There is perhaps the top pitcher in the state, who’s headed to Rutgers.

There’s another really excellent junior who’s headed to Oregon in a couple of years.

There’s a kid who’s his coach’s go-to guy, but who doesn’t even think of himself as a pitcher.

And there’s a solid junior who’s only lost two games all year, in which he got a grand total of one run in support.

Zack Konstantinovsky, Harrison Lollin, Dustin McGuinness and Frank Papeo all are expected to take the mound Tuesday in what will be an all-GMC Red Division Central Jersey Group 4 semifinal round, with the Greater Middlesex Conference guaranteed a champion in the section for the first time since Old Bridge won it in 2015.

The Knights are in the mix again this year, with top-seed Old Bridge (18-8) taking on fifth-seed East Brunswick (15-11) on Monday at 6 pm, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio with a 5:45 pregame and 6 pm first pitch at Fred Cole Field; click here to listen.

That will follow the 4 pm semifinal at Community Park in North Brunswick where the second-seeded Raiders (20-6) ill take on sixth-seed Monroe (14-10).

Raiders vs. Falcons

In that first game, “Zack K” is expected to go against Harrison Lollin, a matchup of two Division 1-bound pitchers, with Konstantinovsky signed on to play at Rutgers next spring, while Lollin will have one more year in purple and gold before heading out to the Pacific Northwest to play for Oregon. And they’ve faced each other this year twice, with Zack getting the better of Harrison both times.

North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins brought Zack (now 8-1, 0.38 ERA) back on just the minimum three days’ rest after throwing 90 pitches in a 2-0 loss to St. Joseph-Metuchen in the GMC Tournament final, his first charged loss this season. With four days’ in between, the pitch count resets for Zack and he’s able to go the full 110 Tuesday if he needs it. Against South Brunswick in the semis he went 4 2/3 innings, allowed two hits and struck out nine.

While no one comes close to the dominance Konstantinovsky has had in the GMC the last few years, Lollin (5-2, 1.44 ERA) has actually been just as unhittable this year, despite an ERA that’s almost a full run higher. Figure this: in 56 innings, Konstantinovsky has allowed 24 hits, for a very respectable 0.43 hits per inning. Lollin has allowed 28 hits in 53 1/3 innings, a rate of 0.45 hits per inning.

The difference in the two meetings this year has been North Brunswick getting just enough offense to get by; the Raiders won on April 11th by a score of 1-0 on an RBI single by Chris Roasario. The second meeting came in the GMC Tournament semifinals, a 2-1 victory for the Raiders thanks to a two-run homer by Omar Carreras. Those two games managed 13 hits combined by the two teams: seven by the Raiders and six by the Falcons.

Knights vs. Bears

The second game should feature Old Bridge’s Frank Papeo against East Brunswick’s Dustin McGuinness. The two teams split their only meetings this year, with the Bears taking a 5-2 win on April 17th, but the Knights winning 5-4 the next day. Neither pitcher threw in either game.

Papeo (5-2, 1.71 ERA) is head coach Matt Donaghue’s No. 1, and has struck out 63 in 53 1/3 innings pitched. His ERA is up a bit from last year (1.25) but he’s also become more of a strikeout pitcher, nearly doubling last year’s total in just 14 more innings. And that ERA is inflated from two starts where he gave up five and four runs, respectively, even though both games were wins: a 10-8 slugfest over St. Joe’s back in the first week of the season, and a 7-6 victory over Sayreville.

READ MORE: McGuinness, East Brunswick ready to tackle top seed Old Bridge in CJ 4 semis Tuesday

McGuinness (4-4, 3.77 ERA) has the highest earned run average of the group, and lost four straight games this season, but got little run support or defensive support in them. Against South Plainfield on April 11th, he gave up eight runs, but only four earned, in a 12-1 loss. Against St. Joe’s on April 20th, he allowed 12 runs – but only five were earned – in a 12-6 defeat. And a week later against North Brunswick he lost a slim 2-1 decision.

East Brunswick, though, has been better in the field in recent weeks, and has gotten much more timely hitting. In that four game skid, McGuinness and his teammates (he plays shortstop when not pitching) scored a grand total of eight runs. But the team has won his last four starts, in which the Bears’ lineup has produced 28 runs and allowed only 13, and McGuinness himself has only allowed seven earned runs, coming in just two of the four games, striking out 29 of the 48 batters he’s fanned all season.