Tag: Glenny Fredricks

by Mike Pavlichko

With Cumiskey and Buchan gone, Spotswood leaning on senior trio and young prospects as Middlesex visits

Losing a guy like ace pitcher Casey Cumiskey or Will Buchan, both of whom were among Spotswood’s best hitters a season ago, is tough for any team.

But they’re not all the Chargers lost to graduation after the 2025 season. Six players with 40 ore more at bats are gone from the lineup, and only one – Leo Carone, who only had 14 at bats – hit over .300 on the year.

Don’t get it wrong, veteran head coach Glenny Fredricks isn’t crying in his soup. In fact, he’s excited about a solid core of seniors he has back – second baseman Gavin Romeo, centerfielder Sebby Saracino, and third baseman Ryan Orth – as well as some highly-touted kids from Milltown who decided to stay home, stay public, and play for the Chargers.

All will be on display again as Spotswood loos to earn a split of its season-opening home-and-home with Middlesex, following a 6-1 Opening Day road loss Tuesday. They’ll play Thursday at 3 pm, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame set for 2:45 as Mike Pavlichko calls all the action; click here to listen.

Those two who stuck with Spotswood rather than a non-public – and they had offers – are Jack Abrams and JoJo Modeste. Abrams will see time at first base, while Modeste is a switch-hitting shortstop with power. Fredricks calls them “help a year early” as they will immediately contribute as freshmen.

Orth is the top hitter back amobg those with more than 40 at bats, swinging it for a .244 average and seven runs batted in. Romeo hit .233 with eight RBIs, while Saracino hit .2176 with nine runs driven in, and a home run, a grand slam which came in a blowout season-opening win last year over South Amboy.

Click below to hear Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks talk about the season and Thursday’s game against Middlesex with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood reaches first GMCT Final Four since 2018 with 4-0 shutout of South River

Whenever Julius Rosado is on the mound for South River, they have a chance to beat just about anyone. Just like they did in Monday’s first-round, where they knocked off top-seed Woodbridge.

And he was sharp Thursday afternoon against 8th-seed Spotswood in the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament quarterfinals, but the defense was another story, with four errors proving costly for the 16th-seeded Rams.

The result was a 4-0 Charger win that puts them in the GMCT semifinals for the first time since 2018.

Spotswood (14-8) got on the board in the top of the first. With one out, Carter Cumiskey singled, then Will Buchan doubled to left, with the ball landing in front of left fielder Brendan Lell, then bouncing over his head and going all the way to the wall, allowing Cumiskey to score.

For the next four innings, Buchan – the starting pitcher – was sharp as well, allowing just one baserunner through four – on a walk – before giving up the first hit of the game to the Rams in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, the Chargers would add another run.

Steve Henits singled but reached second after the ball was momentarily bobbled by the left fielder Lell. After a sac bunt turned into an infield hit for Steve Henits, Cumiskey drove him in with a sac fly to left.

Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks brought in sophomore Leo Carone for the fifth, and he promptly got in trouble. He walked Sebastian Deerson, Jimmy Sanchez and Rosado to load the bases. But even quicker than he got into trouble, he got out of it. James Zsorey grounded to first, but Cumiskey came home and got the force out there, though catcher Brandon Rivera tagged Deerson, thinking Cumiskey might have stepped on first and tried to turn two.

The next batter – Hunter Krainski – grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to rescue Carone.

Spotswood got two more insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-0. With one out, John Lubin reached on an infield hit. Gavin Romeo tried to advance him with a bunt, but also reached on a base hit, when the third baseman Lell had to avoid Rosado – who also tried to field the ball off the mound – before he could throw to first.

Seb Saracino then hit a ball to short, and while Zsorey tried to turn two, the throw went into center field, scoring Lubin. Then a bloop hit by Henits brought in Romeo.

In the seventh, Saracino came on to pitch, and almost got into the same trouble Carone did in the sixth. He walked the first two batters, but then got Lell to hit into a 5-3 double-play. And after another walk to Travis Maloney, Deerson struck out to end the ball game.

Spotswood will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal between 5-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and 13-seed Metuchen in one of Saturday’s semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet School, both of which can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

South River falls to 14-6 with the loss, which went to Rosado. Buchan improved to 4-0 with the win.

Click below for postgame reaction from Spotswood starting pitcher Will Buchan and head coach glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood bats erupt for 16-5 win over South Amboy in first game on Chargers’ new turf field

New turf, new season, same old Spotswood baseball.

On Opening Day for both teams, the No. 9 Chargers exploded for six runs in the second inning, and eight in the third – fueled by a Sebby Saracino grand slam – en route to a 16-5 victory over visiting South Amboy Saturday, in a GMC crossover game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It was also the first game on Spotswood’s new turf field, and they christened it not only with a big win, but with a blast from the past.

Pitcher Willie Beard and catcher Anthony Addone from the 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – which was inducted into the Spotswood Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022, along with Beard as an individual – teamed up for a ceremonial first pitch.

Willie Beard throws the ceremonial first pitch to Anthony Addone – battery mates from Spotswood’s 2007 GMC Tournament and state championship team – to christen the Chargers’ new turf field on March 29, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Then the game began, and it was almost like going back in a time machine 18 years, as Spotswood got on the board with two in the bottom of the first.

Sarracino’s slam in the third was the first home run of his varsity career, and he finished the day with a career high five runs batted in.

Starter Carter Cumiskey was excellent as well, able to stay fresh with the weather unseasonably warm – 74 at game time and over 80 by the time the final out was recorded – as the senior pitched four shutout innings, allowing one hit and just two base runners – a second reached on an error – to get the Opening Day win.  He struck out four and pitched three one-two-theee innings.

South Amboy got its five runs in the top of the fifth, helped by a hard liner off the third baseman’s glove and a chopper that left shortstop Ryan Orth with no real option to make a play.  But they needed seven runs to keep the game going, and fell just short.

Starter Micah Nemeth took the loss in relief for the Governors. 

Spotswood did what it wanted to do at the plate, scratching and clawing when they needed to early, and getting some big hits when they needed them. Besides the Grand slam, the Chargers also got two ground rule doubles, one from Will Buchan and another from freshman catcher Tyrus Lazar.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Spotswood’s Sebby Saracino, Carter Cumiskey, and head coach Glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

South Amboy, No. 9 Spotswood got off to hot starts last season, will open 2025 Saturday morning on Central Jersey Sports Radio

A handful of area teams have begun their high school baseball seasons already, but many will open this weekend and next week.

That includes Spotswood and South Amboy, for whom a beautiful Saturday will be the setting for their Opening Day, 11 am at the place Chargers’ fans affectionately call “The Swamp.”

It will always be known as such, but it may not live up to that name as much anymore, now that their natural grass surface has been replaced with turf, thanks to a Fall 2023 referendum approved by voters.

The view from in front of home plate of Spotswood’s new turf field. (Photo submitted by Glenny Fredricks)

You can hear Saturday’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio beginning at 10:40 with pregame, and first pitch set for 11 am, with Mike Pavlichko on the call. Click here to listen.

Both teams started last season red hot. Spotswood won its first seven games and was unbeaten through 12 with an 11-0-1 record – there was an 8-8 tie with Marlboro – en route to a 19-4-2 record, while South Amboy won its first eight and ten of its first eleven, finishing 14-5 and going to the GMC Invitational final, where they lost to Carteret.

Of course, since it’s Opening Day, each team will get to throw their ace. For the Governors, it’ll be sophomore Micah Nemeth, the only returning pitcher to throw more than ten innings last season; he went 7-2 with a 1.96 ERA. The Chargers will send out Seton Hall-bound senior Carter Cumiskey, who committed to the Pirates all the way back when he was a freshman. He went 6-2 with a 1.80 ERA.

Both pitchers have great control and rack up the strikeouts when they’re on the mound. Nemeth had 47 strikeouts and 25 walks last season, with Cumsikey even more impressive, fanning 78, while walking just 14.

Cumiskey is also a hammer at the plate, hitting .446 a year ago with six home runs and a team best 30 RBIs, while South Amboy has senior outfielder Jeremy Vasquez back off a season where he hit an unthinkable .596, drove in 19 runs and hit three homers.

Click below to hear both coaches talk about their teams heading into Opening Day, and their Saturday morning matchup to begin the 2025 season:

Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks
South Amboy head coach Dan Paulsen

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 5 Spotswood seeks best start under Fredricks as Chargers face South Brunswick in Autism Awareness Challenge

Even in their storied 2007 season – where the Spotswood Chargers became just the second Greater Middlesex Conference team ever to win their division, the county tournament, and a state title – they didn’t get off to a start like this.

Spotswood dropped its opening game that year, went 12-4 through 16 games, and never lost again that season.

This year’s edition has (almost) matched last year’s start. The 2023 Chargers started 9-0, their best start ever under Fredricks. This year’s squad is 8-0-1 through nine games, looking to go unbeaten through ten when they head to North Brunswick Community Park Sunday for an Autism Awareness Challenge game against South Brunswick (4-6) on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will call all the play-by-play with pregame at 9:45 am and first pitch at 10:00. Click here to listen.

Spotswood continues to be hot at the plate, with a team batting average of .308, and Seton Hall commit Carter Cumiskey – a junior – hitting a scorching .593 with a 1.074 slugging percentage. He’s knocked in a team-leading 15 runs, while hitting three home runs in nine games so far. Senior Will Buchan has knocked in 13, and junior Mason Bitalla plating 13.

Fredricks is still up in the air on who’ll get the start against South Brunswick.

Click below to hear Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks talk about the Chargers’ hot start and Sunday morning’s matchup against South Brunswick:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 5 Chargers win 7th straight, 7-3 over Somerville, while Fredricks wins No. 299

Seton Hall commit Carter Cumiskey pitched a complete game, striking out ten, for his third win in as many starts this season, while hitting a solo home run to help his cause, in a 7-3 non-conference win for No. 5 Spotswood over Somerville.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio at Torpey Athletic Conference in Bridgewater, the Chargers continued their torrid start, now 7-0 on the year, after last year’s team began the 2023 campaign with nine straight wins.

Spotswood got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the second. Brandon Rivera led off with a double, a groundout to first got him to third, and a groundout by Colin Pfeiffer to short scored him.

The Chargers added another run in the third when Cumiskey hit a solo homer to right center.

Somerville cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Nash singled with one out, and nine-hitter Chase Insabella scored him with a triple, but he and Chase Koplitz – who followed with a single – when Cumiskey struck out the next two hitters.

Spotswood added three in a fourth inning where they sent nine men to the plate. Four-hitter Mason Bitalla led off with a single. After Rivera grounded out, Ryan Orth knocked him in with a single to make it 3-1. After Pfeiffer struck out, nine-hitter Seb Saracino singled to make it 4-1, and Breckyn DeAngelis followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 5-1. But Somerville limited the damage when starter Ryan Chiesla got Will Buchan to ground out to end the inning after intentionally walking Cumiskey.

From there, Cumiskey seemed to get stronger, at one point recording seven Ks out of eight outs spanning the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Spotswood added two more in the top of the sixth. Lubin and Saracino began the inning with back-to-back walks. Lubin advanced to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on another. Mason Bitalla singled home the seventh run.

Somerville got back two in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as they would get. Ethan Flynn reached on a ball to short bobbled by Buchan, then Robbie Wright reached on a single. After Dylan Hornick lined out to first, Nash reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Wright at second, but Chase Insabella doubled to right driving in two.

At that point, Cumiskey bore down yet again and struck out Koplitz to end the threat, and he got Somerville (2-3) 1-2-3 in the seventh to close out the game.

The win was No. 299 for Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks, who has been the Chargers’ mentor since 2005. He’ll go for 300 Thursday when the Chargers host Marlboro.

Click below for postgame reaction from Spotswood junior Carter Cumiskey and head coach Glenny Fredricks, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood takes a trip to Torpey as Chargers and Somerville meet for first time in 17 years

The last time Spotswood and Somerville met on a baseball diamond, it was a thriller: a 1-0 game played in Branchburg that gave the Chargers the Central Jersey Group 2 championship. It was the best season in Spotswood history, and they had to beat the Pioneers’ ace, Nick McNamara to do it. Closer Mike Hohman finished it off on the mound.

Fast forward 17 years later, the Chargers are still coached by Glenny Fredricks, and Chris Banos is in his 10th season as coach of Somerville. The two know each other even longer than that, back to their days coaching American Legion ball for posts in Milltown (Fredricks) and Edison (Banos).

Spotswood (6-0) and Somerville (2-2) will meet up Monday afternoon at 4 pm at Torpey Athletic Complex in Bridgewater for a non-conference matchup that can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko has the call with pregame at 3:40. Click here to listen.

The Chargers are ranked No. 5 in this week’s Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten. They have a pair of wins each over Metuchen, North Plainfield and Piscataway, sweeping their Blue Division home-and-homes. They have scored ten runs or more in four of those games, outscoring their opponents 68-13, and pumping out 46 runs in the last three games.

Of players with at least ten at bats, junior and Seton Hall commit Carter Cumiskey is leading the team, hitting .556, knocking in 13 runs already. He had two home runs, but if you count preseason scrimmages? Coach Fredricks says he’s hit it out of the yard six times already. Cumiskey will be on the mound Monday, where he’s thrown 10 2/3 innings in two games, striking out 18, walking two, and giving up exactly zero earned runs.

Somerville, meanwhile, is still trying to get in a groove at the plate. Ajay Cray – who’s expected to be the DH today for starting pitcher Ryan Ciesla – leads the team with a .429 batting average, and the coach’s son, C.J. Banos, leads the team with for runs batted in, but no one else is hitting above .300 yet.

Chiesla won his first start, a going the distance in a 4-1 season opening win over Voorhees (Glen Gardner).

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with both head coaches!

Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks
Somerville head coach Chris Banos
by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood keeps that underdog mentality, even after 20-plus win season and sectional title appearance in 2023

The Spotswood baseball team is very much in the mold of their mentor, longtime head coach Glenny Fredricks, who instills in the Chargers a chip-on-their-shoulder, us-against-the-world attitude.

But how do you act like that coming off a 21-8 season in which Spotswood made it all the way to the Central Jersey Group 2 finals, where they lost to Rumson-Fair Haven?

Don’t worry about it.

Spotswood teams have always played like that, and it’s something that’s somewhat inherent in the tiny boro. After all, it’s where Fredricks grew up, too.

This year’s team won’t have Casey Cumiskey – now at Seton Hall – or senior Jackson Walsh, with both gone to graduation among others, but the cupboard is far from bare for the Chargers.

Start with Casey’s brother, Carter, who’s now a junior, and already committed to join his brother in South Orange. He had an even better stat line than Carter last year, with a 1.91 ERA in 44 innings pitched with 72 strikeouts and just 21 walks.

He can hit, too, batting .382 last year with two home runs, along with now-junior pitcher/shortstop Will Buchan (.379), now sophomore Ryan Orth (.414) and now-senior Breckyn DeAngelis (.302), who may also see more time on the mound this year.

Click below to hear Spotswood coach Glenny Fredricks talk more about the upcoming 2024 season for the Chargers:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood skipper Fredricks knew Donaghue would have an impact at Old Bridge, where Knights play for first-ever state title this weekend

Old Bridge baseball coach Matt Donaghue played for one of the best, and now leads his own Knights into a state title game this Saturday for the first time ever, just like his high school coach, the late Fred Cole, did for Madison Central in 1988.

And one longtime GMC coach who knew Donaghue from his playing days says he knew he’d be destined for something special the first time he saw him play.

Spotswood coach Glenny Fredricks – who, himself, has been the Chargers’ coach for close to two decades now – says Donaghue made a great impression on him, when – in 2005 – he had a key hit to knock his very first Spotswood team out of the GMC Tournament.

After Donaghue played collegiately at Kean and was looking to get into coaching after graduation, Fredricks said he never forgot the name, and brought him on as an assistant. Now, he sees Donaghue’s Old Bridge team in the same mold as he sees his own: gritty, aggressive, and tight-knit.

All of that, Fredricks says, has been key to the success of Old Bridge baseball this year, and will continue to be when the Knights (21-8) take on Ridgewood (23-7) on Saturday at 4 pm for the state Group 4 title, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton. (Click here to listen live.)

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk about Old Bridge coach Matt Donaghue’s Knights and their key to success:

by Mike Pavlichko

Scrappy Spotswood looks to bring home first title in 13 years, ready for Rumson

Glenny Fredricks has seen a lot of Spotswood teams, but he has the feeling this one is something special.

Their semifinal win over Delran, 5-3 at the home field they affectionately call “The Swamp,” was their first of three in the state tournament not to come by a walk-off. And it still wasn’t easy, with closer Jackson Walsh allowing a run and loading the bases in the seventh before nailing down the save, allowing the collective Charger faithful to breathe a sigh of relief.

But that’s the way championships are won. It’s never easy, especially at Spotswood.

Fredricks and his Chargers like it that way.

They relish the underdog role, one they will take into Friday’s Central Jersey Group 2 final when third-seeded Spotswood (21-7) visits top-seed Rumson-Fair Haven (20-5).

What to make of the challenge?

Well, Rumson has some really good pitching, with an ERA of 2.32. They only hit .264 as a team, though, which could be fun for Charger fans to watch against Casey Cumiskey, who will get the nod in alternating fashion after his younger brother Carter picked apart Delran for most of their game on Tuesday.

And if you don’t enjoy Spotswood’s brand of small-ball and aggressive base-running and believe it can work – the team worked for over an hour on bunting at practice – well, you might just be one of those fans who also likes runners on second in extra innings.

Click below to hear Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks talk about his Chargers’ and their chance at a title: