Tag: South Brunswick

by Mike Pavlichko

South Brunswick’s Patel earns Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors for Rutgers

Back in high school, Jai Patel was 78-for-78 on PAT attempts. After his senior year, he was named Central Jersey Sports Radio Special Teams Player of the Year for 2021.

This past Saturday night for Rutgers he was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts in a 36-7 win over Temple, earning himself Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He’s the first Scarlet Knight to be honored in that category since they joined the league in 2014.

While his season long field goals as a junior and senior for the Vikings were in the 40s, Patel nailed a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter Saturday to give RU a 10-0 lead. It was the seventh longest field goal in program history, and the first RU field goal of 50-yards or longer since 2019.

READ MORE: Patel’s Perfect! 78-of-78 on PATs, strong FG kicking game, nets South Brunswick senior Special Teams Player of the Year honors

He also kicked a field goals of 43 and 23 yards later in the game, while going 3-for-3 on PATs, logging 12 points in the game.

Patel – in his second season at Rutgers – earned the starting placekicker job this season. At South Brunswick, he finished with school records for extra points, field goals (22) and touchbacks (67).

Rutgers is back in action Saturday for a 3:30 home game against Virginia Tech.

by Mike Pavlichko

2023 Big Central Preview: National Gold Division

From a championship program ascent from it’s nadir to a slinging quarterback returning to his hometown, the National Gold Division could shape up to be one of the most interesting in the Big Central Conference in 2023.

Piscataway rebounded from a winless season after sitting out 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – an administrative decision, not a team one – to go 6-3 last year and win the division. Expectations are even higher for the Chiefs, where winning state titles is the ultimate goal year-in and year-out.

East Brunswick will get Vito Tropeano, Jr. back, after he spent a year at Elizabeth playing for John Fiore.

The rest of the division can make some moves, too. Old Bridge is coming off a .500 campaign but ran into the gauntlet that was Toms River North in the playoffs last season. South Brunswick also was 5-5, and is looking for big things in Joe Goerge’s second year back in Monmouth Junction.

And there’s a new coach at Monroe, alum Nick Isola, who played under Chris Beagan and coached under Dan Lee.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko’s preview of the United Gold Division from the Big Central Conference’s inaugural Media Days:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: GMCT Quarterfinals – (4) Monroe 1, (12) South Brunswick 0

Monroe junior Lucas White pitched a no-hitter – walking just one and striking out ten – in a 1-0 victory for the fourth-seeded Falcons over 12th-seed South Brunswick in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals at North Brunswick Community Park as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Auto Lounge of Edison.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino call all the play-by-play on May 10, 2023:

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 Dom Savino

After upset of White Division champ Sayreville, South Brunswick has eyes on GMCT semis

Entering the season with an inexperienced roster and an arduous division slate, South Brunswick had two big goals: be competitive in every game and play the best in the GMC Tournament.

Well, mission accomplished.

The 12th-seed Vikings are the lowest seed to advance to this year’s GMCT quarterfinals, earning a Red Division rematch against Monroe. First pitch is set for 4 pm Wednesday at North Brunswick Community Park.

Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will broadcast the game live as part of Central Jersey Sports Radio’s doubleheader coverage, presented by Auto Lounge of Edison. The pregame show starts at 3:40; Click here to listen live.

South Brunswick has pieced together back-to-back wins for just the second time this season, more recently pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament’s second round on Monday with a 5-3 road win over 5th-seed Sayreville.

In that game, the two most seasoned Vikings starred.

Senior pitcher Joey Tuttoilmondo struck out a season-high 14 batters, fueled in part by senior catcher Ryan Kessler’s early three-run home run that gave the team a lead it would never relinquish.

Beyond those two veterans, though, South Brunswick’s roster consists mainly of juniors earning their first Varsity playing time. Their entire outfield is made up of juniors. Now, their experience-building process has led them to the GMC Tournament’s Elite Eight.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino with South Brunswick head coach Tim Sweeney on the Vikings’ big second-round win and the growth the team has displayed throughout the spring:

by Mike Pavlichko

GMCT Quarterfinals are set, as top four seeds advance, while South Brunswick, Spotswood and Edison score upsets

There was a mix of chalk and some upsets in the second round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Monday, as the top four seeds – North Brunswick, Old Bridge, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Monroe all won, but three other lower seeds also won.

The 12 seed, South Brunswick won, as did 11th-seed Spotswood and ninth-seed Edison.

Here are the game recaps from Monday’s action.

Scroll to the bottom of this story for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round matchups, with times and field locations.

(1) North Brunswick 25, (16) South River 0 (5 innings)

In the most lopsided game of the day, the Raiders scored early and often in the win, plating six runs in the first, eight in the second, and eleven in the third. North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins emptied the bench, getting 16 different hitters in the game. Chris Rosario was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Justin Batts – struggling at the plate since returning after a mandatory 30-day sit out after transferring from Bergen Catholic – broke out with a 2-for-3 day and three runs batted in, while Yomar Carreras did the same. Fifteen players drove in runs for North Brunswick (12-5).

More importantly, it allowed ace starter Zack Konstantinovsky to breeze through a short outing, as he threw 71 pitches in four innings, allowing three hits and no runs, striking out eight. He would come back Saturday should North Brunswick reach the semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet school. South River (10-5) used five different pitchers in the loss.

The Raiders move on to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they will play 9th-seed Edison on Field One at North Brunswick’s Community Park at 7 pm.

(9) Edison 3, (8) East Brunswick 0

Of the top four teams in the GMC White Division, all of which were in action Monday, 9th-seed Edison was the only one to win. The Eagles (12-7) had lost four straight games coming into their game at 8th-seed East Brunswick, and one of those losses was to the Bears, just three days ago, mere hours after Edison learned they would play each other in their opening games of the county tournament. That was a 4-2 loss, but this was a 3-0 win for Edison.

Ace Jaxon Appelman made it through 6 2/3 innings, throwing 110 pitches in the game, not helped by six walks, but he only scattered three hits in the near-complete game shutout. Jordan Martins, Charlie Taub and Appelman each knocked in a run in the victory. The Bears fall to 7-10, and visit Spotswood in their annual Commanders’ Cup Trophy game at 4 pm.

(12) South Brunswick 5, (5) Sayreville 3

The Vikings (7-11) weren’t much better than Edison heading into the GMCT, having lost four straight before snapping the skid with a 6-3 win over Ewing out of Mercer County back on Friday. They kept the momentum going thanks to standout and High Point commit Joey Tuttoilmondo, who fanned a season-high 14 over 5 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just one run on five hits and never pitched without the lead, after the Vikings – who got a 2-for-4 night from Ryan Kessler, with a home run – scored three times in the top of the first to give Tuttoilmondo a little breathing room right from the get-go. Brian Culhane also homered and knocked in two runs. Sayreville – the GMC White Division Champ – fell to 12-6.

South Brunswick moves on to play 4th-seed Monroe in a 4 pm quarterfinal game on Field 2, a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison, as part of a doubleheader, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino calling all the action. Click here to listen live.

(4) Monroe 7, (20) Piscataway 0

Harrison Lollin continued his outstanding junior season, as the Oregon commit pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout against the Piscataway (5-13). Lollin needed just 92 pitches to dispatch of the Chiefs, striking out 13 and walking none. It was his fifth game with double-figure strikeouts this season, his second-lowest pitch count, and fourth complete game of the season. Trevor Wallace scored three of the seven runs for Monroe (9-6), the fourth-place team in the stacked GMC Red. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Falcons.

(3) St. Joseph-Metuchen 12, (19) Metuchen 2 (5 innings)

In the “Battle of the Brainy Boro,” the St. Joseph bats did all the dirty work. One of the best top-to-bottom lineups ion the league, St. Joseph (12-7)got a 3-for-4 afternoon from Josiah Brown, who knocked in three runs, while Tyler Delvecchio also had 3 RBIs on a 2-for-3 night. Both hit home runs in the game. Robbie Carvellli and Bobby Christensen had 2 RBIs each. Starter Jimmy Mulvaney went the distance in the mercy-rule shortened game, needing just 85 pitches. He struck out seven, walked two, allowed five hits, and two earned runs. Metuchen dropped to 7-9.

The Falcons now take on Spotswood at 4 pm on Field 2 at Community Park on Wednesday.

(11) Spotswood 5, (6) Woodbridge 3

In one of the other big upsets of the night, Spotswood got 6 2/3 innings out of Seton Hall-bound senior Casey Cumiskey, who went 6 1/3 and struck out six, allowing just three earned runs on five hits against another one of the toughest top-to-bottom lineups in the GMC. The Chargers (14-4) got to Eddy Nunez for four runs in the fifth that turned out to be the difference. Click here for the full game story with postgame reaction.

(7) South Plainfield 6, (10) Middlesex 4

The sixth-place team in the brutal GMC Red Division makes it six division teams among the eight in the quarterfinals – along with Edison of the White and Spotswood of the Blue. South Plainfield (9-9) got back to the .500 mark and won its st third straight game, thanks almost singlehandedly to the bat of Jayden Alvarez, who had a 2-for-4 night with four runs batted in and a triple. Ashton Donovan also had an RBI from the Tigers, whose starter Aldo Pigna scattered four runs over six innings of work, striking out four to get the win, a big game in a big spot. Middlesex fell to 10-6 with the loss.

The Tigers move on to play second-seed Old Bridge on Field 2 at Community Park at 7 pm, in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, driven by Auto Lounge of Edison, as the second game of a doubleheader, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino calling all the action. Click here to listen live.

(2) Old Bridge 4, (15) Carteret 0

Old Bridge has now won three straight after losing three in a row, thanks in large part to an outstanding effort from Frank Papeo. The starter went the distance, needing just 86 pitches to get through seven innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out seven. The Knights got a run in the second, a run in the fourth, and added two more insurance runs in the sixth. The Ramblers threatened a couple of times, getting a pair of doubles in the game, and a runner on third with two outs in the third, but just couldn’t push anything across on Papeo.

GMC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

4 pm Games:
(3) St. Joseph-Metuchen vs. (11) Spotswood – Field 1
(4) Monroe vs. (12) South Brunswick – Field 2 (LIVE on CJSR)

7 pm Games:
(1) North Brunswick vs. (9) Edison – Field 1
(7) South Plainfield vs. (2) Old Bridge – Field 2 (LIVE on CJSR)

by Mike Pavlichko

North Brunswick clinches share of first-ever GMC Red title, top-seed in upcoming GMC Tournament, with 6-3 win at South Brunswick

Thursday afternoon’s 6-2 win for the North Brunswick Raiders on the road at South Brunswick was a big one in a number of ways.

Moving up to the GMC Red Division, it gave the Raiders at least a share of the division title in their first year playing with the “big boys” in the Greater Middlesex Conference. And by extension, it will wind up earning them the top seed in the GMC Tournament, which will be seeded Friday morning in East Brunswick.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, the Raiders got a complete game out of Kyle Anderson, who threw seven innings and allowed seven hits and three runs, two of them earned. He got the win for North Brunswick (10-5, 8-4 GMC Red) while starter Ethan Fantel took the loss for the Vikings (5-11, 3-9 GMC Red).

South Brunswick scored in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead on North Brunswick. Ryan Kessler had an RBI double in the first, while Joey Sanchez knocked in another run in the second with a single.

But it didn’t deter Anderson on the mound, who only allowed one run on four hits the rest of the afternoon, which started overcast, but turned out sunny, much like the Raiders’ fortunes in the game.

North Brunswick cut it to 2-1 South in the third when Yomar Carreras led off with a double down the right field line and Zack Konstantinovsky drove him in with a single.

Then, after a scoreless fourth, the Raiders took the lead for good.

Carreras again led off, this time with a single. With Konstantinovsky at the plate, he took off a bit too soon, and Fantel had him picked off, but threw it away into foul territory, and Carreras scored all the way from first with the ball getting lost in the wide expanse of foul territory down the right field line.

Konstantinovsky ended up with a walk and Omar Carreras singled. After Justin Batts popped out, Chris Rosario singled to load the bases, and Frankie Garbolino gave North a lead they would never relinquish with a two-RBI single. Sammy Berardo knocked in another run with a ground-out, and the Raiders had a 5-2 lead through four-and-a-half.

South Brunswick would add another run in the fifth on a single by Brian Culhane, while Konstantinovsky – who finished with a single, two walks and two runs scored in four times at the plate – scored the sixth run on a Justin Batts hit to third that turned out to be an E5.

Click below for postgame interviews, sponsored by the SportsPlex at Metuchen:

North Brunswick starting pitcher Kyle Anderson
North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins
by Mike Pavlichko

No. 5 North Brunswick controls its own destiny in GMC Red race, visiting South Brunswick in final game before county seeding

It may not be the way Raiders’ head coach Mark Blevins drew it up, but it’s what you play a whole season for: to have a chance to control where you end up in the postseason.

Maybe he didn’t want it to come down to his team’s final division game before the GMC Tournament seeding, but it is what it is, and 5th-ranked North Brunswick can control whether they get the tournament’s top seed or not: they just have to beat South Brunswick Thursday in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

First pitch is 4 pm with pregame at 3:40 with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action; click here to listen.

The Raiders are 9-5 overall, 7-4 in the division, tied for first in place in the GMC Red Division with Monroe, but own the tiebreaker over the Falcons by virtue of having swept their two-game series. So, a North Brunswick win Thursday sets them up as the likely top seed.

A loss, and things could get hairy.

Click here for a more detailed look at the GMC Red Division race, which should determine the top seed in the GMC Tournament.

Be that as it may, defending GMC Tournament champ North Brunswick has been playing well, getting great pitching and hitting from the entire team, but especially from Rutgers-bound Zach Konstantinovsky, who won a must-win game Tuesday at home over South Brunswick. He went the complete game, five innings, striking out 11 and shutting out the Vikings, while knocked in three runs at the plate, including a home run.

So, he won’t go again until next week. That’s the good news for South Brunswick (5-10, 3-8 GMC White), which graduated eleven seniors last season, and has been working with younger players – i.e., an all-junior outfield, and just one senior in the infield – to improve their game. Not an easy thing to do when Red Division opponents come at you fast and furious in a tight four weeks leading up to the GMC seeding meeting.

Click below to hear from both coaches ahead of Thursday’s CJSR broadcast featuring North Brunswick at South Brunswick:

North Brunswick head coach Mark Blevins
South Brunswick head coach Tim Sweeney

by Mike Pavlichko

Crowded GMC Red Division could end up with four of seven teams tied for first

If North Brunswick were to lose its GMC Red Division game Thursday afternoon against South Brunswick (4 pm on CJSR) it may be the end of the universe.

No, not really, but chaos really could ensue.

And they very well could lose out on getting the top-seed in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

The simplest thing for all involved – including the GMC seeding committee, which meets Friday morning at 9 am in East Brunswick – would be a Raiders’ win over the Vikings. That would put them at 8-4 in the division, and even if Monroe were to beat Old Bridge Thursday (also at 4 pm, at Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge) and end up with the same 8-4 mark, the Raiders swept the Falcons, and would likely be the top-seed in the tournament.

But if North Brunswick loses, we could be talking about a four-way tie.

Here are the GMC Red Division Standings as they sit heading into Thursday’s games, followed by the schedule:

TEAMRECORD
North Brunswick7-4
Monroe7-4
St. Joseph-Metuchen7-5
Old Bridge6-5

A North Brunswick loss would put them at 7-5. If Monroe were to beat Old Bridge (St. Joe’s is idle) they would be 8-4 and win the division, likely gaining the top seed.

If Old Bridge were to win, you’d have North Brunswick at 7-5, Monroe dropping to 7-5, and Old Bridge improving to 7-5, with Joe’s already at 7-5. Yes, you’d have a four-way tie.

Head-to-head would be the ideal way to break it. In that scenario:

  • North Brunswick would be 4-2 against the group (swept Monroe and St. Joe’s, swept by Old Bridge)
  • Old Bridge would be 4-2 against the group (swept North Brunswick, split with St. Joe’s and Monroe
  • Monroe would be 2-4 against the group (swept by North Brunswick, split with St. Joe’s and Old Bridge)
  • St. Joseph would be 2-4 against the group (swept by North Brunswick, split with Monroe and Old Bridge)

That would conceivably leave you with a two-way tie between North Brunswick and Old Bridge, and the Knights should then get the top-seed, since they would have swept two games from North Brunswick.

As if that weren’t enough, let’s throw one more wrinkle in there: the weather forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain around game time.

If everything were to get washed out, the standings would remain as is, with North Brunswick and Monroe tied at 7-4, and the Raiders getting the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping Monroe. It’s unlikely one game would get wiped out and not the other, with the forecast calling for showers through about 7 or 8 pm, except for the fact that Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge has lights.

If only they were to play, an Old Bridge win would leave North Brunswick 7-4, Monroe 7-5, St. Joe’s 7-5 and Old Bridge 7-5. The nod could go to the Raiders, and the key for the committee would be that divisional play was not completed, thus there is no champion. (The game could be made up later to determine a champion, but not for seeding purposes.)

The committee could consider what the expected result of the North Brunswick-South Brunswick game would have been if they had played. The Raiders beat them Tuesday 10-0.

If Monroe won, they’d be 8-4, with North Brunswick 7-4, and neither Joe’s not Old Bridge really a factor. Again, it comes down to there not being a division champ, and the committee could look at the expected result.

Could the committee choose to delay the seeding meeting? Or just determining the No. 1 seed? That’s unlikely, but anything is possible. However, Friday’s forecast is better, but not great, still about a 20% chance of showers around game time.

Keep in mind, the added wrinkle here is that with the GMC Tournament expanded to 20 teams, the first round features teams 13 through 20 playing on Saturday. So it’s not as if the 16th seed would be determined Friday and top seed would know who they’re playing Monday in the second round anyway. They could even wait and play the game Saturday. They probably won’t but again, anything could happen.