MyCentralJersey.com
Final GMC Top 10
1. St. Joseph (16-7) – preseason No. 10: No matter the situation, or how bleak things looked, the Falcons carried an inner confidence with a calmness and a belief they always had a chance. Credit first-year head coach Dennis McCaffery and longtime assistant Jerry Riporti for that attitude, as well as a veteran team that saw it all after finishing 7-20 last season. Remember, St. Joseph sat at 4-5 and then 6-6 on April 28. Things started clicking and the Falcons didn’t lose again until falling to top-seeded Christian Brothers Academy 6-3 in the South Non-Public A semifinals. The 10-game winning streak included capturing the GMC Tournament championship with four walk-off wins.
2. Middlesex (23-5) – preseason not ranked: How did Middlesex go from not ranked in the preseason to our final No. 2 team? Did we totally whiff here? (And sorry Blue Jays fans!) Well, Middlesex finished 10-17 in 2024 but showed glimpses with a young team and graduated just one senior. What some didn’t see coming was the transformation of sophomore Dominic Long (12-0, 1.37 ERA, 72 Ks) and junior Chris Kozak (7-4, 0.90 ERA, 65 Ks) into full-fledged, dominant aces. Other players improved and pieces fell into place. The two seniors in the starting lineup also delivered in Dom Parenti (.352, 16 RBIs) and Owen Reynolds (.341, 17 RBIs). Middlesex captured Central Group 1 and Group 1 titles, as well as making a GMCT semifinals appearance.
3. South Plainfield (18-11) – preseason No. 2: While the Tigers returned a chunk of players from last year’s 22-6-1 squad, they did lose some serious fire power at the plate and on the mound. South Plainfield just kept going and finished tied for second in the GMC Red Division. Tenth-seeded Middlesex upset the No. 2-seeded Tigers, 5-4, in the GMCT quarterfinals. South Plainfield shook it off and got hot en route to winning the North 2 Group 3 sectional.
4. Colonia (23-5) – preseason No. 3: As advertised, the Patriots pitching shined. Colonia had a team 0.95 ERA with 288 strikeouts in 184 1/3 innings. Cory Pascarella (127 Ks, 0.42 ERA) and Colin Kroner (86 Ks, 0.70 ERA) led the way with Dylan Chiera, Tyler Chiola, Matt Fasulo and Ryan Totin also throwing key innings. The Patriots placed second in the White Division a game behind St. Thomas Aquinas (they split during the regular season). Colonia reached the North 2 Group 3 final after an epic 1-0 win over North Hunterdon in 10 innings in the semifinals.
5. Old Bridge (18-11) – preseason No. 1: A year after winning the GMCT, the Knights were again in the mix despite needing to replace three key pitchers and some offensive production. Returning senior star Justin Hascup shaved his ERA to 1.03 with 60 strikeouts and classmate John Smith — who threw one inning in 2024 — flourished on the hill (1.63 ERA, 60 Ks). Old Bridge finished fifth in the Red Division with splits against No. 1 St. Joseph and No. 3 South Plainfield. However, the Knights get a bump with their postseason success, reaching the Central Group 4 final. In the semifinals, Old Bridge got by Edison in the teams’ fourth meeting this season.
6. Edison (17-11) – preseason No. 4: The Eagles had a slow start with some injuries and sickness but things started clicking come tournament time. Edison reached the GMCT final as the No. 11 seed with wins over No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas, No. 6 Old Bridge and No. 10 Middlesex. It was the Eagles first GMCT final since winning it in 2001. They had just three seniors in the lineup and seem primed for another run next year. Junior Connor Murphy reached star status with a 1.89 ERA and 83 strikeouts.
7. Woodbridge (18-8) – preseason No. 7: The Barrons captured the Red Division title a year after winning the White Division pennant. That’s especially impressive when you consider the team graduated nine seniors, including four All-Division selections. Junior Kevin Arroyo emerged as an ace in his first varsity season (63 1/3 IP, 1.11 ERA, 62 Ks) and Ryan Leach returned after missing 2024 with an injury to post a 2.87 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 46 1/3 frames. The Eagles swept Old Bridge and Edison in the regular season but lost in the GMCT first round. Woodbridge also fell to eventual Group 4 finalist Westfield in the sectional semifinals.
8. St. Thomas Aquinas (16-9) – preseason No. 8: The Trojans captured the White Division pennant in a loaded grouping after moving up from the Blue. Talk about a balanced lineup, the Trojans had nine players with double-digit RBIs and another with nine RBIs. Will Bethea led the way with 17 and Adrian Sanchez had 16. Jack Valenzuela returned after missing time with an injury to hit .400 (14-for-35). Louis Rizzolo became the workhorse (59 2/3 IP, 98 Ks, 1.17 ERA) on the mound.
9. Spotswood (15-11) – preseason No. 5: After repeating as Blue Division champions, the Chargers moved to the White with little difficulty. Spotswood swept Middlesex and finished third in the division with a 9-5 record. Spotswood made a nice run to the GMCT semifinals as the No. 8 seed dropping a heartbreaker to champion St. Joseph. Carter Cumiskey again led the way with a .455 batting average and had a 1.20 ERA on the mound.
10. (tie) East Brunswick (11-13) preseason not ranked: The Bears had a tough finish dropping their last six games. That includes a 7-6 loss in nine innings to Metuchen in the GMCT first round and a 2-1 loss to Franklin in the Central Group 4 opener. That’s just baseball, sometimes. The regular season, though, does matter and East Brunswick finished tied for second with No. 3 South Plainfield in the Red Division. (The teams split and each had 9-5 records.) EB swept No. 1 St. Joseph and No. 8 Edison.
Metuchen (17-10) – preseason not ranked: The Bulldogs won a tight Blue Division race and then turned heads with a pair of nine-inning GMCT games as the No. 13 seed. First, Metuchen upset fourth-seeded East Brunswick. Next, the Bulldogs gained respect with a 1-0 loss to eventual champion St. Joseph. Metuchen proved it can play with the bigger schools and deserves a Top 10 ranking. All-Division players Matt Jelleme and Lucas Malamug, both juniors, and James Fenton (Fr.) led the way.
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