MIDDLESEX: GMC Seedings; You Pick the Winner Published: Sunday, May 15, 2011, 6:39 PM Updated: Sunday, May 15, 2011, 7:20 PM
First, a tip of the hat to the GMC Tournament seeding committee, which did a terrific job under difficult circumstances. Considering the number of divisional ties and split series the committee had some difficult decisions just to determine the order within each particular division.
There was considerable discussion about each of the seedings, some more lengthy
Things have been looking up for Steve Petriello and South Plainfield, winners of six in a row heading into the first round of the GMC Tournament on Tuesday. (John Munson/The Star-Ledger)
than others, and I salute the committee for the diligence they displayed in completing their task. I may not have agreed with every decision they made but they discussed everything and even went back a few times and reconsidered some decisions after they had made them.
HERE’S THE PROBLEM: I do have one major complaint about the seeding process, one which I have already expressed to committee chairman of Jerry Smith of St. Joseph: having the seeding meeting on the morning that three of the divisions completed league play was ludicrous!
All four division races were altered by results of that afternoon and had the seeding meeting been at 7 p.m. rather than 10 a.m. there would have been some drastic changes.
Red Division: About six hours after I wrote that Old Bridge had been awarded the top seed from the division I wrote a game story stating that South Brunswick and St. Joseph would share the division title. Old Bridge was third. Old Bridge rightfully was given the edge over the other two schools since all three had a 10-3 divisional record at the seeding meeting and Old Bridge was 2-1 against the other two. St. Joseph was 2-2 and South Brunswick was 1-2, all because Old Bridge and South Brunswick had only met once, on Thursday.
White Division: Monroe smartly completed its divisional schedule on Thursday before the meeting, giving it an edge over South Plainfield it would not have enjoyed 12 hours later. Perth Amboy, Monroe and South Plainfield all finished 11-3 but Perth Amboy was 3-1 against the other two, South Plainfield was 2-2 and Monroe was 1-3. South Plainfield would have rated higher than Monroe since they had the same number of divisional wins and South Plainfield had swept their two meetings.
Blue Division: Bishop Ahr and Middlesex both were 9-2 in league play at the meeting but Bishop Ahr had the edge by sweeping Middlesex in the regular season. This division caused some major discussion during the meeting since Bishop Ahr had a 10-2 overall record with no body of work to speak of. Middlesex, 17-6 overall at the meeting, had a huge body of work worthy of a top eight seed. The committee had to strike a difficult balance between penalizing Bishop Ahr for playing just two non-league games while rewarding Middlesex for taking on all comers with an arduous non-league schedule. Middlesex clinched the Blue division title by beating South Amboy, 15-0, Friday while Bishop Ahr fell to suddenly hot Spotswood, 20-13. Had the seeding been determined after the conclusion of divisional play Middlesex would have been seeded properly. Middlesex wasn’t the only school affected by this: Woodbridge, seeded fifth, will now open against 12th-seeded Middlesex if it defeats Iselin Kennedy on Monday.
Gold division: First of all, the Gold division needs to get with the program and play back-to-back series like the other three divisions. I understand the argument by the smaller schools in the division that they don’t have the pitching depth that larger schools have but it is unfair to consider the Gold division records when the other three divisions are playing by different rules. The Gold division race won’t be determined until this week, but Highland Park’s 6-5 decision over Timothy Christian last week was the tie-breaker that gave it the top seed in the eyes of the committee.
Sleepers: There are a couple of teams that have quietly picked up momentum heading into the GMC Tournament, some of which can be attributed by the return of injured or missing players.
Monday’s East Brunswick at Highland Park preliminary round game features two such teams. Highland park has what one coach described as “a Red division pitcher pitching for a Gold division team” in Ben Vietze. Highland Park figures to be a handful for anyone when Vietze is on the mound. But East Brunswick has recently been buoyed by the return of its projected ace, Tyler Browne, and figured to be better than the 17th seed when Browne was on the mound. There will no doubt be a bevy of major league scouts and executives on hand to observe East Brunswick prospect Carl Thomore, and how Vietze reacts to the opportunity to perform before such an audience (assuming he’s the starter) will be critical to the outcome.
North Brunswick (10-11, seeded 8th) recently welcomed back leadoff batter Jake Rosenberg from a severe ankle sprain and likely would have had a better record and higher seeding if Rosenberg hadn’t missed nearly half of the season.
Spotswood arose from a nine-game losing streak to knock off Bishop Ahr, 20-13, Friday, handing Middlesex the Blue division crown in the process, then eliminated Wardlaw-Hartridge in a GMC play-in game, 18-10, Saturday. Matt Mangarella (6-for-9, 3 HR, 8 RBI) and Shawn Weeks (6-for-8, 2 HR, 9 RBI) went nuts in those two games, each hitting a grand slam in the Bishop Ahr win. Spotswood may have lost some momentum by schlepping down to Point Pleasant Boro for an 8-4 loss later on Saturday.
Saturday’s six preliminary games produced no upsets although the closest contest, 18th-seeded Timothy Christian’s 9-8 verdict over 29th-seeded New Brunswick, complies with my sleeper theory. New Brunswick (4-17) has won two of eight games since shortstop Kevin Marte regained his eligibility and have been far more competitive with him in the lineup. Marte, who was 7-for-10 in his first three games back, had a triple and solo home run in Saturday’s loss. Here’s the GMC Tournament schedule:
Monday, May 16: Preliminary Round
21-Iselin Kennedy at 12-Middlesex, 3
20-Dunellen at 13-J.P. Stevens, 3:30
17-East Brunswick at 16-Highland Park, 3:45
19-Colonia at 14-South River, 3:45
22-South Amboy at 11-Bishop Ahr, 4
23-Spotswood at 10-Edison, 3:45
18-Timothy Christian at 15-Metuchen, 3:45
Tuesday, May 17: First Round
9-Sayreville at 8-North Brunswick, 3:45
East Brunswick/Highland Park winner at 1-Perth Amboy, 3:45
Iselin Kennedy/Middlesex winner at 5-Woodbridge, 3:45
Dunellen/J.P. Stevens winner at 4-South Plainfield, 3:45
Colonia/South River winner at 3-Monroe, 3:45
South Amboy/Bishop Ahr winner at 6-St. Joseph, 3:45
Spotswood/Edison winner at 7-South Brunswick, 3:45
Timothy Christian/Metuchen winner at 2-Old Bridge, 3:45Thursday, May 19: Quarterfinals at North Brunswick Community Park
Saturday, May 21: Semifinals at East Brunswick Tech
Wednesday, May 25: Championship at East Brunswick
With rain in the forecast the tournament protocol is for teams to make every effort to get them games in, even changing sites, before postponing them. Any games rained out are to be scheduled for the following day.
Mosc, directing traffic at first.
A.J. Celentano records his first varsity win.
