It’s been a minute: Second-seed Middlesex, defending state Group 1 champs, looking for first GMC Tourney finals berth in 14 years

As a smaller school, albeit one chock full of talent for the better part of two decades now across three different coaches, the GMC Tournament has always been a challenge, often playing against many larger schools with deeper benches.

The Blue Jays have had great success in the state tournament, of course, among similar size schools. Just since COVID, they’ve won two state Group 1 championships: in 2021, the first year after the pandemic shutdown, and last season under first-year head coach Blaze Iannetti.

And you can trace that success – his teams are 43-7 since he took over last year – back to his predecessor, Justin Nastasi, and Mike O’Donnell before him. (O’Donnell is now the athletic director, and GMC baseball co-chair.)

There’s a high bar in Middlesex, and for a second year in a row, they are back in the GMC Tournament semifinals, looking to break through and get back to the championship game after falling one game short last year, falling to Edison in the semis, 3-0.

Saturday, the second-seeded, GMC White Division champion Blue Jays (20-2) will play third-seed Old Bridge (16-8) in the Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet School. First pitch is set for 2:30, with pregame following our first game of the day, between five-seed South Plainfield and nine-seed Monroe at noon.

Coverage begins at 11:40 am with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe. You can listen to the game here, or watch on our YouTube Channel here.

In a sports world where fundamentals sometimes lack, there’s no worry about that with Middlesex. Sure, they might have a rough day in the field once in a while, maybe misplay a ball, or maybe a hitter is in a slump. But they don’t make the mental mistakes, they don’t throw to the wrong base, or run themselves out of an inning very often – and if that, it might just be a product of being overly aggressive, by design.

With so much back from last year’s Group 1 championship team, it starts with pitching, and the one-two combo of junior Dom Long and senior Chris Kozak, the second of whom cracked the 200 strikeout mark earlier this month, and the first of whom will get the ball Saturday against the Knights.

Long is 7-0 (Kozak is 5-0), and has a 1.71 ERA. He likes to work quickly, and get into a groove early. He’s all business.

The team has fun, of course, but they know the goal, and have high standards.

At the plate, the team is hitting .313, and nearly every starter is over the .300 mark, reflecting incredible balanced top-to-bottom, and a bottom third of the order than can turn the lineup over, even if it means playing small ball.

Click here to listen to Middlesex head coach Blaze Iannetti talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: