Category: Baseball

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan, coming off best season ever, gets right back to work with trip to rising No. 4 Immaculata on Opening Day Tuesday

By every single metric, the 2024 season was one for the record books at Bridgewater-Raritan.

They won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division and the Somerset County Tournament. They won the North 2, Group 4 sectional title in the state tournament, then went all the way, taking the state’s Group 4 championship.

The encore begins Tuesday.

That’s when the top-ranked Panthers will travel to Flemington to take on No. 4 Immaculata in a big battle on Opening Day that you can hear right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio. First pitch is set for 4 pm at Diamond Nation with pregame at 3:45 as Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the action. Click here to listen.

Jayson Labrador of Immaculata hits against Ridge in the semifinals of the Somerset County Tournament on May 20, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

If Bridgewater-Raritan is the team that’s arrived, Immaculata is coming right up behind, and this season, the two are in the same division. One of the toughest in the state, the Skyland Delaware also includes Ridge, Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough and North Hunterdon.

The Panthers said goodbye to a number of seniors in 2024, including Matt Fattore, Devin Goldberg, Joe Spirra, Frankie Verano, Mike Lentini and Cory Rible, the latter of whom was Bridgewater’s closer last year. They won every game in which he pitched.

There are some veterans back, too, including infielder and pitcher Jack Lanum, first-baseman Matt Cichocki, and catcher JR Rosado among the seniors, and junior Kellan Komline, who’ll get the Opening Day nod. While he may not blow hitters away, he was 5-0 last year in nine appearances with a 0.66 ERA in 42 2/3 innings pitched.

Komline and Lanum combined for 12 wins last year, with a collective ERA under one, in over 80 innings pitched, and one or the other led the team in virtually every statistical pitching category.

Immaculata lost some big boppers, too, including Troy Rabosky and Josh Thompson, who each hit over .400 last year, with Rabosky connecting for four homers and knocking in 28 runs. But they have plenty of ammunition back, including Jayson Labrador – who hit .344 last season and drove in 12 runs – and a host of others like Colin Kassai (.338, 22 RBIs) and Owen Schilling (.304, 15 RBI).

There’s plenty of pitching back, too – though ace Nick Bozzo graduated – but the rotation has been boosted by the addition of Ryan Auten, who transfers in from Delaware Valley. The left-handed Wake Forest commit threw 37 innings as a sophomore and was 3-2 last year with a 2.46 ERA, striking out 65 while walking just 18. He’ll get the ball on Opening Day against the Panthers.

Click below to hear previews with both head coaches of Tuesday’s Opening Day matchup between No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan and No. 4 Immaculata:

Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Max Newill
Immaculata head coach Kevin Cust

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: No. 9 Spotswood 16, South Amboy 5

Ninth-ranked Spotswood exploded for six runs in the second and eight in the third inning of a 16-5 win over visiting South Amboy. The Chargers got a grand slam from Sebby Saracino in the third – his first career varsity home run – and four scoreless innings from senior starting pitcher Carter Cumiskey.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call the play-by-play as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio on March 29, 2025 from Spotswood.

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood bats erupt for 16-5 win over South Amboy in first game on Chargers’ new turf field

New turf, new season, same old Spotswood baseball.

On Opening Day for both teams, the No. 9 Chargers exploded for six runs in the second inning, and eight in the third – fueled by a Sebby Saracino grand slam – en route to a 16-5 victory over visiting South Amboy Saturday, in a GMC crossover game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was also the first game on Spotswood’s new turf field, and they christened it not only with a big win, but with a blast from the past.

Pitcher Willie Beard and catcher Anthony Addone from the 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – which was inducted into the Spotswood Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022, along with Beard as an individual – teamed up for a ceremonial first pitch.

Willie Beard throws the ceremonial first pitch to Anthony Addone – battery mates from Spotswood’s 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – to christen the Chargers’ new turf field on March 29, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Then the game began, and it was almost like going back in a time machine 18 years, as Spotswood got on the board with two in the bottom of the first.

Sarracino’s slam in the third was the first home run of his varsity career, and he finished the day with a career high five runs batted in.

Starter Carter Cumiskey was excellent as well, able to stay fresh with the weather unseasonably warm – 74 at game time and over 80 by the time the final out was recorded – as the senior pitched four shutout innings, allowing one hit and just two base runners – a second reached on an error – to get the Opening Day win.  He struck out four and pitched three one-two-theee innings.

South Amboy got its five runs in the top of the fifth, helped by a hard liner off the third baseman’s glove and a chopper that left shortstop Ryan Orth with no real option to make a play.  But they needed seven runs to keep the game going, and fell just short.

Starter Micah Nemeth took the loss in relief for the Governors. 

Spotswood did what it wanted to do at the plate, scratching and clawing when they needed to early, and getting some big hits when they needed them. Besides the Grand slam, the Chargers also got two ground rule doubles, one from Will Buchan and another from freshman catcher Tyrus Lazar.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Spotswood’s Sebby Saracino, Carter Cumiskey, and head coach Glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

A handful of teams have started their seasons, but Opening Day for dozens in GMC, Skyland Conference is this coming week: Here’s a look at every opener on the schedule

There were a smattering of local high school baseball teams who had their Opening Days for the 2025 baseball season Friday and Saturday, but many more get started this coming week.

Friday was Opening Day for four Central Jersey Sports Radio-area teams, including Dunellen, Bound Brook, JFK, and Pingry, with all three games involving those teams ending in mercy-rule wins.

  • The Destroyers scored six times in the top of the fifth, then closed out Bound Brook on the road for a 12-2 victory. Senior Mark Stein went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.
  • JFK exploded for 18 runs in the third inning of a 21-1 win over Linden, working out a dozen walks while only getting eleven hits. Grant Lorentzen and Angel Peralta each knocked in three runs for the Mustangs, while Lorentzen started and got the win.
  • Pingry fell 12-1 to Pennington. Michael Cardona knocked in the only run for the Big Blue with and RBI single, and had a stolen base.

Five more teams open up on Sunday, including CJSR’s opener, featuring South Amboy at No. 9 Spotswood at 11 am. Pregame starts at 10:40 am. Click here to listen as Mike Pavlichko calls all the action.

Here’s the schedule of Opening Day games for all teams in the Greater Middlesex and Skyland Conferences, by day. Area teams playing their first game are in bold:

SATURDAY, MARCH 29

  • Rutgers Prep at Manville, 10:30 am
  • South Amboy at Spotswood, 11 am (Listen on CJSR)
  • Gill St. Bernard’s at Morris Catholic, 3:30 pm

MONDAY, MARCH 31 (all games at 4 pm)

  • Perth Amboy Magnet at Keyport
  • Highland Park at Timothy Christian
  • Carteret at JP Stevens
  • Metuchen at JFK
  • New Brunswick at Somerset Tech
  • North Plainfield at Piscataway
  • Mendham at Hillsborough
  • South River at South Amboy
  • Woodbridge at St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Piscataway Magnet at East Brunswick Magnet

TUESDAY, APRIL 1 (all games at 4 pm except where noted)

  • Edison at South Plainfield
  • Monroe at South Brunswick
  • North Brunswick at Sayreville
  • East Brunswick at Old Bridge
  • Somerville at Franklin
  • Bernards at Rutgers Prep
  • Ridge at North Hunterdon
  • Watchung Hills at Phillipsburg
  • Hillsborough at Hunterdon Central
  • Bridgewater-Raritan at Immaculata (Listen on CJSR)
  • Middlesex at St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Perth Amboy at Colonia, 4:30 pm

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2

  • Hightstown at Montgomery, 4:00 pm
by Mike Pavlichko

South Amboy, No. 9 Spotswood got off to hot starts last season, will open 2025 Saturday morning on Central Jersey Sports Radio

A handful of area teams have begun their high school baseball seasons already, but many will open this weekend and next week.

That includes Spotswood and South Amboy, for whom a beautiful Saturday will be the setting for their Opening Day, 11 am at the place Chargers’ fans affectionately call “The Swamp.”

It will always be known as such, but it may not live up to that name as much anymore, now that their natural grass surface has been replaced with turf, thanks to a Fall 2023 referendum approved by voters.

The view from in front of home plate of Spotswood’s new turf field. (Photo submitted by Glenny Fredricks)

You can hear Saturday’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio beginning at 10:40 with pregame, and first pitch set for 11 am, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Click here to listen.

Both teams started last season red hot. Spotswood won its first seven games and was unbeaten through 12 with an 11-0-1 record – there was an 8-8 tie with Marlboro – en route to a 19-4-2 record, while South Amboy won its first eight and ten of its first eleven, finishing 14-5 and going to the GMC Invitational final, where they lost to Carteret.

Of course, since it’s Opening Day, each team will get to throw their ace. For the Governors, it’ll be sophomore Micah Nemeth, the only returning pitcher to throw more than ten innings last season; he went 7-2 with a 1.96 ERA. The Chargers will send out Seton Hall-bound senior Carter Cumiskey, who committed to the Pirates all the way back when he was a freshman. He went 6-2 with a 1.80 ERA.

Both pitchers have great control and rack up the strikeouts when they’re on the mound. Nemeth had 47 strikeouts and 25 walks last season, with Cumsikey even more impressive, fanning 78, while walking just 14.

Cumiskey is also a hammer at the plate, hitting .446 a year ago with six home runs and a team best 30 RBIs, while South Amboy has senior outfielder Jeremy Vasquez back off a season where he hit an unthinkable .596, drove in 19 runs and hit three homers.

Click below to hear both coaches talk about their teams heading into Opening Day, and their Saturday morning matchup to begin the 2025 season:

Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks
South Amboy head coach Dan Paulsen

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge gets key starter Stieglitz back from injury, looks primed for more tourney deep runs

A trip to the Somerset County Tournament finals wasn’t enough for the Ridge baseball team in 2024.

Of course, they want the title, like anyone does. They’ve been to the last four SCT championship games, with a win in 2022 over Rutgers Prep. But the Argonauts got them back the next year in a tight 1-0 game before the Red Devils fell to Bridgewater-Raritan last season.

The return of Aiden Stieglitz from an injury that limited him to just 16 innings over three games last season will be one of 2025’s big bright spots, and head coach Tom Blackwell feels good about his pitching staff heading into 2025.

Stieglitz had a tremendous sophomore year, throwing 31 1/3 innings, striking out 47 and walking just 17. In 14 career appearances, he has a 1.63 earned run average.

That will help a staff that lost seniors Ben Larner, Andrew Reynolds and others to graduation.

On the other hand, plenty of bats return from a 21-9 season in 2024, and Blackwell says they “plan on scoring some runs.” Among the top hitters returning are two sophomores who hit well last season, Kieran Callanan (.339, 18 RBIs) and Jake Dolan (.281, 15 RBI, 3 HR) as well as junior Quinn Dashefsky (.297).

Click below to hear Ridge coach Tom Blackwell talk about the upcoming season for the Red Devils with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Defending GMC Tourney champion Old Bridge looks for more in 2025, but will need to replace three key pitchers to top last season

Despite a GMC Tournament championship in 2024, the season didn’t end the way the Old Bridge baseball team would have liked.

Then again, whose does? Only a handful of teams – sometimes even fewer – win a sectional title, and even fewer go all the way like Bridgewater-Raritan did in 2014, sweeping their division, the SCT, their state section, and the group title.

But for the Knights, who won Central Jersey Group 4 in 2023 and went to the state finals in Hamilton, it was still a disappointing end.

All that said, Old Bridge will have some question marks when it comes to the 2025 season, which opens next Tuesday at 4 pm when the Knights host Red Division foe East Brunswick, against whom they’ve won three straight, two via shutout.

On the mound, Justin Hascup returns. The senior threw 57 2/3 innings last year, more than anyone on the staff, and he’ll anchor the crew again this season. But Justin Meyer, Frank Papeo and Luke Hagen are gone; they combined to throw 110 innings in 2024. Head coach Matt Donaghue says it will be tough to replace them, but is confident he has some arms.

He plans to have senior John Smith as his No. 2 starter behind Justin Hascup. Donaghue calls him a “high-end” pitcher, who only threw an inning last year, mainly playing shortstop. He has other guys who can throw strikes, and as Donaghue says, “that’s half the battle.”

Offensively, Donaghue also is excited about John Smith, who hit .412 last year and was tied with now-graduated Michael Altman for the team lead in RBIs with 17. Donaghue believes he’s the best all-around player in Middlesex County. Akhil Penkala – who hit a team best .443 last season – Justin Hascup and Akhil Penkala also will be top-of-the-order guys for the Knights.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue talk more about the upcoming 2025 season for the Knights with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Who’s making moves in the Skyland Conference? We look at baseball divisional alignments for ’25

With the new high school baseball season about to kick off, there will be a few Somerset County teams playing in different divisions in the Skyland Conference, which encompasses teams from Hunterdon and Warren Counties as well.

One of the more notable moves is that Immaculata – which is expected to build on a solid 17-9 season in 2024 – is moving from the Raritan to the Delaware Division this year, joining a grouping that had two 20-win teams last year as well as Bridgewater-Raritan, which finished 30-3 and was not only the Somerset County Tournament champion, but also state Group 4 champs.

Somerville – which went 10-16 overall, and 0-10 in the division takes the Spartans’ place in the Raritan.

Meanwhile, two other Raritan Division teams – Pingry and Rutgers Prep, who were 3-6 and 3-7 in the division, respectively, move to the Valley to join Delaware Valley, Bernards and Gill St. Bernard’s. Moving out of the Valley are Phillipsburg – to the Raritan – and Voorhees, which goes to the Mountain Division.

Warren Hills also comes out of the Mountain and moves into the Valley.

Here are the 2025 divisional alignments in the Skyland Conference for 2025:

  • Delaware Division: Bridgewater-Raritan, Hillsborough, Hunterdon Central, Immaculata, North Hunterdon, Ridge
  • Mountain Division: Belvidere, Bound Brook, Manville, South Hunterdon, Voorhees
  • Raritan Division: Franklin, Montgomery, Phillipsburg, Somerville, Watchung Hills
  • Valley Division: Bernards, Delaware Valley, Gill St. Bernard’s, Pingry, Rutgers Prep, Warren Hills

by Mike Pavlichko

South Plainfield has some questions, but Tigers are motivated to “finish business” in ’25

To anyone’s mind, the South Plainfield baseball team had a fine 2024 season. The Tigers finished 22-6-1, won the GMC Red Division, and made it to the GMC Tournament finals as well as the North 2, Group 3 title game in the state playoffs.

But those two finals left a bad taste in their mouths. As the top-seed in the GMCT, they got knocked off by third-seed Old Bridge, and they were down just 4-3 to Randolph heading into the top of the seventh in the sectional finals before the wheels uncharacteristically came off, and they lost 8-3.

This year’s Tigers, as a result, are hungry, and want to eat. But like every team this time of year, there will be a few question marks to answer.

South Plainfield loses some big hitters and their left side of the infield in shortstop Zach Robinson – with his .462 batting average, three home runs, and a team-best 30 RBI – and third baseman Jayden Alvarez, who hit .360 with two home runs and 27 RBI. Brandon Bickunas (18 RBI, 1 HR) also graduated. That’s a tough 1-2 punch to lose – on offense and defense.

And on the mound, Aldo Pigna (5-1, 3.10 ERA in 38 1/3 innings pitched) and Chase Donovan (1-1, 3.40 ERA in 22 2/3 IP) will be big losses, too.

But there is also plenty returning. On the mound, Kevin Penny and Mike Castagna have been solid; they combined to go 8-2 last year, Castagna throwing to a team-best 1.60 ERA among regulars. Ryan Balent could step up a level after some solid non-conference performances last year.

At the plate, outfielder Nick Irizarry (22 RBI) is back – and should move into the infield to shore that area up – along with sophomore outfielder and pitcher Dom Massaro (.310, 14 RBI, 3 HR), plus a host of others who will look to take the Tigers one step further this year.

Massaro was named a team captain after rebounding last year following an injury that kept him out earlier in the season. Dan Kapsch will also play significant role in the infield, and catcher Stephen Tudlack returns, too, which will help as the pitching staff looks to figure itself out.

Click below to hear South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus talk about the upcoming season for the Tigers:

by Mike Pavlichko

Defending state Group 4 champs Bridgewater-Raritan will start season with No. 1 Ranking in Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten

As the 2025 high school baseball season gets underway across New Jersey, with a handful opening up later this weekend and this weekend – we’ll have Spotswood vs. South Amboy on the air Saturday morning for our season-opening broadcast at 11 am – it’ll be a familiar face at the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.

Defending Group 4 state champions Bridgewater-Raritan opens the preseason rankings at No. 1. The Panthers went 30-3 last season, winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, the Somerset County Tournament, and the North 2, Group 4 title, the latter en route to the Group 4 state trophy.

Coming in second is Old Bridge, which went 20-9 last year and won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

Third in the preseason is South Plainfield. At 22-6-1 last season, the Tigers won the GMC Red Division, but lost in the finals to Old Bridge.

Starting the year in fourth will be Immaculata, which was 17-9 last year and has bolstered its pitching coming off its Skyland Conference Raritan Division title a year ago.

Ridge (21-9) checks in at five, after a 21-9 year and a trip to last season’s Somerset County Tournament finals, where they fell to Bridgewater-Raritan.

Monroe is fifth, a year after finishing 16-10 and making the Central Jersey Group 4 finals. They’re followed by two GMC White Division teams in Woodbridge – 17-10 last year and division champs – then Colonia (19-7).

The last two spots go to teams that could make moves with a number of key players back. Spotswood starts the year at No. 9 after a 19-4-2 season and a Blue Division Championship, while Carteret finishes the list at ten, coming off an 18-7 campaign and a GMC Invitational Tournament Championship.

Below is the full preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Baseball Top Ten: