Tag: Matt Donaghue

by Mike Pavlichko

Round 3: Old Bridge, North Brunswick to battle in GMCT quarterfinal opener Wednesday

For the third time this year, Old Bridge will face North Brunswick, but this time there will be a trip to the GMC Tournament semifinals on the line.

The third-seeded Knights (14-5) and 11th-seeded Raiders (6-10) will square off at 4 pm Wednesday at North Brunswick Community Park in one of the first two of four GMCT quarterfinal games, and you can hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, beginning with pregame at 3:40 pm.

Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action; click here to listen.

Both teams have had championship pedigrees the last couple of years. North Brunswick won the GMC Tournament in 2022, then got back to the final last year, but lost to St. Joseph-Metuchen. Old Bridge won the Central Jersey Group 4 title last year in the NJSIAA Tournament, and made it all the way to the state Group 4 final, losing to Ridgewood down in Hamilton.

Old Bridge has a solid starting pitching rotation, and is expected to throw Justin Hascup Wednesday. He’s 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA, and threw five pitches Monday to get the save in a 6-4 win over 14th-seed and defending GMCT champion St. Joe’s.

North Brunswick – which upset sixth-seed Monroe 2-1 on the road Monday on the strength of a Kyle Anderson no-hitter – is expected to go with Alejandro Jabar, who’s 0-5 with a 4.60 ERA. He started the teams’ April 12th game, which North Brunswick lost 6-3.

The teams split a pair of regular season games this year. Old Bridge won at home, 6-2, on April 9th, then the Raiders won at North Brunswick Community Park, their home field, and the site of Wednesday’s meeting, April 12th.

Old Bridge had a three-game skid in late April, dropping a home-and-home to South Plainfield that ended up costing them the GMC Red title, but they rebounded to win three straight heading into Monday’s win over the Falcons in the GMCT first round.

North Brunswick will be seeking its first three-game win streak all year, adjusting to life after Zach Konstantinovsky, a dual threat on the mound and at the plate, who’s now at Rutgers.

Senior Yomar Carreras – a great hitter last year – has taken the mantle on offense, hitting .476, slugging .929 with a team-best 15 RBIs and three home runs, the only three the Raiders have hit all year. Junior Tim DeGaetano is hitting .364 with 16 runs batted in, and senior Chris Rosario has knocked in a dozen.

For Old Bridge, they’re hitting a bit better than last year’s team – still under .300 as a group – but they’ve never been a slugging team. They get timely hits, and can small-ball and piece together runs when needed. Junior Akhil Penkala leads the team with a .386 batting average, while seniors Michael Altman and JT Meyer are tied for the team lead in RBIs with 11 each.

Expect a low scoring game (which means: maybe not!) with these two. Though Old Bridge finished second in the GMC Red Division and North Brunswick fifth, they rank fourth and fifth respectively among the top five – also including South Plainfield, Monroe and South Brunswick – in runs scored this season.

Click below to hear from both head coaches:

Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue
North Brunswick head coach Jake Rosenberg
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.

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Old Bridge welcomes in No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen, after the solar eclipse

Whether it’s clear enough to see it or not, a decision was made a couple of weeks ago to push off the start time of Monday’s GMC Red Division game between Old Bridge and St. Joseph-Metuchen. But that meant moving the game to Old Bridge, since the Falcons’ home field doesn’t have lights.

And so, after a 4-0 Knights’ road win on Saturday – in a game played in Linden on turf after a week of rain across Central Jersey left puddles all over natural grass playing surfaces and dirt infields – the two teams will square off Monday at 6:30 at Fred Cole Field, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau will call all the action, with pregame at 6:15, and first pitch at 6:30 pm. Click here to listen to the live broadcast for free!

The Knights (3-1) are the defending Central Jersey Group 4 champions, and made it all the way to the state finals last season, falling to Ridgewood in the Group 4 final in Hamilton. They have a wealth of pitching back and are expected to contend for the division, county and state titles again this season.

St. Joe’s is off to an 0-2 start, with losses to one ranked team (North Brunswick) and one un-ranked team (Monroe) that now finds itself in the Top Ten, after they also knocked off the Raiders.

Click below to hear both head coaches talk about their first week of the season and Monday’s matchup:

Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue
St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mike Murray
by Mike Pavlichko

Defending CJ4 champion Old Bridge has solid returning cast, with sights on a GMC title

To say the Old Bridge Knights weren’t disappointed in the middle of May, 2023, would be an understatement. With a squad that featured a mix of veterans and underclassmen, they felt they had a shot at the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title.

But after getting knocked out in the quarterfinals by South Plainfield, head coach Matt Donaghue told his team they still had a big championship to play for, in Central Jersey Group 4. Being the top-seed, they’d still have some great teams to get through, but either way, they’d have the advantage of playing at home.

And boy, did they take advantage. The Knights won the sectional title, and made it all the way to the state finals, losing to Ridgewood, 4-0, in the final game of the season.

Still, it was a 21-9 season, the Knights’ first 20-win season post-COVID, and with a good amount of talent back, Old Bridge should once again compete for the GMC Red Division title, as well as some postseason hardware.

One of the strengths should be pitching, where the Knights’ top three hurlers in terms of innings pitched are all back, in junior Justin Hascup and seniors Justin Meyer and Frank Papeo.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue talk about the upcoming 2024 baseball season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Old Bridge falls short in Group 4 final; Knights fall 4-0 to Ridgewood

by Korbid Thompson

The two teams on a collision course to Bob DeMeo Field in Hamilton took very different paths to get there. In the end, Ridgewood came out as a champion.

The championship season of Old Bridge – they won Central Jersey Group 4 – would have come to an end one way or the other on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Knights, they would end up on the short end of a 4-0 final at the hands of North Jersey, Section 1 champ Ridgewood (24-7) in the NJSIAA Group 4 finals at Veterans’ Park.

It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the third inning, when Old Bridge starting pitcher Justin Hascup would hit a bump in the road. Bobby Kuensler of Ridgewood started the inning with a leadoff single. Two batters later, senior third baseman Lucas Barker hit a line drive to left center field that cleared the fence for a two-run home run.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Hascup looked to be in the clear, as the inning started with two out and nobody on base, but Jay Wittmaack would the first walk of the day for the Maroons, and leadoff man J.T. Luther delivered an RBI single to bring home Wittmaack for a 3-0 Ridgewood lead. 

Old Bridge’s best chance to score some runs off Ridgewood starter Vincent Luther would come in the top of the sixth inning, when the top two guys in the Knights’ batting order would reach base to start the inning. John Smith singled, followed by a Thomas Papeo single. Two batters later, Mike Villani single to load the bases. With one out, designated hitter Frank Papeo would step to the plate. On a 1-2 pitch from Luther, Papeo would ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat for the Knights.

Ridgewood would tack on one more run in the bottom of the sixth with a first and third double steal, as pinch runner Zach Kranz would score from third base after pinch runner Calder Warden would steal second, drawing the throw from Old Bridge catcher Kyle McSorley. 

That was all Vincent Luther would need. Luther would pitch 6 2/3 innings, having to exit from the mound after throwing 113 pitches on the day. Senior righty Brendan Chanley would come in to get J.T. Meyer to pop out to first base for the final out, and give Ridgewood their second state championship in five years.

As for Old Bridge, the Knights finish their season at 21-9 under fifth year head coach Matt Donaghue with a Central Jersey, Group 4 title in their trophy case.

Click below for postgame reaction from Korbid Thompson with Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue:

by Mike Pavlichko

Old Bridge seeks historic title in state Group 4 final against Ridgewood Saturday

Very rarely does a team play a game it knows is it’s last of the season, especially a winning team.

But that’s the case for Old Bridge Saturday, when the Central Jersey Group 4 champion Knights (21-8, 7-5 GMC Red, 2nd place) travel down to Veterans’ Park in Hamilton to take on Ridgewood (23-7, 8-0 Big North Freedom champs) at Bob DeMeo Field, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Scroll through for a complete preview of the game:

Group 4 Finals: Old Bridge (21-8) vs. Ridgewood (23-7)
When: Saturday, 4 pm (pregame 3:45)
Where: Bob DeMeo Field, Veterans’ Park – Hamilton, NJ
Coverage: Korbid Thompson on play-by-play (click here to listen)
First Pitch Forecast: 79, partly sunny, WNW wind 8 mph (out to left field)

PROBABLE STARTERS
Old Bridge: Justin Hascup (9-1, 1.47) OR Frank Papeo (6-2, 1.56 ERA)
Ridgewood: Vincent Luthor (8-2, 1.47) OR Brendan Chanley (3-1, 1.30)

HEAD COACHES

Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue, 5th season (82-62)
Ridgewood: Kurt Hommen, 10th season

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue about the Knights’ run this season, and the Group 4 title game:

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Old Bridge (No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group 4)

  • def. (16) West Windsor-Plainsboro North 3-0 in CJ4 1st round
  • def. (9) West Windsor-Plainsboro South 10-0 in CJ4 quarterfinals
  • def. (5) East Brunswick 8-0 in CJ4 semifinals
  • def. (2) North Brunswick 2-1 in CJ4 finals
  • def. South champion Eastern 8-6 in Group 4 semifinals

Ridgewood (No. 4 seed in North 1, Group 4)

  • def. (13) Morristown 10-0 in N1-4 1st round
  • def. (12) Paterson Eastside 14-4 in N1-4 quarterfinals
  • def. (1) Passaic Tech 8-1 in N1-4 semifinals
  • def. (2) Bloomfield 12-11 in N1-4 finals
  • def. North 2 champion Bayonne 14-13 in Group 4 semifinals

Game Preview

Old Bridge allowed just a single run – to North Brunswick in the sectional final – in four Central Jersey Group 4 playoff games, but found themselves in a tough battle with Eastern. They found a way, with timely hitting, good pitching when they needed it, and an aggressive style that caused Eastern to make mistakes they shouldn’t have. But that’s what the Knights do: put pressure on other teams. Expect them to do more of the same.

Pitch counts reset with four days in between games, so both coaches have their whole compliment available. JT Meyer was a surprise start in the Group 4 semis, and pitched well overall, the big blow a three-run home run by Sam Winsett. Justin Hascup got the win in relief, and is the more likely starter for Saturday’s game.

This is the first-ever trip to the state finals for the Knights, whose longtime skipper – and head coach Matt Donaghue’s former coach – Fred Cole brought Madison Central here in 1988, a year before they won the GMC Tournament. Their CJ4 title is their first since 2015, but they lost to Williamstown that year in the state semifinals.

Old Bridge is a veteran group. Thomas Papeo is the top hitter at .404, driving in 18 runs, while Kyle McSorley has a team-leading 27 RBIs and six home runs; both are seniors. Fellow senior Mike Villani is hitting .391 with 17 runs batted in, third on the team, and no bigger three RBIs than the ones he drove in with a bases-clearing double to left-center that tied his team with Eastern at 6-6 on Monday back at Fred Cole Field.

Ridgewood got knocked out of the Bergen County Tournament in its first game, in the Round of 16, with a 5-1 loss to Pascack Valley. But the Maroons have won nine straight since then, including their last two in their final at bat. They came from behind and scored two in the top of the seventh at Bloomfield in the North 1, Group 4 final to win 12-11, then won a back-and-forth game with a walk-off single against Bayonne to take a 14-13 decision in the group semifinals.

Ridgewood is a solid-hitting team, about 60 points higher than Old Bridge, which was right about even with Eastern. They have four regulars hitting .400 or better, led by senior JT Luther, hitting .442 with 29 runs batted in and three home runs. No one has hit more than four, but they have 18 on the year as a team. Jack Foerch hits .435 with a team-leading 35 RBI.

Pitching-wise, they don’t give up much, with an ERA of 1.73 on the season.

Can Old Bridge continue to rep CJ4?

The winner of Central Jersey Group 4 has won four of the last seven statewide Group 4 titles. That includes Hunterdon Central in 2016 and 2018, Middletown South in 2021, and Howell last season.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF OLD BRIDGE:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood skipper Fredricks knew Donaghue would have an impact at Old Bridge, where Knights play for first-ever state title this weekend

Old Bridge baseball coach Matt Donaghue played for one of the best, and now leads his own Knights into a state title game this Saturday for the first time ever, just like his high school coach, the late Fred Cole, did for Madison Central in 1988.

And one longtime GMC coach who knew Donaghue from his playing days says he knew he’d be destined for something special the first time he saw him play.

Spotswood coach Glenny Fredricks – who, himself, has been the Chargers’ coach for close to two decades now – says Donaghue made a great impression on him, when – in 2005 – he had a key hit to knock his very first Spotswood team out of the GMC Tournament.

After Donaghue played collegiately at Kean and was looking to get into coaching after graduation, Fredricks said he never forgot the name, and brought him on as an assistant. Now, he sees Donaghue’s Old Bridge team in the same mold as he sees his own: gritty, aggressive, and tight-knit.

All of that, Fredricks says, has been key to the success of Old Bridge baseball this year, and will continue to be when the Knights (21-8) take on Ridgewood (23-7) on Saturday at 4 pm for the state Group 4 title, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio from Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton. (Click here to listen live.)

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk about Old Bridge coach Matt Donaghue’s Knights and their key to success:

by Mike Pavlichko

On to the final! Old Bridge wins wild Group 4 semi over Eastern, 8-6 to advance to first-ever state title game

In a game that had the long ball, hits, errors, and gold glove plays, it was a balk call int he sixth inning that led to the winning run.

Old Bridge doesn’t care how; they’ll take it: an 8-6 win over Eastern in the Group 4 semifinals at Fred Cole Field that sends them to the state Group 4 title game in Hamilton at 4 pm Saturday against Ridgewood, which walked-off Bayonne with a single in the seventh to win 14-13.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, Justin Hascup closed the game on the mound, and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. He led off the inning with the game tied 6-6 by knocking a triple. Evan Smith walked and a sac bunt by Adam Scire put him at second. With second and third and one out, a balk was called on Eastern pitcher Logan Dawson to score Hascup. A passed ball then brought home Smith with an insurance run the Knights would turn out not to need.

Old Bridge was down 2-0 before even coming to bat, as Eastern got a two-RBI double from Rich Iulucci, but starter JT Meyer settled in from there.

The Knights got three back in the second on an RBI double by Scire that drove in Mike Villani. Then Meyer knocked in two with a two-out triple to make it 3-2 Old Bridge after two.

The Vikings took a 6-3 lead in the fifth. With a runner on third, Bill Bentliff popped up a bunt to first that Shawn Bogda caught; he tried to double up Spencer Haldeman on third but threw it away and the run score to tie the game. After a hit batter and a walk put two on, Sam Winsett crushed a three-run homer to left.

That’s the way the game would stay until the wacky sixth inning.

Old Bridge goes to the finals with a record of 21-8; Hascup got the win in relief. Logan Dawson took the loss for Eastern, which falls to 17-11-1.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Old Bridge sophomore Justin Hascup scored the game’s winning run and got the win in relief
Old Bridge sophomore Justin Hascup. (Photo: Dylan Allen)
Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue
by Mike Pavlichko

Old Bridge carrying GMC flag as lone sectional champ into Group 4 semifinal battle with Eastern

With all the great baseball that was played by the Greater Middlesex Conference this season, particularly in the Red Division, one team remains: Old Bridge.

The Knights (20-8, 7-5 in the GMC Red) didn’t even make the county tournament semifinals, showing how everybody could beat anybody, but here they are, Central Jersey Group 4 champions for the first time since 2015, and now in the Group 4 semifinals, where they will take on the Eastern Vikings (17-10-1), the South Jersey Group 4 champions, out of the Olympic Conference.

Scroll through for a complete preview of the game, which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio:

Group 4 Semifinals: Old Bridge (20-8) vs. Eastern (17-10-1)
When: Monday, 5 pm
Where: Fred Cole Field, campus of Carl Sandburg Middle School in Old Bridge, NJ
Coverage: Mike Pavlichko, Dylan Allen on play-by-play (click here to listen)
First Pitch Forecast: 76, partly sunny, NNW wind 10 mph (out to centerfield)

PROBABLE STARTERS
Old Bridge: Frank Papeo (6-2, 1.56 ERA)
Eastern: Logan Dawson (3-1, 2.36 ERA)

HEAD COACHES and PREVIEW INTERVIEWS

Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue, 5th season (81-62)

Rob Christ: Rob Christ, 19th season (447-205-1)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Old Bridge (No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group 4)

  • def. (16) West Windsor-Plainsboro North 3-0 in 1st round
  • def. (9) West Windsor-Plainsboro South 10-0 in quarterfinals
  • def. (5) East Brunswick 8-0 in semifinals
  • def. (2) North Brunswick 2-1 in finals

Eastern (No. 11 seed in South Jersey Group 4)

  • def. (6) Millville 12-0 in 1st round
  • def. (3) Egg Harbor 2-0 in quarterfinals
  • def. (7) Southern 11-2 in semifinals
  • def. (5) Rancocas Valley 2-0 in finals

WHAT’S NEXT? The winner of today’s game goes to the statewide Group 4 finals, set for 4 pm Saturday at Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans Park in Hamilton, against the winner or the North 1 vs. North 2 game, featuring North 1 winner Ridgewood (22-7) hosting North 2 winner Bayonne (25-6). That game is a 4 pm first pitch Monday.

Game Preview

Old Bridge finished second in the GMC Red Division to North Brunswick, despite having beaten the Raiders twice in the regular season, once in 10 innings. But they were bounced by South Plainfield – another Red Division team they’d beaten in the regular season – in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals. En route to the Central Jersey Group 4 final, they pitched three shutouts, and only allowed one run to North Brunswick in the title game, beating the Raiders for a third time this season, this time 2-1 for the Knights’ first sectional title since 2015. That year, they lost to Williamstown in the semifinals.

Old Bridge is a veteran group. Thomas Papeo is the top hitter at .407, driving in 18 runs, while Kyle McSorley has a team-leading 27 RBIs and six home runs; both are seniors. Fellow senior Mike Villani is hitting .382 with 14 runs batted in, third on the team.

And if you did the easy math earlier, Old Bridge has allowed a grand total of one run in four playoff games, as the pitching duo of Justin Hascup and Frank Papeo has been lights out, and nearly unhittable. They’ve split the starts, and along with reliever Justin “J.T.” Meyer, they have allowed a combined nine hits in those four games.

Eastern is the surprise 11-seed out of South Jersey Group 4, on their longest winning streak of the season, at six games, having entered the state playoffs at just 12-10-1. (They had a regular season win between their first round and quarterfinal games over Camden Catholic.) They’ve also had three shutouts in these playoffs, only allowing two runs to Southern in the sectional semifinals. Their win over Rancocas Valley – the fifth seed – in the final came after a pair of regular season losses, 7-0 on April 24th and 8-7 on May 16th.

The Vikings are led offensively by Jack Bauer, who’s hitting .450 with four runs batted in, but he won’t be in the starting lineup against Old Bridge; he could see time as a pinch hitter or late-game substitution. Next up is senior catcher Bill Bentliff, hitting .354 with 10 RBI, and freshman Vinny Mellilo, hitting .328 on the year.

Is it 2019 all over again?

After two off years following COVID – at 14-9 in 2021 and 12-13 last season – the Vikings are back where they left off prior to the pandemic year shutdown. In 2019, they were 23-9, won South Jersey Group 4, and beat Manalapan in the Group 4 semis, before losing 2-1 in the Group 4 final to Ridgewood. Eastern had won 20 or more games every year from 2015 through 2019, and though this is the longest they’ve gone in the state tournament since, they can’t get to 20 this year. They’re at 17 wins now, with only a maximum two more games remaining.

That 2019 season was the last year Old Bridge had made a sectional final; they lost to Manalapan. And Ridgewood is in the other Group 4 final, with first pitch set for 4 pm today in Bayonne.

Is Central 4 the real deal?

The winner of Central Jersey Group 4 has won four of the last seven statewide Group 4 titles. That includes Hunterdon Central in 2016 and 2018, Middletown South in 2021, and Howell last season.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF OLD BRIDGE:

by Mike Pavlichko

Championship Knights! Old Bridge takes CJ4 title in thrilling 2-1 win over North Brunswick

The GMC was guaranteed at least one sectional champion Friday, with four teams playing in three championship games.

And in the most thrilling and closest of them all, top-seed Old Bridge wound up as the only winner, beating second-seed North Brunswick 2-1 Friday afternoon at Fred Cole Field to claim its first sectional title since 2015.

The Knights (20-8) now move on to host South Jersey Group 4 winner Eastern – which beat Rancocas Valley 4-0 Friday – at 5 pm, back on their home turf.

North Brunswick ends its season at 21-7.

The old sports saying “Defense wins championships” has lost some meaning in today’s sports world full of high-scoring affairs. But today on a 90-degree scorching hot summer day, Old Bridge and North Brunswick reminded sports fans of how fun pitchers duels can be.

Knights starter Justin Hascup did the majority of the heavy lifting for his team. He earned the win and pitched 5 1/3 innings, struck out two, and allowed one run on four hits, finishing his outing with only 65 pitches thrown.

The scoring started in the top of the second, when cleanup hitter Justin Batts hit a leadoff triple into the left-center field gap. Old Bridge recorded two quick outs, but designated hitter Josh Rodriguez was able to put a ball in play to shortstop and leg out an infield single, scoring Batts to give North Brunswick a 1-0 lead.

Old Bridge pitcher Justin Hascup throws against North Brunswick in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game at Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge on June 2, 2023. (Photo: Dylan Allen)

Old Bridge responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the second. Mike Villani hit a leadoff double and eventually scored from third on an Alejandro Jabar wild pitch that knotted the game at one.

Neither team could break through until the fifth. That’s when Old Bridge’s Adam Scire, batting in the eighth spot, led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. He later reached second base after Justin Meyer grounded out to the pitcher. With two outs in the inning and Jabar rolling, the unexpected happened. The eventual game-winning run was scored on a dropped fly ball by Chris Rosario in Right Field that plated Scire from second, who was running on contact.

And yet, it still wasn’t over.

Things got dicey in the top of the seventh for Old Bridge when relief pitcher Justin Meyer had hit Frankie Gabolino of North Brunswick in the head with a pitch, then gave up a single to Josh Rodriguez, which advanced Gabolino to third. All of a sudden, North Brunswick had runners on the corners with one out, down a run in the final frame.

But Meyer bounced back – getting Sammy Berardo to strike out swinging. Then it came down to the nine-hole hitter EJ Accettura, who was 0-2 in the game. It was a hard-fought at bat, but in the end, it was Meyer who was victorious, getting Accettura to ground out to first for the final out of the game.

Meyer earned himself the save in 1.2 innings of work, allowing just one hit.

Click below for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen:

Old Bridge starting pitcher Justin Hascup
Old Bridge players (from left to right) Kyle McSorley, MIke Villani and Thomas Papeo pose with their Central Jersey Group 4 championship trophy at Fred Cole Field on June 2, 2023. (Photo: Dylan Allen)
Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue