Category: Top Ten

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge remains No. 1 in Week 5 Bellamy Top Ten after red-hot 5-0 week

On the strength of a five-win week, Ridge – winners of 13 straight – is the No. 1 team again this week in the Bellamy & Son Paving Week Five rankings.

The Red Devils are 16-2 and travel to Seton Hall Prep Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Somerset County Tournament Final against 12-seed Rutgers Prep, which you can hear right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio at 7 pm. Ridge is going for its second straight title.

Old Bridge (13-6) holds at No. 2 after going 2-1 last week, and opens play in the GMC Tournament second round tomorrow at 4 pm against 15th-seed Carteret.

Bridgewater-Raritan (13-3) went 2-0 last week, with wins over Hunterdon Central and Immaculata, the latter a 19-4 slugfest.

North Brunswick (11-5) moves up to No. 4 after a 3-1 week. The Raiders earned the top-seed in the GMC Tournament, finishing just ahead of Old Bridge, despite being swept two games by them in the regular season.

Checking in at No. 5 is Monroe (8-6), which went 2-2 in the past week, splitting a two-game set with Old Bridge, losing at Woodbridge, but beating Sayreville (12-5) – which drops to sixth – by an 11-1 score.

In seventh is Woodbridge (13-4), which went 4-0 last week, right ahead of Spotswood (13-4), which had a 2-2 week. The Chargers visit the Barrons Monday night in a GMC Tournament second round game, the opener for both schools.

Moving up one place to No. 9 is Rutgers Prep (8-9), which was 2-2 in the week gone by, including a win in the Preb B Tournament quarterfinals over Princeton Day, 13-2. The Argonauts take on 6-seed Doane Academy on Wendesday in the semifinals, but before that have that date with Ridge in the SCT Finals Tuesday night.

Rejoining the rankings this week is Bernards (10-5) in the ten spot, following a 3-1 week.

Edison dropped out after going 0-4 in the week gone by, with losses to Woodbridge, Old Bridge, East Brunswick and North Brunswick.

Below are the full Week 5 Bellamy & Son Paving Week 5 Rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

There’s a new, old team atop the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week Four

The Ridge Red Devils were ranked No. 1 in the preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, and lasted two weeks there until they became one of two high profile victims of Bridgewater-Raritan, whose takeover of the top spot also was aided by a big win over Hunterdon Central.

But a win by Ridge this weekend in the rematch – and the Panthers’ upset loss to Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals (Bridgewater was the top seed) – has put them back at No. 1, With a 4-0 week, Ridge is now 11-2 on the season.

Old Bridge also move sup to third, despite a 2-2 week, now 11-5 on the season, picking up wins over South Brunswick and South Plainfield; they split with the Tigers. Last Sunday, the Knights knocked off statewide No. 1 Red Bank Catholic in their Autism Awareness Challenge game.

Bridgewater-Raritan (11-3) drops to third after a 2-2 week. In addition to the loss to the Argonauts in the county tournament and Ridge in regular season play, they had wins over Immaculata in the SCT, as well as West Morris.

Teams four through eight saw no movement this week.

In fourth is Sayreville (10-3) after a 2-0 week that saw wins over Colonia and Metuchen, while North Brunswick (8-4) also went 2-0, with victories over JFK and East Brunswick.

Woodbridge (9-4) is in sixth after a 2-1 week that saw a win at South Plainfield and a home win over Rahway, as well as a loss to Edison, with the second of the home-and-home at the Eagles’ home field Monday afternoon. Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast the Barrons’ Tuesday evening home game against Perth Amboy at 7:00. Click here to listen.

Monroe (6-4) only had one game this week, a 4-3 win over South Plainfield, and remains in seventh.

Spotswood (11-2) won both its games this week, sweeping a home-and-home with arch-rival South River, 6-1 and 1-0.

New to the poll this week are Edison (11-3) and Rutgers Prep (6-7).

The Eagles had a 3-0 week, with wins over Middlesex at home, and against Piscataway and Woodbridge on the road; again, they finish their series in Edison Monday.

The Argonauts won both their games this week, both in the Somerset County Tournament. They topped Somerville 3-2 on Tuesday, then knocked off top-seed and statewide No. 5 Bridgewater-Raritan 4-3 in the semifinals on Thursday.

Dropping out were No. 9 East Brunswick (5-8) and #10 Pingry (6-5).

Below are the full Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Week 2 turmoil has settled, but two new teams join Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week 3, while Bridgewater remains No. 1

There are two new teams in the Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Baseball Rankings – as Pingry and Monroe join the group – but otherwise, no real major changes of shakeups in the Top Ten this week.

The top two teams went unbeaten in Week 3 of the season, with Bridgewater-Raritan (9-2) holding on to the top spot, while Ridge (7-2) moves up one place to second, dropping Old Bridge (9-3) to third after a 3-2 week that saw the Vikings lose twice in the division, once to Old Bridge and once to East Brunswick.

Sayreville (8-3) holds in fourth, coming off a 2-1 week with wins over Perth Amboy and Colonia.

North Brunswick (6-4) moved up three spots to fifth, had the other unbeaten week among ranked teams. The Raiders swept a two-game home-and-home against St. Joseph-Metuchen – which dropped out at 4-5 off a 1-4 week, along with Franklin (4-6). They also won 10-7 at Woodbridge (7-3), which dropped on place to sixth.

Monroe (5-4) is back in the rankings after a week out; the Falcons are sixth after a 3-0 week with a home-and-home two-game sweep of South Brunswick and a win over South Plainfield.

Spotswood (9-2) is up two places to eight after a 2-2 week, with both losses coming out of conference.

East Brunswick (5-6) holds in ninth, despite a 1-3 week, while Pingry (5-3) also rejoins the rankings, on a 2-0 week that included a win over red-hot Manville in the second round of the Somerset County Tournament on Saturday.

Below are the full Week Three Bellamy & Son Paving baseball rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Panthers ascend to top of Bellamy & Son Paving Week 2 baseball rankings

There was major upheaval in the Bellamy & Son Paving Week Two high school baseball rankings, with a new No. 1, three teams dropping out, three new teams ranked, and everyone else shifting around.

The new top team is Bridgewater-Raritan (6-1). The Panthers picked up wins this past week over two teams that were state-ranked in the preseason – Ridge on Tuesday (3-0) and at Hunterdon Central Tuesday (4-2) – en route to a 3-0 week that saw them move all the way up from 6th place. They were No. 10 in the preseason, and their lone loss came out of conference, 10-3 to Roxbury.

BR should be a good bet to get the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament, which will be seeded Monday night at 7:00. Follow @cjsportsradio on Twitter for updates and check our website for a full story later in the evening.

Making the jump from fifth to No. 2 is Old Bridge (6-1). The Knights had a 4-0 week, capped with a home-and-home series sweep of North Brunswick, including Saturday’s walkoff 3-1 win in 10-innings.

Ridge (5-2) dropped from first to third, going 3-1 this past week, with wins over Pingry, Watchung Hills and Scotch Plains-Fanwood out-of-conference, with their loss coming to Bridgewater.

Debuting at No. 4 is Sayreville (5-2), one of four 5-2 teams in the GMC White, but the only one to have beaten all of the other three at least once, splitting with Middlesex and Edison, and sweeping Woodbridge. The Bombers were 2-1 this week, with a split against Edison and a win over Woodbridge

Woodbridge (5-2) then checks in fifth, with a 3-1 week that included a loss to Sayreville, a home-and-home sweep of JP Stevens, and a 9-8 win over Middlesex at home Saturday.

Making its debut at No. 6 is Franklin (4-3), which is 3-0 against Somerset County competition, having wins over Gill St. Bernard’s, Rutgers Prep and Montgomery, even though they sit fourth in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division, two places behind the second-place Cougars, who are 3-2 overall but 3-1 in the division; Franklin is 2-2, but those losses have come to Phillipsburg, North Hunterdon and Lawrence, all outside the county.

St. Joseph-Metuchen (3-2) drops from third to seventh, having only played one game this week, a non-conference win over Gloucester Catholic, 11-6.

North Brunswick (3-4) fell from second to eighth after a rough 1-3 week that started fine enough with a 1-0 win over Monroe, but was followed with three straight losses. They fell to Notre Dame Wednesday, then were swept two games by Old Bridge.

The Raiders and Falcons play a home-and-home Monday and Tuesday this week, opening at North Brunswick’s Community Park at 6 pm Monday, followed by a 4:00 game in Metuchen that can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Click here to listen.

East Brunswick (4-3) dropped two places to ninth, after a 2-2 week. They beat Piscataway, lost to South Plainfield, then split a home-and-home with Monroe, winning at home Thursday, then losing down there Friday.

And Spotswood (7-0) is the third new team in the rankings this week, one of just three CJSR-area teams to remain undefeated; Dunellen and Piscataway Magnet – both 4-0 and in the GMC’s new Silver Division – are the others. The Chargers have swept home-and-homes with Metuchen, North Plainfield, and Piscataway, and also have a win over North Plainfield. They have four shutouts on the season, and are outscoring opponents 78-11 through seven games.

Dropping out are No. 8 Monroe (2-4), ninth-ranked Pingry (3-3) and No. 10 Immaculata (1-4). The Falcons and Big Blue both went 1-2 this week, while the Spartans dropped game at Hunterdon Central and Hillsborough.

Below are the full Week 2 Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge retains top ranking in Week 1 Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten

Through the first week of the high school baseball season, there was little movement at the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving rankings, even though all four teams – in fact, every team in the preseason rankings – took at least one loss.

Note: All team records are as of Sunday, April 9 and do not include games on Monday, April 10.

Ridge (2-1) remained No. 1 after opening with a 2-0 win over Immaculata and a 7-3 win over Rutgers Prep Saturday, sandwiched around an out-of-area loss to Hunterdon Central, 1-0.

North Brunswick (2-1) held in second split a pair with South Plainfield, winning the opener on the road, but falling at home two days later. The Raiders bounced back with a 10-0 blanking of Monroe Saturday.

St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-2) remained in fourth despite starting 0-2 with losses against Monroe at home, then at Old Bridge, because they rebounded with a road win against the Falcons and a shutout home win at home against the Knights.

Woodbridge (2-1) stays at No. 4 after starting 2-0 thanks to a home-and-home sweep of Colonia, before losing to Sayreville 3-0 Saturday afternoon.

The next two teams saw the biggest moves of the week.

Unranked Old Bridge (2-1) joined the rankings at No. 5. The Knights topped JP Stevens 10-0, then came up with a big win over defending Red Division champ St. Joe’s 10-8 at home, before falling to the Falcons in Metuchen 3-0 on Saturday.

And Bridgewater-Raritan moved all the way up from tenth to sixth on the strength of a 3-1 start, with wins over Watchung Hills, St. Joseph-Montvale and Hillsborough. Their lone loss was to out-of-area Roxbury, 10-3 on Saturday.

As a result of the Panthers’ move, the next four teams all moved down a spot.

East Brunswick (2-1) checks in at No. 7, after splitting a pair with South Brunswick, then winning at South Plainfield.

In eighth is Monroe (1-2), which had a big division win over St. Joe’s, 6-5 on Opening Day, but then lost the rematch, and was shutout by North Brunswick.

Ninth is Pingry, which is 2-1 after wins over Warren Hills and at Bernards to start the season, but ended the week Saturday with a 2-1 out-of-area loss to North Hunterdon.

And in tenth is Immaculata (1-2). The Spartans lost a tough one, 2-0 on Opening Day to Ridge, then came back with a 8-7 win over Watchung Hills on the road, before falling in a non-league game at West Morris, 3-2.

Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Week One rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: East Brunswick Magnet 16, Timothy Christian 4

East Brunswick Magnet sent 25 hitters to the plate in the first two innings and scored a combined 15 runs, jumping on Timothy Christian early en route to a 16-4 road win on Opening Day, in a GMC Gold Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Dennis McNulty call all the action from Piscataway, NJ, on April 3, 2023.

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge debuts at No. 1 in preseason Bellamy & Son Paving H.S. Baseball Top Ten

The Ridge Red Devils – coming off a 24-4 season, a Somerset County Tournament championship, and a heartbreaking 11-inning loss in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals to end their season – will begin 2023 right where they left off: Number One in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.

Not only does Ridge take the top spot in our preseason rankings, but the top four teams remained the same. The rest saw some significant movement.

The Red Devils have some key pieces back from last year’s club, including pitchers Connor Byrne and Brendan Callanan, while Callanan, Luke Somelofske and Julian Kielb – the team’s top run producer a year ago – are among the top hitters returning.

In second, it’s North Brunswick, which won its first-ever GMC Tournament Championship last year, beating defending champ St. Joseph of Metuchen in the final. The Falcons check in at No. 3.

The Raiders went 22-10 last season, and have a lot of key hitters back, including Omar and Yomar Carreras and Frankie Garbolino, while Rutgers-bound strikeout whiz Zach Konstantinovsky returns for his senior season. Last year, “Zack K” threw 67 innings, struck out 120 hitters, and walked only two, with a miniscule 0.73 earned run average.

The Falcons finished 22-9 last year, and were the Red Division Champions. Their returning lineup is loaded, with standouts like Mark Gialluisi, Robbie Carvelli, Josiah Brown and many more returning, though they lose two of the best pitchers in the league – Donovan Szak and Andrew Goldan, both of whom are now at Rutgers.

Checking in at No. 4 is Woodbridge. The Barons were 25-7 last year and a North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 finalist, having won an epic 11-inning game at Ridge, but falling to Hunterdon Central in the final. The Barrons return their top pitcher in Eddy Nunez, as well as key offensive players like senior Ty Kobylakiewicz, and juniors Drew Lukachyk and A.J. Bosch.

In fifth is Rutgers Prep, which was 19-6 last season and won the Skyland Conference Valley Division, and made it to the Somerset County final, falling to Ridge. A young team in 2022, they still won’t have a lot of seniors, but players like sophomores Andrew Parisi (.537, 54 RBI, 11 HR) and Zach Fronio (42 2/3 innings pitched, 1.34 ERA) will have lots of experience to call upon.

East Brunswick checks in at No. 6. A Central Jersey Group 4 finalist, the Bears were 17-13 last season, and lost an epic GMC Tournament semifinal game to North Brunswick 1-0 in 12 innings.

Monroe – 16-11 a year ago – is in seventh, while Pingry comes in eighth. The Big Blue were 23-3 last season and had just one regular season loss, to Ridge. Their other two losses were in the county and state tournaments.

Immaculata – 14-13 a year ago – comes in ninth. A young ballclub went 14-13 last season, but lost some key offensive players and some big arms, like Aiden Rumain, Matt Warzeniak and Christian Martell.

And Bridgewater-Raritan, which has a veteran group returning from last year’s 15-13 team debuts in this year’s poll at No. 10.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Preseason Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

St. Thomas Aquinas finishes the season where it began: No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten

On the strength of a 25-4 season – and its third straight GMC Tournament Championship – the St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ basketball team finishes the year at No. 1 in the final Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, never budging from the top spot from the preseason rankings all the way through to the end.

The Trojans have been the dominant boys’ team in Middlesex County for the last several years. Though their three-year run as full county tournament champs was interrupted by a loss in the GMC’s COVID-year, one-off, Karl-Anthony Towns/Jay Williams four-team postseason pod to Colonia, they have won 31 straight games against Greater Middlesex Conference opponents since.

St. Thomas Aquinas has won 57 straight divisional regular season games, with the Trojans’ last loss coming in January 2018 at Carteret, back when they were in the Blue Division. And they are now 103-23 in five seasons with head coach Dave Turco at the helm.

Checking in at No. 2 in the final rankings is Colonia, which had a fantastic year, going 22-9 this season. Though they didn’t win the Red Division (STA did) or make the GMCT Final, they were the only boys’ basketball team in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coverage area to win a sectional title this season, beating Snyder to win its second straight North 2, Group 3 title, and third in the last four playoff seasons.

St. Joseph of Metuchen finished third, checking in at 18-11, rising all the way from No. 10 in the last rankings before the playoffs. The Falcons finished the year strong, reaching the Non-Public South A title game, where they lost to eventual Group A state champ Union Catholic.

Rutgers Prep (22-8) finishes fourth, having won both the Somerset County Tournament championship – beating defending champ Gill St. Bernard’s in a thriller – and the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title.

South River (26-4) checks in at No. 5, the darling of the GMC all year long. The Rams won the Blue Division title, but got the attention of Central Jersey basketball fans in late December, when they knocked off St. Joseph in Metuchen the day after Christmas. They picked up the third seed in the county tournament, and reached the semifinals. In the states, they went to the Central Jersey Group 2 final, losing to eventual state Group 2 champion Manasquan.

Gill St. Bernard’s finished 19-8 and comes in sixth in the final rankings. The SCT finalist had a successful season considering a Mergin Sina’s squad had almost a complete roster turnover of key players from last year’s team, and its highly-touted point guard returned to Europe just a couple of weeks into the season.

South Brunswick had a nice run all the way to the County finals, as well as the Central Jersey Group 4 final, and finished 20-7 on the season, checking in at No. 7.

In eighth is South Plainfield (23-6), which won the GMC White Division, and had one of the county’s top scorers in Brandon Dean.

Ninth is Bound Brook (22-5), the Skyland Conference Valley Division champs, followed by Hillsborough (19-8).

Below are the full final Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings for 2022-23:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep claims final No. 1 Ranking in Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten

Despite a loss in its final game of the year to Morris Catholic in the Non-Public Group B Final Sunday afternoon, another dominating season by Rutgers Prep has earned them their rightful place at the top of the final Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Rankings of the 2022-23 season for the third straight season.

The numbers for the Lady Argonauts continue to stagger the mind.

Consider: they have won 41 straight games against Somerset County opponents and 54 against Skyland Conference foes. Of the last 30, none have been by fewer than ten points. And their last loss to a Skyland opponent came against Franklin in the 2019 Somerset County Tournament Final.

They’ve won three straight SCT titles, a stretch interrupted by winning the one-off 2021 Skyland Conference top playoff pod during the COVID-shortened season where there was no county or state tournament.

They are also the only team ever to be ranked in the CJSR/Bellamy Top Ten since it’s inception along with our first season of high school basketball in 2020, making it 28 straight weeks at the top.

Ultimately, Rutgers Prep finished 25-5, won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, the Somerset County Tournament, and their second straight Non-Public South B sectional title.

The top three teams stayed the same as in the most recent rankings – from Week Eight – with St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 2. The Trojans finished 22-7, and won the GMC Red Division as well as the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, their fourth straight – not counting the COVID year of 2021.

Gill St. Bernard’s (18-9) is third, the Somerset County Tournament runner-up to Rutgers Prep.

Monroe returned to the rankings at No. 4 after a strong playoff run, going all the way to the Central Jersey Group 4 title game. They beat division foe South Brunswick to get there, but lost in the finals to Jackson Memorial, and finished 17-10.

South Brunswick (19-8) finished right behind the Falcons in fifth place.

Edison checks in at No. 6, the the GMC White Division Champions, who finished the season 21-7 after starting the season 11-0.

Middlesex made a nice run ot the Central Jersey Group 1 finals, where they fell to Shore in the sectional title game, finishing 20-9.

Watchung Hills came in eighth, finishing 20-7, followed by Hillsborough in 9th at 16-11.

North Plainfield finished tenth at 17-9, bowing out of the state tournament to eventual Group 3 finalist Randolph.

Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Final Girls’ Basketball Rankings for the 2022-23 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Unranked wins by Immaculata, St. Joseph-Metuchen jostle bottom half of Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings

The top four teams didn’t move in the Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball rankings, but the bottom half got shuffled this week after two wins by unranked teams over ranked opponents, namely Immaculata and St. Joseph-Metuchen.

The Spartans knocked off previous No. 6 Bound Brook Saturday, 75-53, while the Falcons stunned Rutgers Prep in Somerset, 73-61, behind 33 points from Josh Ingram.

These are the final rankings until the season is over.

St. Thomas Aquinas (20-2) remained No. 1 after a 1-1 week in which they beat Colonia, 49-48, for their second win over the Patriots this season. They lost Saturday to the Patrick School, 68-52.

Rutgers Prep (14-7) held at No. 2, dropping their only game of the week to St. Joe’s. The Argonauts are likely to earn the No. 1 seed in the Somerset County Tournament, which will be seeded tonight in Somerville. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have the seeds as soon as they come out.

Gill St. Bernard’s (15-5) had a 2-0 week, with wins out-of-league against Linden and Arts.

Colonia (16-6) held serve in fourth, despite the loss to Aquinas. The Patriots also beat Union Tuesday, but lost to Ewing Saturday.

The rest all moved around, starting with South Plainfield. The Tigers (19-3) moved up two spots to No. 5 on the strength of a 3-0 week, that included just one win over a GMC team, New Brunswick on Thursday, as well as victories over Rahway and Oratory Prep.

Ridge (15-4) checks in at No. 6 after a 2-0 week highlighted by a 66-53 win over previous No. 5 South River, handing the Rams (20-2) just their second loss of the season.

Immaculata (16-4, unranked last week) checks in seventh after a mammoth 75-53 win over Bound Brook on Saturday. The Spartans had a 3-0 week, also picking up wins over Pingry and Warren Hills.

North Brunswick (19-3) held in 8th on after a three-win week against the GMC, over Old Bridge, Woodbridge and North Plainfield.

South River (20-2) checks in at No. 9, dropping four spots after the loss to Ridge. They picked up league wins during the week over JFK and Carteret.

Tied for tenth are Bound Brook (16-3) and St. Joseph-Metuchen (12-8). The Crusaders had wins over Newark Vocational and Dayton before the loss to Immaculata, while the Falcons lost to Linden Tuesday in the Investors Bank Challenge at AL Johnson in Clark before knocking off Rutgers Prep.

Below are the full Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Rankings for Week 8: