Third-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen won its record-tying eighth GMC Tournament Championship Sunday afternoon at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick, beating top-seed and defending champion North Brunswick 2-0 on a solo home run from Tyler DelVecchio, and a complete game shutout from Jimmy Mulvaney.
Watch the final out, with play-by-play by Mike Pavlichko as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – driven by Auto Lounge of Edison – as Mulvaney strikes out EJ Accetura of the Raiders to end the game!
For a long while, it was Edison atop the pile in the annals of GMC baseball with eight seemingly untouchable tournament titles.
It took 22 years, but as of 2:41 pm Sunday, the Eagles now have some company.
Third-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen got a solo home run from Tyler Delvecchio in the fourth inning, and a complete game shutout from starter Jimmy Mulvaney, to beat top-seed and defending champion North Brunswick 2-0 in the GMC Tournament championship game, heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison.
The win puts St. Joe’s aside with Edison, each of which now have eight GMC Tournament crowns to their credit.
It was a matchup of the very, very good senior sidearming Mulvaney against one of the most dominant pitchers ever in the GMC, the Raiders’ Zack Konstantinovsky.
And through the first three innings, it was every bit the pitchers’ duel. Each team got their leadoff man on in the game, but both were erased on double-play balls, and the game was scoreless heading into the fourth.
With one out in the top of the inning, DelVecchio – also a senior – cranked a 380-foot home run to left-center field to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead, and Mulvaney a bit of a cushion.
And still no one got across again until the seventh, when Joe’s added some insurance.
Joseph Zammitti knocked a one-out single, and a bunt by Bobby Christensen that Konstantinovsky couldn’t field coming off the mound to his right – away from his momentum – put runners at first and second. After a flyout to center by Christian Azcona – too shallow to move pinch runner Jaden Jamison over to third, Will Ramsay ripped one down the right field line. Jamison scored easily, but Christensen was cut down by a hair at the plate on a perfect relay from Chris Rosario in right to first baseman Frankie Garbolino to catcher Omar Carreras.
The Falcons also had Ramsey thrown at the plate to end the fifth after a leadoff double.
The win puts St. Joe’s at 19-8 heading into the state tournament later this week, while North Brunswick dropped to 18-6. The Raiders host 15th-seed Long Branch Monday in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 4 sectionals.
It was a rematch of last year’s final, when St. Joseph was the No. 1 seed and defending champ, getting upset by 6th-seed North Brunswick. This year, with the situations reversed, The Falcons turned the tables, and claimed their second title in the last three years, in their third straight GMCT finals appearance.
Mulvaney got the win, going the distance, while Konstantinovsky did the same – striking out ten – in taking the loss.
Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joseph’s eighth overall GMC Tournament title, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!
South Plainfield’s Aldo Pigna kept St. Joseph of Metuchen’s feared lineup in check for most of the game.
But not all of the game.
After the seventh-seeded Tigers got on the board first in the fifth inning to go ahead 1-0, the third-seeded Falcons nearly batted around in the bottom of the seventh and went ahead 2-1, then kept South Plainfield off the board in the seventh for the win, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison.
St. Joe’s (15-7) now will face either top-seed and defending champion North Brunswick or fourth-seed Monroe in next week’s finals. It’ll be the third straight trip to the GMC Finals for the Falcons, who won in 2021, but lost last year to North Brunswick. They are 7-2 all-time in the finals.
South Plainfield dropped to 11-11 with the loss.
The Tigers scored a run in the fourth with two outs. Jay Alvarez doubled over the left fielder’s head, then Ashton Donovan drove him in with a single to center field.
But with Pigna moving right along, he lost his control of the strike zone in the sixth.
Josiah Brown singled to lead off the inning, then Tyler DelVecchio walked. Matthew Kosuda then followed it up with a single to tie the game at one.
After another walk to Joseph Zammiti to load the bases, still with none out, Christian Azcona popped up into foul territory for the first out. Pinch hitter Connor Drury struck out for the second, but a walk to nine-hitter Bobby Christiansen drove in the second run,
Pigna stuck in there, though and got Mark Gialluisi on a groundout to end the inning and strand the bases loaded, limiting further damage.
But in the last chance in the seventh, South Plainfield would threaten. Donovan led off with a single, then Kevin Penny followed with another after Brandon Bickunas flew out to center for the first out. Brian Potts flew out to left before Brian Rios came in to close it out.
And he did, getting the save after flying out Nick Irizarry to right on one pitch to end the game.
Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
The St. Joseph baseball program coached by Mike Murray seemingly always has a deep stable of arms to put out on the mound.
But that development of talent comes from one generation of standouts handing off the reigns to the next generation.
It’s what senior Jimmy Mulvaney will do when he graduates and heads to the Nutmeg State to play for Fairfield University next spring, and it’s what he did when Andrew Goldan and Donovan Szak took their talents two towns over to play for Rutgers in Piscataway.
That has Mulvaney as the top dog, the go-to-guy, the seasoned veteran as he takes the mound Saturday afternoon in the GMC Tournament semifinals for the fourth-seeded Falcons (14-7) against seventh-seed South Plainfield (11-10).
Game time is at noon as part of a semifinal doubleheader at Ray Cipperly Field at East Brunswick Magnet School, and you can hear it right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio – driven by Auto Lounge of Edison – beginning with pregame coverage at 12:40 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe have the call; click here to listen.
Mulvaney is 4-3 on the year, with an ERA of 2.00. But it hasn’t been a conventional year for him like it was for Andrew Goldan, who essentially was the steady starting pitcher for St. Joe’s each of the last two years in the GMC Tournament, getting the win in the 2021 finals, but taking the loss last year against Zack Konstantinovsky of North Brunswick.
He’s had to take the mound in relief a few times, but it’s just part of his mindset that he’ll do whatever he can to help the team, and put it in the best position to win.
Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talked this week with Jimmy Mulvaney; click below to hear the interview:
Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
One thing can be sure when two pitchers with ERAs under two take the mound; it will be a pitcher’s duel, or a 13-11 game.
It was Option A on Wednesday afternoon in the first of a home-and-home between No. 5 Monroe and top-ranked St. Joe’s in Metuchen, as the home team Falcons won 3-0 behind a combined three-hitter from senior Andrew Goldan and junior Jimmy Mulvaney, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
The victorious Falcons scored once in the first and twice in the second, and it was all they wold need. Shortstop Josiah Brown worked out a one-out walk in the first, stole second, and came around to score on an RBI single by first-baseman Tyler DelVecchio.
In the second, Joe’s got consecutive singles from Jack Kern, Xavier Arana and Mark Gialluisi, and DelVecchio walked do bring on the second run of the game. Robbie Carvelli struck out, and Tyler DelVecchio got plunked to earn his second RBI the hard way, making it 3-0.
Goldan, working on a pitch count, worked the first three innings, allowing just four baserunners, on two walks, an infield hit, and on a double play try that ended up as a 6-4 fielder’s choice.
Mulvaney started the fourth and retired the first six Monroe hitters he face, allowing only two singles the rest of the way: one to lead off the sixth, and the other with two outs in the seventh.
Goldan got the win to improve to 2-0, while Mulvaney locked down the save, his first. Monroe sophomore Harrison Lollin pitched well enough to win against most other pitchers in the league – eight hits, three runs and four strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings, but took the loss, to fall to 1-2.
Click below for postgame interviews from St. Joe’s win over Monroe: