Edison exploded for 17 runs in the first two innings of play en route to a 19-9 home win over Barnegat as part of the 14th annual Autism Awareness Challenge. Starting pitcher Robert Roma helped his cause at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single and a double and four RBIs in the first inning alone.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action from Edison High School on Sunday, April 23rd, 2023:
With none of Sunday’s games at the Autism Awareness Classic playable at North Brunswick’s Community Park playable due to field conditions after heavy rain overnight, only half the games on the schedule wound up being played, all at alternative locations.
That sent Edison back home to play Barnegat on their red turf at the originally-schedule time of 1 pm, and it had absolutely zero effect on the Eagles, unless maybe they felt emboldened playing on their home field, and sitting in their own dugout.
That’s because they scored 17 runs on 13 hits in the first two innings of their game against the Bengals, ultimately leading to a 19-9 five-inning win over the visitors.
Edison freshman Robert Roma – who’d only thrown 6 2/3 innings all year, got the start Sunday, and promptly mowed down the first three batters he faced, all on strikeouts.
Then he did his real damage.
He had a two-RBI double and a two-RBI single bating in the cleanup spot, to help his team to a 10-0 lead after one inning of play, driving in nearly half those runs, with 4 RBIs.
In the second – when Edison slapped on another seven runs – he scored one of them after getting aboard with a walk.
All that action on offense for Roma may have taken him out of his rhythm a little bit. He allowed a two-out double in the second, then got a strikeout to end the inning.
But in the third, he gave up a two-out, two-RBI double to DH Matt Hwang, then allowed a grand slam in-the-park homer in the fourth on a fly ball to right that went over backup outfielder Ryan Berner’s head after he initially broke in, then stumbled and fell going back for it.
Barnegat got two in the third, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth to cut it to a nine-run lead to temporarily avoid the mercy-rule ending.
But Edison walked it off in the bottom of the inning, when Darren Tirado walked, Connor Murphy reached on an infield hit, and Noel Pichoco hit a shallow fly ball that should have been caught but appeared to be completely missed by Julian Marfino to drive in the 19th run that gave the Eagles a ten-run lead, and ended the game.
Jaxon Appelman hit a two-run home in the second inning, his second of the year, while Jordan Martins hit a bases-clearing, three- RBI triple in his second at bat of the first inning.
Roma didn’t pitch long enough – just 3 1/3 – to get the win, as Edison emptied its bench and brought in seven new position players, only keeping third-baseman Dom Innocenti in the game, moving him to short.
The win puts Edison at 8-3 on the year, surpassing last year’s win total in a 7-17-1 season.
Click below for postgame reaction brought to you by Sportsplex at Metuchen!
When Mike Garlatti asked Barnegat head coach Dan McCoy about a decade ago if he’d bring his team all the way up from the Jersey Shore to play in the Autism Awareness Challenge, he “couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
At the time, a friend’s son, who went to school with his own son, had just been diagnosed with autism, and McCoy says he knew this would be a special and important event.
But the connection goes back deeper than that.
McCoy still calls Garlatti “Coach Mike.” That’s because he played for him in the 1990s when Garlatti – now a Colorado Rockies scout – was an assistant at Rutgers under the late Fred Hill.
So, really, the decision to hop on a bus and drive almost an hour-and-a-half up the Parkway and Route 18 was an easy one.
As for his team, they’re very young, and taking some lumps this year. The Bengals are 2-7, and just picked up their second win of the season Saturday afternoon, a 9-4 road victory at Middle Township.
Barnegat lost a lot to graduation from last year’s 12-14 team. McCoy has four freshmen in the starting lineup, but isn’t worried. They’re essentially baseball bodies, who have baseball minds he says will catch up in time.
Sunday, they play an Edison team that’s much improved over a season ago, 7-3 on the year, with a 1-0 win over JFK Friday matching their win total from a year ago when they were 7-17-1.
You can hear Sunday’s game against Barnegat at 1 pm, with pregame at 12:45, as part of a doubleheader in the Autism Awareness Challenge. Our first game will feature South River taking on Bernards at 10 am, with pregame at 9:45 am. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call the action; click here to listen.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Barnegat head coach Dan McCoy:
The South River Rams have been there almost since the beginning.
Of the Autism Awareness Challenge’s 15 seasons, this will be their 14th.
Longtime South River head coach Mike Lepore, Jr., is a big fan of the event, but he also knows it’s good baseball.
On Sunday, the Rams (7-1) will take on Bernards – which is 4-3 heading into Saturday’s Somerset County Tournament first round game at Hillsborough – in Game One of a doubleheader you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, starting at 9:45 am with pregame, and first pitch for the Rams and Mountaineers at 10 am.
Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will be on the call, with the opener followed by Edison vs. Barnegat at 1 pm. Click here to listen to both broadcasts.
The Rams have been getting great hitting from senior Matt Marques and super-sophomore Julius Rosado, who had a fantastic year as a freshman in 2022 and already is committed to Rutgers.
Marques is a perfect player to hit behind Rosado, who already has drawn three intentional walks among his eight bases on balls so far this season. Yes, Rosado still is hitting .435, with six RBIs, five doubles and a triple. Marques himself is hitting .444 and leads the team with 13 runs batted in, making it a pick-your-poison type of scenario for opposing pitchers.
Lepore will throw freshman Brendan Lell against the Mountaineers. He’s only thrown 5 2/3 innings this season, allowing seven runs – six earned – on five hits. In minimal action, he’s shown control, walking two, striking out five.
Rosado, a stellar arm, will be available. if needed. But, Lepore says his intention is to start him for game one of a critical Tuesday-Thursday home-and-home series against Blue Division-leading and currently undefeated (9-0) Spotswood.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk witth South River head coach Mike Lepore Jr. about the Rams’ season so far and the matchup with Bernards:
The 2023 edition of the Autism Awareness Challenge – to benefit Mike Garlatti’s Teamwork Unlimited Foundation – is set to take place this weekend at North Brunswick’s Community Park. Dozens of area baseball and softball teams will be participating, with first pitches and honored guests in attendance throughout the weekend.
Here’s the full, day-by-day schedule of games:
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
Baseball
East Brunswick Magnet vs. Plainfield, 4 pm
South Brunswick vs. Robbinsville, 4 pm
South Amboy vs. Rahway, 7 pm
St. Joseph-Metuchen vs. Jackson, 7 pm
Softball
Wardlaw-Hartridge vs. Irvington, 1 pm
JFK vs. Colonia, 4 pm
Sayreville vs. Spotswood, 4 pm
North Brunswick vs. Edison, 6:30 pm
South Amboy vs. Highland Park, 6:30 pm
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
Baseball
Middlesex vs. Governor Livingston, 10 am
Spotswood vs. Livingston, 10 am
Delbarton vs. Voorhees, 1 pm
South Plainfield vs. Millburn, 1 pm
East Brunswick vs. Ramapo, 4 pm
Randolph vs. Middletown South, 4 pm
North Brunswick vs. Steinert, 7 pm
Somerville vs. Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 7 pm
Softball
JP Stevens vs. Linden, 8:30 am
South Brunswick vs. Metuchen, 8:30 am
East Brunswick vs. Woodbridge, 11 am
Carteret vs. Piscataway, 11 am
Middlesex vs. Perth Amboy, 1:30 pm
East Brunswick Magnet vs. Rahway, 1:30 pm
Timothy Christian vs. South River, 4 pm
Perth Amboy Magnet vs. Woodbridge Magnet, 4 pm
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Monroe, 6:30 pm
Calvary Christian vs. Piscataway Magnet, 6:30 pm
SUNDAY, APRIL 23
Baseball
Sayreville vs. Elizabeth, 10 am
South River vs. Bernards, 10 am
Edison vs. Barnegat, 1 pm
Metuchen vs. Madison, 1 pm
Gill St. Bernard’s vs. Colonia, 4 pm
Old Bridge vs. Red Bank Catholic, 4 pm
JP Stevens vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, 7 pm
Monroe vs. Hamilton West, 7 pm
Just like last year, it’s the biggest it’s ever been.
The 2023 Autism Awareness Challenge returns this weekend to North Brunswick’s Community Park, where there will be a full slate of 20 baseball games and 15 softball games played over three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
That’s 35 games, 70 teams, just like last year.
Are we having fun yet?
The whole thing started in 2008 with just eight teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference, founded by Mike Garlatti, who heads up Baseball Warehouse in Highland Park. A scout for the Colorado Rockies, Garlatti also was a Rutgers assistant under Fred Hill on the 1990 team that missed a trip to the College World Series by just one game.
When it started in 2008, there were just eight Greater Middlesex Conference teams taking part.
Garlatti started the Teamwork Unlimited Foundation a couple of years after the initial event, which didn’t even have a fundraising component; it was simply dedicated to raising awareness about autism, after his son was diagnosed and found to be on the spectrum.
The Foundation now distributes money raised to autism support services and related groups. Scholarships are also handed out.
Garlatti spoke with Central Jersey Sports Radio about this weekend’s event. Click below to listen, and scroll down for a YouTube video recapping last year’s event.
Follow Team Work Unlimited Foundation on Twitter at @teamworkunlimit for schedule updates and more, including how to make a donation.
When it started in 2008, there were just eight Greater Middlesex Conference teams taking part.
Thirteen years later – after a pause in 2020 due to COVID-19 – this weekend’s Autism Awareness Challenge at North Brunswick’s Community Park will feature 40 high school baseball teams from all over the Garden State – including 16 from the GMC and another five from Somerset County.
The theme is “More than just a game,” says Mike Garlatti, who heads up Baseball Warehouse in Highland Park, is a Colorado Rockies scout, and is a former Rutgers assistant under the late Fred Hill on the team that was a win away from the College World Series in 1990).
Garlatti started the Teamwork Unlimited Foundation a couple of years after the 2008 event, which didn’t even have a fundraising component; it was simply dedicated to raising awareness about autism, after his son was diagnosed and found to be on the spectrum.
The Foundation now distributes money raised to autism support services and related groups. Scholarships are also handed out.
Garlatti spoke with Central Jersey Sports Radio about this weekend’s event. Click below to listen, and scroll down for a YouTube video about the event, as well as this weekend’s full schedule:
2021 Autism Awareness Challenge
Friday, April 23
4 pm: Piscataway Tech vs Carteret, St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Spotswood
7 pm: South Plainfield vs. Millburn, Somerville vs. St. Joseph-Metuchen
Saturday, April 24
10 am: JP Stevens vs. Governor Livingston, Metuchen vs. Bernards
1 pm: Cranford vs. South Brunswick, Voorhees vs. West Morris
4 pm: Red Bank Catholic vs. Delbarton, Ridge vs. Mendham
7 pm: Randolph vs. Jackson, Middletown South vs. Ramapo
Sunday, April 25
10 am: Rahway vs. South Amboy, East Brunswick Tech vs. South River
1 pm: Gill St. Bernard’s vs. Livingston, Edison vs. Barnegat
4 pm: Holy Spirit vs. Pope John, Don Bosco Prep vs. Old Bridge
7 pm: Passaic* vs. Elizabeth, North Brunswick vs. Hillsborough
*Passaic was a late replacement for Sayreville.
Dates, times and matchups subject to change.
All games will be streamed on GameKast Live.
Follow Team Work Unlimited Foundation on Twitter at @teamworkunlimit for schedule updates and more, including how to make a donation.