Blaze Iannetti – Page 2 – Central Jersey Sports Radio

The GMC Red Division is very good, and its winner will likely get the top seed in the GMC Tournament, which starts in just a couple of weeks. But the GMC White Division is a knock-down, drag-out battle, too, every time their teams take the field.

And you can expect much of the same on Tuesday afternoon when Sayreville (56-6) meets Middlesex (9-4) in a battle of two middle-of-the-pack teams in the White Division.

It’s a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Pregame is at 3:45; click here to listen.

The Bombers – who are 4-6 in the White and in 5th place, right behind the fourth-place Blue Jays (6-4) – snapped a three-game skid Sunday evening with a late game against Matawan at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. They won 11-8 in what was their second biggest offensive outburst of the season.

That’s a welcome sight for second-year head coach Tim Ballard, whose team is hitting just .200 through 12 games. And they’ve had many this year – some wins, some losses – that have been too close for comfort. On a mid-April three-game win streak, they beat Perth Amboy 4-3 and 4-2, then edged Jackson Liberty out of the Shore Conference, 5-4.

But they’ve also lost some close ones: 3-2 to North Brunswick, 2-0 to Spotswood, and a 4-2 decision at the hands of first-place St. Thomas Aquinas.

As for Middlesex, they’ve been hitting the ball well. The Jays – under first-year head coach Blaze Ianetti, who had been an assistant under previous coach Justin Nastasi – have a .340 team batting average and have scored almost twice as many runs (91) in 13 games as the Bombers have in a dozen (48).

They’ve also gotten really good pitching, with a team ERA of just 1.61, and only one pitcher who’s thrown at least nine innings this year with an ERA over three.

It’s also a series that’s been very even of late. Middlesex won three straight coming out of the missed COVID season of 2020, then split a pair in 2023 before Sayreville won both meetings last year, 4-3 and 7-2.

Click below for pregame interviews with both head coaches:

Middlesex head coach Blaze Iannetti

Sayreville head coach Tim Ballard

One of the most successful small-school baseball programs in the GMC has a new coach, as the Middlesex Board of Education Thursday night approved the hiring of assistant Blaze Iannetti as the Blue Jays’ new skipper.

Iannetti replaces Justin Nastasi, who coached nine seasons to the tune of a 175-81 record, with five Central Jersey Group 1 titles and three Group 1 state championships, the most recent coming over New Providence in 2021. They also went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, beating Emerson and Park Ridge, respectively.

Nastasi, who lives in Hillsborough, initially stepped down to spend some more time with family, but was offered a job this coming season as an assistant by Raiders’ skipper Matt Mosko, a position requiring significantly less time than being a head coach.

“I have so many great memories with Middlesex baseball,” Nastasi told Central Jersey Sports Radio. “I am extremely proud of the program that I helped build with Mike (O’Donnell, the Middlesex Athletic Director). It’s a great town that loves and supports its sports programs, especially baseball. I will obviously miss it greatly.”

Iannetti is a Middlesex alum who played for second base for the man who would eventually hire, and now, promote him.

O’Donnell was the Blue Jays’ baseball coach then. Iannetti graduated in 2009, before going on to Mitchell College in New London, CT.

*Blaze Iannetti also has worked with now-former Middlesex head coach Justin Nastasi at Takeover Baseball. (Source: @Blaze_Iannetti on Twitter)*

Right after he graduated, he was snapped up as the JV coach by Nastasi, who was in just his second year on the job.

“I know the program is in great hands with Blaze,” said Nastasi, “and I am very excited to see where he takes them. The kids will feed off his passion, energy and excitement for the game and the town of Middlesex. Nobody will be rooting harder for Blaze than me.”

O’Donnell was effusive in his praise of Nastasi.

“We appreciate all of Coach Nastasi’s contributions to our baseball program and after he stepped aside we are excited to promote Coach Iannetti to take the helm and continue the tradition of success on the diamond,” said Nastasi.

“He brings a wealth of knowledge and work ethic to match,” he added. “The program will remain in good hands.”

Iannetti will inherit a Middlesex squad that took some lumps last year as a young group, going 10-17, but only graduates one senior: infielder/pitcher Frank Berta. Of their top four pitchers in terms of innings thrown last season, one was a junior, three were sophomores, and one was a freshman.

Click below to hear new Middlesex baseball coach Blaze Iannetti talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: