Tag: Connor Murphy

by Mike Pavlichko

Top-seed Edison plays nearly perfect game in 10-0 win over Piscataway Magnet in GMC Tournament first round

Senior pitcher Connor Murphy struck out 14 of the 17 batters he faced, and sophomore Sam Kentos drove in four runs on two triples as top-seed Edison picked up a 10-0, five-inning home win over 17th-seed Piscataway Magnet Monday afternoon in the First Round of the GMC’s Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament, heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

After Murphy (now 5-1) struck out the side 1-2-3 in the top of the first, the Eagles got on the board with five runs in the home half of the inning, then added five more for insurance, which they would never need.

That’s because the Monmouth-bound Muprhy was lights out, and against a GMC Gold Division team that had won its first 18 games of the year and came into Monday’s affair at 20-1, the first 20-win team in the Greater Middlesex Confernece this season.

But likely, the Raiders had not seen someone who throws as hard, as quickly, and with such movement as Murphy.

After a three-up, three-down first, he struck out the first two batters in the second, walked Elvis Rodriguez, then got his sixth strikeout to end the inning. He got two Ks and a groundout to short in the third. In the fourth, he struck out the first two batters before giving up an infield hit to Colton Lyerly, but got another K to end the inning. And after a leadoff walk to Rodriguez in the fifth – the only Raider not to fan against Muprhy – he got three straight strikeouts to seal the mercy-rule win.

Meanwhile, Edison did a lot of damage at the plate, all with contact.

Robert Roma led off the first with a walk, and after a fly ball out in foul territory to right by Dom Innocenti, Ray Tavarez drove in Roma with an RBI single. Connor Murphy walked, and when Darren Tirado lined what looked like maybe an extra base hit to right field, Tavarez came in to score, but Murphy got caught in a rundown.

After a couple of back-and-forths, Murphy was tagged down the third base line, while Tirado advanced to third. But the home plate umpire ruled Murphy was safe after noticing that he had been tagged by an Edison player’s glove hand, but the ball was in the other hand. That made it 3-0 Edison, and they still weren’t done.

Damian Calandra knocked in Tirado with a double, and Kentos drove in Calandra with a triple before the last two hitters struck out, ending the first with Edison up 5-0.

In the second, Edison would bat around again – and then some. Roma led with a triple, Innocenti singled to drive him in, making it 6-0. Tavarez flew out to center for the first out, and Murphy reached on a fielder’s choice, erasing Innocenti, but moving Roma to third. Calandra walked to load the bases, setting up Kentos for his second triple of the afternoon, clearing the bases to give Edison a 9-0 lead. Tyler Shuck made it 10-0 with an RBI single.

That was all Edison got, and all they would need to improve to 15-5 on the season, advancing to Wednesday’s GMC Tournament quarterfinals back home again on their red turf, where they’ll play  nine-seed Monroe, a 9-2 winner at eight-seed Colonia Monday afternoon.

Piscataway Magnet drops to 20-2 on the season, but also is still alive in the NJTAC Group 1 and 2 Tournament, while still in the running for a top-seed in the state tournament in Central Jersey Group 1, narrowly trailing Middlesex entering Monday’s action.

The win also was a big one for Edison, power-points wise. They’ll get the maximum allowed by NJSIAA rule, 48 points, and net 40 after their loss to Columbia – worth 8 points – drops off. Depending how other teams fare Monday, that could put Edison back atop Central Jersey Group 4 after they were jumped and knocked into third by Old Bridge in the past week.

Click below for postgame reaction from Edison sophomore Sam Kentos, senior Connor Murphy, and head coach Vinnie Abene, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Edison’s Connor Murphy earns redemption with no-hitter, striking out 13, in 4-0 GMC Red Division win over St. Joseph

The last time Connor Muprhy threw a pitch against St. Joseph-Metuchen, J.P. Zayle sent it over the left field fence for a grand slam to walk off with the GMC Tournament Championship.

On Tuesday, he got some measure of revenge, with a complete-game, 13-strikeout no-hitter, in a 4-0 win for his 4th-ranked Eagles over the Falcons.

In a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, Murphy was simply masterful, mixing his fastball, change and breaking ball to keep St. Joe’s off balance. He allowed just four baserunners the entire afternoon – three on walks, one on a fielder’s choice – with two of them caught stealing by catcher Damian Calandra, the second of which erased Davis Labno to end the game.

Edison catcher Damian Calandra lets out a yell after throwing out St. Joseph’s Davis Labno trying to steal second, ending the game, a no-hitter for pitcher Connor Muprhy. (Photo: Nick Hart)

It was a stellar afternoon for the senior, one of three D1 pitchers on the Edison roster; he’s going to Monmouth, while Robert Roma and Dom Innocenti will be heading to Wagner.

After a one-two-three first without a strikeout, Muprhy struck out the side in the second, got two strikeouts each in the third and fourth, struck out the side with a walk mixed in in the fifth, then added two more strikeouts in the sixth, and one in the seventh.

Ironically, it was seven years ago to the day Murphy also threw a no-hitter, when he was 10 years old playing in the Fords Clara Barton Baseball League. And, he had 13 strikeouts in that game as well.

Meanwhile, Edison – which has gotten balanced offense the first two weeks of the season – continued in that vein Tuesday to support Murphy’s stellar performance.

All four RBIs came from the top two-thirds of the lineup, while the first two runs came from the bottom third. Seven of the nine hitters in the order all figured in at least one run, either scoring or by driving them in.

The Eagles (6-1) got on the board in the third after getting just one baserunner on in the first two innings against Paul Rao, who took the loss for St. Joe’s (2-6). Isaiah Lutz led off with a walk, then went to third on a double by Damien Calandra. Leadoff hitter Darren Tirado scored him with a sac fly to center, and after Calandra went to third on a wild pitch, and a strikeout of Robert Roma, Dom Innocenti knocked him in with a single to make it 2-0.

And, after a walk to Sam Kentos, Ray Tavarez hit a ball through the wickets of second baseman Jon Boyke, allowing Innocenti to score and make it 3-0.

The Eagles added an insurance run in the sixth, when Sam Kentos singled to lead off. He went to second on passed ball, to third on a sac bunt by Ray Tavarez, who beat it out for a hit, then scored on a sac fly by DH Brayden Roma.

Click below for postgame reaction from Edison pitcher Connor Murphy and head coach Vinnie Abene with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Alec Crouthamel

Edison hangs on, defeats Franklin 4-2 in Central Jersey Group 4 to advance to first sectional semifinal since 2016

Even with a chance to put their ace on the mound, third-seeded Edison knew it was going to have a battle on its hands facing off against 11th-seeded Franklin in the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals.

A battle is what the Eagles got, but ultimately, they powered through on the backs of their veteran stars.

Edison outlasted the Warriors 4-2 in a game that started as a pitching duel, with junior Connor Murphy on the bump for the Eagles and Franklin putting Dafraily Sosa on the mound. It puts Edison in the semifinals of a state playoff section for the first time since 2016, where they lost to Hunterdon Central.

Through three and a half innings, the game remained scoreless, with Murphy working in and out of a jam in the first inning, while Sosa did not allow a hit until the end of the third.

Once the bottom of the fourth inning came around, so did the Eagles’ bats.

They got close in the third. With left fielder Sam Kentos on second base, center fielder Darren Tirado lined a hard-hit ball… right into Kentos’ back. Kentos was ruled out, and the potential scoring situation was squashed.

After another inning from Murphy where two Franklin baserunners reached with two outs without coming around to score, Edison shortstop Anthony Calantoni led off the bottom of the fourth getting plunked in the arm with the first pitch.

First baseman Robert Roma followed, and he dropped a 2-2 fastball into the left-center gap, scoring Calantoni with a double and breaking the scoreless tie. Murphy moved Roma over to third, and second baseman Ray Tavarez lined a ball over the outstretched glove of Warriors third baseman Stanley Madera to score a second run. Sosa got out of the inning with a groundout and strikeout, but not before Edison snatched the momentum with the game’s first two runs.

Franklin did not give in, however.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Warriors put four straight runners on with one out, with two hits sandwiching two walks against Murphy. Shortstop Mike Schiermeyer provided the first run with a bases-loaded ground ball into the outfield for an RBI single, and two batters later Madera beat out a potential double-play ball that would have ended the inning to tie the game.

Even with the game tied, Franklin missed an opportunity. With runners on the corners and two outs, Murphy dialed up the heat and struck out catcher Jacob Gordon swinging to end the inning with the game tied.

Sosa retired the side in the ensuing bottom half of the fifth inning, keeping the momentum in Franklin’s favor.

That would not last long, however, as third baseman Dom Innocenti relieved Murphy in the top of the sixth and threw a 1-2-3 inning of his own with two strikeouts.

In the bottom half, Edison took its chance.

Calantoni singled to lead off the inning, but an errant pickoff attempt from Sosa went all the way to the fence, advancing Calantoni to third base. Roma once again came through, launching a fastball to the wall in left-center field once again. While it did not leave the park, coming just three feet shy of doing so, it was deep enough for Calantoni to score the go-ahead run on Roma’s sacrifice fly.

Edison added another run later in the sixth as Murphy walked, prompting a pitching change with Sosa at his pitch count limit. Left fielder Shayne Rooney relieved him, but Innocenti singled and brought Murphy all the way home from first after a misplay in the outfield. Innocenti was thrown out at third base, but the damage was done.

In the seventh, Innocenti allowed a leadoff single by Rooney. Centerfielder Izaiah Robinson flew out to right with the lineup card flipping over. With one out and second baseman Shaylen Patel up, Rooney was caught stealing at second, and two pitches later Patel grounded out to short to end the game and send the Eagles to the sectional semifinals.

While Murphy did not earn the win – that went to Innocenti in two shutout innings – he had a solid outing, throwing five innings with two earned runs, five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Sosa recorded the loss despite a solid outing of his own, going 5.1 innings and allowing four runs, with three hits, three walks, and two strikeouts.

Edison advances to the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals next Tuesday at second-seeded Old Bridge, which defeated Manalapan 1-0 on Thursday.

Click below for postgame reaction from Edison pitcher Connor Murphy, first baseman Robert Roma, shortstop Anthony Calantoni, and head coach Vinnie Abene, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Murphy, Roma, and Calantoni
Head coach Vinnie Abene