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Monday, April 20, 2026
2026 - Baseball Greater Middlesex Conference Top 10 and notes, April 18
Andy Mendlowitz
MyCentralJersey.com
Here is the second baseball Top 10 of the regular season for the Greater Middlesex Conference after an eventful week. Five teams switch spots and another re-enters the rankings. Notes are underneath the ranking.
GMC Top 10
(Records through Saturday, April 18)
1. Edison (7-1) – last week No. 1: Everyone is seemingly beating everyone in the GMC Red Division. Then there’s Edison. The Eagles have avoided any major blowups or trap games. The latest was completing a two-game sweep over St. Joseph last week and they have earlier sweeps over No. 3 Old Bridge and No. 4 South Plainfield. Their only blemish was a 2-0 loss to No. 7 Monroe, which threw two of the best pitchers.
2. Middlesex (9-1) – last week No. 4: It’s like they never left. The Blue Jays started at No. 2 in the preseason poll and fell to No. 4 last week. Well, Middlesex is right back in the two spot. The defending Group 1 champions had a 4-0 week with a key White Division sweep over Metuchen and wins over J.F. Kennedy and Voorhees. That hot play, combined with Colonia and Monroe having some stumbles, makes the leap back a no-brainer. Middlesex has an intriguing division series against Sayreville this week.
3. Old Bridge (5-4) – last week No. 6: Here they come. Old Bridge is just one of those teams that’s always in the mix, no matter if the lineup has several new players like this spring. The Knights started 2-3 (two close losses against No. 1 Edison) but then won a pair of 11-10 slugfests over St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick and beat South Plainfield 9-3. The Knights lost to state-ranked Seton Hall Prep 3-2 on a walk-off wild pitch Saturday, April 18. The early sweep over Woodbridge is starting to look better.
4. Colonia (7-2) – last week No. 2: Look, it’s baseball and a club is going to take some losses no matter how good it is with the frequency of games and top pitchers that one sees in the GMC. The Patriots are coming off a 2-2 week with a key win over Metuchen, a split with South Brunswick and an 8-inning loss to Spotswood. We won’t ding them that much now and, frankly, no other team in consideration had an unblemished week except Woodbridge.
5. South Plainfield (6-5) – last week No. 5: Splits are key in the GMC Red Division and the Tigers went 1-1 against St. Thomas Aquinas and dropped the first game of the series against Old Bridge. They did have a nice non-conference win over Millburn. Their sweep over Woodridge on April 9 and 10 keeps them in the top five.
6. Woodbridge (4-5) – last week unranked: Welcome back, Barrons. Woodbridge entered the season ranked No. 4 but fell out following a 1-5 start, dropping all close games with a mostly new lineup. Well, that seems like a thousand years ago. Woodbridge swept then-No. 3 Monroe, prevailing against their two aces, and topped St. Joseph, 16-6. Returning All-GMC players Gavin Slicner (.538 BA, four home runs, eight RBIs) and Xavier Diaz (.367 BA, two home runs, nine RBIs) have been as advertised.
7. Monroe (6-4) – last week No. 3: From preseason No. 9 to a jump to No. 3 and then to No. 7, the Falcons have been all over the rankings. Oh, where to put Monroe? In mid-April, it’s a fun thing to debate but one thing is sure – the Falcons are talented and can play with anyone. They handed Edison its lone loss on April 9. They dropped this week in the poll because Woodbridge swept them and South Plainfield swept Woodbridge. However, Monroe finished strong with a win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, April 18.
8. East Brunswick (3-6) – last week No. 8: This is the portion of the rankings where several teams can make cases. The Bears stay at No. 8 despite having a 0-4 slide that they snapped with a 4-0 win over Red Bank Regional on Saturday, April 18. That includes falling twice to St. Joseph. However, the body of work counts and East Brunswick has a sweep over St. Thomas Aquinas.
9. St. Thomas Aquinas (3-6) – last week No. 9: The Trojans have been playing quality baseball with splits against No. 3 Old Bridge, No. 5 South Plainfield and No. 6 Woodbridge. However, the series loss against East Brunswick keeps them at No. 9 for now.
10. Metuchen (5-4) – last week No. 10: The Bulldogs dropped a series against No. 2 Middlesex, however they have nice White Division sweeps over Spotswood and Perth Amboy. They beat South Brunswick 8-3 on Saturday, April 18, in essentially a play-in game for the final spot here as Matt Jelleme struck out 13. They meet again on Tuesday, April 21.
Dropped: No. 7 St. Joseph (2-8): The Falcons have that sweep over East Brunswick but they’re 0-7 in the rest of the division with some close losses. St. Joseph, though, can’t ever be overlooked and it’ll have chances to move back in the ranking with the second game against Woodbridge this week and upcoming series against St. Thomas Aquinas and Old Bridge.
No. 10 (tie) South Brunswick (5-4): The Vikings had a quality split against No. 4 Colonia last week and handed No. 2 Middlesex its only loss. However, that loss to Metuchen drops them this week. Can they get back in with a win over Metuchen in the second game and a sweep over surging Spotswood? Check back next week.
Carteret’s big week
The Ramblers (9-1) control their destiny in the Blue Division following a sweep over Piscataway. The two entered the week at 5-1 in the division. Carteret (7-1) tops the standings ahead of South River (7-2 division), a team it split with on April 8 and 9.
Luis Hernandez went the distance in a 9-2 win in the first game against Piscataway. The junior is the staff ace with a 1.35 ERA in 26 innings. In a 10-9 win over Piscataway, Miles Ferreiras went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and scored four times. He’s hitting .486 (18-for-37) with nine RBIs.
Rizzolo gets the whiffs
It seems like St. Thomas Aquinas’ Louis Rizzolo has been around forever and for good reason – the St. Thomas Aquinas senior has thrown quality innings since he was a freshman. Fans will remember him as a key member of the Non-Public B North sectional champions in 2024. He reached a milestone on April 10 with eight strikeouts against Old Bridge to surpass 200 for his career. He followed that up with another eight-k performance against South Plainfield in a 7-5 win on Thursday, April 16.
What’s in the water for Highland Park hitters?
Highland Park had a huge hitting week by beating Perth Amboy Magnet twice, 14-2 and 16-6 and topping Timothy Christian 23-10. The Owls got 40 hits on the week. Julio Rodriguez went 11-for-15 with eight RBIs and six steals and Ahmad Ghumman was 8-for-13 with six RBIs and six steals.
Perhaps Dorian Crocco had the best overall week. He was 6-for-10 with eight RBIs, seven stolen bases, scored six runs and walked four times, while pitching seven innings over two games with 19 strikeouts and allowing three hits, three walks and three earned runs.
More high scoring fun
Fans who dig high scoring games were in for a treat on Wednesday, April 15. Seven GMC teams won games by scoring double-digit runs. That included J.P. Stevens defeating North Brunswick 19-10 as the two teams combined for 35 hits, 13 walks, nine errors and a hit batter. Collin Casey led J.P. Stevens’ 22-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Soham Prajapati was 3-for-5 – a triple away from a cycle – with five RBIs. Jasiah Hogans went 4-for-5 for North Brunswick hitting four singles.
NJ Baseball Greater Middlesex Conference Top 10 and notes, April 18
Saturday, April 18, 2026
2026 - Game # 11 South Plainfield 4, Millburn 2 (9 Innings) Autism Awareness Challenge
TAPinto South Plainfield
South Plainfield Takes Nine Innings to Beat Millburn, 4-2, in Autism Awareness Game
By TAPinto South Plainfield Staff
NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ -- South Plainfield scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning and held on for a 4-2 baseball victory over Millburn in the Autism Awareness Challenge at Community Park in North Brunswick on Saturday.
Dom Massaro, who was 4-for-5, hit an RBI single to give South Plainfield (6-5) a 3-2 lead. Andrew Bena's RBI single gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
Bena was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Gabriel Garcia went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Tigers.
South Plainfield received strong efforts on the mound from three pitchers. Noah Dennis, in his first varsity start, went three innings and allowed one run on three hit. Aidan Kaplan allowed one unearned run in two innings of two-hit relief. Joe Stanzione, who got the win in relief, pitched four scoreless innings and allowed three hits. He struck out three and walked two.
The victory came after South Plainfield had lost a 9-3 GMC Red Division game to Old Bridge on Friday. The Tigers will host Old Bridge in the second game of that series on Tuesday.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
Millburn (3-7) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
|
South Plainfield (6-5) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
LP: Eli Balady
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
BB |
SF |
ROE |
FC |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
Dom Massaro #6 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.800 |
.800 |
|
Aiden McCarthy #12 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
Andrew Bena #19 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
Anthony Cicenia #11 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
Ed Budzinski #3 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
Chris Loniewski #15 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Mike Fiore #5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
Alex Pigna #10 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
Gabriel Garcia #16 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.750 |
1.000 |
|
Totals: |
36 |
4 |
12 |
4 |
11 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
.333 |
.361 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
W |
L |
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
PO |
ERA |
|
|
Noah Dennis #17 |
0 |
0 |
59 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2.33 |
|
Aidan Kaplan #8 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
Joe Stanzione #4 (WP) |
1 |
0 |
55 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
Totals: |
1 |
0 |
150 |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0.78 |
The Tigers bounced back after losing 2 straight and defeated Millburn 4-2 extras. Joe Stanzione picked up win # 2 after coming in relief in 6th and shutting down the Millers. The Dude of all dudes Dom
Massaro(4-5 2r) delivered the go ahead knock in the 9th, scoring Stanzione from 2nd base. Other dudes of the day -Gabe Garcia (3-4 2b r) and Andrew Bena (2-4 bb 2rbi) were also clutch for the Tigers who now stand at 6-5.
This past week, esp on Sat, if you heard loud hammering, it wasn’t from the work going on at the local Mills. As the bullpen vultures circled overhead, Dom Massaro’s bat was making it rain baseballs, including multiple game winning knocks, the latest vs Millers in the 9th frame on Sat. His performance all week was truly legendary (15-20) and therefore cements his status as our latest Maestro of the Diamond.
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