The latest GMC Top 10, and highlights/analysis from Week 2

 

Andy Mendlowitz
MyCentralJersey.com

Highlights and analysis from last week

South Plainfield finds a way: The Tigers showed moxie in sweeping Old Bridge. Wednesday, South Plainfield won 6-4 despite getting out-hit 11-3. The Tigers were patient at the plate getting walks and putting pressure on their opponent’s defense. After throwing a scoreless seventh for the save, Ashton Donovan tossed a three-hit shutout in the 2-0 win on Thursday. With several newcomers performing well, the two senior captains stepped up. Jack Massett won Wednesday’s game by scattering 11 hits over six innings, keeping his team in it. In Thursday’s win, Luke Bickunas drove in both runs.

Top 10 Entering Week 3

1. St. Joseph (6-0) – last week No. 1: The Falcons have been winning big and pulling out the close ones. Interestingly, they went nine days between games because of their scheduled bye and a rainout, but they still looked sharp last week. 

2. Monroe (6-2) – last week No. 6: Sometimes Top 10s need to be re-set after a couple weeks. Monroe, which entered the season at No. 9 with questions after 13 seniors graduated, moves up quickly. The Falcons have swept South Plainfield and J.P. Stevens, beat Perth Amboy and split with Old Bridge. They lost Saturday to nonconference Somerville.

3. South Plainfield (5-2) – last week No. 8: The Tigers also make a big move following a sweep of then-No. 2 Old Bridge to go along with an earlier sweep of Edison.

4. Spotswood (7-0) – last week No. 4: The Chargers remain at No. 4 with a sweep of Sayreville and a 7-6 win over South River.

5. East Brunswick (5-3) – last week No. 5: The Bears beat Perth Amboy to complete the sweep. They don’t get penalized much for losing twice to top-ranked St. Joseph.

6. Middlesex (6-2) – last week No. 3: Maybe it’s not fair to drop the Blue Jays three spots after a nine-inning loss to North Brunswick. However, they go to No. 6 in the re-set. Don’t worry, Middlesex fans, the Blue Jays will have a chance to get quality wins with intriguing series against Colonia, Metuchen and Spotswood coming up.

7. Old Bridge (5-5) – last week No. 2: After a win over Edison to complete the sweep, the Knights lost twice to South Plainfield and to state-ranked St. Augustine. Kudos to Old Bridge for traveling to South Jersey to take on the challenge.

8. South Brunswick (3-4) – last week No. 9: The Vikings dropped a series to St. Joseph, but got back on track with wins over Piscataway and nonconference Hunterdon Central. They now have a tough stretch with series against East Brunswick and Monroe sandwiched by the always tough Cranford.

9. Edison (2-4) – last week No. 10: The Eagles got in the win column following a sweep of J.P. Stevens. They can make a move in the Red Division with a series against St. Joseph this week.

10. Tie Metuchen (3-3) – last week not ranked: The Bulldogs debut by going 2-0 against then-No. 7 Woodbridge. Metuchen has split with Sayreville and have losses to Spotswood and North Hunterdon.

Woodbridge (6-2) – last week No. 7: The Barrons remain in the Top 10 despite the two losses because you do have to look at the whole picture. Woodbridge won six straight to open the year with sweeps over Piscataway, North Brunswick and Colonia – that has to count for something.

Baseball: The latest GMC Top 10, games to watch and highlights/analysis from Week 2 (mycentraljersey.com)