Soouth Plainfield – Central Jersey Sports Radio

What are the odds two teams with prom on the same night would meet for a title game?

Pretty good, apparently, in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 of the NJSIAA high school baseball playoffs, as top-seed Colonia will take on third-seed South Plainfield for a championship much earlier than originally anticipated, at 1:00 this afternoon, giving them enough time to get in their tuxes and get in their limos.

But first, baseball.

And again, it’s two teams we figured had a good shot to win this thing. Only one of them can an in all-GMC, Red vs. White Division matchup.

NORTH JERSEY, SECTION 2, GROUP 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Teams:
(1) Colonia Patriots (23-4, 9-3 GMC White Division, 2nd place)
(3) South Plainfield (17-10, 9-5 GMC Red Division, 2nd place)

Head Coaches:
Colonia: Mike Scialfo (7th season, 103-72)
South Plainfield: Scott Gleichenhaus (5th season, 87-39-2)

Date and Time: Thursday, June 5th, 1:00 pm
Location: Colonia, NJ
Follow for Updates: Alec Crouthamel on Twitter

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Colonia
First Round: def. (16) Lincoln, 16-0 (5 inn.)
Quarterfinals: def. (8) Middletown North, 5-0
Semifinals: def. (4) North Hunterdon, 1-0 (10 inn.) (RECAP)

South Plainfield
First Round: def. (14) Rahway, 15-0 (5 inn.)
Quarterfinals: def. (6) Cranford, 5-2
Semifinals: def. (2) Millburn, 8-1

South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus on Tuesday’s semifinal win at Millburn

STAT LEADERS:

Colonia:
Batting Average: Dylan Chiera (.427), Colin Kroner, Nicholas Milone (.333), Cory Pascarella (.325)
RBIs: Dylan Chiera, Colin Kroner (24), Joseph Massimino (23), Cory Pascarella (22)
Walks: Matt Fasulo (21), Dylan Chiera, Jake Gotti, Colin Kroner (18)
HR: Matt Fasulo, Colin Kroner, Joseph Massimino, Cory Pascarella, Jayce Rodriuguez (1)
Stolen Bases: Matt Fasulo (3)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Cory Pascarella (123), Colin Kroner (77)
ERA: Cory Pascarella (0.42), Colin Kroner (0.53)

South Plainfield:
Batting Average: Dom Massaro (.406), Nick Irizarry (.372), Aiden McCarthy (.318), Dan Kapsch (.315)
RBIs: Aiden McCarthy (24), Dan Kapsch (23), Dom Massaro (19)
Walks: Aiden McCarthy (25), Dan Kapsch (19), Lorenzo Fuscoletti (17)
HR: Dave Butrico, Dom Massaro (1)
Stolen Bases: Nick irizarry (34), Dom Massaro (28), Dan Kapsch (14)
Strikeouts (Pitching): Kevin Penny (38), Aiden McCarthy (32)
ERA: Jayden Jiminez (0.79), Aiden McCarthy (1.10)

THE LOWDOWN:

It was a stunner in some ways when Colonia lost in the first round of the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament, not because Middlesex was that much of an underdog, but all year long all anyone heard about was the Patriots’ two stud pitchers. Even if you combine their ERAs, they still don’t total a full run! But that was a pitchers’ duel with Chris Kozak, and someone has to win it (unless it’s a regular season game, and it gets dark, and there are no lights, of course).

This one should be another pitchers duel, and could be like the one Colonia had against North Hunterdon in the semifinals back on Tuesday. That one took ten innings and saw only four hits the entire game – two apiece – with Colonia walking it off on a single up the middle by Colin Kroner, who had come in to relieve Cory Pascarella in the eighth inning due to the pitch count rule. Kroner will get the ball today, having only thrown 36 pitches, so he has the full 110 available to him today.

The Patriots can hit, batting .308 on the year, a bit better than South Plainfield’s .308 average. But their lineup is a little top-heavy, with GMC Red Division Player of the Year Dom Massaro at .406, but only three others hitting over .300. The Patriots are a bit more balanced.

But this is where the scrappyness of the Tigers comes into play. Drive through South Plainfield, and it’s a blue collar town, and the Tigers play it that way on the field. They’ve stolen nearly 100 bases on the year (98, to be exact) and have drawn 148 walks. To put that in perspective, they have 201 hits, and although it’s about the same ratio for Colonia, they’ve stolen not nearly as many bases. Gleichenhaus’ club finds the balance between patient and aggressive. But they may need to lean a little more to the aggressive side, and attack Kroner early. Kevin Penny is likely to get the start for South Plainfield.

RECENT MEETINGS:

South Plainfield has won the last four in this series, win a 5-1 win last year in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals, a 5-2 victory in 2023, and a pair of wins in 2021. Colonia last beat the Tigers in 2019.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:

Colonia is looking for its first-ever sectional title. They lost 5-2 in the semis last year to South Plainfield, and last made the title game in 2018, falling 9-6 to Somerville, which finished 205 that season and went on to win the sate Group 3 championship with a win over Allentown.

South Plainfield took a disappointing loss last year to Randolph in the North 2, Group 3 final. They led 3-1 after five on a solo home run by Dom Massaro, but gave up three in the sixth and five in the top of the seventh to lose 8-3. They claim Central Jersey Group 3 titles in 1975 and 1998, and North 2, Group 3 over Cranford under Anthony Guida in 2015, when they won it all, beating Northern Burlington for the state Group 3 title.

ADDITIONAL PLAYOFF COVERAGE:

DON’T LOOK AHEAD….

One game at a time is the mantra for every coach with his players, regardless of the sport. Hopefully, Colonia’s Mike Scialfo has that imparted on his players.

That’s because if they were to win the title Thursday, they could end up playing Ramapo in the Group 3 semifinals. The Raiders (25-4) are in the North 1, Group 3 final Thursday against Morris Knolls.

And Ramapo is the team that has knocked the Colonia boys’ basketball squad out of the NJSIAA tournament in the group semifinal round the last four years in a row.

You heard that right. The Patriots have won North 2, Group 3 in boys’ basketball each of the last four years. But the road has ended with Ramapo each and every one. Colonia has several baseball players on the squad, including RJ Wortman, Dylan Chiera, Tyler Chiola, Thursday’s starter Kroner, and coach Jose Rodriguez’s son Jayce.

There was a point midway through Monday’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 title game that everything was coming up South Plainfield.

But in the end, seven runs in the final two innings gave Randolph the title, via an 8-3 win against the Tigers as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The top-seeded Tigers had taken a 2-1 lead over visiting second-seed Randolph in the third inning, on a groundout by Dan Kapsch that scored Stephen Studlack, and an RBI single by Zach Robinson that plated Dom Massaro.

In the top of the fifth, Randolph had a runner at third with two down, and on a bloop single to right, Brandon Bickunas made the catch and threw a perfect strike to Studlack to double up courtesy runner Ryan Kress tagging from third to end the inning with a 9-2 double play.

Then in the bottom of the inning, Massaro led off with a solo home run into the woods in left field.

What could go wrong?

Well, Randolph scored three times in the sixth, chasing starter Aldo Pigna from the game, to take a 4-3 lead, then scored five more times in the top of the seventh to put it out of reach.

The three runs in the sixth came on three hits and two walks. There were no big bombs. And the seventh was a nickel-and-dime affair, too.

It was a tough way for the season to end for South Plainfield, which finishes 22-6-1. They defied preseason prognosticators, winning the GMC Red Division over Old Bridge and Monroe, but lost in the GMC Finals to Old Bridge, and now in the sectional title game to Randolph.

Pigna took the loss, his first, to fall to 5-1, while ace Tommy Martin went the distance for the Rams, allowing six hits, striking out nine to improve to 7-1.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: