Tag: Sean Field

by Mike Pavlichko

Pitching and defense the key for Monroe ahead of GMCT semifinal

Ask fourth-year head coach Sean Field if there was an inflection point in his team’s season or any notable reason for the turnaround and you’ll get a pretty casual “not really.”

Monroe was 1-4 following a walk-off loss to East Brunswick on April 13. Since then, the Falcons have won 10-of-12 and will play for the school’s first GMC final appearance since 2017 on Saturday.

“I’ve always had a good feeling about this team,” Field said. “Even when we were 1-4, I kept telling the guys, ‘I’m really proud of you. Just keep punching, and eventually we’re going to break through.'”

Break through, they have.

Last Saturday, in their first GMC Tournament game, the fourth-seeded Falcons (11-6) handled Piscataway, 7-0, behind a 13-strikeout, 3-hit shutout from junior Harrison Lollin.

In the quarterfinals Wednesday, junior Lucas White tossed a no-hitter, striking out 10 in the 1-0 win over South Brunswick.

In 14 GMC Tournament innings, Monroe pitchers have allowed three hits, no runs, and struck out 23 opposing batters. Lollin, who has a 1.35 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 41.1 innings this season, will get the ball again for Monroe this Saturday.

WATCH: Here’s the final out of Lucas White’s no-hitter in the GMC Tournament semifinals

“You know you’re always in it,” Field said. “You know you’re always going to send somebody out there who is going to give you a quality start. Hitting will get you through the regular season, but come playoff time, it really comes down to pitching and defense.”

The Falcons will look to keep home plate untouched against top-seeded North Brunswick (13-5) at East Brunswick Magnet School’s Ray Cipperly Field in the second game of a doubleheader you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison.

Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action with first pitch set for 2:30. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear a preview of Monroe in the GMC Tournament semifinals from head coach Sean Field:

by Mike Pavlichko

Yes! A No-No! Lucas White no-hits South Brunswick to advance Monroe to GMC Tournament semifinals

Coming into the GMC Tournament quarterfinals with two pitchers with ERAs in the fives ans sixes, you might have thought you’d see some runs.

You thought wrong.

But more than that, Monroe got a no-hitter from junior Lucas White – and it was nearly a perfect game. He struck out ten and allowed just one base-runner in a 1-0 win for the fourth-seeded Falcons over 12-seed South Brunswick – as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – to advance to Saturday’s GMC Tournament semifinals in East Brunswick.

White retired the first eleven batters he faced before walking opposing starting pitcher Ethan Fantel, who pitched a great game in his own right, allowing just one earned run on five hits in six innings of work.

But after the base on balls, White retired the next ten batters in order, and struck out the side in the seventh to seal the game.

White was the beneficiary of some solid fielding, including a catch along the warning track in right center field by Jake Lobue to end the fourth, and some solid infield play on hard hit balls.

White improves to 2-2 with the win; Monroe now 10-6. They’ll face either top-seed North Brunswick or 9th-seed Edison in the semifinals Saturday at East Brunswick Magnet High School. South Brunswick falls to 7-12.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Monroe starting pitcher Lucas White
Monroe head coach Sean Field
by Mike Pavlichko

Monroe coach Field lauded his team after 1-4 start, now Falcons are a win away from GMCTs Final Four

When a team is feeling good about itself as Monroe baseball was heading into 2023, getting extra work in during the offseason that not every club has the time or manpower to pull off, starting 1-4 can be a real downer, even if you’re playing in the grueling GMC Red Division and lost three of those games by a single run each.

But Sean Field got his Falcons to stay the course – and having a good one-two punch on the mound like Harrison lollin and Lucas White doesn’t hurt either – eventually going on a seven-win tear.

Now, the fourth-seeded Falcons – who finished fourth in the uber-competitive Red – are in the quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon against another divisional foe, 12th-seed South Brunswick, which knocked off 5th-seed and White Division champion Sayreville in the second round.

The Falcons and Vikings will play at 4:00 this afternoon at North Brunswick Community Park, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 3:45, as part of a doubleheader presented by Auto Lounge of Edison.

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

The Falcons will put White on the mound today, coming in with a 1-2 record and a 5.25 earned run average.

Offensively, the Falcons are a bit of a light-hitting team, at .270 on the year, but with great pitching, it’s gotten the job done.

This will be the third meeting with South Brunswick this year, with the Falcons winning both in slugfests: 3-0 on April 17th and 11-6 the next day. They avoided Viking ace Joey Tuttoilmondo in both those games, and will avoid him again Wednesday afternoon, with Ethan Fantel going for South Brunswick.

Click below to hear Monroe head coach Sean Field talk about the Falcons’ 2023 season heading into the GMCT quarterfinals against South Brunswick:

by Mike Pavlichko

Top-ranked St. Joe’s opens huge Red Divsion home-and-home with No. 9 Monroe in Metuchen Wednesday

Last season, Monroe beat St. Joseph in Metuchen late in the year to earn the top-seed in the GMC Tournament. The purple-and-gold-Falcons got knocked out early, while the ones in green won the whole thing.

So in the end, does this week’s home-and-home between the two teams really matter?

Absolutely.

Monroe-St. Joe’s has become one of those games both teams, and even fans of some others, will circle on the calendar. After rain made many grass fields across the state unplayable Tuesday, the opener of the series now will be in Metuchen at 11 am Wednesday. That was originally to be the rematch game, but now that will be Thursday at 9:30 am in Monroe.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast Wednesday’s contest from Metuchen, with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action, beginning with pregame at 10:45 am, and first pitch at 11. Click here to listen live, and for free.

St. Joe’s (6-0) has been atop the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten the entire season, and is one of three undefeated teams left in the Greater Middlesex Conference, after East Brunswick Tech (5-1) lost Monday at Carteret. Spotswood (7-0) and Timothy Christian (2-0) are the other unbeaten teams in the league.

Monroe (6-2) has only one league loss, by two runs to Old Bridge. Their other loss came Saturday against Somerville.

Click below to hear both coaches talk about their teams and preview the matchup:

St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mike Murray
Monroe head coach Sean Field