Tag: Greater Middlesex Conference

by Alec Crouthamel

Jose Rodriguez wins CJSR’s GMC Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year after yet another breakthrough year at Colonia

Jose Rodriguez’ accomplishments at Colonia could fill a book in his eight years at the helm.

Six sectional championships – including the Patriots’ current run of five straight – back-to-back GMC Tournament titles, multiple Division I talents, and a whole lot of wins.

And yet, the only thing missing was an appearance in the state final.

Colonia did just that this season, a remarkable feat after losing four starters from last year’s sectional and GMC Tournament champions. Even after a 2-6 start, the Patriots improved and developed every day, responding with a 17-4 stretch with a ten-game win streak in the middle of it. They made it to the GMC Tournament semifinals before falling to Piscataway, and then worked through the North 2, Group 3 bracket to finish off the five-peat.

After losing to Ramapo in the previous four state semifinal appearances, Colonia finally broke through and made it to the Group 3 final for the first time with a win over Montville. Though the Patriots’ season ultimately ended in a loss to Ocean City in the state final, their response to adversity and youth development earned Rodriguez CJSR’s GMC Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

The Rodriguez family did plenty with the ball in their hands as well. Son Jayce broke out as a sophomore after playing key depth minutes off the bench as a freshman, earning All-GMC honors, averaging 20 points per game, while scoring in double-figures in every game this season.

New to the rotation were underclassmen forwards, freshman Desmond Rudanovic and sophomore Teagan Amponsah. Rudanovic led the team in rebounds at 6-foot-7, while Amponsah improved drastically in front of the Patriots’ very eyes, including a dynamite defensive game in the sectional final win over Chatham. Guards Jayden Johnson and Tyron Holloway — a junior and sophomore, respectively — played big minutes as well, relied on to handle the ball and play solid defense whenever they came into the game.

While the Patriots were a primarily young team, they did have some key experience leading the way. Rodriguez has raved about senior point guard Dylan Chiera — headed to the University of Charleston in West Virginia to play quarterback — at every opportunity. Fellow senior forward Nfa Clyne saw a leap of his own in playing time and responsibilities as one of the team’s top wing defenders and rebounders. Senior wing Tyler Herman also found himself in the starting lineup after his time as a reserve last season, but served as a key defender and leader on the floor.

Not many people could have imagined that Colonia would work itself to Jersey Mike’s Arena for a state title after a 2-6 start on January 6th.

But those in the Patriots locker room never lost faith. And that faith was rewarded with yet another hurdle leapt over in the small-but-raucous confines of the Colonia High School gym.

Click below to hear Colonia boys basketball coach Jose Rodriguez talk about the Patriots’ 2025-26 season, their postseason run, and the program’s future with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Alec Crouthamel

Battle-tested No. 8 Colonia returns home to host No. 4 Piscataway in GMCT title rematch

Jose Rodriguez has his team where he wants them.

Amid an even start — two wins, two losses — against some stiff competition, No. 8 Colonia boys basketball has seen new players enter the fold, and experienced ones expanding on their experiences and roles from the past.

It’s been a narrow line to balance so far for Rodriguez, now in his eighth season at the helm, working between playing some of the tougher competition in and out of the GMC, but his team is hungry to improve daily, and are taking the responsibilities in stride.

The latest challenge comes in another conference matchup, as No. 4 Piscataway comes to town in a rematch of last season’s GMC Tournament Championship.

You can hear Monday evening’s game between the Patriots (2-2) and the Chiefs (4-0) live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off set for 6 pm and pregame at 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action; click here to listen.

The history between Rodriguez and Piscataway head coach Bob Turco — two games removed from a milestone 400th victory on Wednesday — has been long-chronicled, but Colonia figures to bring shotmaking and athleticism to the table in the latest iteration between the two.

Of the returning players stepping into elevated roles, sophomore guard Jayce Rodriguez has flourished, putting up points in bunches. He had a terrific summer, according to his head coach — and father — and comes into the week averaging 22 points per game.

Senior point guard Dylan Chiera brings battle-tested leadership and playmaking on both ends of the floor, and has stepped into a bigger on-ball role himself.

There’s some new blood, as well.

Freshman Desmond Rudanovic has started his high school career in (long) stride at 6-foot-7, leading the team in rebounding and providing touch and versatility at his size. He will likely have to be the equalizer against an athletic Piscataway frontcourt, but one he has a size advantage over.

The Patriots also boast plenty of athletes ready to get after it on the defensive side, led by senior Nfa Clyne — who causes havoc with his speed and strength on the ball defensively — with underclassmen Tyronn Holloway and Jayden Johnson waiting in the wings.

All told, Colonia’s two losses to St. Peter’s Prep and No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen, as well as wins over St. Thomas Aquinas and Old Bridge, all serve as moments to continue to grow, potentially into a team nobody will want to face as the calendar flips to 2026.

The Chiefs will have to be up to that task on Monday night in Colonia.

Click below to hear Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez preview Monday’s game against Piscataway and discuss the Patriots’ season so far with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Mike Pavlichko

Greater Middlesex Conference coaches unveil 2025 All-Conference, All-Division honorees

As it does every year, the coaches in the Greater Middlesex Conference are honoring their top baseball players with their All-Conference and All-Division teams, and Players of the Year.

The All-Conference squad includes eleven players from the GMC Red Division, five from the White Division, and one from the Blue, representing 12 different schools, while St. Joseph-Metuchen’s first-year veteran skipper Dennis McCaffery was named coach of the year.

Overall, 69 players were recognized from 27 of the 33 teams in the league.

The Falcons finished fourth in the challenging and very balanced GMC Red Division, but won the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship via four straight walk-off wins, including 7-4 in the title game over Edison on a grand slam by JP Zayle, never having led at any time in their four tournament games.

Six GMC teams are still alive in the state playoffs, with four of them – Old Bridge, Colonia, South Plainfield and Middlesex – playing Thursday in sectional finals, while St. Joe’s and St. Thomas Aquinas are in the sectional semifinal stage, with games on tap Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the 2025 GMC honorees:

Players of the Year

  • Red Division: Dom Massaro, South Plainfield
  • White Division: Cory Pascarella, Colonia
  • Blue Division: Julius Rosado, South River
  • Gold Division: Mark Stein, Dunellen
  • GMC Pitcher of the Year:  Cory Pascarella, Colonia
  • GMC Hitter of the Year: Julius Rosado, South River
Colonia’s Cory Pascarella pitches in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals against North Hunterdon on June 3, 2025. (Photo: Dom Savino)

2025 GMC Baseball All-Conference

  • Colonia: Cory Pascarella, Colin Kroner
  • East Brunswick: Joe Spinello
  • Edison: Connor Murphy
  • Middlesex: Dominic Long
  • Old Bridge: Justin Hascup, John Smith
  • South Brunswick: Collin Perna
  • South Plainfield: Dominic Massaro
  • South River: Julius Rosado
  • Spotswood: Carter Cumiskey
  • St. Joseph-Metuchen: JP Zayle, Bobby Chsristensen
  • St. Thomas Aquinas: Louis Rizzolo
  • Woodbridge: Gavin Slicner, Xavier Diaz, Kevin Arroyo
  • GMC Coach of the Year: Dennis McCaffery, St. Joseph-Metuchen
Dominic Massaro of South Plainfield.  (Source: @DominicMassaro on Twitter)

2025 GMC All-Red Division

  • East Brunswick: Joe Spinello
  • Edison: Connor Murphy, Robert Roma, Dom Innocenti
  • Old Bridge: Justin Hascup, John Smith
  • South Brunswick: Collin Perna
  • South Plainfield: Dominic Massaro, Nick Irizarry, Aiden McCarthy
  • St. Joseph-Metuchen: JP Zayle, Rich Zangara, Bobby Christensen, Luke Palermo
  • Woodbridge: Xavier Diaz, Gavin Slicner, Kevin Arroyo, Xavier Diaz
  • Coach of the Year: Dennis McCaffery, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Sportsmanship Award: South Brunswick

2025 GMC All-White Division

  • Colonia: Cory Pascarella, Colin Kroner, Dylan Chiera
  • Middlesex: Dominic Long, Chris Kozak, Domenic Parenti, Owen Reynolds
  • North Brunswick: Willy Pena
  • Perth Amboy: Chris Rodriguez, Justin Foy
  • Sayreville: Michael Robinson, Thomas Schlaline, Logan Kaufman
  • Spotswood: Carter Cumiskey, Will Buchan
  • St. Thomas Aquinas: Louis Rizzolo, Declan DiCarlo
  • Coach of the Year: Mike Scialfo, Colonia
  • Sportsmanship Award: Perth Amboy
Middlesex starter Chris Kozak deals in the sixth inning of a GMC Tournament first round game at Colonia on May 12, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

2025 GMC All-Blue Division Team

  • Carteret: Nick Kee, Luis Hernandez
  • JFK: Grant Lorentzen
  • JP Stevens: Soham Prajapati, Mukund Rao
  • Metuchen: Lucas Malamung, Matt Jellamy, James Fenton
  • North Plainfield: Davin Ciriaco, Bennie Sokolowski, Tommy Zotollo
  • Piscataway: Riley Wingate
  • South Amboy: Jeremy Vasquez, Ben Smith
  • South River: Julius Rosado, James Zsorey, Noah Borrero
  • Coach of the Year: Steve Zurawiecki, North Plainfield
  • Sportsmanship Award: Piscataway
South River’s Julius Rosado – a Rutgers signee – got the Rams off on the right foot with a run-scoring double off the wall in left-center field in the top of the first at North Plainfield on April 25, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

2025 GMC All-Gold Division Team

  • East Brunswick Magnet: Anthony Bienvenue, Nomar Carreras, Tom O’Neill, Jack Clements, Charlie Misura
  • Dunellen: Michael Dow, Mark Stein, Kristian Roman Lopez, Cole Mayer
  • Highland Park: Seamus MacKinnon
  • New Brunswick: Kelvin Heuston, Devin Heuston, Alex Rodriguez, Jacob Henderson, Elkin Reyes
  • Piscataway Magnet: Colton Lyerly, Kyle Malchiodi
  • Coach of the Year: Nico Vargas, New Brunswick
  • Sportsmanship Award: Timothy Christian
New Brunswick and East Brunswick Magnet play in the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational final on May 23, 2025 at Edison High School. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Mike Pavlichko

Greater Middlesex Conference unveils post-season awards, all-league and division teams

South River’s Julius Rosado was named GMC Hitter of the Year, while Monroe’s Zack Wallace was named Pitcher of the Year, as the Greater Middlesex Conference unveiled its 2024 postseason awards Thursday.

Scott Gleichenhaus of Red Division Champion South Plainfield was named Coach of the Year.

Here are all the league awards, and division honorees, as chosen by the league coaches:

All-GMC:

  • Cory Pascarella – Colonia
  • Jaxon Appelman, Robert Roma – Edison
  • Zack Wallace – Monroe
  • Yomar Carreras – North Brunswick
  • JT Meyer, Frank Papeo, John Smith, Justin Hascup – Old Bridge
  • Bobby Bressler – Piscataway
  • Ethan Fantel – South Brunswick
  • Jayden Alvarez, Zach Robinson – South Plainfield
  • Julius Rosado – South River
  • Carter Cumiskey – Spotswood
  • Drew Lukachyk, Eddy Nunez – Woodbridge
  • Coach of the Year: Scott Gleichenhaus, South Plainfield
  • Sportsmanship: St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Hitter of the Year: Julius Rosado, South River
  • Pitcher of The Year: Zack Wallace, Monroe

All-Red Division:

  • Lukas Meyer – East Brunswick
  • Harrison Lollin, Zack Wallace – Monroe
  • Yomar Carreras – North Brunswick
  • Akhil Penkala, JT Meyer, Frank Papeo, John Smith, Justin Hascup – Old Bridge
  • Bobby Christensen, Joseph Zammitti – St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Colin Perna, Ethan Fantel – South Brunswick
  • Nick Irizarry, Jayden Alvarez, Zach Robinson, Daniel Kapsch – South Plainfield
  • Coach of the Year: Scott Gleichenhaus, South Plainfield
  • Sportsmanship: St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Player of the Year: Zach Robinson, South Plainfield

All-White Division:

  • Cory Pascarella, Colin Kroner – Colonia
  • Jaxon Appelman, Robert Roma, Anthony Calantoni – Edison
  • John Papaianni – JP Stevens
  • Owen Reynolds – Middlesex
  • Anthony Ortega, Sebastian Aponte – Perth Amboy
  • Thomas Schlaline, Michael Robinson, Jake Romanello – Sayreville
  • Drew Lukachyk, Eddy Nunez, Shawn Kish, Tyler Weber, Xavier Diaz – Woodbridge
  • Coach of the Year: Mike Monaco, Woodbridge
  • Sportsmanship: JP Stevens
  • Player of the Year: Jaxon Appelman, Edison

All-Blue Division:

  • Grant Lorentzen, RJ Coleman – JFK
  • Lucas Weiss – Metuchen
  • Davyn Ciriaco – North Plainfield
  • Bobby Bressler, Riley Wingate – Piscataway
  • Gavin Sansone, Louis Rizzolo, Zach Diaz, Nikash Patel – St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Julius Rosado, James Zsorey, Noah Borrero – South River
  • Carter Cumiskey, Will Buchan, Breckyn DeAngelis, Luc Acquaviva, Ryan Orth – Spotswood
  • Coach of the Year: Glenny Fredricks, Spotswood
  • Sportsmanship: North Plainfield
  • Player of the Year: Julius Rosado

All-Gold Division:

  • Nomar Carreras, Michael Zappola – East Brunswick Magnet
  • Nick Kee, Justin Santana, James Rodriguez, Luis Hernandez, Lucas Rivera – Carteret
  • Carlos Paredes – New Brunswick
  • Steven Larosa – Somerset Tech
  • Jeremy Vasquez, Micah Nemeth, Diego Colon, Ben Hernandez, Ben Smith – South Amboy
  • Josh Thiero, Dylan Spivey, Ben Wang – Timothy Christian
  • Coach of the Year: Dan Morvay, Carteret
  • Sportsmanship: Somerset Tech
  • Player of the Year: Jeremy Vasquez, South Amboy

All-Silver Division:

  • Jacob Manna, Mark Stein, Ryan Hutchins, Danny Watts – Dunellen
  • Seamus MacKinnon, Luca Sheldon, Aidan O’Connell, Dorian Crocco, Oscar Caraballo-Duran, Connor Roth-Zappo, Highland Park
  • Nelson Concepcion, Zachary Lenardo, Johnkelly Jiminez – Perth Amboy Magnet
  • Jacob Lyerly, Colton Lyerly, Kyle Malchiodi – Piscataway Magnet
  • Mackias Ysaac – Wardlaw-Hartridge
  • Coach of the Year: Connor Lindsay, Dunellen
  • Sportsmanship: Wardlaw-Hartridge
  • Player of the Year: Mark Stein, Dunellen
by Mike Pavlichko

Rain, rain has gone away, but some still can’t play as fields drain from Opening Week deluge

There’s the official start of Spring, which was back on March 19th this year. But for many, Spring doesn’t start until baseball does.

For high school baseball, that means April first this year.

But as of after three days of rain, many teams haven’t opened yet. And for a sport that many coaches bemoan has too short a preseason and too condensed a regular season, that’s going to cause some problems.

Before any teams got in games Thursday morning – if they were lucky enough to have turf or a grass field that drains really well – of the 33 baseball teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference, only four of them had managed just one game: JFK, JP Stevens, North Plainfield and Old Bridge.

In the Skyland, out of 14 Somerset County teams, only six have gotten to play yet, including Bound Brook, Bridgewater-Raritan, Franklin, Gill St. Bernard’s Hillsborough and Montgomery all getting one game in through the first three days of the season.

As things began to dry out Thursday, more teams took the field for the first time, while Hillsborough actually got in its second game.

Things weren’t so lucky for Monroe, which had to reschedule its Thursday GMC Red Division home game against St. Joseph for April 26th. Their Friday game in Metuchen has been moved to later in the afternoon up at Cranford, on turf.

Many grass fields were probably well waterlogged before Opening Day, with this week’s rain just piling on.

The Rutgers Gardens weather station in New Brunswick gives us some pretty interesting numbers:

  • In the first three days of April, we’ve received 3.12 inches of precipitation. The entire month got 5.76 inches of precip in 2023, with 1.44 inches falling on Saturday, April 22nd, wiping out the late games of the Autism Awareness Challenge in North Brunswick, and moving most of Sunday’s games elsewhere.
  • March saw 7.83 inches of precipitation (rain and melted snow) this year, when last year saw just 3.64.
  • Year-to-date, we have had 19.27 inches of precipitation through 7 am, April 4th of this year. Last year that total was 11.32. That’s almost double.

And don’t forget how rainy the fall was. The final four months of the year – September through December – saw 25.11 inches of precipitation this past year, while the fall/early winter of 2022 had just 16.21 inches. That year was more balanced, though. In 2023, we had almost 11 inches of rain in September, and 8.77 inches of precipitation in December.

It all adds up to some pretty water-logged grass fields – a good advertisement for turf! – meaning it won’t take much to make fields unplayable the rest of the Spring season.

by Mike Pavlichko

South Brunswick’s Hendricks runs GMC’s social media, promoting league, players and coaches

When C.J. Hendricks put aside his baseball uniform, stepping away from coaching to lead the South Brunswick Athletic Department, the book was out quickly on his style: He would use all the newest technology available to promote his school’s athletic teams, the student-athletes, their coaches and their achievements.

Now, he’s added the Greater Middlesex Conference social media channels and website to his list of 24/7 tasks, taking over those duties this past December.

Social media knows no deadline, other than “get it up as fast as you can.” It can be a beast to maintain. But Hendricks has the chops for it.

When he first started at the Vikings’ Athletic Director, he debuted a feature called “94 Feet,” based on the Jay Bilas feature where he’d walk the length of a basketball court with a player or coach, and learn more about them.

Hendricks took it, adapted it, and ran with it. And in some cases skated or swam with it, to be more accurate.

Yes, he interviewed student-athletes and coaches in all kinds of sports, donning skates and even jumping in the pool last December to chat with swim coach Ryan Webb.

South Brunswick Athletic Director C.J. Hendricks and swim coach Ryan Webb in a version of “94 Feet” called “Wall to Wall” on Instagram. (Source: @WeAreSBVikings on Instagram)

Now, he’s planning on bringing many of the same kinds of ideas to the Greater Middlesex Conference website, which can be found here, as well as the league’s social media channels. It’s all part of telling the great, positive stories about the conference, its student-athletes, coaches and more.

And we all know there are plenty of great stories to tell.

Click below to hear South Brunswick Athletic Director C.J. Hendricks talk about promoting the Greater Middlesex Conference through its website and social media channels:

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio announces 2024 HS Baseball Broadcast Schedule featuring 19 teams, plus GMC and Somerset County Tourneys

Central Jersey Sports Radio will air a ten-game regular season package in its fourth season of high school baseball coverage this Spring, with appearances by 19 different schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference and Somerset County, as well as both county tournaments and the NJSIAA state tournament.

Play-by-play coverage begins with three games the first week of the season, including two season openers on April first and second.

Among those included are defending Central Jersey Group 4 champion and state Group 4 finalist Old Bridge, defending GMC Tournament champion and Non Public South A finalist St. Joseph-Metuchen, SCT champ and Non-Public North B finalist Rutgers Prep, SCT runner-up Ridge, and a host of others.

There are also rivalry matchups, like Colonia at Woodbridge to open their seasons on April 2, and Bound Brook at Manville later in the month, and we’ll carry the Spotswood-South Brunswick all-GMC game from the Autism Awareness Challenge in North Brunswick.

GMC Tournament coverage will include two quarterfinal round games, both semifinals, and the championship game, as well as the Somerset County Tournament semifinals and finals at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, home of the Yankees AA affiliate Somerset Patriots.

Additional coverage of the state tournament will be announced at a later date.

Click here for the full 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio baseball schedule.

by Mike Pavlichko

Old Bridge puts some early distance between themselves and rest of GMC Red field with extra-inning, lightning-delayed win over North Brunswick

Old Bridge and North Brunswick were locked in a good, old-fashioned pitchers’ duel Saturday at Fred Cole Field, the kind of battle that looks like it’ll be par for the course in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division this year.

With the Knights (6-1) leading 2-1 after six innings of play, the visitors tied it up when E.J. Accetura scored on throwing error when Josh Rodriguez hit a ball in the hole to the right side of the infield.

No one would break through until the tenth when Thomas Papeo reached on hard-hit ball to third and a throwing error. But it took a while to win it. Kyle McSorley saw one pitch – a ball – then: a flash of lightning. Then, after a half-hour delay, almost as quickly as the lightning itself, he worked the count to 3-1 before driving in Papeo with a double to right-center for the walk-off 3-2 victory.

The starters went deep. Kyle Anderson went a full seven for North Brunswick (3-4) giving up two earned runs on six hits. Frank Papeo fanned nine for Old Bridge through six, allowing six hits and just one earned run.

Zach Konstantinovsky came in for an inning, then Chris Rosario followed, pitching a scoreless ninth, but giving up the winning run in the tenth, to take the loss.

For Old Bridge, John Smith threw a scoreless seventh, and Thomas Papeo – Frank’s older brother by a year – threw three scoreless innings to get the win in relief.

The win puts some distance between the now-first place Knights and the three teams tied for second in the division, a full game ahead of East Brunswick, North Brunswick and South Plainfield. Old Bridge is 3-1 in the division, having swept the Raiders, while splitting with St. Joseph of Metuchen.

by Mike Pavlichko

Week One in the GMC finds Spotswood unbeaten, Edison surging, and a mish-mosh in the GMC Red

The season may be shorter this year, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played between now and the GMC Tournament, and then the state playoffs.

And yet, it’s never early to look at how things are going after the first week of the 2023 season.

The GMC Red Division is feasting on itself…

To wit, five of the seven teams picked up two wins this past week, but none are undefeated.

Defending GMC Tournament champion North Brunswick (2-1) split a pair with South Plainfield (1-2) and beat Monroe at home in the first of a home-and-home that wraps on the Falcons’ home field Tuesday afternoon. Monroe (1-2) knocked off last year’s GMCT runner-up St. Joseph-Metuchen on opening day before dropping the rematch and its first of two against the Raiders, who are tied for first with East Brunswick.

The Bears (2-1) split with South Brunswick then won big at South Plainfield Saturday. St. Joe’s (2-2) split a pair of split two-game series… falling to Monroe on Opening Day, then at Old Bridge Tuesday, before earning wins at Monroe Wednesday and at home against Old Bridge on Saturday.

Old Bridge (2-1) began 2-0 with wins over JP Stevens and St. Joseph at home before falling to the Falcons in Metuchen. South Brunswick (2-1) split with East Brunswick and won at Perth Amboy.

Dramamine, anyone?

Edison bats are hot, hot, hot…

During the COVID-shortened year, Edison was a pretty good baseball team, but in 2022, the Eagles struggled mightily at the plate. As a team, they hit just .209, almost a hundred points lower, with key guys like centerfielder Matt Yascko checking in with a .175 average.

Fast forward a year, and the Eagles have moved down to the White Division, and apparently have been hitting the batting cages.

Yascko – now a senior, and coming off a state sectional championship in football – is hitting .400 with 2-for-5 and three walks – that’s what you want out of a centerfielder – while seniors Jackson Ferrer and Jordan Martins are batting .571, and the Eagles (3-0) are checking in at .427 as a team.

And the run production is there in a big way, too. The two wins over Perth Amboy came by mercy rule: 14-0 and 23-0. In a 10-1 victory over the Patriots, Edison saw its scoreless pitching streak to start the season end at 12.

And that’s where the arms have been solid, allowing just eight hits in 17 innings across three games, while amassing 25 strikeouts. Paul di Pasquale two-hit Amboy in the opener. Jaxon Appelman did it again in the next game, fanning seven. And then Robert Roma and Dom Innocenti combined for a five-hitter and 23 Ks against Colonia.

The Eagles are back at it Monday with the finale of the home-and-home with Colonia on their own red turf, then play two against the bombers before opening a home-and-home with in-town rival JP Stevens Saturday at noon, a game you can hear right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Spotswood also piling on the runs…

After winning a narrow decision over Metuchen at “The Swamp” – the Chargers’ affectionate name for their home field, Spotswood (3-0) exploded for 23 runs in their next two games, and kept both the Bulldogs and North Plainfield off the scoreboard in a 13-0 win at Metuchen Thursday, and a 10-0 home win over the Canucks on Saturday afternoon.

The Cumiskey brothers are tearing the cover off the ball, a combined 11-for-21 with Carter, the sophomore, hitting .500 with 3 RBIs, while his older brother, Casey, the senior, is hitting .545 with four runs driven in, to lead the team.

Casey’s also a solid pitcher, and after throwing 2/3 of an inning – getting both via K – to get the save against Metuchen on Tuesday, he got the start against North Plainfield and showed immense control in four shutout innings, allowing just one hit, walking none, and striking out eleven.

Two unbeatens in the Gold…

With the creation of the new Silver Division, there’s now one more division below the Gold, a mix of Gold and Blue teams from last season. Little surprise that East Brunswick Magnet and Carteret are leading the pack here in the early going, with both teams 3-0 to start the season, the only division with two unbeaten teams remaining.

READ MORE: EB Magnet explodes for 15 runs in first two innings to top Timothy Christian on Opening Day

The Ramblers won their first three games by a combined 36-3. They opened with a 14-0 win at New Brunswick, then swept the Zebras with a 12-2 home win in the rematch Wednesday at home. Their third win came at South Amboy Thursday, 12-2.

Senior infielder/pitcher Jhoalvin Ledesma is crushing it, 7-for-11 in the first three games for a .636 batting average, while sophomore Drexler Rodriguez leads the team with 6 RBIs. And thought he’s just 2-for-4 at the plate, he has also walked five times, and the Ramblers are averaging just under ten walks per game.

Good eye!

As for EB Magnet, we saw the Tigers on Opening Day on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as they picked up a 16-4 win at Timothy Christian, and completed the sweep back at Ray Cipperly Field on Wednesday with a 10-6 win, before winning at Somerset Tech Friday 6-2.

On the air…

The broadcast schedule this week on Central Jersey Sports Radio includes two games, one in each county. Thursday, we’re in Somerset County as Somerville travels to Rutgers Prep for a 4:00 game. Then, we’re back to the GMC on Saturday at noon as Edison takes on JP Stevens in the first of a home-and-home.

Click here to listen to all the action live, and for free, on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

by Mike Pavlichko

GMC Coaches reveal 2022 All-Conference, All-Division baseball teams

It takes hours of deliberation every year, but the baseball coaches in the Greater Middlesex Conference came together late Tuesday night – especially after a couple of their coaches won big state tournament games during the day – to choose their 2022 All-Conference and All-Division teams.

It was a particularly long day for East Brunswick;s Chris Kenney and Woodbridge’s Mike Monaco, whose teams won extra-inning games in the state playoffs Tuesday. The Barrons knocked off North 2, Group 4 defending champion Ridge, 5-4 in eleven innings, while the Bears avenged their 12-inning, 1-0 GMC Tournament semifinal loss to North Brunswick – and a regular season walk-off defeat, too – with a 4-2, eight-inning victory over the Raiders. Both now move on to sectional title games Friday.

Scroll down for a list of all the 2022 honorees:

ALL CONFERENCE:

  • Tyler Mendez, Colonia
  • Dustin McGuinness, East Brunsiwck
  • Brody Marzano, JP Stevens
  • Bobby Ulmer, Middlesex
  • Harrison Lollin, Monroe
  • Zack Konstantinovsky, North Brunswick
  • Omar Carreras, North Brunswick
  • Justin Herbstman, Old Bridge
  • Joey Tuttoilmondo, South Brunswick
  • Luke Bickunas, South Plainfield
  • Julius Rosado, South River
  • Casey Cumiskey, Spotswood
  • Mark Gialluisi, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Josiah Brown, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Josh Vazquez, Woodbridge
  • Brett Lukachyk, Woodbridge
  • Eddy Nunez, Woodbridge

Coach of the Year: Mark Blevins, North Brunswick

ALL-RED DIVISION:

  • Ryan Basham, Dustin McGuinness, Mike Marchese – East Brunswick
  • Jaxon Appelman – Edison
  • Brody Marzano – JP Stevens
  • Harrison Lollin, Nick Sellari – Monroe
  • Frank Papeo, Justin Herbstman – Old Bridge
  • Pete Cortez, Joey Tuttoilmondo, Ethan Fantel – South Brunswick
  • Luke Bickunas, Ty Ducoff – South Plainfield
  • Robbie Carvelli, Josiah Brown, Mark Gialluisi – St. Joseph-Metuchen

Coach of the Year: Dave Marzano, JP Stevens
Sportsmanship Award: Edison

ALL-WHITE DIVISION:

  • Tyler Mendez – Colonia
  • Isaiah Cherry – JFK
  • Antonio Perillo – Metuchen
  • Bobby Ulmer, Alfonso Esposito, Stephen Young – Middlesex
  • Zack Konstantinovsky, Omar Carreras, Yomar Carreras – North Brunswick
  • Rocco Bellamy – Piscataway
  • Mike Colonnello – Sayreville
  • Casey Cumiskey, Ryan Poulsen – Spotswood
  • Josh Vazquez, Brett Lukachyk, Ty Kobylakiewicz, Eddy Nunez – Woodbridge

Coach of the Year: Mark Blevins, North Brunswick
Sportsmanship Award: Sayreville

ALL-BLUE DIVISION:

  • Ryan DellaFave, Scott Pede, Joe Moye, Ryan Jamison – East Brunswick Tech
  • Justin Santana, James Rodriguez – Carteret
  • Kiefer Gomez – New Brunswick
  • Julius Rosado, Joseph Lepore, Nick Lehotzky, Ryan Kurtz, Andrew Steffaro – South River
  • Tyler Kadi, Ricky DelRio, Artis Ray, Chris Fogarile, Zach Diaz – St. Thomas Aquinas

Coach of the Year: Tom D’Agostino, St. Thomas Aquinas
Sportsmanship Award: New Brunswick

ALL-GOLD DIVISION:

  • Nasir Tippet, Danny Watts, Damian Evans – Dunellen
  • Ewan Haley-Lock – Highland Park
  • Anthony Gonzalez, Nelson Concepcion, Josh Acevedo – Perth Amboy Tech
  • Jacob Lyerly – Piscataway Tech
  • Gabriel Albarron, Anthony Vella, Ben Hernandez, Steven Evanski, Matt Stempinski – South Amboy
  • Josh Francis, Josh Thiero, Ben Wang – Timothy Christian
  • Shiv Tickoo – Wardlaw-Hartridge

Coach of the Year: Dan Poulsen, South Amboy
Sportsmanship Award: Wardlaw-Hartridge