Senior Bennie Sokowlowski scattered three hits over seven innings, striking out 11, while fellow senior Vic Ceda hit a sol home run in the sixth to give North Plainfield a 2-0 win over South River, earning a split of their two-game, home-and-home, GMC Blue Division series.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play live from Krausche Field in North Plainfield on April 20, 2026.
The only run Bennie Sokolowski needed in support from his teammates in maroon pinstripes on a sunny-but-chilly, windy Monday afternoon at Krausche Field came in the first inning.
Give him a run – a single, solitary run – and he’ll take it from there.
The North Plainfield senior threw his third complete game of the young season, striking out eleven while allowing just two hits, in a 2-0 win over visiting South River, in a GMC Blue Division game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Sokolowski was dominant and efficient for the Canucks (8-5, 4-5 GMC Blue). Even though he hit four batters in the game – all of whom were as close to the plate as they could legally be – his control was on point, as was his changeup, fooling hitter after hitter. At one point, Sokolowski had recorded eight straight outs via the K, spanning the third, fourth and fifth innings, with just an infield hit, walk and hit batsman scattered in between.
He almost got in trouble in the first, plunking the Rams’ leadoff hitter, Josh Devers, in the back. But Devers was erased on a fielder’s choice, then Jimmy Sanchez got picked off, and Sokolowski induced a ground ball to first by Hunter Krainski to end the inning.
And North Plainfield got all it needed in its half of the first. Mark Fultz led off with a hard single down the right field line, and after Jake Zotollo got hit by South River starter Julien Borusevic, and a ground ball to shortstop moved the runners to second and third, a groundout to third by Ian Lamiera made it 1-0 Canucks.
With Sokolowski dealing and Borusevic fairly cruising as well – scattering just two more hits, a single and a double, over the next four innings – that’s how it stayed until the bottom of the sixth, when Vic Seda led things off with a first-pitch solo home run to left centerfield, just in case.
Not that Sokolowski needed it. The top of the seventh was like just about any other inning he threw Monday evening. Fly out, ground out, hit batter and a strikeout – his eleventh of the game – to end it.
The insurance homer was Seda’s first of the season, and the second in his varsity baseball career.
Both pitchers threw complete games: Sokolowski got the win to improve to 4-0, while Burosevic is now 2-2 with the loss. Sokolowski also lowered his already-minuscule ERA down to 0.42, allowing just two earned runs all season in four appearances and 33 innings pitched.
South River falls to 8-4 with the loss, 7-3 in the GMC Blue.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with seniors Bennie Sokolowski, Vic Ceda, and head coach Ben Donaghy:
Back on Friday, South River welcomed North Plainfield in to town for a GMC Blue Division matchup and sent the Canucks home with a 16-0 victory.
But even with that win, the Rams’ fifth straight, head coach Mike Lepore, Jr., hasn’t won over 300 games in his career by having his teams sit back and relax. He knows that when his team visits Krausche Field Monday night for a 6 pm game under the lights to wrap-up the two-game series, they won’t go into it with a 16-0 lead.
No, it’ll be 0-0.
You can hear Monday night’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action. Pregame is set for 5:45. Click here to listen.
On the other hand, North Plainfield and new head coach Ben Donaghy knows the same thing. His team is starting on a blank scorecard, not down 16-0.
South River (8-3, 7-2 GMC Blue) is just a half-game behind first-place Carteret – which they split with earlier this month – and North Plainfield (7-5, 3-5) may be three spots back in fifth, but the two have somewhat similar overall record, and both can do some damage at the plate.
The Rams are led by sophomore Julien Borusovic, both in the batter’s box and on the mound, and he’ll be in both places Monday night. He’s 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA, part of a staff that has been throwing efficient complete games early on, and has a team ERA of just 0.39. Meanwhile, Borusovic is hitting .500 on the year through 32 at bats with 15 runs batted in. Hunter Krainski (.379) and Noah Barrero (.333, 11 RBI).
Meanwhile, North Plainfield is hitting .309 as a team, led by sophomore Ryan Soto at .455 and senior Helson Sosa at .417 with eight runs batted in, while senior catcher Jake Zotollo is hitting .385 with 12 RBIs.
On the mound, senior Bennie Sokolowski will get the ball Monday, 3-0 with a scant 0.54 ERA. And the veteran can hit, too: .385 with a team-best 12 RBIs, as well as nine stolen bases, part of a Canuck offense that has stolen 53 on the season so far.
Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
With a dozen regular season games, plus coverage of the GMC and Somerset County Tournaments – as well as state tournament coverage to be announced at a later date – Central Jersey Sports Radio has announced its 2026 high school baseball broadcast schedule.
It all gets started next week, with our opener on Tuesday, March 31 at 4 pm between defending 2025 SCT champion Immaculata and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 winner Hillsborough. Then, after the calendar turns to April mid-week, we get state Group 1 champion Middlesex visiting Spotswood, on Thursday, April 2.
Coverage also includes two regular season games at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater – Montgomery vs Pingry on April 11, and Rutgers Prep against South Plainfield two Saturdays later – as well as the semifinals and finals of the Somerset County Tournament on April 18th and 20th, respectively.
The schedule includes three of last year’s SCT semifinalists, and all four of 2025’s GMC Tournament semifinalists, including a rematch of the title game between Edison and St. Joseph-Metuchen, and a rematch on the Invitational final between New Brunswick and East Brunswick Magnet.
Last year’s North 2, Group 3 winner South Plainfield also is on the schedule, as well as finalist Colonia.
Even if they had no idea Layla Gutierrez scored 50 points Monday night in a GMC Tournament preliminary round game against New Brunswick, Monroe had every idea of her talents, having split a pair of regular season games against North Plainfield already this year.
And while she finished with 19 Wednesday, Monroe did its job against her all game, throwing double- and triple-teams her way, trapping, and – most importantly – holding her scoreless in the third quarter.
That was the decisive eight minutes in the game, as the seventh-seeded Falcons won the quarter 19-3, and pulled away in the fourth for a 61-43 victory over 10th-seed North Plainfield in the GMCT’s round of 16.
The Falcons (9-10) will move on to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against either second-seed East Brunswick or 18th-seed North Brunswick; that game tips at 6 pm Wednesday in East Brunswick.
Kiera Longo – battling a bit of a bug in the morning – was healthy enough to score 22 points for Monroe to lead all scorers.
In the second quarter, when Monroe actually got the lead back on just the contest’s second lead change, freshman Avery Tanjutco nailed back-to-back threes that not only gave her team the lead for good, but brought the house down, and gave the Falcons some confidence.
Things started out well for Monroe, which jumped out to a 4-0 lead early, but North Plainfield (5-16) went on a 13-2 run to take a seven-point lead, their biggest of the game, and the Canucks were up 13-11 after one.
But Monroe settled in in the second, and led by five at the half before their well-rounded effort in the third quarter helped earn them the win.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with Monroe junior Kiera Longo and head coach Brian Hinz, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
Fifty points. Eight treys. A whopping 61-percent from the field.
And yet, her eight assists and three steals may have been just as impressive.
No matter how you slice it, North Plainfield senior Layla Gutierrez had a game for the ages Monday night, scoring 50 in a 79-38 win for the 10th-seeded Canucks over 26-seed New Brunswick in the GMC Tournament’s preliminary round Monday.
The win earns North Plainfield a third chance at Monroe this season, as they will travel to face the 7th-seeded Falcons in the first round/round of 16 Wednesday evening.
It’ll be the rubber match this season, as North Plainfield lost to Monroe 76-47 at home on January sixth, but beat them 44-43 on the road less than two weeks later.
High-scoring games aren’t exactly rare for the four-year varsity starter. Gutierrez scored 42 on January 15th of this year in a 65-54 home win over South Brunswick, in which she also scored her 1,000th point. She’s currently at 1,176.
Click below to hear North Plainfield’s Layla Gutierrez talk about her 50-point game Monday night against New Brunswick in the GMC Tournament with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
After a big 15-0 run to break a 26-all tie and end the third quarter, Manville had to sweat one out, as the Mustangs hung on to beat Highland Park 48-46 in the opener of their own holiday tournament Friday afternoon.
Manville (3-2) got 12 points apiece from junior Jonathon Gosk and sophomore Owen Kenyon, the second of whom scored six straight points in that third-quarter run, with and and-one followed by a triple.
The teams played a tight first quarter, with the Owls (2-4) taking a 2-0 lead, but ending the first eight minutes down 12-8. The second quarter saw Highland Park close on a 13-4 run to make it a tie game at 22 at the break.
The second half was back-and-forth early, with the teams trading buckets, and they were knotted up at 26.
Owls head coach Colin Copperthwaite called a time out at that point, with 4:55 to go in the third, just to settle things down a little. But over the next three minutes, the Mustangs went on a 12-0 run to take a 38-26 lead, forcing Highland Park to call another time out. Manville finished the half on a 15-0 run to take a 41-26 lead into the final period.
That’s when Evangelinos Kambitsis came alive, hitting a pair of threes early in the fourth. Cooper Ballentine scored a couple, and all of a sudden, the Owls were within nine. After a three by Ballantine, and another by Kambitsis, Manville’s lead was slashed to three. With the ball, and a minute to go, Highland Park again called time out.
They got a good look at a three but missed, and couldn’t convert on two putbacks. A foul put Manville at the line, where Collin Shimp missed a pair with 25.6 seconds left. The Owls got the rebound, but a pass up the floor went out of bounds on the sideline. Manville got fouled again with 13.4 to go, and this time Josh D’Ambrosio split a pair, making the second, putting them up by four.
But Highland Park couldn’t quickly get a good look, and settled for a late bucket to make it 48-46, as the clock ran out with just a few seconds left, and the Owls out of time outs.
The Manville Holiday Basketball Tournament resumes Tuesday for the boys, with the Consolation Game at 3 pm and the Championship at 7.
The Consolation will feature Dunellen (2-3) and Highland Park, while the Mustangs will meet North Plainfield (1-4). The Canucks got their first win of the season Friday, beating the Destroyers 56-32 behind a game-high 17 points from Cayden Prince. It was a solid defensive effort in the game from North Plainfield, which led 32-11 at the break; the Canucks also hit seven times from beyond the arc.
Click below to hear Manville head coach Bill Rooney talk about the Mustangs’ win over Highland Park with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
Group 3 only finds two teams from the Big Central in playoff contention, although a third may be able to jump into that fray.
There aren’t too many Group 3 schools to begin with, and a couple of teams with 2-3 records sit well outside the playoffs in the North Group 3 supersection. A late run and going 2-1 of either team down the stretch could get Carteret (24th) and North Plainfield (21st) back in the conversation, with South Plainfield at 2-4, but much closer just two spots out of the top 16.
But hold the phone. A fight a couple of weeks ago in a game between Weequahic and Newark West Side resulted in enough disqualifications for both teams that, per NJSIAA rule, neither will be eligible for the postseason.
West Side is 1-5, so it probably won’t change much there, but Weequahic (4-2) sits in ninth, rising this week. They’re out, so that means, the 17 team would get in as of today, that being Snyder (3-2). But South Plainfield sits right behind them, so they’re “technically” just one spot out of the playoffs. And they may not have to worry about the three teams directly behind them either. Besides West Side at 21, Paramus (19) and Parsippany Hills (20) are both 0-6, with three games left each, and there’s a minimum of two wins to get into the postseason.
The only two Big Central teams in the top 16 here are Summit and Cranford. Summit is the second seed overall in the supersection, and the loss to Somerville Saturday didn’t hurt them much, as the Hilltoppers were 5-0 with a solid OSI value. Should they drop out of the top two, they could shift up to the North 1 section, but if they stay a top-seed they should be in North 2, as they’re one of the more southern teams in the supersection. They’ll have to watch 6-0 West Morris, just 0.6 UPR points behind them
The Cougars sit 12th overall, a spot behind Wayne Hills. But again, as we’ve talked about, with the new system, you need to look at overall UPR rank since geography decides which section the teams are placed in. Wayne Hills is 10th, and Passaic Valley – fourth in North 1 Group 3 – is in fourth. So to jump two teams and get a home game, Cranford would need to get to No. 6 overall, a jump of six places in the top 16.
The saving grace could be if teams North of them get in the playoffs, displacing the southernmost North 1 teams (Cranford and West Essex) which would bump them into North 2. But even that wouldn’t be a guarantee. We think they’ll end up on the road in the first round.
In the South Group 3 supersection, again just one Big Central team is in the running, with Somerville at 5-1 sitting second overall, and in the top spot in Central Group 3. They’re the northernmost team in the entire section, so as long as the teams don’t change from year to year, they will never be in a “South Jersey” section again.
They’re not locked in though, just 0.4 UPR points ahead of Holmdel (3-2). The Pioneers have North Hunterdon, Plainfield and Watchung Hills left, and Holmdel has Marlboro, Raritan and Middletown North left. Neither team has huge power point or OSI opportunities left, nor is either schedule particularly weak, and even North Hunterdon’s SI – with just one win – is comparable to anyone Holmdel plays.
We think the Pioneers could be good – as long as they keep winning.
Week two of the 2025 Big Central Camp Caravan continued Friday for Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden. This time, it was a visit to Dunellen, where the Destroyers and first-year head coach Phlip McGuane welcomed in their neighbors from up the road, North Plainfield.
Below is video from the August 22, 2025 scrimmage at Columbia Park in Dunellen:
North Plainfield: Head Coach Derrick Eatman and seniors Alexander Kruszczynski (WR/RB/LB), Jhonnie Parker (MLB/DE), Julius King (WR/DB) and Luis Spagnuolo (RB/LB), as well as sophomore Anthony Costello (WR/DB).
Dunellen: Head Coach Phlip McGuane and seniors Kahbir Casey (FB/LB), Jackson Portik (TE/LB), Devyn DaSailva (HB/SS), Zahmir Dixon (OL/DL) and Jamael Davis (QB).
Just like the Patriot Silver Division – which we previewed yesterday – the United Silver Division of the Big Central Conference also was defined by parity in 2024, for the most part.
Three teams shared in the division title, going 3-1, led by Governor Livingston, which was 5-5 overall, and should be right in the mix again this year.
South Plainfield has a solid defense, and JFK loses a good deal on defense, but also has much experience back. North Plainfield is coming off a 3-6 season, but also expecting to improve.
New Brunswick is another story, having gone winless in each of the last two seasons. But they have a new coach in Geoffrey Chrisman who seems poised to at least bring a new culture to the program, that hasn’t existed in a long time. The results may or may not show up in wins and losses, but it will be interesting to watch.
Click below to hear our preview of the United Silver Division from Big Central Conference Media Day:
