Senior QB Matt McKeever threw for 115 yards and a touchdown while senior runningback Gavin Schnall ran for 103 yards and a score to help Summit beat Edison, 20-0, in a Big Central Conference crossover game. Jackson Marx matched a season-high with a 37-yard field goal, going two-for-two with another 30-yarder as well.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas call all the play-by-play live from Investors Bank Stadium at Tatlock Field in Summit, NJ, on September 24, 2026:
On the field before Thursday night’s home game against Edison, Summit head coach Kevin Kostibos was asked about his defense, which has bee giving up just over 19 points a game through the first four this year.
His response was that they’ve played well, but big plays had been the difference.
Well, they didn’t give up many against the Eagles, and the ones they did didn’t matter, as they shutout Edison 20-0 at Tatlock Field in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, and heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
In fact, they held Edison to turnovers on downs on the Eagles’ first two possessions, the first of which stopped then on the Hilltopper 15 yard line.
Offensively, Summit did enough to win against an Edison defense that was, in the main, up to the task – if only they could have put some points on the board.
Gavin Schnall rushed 17 times for 100 yard and a six-yard score in the fourth quarter. QB Matt McKeever threw for 115 and a 33-yard touchdown to Will Heil in the first quarter. And Jackson Mark went 2-for-2 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goals, matching his season high of 37 yards late in the third.
Summit moves to 3-2 with the win ahead of a trip to Watchung Hills next week. Edison drops to 1-4 but has the first of three home games coming up next week as East Brunswick rolls into town.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with Summit QB Matt McKeever, RB Gavin Schnall, head coach Kevin Kostibos and Athletic Director Allison Flockhar, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Governor Livingston 28, Lyndhurst 20
Junior runningback Elijah Garcia ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as the Highlanders one back-to-back games for the first time this season, taking a road win at Lyndhurst in Bergen County.
Sophomore QB Colin Hughes also threw a pair of touchdown passes in the win, which gets the Highlanders to 3-2 on the year, heading into a Saturday home game next week against Johnson, the first of three straight home games the next few weeks for Governor Livingston.
It’s been an up-and-down four weeks for Summit football.
After starting the season in style by scoring the first 23 points in a win over Colonia, the Hilltoppers have traded wins and losses over the next three weeks to get to 2-2 on the season. Summit suffered another setback last week, as the Hilltoppers fell to Cranford 29-0 last Friday night.
Summit has another chance to bounce back when they host Edison on Thursday night in one of two Big Central Games of the Week here in Week Four, which you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call. Kickoff is at 6:30, pregame at 6:15. Click here to listen.
Offensively, the Hilltoppers have leaned heavily on the duo of quarterback Matt McKeever and running back Gavin Schnall, who have combined for 679 yards of offense on the ground – 72 percent of Summit’s total offensive yardage – through the first four games of the year.
While Summit is primarily a run-oriented offense, McKeever has had no shortage of targets when he’s dropped back to pass. Six different Hilltopper receivers have pitched in, led by Lucas Kubeck with three catches for 52 yards.
Summit also boasts a veteran-heavy defense, led by McKeever at middle linebacker with a team-high 49 tackles. On the defensive line, Max Zucker made the move from the secondary before the season and has quickly made his presence felt with 21 tackles and two sacks. Jackson Marx leads the Hilltoppers’ secondary with 30 tackles and three tackles-for loss, with JT Zobel making 20 tackles, three tackles-for-loss and a team-high two interceptions.
Summit now has a chance to get back over .500 against an Edison team that is coming off of its first win of the season against North Brunswick last week.
Click here to listen to Summit head coach Kevin Kostibos talk about the matchup against Edison with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
After three tough losses to open the season, Edison got its 22026 campaign headed in the right direction in Game Four on Week Three. (We know, it doesn’t make any sense. Just roll with it.)
That’s when they exploded for 34 points – after scoring just 14 in their first three games – in a ten-point win over North Brunswick, with senior Shaun Garland having himself a day.
Their biggest standout, the senior scored four times on runs of one, seven and 18 yards, while also picking off a second quarter pass and taking it 33 yards to the house.
They’ll need a mirror image of that effort, and maybe more, when the Eagles (1-3) travel to Summit for a rare Thursday night game at Investors Bank Stadium at Tatlock Field up in Union County.
It’s our Thursday night Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with kickoff slated for 6:30 pm. Pregame starts at 6:15 with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call; click here to listen.
The first three games weren’t exactly pretty for Edison – a 35-0 loss to Union, 14-8 loss at Woodbridge, and a 41-6 loss two weeks ago at Sayreville, their only road game so far. But they certainly have some pieces.
Beyond Garland, who’s actually the team’s second-leading rusher, though he has a team best four touchdowns, there’s senior Michael Florentino with 245 yards on 53 carries, both team bests. The Eagles won’t throw the ball much, as senor Ryan Toth – who transferred in from Metuchen before the 2025 season – has only attempted 41 passes on the year; the team has yet to record a receiving touchdown.
Among their most active on defense are two seniors: defensive back Maki Williams (23 tackles, 14 solo, 1 sack, 2 TFLs) and linebacker Logan Ulozas (a team-high 29 tackles). And, of course, there’s Garland, who plays up front, and had a big pick-six against the Raiders in last week’s win.
It’s only the second-ever meeting between Edison and Summit. Their first came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, with the Eagles taking a 20-17 win on Mischief Night.
Click below to hear Edison head coach Matt Yascko talk about the Eagles’ season so far and Thursday night’s matchup at Summit with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
Despite a 2-8 season in 2025, the fortunes of the Edison football team could have been very different.
In their first three games alone, they trailed Piscataway by three in the fourth quarter before losing 31-14, they were down 7-6 after one and 14-6 at halftime before falling to Old Bridge 28-6, and led Sayreville at halftime before the Bombers exploded for a 46-14 win.
And they lost a home game to Franklin, 33-28, in a game that came right down to the final play.
Sometimes, you have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win. That means avoiding mistakes, and finishing games, will be paramount in 2026.
Head coach Matt Yascko knows he has some talent. Shaun Garland returns for his senior season, a right end who ran for 555 yards and seven scores, while catching 19 passes for 156 yards and two more scores. There should be competition for the starting QB job, and there are some other up-and-comers.
Which brings us to the next of Yascko’s priorities: creating depth.
The schedule isn’t easy, opening at home in Week Zero against a Union team that at least one other Big Central coach has said will be much-improved defensively in the Farmer’s second season under Barris Grant. Woodbridge, Sayreville, and St. Thomas Aquinas also are on the list, along with 2025 sectional finalist Summit in late September.
Click below to learn more about the Edison Eagles in 2026 from head coach Matt Yascko, senior tight end/defensive end Shaun Garland, and senior guard Gavin Boslet with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko at Big Central Conference Media Day:
The National Silver may no longer feature the team with the longest Big Central win streak – a distinction that now belongs to Bernards – but St. Thomas Aquinas should be right up there with Sayreville in challenging for the division title in 2026.
The Bombers showed big improvement in Year Two under alum Mark Poore, who went from 4-6 to 9-2 in 2025, falling by one to Old Bridge in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals. But the Trojans also should be improved with more continuity under second-year head coach Shamir Bearfield. Franklin has boosted its coaching staff and should present a real challenge in the division, while Edison and North Brunswick are looking for bounceback years.
Here are the preliminary schedules for the National Silver Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.
Sayreville Bombers (9-2, 4-0, National Sliver Division Champions)
Head Coach: Mark Poore, 3rd season (13-8)
Like Old Bridge – which the Bombers lost to in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals last season – Sayreville had just one regular season loss, and that came 43-15 to Montgomery after a 7-0 start. But they will have much to replace this season, including senior runningback Shaun Jackson, who finished his career just 23 yards shy of a two-thousand yard rushing campaign in 2025. Poore will look to rising junior Sherwin Appiah (401 yards, 8 TDs) and rising sophomore Dion Osae (534 yards, 3 TD) to fill the gap for a squad that carried it to the tune of 3,335 yards and 40 scores on the ground last season. And tough standouts like DL Julian Perez (5 1/3 sacks, 1 FR) and Adrian Ciesla (3 1/2 sacks) there are some young-uns who contributed last year on defense expected to be back, like risking juniors Kellan Bowers, Grady Walsh and Christian Woodard, each of whom recorded two sacks last season, with Woodard also recovering two fumbles.
St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans (5-6, 3-1, 2nd place National Silver)
Head Coach: Shamir Bearfield, 2nd season (5-6)
Shamir Bearfield didn’t get hired until May after a period of turmoil for the Trojan program where Tarig Holman was not retained, and STA’s initial hire changed his mind. So last year’s 5-6 record comes with a little bit of an asterisk. But there’s no doubt Aquinas has the talent to compete again the way they did when they won 32 Big Central Conference games in a row, starting with the late Brian Meeney as head coach with the last win of the COVID season in 20210. Just start with quarterback Zymere Weaver, a sophomore who threw for 2,236 yards and 24 TDs – with just three picks – last year. But while he hit five difference receivers for over 300 yards apiece last year, only one – junior Tristan Bester (338 yards, 4 TDs) will be back, the rest having graduated. The defense returns a ton, including five of the eight players who logged sacks and all four players who totalled five interceptions as a group last year, though the loss of top tackler and linebacker Anwar Witherspoon will be tough to replace with just one person.
Franklin Warriors (4-6, 1-3, 3rd place National Silver)
Head Coach: Blair Wilson, 5th season (11-28)
It’s a challenging schedule for the Warriors, who opened last year 3-0, but only won one of their final seven games. Wilson has beefed up the coaching staff, bringing on two former head coaches: Derrick Eatman from North Plainfield, and Ibrahim Halsey from South Brunswick, who will coach against his former Vikings in Week Seven. The talent is there to make the push, too, with sophomore QB Jah’naad Cady throwing for 1,040 yards and 13 TDs last year. And on the ground, only one runningback last year – who had two carries – graduates from a group that ran for 1,420 yards last season. He’ll have plenty of targets to throw to as well. A host of solid defensive players should be back, too; freshman Jaden Dublin impressed last year with three sacks and four TFLs, along with a fumble and an INT, while top tackler Maurice Langford registered 62 (23 solo) along with a sack and a fumble recovery.
Edison Eagles (2-8, 1-3, 4th place National Silver)
Head Coach: Matt Yascko, 4th season (10-20)
The Eagles were in a lot of games last year, but just couldn’t get over the hump, or close them out, including a dramatic 33-28 home loss to Franklin where the Warriors scored at the final horn, and two late-season losses right before the cutoff, by one at South Brunswick and two at Paterson Eastside. Flip a few of those this year, and it’s a different season for Edison, whose schedule is manageable. Top rusher Shaun Garland, who had 555 yards and seven TDs (and can also catch the ball) is back for a team that rushed for over 1,700 yards as a group, and has four starters back up front. Garland should also be a big factor defensively, after racking up four sacks, eight TFLs and a forced fumble last season. Other, younger players, however, will have to step up into key roles.
North Brunswick (0-9, 0-4, 5th place National Gold)
Head Coach: Mike Cipot, 10th season (58-32)
After a 4-6 season that was a downturn for North Brunswick after six straight seasons of seven or more wins, The Raiders went winless last season. But that’s where the program came from when head coach Mike Cipot resurrected it nearly a decade ago, so he’ll be looking to do that again; such is they cyclical nature of high school sports. But he’ll have to find a new quarterback after his nephew, Zach, threw for over a thousand yards last year. The top three receivers – junior Sal Fama-Linn (625 yards, 2 TD), sophomore Kaji Brown (286 yards, 1 TD) and junior Jayvon Dozier (176 yards, 2 TD) should all return for whoever is throwing it to them; sophomore Jasiah Hogans had the most QB experience behind Cipot last year, going 19-of-32 for 234 yards. Brown also had two forced fumbles at defensive back, and linebacker Alie Sakoh (1 fumble recovery, 1 INT) should be among key returnees.
When Jaxon Appelman puts on his baseball jersey again, it will have a familiar color.
The Edison alum who graduated in 2024 after a four-year varsity career – with 296 strikeouts and a career ERA of 1.95 – spent the last two years at Coastal Carolina, but this spring entered the NCAA transfer portal, and now has found a new home.
He’s committed to play for Rutgers baseball.
Appelman saw limited action for the Chanticleers his freshman year, but this spring as a sophomore, he made 17 appearances, starting four games. He ended the season 0-3 with a 6.39 ERA, but logged 39 Ks, and only allowed opposing hitters a highly-respectable .224 batting average.
