Tag: Carter Cumiskey

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood bats erupt for 16-5 win over South Amboy in first game on Chargers’ new turf field

New turf, new season, same old Spotswood baseball.

On Opening Day for both teams, the No. 9 Chargers exploded for six runs in the second inning, and eight in the third – fueled by a Sebby Saracino grand slam – en route to a 16-5 victory over visiting South Amboy Saturday, in a GMC crossover game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was also the first game on Spotswood’s new turf field, and they christened it not only with a big win, but with a blast from the past.

Pitcher Willie Beard and catcher Anthony Addone from the 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – which was inducted into the Spotswood Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022, along with Beard as an individual – teamed up for a ceremonial first pitch.

Willie Beard throws the ceremonial first pitch to Anthony Addone – battery mates from Spotswood’s 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – to christen the Chargers’ new turf field on March 29, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Then the game began, and it was almost like going back in a time machine 18 years, as Spotswood got on the board with two in the bottom of the first.

Sarracino’s slam in the third was the first home run of his varsity career, and he finished the day with a career high five runs batted in.

Starter Carter Cumiskey was excellent as well, able to stay fresh with the weather unseasonably warm – 74 at game time and over 80 by the time the final out was recorded – as the senior pitched four shutout innings, allowing one hit and just two base runners – a second reached on an error – to get the Opening Day win.  He struck out four and pitched three one-two-theee innings.

South Amboy got its five runs in the top of the fifth, helped by a hard liner off the third baseman’s glove and a chopper that left shortstop Ryan Orth with no real option to make a play.  But they needed seven runs to keep the game going, and fell just short.

Starter Micah Nemeth took the loss in relief for the Governors. 

Spotswood did what it wanted to do at the plate, scratching and clawing when they needed to early, and getting some big hits when they needed them. Besides the Grand slam, the Chargers also got two ground rule doubles, one from Will Buchan and another from freshman catcher Tyrus Lazar.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Spotswood’s Sebby Saracino, Carter Cumiskey, and head coach Glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 5 Chargers win 7th straight, 7-3 over Somerville, while Fredricks wins No. 299

Seton Hall commit Carter Cumiskey pitched a complete game, striking out ten, for his third win in as many starts this season, while hitting a solo home run to help his cause, in a 7-3 non-conference win for No. 5 Spotswood over Somerville.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio at Torpey Athletic Conference in Bridgewater, the Chargers continued their torrid start, now 7-0 on the year, after last year’s team began the 2023 campaign with nine straight wins.

Spotswood got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the second. Brandon Rivera led off with a double, a groundout to first got him to third, and a groundout by Colin Pfeiffer to short scored him.

The Chargers added another run in the third when Cumiskey hit a solo homer to right center.

Somerville cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Nash singled with one out, and nine-hitter Chase Insabella scored him with a triple, but he and Chase Koplitz – who followed with a single – when Cumiskey struck out the next two hitters.

Spotswood added three in a fourth inning where they sent nine men to the plate. Four-hitter Mason Bitalla led off with a single. After Rivera grounded out, Ryan Orth knocked him in with a single to make it 3-1. After Pfeiffer struck out, nine-hitter Seb Saracino singled to make it 4-1, and Breckyn DeAngelis followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 5-1. But Somerville limited the damage when starter Ryan Chiesla got Will Buchan to ground out to end the inning after intentionally walking Cumiskey.

From there, Cumiskey seemed to get stronger, at one point recording seven Ks out of eight outs spanning the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Spotswood added two more in the top of the sixth. Lubin and Saracino began the inning with back-to-back walks. Lubin advanced to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on another. Mason Bitalla singled home the seventh run.

Somerville got back two in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as they would get. Ethan Flynn reached on a ball to short bobbled by Buchan, then Robbie Wright reached on a single. After Dylan Hornick lined out to first, Nash reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Wright at second, but Chase Insabella doubled to right driving in two.

At that point, Cumiskey bore down yet again and struck out Koplitz to end the threat, and he got Somerville (2-3) 1-2-3 in the seventh to close out the game.

The win was No. 299 for Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks, who has been the Chargers’ mentor since 2005. He’ll go for 300 Thursday when the Chargers host Marlboro.

Click below for postgame reaction from Spotswood junior Carter Cumiskey and head coach Glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood holds off Delran as Chargers clinch first sectional final trip in 13 years

Yogi Berra famously said, “It ain’t over til it’s over.” And that was certainly the case at the place they affectionately call “The Swamp” on Tuesday afternoon.

Third-seed Spotswood rallied from a 2-1 deficit to score three runs in the fifth – on just one hit, four walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch – and ultimately beat 10-seed Delran 5-3. The win puts the Chargers (21-7) in the Central Jersey Group 2 title game Friday at top-seed Rumson (20-5), their first trip to a sectional final since they won it in 2010.

It got interesting in the top of the seventh, with Jackson Walsh pitching his second inning of relief, and Spotswood having a 5-2 lead.

Leadoff hitter Nick Merunka reached on an infield hit, then Walsh hit Owen Friddell, and walked Michael Papi to load the bases with no one out. After a liner to Ryan Orth at second for the first out, and strikeout for the second, Owen Hoffman lined a hard single to drive in a run and make it 5-3..

But Walsh bore down, and got DH Jeff Conrad looking – his third backward K of the game – to finish off the visiting Bears (14-8-1).

Spotswood took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when a two-out infield hit by starting pitcher Carter Cumiskey drove in Breckyn DeAngelis, who’d led off the inning with a single.

But Delran got two in the third to take its only lead of the game. Merunka led off with a single, Friddell got hit, and Papi reached on an unassisted fielder’s choice to the shortstop who got the out at second. Michael Shaw knocked in both runs with a single up the middle, but after a bunt got Andrew Madison on, Cumiskey got the next two outs to limit the damage.

Spotswood scored three times in the fifth. Seb Saracino led off with a walk, and advanced to second when a pickoff attempt by the Delran catcher sailed into right field. Shawn Lennan drove him in with a single. After a popup to second by DeAngelis, Casey Cumiskey was intentionally walked, and Carter Cumiskey grounded back to the pitcher, leaving runners at second and third with two outs.

Lennan scored on a wild pitch, then after walks to Walsh and Dylan Kartelias, Chris Bottiglieri got hit to drive in the fourth run, but Ryan Orth struck out to end the inning.

Spotswood got an insurance run in the fifth on an RBI single by Carter Cumiskey, who got the win, while Jackson Walsh took the save.

Click below to hear postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen, as Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko spoke with Carter Cumiskey and Jackson Walsh:

by Mike Pavlichko

Cumiskey fans 10 to power Spotswood past South River to gain leg up in GMC Blue race

The game featured two future Division 1 baseball players on the mound: Spotswood’s Carter Cumiskey – a Seton Hall Commit – and South River’s Julius Rosado, who’ll one day suit up for Rutgers.

It was Cumiskey who got the better of Rosado this time around, striking out ten, giving up one run, and scattering five hits over five innings to get the win, in a 6-1 win Tuesday afternoon over the Rams in Spotswood.

The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Chargers (10-2) who were undefeated before two non-conference losses this past weekend.

It also puts first-place Spotswood at 7-0 in the Blue Division, with South River in second at 7-2, and would earn them at least clinch a share of the division if the two were to end up tied.

The teams meet again ion South River on Thursday.

South River (7-2) broke the deadlock in the top of the third, when back to back doubles from Rosado and Parker Lane gave them a 1-0 lead.

Spotswood answered in the bottom of the fourth. Casey Cumiskey – Carter’s older brother- scored from second after an errant throw from home plate to tie it, and then Sebby Saracino gave the Chargers the lead by reaching home off a wild pitch.

Spotswood kept that momentum going in the fifth, with John Lubin scoring on another wild pitch before Jackson Walsh hit a two RBI single to make it a 5-1 game. Spotswood would load the bases again in the sixth, leading up to a second run for Lubin after Carter Cumiskey drew a walk.

Spotswood sealed the deal with two scoreless innings from Breckyn DeAngelis, who got three strikeouts on six batters faced.

Rosado took the loss, allowing five runs – three earned – in five innings of work. He struck out seven, but also walked seven.

Click below for postgame reaction from Spotswood’s win over South River:

Spotswood sophomore Carter Cumiskey
Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks