2026 - Group 3 sectional semifinals baseball preview: Several county finalists remain alive

2026 NJSIAA Baseball Tournament, North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3

Bracket

By

• Brian Bobal | NJ.com
• PJ Potter | NJ.com
• Kevin Minnick | NJ.com
  

4-South Plainfield (16-11) at 1-Chatham (20-6)

When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Coaches: Scott Gleichenhaus; South Plainfield; Todd Leathers, Chatham

South Plainfield players to watch

• Andrew Bena, So., DH/P
• Ed Budzinski, Sr., OF
• Anthony Cicenia, So., SS
• Gabriel Garcia, Fr., 2B
• Chris Loniewski, Jr., 3B
• Dom Massaro, Sr., OF
• Aiden McCarthy, Sr., 1B

Chatham players to watch

• Kieran Brendle, So.
• John Jacobs, Jr.
• Joe Kealy, Jr.
• Luke Leskaukas, Sr.
• Luca Russo, Jr.
• Drew Speace, Jr.
• Justin Zigon, Sr.

Tournament highlight

South Plainfield: South Plainfield outscored Iselin Kennedy and North Plainfield 12-0 to get to this point. Aiden McCarthy threw a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts against Iselin Kennedy. Andrew Bena was three outs shy of a shutout against North Plainfield but still fanned 10 in six innings.

Chatham: Drew Speace racked up 11 strikeouts and allowed three hits and two walks in a dynamite six-inning performance in the quarterfinals against Middletown North, which his team won 3-0. He also had an RBI in the win.

The picks:

• Bobal: South Plainfield
• Minnick: Chatham
• Potter: Chatham

Group 3 sectional semifinals baseball preview: Several county finalists remain alive - nj.com