Teams expected to earn top seeds when NJSIAA announces playoff pairings Monday

The South Plainfied baseball team with its Red Division championship plaque, awarded before Saturday’s GMC final against Old Bridge at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Baseball Notebook

May 19, 2024 by Mike Pavlichko

Old Bridge and South Plainfield – the two GMC Tournament finalists – along with Bridgewater-Raritan are expected to earn top seeds in the NJSIAA playoffs when the seedings are announced Monday.

Saturday was the cutoff date, with the top 16 power point results for all teams counting toward playoff qualification. And it appears 36 teams from the CJSR coverage area will qualify.

Here is a breakdown based on official NJ.com power point standings as of noon Saturday, when power points officially close, with projected first round matchups for all local teams qualifying:

2023-2024 Baseball North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Power Points

Rank	Team	W-L-T	PCT	PP
1	South Plainfield	19-5-1	.780	572.5
2	Randolph	17-8	.680	565
3	North Hunterdon	18-5	.783	544
4	West Morris	14-11	.560	516
5	Colonia	17-5	.773	508
6	Summit	16-4-1	.786	482.5
7	Mendham	11-12	.478	422.5
8	Cranford	12-10	.545	414.5
9	Belleville	15-9-1	.620	406.5
10	Warren Hills	13-10	.565	382
11	Ridgefield Park	14-10	.583	372.5
12	Millburn	9-15	.375	357.5
13	Chatham	7-11	.389	328.5
14	Nutley	5-17	.227	279.5
15	Payne Tech	10-9	.526	279
16	Cliffside Park	7-16-1	.312	267
17	Rahway	6-13	.316	242
18	North Plainfield	5-19	.208	241
19	Ferris	4-15	.211	196
20	Lincoln	5-11	.312	189.5
21	Orange	5-13	.278	184
22	Snyder	6-10	.375	171

NORTH JERSEY, SECTION 2, GROUP 3

There are only three area teams in this section, and two have qualified with South Plainfield looking like they’ll get the top seed, despite the Tigers’ loss to Old Bridge in Saturday’s GMC Tournament final. They’re in first at 19-5-1 with 572.5 points, ahead of second-place Randolph (17-8, 565). In fifth is Colonia (17-5, 508). North Plainfield (5-19, 241) finished two spots out of the running.

Projected Local Matchups:

- (12) Millburn at (5) Colonia
- (16) Cliffside Park at (1) South Plainfield

Three area teams expected to earn top seeds when NJSIAA announces playoff pairings Monday – Central Jersey Sports Radio (cjsportsradio.com)

Projected seeds for the 2024 N.J. baseball state tournament

By Luis Torres | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
PJ Potter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The 2024 New Jersey high school baseball state tournament will be officially seeded on Monday. The seeding, as it has in the past, will be based off power points.

Under tournament regulations this year, the power point calculation will take a team’s 16 best power point games from the start of the season to the cutoff. Residual points earned from opponents will be calculated from an opponent’s first 16 games played.

Tie-breaking procedure: In case of a tie-breaker among teams with the same number of power points, the NJSIAA has specific scenarios to break the ties as follow:

1. Head-to-Head Competition (any matchup to and including the cutoff date)
2. Common Opponent(s) (any matchup to and including the cutoff date). 

a. CL: Team A is 3-0 vs. team C and team B is 2-0 vs. team C, go to #3. 

b. CL: Team A is 2-1 vs. team C and team B is 1-1 vs. team C, go to #3. 

c. CL: Team A is 1-1 vs. team C and team B is 2-0 vs. team C, the tie is broken. 

d. CL: Team A is 3-1 vs. team C and team B is 2-0 vs. team C, the tie is broken.
3. Winning % (any matchup to and including the cutoff date)
4. The total number of residual points earned from the first 16 games.
5. Coin Toss

North 2, Group 3

1-South Plainfield (19-5-1)
2-Randolph (17-8)
3-North Hunterdon (18-5)
4-West Morris (14-11)
5-Colonia (17-5)
6-Summit (16-4-1)
7-Mendham (11-12)
8-Cranford (12-10)
9-Belleville (15-9-1)
10-Warren Hills (13-10)
11-Ridgefield Park (14-10)
12-Millburn (9-15)
13-Chatham (7-10)
14-Nutley (5-17)
15-Payne Tech (10-9)
16-Cliffside Park (7-16-1)

NOTE: These projections do not account for any teams that may choose not to participate in the state tournament or have been barred from participating from the state tournament.

Projected seeds for the 2024 N.J. baseball state tournament - nj.com