Tag: JT Meyer

by Mike Pavlichko

Top Knights! Old Bridge knocks off South Plainfield 6-5 to win GMC Tournament title

It got tense. Both in the first inning and the seventh.

Third-seed Old Bridge scored four times in the top of the first inning against South Plainfield starter Kevin Penny, with each run digging a deeper hole.

And by the seventh, the Tigers had gotten within a run, and had two on, two out, but were one miracle comeback short.

In the end, the 3rd-seeded Knights, who’d been swept by South Plainfield two weeks before the GMC seeding meeting, exacted revenge, beating the No. 1 seeded Tigers 6-5 to win their third GMC Tournament title, and their second in the last five seasons.

The win was also No. 100 for head coach Matt Donaghue, who’s now 100-70 in six seasons.

Old Bridge (18-7) got four in the first, dinking and dunking the Tigers. John Smith led off with a walk, Chris Crosta was hit by a pitch and Frank Papeo singled to load the bases. Justin Hascup drove him in with a single to right, and an Akhil Penkala walk brought in a second run. MJ Altman reached on a 4-6 fielder’s choice to make it 3-0, and Evan Smith’s single made it 4-0.

But South Plainfield starter Kevin Penny stayed in the game and settled down for a bit, while his team mounted a comeback.

The Tigers got three in the second. Jayden Alvarez led off with a single, followed by Nick Irizzarry, and Brandon Bickunas drove in Alvarez with a single. After a groundout by Aiden McCarthy, Ryan Balent grounded to short to drive in the second run, Stephen Studlack singled, and Dom Massaro drove in the third run with a single to bring South Plainfield within one.

It would stay that way into the fifth, when old Bridge expanded its lead. Penkala led off with a single, and after MJ Altman was hit by Penny, he was taken out for Mike Castagna. He got a K, then hit Noah Balbeuna. Meyer grounded out to third to drive in a run, and a wild pitch to the next batter brought in another to make it 6-3 Old Bridge.

But South answered in the bottom of the inning. Massaro reached on a ground ball to short when the throw pulled Bickunas off the bag. Kapsch walked and Donahue pulled Papeo for JT Meyer, who gave up a two-RBI single to Zack Robinson. But Meyer would get the next three hitters to end the inning.

Chase Donovan pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh for South Plainfield to give them one last shot.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kapsch led off with a single, but Zack Robinson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, and the Tigers were down to their final out. But Jayden Alvarez laced a double down the right field line, chasing Meyer from the game.

Donaghue brought in Hascup, but he gave up a single to Irizzarry. With first and third and two down, Bickunas knubbed a 1-1 pitch back to the mound. Taking no chances, Hascup ran all but the last ten feet to first before he flipped to Papeo – now playing in the field – for the final out.

The win went to JT Meyer in relief; he’s now 6-1 on the year. The loss went to Kevin Penny (2-1) as South Plainfield falls to 19-5-1.

Click below for postgame reaction with JT Meyer and Justin Hascup, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Meyer is masterful, Smith shows power as Old Bridge cruises to 10-0 win over Sayreville to reach GMC Tournament final

The Old Bridge baseball team wasn’t overpowering Saturday, but they hit to the right spaces and got solid pitching.

And it all added up to a 10-0 win for the third-seeded Knights over tenth-seed Sayrville, a five-inning mercy rule win as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Old Bridge will meet top-seed South Plainfield in Saturday’s 2 pm final at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick.

Old Bridge (16-6) got four in the first off Thomas Schlaline, nickel-and-diming the Bombers (10-8) to death.

After a leadoff groundout by John Smith, Chris Crosta, Frank Papeo and Justin Hascup all hit singles to load the bases. Akhil Penkala singled to make it 1-0, MJ Altman walked to make it 2-0, and Evan Smith singled again to make it 3-0. JT Meyer popped out, and Christian Cavanaugh hit the sixth single of the inning to make it 4-0, but a second run was cut down at the plate to end the inning.

After a 1-2-3 second for Schlaline, who looked like he had recovered, Old Bridge got four more in the third.

Hascup led off with a single, and a double by Penkala made it 5-0. After Altman singled to put two on, Sayrveille head coach Tim Ballard made a pitching change, but relieve James Kehoe gave up a three-run homer to Evan Smith on his second pitch, making it 8-0.

In the fourth, Old Bridge put Sayreville on the brink. Papeo led off with a walk, and after a flyout to left by Hascup, Penkala singled. Altman doubled to make it 9-0. Then pinch-hitter Noah Balbuena drove in the tenth run with a single.

And in the fifth, last chance for Sayreville, the Bombers got two on, but failed to score.

JT Meyer gave up five hits in five innings and struck out seven to get the win and improve to 6-1. Schlaline took the loss, falling to 2-4. He allowed seven runs on nine hits in two innings, and faced three batters in the third.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Old Bridge starting pitcher JT Meyer
Old Bridge left fielder Evan Smith
Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Old Bridge earns split with North Brunswick as Knights get 4-3 “road” win at home

With neither of North Brunswick’s home fields playable Friday afternoon, the Raiders packed up and traveled to Old Bridge for their second meeting this week. In the end, the venue probably didn’t matter.

Old Bridge senior JT Meyer pitched a complete game give-hitter, as the Knights – No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten – came up with a 6-3 win at Fred Cole Field to sweep the season series.

Old Bridge scored in four of the first five innings and never trailed Friday. Michael Altman drove in John Smith – who led off the game with a walk – to make it 1-0 Knights in the first, then Brody Nugent scored from third on a balk in the second to make it 2-0.

The Raiders cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the third when Tim DeGaetano singled with two outs, and Yomar Carreras drove him in with a double to make it 2-1.

But Old Bridge got three across in the top of the fourth. Justin Hascup led off with a double, and after a sac bunt by Meyer, Brody Nugent hit a soft roller in front of the mound. North Brunswick starting pitcher Alejandro Jabar fielded it, looked Hascup back, but then threw wild to first, allowing Hascup to score. Christian Cavanaugh hit one back to Jabar, but his throw home to get Hascup was low. And after John Smith flew out to right, Frank Papeo knocked in Cavanaugh with a single to make it 5-1.

Once again, North Brunswick got a run back in the bottom of the inning. Connor Levine doubled with one out, and two batters later, a single by Danny Breheney cut the deficit to 5-2.

Old Bridge would pick up another insurance run in the fifth. Jabar walked Evan Smith to lead off the inning, then the next batter, Hascup. That ended Jabar’s day, but Justin Meyer’s groundout to first off reliever Aaron Wilhelm knocked in Smith to make it 6-3. Wilhelm allowed two more walks, loading the bases, but got out of it by inducing a fly ball to center by Smith.

Meyer only allowed one more run in the seventh, as courtesy runner Avery Price – running for Andrew Selover – scored on a double-play try thrown wide of first by shortstop John Smith. But he finished out the game, allowing just three runs in seven innings of work, with three strikeouts and just one walk.

Old Bridge improves to 5-2, with a 3-1 record in the GMC Red Division. North Brunswick is 2-2 overall, and in the Red.