Thursday, July 7, 2022

Baseball rankings: Final Home News Tribune GMC Top 10

 


1. North Brunswick (22-10): It was the Spring of the Raiders. North Brunswick finished 17-2 over its last 19 games, including winning the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed for the first time in program history. The Raiders beat top-seeded St. Joseph 4-2 in the championship game and reached the NJSIAA Central Group 4 semifinals.

2. St. Joseph (22-9): St. Joseph captured the GMC Red Division title and went 18-2 against conference teams, reaching the GMCT final for the second-straight season. The Falcons fell in the South Non-Public A semifinals and played a difficult non-division schedule against opponents with a 289-116 record.

3. Middlesex (23-6): The Group 1 Blue Jays play like a high enrollment Group 4 team. Middlesex moved up from the Blue Division and captured the White Division title this spring. They lost a 14-13 thriller to eventual GMCT champ North Brunswick in the quarterfinals and reached the Central Group 1 final.

4. Woodbridge (25-7): The Barrons jumped to a 16-2 record and made a run to the North 2 Group 4 championship game. In between, Woodbridge finished second in the White Division and reached the GMCT semifinals falling to St. Joseph.

5. East Brunswick (17-13): The Bears were in just about every game and had nine loses by either a run or two runs. That included a 1-0 defeat in 12 innings to North Brunswick in the GMCT semifinals. In Central Group 4, the ninth-seed Bears upset top-seeded Middletown South 1-0 in the quarterfinals and reached the championship game.

6. Monroe (16-11): After graduating 13 seniors from the co-Red Division championship team in 2021, the Falcons had players step up and produced another strong season. That included a second-place finish in the division. Monroe had close losses in both the GMCT and Central Group 4 quarterfinals.

7. Old Bridge (17-12): The Knights finished in third place in the always tough Red Division and were the only team that beat St. Joseph in the regular season. Old Bridge also played a difficult nonconference schedule and reached the quarterfinals in Central Group 4.

8. South Brunswick (12-13): The Vikings navigated through the Red Division with splits against East Brunswick, Monroe and Old Bridge. They finished sixth in the division, but earned our final No. 8 spot with two wins over South Plainfield, including a 3-1 victory in the GMCT opening round.

9. South Plainfield (13-14): The Tigers graduated 10 seniors from a 20-5-1 team that won the White Division. South Plainfield moved to the Red and did just fine with a fifth-place finish (8-7 division record), including a sweep of Old Bridge.

10. Spotswood (14-13): The Chargers edge Colonia and Metuchen for the final spot in our Top 10. Spotswood finished in fourth place in the White Division with a 9-7 record and swept both of those clubs. Considering three of the top four teams in this ranking are from the White, fourth place in the division is no small feat.

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