And he’ll be on a staff with another former GMC standout, the dominating Zack Konstantinovsky, who played at North Brunswick, as well as former Raider and shortstop Yomar Carreras, who was on Appelman’s travel ball teams back in the day.
In the end, that and the chance to play at home around family and friends at Rutgers – the first school to offer him a scholarship when he was still with the Eagles – was too much to pass up for his final two years of eligibility.
Click below to hear Edison alum Jaxon Appelman talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about committing to Rutgers:
It’s not where you start, but where you finish.
But, to be honest, the Ridge baseball team didn’t have very far to go.
The Red Devils – the only Central Jersey Sports Radio-area team to win an NJSIAA sectional title this season – finish the year at No. 1 in the final Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball rankings, and are the Central Jersey Sports Radio Team of the Year.
The Skyland Conference Delaware Division was a beast this year. Immaculata won the division, second-place Watchung Hills won the Somerset County Tournament, and Ridge beat the Warriors to win the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title last Friday. The Red Devils’ season came to an end, however, in dramatic fashion Monday afternoon, in an 8-7 loss to Ridgewood on a walk-off, leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. They finish the year at 19-11.
Watchung Hills (18-9) – which lost two of three to Ridge this season – finishes second. In the past week, they beat second-seed Bayonne by run-rule, 10-0 in five innings, in the North 2, Group 4 semifinals before falling to Ridge Friday in the title game.
Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament champion Monroe (15-14) comes in third. The Falcons were the tournament’s nine-seed, but beat five-seed Old Bridge to win the title two Saturdays ago in their season finale, after getting knocked out of the state tournament the day before the GMC final.
In fourth is Immaculata (22-6), which was knocked out of the state tournament in the Non-Public South A semifinals by CBA, 1-0 in eight innings. The Spartans won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division at 9-1, their lone regular season division loss coming to Watchung Hills, and they lost to the Warriors in the SCT title game as well.
At five is GMC Tournament finalist Old Bridge (21-10), which won last Wednesday in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, 10-0 over Hightstown in five innings, but then lost in the title game, 14-1, at home to Hunterdon Central on Friday.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 finalist South Plainfield (17-12) finishes sixth. They got the the title game with a 4-2 semifinal win at top-seed Chatham last Wednesday, but fell Friday to Cranford in the final, 10-5.
GMC White Division champion Middlesex (22-6) comes in at seven. The Blue Jays fell in the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals last Wednesday to Shore, 2-0 at home, preventing them from having a chance to repeat as CJ1 and state Group 1 champions.
At eight is Edison (19-8). The Eagles – beset by pitching injuries later in the season – got knocked out of the stats in the first round, and the GMC Tournament in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Monroe, but won the GMC’s top division, the GMC Red, with an 11-3 mark, finishing two full games ahead of second-place Old Bridge
Checking in ninth is St. Thomas Aquinas (14-15) – ranked for the first time this season. STA reached the finals in Non-Public North B for the second time in three years with a 7-3 road win at second-seed Rutgers Prep in the semifinals. But the third-seeded Trojans lost at top-seed St. Mary-Rutherford in the title game last Friday, 11-7.
And in tenth, it’s Rutgers Prep (17-8). The Argonauts were Skyland Conference Raritan Division Co-Champions with North Hunterdon – who they split with in the regular season – finishing 8-2 in divisional play, and were knocked out of the states in the Non-Public North B semis last Wednesday by St. Thomas Aquinas, with a 7-3 loss.
Below is the complete and final Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten for the 2026 season:
It was a second week in a row of a fairly good amount of upheaval in the Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball Top Ten.
Why?
Monroe’s upset of Old Bridge in the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament championship game – coupled with the first two rounds of the NJSIAA state tournament – resulted in some changes, including one team making its first appearance in the rankings this season.
Despite all the movement, Watchung Hills (17-8) remained No. 1 this week, one of just two teams in the same position they were last week. The Hustlin’ Warriors dropped their last regular season game on Tuesday, a 12-5 decision at Millburn, but won two games in the state tournament. In the North 2, Group 4 first round, they beat 14-seed Elizabeth 10-0 in a five-inning mercy-rule walkoff, then got by six-seed Westfield in the quarterfinals, 8-6. They’ll be in the sectional semis at second-seed Bayonne this Wednesday.
Continuing its meteoric rise is Monroe (15-14), now the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament champion after knocking off third-seed Old Bridge, 7-0 in the final, as the nine-seed. However, their season is over, as they got knocked out of the state tournament in Central Jersey Group 4 on Friday, 10-2 down at fourth-seed Hightstown. That came after beating 12-seed Montgomery, 1-0, on a walkoff single by Alex Marcus.
Holding at No. 3 is Immaculata (22-5). The Spartans beat Rutgers Prep at home, 7-0 on Tuesday, in preparation for the state tournament. After a first-round by in Non-Public South A, the top-seeded Spartans beat eighth-seed Paul VI, 7-0, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. They’ll get back to it on Tuesday, when they host 5th-seed CBA. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have Sean Newcomb covering that game, and you can follow him in Twitter by clicking here.
Dropping two spots to fourth is Old Bridge (20-9), after falling to Monroe in the GMC title game on Saturday, 7-0. But the Knights’ season is not done. After opening up the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs with a 1-0 win over 16-seed East Brunswick on Wednesday, and following it up with an 8-0 win over eight-seed Freehold Township in Friday’s quarterfinals, the Knights – who had an 11-game win streak snapped Saturday – will look to rebound and move on in the state tournament when they host four-seed Hightstown in the semifinals.
A number of teams edged down a spot or two, mainly due to Monroe’s rise. That includes Ridge (17-10), which dropped one spot to five. On Tuesday, they won a regular season game at Hillsborough, 8-1, then got into the state tournament. They beat 16-seed Barringer (Newark) 13-3 in a mercy-rule five-inning walk-off on Wednesday in the North 2, Group 4 opening round, then walked off eight-seed Phillipsburg in six, by a 10-0 score on Friday. Wednesday, they will face five-seed Bridgewater-Raritan in the semifinals, a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio starting at 4 pm, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Click here to listen.
South Plainfield (16-11) climbs to six this week, one of only two teams (the other, Immaculata) to have a perfect week. The Tigers went 3-0, starting with a 7-1 regular season playoff tune-up victory over Middlesex on Tuesday. The next day, they opened the state playoffs with a 5-0 win over 13-seed JFK in the North 2, Group 3 first round. Friday, they were 7-0 winners over fifth-seed North Plainfield, and now move on to Wednesday’s semifinals, where they’ll go on the road for the first time this year in the states, facing top-seed Chatham.
Middlesex (22-5) drops a notch to seven this week. After the 7-1 loss to South Plainfield on Tuesday, they opened Central Jersey Group 1 play in the state tournament with a 21-1 win in five innings over 16-seed Highland Park, then an 11-1 win on a walk-off in six against eight-seed South Hunterdon. Next up, the Blue Jays play host to five-seed Shore in the CJ1 semifinals on Wednesday.
In the eighth spot is Rutgers Prep (17-7), same as last week. The Argonauts dropped a 70- regular season state tourney tune-up to Immaculata in Flemington on Tuesday, but came back nicely with a 16-0, five-inning win over ten-seed Pope John of Sparta in the Non-Public North B quarterfinals, after getting an opening round bye. Tuesday, they will host third-seed St. Thomas Aquinas at 4 pm in a Skyland-GMC crossover you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Alec Crouthamel calling the action. Click here to listen.
Down two spots to nine is Edison (19-8), which literally limped to the finish line with its top three starters – D1 commits Connor Murphy, Dom Innocenti and Rob Roma – all injured or nagged by arm issues in some way shape or form by the end of the year. None of the three were available for Wednesday’s opening round playoff loss to 15-seed Franklin, 5-4, in the Central Jersey Group 4 section.
And new to the rankings this week is Bridgewater-Raritan. The Panthers – despite a last place finish in the grueling Skyland Conference Delaware Division – proved their metttle not just by reaching the Somerset County Tournament semifinals as a five-seed a couple of weeks ago, but also by reaching the North 2, Group 4 semifinals as a five-seed this week. Bridgewater beat 12-seed Plainfield 11-0 in five innings in the opening round Wednesday, then went on the road in the quarters on Friday and knocked off four-seed JP Stevens, 10-0 in six. Next, they travel to top-seed Ridge for what should be a good rubber match in the sectional semifinals: each team beat the other 4-3 this year in their regular season matchups.
Dropping out was previous No. 10 Colonia. The ninth-seeded Patriots (14-10) lost their opening round North 2, Group 3 playoff game to nine-seed Middletown North, 5-1, on Wednesday, just two weeks after being eliminated from the GMC Tournament in their opening game.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball Top Ten for Week Nine. NOTE: This will be the final ranking until the season is complete for all CJSR-area clubs.
Wednesday’s NJSIAA sectional tournament saw plenty of first-round action, and plenty of drama to boot.
By far, the biggest of those instances came in the Central Jersey Group 4 bracket, where 15th-seeded Franklin knocked off second-seeded Edison to move on to the quarterfinals.
The Warriors (8-11) have shown flashes under first-year head coach Grant Neary, and put it all together at just the right time. This also marks the second straight year Franklin has pulled an upset as a double-digit seed, after defeating sixth-seeded East Brunswick in the CJ4 first round as the 11 seed last season under former head coach Derrick Castillo.
Those two victories were the Warriors’ first in the sectional tournament since the 2021 season.
Neary came to Franklin after a 17-year run in the college ranks, including six years as an assistant at NJIT and a three-year run as the head coach at Saint Peter’s. But with three kids and plenty of activities for all of them, Neary wanted to find a gig that kept him in the coaching game while allowing him to be even more involved with his family.
He’s no stranger to Somerset County baseball, either. Neary starred on the diamond for Bridgewater-Raritan and got his baseball coaching start at Watchung Hills in 2005, helping lead the Warriors to the Group 4 state championship game as an assistant coach under head coach Mario Diez.
The Warriors (of Franklin) are also no strangers to upsets this year. The tenth seed in the Somerset County Tournament, Franklin defeated seventh-seeded Somerville 10-8 in the first round, and fell 9-5 to eventual champion Watchung Hills.
But the confidence was up heading on the road to a GMC staple in Edison. The Eagles (19-8) dealt with some injuries throughout the year, but boasted some of the area’s top talent and earned the top seed in the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament.
It started as a low-scoring pitcher’s duel on Wednesday. The Warriors struck first in the top of the third with a bases-loaded RBI double play by freshman left fielder Mason Bonds, the younger brother of Rutgers star outfielder Peyton Bonds, to open the scoring. But Edison pitcher Ray Tavarez got out of the jam with the double play and another bases-loaded groundout to keep the Warriors at a run.
The Eagles equalized an inning and a half later with a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Damien Calandra. But Franklin immediately responded with two runs in the top of the fifth, on RBI doubles by Bonds and senior Elijah Zavatsky.
Senior pitcher Dylan Shah did his job as well, keeping Edison at bay for much of the game, even after the Eagles pulled to within a run on a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Robert Roma. Shah lived up to the billing as Franklin’s top arm on the bump, with six innings of two-run ball.
A full scoreless frame later, and the Warriors went into the seventh and final frame with a slim 3-2 lead.
The offense picked back up in the top half, as Zavatsky recorded his second RBI of the day on a single, and senior third baseman Stanley Madera scored on a double steal to make it 5-2.
Bonds came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh with a three-run cushion, but Edison wouldn’t go away quietly.
Senior right fielder Sam Kentos singled, and Roma walked to put the tying run at the plate with nobody out. Tavarez doubled to score Kentos and pull within two, putting the tying run at second base. Madera recorded the first out with a heady play to throw Roma out at the plate attempting to score, but senior centerfielder Darren Tirado brought the deficit back to a single run with a sacrifice fly. Second baseman Tyler Shuck loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch, bringing up Calandra with the game on the line for either side.
On a 2-0 count, Calandra lined a fastball safely into the glove of Franklin second baseman Kelvin Heuston to secure the upset and send the Warriors to the quarterfinals. Shah earned the win with 100 pitches flat for his team-leading fifth win of the year, allowing two runs on six hits, with two strikeouts and four walks.
Their quarterfinal opponent is TBD. Franklin will face the winner of seventh-seed Jackson Township and tenth-seed Hillsborough, a game postponed to Thursday after rain hit South Jersey hard on Wednesday. Either way, the 15 seed will be ready for the challenge after putting together one of its top performances of the year.
Click below to listen to Franklin’s first-year head coach Grant Neary talk about the Warriors’ season and their first-round upset of Edison with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:
