Tag: GMC

by Mike Pavlichko

GMC honors second-annual All-Academic Team

For the second year in a row, the Greater Middlesex Conference has honored its All-Academic team in baseball, seniors from each school who excel in the classroom.

They got the chance to take the field Sunday in East Brunswick before the GMC Tournament Final between North Brunswick and St. Joseph-Metuchen.

Selections were made by the GMC Coaches Association. Scroll down for the full list of players honored for their dedication and commitment to academic success.

  • Justin Ortiz, Carteret
  • Jeff Trinca, Colonia
  • Myles Harada, Dunellen
  • Ryan DellaFave, East Brunswick Magnet
  • John Oranchak, East Brunswick
  • Matt Yascko, Edison
  • Ralph Tawil, Highland Park
  • Justin Rodriguez, JFK
  • Preet Patel, JP Stevens
  • Max Cohn, Metuchen
  • Nicholas Barbera, Monroe
  • Josh Rodriguez, North Brunswick
  • Adam Scire, Old Bridge
  • Dariyon Gonzalez, Perth Amboy Magnet
  • Mahir Shah, Piscataway
  • Aayush Mehta, Sayreville
  • Gabe Albarran, South Amboy
  • Sagar Thapar, South Brunswick
  • Ashton Donovan, South Plainfield
  • Matthew Marques, South River
  • Mason Bitalla, Spotswood
  • Charlie Algier, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Christian Scaff, St Thomas Aquinas
  • Ty Kobylakiewicz, Woodbridge
by Mike Pavlichko

North Brunswick clinches share of first-ever GMC Red title, top-seed in upcoming GMC Tournament, with 6-3 win at South Brunswick

Thursday afternoon’s 6-2 win for the North Brunswick Raiders on the road at South Brunswick was a big one in a number of ways.

Moving up to the GMC Red Division, it gave the Raiders at least a share of the division title in their first year playing with the “big boys” in the Greater Middlesex Conference. And by extension, it will wind up earning them the top seed in the GMC Tournament, which will be seeded Friday morning in East Brunswick.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, the Raiders got a complete game out of Kyle Anderson, who threw seven innings and allowed seven hits and three runs, two of them earned. He got the win for North Brunswick (10-5, 8-4 GMC Red) while starter Ethan Fantel took the loss for the Vikings (5-11, 3-9 GMC Red).

South Brunswick scored in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead on North Brunswick. Ryan Kessler had an RBI double in the first, while Joey Sanchez knocked in another run in the second with a single.

But it didn’t deter Anderson on the mound, who only allowed one run on four hits the rest of the afternoon, which started overcast, but turned out sunny, much like the Raiders’ fortunes in the game.

North Brunswick cut it to 2-1 South in the third when Yomar Carreras led off with a double down the right field line and Zack Konstantinovsky drove him in with a single.

Then, after a scoreless fourth, the Raiders took the lead for good.

Carreras again led off, this time with a single. With Konstantinovsky at the plate, he took off a bit too soon, and Fantel had him picked off, but threw it away into foul territory, and Carreras scored all the way from first with the ball getting lost in the wide expanse of foul territory down the right field line.

Konstantinovsky ended up with a walk and Omar Carreras singled. After Justin Batts popped out, Chris Rosario singled to load the bases, and Frankie Garbolino gave North a lead they would never relinquish with a two-RBI single. Sammy Berardo knocked in another run with a ground-out, and the Raiders had a 5-2 lead through four-and-a-half.

South Brunswick would add another run in the fifth on a single by Brian Culhane, while Konstantinovsky – who finished with a single, two walks and two runs scored in four times at the plate – scored the sixth run on a Justin Batts hit to third that turned out to be an E5.

Click below for postgame interviews, sponsored by the SportsPlex at Metuchen:

North Brunswick starting pitcher Kyle Anderson
North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins
by Mike Pavlichko

No. 5 North Brunswick controls its own destiny in GMC Red race, visiting South Brunswick in final game before county seeding

It may not be the way Raiders’ head coach Mark Blevins drew it up, but it’s what you play a whole season for: to have a chance to control where you end up in the postseason.

Maybe he didn’t want it to come down to his team’s final division game before the GMC Tournament seeding, but it is what it is, and 5th-ranked North Brunswick can control whether they get the tournament’s top seed or not: they just have to beat South Brunswick Thursday in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

First pitch is 4 pm with pregame at 3:40 with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action; click here to listen.

The Raiders are 9-5 overall, 7-4 in the division, tied for first in place in the GMC Red Division with Monroe, but own the tiebreaker over the Falcons by virtue of having swept their two-game series. So, a North Brunswick win Thursday sets them up as the likely top seed.

A loss, and things could get hairy.

Click here for a more detailed look at the GMC Red Division race, which should determine the top seed in the GMC Tournament.

Be that as it may, defending GMC Tournament champ North Brunswick has been playing well, getting great pitching and hitting from the entire team, but especially from Rutgers-bound Zach Konstantinovsky, who won a must-win game Tuesday at home over South Brunswick. He went the complete game, five innings, striking out 11 and shutting out the Vikings, while knocked in three runs at the plate, including a home run.

So, he won’t go again until next week. That’s the good news for South Brunswick (5-10, 3-8 GMC White), which graduated eleven seniors last season, and has been working with younger players – i.e., an all-junior outfield, and just one senior in the infield – to improve their game. Not an easy thing to do when Red Division opponents come at you fast and furious in a tight four weeks leading up to the GMC seeding meeting.

Click below to hear from both coaches ahead of Thursday’s CJSR broadcast featuring North Brunswick at South Brunswick:

North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins
South Brunswick head coach Tim Sweeney

by Mike Pavlichko

Sayreville – strong and consistent all year – hopes to make noise in first trip to GMC Championship Tourney since 2019

It’s been four years and three seasons since the Sayreville baseball team has made the GMC Championship Tournament, and coming off last season’s 8-16 campaign, losing a ton of pitching, veteran coach Mike Novak wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

Let’s just say he’s been pleasantly surprised. The Bombers should at least be one of the top five seeds when the field is picked.

This year’s squad will be the GMC White Division champion, regardless of what happens Thursday against JP Stevens in the Bombers’ final game before Friday’s GMCT seeding meeting. And that’s a huge accomplishment.

Sayreville had won five straight before an 11-1 loss to Red Division opponent Monroe Wednesday night. In that stretch, they scored no fewer than six runs in any of the five games, scoring in double figures three times, and pitching one shutout.

The bats have done what Novak expected: hitting a bit over .300 and scoring seven runs a game, led by Jake Romanello and his .524 batting average, with eleven runs batted in.

It’s the pitching has been the difference, an X-factor for a team that graduated 92 innings pitched from a year ago, with just two hurlers – A.J. Zapoticzny and Aayush Mehta – who’d thrown more than ten innings during the year. Zapoticzny hasn’t thrown much, but Mehta has thrown 23 1/3 innings to a 0.60 ERA, while Thomas Schlaline has impressed, throwing 28 1/3 innings, with a 1.98 earned run average.

All that has helped the Bombers to an 11-4 record, 9-2 in the GMC White, good for at least a share of the division, though they have the tiebreaker with second-place Woodbridge, having swept the Barrons.

And that’s good enough to put them squarely in the GMC Championship bracket. The only question is how high they’ll get seeded after the parity-riddled Red Division gets its top few teams in.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Sayreville coach Mike Novak about the Bombers’ 2023 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: #6 Woodbridge 14, Perth Amboy 1

Perth Amboy got on the board first, but sixth-ranked Woodbridge scored 14 unanswered runs – including ten in the bottom of the third when the Barrons sent 14 hitters to the plate – in a 14-1 victory over the visiting, rival Panthers in a GMC White Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas call all the play-by-play on May 2, 2023 from Peterson Field in Woodbridge.

by Chris Tsakonas

Woodbridge looks to veterans to continue hot streak as Perth Amboy comes to town

When you look at Woodbridge baseball this season, one thing stands out: experience.

This year, the Barrons (10-4, 7-3 GMC White) are relying on their experience, returning several of the contributors that powered them to a 25-7 season and a deep state tournament run, which ended in the North 2 Group 4 title game against eventual Group 4 runner-up Hunterdon Central.

One of those veterans will be Eddie Nunez, who will be starting on the mound for Woodbridge against Perth Amboy (0-12, 0-9 GMC White). Nunez has taken his game to another level this year, with a 1.72 ERA in five starts this season.

Offensively, it’s been a collective effort for the Barons, with a team batting average of .324 on the season.

Leading the pack for them has been catcher Tyler Weber, who is hitting a team-high .452 with 16 RBIs. Ty Kobylakiewicz is hitting .400 with 14 runs batted in and two home runs. Drew Lukachyk has also been a power threat, leading Woodbridge with three home runs and 19 RBIs while also batting .400.

Now, the Barrons will look to build off a 4-3 win against Edison – led by a HR and three RBIs from Lukachyk – which earned them a split in the series.

Not only that, but Woodbridge needs just one win against Amboy to clinch sole possession of second place in the White over the 8-3 Eagles, who are done with divisional play.

Listen to Woodbridge head coach Michael Monaco speak about the Barrons’ success ahead of the Perth Amboy game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas:

by Mike Pavlichko

Improving Perth Amboy seeks first win in GMC White night game at Woodbridge

The 2023 edition of Perth Amboy High School baseball has not won a game yet.

The Panthers may be 0-12, but fourth-year head coach Damon Clark’s club has improved from Opening Day onward.

Case in point: they lost their first four games by a combined score of 62-5, getting shutout three times.

In their last four games, the Panthers have lost by a grand total of eight runs: a pair of three-run losses and a pair of one-run losses among them. So, it seems like a matter of time before they finally get to drop a W in the win column.

Their next chance comes Tuesday night, when the Panthers visit sixth-ranked Woodbridge in a GMC White Division night game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

First pitch is set for 7:00. Pregame is at 6:40 pm with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call. Click here to listen.

The Panthers return just one senior starter from last year’s 8-14-1 team: senior Melvin Jiminez, who’s hitting .364 on the season.

The pitching took a while to jell, partly due to the team not having a returning catcher. Senior Victor Arias has taken over that spot, playing his first year of high school ball, and Clark says he’s adapted to the role nicely, helping the staff settle in as of late.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Perth Amboy head coach Damon Clark about the Panthers’ season, and Tuesday’s night game at Woodbridge:

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.

https://www.edisonboysbaseball.com/

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 Chris Tsakonas

Cumiskey fans 10 to power Spotswood past South River to gain leg up in GMC Blue race

The game featured two future Division 1 baseball players on the mound: Spotswood’s Carter Cumiskey – a Seton Hall Commit – and South River’s Julius Rosado, who’ll one day suit up for Rutgers.

It was Cumiskey who got the better of Rosado this time around, striking out ten, giving up one run, and scattering five hits over five innings to get the win, in a 6-1 win Tuesday afternoon over the Rams in Spotswood.

The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Chargers (10-2) who were undefeated before two non-conference losses this past weekend.

It also puts first-place Spotswood at 7-0 in the Blue Division, with South River in second at 7-2, and would earn them at least clinch a share of the division if the two were to end up tied.

The teams meet again ion South River on Thursday.

South River (7-2) broke the deadlock in the top of the third, when back to back doubles from Rosado and Parker Lane gave them a 1-0 lead.

Spotswood answered in the bottom of the fourth. Casey Cumiskey – Carter’s older brother- scored from second after an errant throw from home plate to tie it, and then Sebby Saracino gave the Chargers the lead by reaching home off a wild pitch.

Spotswood kept that momentum going in the fifth, with John Lubin scoring on another wild pitch before Jackson Walsh hit a two RBI single to make it a 5-1 game. Spotswood would load the bases again in the sixth, leading up to a second run for Lubin after Carter Cumiskey drew a walk.

Spotswood sealed the deal with two scoreless innings from Breckyn DeAngelis, who got three strikeouts on six batters faced.

Rosado took the loss, allowing five runs – three earned – in five innings of work. He struck out seven, but also walked seven.

Click below for postgame reaction from Spotswood’s win over South River:

Spotswood sophomore Carter Cumiskey
Spotswood head coach Glenny Fredricks