and head coach Lou Urbano about the Vikings’ early-season success: