Tag: Robbie Carvelli

by Mike Pavlichko

Seven-run third, solid start from Mulvaney puts St. Joseph-Metuchen in first sectional final since 2019

GMC Tournament champion St. Joseph-Metuchen will get a chance to add to its trophy case this season.

They’re in the Non-Public South A championship game Saturday after an 11-3 win for the second-seeded Falcons over sixth seed Notre Dame at Diamond Nation in Flemington in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon.

St. Joe’s got on the board in the first when leadoff man Mark Gialluisi reached on an error. After a Robbie Carvelli single and a sac bunt, Tyler Delvecchio’s groundout to third made it 1-0.

But the big inning came in the third, when Joe’s sent 12 hitters to the plate and scored sevent imes on just four hits, along with two walks, a hit batter and two errors on Notre Dame shortstop TJ Magliozzo.

Will Ramsay led off with a double, and Gialluisi reached again on an error. After Carvelli struck out, Josiah Brown reached on another error on Magliozzo, which drove in Ramsay to make it 2-0. Delvecchio walked to load the bases, and Kosuda did the same to make it 3-0. Joseph Zammitti then knocked in two with a single to make it 5-0.

After a pitching change, with Tristan Stephenson relieving starter Luke Foley, a Bobby Christensen single loaded the bases, a Christian Azcona fly to left scored Kosuda for the sixth run. Ramsay got hit by a pitch to load the bases again, then Mark Gialluisi had a two RBI single to make it 8-0 before Carvellli grounded to short to end it.

Notre Dame got three back in the fifth after starter Jimmy Mulvaney was pulled to conserve pitches for, at that point, a potential final Saturday.

But Joe’s got them right back in the bottom of the fifth, with back-to-back singles by Christensen and Azcona, and then a two-out, three-run inside-the-park home run by Robbie Carvelli. The ball was hit to short center and Lance Eilbacher slid for it, but missed the ball, which went all the way back to the wall.

Mulvaney got the win, improving to 6-0, while the Falncons improve to 21-9. Mulvaney struck out seven in 4 1/3, with two of the three Notre Dame runs charged to him.

St. Joseph will play for the Non-Public South A title Saturday (time TBA) against Red Bank Catholic, the top seed and No. 1 team in the state, at Count Basie Field in Red Bank.

In their last appearance in a sectional final, they lost 5-3 to St. Augustine in 2019. That’s the Falcons only finals berth under Mike Murray, whose first season was in 2016.

Their most recent appearance before that was when they won Non-Public South A in 2010, beating Bishop Eustace 12-3. They would fall, though, in the state final, 7-5 in 8 innings to Immaculata.

Click below for postgame reaction, sponsored by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

St. Joseph centerfielder Robbie Carvelli
St. Joseph head coach Mike Murray
by Mike Pavlichko

Falcons have added maturity to hitting, pitching and fielding

There was no question St. Joseph of Metuchen could hit the ball last year, when – after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic – the Falcons were a two-seed and won the GMC Tournament. They had pitching, too. And they could play the field.

But one thing they feel like they have going for them this year is maturity.

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It’s been a common theme with a lot of spring sports. Any senior right now who might have otherwise had a three- or four-year varsity career has maybe gotten two and some change under their belt.

Today’s junior only had one year under his or her belt coming into this season.

Top-seed and defending champion St. Joe’s hopes that will be at least part of the difference Sunday when the Falcons take on 6th-seed North Brunswick, which is seeking its first-ever county title, in the GMC Tournament Championship game at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick.

Friday afternoon, GMC officials moved the game from Saturday – with thunderstorms in the forecast – to Sunday. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the play-by-play, with pregame beginning at 11:30 am and first pitch set for 12 noon. Click here to listen.

Click below for coverage from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlickho, who stopped by St. Joe’s practice this week:

Catcher Mark Gialluisi
Centerfielder Robbie Carvelli

by Mike Pavlichko

Carvelli and Gialluisi look to bring home their first hardware for St. Joe’s

St. Joseph of Metuchen will play for its seventh GMC Tournament title this Sunday when the 2nd-seeded Falcons take on 5th-seed South Brunswick Sunday at East Brunswick Tech.

But it’ll be the first opportunity for sophomores Robbie Carvelli and Mark Gialluisi to put another piece in the trophy case.

Carvelli – the Falcons’ centerfielder – is 5-for-8 in the tournament so far, batting .625 over three games against Old Bridge, Spotswood, and Edison, knocking in four runs, not counting the run that came in on a 4-6-3 double play he grounded into in the third inning of the semifinals against the Eagles.

Gialluisi has been given the keys by head coach Mike Murray to deal with a pitching staff that has had three solid starters, at various stages of their high school careers.

There’s senior Colin Leyner, who hasn’t allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings in the tournament, in two appearances, including a token inning in a mercy rule win against the Chargers.

There’s sophomore Jimmy Mulvaney, who got the win against the Chargers.

And then there’s Junior Andrew Goldan, who will get the start for the 2nd-seeded Falcons Sunday against 5th-seed South Brunswick at Ray Cipperly Field in the GMC title game, which can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Bellamy & Son Paving.

Click here to listen to Sunday’s game, with coverage beginning at 11:15 am and first pitch scheduled for 12 noon. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action.

Goldan has just been lights out this season, after missing some time early due to tendinitis issues.

Against Edison in the semifinals, he held the Eagles in check, allowing just three hits – though one was a homer by shortstop Walker Zampella – and one run, striking out six in six innings of work in a 3-1 win.

Click below to hear Carvelli and Gialluisi talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

St. Joseph sophomore CF Robbie Carvelli
St. Joseph sophomore C Mark Gialluisi