Andy Mendlowitz
After an exciting first full week of the GMC baseball season, there wasn't much movement in the Top 10 -- despite some key matchups.
Here is this week's rankings as the divisional play heats up.
TOP 10
(records and stats through Sunday, May 1)
1. St. Joseph (6-3) – last week No. 1
Who doesn't love a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup? Yes, it's early. Still, it's fun when top teams meet for back-to-back games. St. Joseph took two close ones over No. 2 South Brunswick last week, 3-0 and 2-1 in 8 innings. The crisp innings featured gem-like pitching for both squads and key outs when the opponent threatened. Despite its youth, the St. Joseph players showed poise and moxie. In Saturday's extra innings win, the Falcons started one senior with six sophomores on the diamond, including pitcher Jimmy Mulvaney. Senior pitching stopper Colin Leyner led the way in the first game. The sophomores off to hot starts, including Tyler Delvecchio, Xavier Arana and Mark Gialluisi, while junior Andrew Goldan and senior Eric Gonzalez hit home runs. The Falcons have lost to difficult nonconference teams in Cherokee, Hun and Somerville. That competition, though, should help St. Joseph going forward in the Red Division.
2. South Brunswick (5-3) – last week No. 2
Despite the two losses, you can't really punish the Vikings in the rankings. South Brunswick, whose other loss was to state power Cranford, were right there with the Falcons. There's a lot to like with South Brunswick as it enters tough series against East Brunswick and Monroe. It begins with front-line pitching in right-handers Frankie Sanchez, Joey Tuttoilmondo and Neel Telivedara. At the plate, Sanchez, Pete Cortez and Alex Ciccone have delivered key hits. An x-factor is catcher Joey Chegus, who threw out three base runners in Saturday's extra innings loss to St. Joseph.
3. South Plainfield (7-1) – last week No. 4
In another highly anticipated series, South Plainfield swept then-No. 3 Edison 11-1 and 7-5 to stake an early claim as the favorites in the tough White Division. The Tigers have a balanced batting order with production throughout the lineup. In the series, Austin Scott went 4-for-8 with three RBI and a home run and Nick Loniewski scored four runs and had three RBI. Vincent Esposito and Jack Massett provided outstanding starts. Add in Mitch Dudak, and South Plainfield has a formidable rotation. The Tigers should be tested this week with divisional games against Sayreville and North Brunswick and Blue Division power Middlesex.
4. Monroe (7-1) – last week No. 5
In the always tough Red Division, it's Monroe that finds itself up top with St. Joseph after two weeks. Yes, the Falcons have gotten good pitching, but they've also been able to hit, scoring an average of 8 runs a game in their seven wins. This week, Monroe has a series against Perth Amboy, a game with Sayreville and then a showdown series against No. 2 South Brunswick, which could shake up the division. Garrett VanBuren and Jacob Veczko are both hitting .500.
5. Edison (5-2) – last week No. 3
Maybe it's not fair to drop the Eagles after the two losses to South Plainfield. After all, they were close games (the 11-1 loss was 0-0 entering the fourth) against another top opponent. The Eagles also have two impressive wins over Woodbridge on their resume. But these things always plays itself out on the field, and Edison should be just fine going forward. Sal Della Fave has a whopping 14 RBI and four home runs and has given up two earned runs in 16 innings on the mound.
6. Old Bridge (2-5) – last week No. 6
Yeah, it was a tough start for the Knights, beginning the season late and going 0-4 against Monroe (twice) and private school powers Don Bosco and St. Peter's Prep. But Old Bridge has too much talent to panic and things started trending upward with a pair of wins over Piscataway. Now, the Knights will test themselves with Red Division games against St. Joseph (twice) and J.P. Stevens and two more nonconference private school games with Seton Hall Prep and St. Augustine.
7. Middlesex (3-0) – last week No. 7
The Blue Jays started strong after a late start by outscoring their opponents 48-1 in three wins last week. Now, they'll likely face tougher pitching against South Plainfield and nonconference Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Middlesex has fellow Blue Division contenders Metuchen, South River and Spotswood over the next two weeks. Players scorching early for Middlesex include Ryan Vollmer, Raiden Yost and Stephen Young.
8. Colonia (3-3) – last week No. 8
In yet another big series last week, Colonia split with Woodbridge in a Saturday double-header after Thursday's meeting was postponed in the third inning because of rain. Consider it a rankings push with the teams remaining in the same spots. After a tough nonconference schedule that includes losses against Immaculata and Sparta, the Patriots have a stretch of nine straight White Division teams. It begins with a series against another Woodbridge Township team in J.F. Kennedy, which has some pop.
9. Woodbridge (5-3) – last week No. 9
The Barrons put together a strong stretch with five-straight wins before losing the second game of the DH to Colonia. That included two key White Division victories over North Brunswick, especially impressive was how they won. In the first meeting, North Brunswick took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Woodbridge responded with five runs in the top of the seventh. In other words, never count them out. Tom O'Halloran has been scorching (12-of-21) and Brandon Schmitt and Matt Troche have each driven in seven runs.
10. (tied) Metuchen (6-1) – last week No. 10
Metuchen and Spotswood remain tied for No. 10. Guess what -- they play each other twice this week on Friday and Saturday. It should be a fun series that will help the Blue Division shake out. Looming next week for the Bulldogs is a series against Middlesex. Metuchen, which suffered its first loss to nonconference North Hunterdon on Saturday, has showed it can score runs in bunches. Prior to that game, the Bulldogs averaged 18 runs in a four-game stretch. Players swinging hot bats include Jack Barry, Matt Rowe and Alex Wood.
10. (tied) Spotswood (5-2) – last week No. 10
The Chargers have challenged themselves with non-divison losses to Monroe and Union. Facing those good teams will help in the Blue Division battles. Spotswood has put up some big scoring outputs in blowouts, but they also pulled out a gutsy 6-4 nonconference win over Hackettstown on Saturday, keyed by Ethan Williams' RBI-triple in the eighth inning. Tyler Lewandowski (16-of-30), Casey Cumiskey (12-of-20), Luke Johnson (11-of-26), Jeff Osbourne (7-of-17) and Williams (14-of-23) are among the players off to hot starts.
GMC Baseball Top 10 entering Week Three (mycentraljersey.com)
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