Monday, March 31, 2025
Sunday, March 30, 2025
South Plainfield 2025 Baseball Preview
TAPinto South Plainfield
Published March 29, 2025 at 12:00 AM
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ -- Coming off a 22-win season, the South Plainfield baseball team will open its 2025 campaign at home against Edison on Tuesday, April 1.
And a lot of the same players who spearheaded the Tigers to the championship games of both the Greater Middlesex Conference and North 2, Group 3 tournaments are back this year.
Head coach Scott Gleichenhaus calls this "an experienced group of battle-tested ballplayers," and, while South Plainfield won the Red Division of the GMC, coming up short in both of the aforementioned title games will "serve as motivation to this team, who is determined to do whatever it takes for another opportunity to compete against conference and state powerhouses for another chance at gold."
The graduation of two all-conference players -- third baseman Jay Alvarez and Red Division Player of the Year shortstop Zach Robinson -- "leaves an offensive and defensive void that must be filled," the coach said.
Three seniors will head a deep pitching staff: Left-hander Kevin Penny and righties Mike Castagna and Ryan Balent. In 20 innings, Balent had the lowest earned-run average on the team. 0.70. Castagna posted a 1.60 ERA in 35 innings and struck out 27 batters. Penny was second on the staff in strikeouts with 36 in 39 2/3 innings.
Junior lefty Aiden McCarthy and junior righty Jayden Jimenez will swing between the starting rotation and relief. The Tigers possess a collection of other arms who will be called upon to get some tough outs throughout the course of the season. "All of the guys worked tirelessly in the off-season to improve their craft, so we are excited to see how these guys will attack opposing hitters through the course of the season," Gleichenhaus said.
Team captain Dan Kapsch, a senior who batted .376 last year, will move from second base to shortstop this season. Nick Irizarry, who batted .378 and paced the Tigers with 35 stolen bases, will move from left field to second base. Penny and McCarthy will split time at first base, while Chris Loniewski and Lorenzo Fuscoletti compete for time across the diamond at third base.
Steven Studlack, after being pressed into a starting role at catcher as a sophomore last year, will be back behind the plate this spring.
Junior center fielder Dominic Massaro already has 61 career hits. He batted .310 last season and is a tremendous fielder who also stole 13 bases. Dom covers as much ground as anyone in the state. Balent will play right field when he's not pitching, and junior Joe Stanzione will play left.
At bat, Gleichenhaus said, "(We'll) rely on the bats of Massaro, Irizarry and Kapsch to punish opposing pitching staffs. Kevin Penny and Aiden McCarthy are also good hitters who have experience facing the top pitchers on opposing teams, will now find themselves having plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, hitting behind the trio of Massaro, Irizarry and Kapsch."
The coach added, "Veterans like Studlack and Balent should also thrive when given the chance to hit with runners in scoring position. Both have the ability to work the counts in their favor and to put the ball in play. There are several other players who will be given opportunities to swing their way into the lineup. It’s a long season. Players need to compete every time they step foot on the diamond, whether it's at practice or during games, and make the most of their opportunities when called upon."
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 2025 BASEBALL ROSTER
Dan Kapsch (Sr. ss)Nick Irizarry (Sr. 2b)
Kevin Penny (Sr. LHP-1B-OF)
Ryan Balent (Sr., RF-RHP)
Mike Castagna (Sr. RHP)
Steve Studlack (Sr., C)
Jack Jones (Sr., RHP/OF/DH)
Lorenzo Fuscoletti (Sr., RHP-IF)
Anthony Tomei (Sr., DH/IF)
Dave Butrico (Sr., P/DH)
Matt Falcone (Sr., RHP)
Dominic Massaro (Jr.,Cf)
Aiden McCarthy (Jr.,LHP-1b)
Jayden Jimenez(Jr.,RHP)
Joe Stanzione (Jr.,LHP-Of)
Dylan Oller (Jr., U-DH)
Alex Pigna (Jr.,RHP-U)
Aidan Kaplan (Jr.,(RHP-OF)
Ed Budzinski (Jr., LHP-OF)
Chris Loniewski (So.,3B-C-Of)
Andrew Bena (Fr. LHP)
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
South Plainfield has some questions, but Tigers are motivated to “finish business” in ’25
To anyone’s mind, the South Plainfield baseball team had a fine 2024 season. The Tigers finished 22-6-1, won the GMC Red Division, and made it to the GMC Tournament finals as well as the North 2, Group 3 title game in the state playoffs.
But those two finals left a bad taste in their mouths. As the top-seed in the GMCT, they got knocked off by third-seed Old Bridge, and they were down just 4-3 to Randolph heading into the top of the seventh in the sectional finals before the wheels uncharacteristically came off, and they lost 8-3.
This year’s Tigers, as a result, are hungry, and want to eat. But like every team this time of year, there will be a few question marks to answer.
South Plainfield loses some big hitters and their left side of the infield in shortstop Zach Robinson – with his .462 batting average, three home runs, and a team-best 30 RBI – and third baseman Jayden Alvarez, who hit .360 with two home runs and 27 RBI. Brandon Bickunas (18 RBI, 1 HR) also graduated. That’s a tough 1-2 punch to lose – on offense and defense.
And on the mound, Aldo Pigna (5-1, 3.10 ERA in 38 1/3 innings pitched) and Chase Donovan (1-1, 3.40 ERA in 22 2/3 IP) will be big losses, too.
But there is also plenty returning. On the mound, Kevin Penny and Mike Castagna have been solid; they combined to go 8-2 last year, Castagna throwing to a team-best 1.60 ERA among regulars. Ryan Balent could step up a level after some solid non-conference performances last year.
At the plate, outfielder Nick Irizarry (22 RBI) is back – and should move into the infield to shore that area up – along with sophomore outfielder and pitcher Dom Massaro (.310, 14 RBI, 3 HR), plus a host of others who will look to take the Tigers one step further this year.
Massaro was named a team captain after rebounding last year following an injury that kept him out earlier in the season. Dan Kapsch will also play significant role in the infield, and catcher Stephen Tudlack returns, too, which will help as the pitching staff looks to figure itself out.
Click below to hear South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus talk about the upcoming season for the Tigers:
https://cjsportsradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-20-25-PREVIEW-SCOTT-GLEICHENHAUS-for-web.mp3
Monday, March 24, 2025
GMC Conference goes back to four baseball divisions heading into 2025 season
March 23, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko
There will be eleven baseball teams with new homes this year as the Greater Middlesex Conference realigns its division for the 2025 season, and goes back to a four-division model.
The league had used five divisions in the most recent scheduling cycle, with the addition of the GMC Silver. But that’s gone away this year, and the league is back to the Red, White, Blue and Gold Divisions.
The GMC Invitational Tournament also remains, a second conference tourney after the top 16 teams go to the main event.
With one less division, most will get a little bigger, including the Red Division, which sees Woodbridge and Edison join from the White. South Plainfield won the GMC Red last year, while Old Bridge won the GMC Tournament out of the Red Division. The Barrons were White Division champions last year at 11-1 in divisional play. Edison was tied for second with Colonia at 8-4 in the division.
North Brunswick – which finished 4-8 in the Red last year, fifth out of eight teams – moves down to the White Division, while Spotswood – GMC Blue Champs a season ago at 11-1 in the division – moves up from the Blue along with St. Thomas Aquinas, which finished last year tied for second in the division with Piscataway.
The Blue Division will add Carteret (7-3, second place) and South Amboy (9-0, division champs) from the Gold to the mix, while losing Spotswood. JP Stevens also moves down from the White, where the Hawks will get some relief after finishing last a year ago, 2-10 in the division.
The Gold Division will feature the largest contingent, with nine teams. While Carteret and South Amboy are out, they’ll get Dunellen, Highland Park, Perth Amboy Magnet, Piscataway Magnet and Wardlaw-Hartridge from the now-defunct Silver Division.
Here are the full divisional alignments for the GMC in 2025:
- Red Division: East Brunswick, Edison, Monroe, Old Bridge, South Brunswick, South Plainfield, St. Joseph-Metuchen, Woodbridge
- White Division: Colonia, Middlesex, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, Spotswood, St. Thomas Aquinas
- Blue Division: Carteret, JFK, JP Stevens, Metuchen, North Plainfield, Piscataway, South Amboy, South River
- Gold Division: Dunellen, East Brunswick Magnet, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy Magnet, Piscataway Magnet, Somerset Tech, Timothy Christian, Wardlaw-Hartridge
The first GMC teams to open their seasons will be JFK and Dunellen. The Mustangs visit Linden at 4 pm, while the Destroyers visit Bound Brook.
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