Tag: Edison

by Mike Pavlichko

Another rout for North Brunswick, as Raiders reach GMCT semifinals in dominating fashion

BY ALEC CROUTHAMEL — After a dormant first few innings of their Greater Middlesex Conference quarterfinal game against Edison, the floodgates opened for North Brunswick.

An eight-run fourth put the game out of reach quickly, and the Raiders came out with an 11-0 win in five innings on their home field at North Brunswick Community Park, to put them in the GMCT semis for the third straight year.

Saturday at 2:30 pm, the top-seeded Raiders will face fourth-seed Monroe – which they swept two games in the regular season – at East Brunswick Magnet School’s Ray Cipperly Field, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Auto Lounge of Edison.

North Brunswick managed only two hits after three innings, but put up eight runs in the fourth in a variety of ways, including bunts, walks, hit-by-pitches, and even an error. They batted around in the inning, taking the pressure off of their pitching in a hurry.

Kyle Anderson threw all five innings for North Brunswick in shutout fashion, allowing only three hits and striking out two without an extra-base hit. He was also backed by some great defense, with a number of highlight-reel plays to prevent any damage on the scoreboard.

Edison’s Paul di Pasquale lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing the first two runs of the game before being taken out. Robert Roma pitched the remainder of the game for the Eagles, allowing 8 runs the rest of the way. Roma also provided a hit from the plate.

Rutgers-bound North Brunswick star Zack Konstantinovsky also contributed in many ways from the plate, with two hits, a sacrifice fly RBI, and even reaching on a hit-by-pitch to his right arm. Konstantinovsky will get the ball in Saturday’s semifinal matchup against Monroe, and the ace is eager to get on the mound. 

North Brunswick (13-5) has dominated their first two games of the GMC Tournament, outscoring South River and Edison (12-8) by a combined 36-0 in just ten innings en route to the semis.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

North Brunswick starting pitcher Kyle Anderson
North Brunswick second baseman Zach Konstantinovsky
North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins
by Mike Pavlichko

GMCT Quarterfinals are set, as top four seeds advance, while South Brunswick, Spotswood and Edison score upsets

There was a mix of chalk and some upsets in the second round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Monday, as the top four seeds – North Brunswick, Old Bridge, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Monroe all won, but three other lower seeds also won.

The 12 seed, South Brunswick won, as did 11th-seed Spotswood and ninth-seed Edison.

Here are the game recaps from Monday’s action.

Scroll to the bottom of this story for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round matchups, with times and field locations.

(1) North Brunswick 25, (16) South River 0 (5 innings)

In the most lopsided game of the day, the Raiders scored early and often in the win, plating six runs in the first, eight in the second, and eleven in the third. North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins emptied the bench, getting 16 different hitters in the game. Chris Rosario was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Justin Batts – struggling at the plate since returning after a mandatory 30-day sit out after transferring from Bergen Catholic – broke out with a 2-for-3 day and three runs batted in, while Yomar Carreras did the same. Fifteen players drove in runs for North Brunswick (12-5).

More importantly, it allowed ace starter Zack Konstantinovsky to breeze through a short outing, as he threw 71 pitches in four innings, allowing three hits and no runs, striking out eight. He would come back Saturday should North Brunswick reach the semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet school. South River (10-5) used five different pitchers in the loss.

The Raiders move on to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they will play 9th-seed Edison on Field One at North Brunswick’s Community Park at 7 pm.

(9) Edison 3, (8) East Brunswick 0

Of the top four teams in the GMC White Division, all of which were in action Monday, 9th-seed Edison was the only one to win. The Eagles (12-7) had lost four straight games coming into their game at 8th-seed East Brunswick, and one of those losses was to the Bears, just three days ago, mere hours after Edison learned they would play each other in their opening games of the county tournament. That was a 4-2 loss, but this was a 3-0 win for Edison.

Ace Jaxon Appelman made it through 6 2/3 innings, throwing 110 pitches in the game, not helped by six walks, but he only scattered three hits in the near-complete game shutout. Jordan Martins, Charlie Taub and Appelman each knocked in a run in the victory. The Bears fall to 7-10, and visit Spotswood in their annual Commanders’ Cup Trophy game at 4 pm.

(12) South Brunswick 5, (5) Sayreville 3

The Vikings (7-11) weren’t much better than Edison heading into the GMCT, having lost four straight before snapping the skid with a 6-3 win over Ewing out of Mercer County back on Friday. They kept the momentum going thanks to standout and High Point commit Joey Tuttoilmondo, who fanned a season-high 14 over 5 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just one run on five hits and never pitched without the lead, after the Vikings – who got a 2-for-4 night from Ryan Kessler, with a home run – scored three times in the top of the first to give Tuttoilmondo a little breathing room right from the get-go. Brian Culhane also homered and knocked in two runs. Sayreville – the GMC White Division Champ – fell to 12-6.

South Brunswick moves on to play 4th-seed Monroe in a 4 pm quarterfinal game on Field 2, a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison, as part of a doubleheader, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino calling all the action. Click here to listen live.

(4) Monroe 7, (20) Piscataway 0

Harrison Lollin continued his outstanding junior season, as the Oregon commit pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout against the Piscataway (5-13). Lollin needed just 92 pitches to dispatch of the Chiefs, striking out 13 and walking none. It was his fifth game with double-figure strikeouts this season, his second-lowest pitch count, and fourth complete game of the season. Trevor Wallace scored three of the seven runs for Monroe (9-6), the fourth-place team in the stacked GMC Red. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Falcons.

(3) St. Joseph-Metuchen 12, (19) Metuchen 2 (5 innings)

In the “Battle of the Brainy Boro,” the St. Joseph bats did all the dirty work. One of the best top-to-bottom lineups ion the league, St. Joseph (12-7)got a 3-for-4 afternoon from Josiah Brown, who knocked in three runs, while Tyler Delvecchio also had 3 RBIs on a 2-for-3 night. Both hit home runs in the game. Robbie Carvellli and Bobby Christensen had 2 RBIs each. Starter Jimmy Mulvaney went the distance in the mercy-rule shortened game, needing just 85 pitches. He struck out seven, walked two, allowed five hits, and two earned runs. Metuchen dropped to 7-9.

The Falcons now take on Spotswood at 4 pm on Field 2 at Community Park on Wednesday.

(11) Spotswood 5, (6) Woodbridge 3

In one of the other big upsets of the night, Spotswood got 6 2/3 innings out of Seton Hall-bound senior Casey Cumiskey, who went 6 1/3 and struck out six, allowing just three earned runs on five hits against another one of the toughest top-to-bottom lineups in the GMC. The Chargers (14-4) got to Eddy Nunez for four runs in the fifth that turned out to be the difference. Click here for the full game story with postgame reaction.

(7) South Plainfield 6, (10) Middlesex 4

The sixth-place team in the brutal GMC Red Division makes it six division teams among the eight in the quarterfinals – along with Edison of the White and Spotswood of the Blue. South Plainfield (9-9) got back to the .500 mark and won its st third straight game, thanks almost singlehandedly to the bat of Jayden Alvarez, who had a 2-for-4 night with four runs batted in and a triple. Ashton Donovan also had an RBI from the Tigers, whose starter Aldo Pigna scattered four runs over six innings of work, striking out four to get the win, a big game in a big spot. Middlesex fell to 10-6 with the loss.

The Tigers move on to play second-seed Old Bridge on Field 2 at Community Park at 7 pm, in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison, as the second game of a doubleheader, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino calling all the action. Click here to listen live.

(2) Old Bridge 4, (15) Carteret 0

Old Bridge has now won three straight after losing three in a row, thanks in large part to an outstanding effort from Frank Papeo. The starter went the distance, needing just 86 pitches to get through seven innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out seven. The Knights got a run in the second, a run in the fourth, and added two more insurance runs in the sixth. The Ramblers threatened a couple of times, getting a pair of doubles in the game, and a runner on third with two outs in the third, but just couldn’t push anything across on Papeo.

GMC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

4 pm Games:
(3) St. Joseph-Metuchen vs. (11) Spotswood – Field 1
(4) Monroe vs. (12) South Brunswick – Field 2 (LIVE on CJSR)

7 pm Games:
(1) North Brunswick vs. (9) Edison – Field 1
(7) South Plainfield vs. (2) Old Bridge – Field 2 (LIVE on CJSR)

by Mike Pavlichko

There’s a new, old team atop the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week Four

The Ridge Red Devils were ranked No. 1 in the preseason Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, and lasted two weeks there until they became one of two high profile victims of Bridgewater-Raritan, whose takeover of the top spot also was aided by a big win over Hunterdon Central.

But a win by Ridge this weekend in the rematch – and the Panthers’ upset loss to Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals (Bridgewater was the top seed) – has put them back at No. 1, With a 4-0 week, Ridge is now 11-2 on the season.

Old Bridge also move sup to third, despite a 2-2 week, now 11-5 on the season, picking up wins over South Brunswick and South Plainfield; they split with the Tigers. Last Sunday, the Knights knocked off statewide No. 1 Red Bank Catholic in their Autism Awareness Challenge game.

Bridgewater-Raritan (11-3) drops to third after a 2-2 week. In addition to the loss to the Argonauts in the county tournament and Ridge in regular season play, they had wins over Immaculata in the SCT, as well as West Morris.

Teams four through eight saw no movement this week.

In fourth is Sayreville (10-3) after a 2-0 week that saw wins over Colonia and Metuchen, while North Brunswick (8-4) also went 2-0, with victories over JFK and East Brunswick.

Woodbridge (9-4) is in sixth after a 2-1 week that saw a win at South Plainfield and a home win over Rahway, as well as a loss to Edison, with the second of the home-and-home at the Eagles’ home field Monday afternoon. Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast the Barrons’ Tuesday evening home game against Perth Amboy at 7:00. Click here to listen.

Monroe (6-4) only had one game this week, a 4-3 win over South Plainfield, and remains in seventh.

Spotswood (11-2) won both its games this week, sweeping a home-and-home with arch-rival South River, 6-1 and 1-0.

New to the poll this week are Edison (11-3) and Rutgers Prep (6-7).

The Eagles had a 3-0 week, with wins over Middlesex at home, and against Piscataway and Woodbridge on the road; again, they finish their series in Edison Monday.

The Argonauts won both their games this week, both in the Somerset County Tournament. They topped Somerville 3-2 on Tuesday, then knocked off top-seed and statewide No. 5 Bridgewater-Raritan 4-3 in the semifinals on Thursday.

Dropping out were No. 9 East Brunswick (5-8) and #10 Pingry (6-5).

Below are the full Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Edison’s Abene becomes winningest coach in program history, passing legend Jim Muldowney

Considering the history of Edison baseball, an accomplishment like this one is a damn big deal.

In 20 baseball seasons as Eagles’ head coach, Vinny Abene just earned career win 276 Wednesday night with a 12-4 road win at Piscataway. It’s no round number, but it does put him one win ahead of legend Jimmy Muldowney, who held the mark for over two decades.

And that number will only continue to go up.

After stepping aside form coaching, Muldowney became the Athletic Director at Edison, and eventually hired Abene – who played scholastically at Colonia and collegiately at Rutgers – to lead the program.

Edison head coach Vinny Abene gets an Gatorade bath from Charlie Taub and Jordan Martins after earning his 276th career win Wednesday night. (Video by Artie Martins)

It was his first head coaching job, but with have a legend down the hall to bounce ideas off of, Abene put together a long string of success of his own.

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And in tight-knit Edison, he’s continued to integrate the high school Eagles into the Edison Boys’ Baseball League community, and anywhere else youth baseball touches the kids in the township.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Eagles’ head coach Vinny Abene on the night he became the all-time baseball wins leader at Edison:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: Edison 19, Barnegat 9

Edison exploded for 17 runs in the first two innings of play en route to a 19-9 home win over Barnegat as part of the 14th annual Autism Awareness Challenge. Starting pitcher Robert Roma helped his cause at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single and a double and four RBIs in the first inning alone.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko call all the action from Edison High School on Sunday, April 23rd, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

Edison bats explode against Barnegat to notch 19-9 win in 5 innings at Autism Awareness Classic

With none of Sunday’s games at the Autism Awareness Classic playable at North Brunswick’s Community Park playable due to field conditions after heavy rain overnight, only half the games on the schedule wound up being played, all at alternative locations.

That sent Edison back home to play Barnegat on their red turf at the originally-schedule time of 1 pm, and it had absolutely zero effect on the Eagles, unless maybe they felt emboldened playing on their home field, and sitting in their own dugout.

That’s because they scored 17 runs on 13 hits in the first two innings of their game against the Bengals, ultimately leading to a 19-9 five-inning win over the visitors.

Edison freshman Robert Roma – who’d only thrown 6 2/3 innings all year, got the start Sunday, and promptly mowed down the first three batters he faced, all on strikeouts.

Then he did his real damage.

He had a two-RBI double and a two-RBI single bating in the cleanup spot, to help his team to a 10-0 lead after one inning of play, driving in nearly half those runs, with 4 RBIs.

In the second – when Edison slapped on another seven runs – he scored one of them after getting aboard with a walk.

All that action on offense for Roma may have taken him out of his rhythm a little bit. He allowed a two-out double in the second, then got a strikeout to end the inning.

But in the third, he gave up a two-out, two-RBI double to DH Matt Hwang, then allowed a grand slam in-the-park homer in the fourth on a fly ball to right that went over backup outfielder Ryan Berner’s head after he initially broke in, then stumbled and fell going back for it.

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Barnegat got two in the third, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth to cut it to a nine-run lead to temporarily avoid the mercy-rule ending.

But Edison walked it off in the bottom of the inning, when Darren Tirado walked, Connor Murphy reached on an infield hit, and Noel Pichoco hit a shallow fly ball that should have been caught but appeared to be completely missed by Julian Marfino to drive in the 19th run that gave the Eagles a ten-run lead, and ended the game.

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Jaxon Appelman hit a two-run home in the second inning, his second of the year, while Jordan Martins hit a bases-clearing, three- RBI triple in his second at bat of the first inning.

Roma didn’t pitch long enough – just 3 1/3 – to get the win, as Edison emptied its bench and brought in seven new position players, only keeping third-baseman Dom Innocenti in the game, moving him to short.

The win puts Edison at 8-3 on the year, surpassing last year’s win total in a 7-17-1 season.

Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

Click below for postgame reaction brought to you by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

Edison freshman pitcher Robert Roma
Edison head coach Vinny Abene
by Mike Pavlichko

Barnegat coach McCoy has special tie that brought him to Autism Awareness Challenge

When Mike Garlatti asked Barnegat head coach Dan McCoy about a decade ago if he’d bring his team all the way up from the Jersey Shore to play in the Autism Awareness Challenge, he “couldn’t say yes fast enough.”

At the time, a friend’s son, who went to school with his own son, had just been diagnosed with autism, and McCoy says he knew this would be a special and important event.

But the connection goes back deeper than that.

McCoy still calls Garlatti “Coach Mike.” That’s because he played for him in the 1990s when Garlatti – now a Colorado Rockies scout – was an assistant at Rutgers under the late Fred Hill.

So, really, the decision to hop on a bus and drive almost an hour-and-a-half up the Parkway and Route 18 was an easy one.

As for his team, they’re very young, and taking some lumps this year. The Bengals are 2-7, and just picked up their second win of the season Saturday afternoon, a 9-4 road victory at Middle Township.

Barnegat lost a lot to graduation from last year’s 12-14 team. McCoy has four freshmen in the starting lineup, but isn’t worried. They’re essentially baseball bodies, who have baseball minds he says will catch up in time.

Sunday, they play an Edison team that’s much improved over a season ago, 7-3 on the year, with a 1-0 win over JFK Friday matching their win total from a year ago when they were 7-17-1.

You can hear Sunday’s game against Barnegat at 1 pm, with pregame at 12:45, as part of a doubleheader in the Autism Awareness Challenge. Our first game will feature South River taking on Bernards at 10 am, with pregame at 9:45 am. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call the action; click here to listen.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Barnegat head coach Dan McCoy:

by Mike Pavlichko

diPasquale’s complete game shutout helps Edison nip JFK, 1-0 in GMC crossover

Both pitchers were pretty much humming along until the fifth inning.

That’s when Edison small-balled its way to the only run of the ballgame, to get past visiting JFK Friday afternoon, 1-0, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

That turned out to be all the Eagles would need, as senior Paul diPasquale threw seven strong innings – and got out of some late-inning jams to pick up his third win of the season.

Edison (7-2) left five runners on base through the first four innings, but finally cashed in during the bottom of the fifth.

Declan DiCarlo, pinch-hitting for centerfielder Matt Yasko, reached with a leadoff infield hit too deep for Justin Rodriguez – who fielded the ball near the second base bag – to make a throw. Yascko re-entered to run the bases, after after Jaxon Appelman popped out to second, Jordan Martins got aboard with another infield hit, this time to short, again fielded cleanly, but too deep for shortstop Jeremy Ricourt to make a throw.

After Charlie Taub struck out, Paul DiCarlo – the Eagles’ leading hitter at .478 heading into the day, but oh-for-2 coming into the at bat – drove in Yascko with an RBI single.

Yascko was stranded when Anthony Calantoni struck out to end the inning, but again, it was all they would need.

Through the first five innings, diPasquali fanned seven, and had allowed only two baserunners, on a hit and a walk.

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He allowed a leadoff double to Grant Lorentzen for JFK (5-4) in the sixth, got Ricourt to fly out, then walked Gabriel Perez to put runners at first and second. But he got Lerentzen erased on a force out fielders’ choice on a ball hit to third, and the defense bailed him out.

Donovan Claiborne hit a laser up the middle into centerfield. Yascko fielded it and threw a strike to the cutoff man, first baseman Jackson Ferrer, who fired his own strike to the plate where catcher Charlie Taub applied the tag in plenty of time to nail Perez trying to score from second, ending the inning.

https://www.edisonboysbaseball.com/

There would be one more jam in the seventh, as diPasquale stayed in the game to try and nail it down. He gave up a leadoff walk to Justin Rodriguez, but struck out Kevin Portorreal. A single by Braden Mellage led to a sac bunt by Marcus Bullock that advanced Rodriguez to third, but left Matt Cook – a courtesy runner for Mellage – at first.

But with two out and runners on the corners, diPasquale got Lorentzen to fly out to center to end the game.

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Click below for postgame reaction brought to you by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

Edison senior pitcher Paul diPasquale
Edison head coach Vinny Abene
by Mike Pavlichko

JFK takes four-game win streak into Friday clash with Edison

The first four games didn’t produce the results the JFK baseball team wanted.

The next four did.

After starting 2023 with two straight losses, and a 1-3 record in their first four games, the Mustangs have won four straight.

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And while three of those wins came over teams below them in the GMC Blue Division standings, the resume also includes a 12-2 win over Sayreville, the first place team up in the White Division. That could help as a “quality” win, a win against a team “on the board,” when it comes time to seed the GMC Tournament.

Kennedy is led at the plate by senior Jeremy Ricourt, who’s tearing the cover off the ball with a .586 batting average and 14 runs batted in, while junior RJ Coleman is hitting .455 and has just a 0.47 ERA on the mound in 15 innings pitched spanning three appearances. His only earned run allowed came in a 4-3 loss at JP Stevens on opening day.

But now JFK puts its streak on the line against another team from a higher division, Edison – also out of the GMC White.

Head coach Tim Ballard has not shied away from playing tough opponents over the years. And they’ve even come up with some tournament upsets.

Two seasons ago, as the 16-seed in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, they knocked off top-seed Monroe in the opening round. Then, last year, they pulled off a similar upset in the states. As the 15th-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, they knocked out second-seed Brick Memorial on the road.

https://www.edisonboysbaseball.com/

You can hear Friday’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, starting with pregame at 3:45, and first pitch between Edison and JFK at 4:00. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action; click here to listen

Click below to hear JFK head coach Tim Ballard talk about the Mustangs’ season and the matchup with Edison:

by Mike Pavlichko

Edison’s improvement at the plate has helped elevate Eagles’ play overall

Nine games into the 2022 season, the Edison baseball team was 4-5, and by the time it was all over, the record was 7-17-1, with a team batting average of .209.

Fast forward a year, and the Eagles are 6-3, and hitting 153 points higher, at .362.

Granted, they saw some really good pitching in the Red Division last year, but a number of players are tearing the cover off the ball this year.

After a slow start, catcher Charlie Taub is hitting .417, shortstop Jordan Martins is hitting .379, and first baseman Jackson Ferrer is at .478 with a team-leading eleven RBIs.

The common thread? They’re all seniors.

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Not to mention, the Eagles are getting good pitching, too. Senior Jaxon Appelman – who is also hitting .414 with ten RBIs – is 1-2 in three starts, having not allowed a run in two of them, in five innings of a 23-0 win over Perth Amboy and a complete game 2-0 shutout at JP Stevens back on Tuesday.

All that points to a solid season for the Eagles, who despite having lost 7-1 at Middlesex Thursday afternoon, come into a Friday afternoon affair with JFK our of the Blue Division having won three of their last four.

https://www.edisonboysbaseball.com/

You can hear Friday’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, starting with pregame at 3:45, and first pitch against the Mustangs at 4:00. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action; click here to listen

Click below to hear Edison head coach Vinny Abene talk about the season so far and the matchup with JFK: