A beats B.
B beats C.
C beats A.
It's been that kind of baseball season in the Greater Middlesex Conference.
"Up and down the county, there's a lot of good teams," Monroe coach Sean Field said. "There's a lot of good pitchers in the county. There's not an easy game. Like every single game."
That's what should make the GMC Tournament all that much more fun. There's no heavy favorite with any number of teams capable of making runs.
This is the schedule:
May 22: First round at the higher seed
May 25: quarterfinals at Community Park in North Brunswick
May 29: semifinals at East Brunswick Tech (rain date May 30)
June 6: championship at East Brunswick Tech (rain date June 12)
Here is a primer on the 16-team tournament with seeds below.
Favorites
No. 1 Monroe (13-4)
Reasons they can win: Veterans up and down the lineup. Before the season, Monroe had six of 11 seniors already commit to play college baseball such as Jacob Veczko (OF) heading to Dayton. The upperclassmen includes two junior pitchers in Josh Weinstein and relief ace CJ Wisniewski, as well as senior Garrett VanBuren. The co-Red Division champs certainly won't get frazzled in big situations.
No. 2 St. Joseph (14-7)
Reasons they can win: The fearlessness of youth. On the flip side, St. Joseph sometimes use half a dozen sophomores at one time and may only play one or two seniors. The talented underclassmen have been coming through along with veterans like senior Colin Leyner and junior Andrew Goldan. The co-Red Division champs, who split with Monroe, have played a challenging nonconference schedule.
No. 3 South Plainfield (16-2-1)
Reasons they can win: So much balance. The White Division champions have gotten steady contributions throughout the lineup. That includes four players with at least 20 hits and two more in the high teens (Nick Loniewski, Austin Scott, Brandon Shine, Vincent Esposito, Kennedy Ferguson, Luke Bickunas). The staff, too, goes deep with five pitchers throwing double-digit innings led by Esposito and Mitch Dudak.
No. 4 Middlesex (13-3)
Reasons they can win: Tournament ready. The Group I school has tested themselves in non-division games against Edison and South Plainfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Along with facing Metuchen's Matt Rowe, seeing those tough pitchers should help them. Seniors Kenny Yonker and Raiden Yost give the Blue Division champs a 1-2 punch on the mound. Yost, Ryan Vollmer and Anthony Long lead the hitters.
Strong-Arm Vikings
Whenever a Gerrit Cole or a Jacob deGrom takes the ball, there's always a sense that something special could happen on that particular night. In the GMC, fifth-seeded South Brunswick (11-7) has two of those type of guys in Frankie Sanchez and Joey Tuttoilmondo.
Sanchez, a senior righthander, has 48 strikeouts in 30 innings, reaching double-digit K's three times in games, and allowed just three earned runs all season.
Tuttoilmondo, meanwhile, threw a no-hitter on opening day with 17 strikeouts and two walks against J.P. Stevens. The junior righy has 51 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.
Seniors Neel Telivedara and Danny Guadalupe have each thrown double-digit innings, giving South Brunswick's staff quality depth and a key ingredient for a tournament run.
The Mashers
Maybe he'll lace a double, maybe not. But just the presence of sluggers can help your whole lineup and affect pitchers. No. 6 Edison (13-6) has scored over 10 runs in eight games. The Eagles' threats include Sal Della Fave and Walker Zampella.
The junior Della Fave is also is part of a deep staff that includes senior Dom LaPelosa and freshman Jaxon Appelman.
Aces High
One game.
Win or go home.
You're going to want an ace on the mound and several teams have that stopper, including three players who have committed to Rutgers.
It's possible that two of them can face off in the opening round.
No. 9 North Brunswick (12-7-1) has sophomore righthander Zack Konstantinovsky (35 inn, 8 ER, 49 K, 29 H, 5 BB) who made a nonbinding commitment to the Scarlet Knights last summer.
The Raiders play No. 8 Metuchen (14-3), which feature senior senior righty Matt Rowe (24 inn, 0 ER, 51 K, 4 H, 3 BB), who signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Rutgers in November.
No. 13 Colonia (6-10) showcases junior lefthander JT Kroner (21 inn, 7 er, 31 K, 9 H, 12 BB) who announced he made a nonbinding commitment to accept a scholarship offer from Rutgers last July.
So, So Close
A loss is a loss, but then you look at East Brunswick's scores -- six defeats by a run, including four extra inning games.
Wow.
It hasn't all been the agony of defeat. The seventh-seeded Bears (9-9) are the only team to beat both No. 1 Monroe and No. 2 St. Joseph, as well as No. 5 South Brunswick.
Impressive, especially when you consider that two underclassmen have emerged as leaders. Freshman righthander Dustin McGuinness has done it on the mound and at the plate.
Sophomore Michael Marchese has held his own against top teams.
Throw in senior pitchers Chris Procaccini and Jordan Williams, and East Brunswick has the depth needed for a tournament run.
Deja Vu All Over Again
When a game becomes an instant classic, fans hope to see it again.
Take Wednesday's game, in which Spotswood won in eight innings over East Brunswick in the annual Commander's Cup trophy game via a two-RBI double from Tyler Lewandowski.
Well, guess what -- No. 10 Spotswood goes to No. 7 East Brunswick for an immediate rematch.
Spotswood (15-5) has fire power both at the plate and on the mound. Lewandowski and Casey Cumiskey are two-way stars and others like Ethan Williams and Jeff Osborne have swung hot bats.
Team Effort
No. 11 J.P. Stevens (9-10) doesn't have that one superstar with eye-popping stats. What do they do have are gritty guys who play good defense and get key hits.
That has led to a win over St. Joseph and a sweep of East Brunswick. Junior Connor Nartowicz has emerged as an ace.
Always There
Sometimes if the hits don't fall, a team feels like it's due to breakout. That just may be the case for No. 12 Woodbridge (10-7), which is entering having lost four of five.
Barrons fans, though, shouldn't fret. That includes two losses by a run each and two losses by three runs apiece. Tom O'Halloran (26-for-50) is having a great season and Brandon Schmitt, Matt Medvetz, Matt Troche and Josh Vazquez all have double-digit RBI.
Cinderella Looming
What fun would it be without any upsets?
It does, though, seem strange to call Old Bridge a Cinderella. The No. 15 Knights (6-15) were easily a preseason Top 5 in the GMC. Just, they had a late start this spring and then met good teams right away to begin in the red.
That includes three losses by a run and nine defeats by three runs or less. In other words, the talent is still there for the 2019 GMCT champions.
Sophomore lefthander Justin Herbstman, who has committed to Virginia Tech, is one of the best pitchers in the conference and senior lefty Jason Gilman has come on with 23 strikeouts in his last two outings and is the team leader in hits.
Getting Hot
You want to be playing your best ball entering the tournament. These two teams are peaking at the right time.
No. 14 Perth Amboy
Is something special brewing for the "City by the Bay" team? Perth Amboy (6-9) has won five of six and showed a little magic with two straight walk-off wins. Braillen Cabrera and Melvin Jimenez has provided timely hitting of late and Jordi Estevez has a team-high 16 hits.
No. 16 J.F. Kennedy
Things didn't look great when the Mustangs started 0-8. However, they had talent and something happened midway through the season -- the players began having fun. They got loose, smiled more and it has translated on the field. J.F. Kennedy (6-10) is on a 6-2 stretch, including a dramatic walk-off against Woodbridge with four runs in the bottom of the seventh that helped them get into the tournament. Isaiah Cherry, Josh Torres, Calvin Claiborne, Ryan Samaroo, Josh O. Torres and Michael Hein all contributed in that inning like they've done all season.
First-Round Games
Games are at 11 a.m. except where noted
No. 16 J.F. Kennedy at No. 1 Monroe
No. 9 North Brunswick at No. 8 Metuchen
No. 12 Woodbridge at No. 5 South Brunswick
No. 13 Colonia at No. 4 Middlesex
No. 14 Perth Amboy at No. 3 South Plainfield
No. 11 JP Stevens at No. 6 Edison (noon)
No. 10 Spotswood at No. 7 East Brunswick
No. 15 Old Bridge at No. 2 St. Joseph
GMC baseball tournament primer: Storylines to follow for every team (mycentraljersey.com
