Tag: GMC Tournament

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Final: (9) Monroe 7, (3) Old Bridge 0

Behind a complete-game one-hitter from junior Ben Faigin – with 13 strikeouts – Monroe became the first nine-seed to win the GMC Tournament, topping third-seed Old Bridge 7-0 in the Jim Muldowney Championship Final.

READ THE FULL GAME STORY HERE!

Click below to listen to the 2026 Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship game as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio:

Click below to watch the full game as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play live from Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick on May 30, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

A look back at the 40th edition of the GMC Finals, as Monroe rewrites some of the history books with 7-0 win over Old Bridge

Throw out the seeds when the Red Division is in the GMC Tournament finals.

The way the GMC has aligned its division the last few years, relying – in part – on a relegation/promotion model where division winners generally move up and last place teams move down for the next year, the Red now gets stacked with the best teams from the year before, and then they beat up on each other.

Even if it’s the eight best teams in the entire conference, someone has to finish last, right?

So after five straight tournaments with at least a No. 1 or No. 2 seed making the title game – dating back to 2019 – neither made it this year. We got the third-seed Old Bridge, and the nine-seed in Monroe, with the Falcons beating the Knights 7-0 Saturday to win their second county championship. And both were very worthy opponents.

There was at least one pure “first” in Monroe’s win. While they aren’t the lowest seeded team to win it – that distinction belongs to Woodbridge, which was seeded 17th in 2000 and knocked off second-seed and in-town rival JFK – but they are the first nine seed to win. The nine-seed is now 1-2 in GMC Finals dating back to the first title game in 1986.

For the record, the three-seed (Old Bridge this year) is 5-4 all-time. The top two seeds have won 22 of the 40 finals, and the top four have won 28.

Here are some other notes and nuggets on the 40th GMC Championship Game:

One-hitter is a rare feat…

We haven’t been able to go back and look at every game, but Ben Faigin’s one-hitter for Monroe was the first since 2014. Brandon Bielak of fourth-seed St. Joseph did it in 2014, a game that was more notable for the fact that they won it – 1-0 over six-seed South Plainfield – on a walk-off bases loaded walk.

Ben Faigin of Monroe talks to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe after throwing a one-hitter in the GMC Final, the first since 2014. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

…but a shutout is not…

In 40 GMC finals, this was the eleventh shutout. They have been more frequent recently.

In the six finals since COVID, half have been shutouts, all by “Falcons.” St. Joseph has the other two: a 2-0 win over South Brunswick in 2021, and a 2-0 win over North Brunswick in 2023.

Multiple wins…

Monroe becomes the sixth GMC team to win multiple championships, joining South Brunswick with two. Here are the rest:

  • 9 – St. Joseph
  • 8 – Edison
  • 5 – East Brunswick
  • 3 – Old Bridge

And for just making the finals, Old Bridge and Monroe – which had both been to four finals prior to this year – move up to fifth place on the all-time list with five. Here are the rest:

  • 11 – St. Joseph
  • 10 – Edison
  • 7 – East Brunswick
  • 6 – South Plainfeld

Monroe is now 2-3 all-time in GMC title games, while Old Bridge drops to 3-2.

Kyle Rutan of Monroe hits against Old Bridge in the GMC Tournament final in East Brunswick on May 30, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Not as close anymore?

Every GMC final from 2013 through 2024 had been decided by one or two runs, with seven decided by one run, and four of those being 1-0 victories. But the last two finals have bucked the trend.

Last year, St. Joe’s beat Edison 7-4 – on a walk-off grand-slam by JP Zayle – and this year Monroe won 7-0. That was thee largest margin of victory since 2010, when six-seed North Brunswick beat 16-seed North Brunswick, 9-2.

It’s also the second largest margin of victory in a final by a lower seeded team, tying the 2005 final, which saw second-seed East Brunswick upset top-seed St. Joseph, 8-1. Only one had a larger margin, in the very first GMC Tournament final in 1986. That year, 12-seed East Brunswick beat 7-seed Madison Central by eleven runs, 14-3. (There was no ten-run rule in that game; it went seven full innings.)

Overall, it was the third-largest margin of victory in the GMC Tournament final. In addition to East Brunswick’s win in the inaugural GMC final in 1986, St. Joseph beat South Amboy 11-0 twenty years later, in 2006. And Edison had a nine-run win, 12-3 over JFK, in 1993.

There have been four other games decided by seven runs in the finals:

  • 2010 – South Brunswick 9, North Brunswick 2
  • 2008 – East Brunswick 8, St. Joseph 1
  • 1994 – Edison 10, Monroe 3

Who’s won both tournaments?

In 2019, the Greater Middlesex Conference introduced the Invitational Tournament. Prior to that, the GMC was an “open” format, with all teams – except those that opted out, and it happens occasionally – getting into the bracket. But seven years ago, the league changed the format, and only a certain number of teams (this year 20) make what’s now called the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament, while the remainder are seeded in the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational.

Although there’s only a six year history of the Invitational, Piscataway’s win this year – 3-0 over Dunellen – makes the Chiefs just the second program to win both the championship (in the open format) and the Invitational.

Carteret won the Invitational in 2019 and 2024, and also won the “open” tournament in 1988, their only title.

Other teams to win the Invitational, followed by records in the “championship” final:

  • Sayreville in 2021 (0-2)
  • JP Stevens in 2022 (0-3)
  • Perth Amboy Magnet in 2023 (NA)
  • New Brunswick in 2025 (NA)

GMC TOURNAMENT FINALS HISTORY

  • 1986:  (12) East Brunswick 14, (7) Madison Central 3 (7 innings)
  • 1987:  (10) Cedar Ridge 2,  (16) Colonia 1
  • 1988:  (2) Carteret 4, (13) JP Stevens 2 (11 innings)
  • 1989:  (1) Madison Central 8, (6) Cedar Ridge 7 (8 innings)
  • 1990:  (1) Edison 9, (10) South Plainfield 3
  • 1991:  (7) East Brunswick 6, (1) South Plainfield 5
  • 1992:  (1) Edison 1, (7) Bishop Ahr 0
  • 1993:  (1) Edison 12, (2) JFK 3
  • 1994:  (1) Edison 10, (3) Monroe 3
  • 1995:  (1) Edison 5, (6) Piscataway 3
  • 1996:  (2) Bishop Ahr 4, (1) Edison 3 (13 innings)
  • 1997:  (3) East Brunswick 3, (5) JFK 2
  • 1998:  (1) Edison 2, (11) East Brunswick 1
  • 1999:  (1) Edison 7, (3) Bishop Ahr 2
  • 2000:  (17) Woodbridge 7, (2) JFK 1
  • 2001:  (2) Edison 4, (13) Spotswood 1
  • 2002:  (3) South Brunswick 4, (1) Piscataway 2 (9 innings)
  • 2003:  (1) Piscataway 9, (10) East Brunswick 5
  • 2004:  (1) St. Joseph 6, (6) Carteret 0
  • 2005:  (2) East Brunswick 8, (1) St. Joseph 1
  • 2006:  (5) St. Joseph 11, (6) South Amboy 0 (5 innings)
  • 2007:  (1) Spotswood 7, (11) JP Stevens 6
  • 2008:  (10) St. Joseph 3, (4) Old Bridge 2
  • 2009:  (1) St. Joseph 6, (7) North Brunswick 0
  • 2010:  (6) South Brunswick 9, (16) North Brunswick 2
  • 2011:  (2) Old Bridge 3, (4) South Plainfield 2
  • 2012:  (3) Middlesex 10, (1) Sayreville 4
  • 2013:  (7) JFK 4, (9) Monroe 2
  • 2014:  (4) St. Joseph 1, (6) South Plainfield 0
  • 2015:  (2) Monroe 1, (8) Sayreville 0 (8 innings) 
  • 2016:  (2) East Brunswick 1, (9) JP Stevens 0
  • 2017:  (1) St. Joseph 1, (6) Monroe 0
  • 2018:  (14)South Plainfield 2, (12) Perth Amboy 1 (12 innings)
  • 2019:  (1) Old Bridge 2, (3) South Brunswick 1
  • 2020:  NO SEASON – COVID
  • 2021:  (2) St. Joseph 2, (5) South Brunswick 0
  • 2022:  (6) North Brunswick 4, (1) St. Joseph 2
  • 2023:  (3) St. Joseph 2, (1) North Brunswick 0
  • 2024:  (3) Old Bridge 6, (1) South Plainfield 5
  • 2025:  (5) St. Joseph 7, (11) Edison 4
  • 2026:  (9) Monroe 7, (3) Old Bridge 0 
by Mike Pavlichko

Another gem from Faigin, backed up by Monroe offense, gives Falcons 7-0 win over Old Bridge, first GMC Tourney title since 2015

Chances are, with Ben Faigin on the mound, Monroe is going to win the ballgame.

Then again, his lone loss coming into the GMC’s Jim Muldowney Championship Final was against Old Bridge, a 9-5 road loss on April 23rd.

But that was not what happened Saturday at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick. In fact, quite the opposite.

Faigin – a Rutgers commit who’s just a junior – took a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up a leadoff double to the Knights’ Eric Schickschneit. But he induced a groundout and got two strikeouts to end it, going a complete game and just allowing five baserunners; the other four came on walks.

Meanwhile, ninth-seed Monroe scored early and often, all but one of their runs coming in the first three innings.

Justin Mangano led off the game and got hit by the very first pitch from Old Bridge’s Brady Meyer, an early sign of control issues. Faigin grounded into a fielder’s choice, and after he stole second, came home to score on Alex Marcus’ single. Nico Antoniades followed with a walk, and Matt Linke drove him in with a single to make it 2-0. Two strikeouts by Meyer ended the inning and kept the damage to a minimum.

The Falcons would make it 3-0 in the second on a sac fly to right by Mangano, scoring Tyler Bacon, who walked to leadoff the inning.

They would add three more in the third. Linke led off with a double to left, and after a strikeout, Austin Loudin hit a ball to left and reached on an error when Nick Natale misplayed it for Old Bridge. After Bacon popped up a bunt for the second out, a Kyle Rutan double scored both and made it 5-0. That was it for Meyer, who was replaced by Chris Crosta coming in from third, and he gave up a single to Mangano for his second RBI of the game to make it 6-0.

Monroe added one more in the sixth on an RBI single by Linke,

Meanwhile, Faigin was cruising, allowing just four walks through the first six innings. He got in a little trouble in the sixth, walking back-to-back hitters with one out, and they advanced to second and third on stolen bases, but Faigin K’d Matt Chin for the second out and got Jared Volpe to ground out to short.

In the end, Faigin gave up one hit in seven innings, walked four and struck out 12 to improve to 7-1 on the season. Monroe wins its second GMC Tournament title, and first since 2015, in five appearances. They finish their season 15-14, having been eliminated from the Central Jersey Group 4 section of the state tournament on the eve of the GMC final, with a 10-2 loss at Hightstown Friday night.

Monroe junior Ben Faigin pitches in the 2026 GMC Tournament final against Old Bridge on May 30, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Meyer took the loss for the Knights, going 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits. He walked four – one intentional, hit one batter and struck out three.

Old Bridge, however, still has the states to look forward to. They are now 20-8 – with an 11-game win streak snapped – but will play in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals Wednesday at home at Fred Cole Field against 4th-seed Hightstown.

Click below for postgame reaction on the field with Justin Sontupe, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Monroe junior pitcher Ben Faigin
Senior catcher Justin Mangano and head coach Sean Field
by Mike Pavlichko

Jim Muldowney GMC Finals Preview: Old Bridge, Monroe set to face off for title, with Knights still alive in states

It’s not much of a surprise that either third-seed Old Bridge or nine-seed Monroe will play Saturday for the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship.

Just about anyone from the Red Division in the Greater Middlesex Conference (and others, too) would have been a worthy participant in one game to determine conference supremacy.

But when they do play Saturday for the title at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick, it will be a unique situation, and different for both teams.

Years ago, the GMC decided to move its tournament up earlier in the calendar, so the finals would not me in the middle of the NJSIAA state tournament. Bun rain all last weekend prevented that from happening, and the game got rescheduled to Saturday, May 30th.

Old Bridge, meanwhile, earned a top-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, and Monroe got the five-seed. Had it worked out, both could have been facing each other again next week in the semifinals. But while the Knights won their semi Friday against Freehold Twp., 8-0, Monroe fell 10-2 at Hightstown.

Now, the two teams enter in much different situations.

Old Bridge is coming off a playoff win, and will “break” for the GMC final, then have to shift back into “one-and-done” mode next Wednesday, and hope they don’t have to go too deep into their bullpen Saturday. Monroe has it’s top two pitchers both available in Ben Faigin – who will get the start – and Andre Love, with nothing to save them for. This is the end of the line.

With that, here’s a look at the 2026 GMC championship.

2026 JIM MULDOWNEY GMC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINALS AT-A-GLANCE

Teams:
(3) Old Bridge Knights (20-8, 9-5, 2nd place in the GMC Red)
(9) Monroe Falcons (14-14, 6-8, 5th place in the GMC Red)

Date and Time: Saturday, May 30 at noon (pregame 11:40)
Location: Ray Cipperly Field, East Brunswick Magnet HS
Weather: 66, mix of sun and clouds, NW wind (across the diamond from right to left) at 20 mph, gusts 33 mph
Listen On: Central Jersey Sports Radio
Watch On: Our YouTube Channel
Announcers: Mike Pavlichko & Justin Sontupe

Head Coaches:
Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue (9th year, 8th season, 138-91, GMCT champs in 2019 and 2024)
Monroe: Sean Field (8th year, 7th season, 93-73)

Probable Starters:
Old Bridge: Brady Myer (3-1, 2.93 ERA)
Monroe: Ben Faigin (6-1, 1.18 ERA)

ORIGINAL PREVIEW STORIES:

UPDATED INTERVIEWS WITH BOTH HEAD COACHES:

Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue
Monroe head coach Sean Field

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Old Bridge:
First Round: def. (14) Sayreville, 1-0
Quarterfinals: def. (6) Woodbridge, 1-0
Semifinals: def. (2) Middlesex, 9-3

Monroe:
First Round: def. (6) Colonia, 9-2
Quarterfinals: def. (1) Edison, 9-1
Semifinals: def. (5) South Plainfield, 1-0

TEAM LEADERS:

Old Bridge:

  • Batting Average: Matt Chin (.427), Michael Chiarella, Jared Volpe (.318)
  • RBI: Matt Chin (21), Jared Volpe, Adrian Lutomski (14)
  • HR: Matt Chin, Michael Chiarella (2), four others with 1
  • Walks: Matt Chin (15), Chris Crosta (11)
  • Stolen Bases: Chris Crosta (7), Brady Meyer (5)
  • Wins: Blake Dunleavy (5), four others with 3
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Brady Meyer (1.34), Matt Levitt (2.15)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Brady Meyer (42), Blake Dunleavy (40)

Monroe:

  • Batting Average:Ben Faigin (.481), Justin Mangano (.427), Alex Marcus (.289)
  • RBI: Alex Marcus (23), Ben Faigin (17), Niko Antoniades (15)
  • HR: Ben Faigin (2), Robert Profaci (1)
  • Walks: Ben Fiagin (21), Michael Cinque (14)
  • Stolen Bases: Ben Faigin (21), Justin Mangano (10)
  • Wins: Ben Faigin (6), Siddarth Desai, Aadi Shah (3)
  • ERA (min 12 innings): Ben Faigin (1.18), Camerron Kappus (2.74)
  • Strikeouts (Pitcher): Ben Faigin (74), Andre Love (70)

Team Stats:

  • Batting Average: Old Bridge .281, Monroe .270
  • Home Runs: Old Bridge 8, Monroe 3
  • Stolen Bases: Monroe 58, Old Bridge 18
  • Runs Scored: Old Bridge 119, Monroe 119
  • Runs Allowed: Monroe 137, Old Bridge 105
  • Strikeouts (Pitchers): Monroe 230, Old Bridge 163

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Old Bridge

Monroe

NOTES AND NUGGETS:

New blood, again….

Even though both schools have won a GMC Tournament title in the last decade or so – Monroe in 2015, Old Bridge in 2029 and 2023 – this will be the third straight year the defending champion failed to make the finals.

St. Joseph-Metuchen made it back in 2022 after beating South Brunswick the year before, and North Brunswick beat the Falscons in 2022, then got back in 2023 – and lost again to St. Joe’s.

But the finals saw two different teams in 2024 – Old Bridge and South Plainfield – while last year’s title game featured St. Joe’s (in its third trip in four years) against Edison.

This year, same deal: St. Joe’s came in as the 12-seed and lost their opening round game to fifth-seed South Plainfield, 2-1. Edison was the top-seed, but after a 10-0 victory over 17-seed and Gold Division champ Piscataway Magnet in the first round, lost 9-1 to ninth-seed Monroe in the quarterfinals.

How will the seeds fare?

While the nine-seed in the tournament last reached the title game in 2016, when JP Stevens lost to second-seed East Brunswick, 1-0, you don’t have to go as far back as that to find an even lower-seeded team that made the finals. Edison made it as an 11-seed last year, and lost to fifth-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen, 7-4, on a walk-off grand slam by JP Zayle.

The lowest seed ever to win the GMC Tournament was Woodbridge, 26 years ago. The Barrons were the 17-seed and knocked off second-seed JFK, 7-1.

The nine-seed is 0-2 in the finals all-time. Besides the Hawks, mentioned above, Monroe also was a nine-seed when they made the finals in 2013, but lost to seven-seed JFK, 4-2, for Kennedy’s only title ever, in four trips to the finals.

  • 2013:  (7) JFK 4, (9) Monroe 2 (top-seed Middlesex, Blue Div.)
  • 2016:  (2) East Brunswick 1, (9) JP Stevens 0 (top-seed Monroe, White)

The third-seed has fared better, going 5-3, with wins coming in 1997, 2002, 2012, and twice since COVID, in 2023 and 2024. Old Bridge won it as a three-seed in 2024, and also beat a three-seed. That came in 2019, when the Knights were the No. 1 seed and beat third-seed South Brunswick, 2-1, Donaghue’s first title in just his second season at Old Bridge

  • 1994:  (1) Edison 10, (3) Monroe 3
  • 1997:  (3) East Brunswick 3, (5) JFK 2
  • 1999:  (1) Edison 7, (3) Bishop Ahr 2
  • 2002:  (3) South Brunswick 4, (1) Piscataway 2 (9 innings)
  • 2012:  (3) Middlesex 10, (1) Sayreville 4
  • 2019:  (1) Old Bridge 2, (3) South Brunswick 1
  • 2023:  (3) St. Joseph 2, (1) North Brunswick 0
  • 2024:  (3) Old Bridge 6, (1) South Plainfield 5

Big Schools….

While the NJSIAA only classifies teams by size into four groups in baseball, football is divided into five, with Group 5 being the largest schools. And this will be the first time since 2019 two “Group 5” football schools have made the finals. That year, the Knights were the top-seed and beat third-seed South Brunswick, 2-1, for Matt Donaghue’s first of two championships as Old Bridge head coach.

St. Joseph spoiled that party by making four of five GMC finals since COVID, but the one year it was two public schools, in 2024, it was third-seed Old Bridge (Group 5) over top-seed South Plainfield (Group 3 in baseball and football) by a 6-5 score.

Parallels…

Last year, St. Joseph-Metuchen won the GMC Tournament without ever having led for a single pitch of any of its four games, from the first round through the finals. They won their first two games 1-0, both in extra innings, then walked off Spotswood in the semifinals and beat Edison for the title on a first-pitch grand slam by JP Zayle.

While Old Bridge hasn’t been that dramatic, their games have kept their fans ont he edge of their seats. They even won their first two games by 1-0 scores in this year’s tournament, and the second was in extra innings. In the first round against Sayreville, they won 1-0 with their run coming in the fourth. In the quarters, Eric Schnickschneit drove in Jared Volpe with a single in the bottom of the eighth to win it.

And while they didn’t walk-off Middlesex in the semifinals two Saturdays ago, Middlesex trailed 3-0 going into their final at bat, and tied it with three in the seventh, but Old Bridge came back and scored six in the top of the seventh to take a 9-3 lead, holding Middlesex scoreless in the bottom of the inning to take the win.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY (wins in bold)

Old Bridge (3-1):

  • 2008:  (10) St. Joseph 3, (4) Old Bridge 2
  • 2011:  (2) Old Bridge 3, (4) South Plainfield 2
  • 2019:  (1) Old Bridge 2, (3) South Brunswick 1
  • 2024:  (3) Old Bridge 6, (1) South Plainfield 5

Monroe (1-3):

  • 1994:  (1) Edison 10, (3) Monroe 3
  • 2013:  (7) JFK 4, (9) Monroe 2
  • 2015:  (2) Monroe 1, (8) Sayreville 0 (8 innings) 
  • 2017:  (1) St. Joseph 1, (6) Monroe 0

Note: Old Bridge was comprised of Madison Central and Cedar Ridge prior to the 1994 merger. Their combined histories are below. Each team made two appearances in the finals, with one win each.

  • 1986:  (12) East Brunswick 14, (7) Madison Central 3
  • 1987:  (10) Cedar Ridge 2,  (16) Colonia 1
  • 1989:  (1) Madison Central 8, (6) Cedar Ridge 7 (8 innings)

by justinsontupe

Red-hot Faigin, Mangano lead equally red-hot Monroe into GMC Tourney final against even hotter Old Bridge squad

Note: Due to rain in the forecast, the GMC Championship game has been moved to Saturday, May 30 at 12 noon at Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School.

It’s been a topsy-turvy season for Monroe, dropping 11-of-14 after a 5-1 start to limp into the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament as the No. 9 seed. But with county supremacy on the line, the Falcons kicked it into high gear.

Three consecutive upsets – Colonia, Edison, and South Plainfield – has Monroe (13-13) in the finals, where they will third-seeded Old Bridge (17-8) for the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship next Saturday, May 30th. You can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio by clicking here, or you can watch it live on our YouTube channel.

Junior Ben Faigin – currently committed to play college baseball at Rutger – has set the tone. Amidst a stellar season (6-1, 1.27 ERA), he has done his best work in the GMC Tournament. 

In the first round against Colonia, he struck out 13 in a complete game two-hitter, allowing just a couple runs. Pitching again last week in the semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet – in a 1-0 win over five-seed South Plainfield – he was even better: a complete game, one-hit shutout with 13 more strikeouts.

That’s 26 strikeouts and just three hits allowed over 14 innings.

While Faigin was expected to take the mound again Saturday with the GMC trophy on the line, it’s up in the air if he’ll do it a week later, depending on how Monroe fares in the state tournament, which begins for them next Wednesday. The Falcons are the five-seed in Central Jersey Group 4 and will host 12-seed Montgomery in the opening round.

Faigin’s battery mate, senior Justin Mangano, has been Monroe’s catalyst on offense. Hitting .402 in a terrific senior year, Mangano has also been at his best in the GMC Tournament. He is 8-for-13 with 4 RBIs, collecting multiple hits in every game. The shining moment so far? The go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the 7th inning against South Plainfield, ultimately sending the Falcons to the GMC title game.

It’s Monroe’s first trip to a GMC title game since 2017 – a loss to St. Joe’s. Monroe’s last GMC championship was in 2015, a 1-0 win over Sayreville.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe talk with Monroe head coach Sean Field:

by Mike Pavlichko

Well-balanced, battle-tested Old Bridge set for GMC final – whenever it is – seeking second title in three seasons

Note: Due to rain in the forecast, the GMC Championship game has been moved to Saturday, May 30 at 12 noon at Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School.

Look for one particular star, one who rises far above the talent of everyone else on the ballclub, and you won’t find one on the Old Bridge baseball team.

And that’s perfectly fine with head coach Matt Donaghue.

He’s had teams like that in the past, and those have been fine, too. They won the GMC in 2024 and Central Jersey Group 4 in 2023, with ace pitchers like Justin Hascup J.T. Meyer, and Frank Papeo, all of whom had ERAs under two.

But this year’s team is a different story. Any pitcher could win on any given day, and though they’re hitting just .278 as a team there’s balance top to bottom, and every grade seems to be participating, too.

Sophomore Matt Chin leads the lineup, hitting .429, with junior Jared Volpe at .317, and senior Chris Crosta at .293. Balance.

Next Saturday afternoon, May 30th – a week’s delay due to rain in the forecast for this Sunday – the third-seeded Knights will play nine-seed Monroe in the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship game.

First pitch now is set for noon at East Brunswick Magnet School’s Ray Cipperly Field. That was the original site until about a week ago, when the GMC worked out a deal to move the finals to Rutgers, at last for one year. You’ll be able to hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe on the call. Listen at this link, or watch the game live on our YouTube channel.

Junior Brady Meyer is expected to get the start for Old Bridge, coming in at 3-1, with a 2.95 ERA. He got the start in the semifinals for the Knights, tossing 6 2/3 innings of six-hit ball, allowing two earned runs.

Old Bridge led 3-0 until the seventh, when Middlesex got three in the home half of the inning to send it to extras, only to see Old Bridge score six times in the top of the eighth to emerge with a 9-3 victory, and a ticket to the championship.

The Knights swept Monroe two games this year – getting a 9-5 home win April 23rd, and a 12-1 road win six days later. the first of those matchups was the one where Saturday’s original starting pitchers met, and neither had particularly great starts.

Meyer went 3 2/3, but threw 75 pitches, allowing just three hits and one earned run, but he walked six and struck out four, while Ben Faigin of Monroe went 2 2/3 and allowed four hits, six runs, five earned, walking three and striking out four.

But if the way they both pitched in the semis is any indication – Faigin threw seven one-hit, shutout innings in a 1-0 semifinal win over five-seed South Plainfield last weekend – this one will look a little different if they face each other again.

With the final moved, Old Bridge’s next game – after winning their ninth straight on Friday, a 1-0 Senior night victory over Sayreville – will be in the state tournament, where they open up Central Jersey Group 4 play Wednesday as the top-seed against 16th-seed East Brunswick, a team they swept in the regular season.

Click below to hear from Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue on the GMC title game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Troublesome forecast, scheduling conflicts force changes to Somerset County, GMC Invitational schedules

Weather forecasts and scheduling issues have now resulted in two of the three baseball county championship games in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coverage area being moved, and a third could be on the way.

The first of those – the Somerset County Tournament championship game between top-seed and defending champion Immaculata and second-seed Watchung Hills – has been postponed due to the threat of thunderstorms tonight. The Somerset Patriots, who play at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, the site for tonight’s final, told CJSR the final has now been moved to its pre-determined rain date, this Friday at 4 pm.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live coverage of the game, with an audio feed here, and a video stream as well on our YouTube channel. Both are free, and not behind a paywall.

Friday was supposed to be the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational title game, originally scheduled for 2 pm, featuring second-seed Piscataway and fifth-seed Dunellen. But due to a scheduling conflict at Edison High School, which was hosting the game, the GMC announced today it would pushed two hours later to 4 pm.

CJSR was supposed to broadcast that game as well, but with it falling in direct conflict with the new date and time for the SCT final in Bridgewater, we will no longer be able to bring you a live broadcast of the game.

According to AccuWeather, the 6 pm (original game time) forecast for Wednesday night is 85 degrees, with a 47 percent chance of rain, and slightly higher in the 7 pm hour, with a chance of thunderstorms around 51 percent, all the way up through the 9:00 hour. And at 2 pm, the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch effective immediately through 9 pm, along with a Heat Advisory through 8 pm. A “Watch” means severe thunderstorms are possible, but not necessarily imminent.

The current Friday forecast at 4 pm is a lot cooler, with temps in the mid- to low-60s, mostly sunny skies, and just a two percent chance of rain, good for both title games.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s Jim Muldowney GMC Championship game set for 2 pm at Rutgers University’s Bainton Field in Piscataway between third-seed Old Bridge and nine-seed Monroe, also could be affected.

Saturday’s forecast is for a 75 percent chance of rain most of the day, with temps in the mid 50s. Sunday doesn’t look much better either: 59 with a 91% chance of rain throughout the day.

This Sunday had always been the rain date when the game was scheduled for Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School, which has natural grass. Rutgers has turf, but with the final now there, the University has told the league that Bainton Field is not available Sunday. The forecast might make have made that a moot point anyhow.

GMC President Mike Pede – tournament co-chair with Middlesex Athletic Director Mike O’Donnell – said Wednesday afternoon that if the finals can’t be played this Saturday, they will be held a week later on Saturday, May 30 at Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School at noon.

While playing a county final in the middle of the state tournament is not without precedent, that would be the day after a potential state sectional semifinal game for both teams. The NJSIAA state tournament starts next Wednesday for public schools with sectional quarterfinals, and the semis would be Friday.

Old Bridge is the top-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, and will host 16-seed East Brunswick in the opening round, while fifth-seed Monroe is in the same section, and hosts 12th-seed Montgomery. Both would be considered favorites to move on to Friday, meaning they may have to choose which tournament to prioritize: winning a county championship, or advancing in the states.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Semifinals: (3) Old Bridge 9, (2) Middlesex 3 (8 inn.)

After losing a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh, third-seed Old Bridge rallied for six runs in the top of the eighth, coming back to beat second-seed Middlesex, 9-3, in the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament semifinals. The win puts the Knights back in the title game for the second time in three years, having won it in 2024.

READ THE FULL GAME STORY HERE!

Click below to watch the full game as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play live from Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick on May 16, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Semifinals: (9) Monroe 1, (5) South Plainfield 0

Catcher Justin Mangano drove in the lone run of the game, while Ben Faigin threw a complete game, one-hitter, striking out 13 in a 1-0 win for ninth-seed Monroe over fifth-seed South Plainfield in the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Semifinals. It’ll be Monroe’s first time in the GMC title game since 2017.

READ THE FULL GAME STORY HERE!

Click below to watch the full game as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play live from Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick on May 16, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

After Middlesex forces extras, Old Bridge explodes for three in eighth for 9-3 win, berth in GMCT finals

For the second time in three years, Old Bridge is on to the GMC Tournament title game.

And they’ll look to win their fourth title overall when the third-seeded Knights face nine-seed Monroe next Sunday in the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament final at Rutgers University’s Bainton Field ion Piscataway.

After Old Bridge broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a run, and got two more in the sixth, Middlesex rallied with three in their final at bat in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.

  

But in the top of the eighth, Old Bridge put together a rally of their own. They scored six in the inning to take a 9-3 lead, then retired the Blue Jays to win the game.

Like the first game, Middlesex started Dom Long and Old Bridge starter Brady Meyer were locked in a pitchers duel for five innings.

Old Bridge broke through in the fifth.  Nick Natale walked with one out, and two batters later with two out, Adrian Lutomsmi drove him in with a single.

In the sixth, Matt Chin led with a walk.  After two strikeouts, R.J. Pluchine singled, and Michael Chiarella made it 3-0 with a double.

Down to their final at bat, Middlesex came up and got back-to-back singles from pinch hitters Devin Jackson and Dalton Michael.  Marcus Lavornia reached on an E6, bringing in one run.  Still with nobody out, Luke Jones grounded to second to make it 3-2, and Sean Hughes single to tie the game at 3-3.  But Dom Long grounded to second to end the inning.

And then came the eighth.

After a grounder to second by Matt Chin for the first out, Jared Volpe reached on an error at third, and Erich Schnikschneit doubled to give the Knights a 4-3 lead.  As it turned out, that was all they would need, but they sent 11 men to the plate and scored five more runs on four more hits and another error, to take a 9-3 lead.

In the middle of all that, left fielder Lucas Blanco injured himself crashing into the wall and left field on that Schickschneit double, and had to come out of the game. 

And though Middlesex got a two out walk from Jaremiah Acker, he was stranded at third when Daniel Ianiero grounded two second base to end the game.

Long took the loss for Middlesex, while Chris Crosta, who came in during Middlesex’s rally in the seventh, got the win for Old Bridge.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe with Old Bridge right fielder Michael Chiarella and head coach Matt Donaghue, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: