Tag: HS Baseball

by Mike Pavlichko

Another head coach is out at St. Joseph, as Dennis McCaffrey exits Falcon baseball program

This story has been updated with comments and audio with Dennis McCaffery. Scroll down to listen.

After two seasons – and a GMC Tournament championship in his debut season of 2025 – Hall of Fame coach Dennis McCaffery no longer is the head baseball coach at St. Joseph of Metuchen.

McCaffery confirmed the news to Central Jersey Sports Radio Monday morning, as did new Athletic Director Carl Porambo, who simply said the two have “parted ways.”

On Tuesday, McCaffery spoke with Central Jersey Sports Radio, and says he thoroughly enjoyed his two years with the Falcons. You can hear our full interview below.

A replacement has not yet been chosen by the school, Parumbo said.

“I’ve always said ‘I chase relationships, not championships,'” McCaffery said Tuesday. “My journey at St. Joes, the two years have been fantastic.”

“I appreciate John Nolan, the [former] president of St. Joe’s creating the job for me [of Assistant Dean of Students]. I appreciate Ann Rivera, the principal, for allowing me to be a part of her St. Joe’s faculty team. The board president, John Langan, has always been very supportive. It was a great two years,” McCaffery added.

McCaffery has said the assistant dean position was a must-have when he was hired as baseball coach, but told NJ.com that the position recently had been eliminated.

McCaffery is the latest coach to depart from St. Joe’s, where boys’ basketball coach Mark Taylor resigned earlier this month after one season, and has since been replaced by former St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ coach Tim Corrigan; both are Falcon alums.

Taylor also brought about a GMC Tournament championship. But leading up to his departure, three high profile basketball players who had transferred in when Taylor arrived – Andrew Kretkowski, Aiden Carter and Joel Patrick – all transferred again, this time to out of state academies. Since his departure, Imaad Johnson has transferred out as well.

McCaffery had no similar significant departures, but graduation losses took a toll on the Falcons in his second season, resulting in a downturn in 2026. They went 6-17 last season, 4-10 in the GMC Red, coming off a 16-7 debut year for McCaffery in 2025, where they went just 7-6 in the Red, but embarked upon a GMC Tournament title run in which the Falcons won all four of their games in their final at bat, and never led for a single pitch. They reached the Non-Public South A semifinals that season, losing 6-3 to Christian Brothers Academy.

McCaffery was hired to replace Mike Murray, who stepped down after nine seasons and three GMC Tournament titles – in 2017, 2021 and 2023 – along with numerous division titles. Murray was one of the New Jersey baseball coaches who helped create the “Last Dance” tournament in the Summer of 2020, a chance for baseball players whose season had been wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic to play one last “season,” and he served as the tournament director.

Ironically, McCaffery and his players from Cranford won the Last Dance tournament, beating the team from Jackson, 12-2, in the tournament final down at Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton, now known as Trenton Thunder Ballpark.

McCaffery had been at Cranford for 25 years before retiring in September of 2024, and took the St. Joe’s job after retiring as principal of the Lincoln School in Cranford in December of that year. He has won over 500 games in his career – fourth among Union County coaches all-time, with 511 while at Cranford – along with four state titles and multiple Union County championships.

He’s a member of the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Hall of Fame since 2010, and in the Union County Baseball Association Hall of Fame since 2012.

Click below to listen to Dennis McCaffery talk about his time at St. Joseph with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Greater Middlesex Conference releases new alignments for 2027 baseball season with few changes

The Greater Middlesex Conference opted to make very few changes when it released its baseball alignments for the 2027 season last week.

But perhaps the biggest move was one that did not happen.

Middlesex – coming off a GMC White Division championship – did not move up from to the Red Division, despite the Blue Jays’ division title, and the fact that “moving up” division winners has become more and more common in the GMC and other leagues, as they tend to veer away from using mainly school size as a determining factor.

White Division champs have moved to the Red for each of the past two seasons, as the trend started to take hold around the state.

