Tournament time.
The bulk of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and the GMC invitational takes place this week.
For the GMCT, Monday’s first round is at the higher seeds. Wednesday, the quarterfinals take place at North Brunswick Community Park at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, the tournament picks up with the semifinals at East Brunswick Magnet at noon and 2:30 p.m. At stake is a trip to the final on May 18.
South Plainfield drew the No. 1 seed after capturing the Red Division pennant.
The 12-team GMC Invitational kicks off Tuesday at the higher seeds and continues with Thursday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are May 13 at the higher seed and the final is May 17 at host Edison High School.
South Amboy is the top seed after winning the Gold Division.
This week’s GMC Top 10
(records through Sat., May 4)
1. South Plainfield (15-3) – last week No. 1: The Red Division pennant seemed up for grabs two weeks ago. Then, South Plainfield just kept winning and winning. The veteran-led Tigers seized the title by going 6-0 in the division following a walk-off loss to Monroe on April 18. That included clinching this week with a sweep over St. Joseph.
2. Woodbridge (14-3) – last week No. 2: The Barrons completed a victory lap in the White Division by sweeping Perth Amboy last week to finish 11-1 in division play. While they lost to Monroe on Saturday, give Woodbridge credit for scheduling a tough non-division game before the postseason. They remain at No. 2 in our rankings and also earned the No. 2 GMCT seed.
3. Old Bridge (13-5) – last week No. 4: Momentum heading into the GMCT is a good thing. Old Bridge had a 3-0 week, including a sweep over Monroe to finish second in the Red Division a game behind South Plainfield. The Knights also topped No. 5 Edison and have to be feeling good about its upcoming May play. Old Bridge drew the No. 3 seed in the GMCT.
4. Monroe (9-8) – last week No. 3: Monroe hit a little lull dropping five of six games heading into last weekend. Hey, that’s going to sometimes happen against good teams and the Falcons fell to Old Bridge by scores of 1-0 and 4-1. Monroe finished the week strong with a win over Woodbridge and drew the No. 6 seed in the GMCT.
5. Edison (11-6) – last week No. 5: The Eagles went 2-2 last week in non-division games after already shoring up a second-place White finish (tied with Colonia). They topped Piscataway on Saturday and, interestingly, meets them in the GMCT first round. The many young players are veteran-like by now. Edison is seeded fifth in the GMCT.
6.Spotswood (17-1-1) – last week No. 6: The Chargers entered the week with the Blue Division title on the line and it didn’t look so good late afternoon Tuesday. Spotswood then put together an epic comeback with five runs in the sixth and seventh innings to force extras and topped St. Thomas Aquinas 15-9 in eight innings. The Chargers haven’t stopped hitting since and outscored opponents 57-17 in a 5-0 week. Spotswood is the No. 4 seed.
7.Colonia (11-4) – last week No. 7: The youth is coming on. Colonia has nearly 20 freshmen and sophomores in the program and they’ve been clicking with eight-straight wins. That includes a 4-0 week with an impressive sweep over Middlesex to finish tied for second with Edison in the White Division. Sophomore Colin Kroner went 5-for-6 with five RBIs in the two games. The Patriots drew the No. 7 seed in the GMCT.
8. South Brunswick (9-10) – last week No. 8: Looking for a sleeper in the GMCT? The Vikings just might be getting hot at the right time. For one, senior slugger/pitcher Ethan Fantel returned Thursday after getting hit in the face with a line drive in the first game. He slammed a two-run homer in his first at-bat and can give the Vikings a big boost in the stretch run. South Brunswick enters as the No. 8 seed in the GMCT.
9. Sayreville (8-7) – last week No. 9: You want hot hitting heading into the GMCT? How’s this for the Bombers —they outscored J.P. Stevens by a combined 18-3 in a 2-0 week. Michael Robinson went 5-for-7 with four RBIs and Moe Hedderman was 5-for-7 with five RBIs and tossed four shutout frames in one of the wins. They’ll hope to keep it going as the No. 10 seed in the GMCT.
10. North Brunswick (5-10) – last week not ranked: Welcome back. The Raiders return after a week’s absence in the Top 10. North Brunswick topped South Brunswick in the first game of the series to snap a five-game slide. The Raiders fell to South in the second game. They earned the No. 11 seed in the GMCT.
Dropped out: No. 10 St. Thomas Aquinas
NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10 and notes after Week 5 (mycentraljersey.com)
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