Greg Tufaro ,
@GregTufaro
1. East Brunswick (2-1): After splitting a season-opening series with St. Joseph, the Bears scored an impressive 3-1 victory over Hillsborough, which the Star Ledger of Newark ranks No. 20 in the state. The Bears avenged a 9-5 loss in eight innings to St. Joseph with a 19-7 drubbing of the Falcons in their next outing. Senior lefthander Tyler Burnham, a Seton Hall University signee, has allowed just one earned run over his last 10 innings. East Brunswick’s lineup appears to be among the league’s deepest and most balanced.
2. St. Joseph (2-2): After rallying for a 9-5 victory in extra innings over East Brunswick, the Falcons endured consecutive lopsided losses to the Bears and St. Joseph of Montvale, which Perfect Game ranks among the Top 50 programs in the country. The Falcons rebounded, however, with an impressive 11-0 mercy-rule win over Marist on Saturday in which Jake Hellwig hurled five shutout innings to record his second win. Ross Maertz has homered in two of his last three games.
3. Monroe (2-1): After holding on for a 6-4 season-opening win over Perth Amboy, the Falcons dropped a 4-3 decision to perennial state power Steinert. Monroe faces St. Joseph in a regular-season series on Monday and Tuesday. Matt Sorrento is batting .500 (4-for-8), while Nick Payero is hitting .429 (3-for-7) with a home run. Most are familiar with aces Eric Heatter, a Rutgers University commit, and Payero, but the Falcons showcased another arm, that of Matt Zurawiecki, who hurled four and a third no-hit innings against Steinert. For perspective, Steinert scored 41 runs, or an average of 13.7 per game, against its three other opponents.
4. Woodbridge (4-0): The Barrons have defeated South Amboy, Edison and Piscataway twice. Over Woodbridge’s last three games, centerfielder Zach Joe is batting .667 (6-for-9), while teammates Jospeher Gutierrez, Harry Rutkowski and Justin Silva have four RBI apiece. Trevor Cykowski, already a stellar defensive shortstop, has vastly improved his hitting from a year ago and is batting .444 (4-for-9) with three RBI over the last three contests.
5. South Brunswick (3-1): After rallying from a four-run sixth-inning deficit for a 6-5 comeback victory over Old Bridge, the Vikings cruised to a 10-0 drubbing of Sayreville. Kevin Reyes got off to a quick start, batting .667 (4-for-6) with five RBI in South Brunswick's first two games. Ryan Moran collected three hits, three RBI and three runs scored in the first two contests. South Brunswick split a doubleheader on Saturday, falling 7-6 to Montgomery and defeating Rutgers Prep 13-11.
6. South Plainfield (2-0): The Tigers have received stellar pitching and defense in a season-opening 8-1 win over Sayreville and an ensuing 2-1 victory over Spotswood. South Plainfield is hitting .270 as a team. The Tigers recently got new indoor (school gymnasium) and outdoor (field) batting cages. Connor Adams (3-for-5) is the team’s leading hitter (.600). Roberto Gonzalez, Jared Marks and Jean Sapini are the only other Tigers with multiple hits. A quartet of hurlers has combined to fan 19 batters and walk just eight.
7. Middlesex (4-0): Middlesex’s pitchers extended their string of scoreless innings to 20 with the team’s second consecutive shutout, an 8-0 blanking of Carteret on Saturday. Middlesex has outscored its opponents 36-3. Senior first baseman Mike Salerno is off to a torrid start, batting .769 (10-for-16). The Blue Jays are batting a league-leading .410 as a team (51-for-123) with 18 walks, seven extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases.
8. Colonia (2-2): The Patriots rebounded from an extra-inning loss to Bridgewater-Raritan in their season opener with consecutive one-run victories over Metuchen and Perth Amboy. Colonia then dropped an 8-7 decision to Hudson Catholic. Through the team’s first three games, Chris Michael, better known for his pinpoint accuracy as a pitcher, has been a force at the plate, batting .636 with seven hits.
9. Metuchen (1-1): The Bulldogs rebounded from a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Colonia, against who they allowed the game’s lone run in the seventh inning, with an impressive 15-1 victory over South River, the defending Blue Division and Central Group I champions. Kyle Harry and Matt Volpe plated four runs apiece in the win.
10. Old Bridge (1-2): The Knights, who are batting under .200 as a team, scored five unearned runs in a 5-1 victory over A.L. Johnson on Saturday to snap a two-game losing skid. Old Bridge opened the year with a disheartening 6-5 walk-off loss to South Brunswick, which erased a 4-0 sixth-inning deficit. With Joe Papeo and Jake Kodros on the mound, Old Bridge will keep itself in games.
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