This is a key week for Greater Middlesex Conference baseball fans. Two trophies will be awarded and teams are jostling for postseason berths as the NJSIAA cutoff for power points is Saturday, May 18.
The seeding for the sectional tournaments is May 20 with the non-publics starting May 22 and the public schools beginning May 23.
First up, is the GMC Tournament final Saturday between top-seeded South Plainfield and No. 3 Old Bridge at East Brunswick Magnet at 2:30 p.m.
This week’s GMC Top 10
(records through Sat., May 11)
1. South Plainfield (18-3) – last week No. 1: Great champions find a way. Take top-seeded South Plainfield on the verge of getting upset in the GMCT quarterfinals. South Brunswick scored four times in the top of the sixth to take a 9-3 lead. Well, upsets happen — not so fast. South Plainfield scored in the bottom of the sixth and added six more runs in the seventh to prevail 10-9. Make it 12 wins in a row following the semifinal win over Edison. What’s even more impressive is they’re playing without injured outfielder Dom Massero, who may return for the final.
2. Old Bridge (16-6) – last week No. 3: The Knights also showed heart in rallying from deficits of 4-0 and 5-4 with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to top North Brunswick in the GMCT quarters. They then had a no-drama semifinal with a 10-0 win over Sayreville. Old Bridge has pitching, timely hitting, team camaraderie —it should be a great final against South Plainfield.
3. Woodbridge (15-6) – last week No. 2: How do you weigh regular season vs. postseason in the rankings? The second-seeded Barrons were upset against 10th-seeded Sayreville in the GMCT quarterfinals. However, Woodbridge topped Sayreville twice in the regular season and won the White Division with an 11-1 record. The Barrons can also make a run in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 section. So, their body of work keeps them in the Top 3 with the sectional tournament looming.
4. Edison (13-8) – last week No. 5: The Eagles played some tight, tense playoff baseball en route to reaching the GMCT semifinals. How’s this for knuckle-biting — the fifth-seed topped No. 12 Piscataway 2-1 in the first round and No. 13 Middlesex 1-0 in the quarterfinals behind Jaxon Appelman’s home run and Robert Roma’s two-hitter. Considering all the upsets in the GMCT, safely getting to the semifinals was a success.
5. Sayreville (10-8) – last week No. 9: The body of work counts — but so does the postseason. Sayreville earns big points for advancing to the GMCT semifinals as the No. 10 seed. In doing so, the Bombers gained some White Division redemption. Sayreville went 0-2 against both Woodbridge and Colonia in the regular season, but topped each of them in the tournament with one-run wins on the bigger stage. They’re rewarded this week by jumping into our Top 5.
6.North Brunswick (6-11) – last week No. 10: The Raiders had a pair of typical Red Division donnybrooks in the GMCT. First, the 11th-seed upset sixth-seeded Monroe, 2-1, in the first round behind Kyle Anderson’s no-hitter. North Brunswick then fell to third-seeded Old Bridge, 8-5, after leading early. Forget the record, they jump a few spots this week. For one, they’re 2-1 against Monroe this season and have splits with Old Bridge and South Brunswick.
7.Colonia (13-5) – last week No. 7: Tournament baseball is tough. The Patriots had won eight in a row and drew the No. 7 seed in the GMCT with all the momentum. In the first round, they ran into a locked-in pitcher and that’s that. Sayreville’s Tom Schlaline threw a two-hitter in the 1-0 win over Colonia. Keeping them at No. 7 feels right.
8. Spotswood (17-2-1) – last week No. 6: Example B of tournament baseball is tough. The fourth-seeded Chargers seemed primed for a run in the GMCT, but ran into Middlesex’s Chris Kozak. He threw a one-hitter and Middlesex’s bats got going in an 8-0 win in the first round. Spotswood will simply regroup and is a contender in Central Group 2.
9. Monroe (10-9) – last week No. 4: The Falcons have been on the wrong side of recent close games. Witness the 2-1 loss to North Brunswick in the GMCT first round. They also fell to Old Bridge by scores of 1-0 and 4-1 the week before. That’s just baseball. Monroe certainly has enough quality pitching and hitting ability to get hot again entering the NJSIAA postseason.
10. South Brunswick (11-11) – last week No. 8: It doesn’t seem fair dropping the Vikings two spots, especially since they’ve been boosted with the recent return of pitcher/slugger Ethan Fantel. South Brunswick also came so close to upsetting top-seeded South Plainfield in that 10-9 loss in the GMCT quarterfinals. However, that’s just the way the ranking wound up this week and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to make jumps in the coming weeks.
Consideration: Middlesex (7-14) – Middlesex is just one of those teams that never seems to be an easy out. The 13th-seeded Blue Jays upset fourth-seeded Spotswood, 8-0, in the GMCT first round and lost 1-0 to Edison in the quarterfinals. They also split with Woodbridge in the regular season.
NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10 and notes after Week 6 (mycentraljersey.com)
Holding on to the top spot is Bridgewater-Raritan (18-3). The Panthers were 2-1 this past week, dropping a non-league game at Howell on Monday, before defeating Somerset County opponents Immaculata on Tuesday, 7-1, and Watchung Hills Thursday, 4-3.
Then, South Plainfield (18-3) holds in second, on the strength of the longest winning streak in the CJSR-coverage area. The Tigers went 3-0 this week, all in GMC Tournament games, beating Perth Amboy 11-1 in the first round Monday, South Brunswick 10-9 Wednesday in the quarterfinals, and Edison Saturday in the semis, 8-3. They’ll be in Saturday’s GMC Tournament title game against Old Bridge.
Speaking of which, moving up a place to third this week is Old Bridge (16-6). The defending Central Jersey Group 4 champions would have to be considered a contender again this year, but the Knights also are in Saturday’s GMC Tournament finals, where they’ll take on South Plainfield, looking to bring home the county crown. The Knights won all three GMCT games this week, beating St. Joseph 6-4 on Monday in the first round, North Brunswick 8-5 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, and Sayreville 10-0 Saturday in the GMCT semis.
Ridge (15-7) moves up from sixth to fourth on the strength of a 3-1 week. After a 12-2 loss Monday at Seton Hall Prep, the Red Devils came back won win 11-1 at Bernards on Wednesday, 8-3 against Rutgers Prep on Thursday, and Saturday at Mendham, by a 4-2 score.
In fifth is Immaculata (13-4) after a 1-1 week in which they lost 7-1 to No. 1 Bridgewater-Raritan on Tuesday, but rebounded to beat Hillsborough at home 5-4 on Thursday.
Spotswood (17-2-1) dropped to sixth, having only played one game last week, an 8-0 defeat at the hands of Middlesex Monday in the GMC Tournament’s first round.
Edison (13-8) rejoins the rankings at No. 7 after a cup of coffee in Weeks 2 and 3. The Eagles beat Piscataway 2-1 Monday in the GMCT’s first round, and topped Middlesex 1-0 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, but were knocked out in the semis by South Plainfield on Saturday, 8-3.
Woodbridge (15-6) drops three places from No. 5 to No. 8 after a 1-3 week. They started with a 9-2 win over South River Monday in the first round of the GMC Tournament, but then lost three straight: a non-league game to Brearley 4-2 on Tuesday, to Sayreville 4-3 in Wednesday’s GMCT quarterfinals, and another non-conference game Saturday, blanked 1-0 by AL Johnson.
Checking in at No. 9 is Colonia (13-5), which holds from last week. The Patriots rebounded from a 1-0 loss to Sayreville on Monday in the GMCT first round with wins at Linden Thursday and at home over Carteret, 11-1, on Saturday.
And falling three places to No. 10 is Monroe (10-9). The Falcons lost 2-1 to North Brunswick Monday in the GMC Tournament Round of 16, then rebounded with a 12-1 win against Edison Thursday.
Dropping out was St. Thomas Aquinas (12-6), which had a 2-1 week, including a 3-2 loss to South Brunswick Monday in 14 innings in the GMCT first round. The Trojans rebounded with a 2-0 win over Scotch Plains-Fanwood Tuesday, and a 15-5 rout of Middlesex on Thursday.
Saturday is the cutoff for power points for NJSIAA state playoff qualification, and as many as a half dozen teams from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area are in the running for top seeds in their respective sections.
We take a look below at each area team, section by section. Playoff seeds are determined by the traditional power point method of six points for a win, none for a loss; three residuals from every win by a team you beat, one residual for every win by a team you lost to; and quality points equal to the size school you beat (four for a Group 4, etc.).
Keep in mind, the NJSIAA only counts a team’s 16 highest power point values toward the standings. That means that since wins are often worth a lot more than losses, a team with 16 wins is less likely to make up ground with another win than a team with fewer than 16 wins. (A team’s 17th win would replace one of its other wins, which would likely be a high point value. A team’s 14th win would likely replace a loss, meaning the net gain is more.)
Our analysis is based on official power point standings published on NJ.com as of 9:00 am May 13, 2024.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3: South Plainfield (18-3, 560.5) is currently in first here, but they may need to keep winning to hold off Randolph, which is 16-6 and just 16.5 points behind, with 544. That’s the only team that should threaten the Tigers. Only two other teams even play in this section. Colonia (13-5, 409) currently sits in sixth, and isn’t likely to rise much, but should stay in the top eight. North Plainfield (5-14, 237) currently sits in 16th place, just 19 points ahead of 6-10 Rahway with 218 points, and Nutley is not far behind either at 3-15 with 215.5 points, so the Canucks aren’t assured a playoff spot yet.
We’re a week away from the NJSIAA cutoff; what CJSR-area baseball teams will make the cut? Who’s in the running for a top seed? – Central Jersey Sports Radio (cjsportsradio.com)
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