The 2026 high school baseball season is officially here.
The NJ.com baseball staff has started its preparations for the spring season. As part of our baseball preview package, scroll down and take a look at our preview for the Greater Middlesex Conference.
Included are who we figure to be the top teams, a sleeper that could turn some heads, players to watch this spring and a breakdown of the league’s divisions.
Greater Middlesex Conference Preview
Top Teams
Edison was one inning away from winning a GMC Tournament title last year. There is no doubt this team is going to play with a chip on its shoulder in 2026. There is a wealth of talent on this roster as well. Connor Murphy, Robert Roma, Ray Tavarez and Braydon Roma are a tough pitching core to contend with. The offense returns most of their biggest contributors from last year. Dom Innocenti, Robert Roma and Daren Tirado were three of the four players to record at least 30 hits last year who are returning.
Colonia lost one of the best pitchers in the county, Cory Pascarella, to graduation. The good news is Colin Kroner put together a 0.7 ERA in 59 2/3 innings and hit .333 with 24 RBIs. Dylan Chiera led the team last season with 36 hits and was one of five players with at least 20 RBIs. The senior class is going to be the heart of the team but Jayce Rodriguez is looking to build off a strong freshman season in which he hit .264 with 19 hits, 18 RBIs and 16 runs.
St. Joseph (Met.) won last year’s GMC Tournament title in thrilling fashion with a walk-off grand slam. This year’s squad will have plenty of new faces with a big senior group graduating last spring. Logan Ring and Luke Palermo were great s sophomores and will be two of the biggest offensive contributors in 2026. Kris Almanzar, Owen Krulikowski and Walter Christian are three of the senior leaders who aspire to get this team back to the top of the GMC mountain.
Middlesex captured a Group 1 state title last year and have the necessary ingredients to repeat. The Blue Jays also went to the semifinals of the GMC Tournament. The team will have heavy hearts all season after the tragic passing of James Matula in the offseason. The stellar one-two pitching duo allowed 24 earned runs in 147 innings of work with 137 strikeouts. There are exceptionally high expectations for the team this season, which only had three seniors graduate.
St. Thomas Aquinas earned a White Division crown last year and make the jump to the Red Division as a result. Louis Rizzolo is one of the better pitchers in the GMC and had a stellar 1.17 ERA in 59 2/3 innings with 98 strikeouts last year. He also hit .288 at the plate. The Trojans had 10 players with double-digit hits last season and only five are returning. Harrison Eng, Adrian Sanchez and Josh Figueiredo are going to be key producers as well.
Woodbridge opened the 2025 season with an 8-0 record and hovered just above .500 the rest of the way. Kevin Arroyo had a terrific junior season with a 1.11 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings. Gavin Slicner and Xavier Diaz are two massive threats in the lineup and each had 34 hits a season ago to go with a combined 36 RBIs and 57 runs scored. This team was bounced in the opening round of the GMC Tournament last year and then went to the North Jersey 2, Group 4 semifinals.
South Plainfield has a few dynamic pieces left despite losing a large senior class to graduation. Dom Massaro’s 41 hits were the second-most in the conference last year. He also had 20 RBIs and 27 runs. Aiden McCarthy and Chris Loniewski are stars as well with 41 total hits, 36 combined RBIs and 31 runs. McCarthy is a strong presence on the mound as well with a 1.34 ERA in 52 1/3 innings of work last year.
Old Bridge gave Edison a battle in the opening round of the GMC Tournament but fell and rebounded to reach the Central Jersey, Group 4 final. Brody Nugent, Erich Schikschenet and Chris Crosta are the face of the team’s offense and can lead this team to plenty of wins. Brady Meyer will be a reliable workhorse on the mound after posting a 3.20 ERA in 35 innings as a sophomore with 26 strikeouts.
Sleeper Team
Metuchen moved up into the White Division and brings back almost everyone from last year’s squad. There were nine players with at least 10 hits in 2025. All of them are slated to come back. Matt Jelleme and Lucas Malamug combined for 68 hits, 38 RBI and 40 runs, while also collecting a total of 133 strikeouts in 94 2/3 innings. James Fenton had a solid freshman season with a 3.10 ERA in 38 1/3 innings as a pitcher to go with 29 hits, a .333 average and 22 RBI, which led the team, as a hitter.
Division breakdown
Red Division: East Brunswick, Edison, Monroe, Old Bridge, South Plainfield, St. Joseph (Met.), St. Thomas Aquinas, WoodbridgeWhite Division: Colonia, Iselin Kennedy, Metuchen, Middlesex, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Brunswick, Spotswood
Blue Division: Carteret, East Brunswick Magnet, J.P. Stevens, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, North Plainfield, Piscataway, South River
Gold Division: Dunellen, Highland Park, Perth Amboy Magnet, Piscataway Magnet, Somerset Tech, South Amboy, Timothy Christian, Wardlaw-Hartridge
Players to Watch:
Dom Massaro, South Plainfield, Sr., OF - Player profile
Aiden McCarthy, South Plainfield, Sr., P/1B - Player profile
Baseball preview team-by-team look at the Greater Middlesex Conference
Andy MendlowitzThe 2026 baseball season is about to heat up on
the diamond. Here is a look at the teams this spring in the Greater Middlesex
Conference.
Red Division
SOUTH PLAINFIELD
Coach: Scott Gleichenhaus
Last year: 18-11 overall, 9-5 Red Division
Key losses: Dan Kapsch (SS), Nick Irizarry (2B), Kevin Penny (P/1B), Mike
Castagna (P), Steven Studlack (C)
Roster: Jayden Jimenez (Sr., RHP), Aiden McCarthy (Sr., LHP/1B), Dominic
Massaro (Sr., CF/LHP), Aiden Kaplan (Sr., RHP), Ed Budzinski (Sr., OF/LHP), Joe
Stanzione (Sr., LHP/OF), Alex Pigna (Sr., RHP/UTL); Chris Loniewski (Jr.,
C/INF), Mike Fiore (Jr., UTL), Noah Dennis (Jr., LHP), Sean Griswald (Jr., C),
Hunter Ravi (Jr., OF), Justin Andrade (Jr., OF), Anthony Cicenia (So., SS),
Andree Bena (So., LHP/1B), Andrew Burns (So., OF/LHP), Gabriel Garcia (Fr., 2B)
Outlook: The Tigers put together a fun postseason ride by capturing the North 2
Group 3 title as the No. 3 seed for their first sectional title since 2015.
However, it was a senior-heavy team and South Plainfield returns just three
regulars. The good news: one is a Player of the Year candidate and two of their
four top pitchers are back. Dom Massaro will once again patrol center field
after hitting .394 (41-for-104) with 12 walks, 28 stolen bases, 27 runs scored
and 20 RBIs and provides depth to the pitching staff. Aiden McCarthy had a 1.34
ERA in 52 1/3 innings and hit .297 with a team-high 25 RBIs. He’ll split time
with Andree Bena at first. Last year's third baseman Chris Loniewski moves to
catcher. Jay Jimenez (2.29 ERA in 18 1/3 IP) and sophomore Andrew Bena are
expected to lead the pitching staff along with McCarthy. South Plainfield does
have pitching depth with seniors Joe Stanzione, Aiden Kaplan, Ed Budzinszki and
Alex Pigna figuring in the mix along with Andrew Burns and Noah Dennis.
Pitching and defense have always been the Tigers recipe for success and they
should once again be
solid up the middle. There were a handful of players competing to flank Massaro
on each side in the outfield in Stanzione, Budzinzki, Hunter Ravi, Justin
Andrade and Bena and Burns. Newcomers Anthony Cicenia (SS) and freshman Gabriel
Garcia (2B) will handle the middle of the diamond. Mike Fiore and Pigna will
figure into the infield mix, as well, to replace Loniewski at third.
NJ Baseball Preview Greater Middlesex Conference
No comments:
Post a Comment