Services announced for Middlesex baseball senior James Matula
Services for James Matula – the 17-year-old Middlesex High School baseball player who died on November 22 as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash in North Jersey a week earlier – have been announced. There will be a visitation at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Roman Catholic Church on Harris Avenue from 4-8 pm, with a funeral mass there the next day at 10 am. He’ll be laid to rest immediately following the mass, at Hillside Cemetery at 1401 Woodland Avenue in in Scotch Plains. The services were announced in an obituary posted by McCriskin Funeral Home.…
It’s Black Friday, so here’s our Wish List for High School sports in 2026 and beyond
We’re not greedy. This isn’t a long list. Granted they might be some big ticket items, but that’s why we’re keeping this list short. Still, as much as we love high school sports, there’s always room for change. Many of you will be headed out to the malls today. Some of you probably already have been and are headed home, shopping bags in hand. You might even be headed back out after lunch for Round Two. But here are a fewal things we’d like to throw in the proverbial cart for 2026, and even the 2026-27 school year, in chronological…
Middlesex baseball senior James Matula succumbs to injuries after car crash; outpouring of support in fundraiser for family
Less than a week after suffering serious injuries in a car crash in North Jersey on the way home from a family trip, Middlesex High School senior James Matula – a member of the Blue Jays’ 2025 state championship baseball team – has passed away. He was 17 years old. The news came out Sunday as his teammates, friends, family, and many from the Middlesex community and beyond attended a somber prayer mass Saturday evening at Our Lady of Mount Virgin church on Harris Avenue in the borough. Teammates Chris Kozak – a pitcher who played centerfield next to Matula,…
Middlesex teammates, classmates, community rallying behind Blue Jay baseball standout in serious car crash
The entire Middlesex community is pulling for one of their own: a member of the Group 1 state champion Blue Jays baseball team who was in a serious car crash. Social media posts hit the Internet Wednesday praying for outfielder James Matula, who was seriously injured this week in an accident while heading back to New Jersey on a trip out of state, head coach Blaze Iannetti confirmed to Central Jersey Sports Radio Thursday morning. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anthony Long (@anthonylong9668) Other details are sparse, but Iannetti says Matula was airlifted to a hospital…
Sponsor Higgins Speed Lab trains athletes in all sports, all levels in quickness, strength, mechanics and more in South Brunswick facility
For Kyle Higgins, the son of longtime Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins, whose father Tom was an early Chiefs’ head coach from 1970 to 1989, playing multiple sports was just the way it was done. He was at Hopewell Valley High School, playing football and lacrosse, excelling at both. He went on to Castleton University in Vermont, and then into coaching. He’s an assistant working under his dad with the Chiefs, and saw the need for helping student-athletes improve beyond just the Xs and Os. He worked at various facilities, and then decided to open his own: Higgins Speed Lab…
Geertsma, Roof look back at a remarkable baseball season at Governor Livingston: state champions, done to perfection
Like any recipe, there can be a lot of ingredients. When they blend together well, the resulting meal can be delicious. And that’s a good way to describe the 2024 baseball season for Governor Livingston. There were tense moments, some easy wins, injuries and other obstacles, but in the end, a mix of great players – starters and otherwise – along with excellent coaching saw them finish their 2024 season 28-0. The won everything they could: the Union County Conference Watchung Division pennant at 11-0, the UCC Tournament, the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 2 sectional title, and the state Group…
NJSIAA adds another tweak to power points, affecting all sports in 2025-26, except football
More changes are coming to the state’s power point system, under a change recently announced by the NJSIAA. According to an email sent to athletic directors and coaches across New Jersey that was obtained by Central Jersey Sports Radio, the NJSIAA made the changes based on two “areas of concern” it says emerged after seeking feedback from member schools: how out-of-state opponents factor into calculations, and whether all games should be averaged, or if instead a only the best results should count. Based on the feedback, the NJSIAA is making changes in both areas that will immediately go into effect…
NFHS approves “double first base” for 2027 high school baseball season in effort to curtail injuries, interference calls; player meetings also addressed
In a huge and wide-ranging rules change for high school baseball, the National Federation of State High School Associations – which makes rules for sports nationwide – has adopted the use of a double first base, which adds an extra base of the same size in foul territory, in an effort to cut down on injuries, and avoid interference calls. The additional base is often used in lower levels of the sport, such as little league, but now will be mandated nationwide starting in the 2027 season, including here in New Jersey. The NJSIAA has allowed it in recent years,…
Legislature approves pension bill to cover New Jersey H.S. coaches; Murphy’s signature awaits as second bill on job security sits in committee
All that’s left is for Governor Murphy to put pen to paper and New Jersey high school coaches will have their pay count toward their pensions, under a bill recently approved by both houses of the legislature. Currently, stipend pay for coaches – and any other teachers who are paid additionally for extracurricular activities – does not count toward the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (also known as TPAF). The typical high school football coach makes about $10,000 a year for that job, and over the course of a long career, that could be a significant amount of money. The…
St. Thomas Aquinas names Matthew Silvestri as school’s new Athletic Director
St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison has named Matthew Silvestri as its new Athletic Director, the Trojans’ successor to Jerry Smith, who announced his retirement in early June after six years at the helm. Silvestri comes from Pioneer Academy in Wayne, where over the past three years he helped launch and expand the athletic department to 14 teams, including varsity, JV, and middle school boys’ and girls’ basketball and volleyball, boys’ soccer and wrestling. According to a release from St. Thomas Aquinas, he has also led varsity programs in swimming, water polo and soccer, “consistently emphasizing student participation, discipline,…
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