St. Thomas Aquinas won the GMC White Division in 2024, then moved up to the Red for 2025. The year before, in a five-division alignment for 2023 that was short-lived – for just two seasons, the first in 2022 – Woodbridge won the White Division, and moved up to the Red for 2024, and stayed there in 2026. Sayreville won the White in 2022, but stayed in the division for 2023 and has remained there since.

But a move for Middlesex would have been unprecedented for the GMC, which traditionally has included the largest schools in the county, generally Group 4 schools; the Blue Jays are in Group 1, which includes the state’s smallest.

Ultimately, there are only four teams who will find new homes next season.

  • JFK: The Mustangs finished last in the White Division in 2026, and move down one to the Blue Division for 2027.
  • Piscataway Magnet: The Gold Division champions had a magical year, setting a program record with 25 wins, winning their first 18 games, earned their first-ever state tournament win and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals. The Raiders move up to the Blue Division for 2027.
  • East Brunswick Magnet, New Brunswick: Coming off a head-to-head matchup in the Ray Cipperly GMC Invitational in 2025 – won by the Zebras – they finished seventh and eighth in the eight-team Blue Division last season, and move down to the Gold for 2027.

The 2027 GMC Baseball divisions are as follows:

  • Red:  East Brunswick, Edison, Monroe, Old Bridge, St. Joseph,  St. Thomas Aquinas, South Plainfield, Woodbridge
  • White:  Colonia, Middlesex, Metuchen, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Brunswick, Spotswood
  • Blue:  Carteret, JFK, JP Stevens, North Brunswick, North Plainfield, Piscataway, Piscataway Magnet, South River
  • Gold:  Dunellen, East Brunswick Magnet, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy Magnet, South Amboy, Somerset Tech, Timothy Christian
by Alec Crouthamel

New Jersey umpires see “a dream come true” in Yankees’ Old Timers’ Day Game

Ask any kid growing up in the Tri-State area about their childhood dream for when they’re older. 

A good number of them will point to swinging the bat – or toeing the rubber – for the New York Yankees.

But another dream was accomplished in the Bronx on Saturday.

Four present or former NJSIAA umpires, Gary Giackette, Warren Bennett, Chris Parkhill, and Bill Killduff, donned the blue for the Yankees’ annual Old Timers’ Day game on Saturday. Bennett patrolled home plate, Killduff worked first base, Parkhill at second, and Giackette at third.

In an opportunity that the quartet all agreed was a “surreal” one, the afternoon was full of laughs and smiles as legends from many different eras of Yankees lore came together to put on a show.

The Bombers poked out a 3-2 victory over the Clippers, with plenty of highlight-reel plays from former Yankees of (relatively) young and old.

Many of these players brought familiarity to the four umpires, having seen plenty of star-studded talent come through the Garden State over the years. That includes Toms River-native Todd Frazier, who arguably won MVP honors with an RBI double and a wicked play at the hot corner. 

In a full-circle moment, Giackette and Killduff had seen Frazier make eye-popping plays in the infield for many years. Both of them umpired Toms River East American’s 1998 Little League state final victory over Randolph in Sayreville, on the way to winning the Little League World Series over Japan in Williamsport. 

Frazier starred at shortstop and on the mound that year, on the way to a powerhouse career at Rutgers and a ten-year stint in the MLB as a consistent fan favorite, including three months with the Yankees after a deadline trade from the Chicago White Sox.

The legends weren’t afraid to bring out the theatrics, either. 

Former star catcher Jorge Posada, whose No. 20 jersey was retired four years after retiring, tried to jokingly call an ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) challenge in the first inning after Bennett called a breaking ball out of the zone.

His request was promptly denied by public address announcer Paul Olden. Another batter tried to do the same later in the three-inning showcase after a fastball up in the zone was called a strike, once again to no avail.

Maybe next year!

Umpires Gary Giackette, Warren Bennett, Chris Parkhill, and Bill Killduff wave to the crowd at the New York Yankees' Old Timers' Day Game (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Umpires Gary Giackette, Warren Bennett, Chris Parkhill, and Bill Killduff wave to the crowd at the New York Yankees’ Old Timers’ Day Game (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).

With their decades of umpiring experience, the four all have built up strong reputations across the state — Bennett is currently the first Vice President of the NJ State Federation of Umpires, and Giackette the secretary — while Kilduff retired two years ago after 50 years on the job.

And on Saturday in the Bronx, they got to do so in the big leagues.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with umpires Gary Giackette, Warren Bennett, Chris Parkhill, and Bill Killduff before umpiring the New York Yankees Old Timers’ Day Game:

Umpire Warren Bennett, calling balls and strikes at home with Bernie Williams at the plate (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Umpire Warren Bennett, calling balls and strikes at home with Bernie Williams at the plate (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Recently-retired Bill Killduff, calling an out at first base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Recently-retired Bill Killduff, calling an out at first base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Chris Parkhill, chopping it up at second base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Chris Parkhill, chopping it up at second base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Gary Giackette calling a ball foul at third base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
Gary Giackette calling a ball foul at third base (Photo: Alec Crouthamel).
by Mike Pavlichko

Ben Donaghy leaves North Plainfield to helm Red Devils baseball

When Tom Blackwell stepped down, retiring as Ridge baseball coach at the end of the Spring – going out as North 2, Group 4 state sectional champions – it was more than just the loss of a coach, but of a Red Devil alum who played for the late, great Pete Hall.

His replacement doesn’t fall far from the Ridge tree.

The Board of Education has approved the hire of Ben Donaghy – who spent the last year as head coach at North Plainfield – to take over the program.

Donaghy has more than two decades in coaching under his belt. Before leading the Canucks, he was the head coach at South Hunterdon for two seasons, going 27-21, and he took a North Plainfield program that hadn’t had a double-digit win season in nearly a decade until the year before he arrived – when they went 14-8 – improving them to 18-9, with a playoff win over Matawan in the first round of the state tournament in North 2, Group 3. It was the program’s first state tourney victory since 2011.

But Prior to becoming a head coach, he was Blackwell’s JV coach for three years with the Red Devils, and also coached football. He was the head freshman football coach for four seasons and a varsity assistant, all making him well-connected to the Ridge community.

But the move back to Ridge is a big step up, where the program missed the Somerset County Tournament final in a very competitive field for the first time since 2018, with that five-season streak the second-most all-time since the SCT began play in 1973. The Red Devils also are second all-time in Somerset County titles with seven – only behind Immaculata and their 15 – with its most recent trophy coming in 2022 over Rutgers Prep.

While coaching elsewhere, Donaghy worked at Ridge High School, and still does. He’s a Transition Coordinator, Work-Based Learning Supervisor and a Special Education teacher, working with students with autism and diverse learning needs, including community-based instruction and competitive work-based learning experiences.

Collegiately, Donaghy was a three-year starter at Felician University up in Rutherford, where he was Team MVP his senior year of 2003 and named Team MVP with a .324 batting average, also earning accolades as a Division II All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference pick.

Click hear to listen to new Ridge baseball coach Ben Donaghy with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko.
by Mike Pavlichko

JFK’s Grant Lorentzen proves you can do it all, and be very good at it, too

Hitting a major milestone in any high school sport is a big deal.

Often, the game will stop, the ball will come out of play, and there are balloons and photo ops, then the game goes on.

For Grant Lorentzen, who’s just graduated from JFK in Iselin last week, he hit key milestones in not just one, nor two, but three high school sports.

  • In football, he was one of the top receivers in the state this year, with 55 catches for 1,221 yards, and 22 touchdowns, seven shy of the all-time state record. In three varsity seasons, he caught 149 passes for 2,470 yards and 34 scores.
  • In basketball, he became one of the few 1,000-point scorers in school history, finishing a four-year varsity career with 1,246 points, 78 from beyond the arc. And he was reasonably close to the program’s all-time leader, Jay Jorgenson (1974), who scored 1,403 in his career.
  • And in baseball, he finished his dual career as a pitcher and hitter, reaching the 100-hit and 200-strikeout plateaus. Lorentzen had 102 hits over four years on the varsity squad, while fanning 220 hitters across four varsity seasons.
JFK’s Grant Lorentzen (#11) scores on a punt return for a touchdown at Carteret on October 29, 2005. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

In an era where more and more student-athletes are specializing – playing just one sport, and then training the rest of the year in that sport – Lorentzen is a throwback, but also an example.

Lorentzen says his coaches always supported him playing multiple sports, so much so that he will even get to do it in college, where he’ll attend The College of New Jersey. First recruited by their baseball coach, he told them right from the get-go that he also wanted to play football. So, they worked out a schedule, and the rest is just future history.

Particularly with pitchers, many believe throwing year-round leaves a teenager more vulnerable to injury. A number of GMC hurlers didn’t make it through the entire 2026 season this spring. But Lorentzen managed to play eleven varsity seasons – and pitched – across four years and three sports at JFK.

Many coaches encourage the practice, and would rather see them play another sport at their school than be out of the building, playing travel ball.

And he still had the time to do some training in the off-season with Elite QB football training academy, under the tutelage of Matt Bastardi. He was often featured in Elite QB’s “Elite Performer of the Week” segment on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Lorentzen may not be a trailblazer. Many still play multiple sports. But he’s the perfect example of someone who not just played all three, but was damn good at all of them.

Click below to hear JFK grad Grant Lorentzen talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about being a three-sport athlete, and his future at The College of New Jersey:

Woodbridge shortstop Gavin Slicner (6) hits a ball.
by Alec Crouthamel

Woodbridge’s Gavin Slicner is Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Player of the Year after star-studded senior season

Sometimes in high school baseball, you see a stat that makes you rub your eyes to make sure you read it right.

Woodbridge shortstop Gavin Slicner could’ve wrote a whole book of those in his senior year.

The Barrons’ leadoff batter put up a stellar senior campaign and is the winner of the 2026 Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Player of the Year.

Slicner had already put up a solid junior campaign, but came into his senior year with a determination to build and get even better for his follow-up.

The shortstop put up eye-popping offensive numbers as a senior, batting .517 on the year (including a .966 slugging percentage), with 12 extra-base hits and nine home runs, all team-highs. And even after doing the damage with his bat, Slicner was still a threat on the basepaths with 26 stolen bases to lead Woodbridge.

And the numbers weren’t of the empty kind at all. Slicner came through in countless big spots as a clutch hitter, with plenty of his 32 RBIs playing big roles in Barrons victories.

Comparing his junior and senior seasons, he raised his batting average – already at a solid .400 mark – by over 100 points, added 14 more RBIs, and hit six more home runs.

And while this is print, what we can’t show you is all the defensive gems he turned in at shortstop.

Slicner played a big role leading a veteran-laden Woodbridge squad, with an extremely strong senior class, flanked by standouts such as Xavier Diaz, Kevin Arroyo, Michael Gurovich, and Billy Mansfield. It was a tight-knit group, one that had played alongside each other since their younger days in Little League, and they helped the Barrons win plenty of games.

They made the North 2, Group 4 semifinals twice and the quarterfinals once, and two GMC Tournament quarterfinals. That included a sectional quarterfinal appearance this year, where tenth-seeded Woodbridge knocked off seven-seed Scotch Plains-Fanwood, and nearly took down second-seeded Bayonne on the road.

And the Barrons relied on Slicner plenty in that first-round win over Raiders, as he clubbed an insurance home run in the seventh as part of a three-hit, three-RBI day.

In the end, Slicner and his fellow veteran teammates put together a strong run of Woodbridge baseball to look back fondly on.

The righty shortstop won’t be veering too far away for his next step, either. Slicner will head to Edison to play baseball at Middlesex College after graduation. The Colts finished off a strong 38-17 year, making it to the NJCAA Region 19 / District Final Four Series.

They also featured two former Barrons, as well, in pitchers Drew Lukachyk and Eddy Nunez, as all three played together in 2023. Middlesex boasted 15 former GMC players on its 2026 roster, and will bring in the best of the conference this upcoming season.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with CJSR GMC Player of the Year Gavin Slicner from Woodbridge

HONORABLE MENTIONS

  • Connor Murphy, Edison: The Monmouth-bound senior had an ERA you’d need a microscope to see: 0.54, while going 5-1 on the season, including a no-hitter on April 14 against St. Joseph-Metuchen. He fanned 83 this year, after striking out 82 last year, and graduates with 207 career whiffs, and an ERA of just 2.05 for his four varsity seasons.
  • Grant Lorentzen, JFK: This kid does it all, and not just in baseball. While he was 4-5 as a pitcher despite a 1.97 ERA, he also hit .472 this season. He finished his career with 220 strikeouts and a 1.81 ERA over four seasons, while also logging 102 hits at the plate. And as an impressive side note, he was also a thousand-point scorer in basketball – finishing with 1,246 points – and finished his football career as a two-thousand yard receiver, with 2,470 yards and 34 touchdowns. He had 1,221 this past season along with 22 TD catches, one of the top single-season totals all-time in New Jersey. He’ll play baseball and football at TCNJ.
  • Chris Kozak, Middlesex: While Kozak and junior Dominic Long were really starters 1a and 1b this year – and the difference may at times have been microscopic, the senior Kozak gets the nod here. We saw him get his 200th strikeout late in the season against St. Joseph-Metuchen. Kozak was 6-2 this season with a 1.98 ERA, and fanned 76 hitters, a career high.
  • Ben Faigin, Monroe: Just a junior, Faigin – who’s committed to Rutgers – was 7-1 this season, winning three GMC Tournament games while allowing just four total hits, including a 9-2 first-round win over Colonia in which he threw an immaculate inning. He also got a 1-0 win over South Plainfield in the semis, and led the 9th-seeded Falcons to a 7-0 victory over Old Bridge in the GMC final; both were one-hit, complete-game efforts.
  • Matt Chin, Old Bridge: The senior hit .407 with 22 RBI and two home runs to pace the Knights’ offense this year, helping his team gain a berth in the GMC Tournament and Central Jersey Group 4 finals. He’s also an excellent and smart center fielder.
  • Aiden McCarthy, South Plainfield: “The Bull” is a Rutgers commit, and tough as they come. He was 8-2 this past season, always giving his team a chance to win the big game, including an upset of top-seed Chatham in the opening round of the North 2, Group 3 playoffs. McCarthy struck out 74 this season, and had an even 2.00 ERA, while also getting it done at the dish, where he hit .367 – the best of his career – with 28 RBI, ten doubles, and two home runs. He also no-hit Old Bridge in a 4-1 win on April 21.
  • Louis Rizzolo, St. Thomas Aquinas: The senior and Marist commit was 8-0 this season, with a 0.90 ERA, and also got it done at the plate, batting .382 with 12 RBI and three home runs. In the state playoffs, he hit a big, early three-run home run at Rutgers Prep in the Non-Public North B semifinals, en route to a 7-3 win and berth in the championship game against St. Mary-Rutherford. A four-year varsity player, he never had an ERA over 1.74 in his final three seasons, and finished with a career 1.49 ERA.

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge seniors Callanan, Nicholson and head coach Tom Blackwell talk CJSR Team of the Year honors, as veteran skipper also announces retirement

What a whirlwind year for the Ridge Red Devils baseball team.

They began the year 11-1, with an Opening Day win at West Morris bringing the program its 1,000th victory all-time. Then injuries hit, and they lost five straight in late April. After getting knocked out of the Somerset County Tournament in the semifinals by eventual champion Watchung Hills, they regrouped and rebounded to beat the Warriors in the NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 championship game.

They would fall in the state semifinals, 8-7, on a walk-off home run in extra innings at Ridgewood, but earn the final No. 1 ranking in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten.

After which, head coach Tom Blackwell told his team last week, after 21 years and 20 seasons as the Red Devils’ skipper, he would be retiring. Blackwell went 328-211 from 2006 through 2026 (there was no high school baseball in the COVID year) with his teams winning two Somerset County Titles (2011 and 2022) and two North 2, Group 4 titles in the state tournament (2021 and 2026).

It was the perfect way to end a coaching career, but so much more than that for Blackwell, a Ridge alum who played for the legendary Pete Hall, the namesake of the Red Devils’ baseball field.

In a rollercoaster of a season, Ridge is the 2026 Central Jersey Sports Radio Team of the Year.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Ridge seniors Kieran Callanan and Toby Nicholson, as well as retiring head coach Tom Blackwell:

The Ridge Red Devils: NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 sectional champions for 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Alec Crouthamel

Immaculata lefty Ryan Auten takes a big senior leap, and is 2026 CJSR Somerset County Player of the Year

Ryan Auten was already on a solid pace after his junior season.

The tall lefty sported a 2.80 ERA in 40 innings, with 69 strikeouts and 32 walks in his first season as a Spartan, after transferring in from Delaware Valley.

But Auten and his coaches knew there was still room to get even better.

The Wake Forest-bound southpaw took all of that room and then some, closing out his high school career with a dominant senior campaign, and has been named Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Somerset County Player of the Year.

COMING TUESDAY: Central Jersey Sports Radio’s GMC Player of the Year

On the season, he finished 7-1 with a 0.74 ERA in 57 innings, all career bests. He also attacked hitters at a wildly efficient level, upping his strikeouts to 114 this season alone — he came into the year with 142 over the previous three years combined — and just 12 walks.

Auten went from pretty good to flat-out dominant, thanks to a strong offseason plan to focus on attacking batters early in the count, and finishing them off, with plenty of simulated game environments leading up to the year.

He allowed just six runs all year, no more than two in any outing, and struck out double-digit batters in all but one start.

Even from the first time he stepped on the rubber as a senior, it was apparent Auten was in for a big year. He finished off an opening week sweep of Hillsborough with a four-hit shutout, striking out 15 Raiders in 100 pitches flat.

With a daunting fastball and wipeout breaking ball combination, Auten was able to put Immaculata in a good position to win every single time he went out to pitch. The Spartans won seven of his nine starts this year, with the only losses coming against Winter Park (FL), where he still struck out 12 batters in five innings, and in an epic 1-0 pitcher’s duel against Watchung Hills in the Somerset County Tournament final. Auten pitched into the extra eighth inning in that one and struck out 15, before ultimately reaching his pitch count.

This year gave him a bonus, as well. He got to share the field with his younger brother, Bryson, for the first time as a senior and a freshman in high school. The younger Auten contributed heavily at the plate and on the mound, looking into his bright future, as well.

After a stellar prep career, Auten is headed to the ACC with the Demon Deacons, where he committed in November of his junior year. Wake Forest has made five straight NCAA Tournaments, and will look to continue its high level with Auten joining the fold next season.

Click below to hear CJSR’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Immaculata pitcher Ryan Auten, the 2026 CJSR Somerset County Player of the Year:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

  • Li Perez, Rutgers Prep: A four-year varsity player, Perez had his best year on the mound, going 6-2 with a 1.49 ERA, striking out 102 – a year after he came up one shy of 100, logging 99 last season. But he also contributed at the plate, hitting .356, with 15 RBI and two home runs.
  • Rob Centamore, Watchung Hills: A big reason for the Warriors’ success in 2026, he did it with his arm and his bat. As a pitcher, the senior was 8-0 with a 0.97 ERA, best on the team. And a big win in the Somerset County Tournament semis propelled them to the finals, where they beat top-seed Immaculata. He also hit .353 (second to Jacob Jaconski at .460) with 22 RBI and led the team with three home runs.
  • Jake Dolan, Ridge: A senior centerfielder, not only did he hit .436 to lead the Red Devils, with a team-best 36 RBI – the most by any Ridge player since at least 2011, and the fourth-best single season total in program history – he was an excellent reliever. He pitched a perfect final inning and two-thirds to clinch the North 2, Group 4 championship, in a 3-2 win over Watchung Hills. In nine appearances, he allowed runs in only three.
  • Michael Lobosco, Bridgewater-Raritan: The senior catcher took over from the excellent JR Rosado full-time in 2026 and managed ten different pitchers this season, and even threw two innings himself. In addition to managing the staff well, helping guide the Panthers to semifinal berths both in the county tournament and state sectionals, he hit .352 to lead Bridgewater, with 26 RBI and one homer.
  • Luca Catanzarite, Immaculata: Just a sophomore, the Spartans’ centerfielder and leadoff hitter led the team with a .427 batting average, while knocking in 19 runs and hitting two home runs. He’ll be a centerpiece of the offense – and the middle defense – for years to come.
by Mike Pavlichko

Warriors move up, win SCT, and Watchung Hills’ Joe Tremarco is CJSR Somerset County Coach of the Year

Everyone knows the challenge of playing in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division.

You don’t have to be the first place team to make a deep run in the county or state tournaments, with Exhibit A being Bridgewater-Raritan.

And you don’t need to have won the division to win a postseason tournament either.

Not only did Watchung Hills finish second in the division – and beat top-seed and Delaware champ Immaculata in the county final – but they did it after moving up following a first-place finish in the Raritan Division (7-1) in 2025.

And yet, they went 7-3 in the Delaware this year, were the only team to beat the Spartans in Skyland Conference play, and won seven more games overall than they did in 2025, improving from 11-12 to 18-9, their best season since 2016, when they went 27-5 and reached the Somerset County final.

For all of that, Watchung Hills head coach Joe Tremarco is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year for 2026.

This year’s Hustlin’ Warriors never lost more than two games in a row all year. The first of those came against Ridge in mid-April, but they avenged those two losses in the semifinals of the SCT, with a 4-2 win that sent them to the title game, where Lucas Sheehan blanked Immaculata for a 1-0 win. In the process, he became the first sophomore to get a win in the county final since 1998, when Casey Cahill won his first of three finals, a feat that has never been matched.

Hills will graduate some key players this month, including Rob Centamore, who hit .353 with 22 RBI and three home runs. But the team may not have had the success they did without his arm; on the mound, the Ramapo-bound senior was 8-0 with a 0.97 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innigns pitched.

But Tremarco is quick to point out none of this happens without his assistants either: varsity assistant and pitching coach Joe Ascolese, JV coach Paul Leinbach, freshman coach Vin Crisafi and assistant manager/equipment maven James Soranno.

Fellow seniors Brody Griffith, Max Payne, Landon Pudlak, and leading hitter Jacob Jaconski (.460, 26 RBI, 2 HR) also will be missed, but there is plenty coming back that the Warriors will be a factor next season, and beyond.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s 2026 Somerset County Coach of the Year Joe Tremarco – and senior Rob Centamore – talk with Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

With historic season, Piscataway Magnet’s Greg Sampson is Central Jersey Sports Radio’s GMC Coach of the Year

The last time the Piscataway Magnet baseball team won a state tournament game, Ronald Reagan was President, and filling up your Toyota Corolla would cost you about ten bucks and some change.

And forget the fact that none of the current Raiders hadn’t been born yet; their parents were probably still in school at the time.

All that changed in 2026, when the Raiders exploded out of the gate to win their first 18 games of the season, won a county tournament game, not one but two state games in the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs, and finish their best campaign ever at 25-4.

They were one of the last few undefeated teams in the state – you could count them on one hand at one point, and have another finger left over – and grabbed the attention of the entire GMC, pulling for the underdogs who play on a beautiful grass field tucked between Rutgers’ Livingston Campus and the industrial Camp Kilmer area in Edison.

And after such a great year, Piscataway Magnet head coach Greg Sampson is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Greater Middlesex Conference Coach of the Year.

He couldn’t have done it alone, of course, not without talent. As a team, they hit .333,led by junior Vincent Canavan, who hit .467 on the season with 23 RBI. Another junior, Kyle Malchiodi, hit .379 and drove in 33 runs, while also going 8-0 with a 2.36 ERA. And junior Colton Lyerly also was rock solid on the mound; he went 8-0, too, and had a 2.02 earned run average, the best on the team.

Now, go back and read that last paragraph carefully. All those key players are juniors. And so is nearly everyone else. Their only senior had six at bats all season.

And even if they do move up to the GMC Blue Division next year, the Raiders will welcome it.

Click below to hear Piscataway Magnet head coach Greg Sampson talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, joined by juniors Colton Lyerly and Vincent Canavan: