Baseball Power Points Analysis: With a week to go before cutoff, Old Bridge takes top spot from Edison; Middlesex, Ridge remain atop their sections; Immaculata, Rutgers Prep slip to two, but it’s close

Well, we’re down to the last six days before the NJSIAA cutoff in high school baseball.

That’s right, the 2026 season has flown by. The county tournaments are underway, and there is just one more week for teams to get in games to qualify for the state tournament.

Games played through this Saturday will count for playoff qualification, with the NJSIAA announcing the pairings on Tuesday, May 19, with brackets becoming official by noon the next day (in case of any discrepancies).

With that said, we’ll take one more detailed, section-by-section look at how the teams in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area are faring as we race to Saturday’s cutoff date.

Since only two games were played on Sunday, Mother’s Day – both in the Morris County Tournament semifinals, games postponed from Saturday due to rain – all games have been reported, and our analysis is based on power point standings as posted on NJ.com as of 8 pm on Sunday, May 10, 2026.

Click on the header for each section to see the official NJSIAA standings.

Central Jersey Group 4: For the first time in at least the last few weeks, there’s a new team atop the section. Old Bridge (13-8, 26.239 power points) surged in the past week, going 4-0 since our last update, and now the Knights top the section, but not by very much. They jumped Hunterdon Central, Hightstown, and the Eagles, but only lead the second-place Red Devils (11-99, 26.105) by .134 points. And even Edison (14-5, 25.959) is just .28 points behind Old Bridge. One thing that could help is the Eagles get 20-win Piscataway Magnet in the GMCT first round Monday, a win that will be worth 48 points – if they get it – and a net of 40, since it would drop their current lowest game, a loss to Columbia worth only eight. This one, we think, still is going to come right down to the wire, and is simply too close to call right now. The next CJSR-area team down the line is Monroe (8-12, 19.902), which has lost three straight since last week’s update, and fell two places to seventh. They have a slim margin – less than one full point – over both defending sectional champ and 8th-place Hillsborough (8-9, 19.657) as well as 9th-place Sayreville (9-10, 19.291). Like the race at the top, this one could go any which way, and could also come down to the wire. Of note: all those area teams remain alive in their county tournaments, so those could be some big wins, too. It’s also possible Marlboro (9-9, 18.811), Montgomery (8-11, 18.606, 11th) and maybe even South Brunswick (9-7, 18.499) could make a run at a top eight seed. The Vikings are just 1.158 points away. Just look at the Bombers, who pulled up from 15th place last week to ninth this week. Yes, it can be done, but it also can happen the other way. Franklin (5-7, 16.489) dropped from 8th (at 4-5 last week) to 14th this week, and that was with a 1-2 week. That’s not usually so disastrous, but this section is so tightly packed with seven eight teams jammed in a range of 20.086 to 18.223 power points. This could look entirely different by next Saturday. East Brunswick (6-12, 16.616) dropped from 12 to 15 this week, but they’re also more than two points ahead of the 17th-place team, Trenton (7-10, 14.3). They’re a bubble team for sure, but for now, they’re probably more than a 50-50 chance of making the field. North Brunswick (6-14, 13.797) is a bit of a longshot, then again, if they can go on a run in the GMC Invitational and win regular season games against Union and South Brunswick, they could make a big jump.

Central Jersey Group 2: Rumson-Fair Haven (17-3, 32.047) has taken over the top spot here from defending state Group 2 champion Governor Livingston (18-3, 30.247) despite neither team losing a single game in the past week; the Bulldogs went 3-0, the Highlanders 4-0. It’s just that Rumson’s wins were worth more. The highest area team here is South River (1605, 26.332), but the Rams – despite going 3-0 in the past week and increasing their power point average – fell one spot from fourth to fifth. They’re a shade over a full point behind A.L. Johnson (15-4, 27.38) for a top four finish. Arch-rival Spotswood (11-11, 22.075) had a 2-2 week and pulled up one spot to tenth, so they should squarely be in the playoffs. But a top eight finish isn’t out of the realm of possibilities, especially if they can make a run in the GMC Tournament, which would mean knocking off a good 12-win Metuchen team in the GMC Tournament first round on Monday. Ahead of them are Manasquan (10-7, 22.573, 9th) and Robbinsville (15-5, 23.328, 8th).

Central Jersey Group 1: The lead has gotten even larger for defending state Group 1 champion Middlesex (18-2, 30.832), which went 3-0 since our last update, with wins over GMC Red clubs St. Joseph-Metuchen and East Brunswick, and another over Rutgers Prep in a Somerset County crossover. Their closest competition is from Piscataway Magnet (20-1, 27.611), which is having a season for the ages, but will have top-seed Edison – and likely one of their aces, Connor Murphy – Monday afternoon in the GMC Tournament’s first round. A huge upset there could put them over the top (we’ll keep an eye out if it happens). The Raiders would have to make a big run and knock off some big teams this week, since they already have 20 wins, and four wins have already dropped off their total (only the highest 16 power point values count). However, to finish in the top two – which guarantees home field through at least the sectional semis – they may have to hold off teams behind them, including Point Pleasant Beach (12-4, 26.482) in third and Metuchen (14-5, 25.314), which has Spotswood Monday in the GMCT first round. The Bulldogs remain in fourth, and though they don’t have a huge lead over fifth-place Shore (14-5, 24.994) – just .32 points behind – it’s a long way back to sixth-place Dunellen (13-5, 19.226), so they likely only have to worry about the Blue Devils. The next area team here is Somerset Tech (9-7, 13.208), which fell one spot to 11th this week. They’ll be on the road in the first round, as will Manville (7-9, 12.37), which looks solidly in at 13th. South Amboy (8-8, 10.951) in 14th, however, is a bit more on the bubble; they’re around 1.9 points ahead of 17th place Bound Brook (2-11), but at this point, any win for the Crusaders would be huge, having only two wins; they have Dunellen and Henry Hudson this week. Highland Park (5-12, 9.607) currently occupies the 16th seed, just .594 points ahead of the Crusaders.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4: It’s still Ridge (13-6, 28.191) at the top, with a larger lead over second-place Bayonne (16-5, 26.718) than they had last week over Watchung Hills (11-5, 24.292), which is now down one spot to third. We think the Red Devils have a good shot at holding on to No. 1, but all of a sudden here’s JP Stevens (13-7) in fourth, climbing three spots from seventh after a 2-1 week. That’s how tightly a lot of the teams are packed. And there are three more teams at five, six and seven and very close to the Hawks, including Westfield (11-9, 23.467), Scotch Plains-Fanwood (11-8, 23.089) and Columbia (10-9, 23.056). So, JP is hardly assured of anything at the moment, with 1.236 points separating third from seventh place. The next area team is Bridgewater-Raritan (6-14, 19.963) in ninth, but they are not far behind Phillipsburg (10-6, 20.696) in tenth. The Panthers should have a shot at a top eight finish – and at least a first round home game. Woodbridge (11-7, 19.364) may also have a shot as well from their position in tenth. Piscataway (8-10, 14.159) is a bubble team but on the right side of it, and we think likely to make it in as well.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3: North Hunterdon (16-6, 29.912) and Chatham (14-5, 19.658) are neck-and-neck for the second seed, and then we have two nearly-neighboring towns back to back at four and five: North Plainfield (16-7, 23.147, 4th) and South Plainfield (11-10, 21.816, 5th). Either has a shot at a top four seed, which guarantees home field through at least the sectional quarterfinals, with Middletown North (10-8, 21.575, 6th) also in range. It might be a longer shot for the next two teams though. That’s Carteret (14-4, 20.197) in seventh – down three spots since last week – and Colonia (10-6, 19.843) in eighth, which did the opposite, and rose three spots, even though they went 1-1 since out last update. They may have to fend off some teams behind them to hand on to a top eight finish, though. There’s Somerville (9-11, 19.508) in ninth – up one spot from a week ago – followed by Millburn (7-12, 18.789) and Summit (7-11-1, 12.282), but likely not anyone else. JFK (6-14, 14.895) likely finishes in the bottom eight, sitting in 12th, down one from last week’s breakdown.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2: Caldwell (15-1, 30.833) remains the leader here over West Morris (14-5, 28.592), even though the margin has shrunk a bit. Bernards (12-6, 19.268) edged up from eleventh to ten; they’re the only team from the CJSR coverage area in this section. They might have a shot at a top eight seed, but likely have to jump Hackettstown (11-5-1, 20.965) and Parsippany Hills (10-9, 21.007).

Non-Public North A: Although they now have a win under their belt – a 7-1 victory over 0-16 Perth Amboy Magnet – the Timothy Christian/Roselle Catholic co-op (1-14, 7.242) still sits in last place, and we think it’s likely they will opt-out of this thing. Assuming no-one else does, they would get fourth-seed Seton Hall Prep, the No. 5 team in the state which nearly got a perfect game Saturday from Boston College commit J.J. Drennan in a 6-0 win over Columbia; instead he settled for just his second straight no-hitter. Put this in a category of one of those games that just shouldn’t happen.

Non-Public North B: Rutgers Prep (12-5, 24.058) had been in first for a while, with St. Mary-Rutherford right behind them but now they have overtaken the Argonauts, but not by much. St. Mary is 12-4 and has 24.49 power points, just .432 points ahead. This should come down to the wire, but they appear to be the only two teams duking it out for the top seed. Morristown-Beard (8-7, 18.823) and St. Thomas Aquinas (8-12, 18.761) are a good number of points back. The Trojans, however, may need a strong week to fend off fifth-place Morris Catholic (10-10, 16.963) and Montclair-Kimberley (5-14, 16.61). We say that about MKA, despite their record, because with just five wins, and still close to No. 4 in power point average, any win could be a huge jump – it would be a 20 percent increase in their win total. Gill St. Bernard’s (7-8, 15.428) currently sits in eighth place in what should be a ten team field, as Wardlaw-Hartridge didn’t field a team this year, and Golda Och (0-7) could opt out.

Non-Public South A: St. Augustine (17-4, 32.271) has pulled ahead of Immaculata (14-4, 31.008) for the overall top seed, and with the section so far-flung geographically, it would be a big difference if the Spartans had to make the long trip down to Richfield (about halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City) for a title game, as opposed to playing at home, at Diamond Nation in Flemington. But this race is far from settled, with just 1.263 points between them. Watch Red Bank Catholic (14-4, 28.362) in third as well. After that, it’s down to ninth for Pingry (8-9, 15.388), and then 11th (next to last) for defending GMC champion St. Joseph-Metuchen (5-14, 14.676).