Tag: Carteret

by Mike Pavlichko

GMC Jim Muldowney Tournament Play-In Round Preview: Four games on tap Saturday

With the Greater Middlesex Conference seeding the Jim Muldowney Championship and Ray Cipperly Invitational on Friday – with Woodbridge getting the overall top seed – the Championship tourney will get underway Saturday with the play-in round, while the Invitational will kick off on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at the four Saturday games in the Championship bracket, including a look ahead to who’s next. Scroll to the end for the first round Invitational matchups.

(17) South Brunswick (3-15) at (16) South River (12-5), 12 pm: This is the type of game that’s impossible to pick, a double-digit team from the Blue Division against a Red Division team with just three overall wins, and one in its own division. The Red has been competitive just about from top-to-bottom, with six of the eight teams cracking the ten-win mark, and besides South Brunswick, Monroe has eight victories. So, it’s tough to tell. Couple that with the fact that the Rams have one of the top pitchers in the league in Julius Rosado, who will be playing not far away at Rutgers next Spring. Does Mike Lepore throw him Saturday, since you have to win that game to advance? Does he save him for Monday’s first round against top-seed and GMC Red champion Woodbridge – in which he would give the South River a fighting chance – but risk not getting a win Saturday, leaving him on the table? Or does he start him, cap him at 50 pitches, allowing him to only take one-day rest, leaving him with 90 against the Barrons? Rosado has only thrown 90 or more pitches once this year, in a 4-3 win over JP Stevens on April 23rd, and he hasn’t thrown more than 25 in four appearances since. Maybe this is what they’ve been saving him for? The Vikings have struggled at the plate, hitting just .227 on the season, and only Timothy Christian (21) has scored fewer runs that South Brunswick, which has 49, as does North Brunswick (2-13). The winner travels to face the Barrons Monday.

(19) JFK (9-8) at (14) North Plainfield (10-5), 12 pm: Here’s two teams more on a par with each other in an all-Blue Division matchup. And this one could be a toss-up. Kennedy gotten some good pitching, but little run support. The workloads have gone to junior Myles Ulaky (1.83 ERA) and Grant Lorentzen, who has allowed just one earned run, four overall, all season in 36 1/3 innings pitched for a barely-noticeable 0.19 ERA. North Plainfield is on its first losing streak of the year – just two games – showing how solid a season they’ve had. The Canucks have gotten decent pitching – with a team ERA of just 2.23 – but they’re hitting just .204 on the year, with no single player batting better than .300 on the season. The winner goes to GMC White champ and third-seed St. Thomas Aquinas Monday.

(18) Carteret (8-8) at (15) Perth Amboy (4-10), 12 pm: Is the fact that the Panthers have just four wins in the white and the Ramblers eight wins in the Blue an equalizer? Sometimes, when comparing teams from different divisions, the GMC seeding committee considers what one team might do in the other division. Add in that this is a classic rivalry – their all-time football series having been the longest running in Middlesex County – and this should be a good one. Perth Amboy comes in strong. After a 3-10 start, the Panthers have won three straight: two over North Brunswick and one over South Brunswick. They scored just 12 runs on that eight game skid, but have scored an average of ten over the last three games, hitting .337 in that span. And it doesn’t matter the opponent, baseball people know hitting is contagious. Yet, the Ramblers will be a tougher opponent. Winners of five of their last seven, Carteret is hitting a healthy .283 and led by senior Eric Thompson, batting .370, while Joneil Martinez has knocked in a team-best 12 runs and is hitting .345 on the year. The winner goes to No. 2 South Plainfield Monday.

(20) South Amboy (5-11) at (13) Metuchen (13-6), 2 pm: It’s an all-Blue Division matchup between the sixth-place Governors and the pennant-winning Bulldogs. South Amboy is hitting .278 as a team, led by senior Benjamin Smith, batting .434, tied for a team-high in RBIs with Jeremy Vasquez, who also has five of the Guvs’ seven home runs. Pitching has been an issue, with a team ERA just over six, and no single pitcher lower than a 4.43 ERA. Metuchen is an interesting story. They were 11-2 before May first, but have lost four of their last five and three straight, although two of those losses came to Red Division foes in Edison (a 4-3 loss) and Monroe (a 7-2 defeat). Metuchen is the beat-hitting team of the eight in the play-in round (as well as the highest-seeded, so maybe they should be?) and has just a 2.62 team ERA, with a number of options to choose from on a staff that doesn’t have a single senior and is dominated by juniors. The winner gets four-seed East Brunswick on the road Monday.

GMC RAY CIPPERLY INVITATIONAL – 1st ROUND
TUESDAY, MAY 13

  • (9) Highland Park (3-13) at (8) Piscataway Magnet (8-8), 4 pm (Winner at (1) JP Stevens on Thursday)
  • (11) Timothy Christian (0-11) at (6) Dunellen (12-6), 4 pm (Winner at (3) East Brunswick Magnet on Thursday)
  • (10) Perth Amboy Magnet (3-11) at (7) Somerset Tech (7-6), 4 om (Winner at (2) North Brunswick on Thursday)
by Mike Pavlichko

Power Points Analysis: South, North Plainfield and Colonia still bunched up at the top of North 2, Group 3 standings

We’re exactly two weeks from the NJSIAA cutoff for the state playoffs – May 17th – and teams across the area continue to jockey for position in the standings. Here’s a closer look beyond the numbers at where teams stand and what their chances are, based on NJ.com’s official standings as of games played on May 2nd. For a full explanation of the new power point formula, click here.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3: The same three teams that headed up this section last week are exactly where we left them standings-wise, but the lead is a little slimmer now. South Plainfield (12-5, 22.028) is first, while neighboring North Plainfield (10-4, 21.477) is second and Colonia (11-3, 21.038) is third. That’s 0.99 points separating the three, whereas last week the margin between them was a shade under four. All three are going to have to keep winning these final two weeks, and all would seem to have a shot at the top overall seed, plus the fourth-place team, Millburn, which is just 7-8, but has 20.778 power points.

One of the big developments here is that JFK made a big jump this week, despite just going 2-2 since our last update. Now 8-5 (17.754), the Mustangs jumped from seventh to fifth place, and while they’re a tinge more than three points out of the top four, they’d have to go on some kind of win streak to crack that group. And yet, they’re actually closer to falling out of the top eight than they are to making the top four. That’s because Somerville (7-6, 16.193) is about 1.6 points away, and still in ninth. They have a good shot to make the top eight if they finish strong.

The other big mover is Carteret, which soared from eleventh to seventh place this week, again, even on just a 2-2 week. The Ramblers are 7-9 with 16.46 points, but still could fall back to the bottom eight, so they also might need to finish strong to stay there.

by Mike Pavlichko

Defending state Group 4 champs Bridgewater-Raritan will start season with No. 1 Ranking in Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten

As the 2025 high school baseball season gets underway across New Jersey, with a handful opening up later this weekend and this weekend – we’ll have Spotswood vs. South Amboy on the air Saturday morning for our season-opening broadcast at 11 am – it’ll be a familiar face at the top of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.

Defending Group 4 state champions Bridgewater-Raritan opens the preseason rankings at No. 1. The Panthers went 30-3 last season, winning the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, the Somerset County Tournament, and the North 2, Group 4 title, the latter en route to the Group 4 state trophy.

Coming in second is Old Bridge, which went 20-9 last year and won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

Third in the preseason is South Plainfield. At 22-6-1 last season, the Tigers won the GMC Red Division, but lost in the finals to Old Bridge.

Starting the year in fourth will be Immaculata, which was 17-9 last year and has bolstered its pitching coming off its Skyland Conference Raritan Division title a year ago.

Ridge (21-9) checks in at five, after a 21-9 year and a trip to last season’s Somerset County Tournament finals, where they fell to Bridgewater-Raritan.

Monroe is fifth, a year after finishing 16-10 and making the Central Jersey Group 4 finals. They’re followed by two GMC White Division teams in Woodbridge – 17-10 last year and division champs – then Colonia (19-7).

The last two spots go to teams that could make moves with a number of key players back. Spotswood starts the year at No. 9 after a 19-4-2 season and a Blue Division Championship, while Carteret finishes the list at ten, coming off an 18-7 campaign and a GMC Invitational Tournament Championship.

Below is the full preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Baseball Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Opening Night NJSIAA roundup: Top-seeded Colonia boys win, Dunellen wins all-GMC Silver matchup over Highland Park

On the opening night of the NJSIAA state basketball tournament, the top-seeded Colonia boys were winners, along with nine other teams, five on the girls’ side, five on the boys.

