Greater Middlesex Conference releases new alignments for 2027 baseball season with few changes
The Greater Middlesex Conference opted to make very few changes when it released its baseball alignments for the 2027 season last week. But perhaps the biggest move was one that did not happen. Middlesex – coming off a GMC White Division championship – did not move up from to the Red Division, despite the Blue Jays’ division title, and the fact that “moving up” division winners has become more and more common in the GMC and other leagues, as they tend to veer away from using mainly school size as a determining factor. White Division champs have moved to the…
A few personal thoughts on the loss of a great reporter, and an even better man, Greg Tufaro
When Greg Tufaro, the longtime Middlesex County sportswriter, passed away this Monday, the news was a shock to many. But it really shouldn’t have been. Not to say we all expected it. No one did. But so few people knew he was even sick. I had heard about it second hand. When we spoke exactly […]
Longtime Middlesex County sportswriter, founder of Marisa Tufaro Foundation, Greg Tufaro passes away
For some three decades, if there was a story to be found in the sports world and beyond in Middlesex County – sometimes the story behind the story – Greg Tufaro was the guy who would have it. And for the past nine years, if there was a good cause, the Marisa Tufaro Foundation – […]
New Jersey umpires see “a dream come true” in Yankees’ Old Timers’ Day Game
Ask any kid growing up in the Tri-State area about their childhood dream for when they’re older. A good number of them will point to swinging the bat – or toeing the rubber – for the New York Yankees. But another dream was accomplished in the Bronx on Saturday. Four present or former NJSIAA umpires, Gary Giackette, Warren Bennett, Chris Parkhill, and Bill Killduff, donned the blue for the Yankees’ annual Old Timers’ Day game on Saturday. Bennett patrolled home plate, Killduff worked first base, Parkhill at second, and Giackette at third. In an opportunity that the quartet all agreed…
After nearly a decade, and a half-million dollars donated, Marisa Tufaro Foundation wraps up its charitable mission
Ten years would have been a nice round number. But so is a half-million dollars. That’s what the Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated has donated to families and pediatric patients, charitable organizations and scholarship efforts around the state since its founding nine years ago, on July 30, 2017. But all good things must come to an end, and the group’s founders have announced the end of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s charitable mission. It was created by longtime Home News Tribune/MyCentralJersey sportswriter Greg Tufaro and his wife, Cyndi, in memory of their daughter, Marisa, who tragically passed away in January of…
Former North Brunswick, Rutgers standout pitcher Zack Konstantinovsky picked in MLB Draft by Washington Nationals
Zack Konstantinovsky – a two-time Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year at North Brunswick and standout at Rutgers – has been selected in the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals. “Zack K,” as he’s often called, was dominant on the mound as a Raider. In ten starts his senior season, he give up just eight runs, five earned, and fanned 88 – but he hit .469 and hit eight home runs. He was even more overpowering his junior year, striking out 120 hitters while walking just two, and allowing only seven earned runs in 67…
Former Franklin, Rutgers standout Peyton Bonds picked by San Francisco in third round of MLB Draft; will other area players be chosen?
With the 90th pick overall, in the third round of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft, the San Francisco Giants take… … former Franklin standout and Rutgers star Peyton Bonds. A junior this past season, Bonds – who is Barry Bonds’ nephew and the godson of Bobby Bonds – hit .352 with 29 RBIs and six home runs, while also stealing 13 bases. He hit eight doubles and scored 31 runs. The 12th Scarlet Knight to be drafted in the last five seasons under head coach Steve Owens, he’s also the fourth to be taken by the Giants all-time. The…
JFK’s Grant Lorentzen proves you can do it all, and be very good at it, too
Hitting a major milestone in any high school sport is a big deal. Often, the game will stop, the ball will come out of play, and there are balloons and photo ops, then the game goes on. For Grant Lorentzen, who’s just graduated from JFK in Iselin last week, he hit key milestones in not just one, nor two, but three high school sports. In an era where more and more student-athletes are specializing – playing just one sport, and then training the rest of the year in that sport – Lorentzen is a throwback, but also an example. Lorentzen…
As Blackwell steps down from Ridge, here are the winningest coaches in the GMC, Somerset County, and who will move into the top ten
Ridge baseball coach Tom Blackwell told his players last week, and announced publicly Tuesday that he was stepping down as the Red Devils’ skipper, with just a couple of years left before he completely retires from teaching. Blackwell will hang ’em up as one of the winningest active coaches in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coverage area, entering and finishing the year in the top ten. Here’s a look at the rest of the group in the Greater Middlesex Conference and Somerset County. We’re counting all wins, even at other, out-of-area schools, as long as those coaches are still in…
Woodbridge’s Gavin Slicner is Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Player of the Year after star-studded senior season
Sometimes in high school baseball, you see a stat that makes you rub your eyes to make sure you read it right. Woodbridge shortstop Gavin Slicner could’ve wrote a whole book of those in his senior year. The Barrons’ leadoff batter put up a stellar senior campaign and is the winner of the 2026 Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Player of the Year. Slicner had already put up a solid junior campaign, but came into his senior year with a determination to build and get even better for his follow-up. The shortstop put up eye-popping offensive numbers as a senior,…
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