GMC Baseball Top 10 entering Week Four

 Andy MendlowitzMyCentralJersey.com

Wow!

Yeah, I might have said that once or twice or 10 times last week as the scores came in each day. There were certainly surprises and upsets in the third full week of play.

But maybe they weren't so shocking. Baseball, after all, is a game of rhythm and variance. Hitters need to get into grooves and you're not playing the same stud quarterback or sharpshooter every game.

As Greater Middlesex Conference teams enter the final couple weeks of division play -- yes, it's going by fast -- there are more questions than answers for many teams.

That should set up an exciting two weeks before the GMC Tournament begins.

1. St. Joseph (9-4) – last week No. 1

A couple weeks ago, Falcons coach Mike Murray Jr. noted how just about every Red Division series features tight, close games. Well, that was certainly true last week as St. Joseph went 3-1 in division play with a sweep over Old Bridge and a split with East Brunswick. The biggest margin of victory in the games were three runs. Tight and close, indeed. In a division shaping up to have a lot of parity, the Falcons retain the top spot having already swept South Brunswick. The deep pitching includes starters Andrew Goldan, Colin Leyner and Jimmy Mulvaney, which can help the young Falcons through any tough stretch.

2. South Brunswick (7-5)  – last week No. 2

The Vikings are playing at a high level against top teams. In baseball, that doesn't always equate to wins, but it's tough to drop the Vikings after splitting a series with East Brunswick and Monroe last week. Earlier this spring, South Brunswick dropped two close games to St. Joseph and defeated surging North Brunswick. In the Monroe series, Frankie Sanchez and Joey Tuttoilmondo each threw gems and give the Vikings as good as a 1-2 punch as any team in the GMC.

3. South Plainfield (8-1-1) – last week No. 3

The Tigers could certainly make a case for No. 2. South Plainfield is unbeaten in Middlesex County with only a 2-0 defeat to nonconference Millburn on April 23. That includes an impressive sweep over Edison and a 1-0 win over Middlesex. Saturday, North Brunswick took a 3-2 lead over the Tigers in the top of the seventh, but the skies opened up in between innings and the game was declared a tie. Would South Plainfield have rallied for a dramatic win? Ask Mother Nature. The teams meet again Monday and South Plainfield has an interesting division stretch against Sayreville and series against Woodbridge and Colonia.

4. Monroe (10-2) – last week No. 4

The Falcons seemed prime to possibly make the jump to No. 1, until South Brunswick had a three-run rally Saturday in the bottom of the sixth inning to win 4-1. That meant a split with the Vikings and a dilemma where to put Monroe. After looking and re-looking at everything, I left Monroe at No. 4. Mainly, because they haven't played St. Joseph or East Brunswick yet, which are the other teams in the top half of the division. Guess what, after Monroe meets Union on Monday, its next four games are against St. Joes and the Bears -- play ball! Garrett VanBuren and Josh Weinstein have pitched like aces, while VanBuren (.417 batting average) and Trevor Wallace (.445) have gotten key hits.

5. Middlesex (6-2) – last week No. 7

The Blue Jays showed they're going to be a tough out come the GMC Tournament after good showings last week against top White Division teams. Middlesex lost 1-0 to South Plainfield last Thursday and beat then-No. 5 Edison 7-4 last Monday. Raiden Yost and Kenny Yonker gives Middlesex a tough 1-2 combo on the mound and power bats like Anthony Long and Ryan Vollmer are always a threat. Middlesex returns to the Blue Division this week with a difficult series against Metuchen and games against South River and Spotswood.

6. East Brunswick (5-6) – last week unranked

Bears coach Chris Kenney said he viewed last week as sort of a make or break stretch in the Red Division with games against three tough opponents. Guess what? Five games later, the Bears have trended upward. East Brunswick went 3-2 with splits against No. 1 St. Joseph and No. 2 South Brunswick and a win over then-No. 6 Old Bridge. Suddenly, EB has a strong resume with upcoming division games against Monroe and Old Bridge. People knew that the Bears had talent, just it took a while for things to click after an 0-4 start. Seniors Chris Procaccini and Jordan Williams have been joined by sophomore Michael Marchese and freshman Dustin McGuinness to give the Bears a formidable staff.

7. Edison (7-4) – last week No. 5

In May, the Eagles have gone 2-3 with their three losses by a combined six runs. That's baseball. The main thing at this point is that Edison has been in just about every game. They battle. Walker Zampella and Sal Della Fave continue to smash the ball. Della Fave has been one of the GMC's best two-way players with a .352 batting average and 16 RBI to go with a .81 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. Edison's 5-0 start includes a key sweep over Woodbridge. They should have an entertaining series with Colonia to begin the week.

8. Woodbridge (7-3) – last week No. 9

After an 0-2 start, the Barrons have gone 7-1 with just a 7-6 loss to Colonia on May 1. Juniors Matt Troche and Josh Vazquez continue to lead the staff. Woodbridge, though, didn't get a big bump in the rankings this week with just two games against New Brunswick last week. On tap are entertaining division games against Sayreville and a series with South Plainfield. Woodbridge has a key sweep over North Brunswick to keep them ahead of the Raiders in this week's ranking.

9. North Brunswick (8-5-1) – last week unranked

Eventually, if you keep playing hard, the hits will fall. At least that's what Raiders skipper Mark Blevins figured as his team started off 2-4. Since then, North Brunswick's offense erupted with two big wins over Sayreville and it went 3-1-1 last week. That included a split with Edison and a tie with South Plainfield after the skies opened up in the seventh inning. You think teams are eager to face the Raiders pitching? Zachary Konstantinovsky had 16 strikeouts with no walks in a nine-inning 3-2 win over Edison last Wednesday.

10. (tied) Metuchen (9-2) – last week No. 10

               Spotswood (8-3) – last week No. 10

It was a perfect setup -- two teams tied in the rankings were meeting twice last week. Simply, I'll step out of the way and let them decide it on the diamond. Naturally, they had two close games with Spotswood winning 2-0 and Metuchen prevailing the next day 2-1. So ... enter another week with them tied at No. 10. Top pitching was on display with Spotswood sporting Casey Cumiskey and Jackson Walsh and Metuchen countering with Matt Rowe and Luke Schleck. Both teams have Middlesex coming up this week, which should help decide the Blue Division.

GMC Baseball Top 10 entering Week Four (mycentraljersey.com)