A look back at the 40th edition of the GMC Finals, as Monroe rewrites some of the history books with 7-0 win over Old Bridge

Throw out the seeds when the Red Division is in the GMC Tournament finals.

The way the GMC has aligned its division the last few years, relying – in part – on a relegation/promotion model where division winners generally move up and last place teams move down for the next year, the Red now gets stacked with the best teams from the year before, and then they beat up on each other.

Even if it’s the eight best teams in the entire conference, someone has to finish last, right?

So after five straight tournaments with at least a No. 1 or No. 2 seed making the title game – dating back to 2019 – neither made it this year. We got the third-seed Old Bridge, and the nine-seed in Monroe, with the Falcons beating the Knights 7-0 Saturday to win their second county championship. And both were very worthy opponents.

There was at least one pure “first” in Monroe’s win. While they aren’t the lowest seeded team to win it – that distinction belongs to Woodbridge, which was seeded 17th in 2000 and knocked off second-seed and in-town rival JFK – but they are the first nine seed to win. The nine-seed is now 1-2 in GMC Finals dating back to the first title game in 1986.

For the record, the three-seed (Old Bridge this year) is 5-4 all-time. The top two seeds have won 22 of the 40 finals, and the top four have won 28.

Here are some other notes and nuggets on the 40th GMC Championship Game:

One-hitter is a rare feat…

We haven’t been able to go back and look at every game, but Ben Faigin’s one-hitter for Monroe was the first since 2014. Brandon Bielak of fourth-seed St. Joseph did it in 2014, a game that was more notable for the fact that they won it – 1-0 over six-seed South Plainfield – on a walk-off bases loaded walk.

*Ben Faigin of Monroe talks to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe after throwing a one-hitter in the GMC Final, the first since 2014. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

…but a shutout is not…

In 40 GMC finals, this was the eleventh shutout. They have been more frequent recently.

In the six finals since COVID, half have been shutouts, all by “Falcons.” St. Joseph has the other two: a 2-0 win over South Brunswick in 2021, and a 2-0 win over North Brunswick in 2023.

Multiple wins…

Monroe becomes the sixth GMC team to win multiple championships, joining South Brunswick with two. Here are the rest:

9 – St. Joseph
8 – Edison
5 – East Brunswick
3 – Old Bridge

And for just making the finals, Old Bridge and Monroe – which had both been to four finals prior to this year – move up to fifth place on the all-time list with five. Here are the rest:

11 – St. Joseph
10 – Edison
7 – East Brunswick
6 – South Plainfeld

Monroe is now 2-3 all-time in GMC title games, while Old Bridge drops to 3-2.

*Kyle Rutan of Monroe hits against Old Bridge in the GMC Tournament final in East Brunswick on May 30, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

Not as close anymore?

Every GMC final from 2013 through 2024 had been decided by one or two runs, with seven decided by one run, and four of those being 1-0 victories. But the last two finals have bucked the trend.

Last year, St. Joe’s beat Edison 7-4 – on a walk-off grand-slam by JP Zayle – and this year Monroe won 7-0. That was thee largest margin of victory since 2010, when six-seed North Brunswick beat 16-seed North Brunswick, 9-2.

It’s also the second largest margin of victory in a final by a lower seeded team, tying the 2005 final, which saw second-seed East Brunswick upset top-seed St. Joseph, 8-1. Only one had a larger margin, in the very first GMC Tournament final in 1986. That year, 12-seed East Brunswick beat 7-seed Madison Central by eleven runs, 14-3. (There was no ten-run rule in that game; it went seven full innings.)

Overall, it was the third-largest margin of victory in the GMC Tournament final. In addition to East Brunswick’s win in the inaugural GMC final in 1986, St. Joseph beat South Amboy 11-0 twenty years later, in 2006. And Edison had a nine-run win, 12-3 over JFK, in 1993.

There have been four other games decided by seven runs in the finals:

2010 – South Brunswick 9, North Brunswick 2
2008 – East Brunswick 8, St. Joseph 1
1994 – Edison 10, Monroe 3

Who’s won both tournaments?

In 2019, the Greater Middlesex Conference introduced the Invitational Tournament. Prior to that, the GMC was an “open” format, with all teams – except those that opted out, and it happens occasionally – getting into the bracket. But seven years ago, the league changed the format, and only a certain number of teams (this year 20) make what’s now called the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament, while the remainder are seeded in the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational.

Although there’s only a six year history of the Invitational, Piscataway’s win this year – 3-0 over Dunellen – makes the Chiefs just the second program to win both the championship (in the open format) and the Invitational.

Carteret won the Invitational in 2019 and 2024, and also won the “open” tournament in 1988, their only title.

Other teams to win the Invitational, followed by records in the “championship” final: