Home News TOP 10

Written by Greg Tufaro

TOP 10

1. Sayreville 10-1 

2. Middlesex 14-0 

3. St. Joseph 10-6 

4. South Brunswick 10-3 

5. Perth Amboy 10-3 

6. North Brunswick 10-4 

7. South Plainfield 7-6 

8. Edison 7-7 

9. Monroe 8-4 

10. Metuchen 8-3

Middlesex extends undefeated streak, beats South Plainfield

Posted by Harry Frezza
NORTH BRUNSWICK — The 5-1 victory by the MIddlesex High School baseball team over South Plainfield Saturday was a testament to how complete the unbeaten Blue Jays have become.
Junior lefty Kris Fellin threw 66 pitches in a complete game to help Middlesex improve to 15-0.
Senior designated hitter Chris Petiya slugged a two-run homer and junior first baseman Dan Berardi hit a solo shot. Fellin (3-0) ended the speedy 1-hour and 46-minute game by picking off a pinch-runner at first, then getting South Plainfield standout senior center fielder Mark Tomei on a lineout to junior shortstop Tyler Heisch, who stabbed the ball trotting into shallow left to send everybody home.
The game was one of eight in the annual Autism Awareness Tournament at Community Park in North Brunswick.
Though the game wasn’t perfect for the Blue Jays – they did have some careless base running and South Plainfield (8-7) completed three double plays, two by senior second baseman Chris Kukuch – Fellin’s doggedness, fine fielding and the big bats made that facet of the game irrelevant.
Fellin said he wanted to pitch to contact. He struck out one, gave up five hits, walked two and got 14 outs in the air – junior center fielder Tommy Marcinczyk getting eight putouts.
“As long as we catch the ball he (Fellin) is always going to be good, in the last couple of years when he’s on that’s how his games have gone – 70 pitches, 80 pitches, he battled,’’ said Middlesex coach Mike O’Donnell.
Berardi’s homer in the second was certainly noteworthy. His line drive to center hit off Tomei’s glove and over the fence.
The Blue Jays scored four runs in the bottom of the third. Petiya had the big hit, a home run – his fourth in three years at the Community Park complex and second of the season here.

GMC WHITE STANDINGS

GMC STANDINGS - WHITE DIVISION
Place	Team	Win	Loss
1	Perth Amboy (12-3)	9	2
2	North Brunswick (9-4)	8	3
3	Monroe (9-4)	7	3
4	South Plainfield (8-6)	6	4
5	JF Kennedy (7-6)	6	4
6	Woodbridge (6-7)	5	6
7	Colonia (2-12)	1	10
8	Carteret (1-14)	0	11

Game #14 vs St. Joseph (at Rutgers)

Staff Report
ST. JOSEPH 3, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 0: The St. Joseph High School baseball team scored three runs in the eighth inning Thursday to beat South Plainfield 3-0 at Rutgers University’s Bainton Field.
Anthony Texiera doubled in the first run and Brad Terpanick delivered a two-run single later in the inning. St. Joseph (10-6) had eight hits, with Texiera going 2-for-3 with a walk. South Plainfield (8-6) had just three hits against starter James Ziemba and winner Sean Rappleyea.
Stephen Petriello doubled to lead off the sixth and moved to third on a groundout to first, but a botched squeeze ended the threat. Senior righty Ryan Hughes went 71/3 innings for South, but took the loss.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD ON A ROLL

By John Haley/For The Star-Ledger 
South Plainfield beat Kennedy in a recent home-and-home, 12-1 and 12-2, but neither game made the roundup in the paper. South Plainfield has won five straight and six of its last seven.
On Tuesday, in a 12-1 win, A.J. Celantano pitched a three-hitter with four strikeouts and no walks, while collecting two hits and two RBI. Stephen Petriello had a double, a homer and two RBI.
In Wednesday's 12-2 win, Patrick Boyle pitched a six-hitter with two K's and a walk. Sal Esposito had two hits.

As I make my rounds around the baseball circuit, I can't help but notice the amount of quality pitchers out there. Its seems as though every team has an ace (some have two) who can go out and shut down anyone on a given day.
Which gets me thinking about two things: 1) What a great GMC Tournament it's going to be and 2) I'm going to dred picking the pitchers come All County time.
Also looking to see such arms this season as Haydn Warren from East Brunswick, Adonis Hernandez from Kennedy, Jose Hernandez from Perth Amboy, Brandon Charles from Piscayaway, Mike Bernet from Bishop Ahr, Dan Kacsmar from Woodbridge, Steve Guarriello from St. Joe's, Tommy Marcinczyk from Middlesex, Steven Fortuna from Metuchen, A.J. Celantano from South Plainfield, Jordan Fetterman from Old Bridge and Scott Griffin from Sayreville, among others.

Game #13 vs JF Kennedy

Staff Report
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 12, J.F. KENNEDY (6 inn.): Junior shortstop Sal Esposito went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to give South Plainfield (8-5) its second straight mercy-rule win over the Mustangs (7-6). Junior righty Pat Boyle (1-1) pitched complete game to earn his first varsity win. He struck out two and allowed six hits and a walk.

Game #12 at JF Kennedy

Staff Report
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 12, J.F. KENNEDY 1 (6 inn.): Stephen Petriello went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBI. Winning pitcher A.J. Celentano (2-for-3 with two RBI and a run) went the distance. He fanned four, scattered three hits and walked none. Taylor Born (2-for-3) had a run and an RBI.
The Tigers (7-5) won their fifth straight. They scored five unearned runs in the second to build a 7-1 lead. Eric Giordano had an RBI single for the Mustangs (7-5).

GMC STANDINGS - WHITE DIVISION
Place	Team	Win	Loss
T1	Perth Amboy (10-3)	7	2
T1	North Brunswick (8-4)	7	2
T3	Monroe (7-4)	6	3
T3	JF Kennedy (7-5)	6	3
T5	South Plainfield (7-5)	5	4
T5	Woodbridge (6-5)	5	4
T7	Carteret (1-13)	0	9
T7	Colonia (1-10)	0	9

Middlesex County Top 10

By Bob Behre and Star-Ledger Staff

MIDDLESEX COUNTY TOP 10

1-Sayreville (9-0)

2-Middlesex (11-0)

3-South Brunswick (8-3)

4-Perth Amboy (8-3)

5-St. Joseph (Met.) 8-5

6-North Brunswick (8-3)

7-Monroe (6-4)

8-Iselin Kennedy (7-4)

9-South Plainfield (6-5)

10-Metuchen (7-3)

By John Haley/For The Star-Ledger 

The GMC Autism Awareness Challenge will take place Saturday at Community Park in North Brunswick with eight games going on all day and night.

Eight members of the Middlesex County Top 10 will be in action in addition to two teams ranked in The Star-Ledger Top 20 , No. 17 Sayreville and No. 19 Middlesex.

The schedule for Saturday in North Brunswick -- 10 a.m.: Sayreville vs. North Brunswick, Carteret vs. Metuchen. 1 p.m.: South River vs. Dunellen, Perth Amboy vs. Edison. 4 p.m.: Middlesex vs. South Plainfield, Spotswood vs. Colonia. 7 p.m.: Woodbridge vs. East Brunswick, Monroe vs. South Brunswick.

Game #11 vs. Paramus

Tomei collects 100th hit in Tigers' victory

Staff Report

Senior center fielder Mark Tomei hit a lead-off single to right-center field in the bottom of the first inning to collect his 100th career hit for the South Plainfield High School baseball team, and the Tigers defeated Paramus 10-5 on Saturday.

Tomei went 2-for-4 and senior catcher Stephen Petriello added two RBI and two runs.

Quinn Cochrane went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI for South Plainfield, which improved to 6-5. Paramus fell to 8-2

Game #10 vs. Colonia

Staff Report

SOUTH PLAINFIELD 6, COLONIA 1: Ryan Hughes allowed one run, five hits, one walk, and struck out four in six innings of work for the Tigers. Stephen Petriello was 2-for-4 with a triple for South Plainfield (5-5). The triple was Petriello’s 100th career hit. Taylor Born had a double and a run scored en route to the victory. Joe Coutihno was 2-for-3 with a single and a double for Colonia (1-9).

GMC STANDINGS - WHITE DIVISION
Place	Team	Win	Loss
1	North Brunswick	7	1
T2	Perth Amboy	6	2
T2	JF Kennedy	6	2
4	Monroe	5	3
T5	South Plainfield	4	4
T5	Woodbridge	4	4
T7	Carteret	0	8
T7	Colonia	0	8

Game #9 at Colonia

Posted by Harry Frezza
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 3, COLONIA 1: South Plainfield (4-5) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh on an infield error. Winning pitcher A.J. Celantano plated an insurance run with a single. Joe Handville had an RBI for the Patriots (1-8), who have lost six games by a total of 11 runs.

Game #8 at Montgomery

Written by Jerry Carino
MONTGOMERY 12, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 8: The Cougars parlayed 12 singles into a total of 11 runs during the fourth and fifth innings to erase a 4-1 deficit. Nick Kukuch went 2-for- 2 with a sac fly and two runs scored for the Tigers. Brett Ender went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for the Cougars.

By Bob Behre and Star-Ledger Staff

MIDDLESEX COUNTY TOP 10

1-Sayreville (6-0)

2-North Brunswick (6-1)

3-St. Joseph (Met.) (5-4)

4-Middlesex (7-0)

5-Monroe (5-2)

6-South Brunswick (4-3)

7-Perth Amboy (4-3)

8-Iselin Kennedy (6-3)

9-South Plainfield (3-4)

10-Metuchen (4-3)

BASEBALL STAT LEADERS-MIDDLESEX COUNTY

For games reported to njschoolsports.com through April 15:

EXTRA-BASE HITS

Player, School, 2B-3B-HR-Total

Anthony Brocato, Rutgers Prep, 3-1-2-6

Mark  Tomei, South Plainfield, 2-2-1-5

Nick  Annunziata, St. Joseph (Met.), 3-1-1-5

Nico Condito, J.P. Stevens, 5-0-0-5

Adonis Hernandez, Iselin Kennedy, 4-1-0-5

GMC Autism Awareness Challenge

Game #7 vs Westfield at North Brunswick Community Park

Written by Harry Frezza
Tigers rebound with victory over Blue Devils
NORTH BRUNSWICK — South Plainfield couldn’t complete a late-game comeback Friday afternoon against Perth Amboy. Westfield pitching allowed the Tigers to restore the momentum Saturday morning, yet for awhile head coach Anthony Guida wasn’t sure if his club would take advantage.
The Tigers (3-4) walked seven times in the bottom of the first against sophomore righty Brad DeMartino with five of the base runners coming around to score to wipe out a 2-0 deficit. Westfield rallied to tie at 5-5 in the fifth, but senior center fielder Mark Tomei’s two-run single to the bottom of the inning sparked South Plainfield’s 8-5 victory.
The game was one of eight in the annual Union/GMC Autism Awareness Challenge at Community Park in North Brunswick.
South Plainfield, limited to just one hit and trailing Perth Amboy 4-0 Friday, scored three runs in the top of the seventh to close to 4-3. But the Tigers stranded two on the corners as junior righty Fernando Rosa struck out the final two batters to cap a complete-game four hitter.
The Tigers were outhit 14-4 by Westfield, but walked 14 times and were hit twice. And the Blue Devils made three errors.
Catcher Stephen Petriello walked three times and reached base a fourth after being hit with a pitch. Tomei was also walked three times.
“We didn’t put the ball out of the infield today, the same thing we didn’t do yesterday, we got every run in the last inning and we didn’t put the ball in the outfield at all, they gave us gifts and we didn’t get the big hit, we didn’t get the big hit here until the fifth inning,” said Guida.
“They didn’t hit a ball, they didn’t hit a ball and the same kid made two outs,” said Westfield coach Bob Brewster, whose team won the North 2 IV title last year and made it to the state final. “DeMartino is going to be very, very good. He has very good stuff.”
Westfield (4-3) took a 2-0 lead in the first. It crawled back from the early ugliness to tie the score at 5-5 in the fifth on senior center fielder James O’Rourke’s two-run double, his third double of the game.
South Plainfield regained the lead in the bottom of the inning against senior Tom Malley. Pat Boyle led off with a walk and his courtesy runner Nick Graves went to third when Ryan Marcoux bunted for a hit. Malley overthrew first, attempting to nail Marcoux, allowing Marcoux and Graves to move up. Tomei then delivered for a 7-5 lead. The eighth run came when Quinn Cochrane’s groundball was booted, allowing Tomei to score.
“The whole game I was sitting on a fastball, it was an outside pitch and I went with it,’ said Tomei.
Senior righty Ryan Hughes earned the win with 21/3 innings of relief of Tommy Bowden.

Game #6 at Perth Amboy

Written by Staff Report

PERTH AMBOY 4, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 3: Fernando Rosa (3-1) tossed a complete-game three-hitter without allowing an earned run, striking out 10 and walking none for Perth Amboy. Luis Guerra went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Rosa struck a RBI triple for the Panthers (4-2). Mark Tomei reached base in all three plate appearances and scored one run for South Plainfield (2-4).

GMC STANDINGS - WHITE DIVISION
1.North Brunswick (5-1)    5-0
2.Monroe (4-2)                 4-1
3.Perth Amboy (4-2)         4-2
4.J.F. Kennedy (5-2)         3-1
5.Woodbridge (2-3)          2-3
6.South Plainfield (2-4)  2-4
T7.Carteret (1-6)             0-5
T7.Colonia (1-6)               0-5

Top 10 (records through Thursday)

1. Sayreville 5-0 

2. Middlesex 5-0 

3. St. Joseph 5-2 

4. North Brunswick 4-1 

5. Monroe 4-1 

6. Perth Amboy 3-2 

7. South Plainfield 2-3 

8. South Brunswick 2-3 

9. Edison 3-3 

10. Metuchen 3-2

South Plainfield (3) at Perth Amboy (4)
By John Haley
There are two things that Perth Amboy junior Fernando Rosa made clear yesterday -- he has talent and he has guts. Rosa took a one-hit shutout and a four-run lead into the seventh inning against South Plainfield, having faced the minimum number of batters, but he then found himself in a big-time jam.
Leading by just one run with runners on first and third and one out, Rosa threw nothing but fastballs by the final two hitters to lead Perth Amboy to a 4-3 victory at Rudyk Park in Perth Amboy.
Rosa finished with a four-hitter, giving up no walks and no earned runs while striking out 10, to improve to 3-1. Perth Amboy had lost to South Plainfield the day before, 8-4. “I felt like I was throwing 95, the fastball was jumping out of my hands,’’ said Rosa, who had his good curve ball working as well. “And with the curve, I was able to keep them off-balance.’’
Rosa dealt with just three baserunners in six innings, with two reaching on errors and Ryan Marcoux getting a single. But catcher Luis Guerra threw two of the runners out and Rosa picked off the other, so he faced just 18 batters with one inning to go.
In the seventh, infield singles by Mark Tomei and Stephen Petriello gave South Plainfield runners on first and second with one out before an error loaded the bases. A.J. Celantano then singled to right to make it 4-1 with the bases still loaded and one out. A comebacker to Rosa could have ended the game with a double play, but his throw home was high, allowing two runners to score to make it 4-3 with runners on the corners. Perth Amboy matched South Plainfield in errors with four.

Game #5 vs. Perth Amboy

Written by Staff Report
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 8, PERTH AMBOY 4: Junior outfielder Quinn Cochrane blasted a three-run home run in the first inning to get the ball rolling for the Tigers (2-3). Sal Esposito was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Mark Tomei had two triples for South Plainfield. Tilson Brito was 2-for-4, including a two-run shot in the sixth for the Panthers (3-2), and teammate Fernando Rosa added a solo home run.

GMC Autism Awareness Tournament

By John Haley/For The Star-Ledger  
The GMC Autism Awareness Tournament will take place all day and night on Saturday at Community Park in North Brunswick. Six of the eight games will feature teams from Middlesex County versus Union County.

One of the two 7 p.m. games will feature St. Joseph of Metuchen playing Sayreville, which are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Middlesex County Top 10, respectively.

The schedule:
10 a.m.: Westfield vs. South Plainfield, Plainfield vs. North Brunswick
1 p.m.: Union vs. Middlesex, Roselle Park vs. Dunellen
4 p.m.: Edison vs. South Brunswick, Union Catholic vs. Perth Amboy
7 p.m.: Elizabeth vs. Edison, Sayreville vs. St. Joseph

Alumni Spotlight - Brandon Downes ('11)

Freshman Brandon Downes ('11) is currently hitting .455 with 4 extra-base hits (2 triples), 9 RBI's and 3 multi-hit games.  Brandon recently returned to action following a hand injury that sidelined him for a few weeks. The 23rd ranked Virginia baseball team is 22-10-1 (9-6 Conf) as they have hit the mid-point of their season in the ACC.

Game #4 at North Brunswick

For NJ Press Media
NORTH BRUNSWICK 5, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 4: Nick Reinson picked up his second save by pitching out of a seventh-inning jam that included runners on second and third with no outs and bases loaded with one out. Reinson also went 2-for-3 with a RBI while Chris Iocca went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and the go-ahead RBI single for the Raiders (4-1). Quinn Cochrane and Stephen Petriello had two hits apiece for the Tigers (1-3).

Game #3 vs. North Brunswick

Jordan C. Hall Staff Writer

SOUTH PLAINFIELD — In Saturday’s matchup against South Plainfield High School, North Brunswick put on a perfect rendition of what makes up an all-around baseball team and how it wins a game.
The Raiders had solid starting pitching, received timely hits, played sound defense and got their closer the ball in the seventh inning.
This blueprint earned North Brunswick (3-1) a 6-3 road win over South Plainfield (1-2) as the Raiders did just about everything to come out as victorious.
Tigers senior catcher Stephen Petriello took Torres deep for a two-run home run in the third inning.

Home News Top 10

Written by Greg Tufaro

1. St. Joseph 2-1 

2. Middlesex 2-0 

3. Sayreville 3-0 

4. Monroe 2-0 

5. North Brunswick 2-1 

6. South Plainfield 1-1 

7. Woodbridge 1-1 

8. J.P. Stevens 2-0 

9. Perth Amboy 1-1 

10T. Metuchen 2-0 

10T. Old Bridge 1-1

Game #2 vs. Woodbridge

For NJ Press Media 

SOUTH PLAINFIELD 14, WOODBRIDGE 6: Nick Kukuch hit a grand slam as part of a 10-run fifth inning for third-ranked South Plainfield (1-1), which also got four hits and three runs apiece from Mark Tomei and Stephen Petriello. Tomei’s outburst included two doubles and a home run. Tenth-ranked Woodbridge’s Dan Kaczmar hit a grand slam as Woodbridge jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

Game #1 at Woodbridge

Staff Report
WOODBRIDGE 17, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 8: Dan Kacsmar tossed 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven while allowing two walks and 11 hits, to get the win for 10th-ranked Woodbridge (1-0). Elvis Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a triple and four runs scored and Steve Sepa smacked two doubles and drove in four runs for the Barrons. For third-ranked South Plainfield (0-1), Stephen Petriello went 2-for-3 with two doubles.