One of the highlights was a 61-58 win for fifth-seed Dunellen over 12th-seed Highland Park in an all-GMC Silver Division state tourney matchup in Central Jersey Group 1. It was the Destroyer’s third win this season over the Owls, the other two coming early in the season.

Jamael Davis led Dunellen (16-9) with 21 points, while Ryan Hutchins added 16 and Danny Watts scored 10. Now, the Destroyers move to Saturday’s sectional quarterfinal round against fourth-seed Manville (18-8), a team they lost to 62-61 in the championship game of their own Mike Shello Holiday Tournament back on December 28th. The Mustangs – CJ1 finalists last year – were 60-53 winners over 13-seed Shore Regional Wednesday night, behind 32 points from Edryn Morales. It was his third game of the season topping 30 points, and he’s now done it in back-to-back games after scoring 31 last Thursday in a 72-71 loss to Spotswood.

Click below to hear Dunellen coach Matt Cianfrone talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Destroyers’ opening-round playoff win, and their quarterfinal matchup against Manville:

Dunellen’s win also was its first in the playoffs since they went to the Central Jersey Group 1 final in 2020, where they lost to University out of Newark.

Here are all the results from Wednesday night’s first round action in Groups 1 and 3, in sections involving CJSR-area teams. Check back later for scores of games not yet reported.

BOYS’ RESULTS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(1) Colonia def. (16) Cranford, 61-42
(9) Cliffside Park def. (8) Warren Hills, 52-47
(12) Millburn def. (5) Somerville, 61-54
(4) Chatham def. (13) Lincoln, 59-48
(3) Payne Tech def. (14) Nutley, 91-48
(11) Orange def. (6) South Plainfield, 69-63
(10 Summit) def. (7) Rahway, 63-49
(2) Mendham def. (15) Randolph, 50-22

Central Jersey Group 1
(1) Thrive Charter def. (16) College Achieve Central, 79-32
(8) Bound Brook def. (9) Piscataway Magnet, 68-63
(5) Dunellen def. (12) Highland Park, 61-58
(4) Manville def. (13) Shore, 60-53
(3) Pt. Pleasant Beach def. (14) South Hunterdon, 63-34
(6) Henry Hudson def. (11) Florence, 63-49
(10 New Providence def. (7) Keyport, 66-58
(2) Middlesex def. (15) Perth Amboy Magnet, 58-51

GIRLS’ RESULTS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(1) Chatham def. (16) Orange, 71-29
(9) South Plainfield def. (8) Payne Tech, 57-48
(5) Randolph def. (12) North Plainfield, 66-49
(4) Mendham def. (13) North Hunterdon, 59-28
(6) Cranford def. (11) Millburn, 52-33
(7) Carteret def. (10) Nutley, 40-33
(2) Somerville def. (15) Colonia, 52-30

Central Jersey Group 1
(1) New Providence def. (16) STEMCivics, 85-33
(9) Pt. Pleasant Beach at (8) Keansburg, 48-34
(5) Shore Regional def. (12) Highland Park, 78-32
(4) Middlesex def. (13) South Amboy, 39-8
(3) Bound Brook def. (14) Florence, 53-24
(6) Roselle Park def. (11) Brearley, 58-44
(7) Dayton def. (10) Manville, 65-41
(2) Thrive Charter def. (15) Woodbridge Magnet, 75-14

Here are matchups for the next round, which will be played on Saturday:

BOYS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(9) Cliffside Park at (1) Colonia
(12) Millburn at (4) Chatham
(11) Orange at (3) Payne Tech
(10) Summit at (2) Mendham

Central Jersey Group 1
(8) Bound Brook at (1) Thrive Charter
(5) Dunellen at (4) Manville
(6) Henry Hudson at (3) Point Pleasant Beach
(10) New Providence at (2) Middlesex

GIRLS

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
(9) South Plainfield at (1) Chatham
(5) Randolph at (4) Mendham
(6) Cranford at (3) Summit
(7) Carteret at (2) Somerville

Central Jersey Group 3
(9) Pt. Pleasant Beach at (1) New Providence
(5) Shore Regional at (4) Middlesex
(6) Roselle Park at (3) Bound Brook
(7) Dayton at (2) Thrive Charter

by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex’s Devine cracks 2,000 point mark, Francisco sets Monroe scoring record, and five of eight lower seeds win in GMCT First Round

The Greater Middlesex Conference basketball tournament has its girls’ quarterfinals set, as the three top seeds – St. Thomas Aquinas, Monroe and Middlesex, in order – were the only higher seeds to win in round of 16 action on Wednesday night.

We’ve got recaps on all eight games, followed by the schedule for this Saturday’s GMCT girls’ quarterfinals, which will be held at Spotswood High School.

WEDNESDAY GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ RESULTS – 1ST ROUND:

  • (1) St. Thomas Aquinas def. (16) North Brunswick, 94-42: Trista Whitney scored 17 points to lead the Trojans (19-6) into the GMC Tournament quarterfinals for the eleventh straight time, the longest such active streak in the county. Kayla Navarro added 14, Lauryn Downing chipped in 13, and Jordan Barnes scored 11 in the win. St. Thomas came out of the game hot, taking a 28-2 lead after one quarter of play. The Raiders fell to 8-14 with the loss. Aquinas will play 9th-seed Carteret (16-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
  • (9) Carteret def. (8) Calvary Christian, 54-29: Anilah Diggs and Jahaysia Ledesman each scored 15 points, while Ivanni Villegas added 13 for the the Ramblers (16-6). It was a tight one at the half, with Calvary up 18-15, but Carteret exploded in the second half, outscoring their opponent 23-11 in the third, and holding them scoreless in the fourth. Next up, the Ramblers play top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (19-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
  • (12) Old Bridge def. (5) East Brunswick, 47-45: The Knights – who’d lost twice this season to the Bears by 23 the first time, and 21 in the rematch – found the third time was the charm. Old Bridge (11-12) led 25-18 at the half, but gave up the lead in the third quarter, trailing 36-32 heading into the final eight minutes, but they stormed back and hung on for the win over the Bears (12-11). Scroll down to the end of this section to hear Knights’ head coach Alec Alspach talk about the win. Old Bridge will face 13-seed North Plainfield (7-16) Saturday – which they split with this season – in the quarterfinals at Spotswood.
  • (13) North Plainfield def. (4) Spotswood, 46-44: The Canucks (7-16) pulled off the late upset in Spotswood (17-7) for their second straight win after losing eight-in-a-row heading into the GMC Tournament. Jordyn Patrick led with 15 points for North Plainfield, while the Chargers’ Gabrielle Hill tied her for game-high honors with 15 in defeat. North trailed 33-27 heading into the fourth, and still by six with 40-seconds to go, but hit shots down the stretch to come up with a win earns the Canucks a trip right back to Spotswood Saturday for the quarterfinals, where they’ll face 12-seed Old Bridge (11-12).
  • (3) Middlesex def. (14) Colonia, 46-42: Jess Devine scored 22 points and passed the 2,000 point mark for her career early in the win for the Blue Jays (18-6). She now has 2,021 points for all-time. Hailey Conklin had 12 in defeat for Colonia (6-18), which hung in there, down by only eight heading into the fourth quarter. The win puts Middlesex up against 11-seed Piscataway (11-9) in Saturday’s quarterfinals at Spotswood.
  • (11) Piscataway def. (6) South Brunswick, 49-45: The Chiefs (11-9) avenged two earlier defeats this season at the hands of South Brunswick (11-11) thanks to 14 points from Caelyn Cook, and a mammoth game on the boards for Alyssa Iduh, who had 22 rebounds. Avery Jenne had 16 for the Vikings in defeat. Piscataway had to rally from a 22-13 halftime deficit, and did so with a big third quarter, nearly doubling up South Brunswick, 25-13 to take a 38-35 lead into the fourth quarter. The Chiefs will play third-seed Middlesex (18-6) at Spotswood in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
  • (10) Edison def. (7) Metuchen, 47-36: Three players for the Eagles (15-9) scored in double figures, led by Susan Oshinski with 11, while Carmela Arana and Olivia Smart added ten apiece. Edison led the Bulldogs (18-4) most of the way, including 22-16 at the half. The Eagles move on to play second-seed Monroe (15-7) Saturday in the quarterfinals at Spotswood.
  • (2) Monroe def. (15) South Plainfield, 46-36: Senior Evangelina Francisco’s 18 points helped make her the all-time leading scorer in girls’ history at the school, giving her 1,203 in her career, passing Madison Carey, who played from 2017 through 2020 and finished with 1,195. The Falcons (15-7) had a slim two-point halftime lead, and led by three after three, but pulled away in the fourth, holding the Tigers (14-9) to just five points. Monroe will take on Edison in Saturday’s semifinals at Spotswood.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Alex Alspach talk about the Knights’ win over East Brunswick in the GMC Tournament first round:

SATURDAY GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

Note that while the girls’ times are set, boys’ game times may not follow the same pattern in the bracket as the girls. GMC Tournament Co-Director Mike DelAversano says boys’ times will be adjusted so that any boys’ and girls’ teams from the same school wouldn’t play at the same time at different sites. The girls’ quarterfinals will be at Spotswood, with the boys at Piscataway. We’ll have Saturday’s boys’ schedule as soon as we get it from tournament officials.

  • (3) Middlesex (18-6) vs. (11) Piscataway (11-9), 10 am
  • (2) Monroe (15-7) vs. (10) Edison (15-9), noon
  • (12) Old Bridge (11-12) vs. (13) North Plainfield (7-16), 2 pm
  • (1) St. Thomas Aquinas (19-6) vs. (9) Carteret (16-6), 4 pm
by Mike Pavlichko

Overcoming adversity, Ja’Kir Thomas’ stellar four-year career earns Carteret senior CJSR’s 2024 Longevity Award

Most high school football players spend two or three years on varsity, maybe starting for one or two of them.

The exceptional ones might be on the big boy squad as a freshman, and start as a sophomore.

Ja’Kir Thomas is none of those.

He was a Rambler varsity player for all four years of high school, and started all four years as well, but it’s more than that which earned him the Central Jersey Sports Radio Longevity Award for 2024.

“Old school tough.” “Fast and physical.” Those are the phrases opposing coaches use to talk about Thomas, whose head coach Kevin Freeman says he is “one of the top leaders he’s seen at Carteret.”

Through all that, he battled through two injuries this year – and returned from both – and a broken collarbone last year.

Freeman says he’s been the best player on the field since he was a sophomore, and in 2024, he had 100 rushing yards in all but two games – both contests in which the Ramblers led big early, and pulled him and other starters from the game.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Carteret senior Ja’Kir Thomas:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Chase Young, St. Thomas Aquinas: A four-year contributor, the senior is a three-year starter, and has rushed for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career. He’s also logged 100-plus tackles on defense. He was a backup when he was thrown into the fire as a sophomore, had an outstanding junior year, then took on lead blocking duties for sophomore Chukwuma Odoh. He was having a career night in a game at Elizabeth earlier this year when he fainted and collapsed, but only missed one week before returning to action.
  • Jonathan LoStocco, Somerville: A two-way lineman, he has 35 starts on the offensive line, and head coach Matt Bloom points out that if he didn’t tear his ACL in Week Three of his junior season, he’d probably have 41, a big number for a high school player. LoStocco has been on the OL since he was a freshman, and was a huge part of the Pioneers’ resurgence this year.
by Mike Pavlichko

Carteret takes out Perth Amboy 27-7 in old Thanksgiving Day rivalry now played in September

The game may have lost a little juice, since – like many old Turkey Day rivalries in Central Jersey – the game is no longer played on Thanksgiving.

But it’s still the granddaddy of them all, the longest Thanksgiving rivalry in Middlesex County.

And Carteret extended its win streak over Perth Amboy Friday night with a 27-7 home victory against the Panthers, their third straight win in the series.

The Ramblers have now outscored the Panthers in those games 82-14, with one shutout.

It took Carteret a while to get going, as the teams were tied 7-7 at the half, but they finally figured it out after they came out of the lockerroom, as senior runningback Jakir Thomas – who already had a 55-yard touchdown run before the half – scored three more – of 35, 43 and four yards – to take the lead and put the game away.

Carteret improves to 1-1 and visits Cranford next week, while Perth Amboy fell to 1-1 and hosts Rahway next weekend.

Click below for postgame reaction from Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman:

by Mike Pavlichko

2024 Big Central Preview: United Gold Division

You can forgive Cranford and Summit if they’re breathing a sigh of relief now that St. Thomas Aquinas has moved up in the Big Central Conference’s divisional alignment.

Then again, they might want to hold that breath again now that Hillside has joined the fray in the United Gold Division.

The Comets have been one of the more solid Big Central teams in the league’s first couple of years, but life doesn’t get any easier for them in the United Gold Division either. That’s because they’re playing some bigger schools than they’re used to.

Summit, Cranford, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Carteret round out the division, which also sees Rahway leave. Summit has lost a good deal of talent, but the program has a good foundation, and the Hilltoppers will be competitive. Same for the Cougars and Ramblers, but Scotch Plains will be looking for some stability under first-year head coach Shawn Williams.

He’ll be their third coach in less than a year, as Austin Holman gave way to Robert Swercheck early last year, before he left to take over for Phlip McGuane at Middlesex. Can the Raiders work through the upheaval and put it together in ’24?

Click below to hear our preview of the United Gold Division from Big Central Conference Media Day:

by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden’s 2024 GMC/BCC Camp Caravan: Night scrimmage features Carteret at Rahway

Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden finished off a double-dip of coverage Monday, catching Carteret and Rahway’s get together at Rahway River Park.

You can find videos – including video highlights and interviews – from both teams below

Rahway: Head Coach Brian Russo; seniors Malachi Lowe (DE/RT), Donae Fish (G/DT), and Kevin Taylor (DE/OT); and junior Andrew Avent (RB/LB)

Carteret: Head Coach Kevin Freeman and seniors Ja’Kir Thomas (RB/FS), Eric Thompson (QB/DB), Jacob Bess (G/DE) and Yari Miranda (C/DT)

You can now watch all the 2024 Camp Caravan videos on YouTube by clicking this link!

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan took No. 1 ranking early in season all the way to the finish line; Panthers are 2024 CJSR Team of the Year

Very early in the season, after two weeks of play, Bridgewater-Raritan jumped into the No. 1 spot in the Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball Top Ten. And they never looked back.

En route, the Panthers won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division title, the Somerset County Tournament, the North 2, Group 4 championship, and – this past Saturday night – won the program’s first-ever state title, beating Eastern 6-4 in the Group 4 championship game down in Hamilton.

It was a fitting way to cap 2024, a dominant season by the Panthers, in which they went 30-3, setting a new program record for wins.

READ MORE: Newill said this year’s Panthers would be even better, and they proved it with state title

Bridgewater-Raritan is the Central Jersey Sports Radio 2024 Team of the Year. We’ll have a full story with them later this week, and we’ll also announce our Player of the Year.

For now, scroll through to read more about the season’s final rankings. The complete Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten is at the bottom of this article.

Finishing second is Old Bridge. The Knights went 20-9, eliminated from the state tournament by GMC Red Division foe Monroe in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, but they won their second GMC Tournament title in five seasons with a 6-5 victory over South Plainfield in the finals.

South Plainfield finishes in third at 22-6-1, not only a GMC Tournament finalist, but they also reached the North 2, Group 3 finals, falling 8-3 to Randolph.

Ridge (21-9) checks in at No. 4. The Red Devils made the Somerset County Tournament finals for a fourth straight season, but fell to Bridgewater-Raritan in the title game.

Colonia (19-7) didn’t win the White Division or a tournament title, but came on strong late in the year, winning 14 of 16 heading into the state tournament, where they fell in the semifinals of North 2, Group 3 to South Plainfield.

Immaculata is at No. 6, finishing 17-9. The Spartans won the Skyland Conference Raritan Division title.

Monroe is at No. 7, finishing 16-10. The Falcons finished third in the GMC Red Division, but beat three area teams – East Brunswick, South Brunswick and Old Bridge – to get to the Central Jersey Group 4 final, where they eventually fell 5-1 at Jackson Memorial.

Woodbridge re-enters the rankings in the final analysis, finishing 17-10 and winning the GMC White Division.

Carteret (18-7) finishes in the nine-hole. The Ramblers were the GMC Invitational Tournament champions.

And St. Thomas Aquinas (19-10) finishes in the final spot after a state tournament run that saw them beat three Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area teams – Timothy Christian, Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep – to win the Non-Public North B title. They would fall 10-0 to Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public Group B final on Friday night.

Below is the complete final Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten for the 2024 high school baseball season: