GMC’s Ray Cipperly Invitational resumes this week with semifinal games; CJSR will air Friday’s final

The Greater Middlesex Conference’s Ray Cipperly Invitational tournament continues this week, with a pair of semifinal games at higher seeds. Winners will move on to Friday’s championship game, scheduled for 2 pm at Edison High School, with a live broadcast of the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

We’ll present our usual “radio” coverage, which you can listen to here, as well as a live video stream on our YouTube channel; there is no paywall to listen or watch. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will be on the call, with coverage starting at 1:45 pm.

Here’s a look at both semifinals, one scheduled for Monday, the other for Tuesday:

(3) North Brunswick (7-16) at (2) Piscataway (9-10), Monday 4 pm:

These two teams split their regular season matchups in the GMC Blue Division, and ended up right next to each other in the standings, the Chiefs finishing fourth, the Raiders fifth in the seven-team division. North Brunswick won the first meeting 7-0 at home on a combined two-hitter from Mateo Gianni (who went 4 2/3 innings) and Isaias Estrrella. Gianni also had quite the day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four runs batted in. Piscataway took the second game, 8-6, with Sumedh Shingala and Brady Gallogly each knocking in two runs, while Jared Butler picked up the win in relief, thanks to a five-spot by the Chiefs in the fifth inning.

Both teams had byes to the quarterfinals. North Brunswick got to the semis with a 7-0 win over sixth-seed Somerset Tech. Willy Pena and Isaias Estrella knocked in two runs apiece, while Jasiah Hogans went the distance, allowing six hits, striking out five in the shutout.

Piscataway was an 11-5 winner over seven-seed South Amboy last Thursday in the quarterfinals. The Chiefs have won three straight coming in, including two games prior to the start of the Tournament, and has outscored those three opponents 42-6, with a 13-0 shutout of Highland Park, and an 18-1 win over Timothy Christian. Dominick Summonte drove in nearly half his team’s runs, going 2-for-3 with a home run and five runs batted in. Butler again got the win in relief, despite allowing five runs – four earned – in three innings of work; he and starter Sumedh Shingala combined for 17 strikeouts.

(5) Dunellen at (1) Perth Amboy, Tuesday 6 pm:

This is a rare White-Gold Division matchup, as these two schools haven’t played in baseball since at least prior to 2011. The Destroyers have won three straight coming in, while the Panthers have won two in a row.

Just like the other semifinal, both teams had byes to the quarterfinals. Amboy blew past nine-seed New Brunswick – which had picked up its first and only win of the season in the opening round, in a 5-1 win over eight-seed Highland Park. The Panthers scored early and often, with 12 men crossing the plate in the first inning; they added another in the third and six in the fourth, and finished with a five-inning run-rule victory, as starter Darwin Medina allowed just one hit, striking out eleven to get the win.

Dunellen knocked off the four-seed East Brunswick Magnet by run-rule, 14-3 in the quarterfinals. Cole Mayer drove in three runs for the Destroyers, while David Torres and Juan Luis Rodriguez each had 2-for-3 afternoons. Starter Cole Mayer struck out eight and allowed just one earned run on four hits in five innings of work.