Tag: CJ Mooney

by Mike Pavlichko

Tributes continue to come in for Edison legend as Mooney and Brownlie remember Muldowney

While the passing of the man they called “Diamond Jim” – legendary former Edison baseball coach Jim Muldowney – has touched the entire community, his influence was far and wide across the state, especially in Middlesex County.

The man simply touched so many lives, whether it was as a coach or a friend, or – in many cases – both.

When baseball was done, he wasn’t done with you. Sometimes it would just be a call to see how the family was doing, or an invite to come watch a game with him, as he was fond of doing whether or not he had a vested interest.

We talked with two more people from the area on whom Muldowney had a huge influence.

CJ Mooney is the current baseball coach at Middlesex College. Muldowney led that program before becoming the head coach at Edison, where he went 275-75 in 13 seasons, winning ten GMC Tournament titles and a pair of state Group 4 crowns, finishing as the No. 4 team in the nation according to USA Today in 1993. Almost two decades later, in 2019, he was hired to resurrect the Colts’ softball program, and he and Mooney shared much more than just an office together.

Jim Muldowney was the head softball coach at Middlesex College, resurrecting the program after being hired in 2019. (Source: Middlesex College Athletics)

The two also have one other connection. They were both part of the only two GMC teams to complete a single-season “trifecta”: winning their division, the county title, and a state group title in the same year. Muldowney’s Eagles did it in 1993, and Spotswood did it in 2007. Mooney played on that Charger team.

Click below to hear CJ Mooney talk about the legacy of Jim Mudowney:

We also talked with an Edison legend in his own right, Bobby Brownlie, who had a stellar, dominating career as a pitcher for the Eagles, then went on to star at Rutgers. Brownlie, who now resides in Monroe, works with minor leaguers in client development for Scott Boras, and shared his recollections while on the road in Bowie, Maryland, on Wednesday.

Brownlie said he always wanted to be a catcher, but Muldowney threw him into the fire as a sophomore, and never looked back.

Click below to hear Bobby Brownlie talk about his relationship with Jim Muldowney:

by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex College earns 4th seed in Region XIX playoffs, opens Saturday vs Cumberland

On the strength of its third straight season with 30-plus wins, the Middlesex College baseball team has been awarded the fourth-seed and an opening round home playoff series with Cumberland, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Edison.

The Colts went 33-20 this year, closing out the season with a three-game sweep of Union College, the first of which was a 21-6 win in their home finale last Friday.

The opening round series is a best-of-three, with a doubleheader set for noon Saturday on the Middlesex College campus. A third game, if necessary, against Cumberland (23-16) would be Sunday at noon.

The winner goes on to a double-elimination four-team playoff at Gloucester, beginning May 17th.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko discuss the season and upcoming playoffs with Middlesex College head coach CJ Mooney:

by Mike Pavlichko

Middlesex College pounds Union in regular season home finale, taking series opener 21-6

As it turns out, the Middlesex Colts baseball team got all the runs it needed in the first inning.

On “Sophomore Day,” Middlesex sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring nine runs – eight of which were unearned – en route to a 21-6 win over Union College to open their three-game regular season-ending series Friday afternoon in Edison.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – presented by Edison Pizza & Restaurant – Middlesex pounded out 17 hits and was the beneficiary of a dozen walks issued by seven different Union pitchers in a seven-inning ten-run rule shortened affair.

Angel Deaza – the Edison Pizza & Restaurant Player of the Game – hit a solo home run to get the scoring started with one out in the first. He walked later in the inning, scoring twice, and was also hit by a pitch in the second inning, in his third at bat. He finished the day 1-for-2.

After the home run, Mike Wansaw flied to center, and Middlesex started to do its damage. Rob Gonzalez walked, Conor Drury singled, and Nate Friedman reached on an error, which should have been the third out. Sal Della Fave drove in two with a double to make it 3-0, and Matt Troche walked to load the bases. Hunter Almeida walked in a run to make it 4-0. Dylan Lugo scored two with a double to make it 6-0, and Wansaw and Gonzalez each drove in runs with singles, while Almeida scored on a wild pitch, and the Colts had a 9-0 lead after one.

Middlesex chased Owls starter Chris Lamond after just 2/3 of an inning.

Union tried to make it a game, scoring three runs in the third, on back-to-back RBI doubles by Xavier Nieves and Jeremy Batista, while Greg Ayube hit a sac fly to right to make it 9-3.

But the Colts answered by scoring six more runs in the bottom of the inning, sending 11 hitters to the plate in the frame. Lugo had a single to knock in his third run of the game, and a two-RBI single by Friedman were among the highlights.

Middlesex also added two in the third to make it 17-3 before Union got a three-run home run from Monroe grad Steve Pascucci to make it 17-6, but Middlesex added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Troche, two more in the fifth and one more in the sixth.

Starter Josh Horowitz went four innings, allowing seven hits and six earned runs on a day where it was hard to find a rhythm, sitting in the dugout for after the first two innings while 25 total Colt batters made their way to the plate. He walked three and struck out seven to get the win, and improve to 2-2.

Ryan Rzepinski pitched two shutout innings in relief, while Michael Calabrese and Pablo Baloco combined to close out the seventh and end the ballgame, holding Union scoreless over the final three innings.

It was the fifth time this season Middlesex scored 20 or more runs in a game. They scored 21 against Monroe College (Bronx) on March 16th. Their season high came on April 18th, in a 27-0 win at Delaware County Community College that went six innings as part of a doubleheader.

The win could help Middlesex grab a home game in the Region XIX playoffs, with matchups to be announced next Wednesday. The Colts are now 31-20, reaching the 30-win mark in each of the last three seasons under veteran skipper and Spotswood alum CJ Mooney.

Click below for postgame reaction from Friday’s DH Angel Deaza and head coach CJ Mooney:

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio adds Middlesex College games in 2024, thanks to sponsorship with Colts’ favorite, Edison Pizza & Restaurant

Central Jersey Sports Radio is expanding its Spring sports coverage this year to include college baseball for the very first time! We’ll be broadcasting three Middlesex College baseball games on two dates this in the coming weeks, thanks to a sponsorship from Edison Pizza & Restaurant on Woodbridge Avenue.

The Middlesex Colts feature nearly two dozen former Greater Middlesex Conference players, many of whom have appeared on CJSR since its first season broadcasting high school baseball in 2021. That includes players like Brett Lukachyk, Josh Vazquez and Matthew Troche from Woodbridge; Sal Della Fave, Ryan Tomasula and Paul DiPasquale of Edison; Michael Canavesio and Jakob Anderson of Middlesex; and JT Kroner of Colonia.

Middlesex head coach C.J. Mooney is a Spotswood alum, and was recently inducted into the Chargers’ Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 2007 team, the best in school history. That team was just the second – and remains the most recent – GMC school to win a conference title and state championship in the same season. (Edison did it first, in 1993.)

Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast a doubleheader against Bergen Community College (Bergen County, NJ) on Saturday, April 20th, a pair of seven-inning home games with first pitch for Game One scheduled for noon, and Game Two set for 3 pm. CJSR also will carry a single game on Friday, May 3 when Union College (Union County, NJ) visits Edison for a 3:30 pm first pitch.

The games are made possible by a sponsorship from Edison Pizza, located in the Edison Shopping Center at 2303 Woodbridge Avenue in Edison. The restaurant – founded in 1967 – is a big favorite with the team for postgame meals.

Edison Restaurant & Pizza is offering a special for our readers and listeners!
Simply mention “Central Jersey Sports Radio” and get ten percent off your order now through May 31, 2024!

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk about Middlesex College Baseball with head coach – and former Spotswood standout – C.J. Mooney:

The Middlesex Colts compete in the Garden State Athletic Conference, and in Division III of the National Junior College Athletic Association – the NJCAA – in Region XIX. In their region are New Jersey schools like Brookdale, Bergen, Camden and Ocean.