Week 4 Top Ten Central Jersey Sports Radio

South Plainfield’s Jayden Alvarez hits against Dayton on April 27, 2024 at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater. (Credit: Tsandklev Photography, courtesy South Plainfield baseball)

Baseball Notebook

April 29, 2024 by Mike Pavlichko 

Other than Bridgewater-Raritan holding on to the top spot for a third straight week, chaos reigned in the Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball Rankings, with several top teams going on losing streaks, while win streaks buoyed others.

At No. 1 after a 3-0 week is Bridgewater-Raritan (12-1), which won three straight on the road, beating Somerville 7-0 on Tuesday, Hillsborough 8-1 on Thursday, and Ramapo 11-3 on Saturday. With a week to go before the Somerset County Tournament seeding meeting, the top-seed is the Panthers’ to lose at this point.

Climbing five spots this week is South Plainfield (11-3), which went a stunning 5-0 in the week gone by. The Tigers beat Woodbridge 6-1 on Monday, beat Monroe 9-7 Wednesday, then swept a pair from Old Bridge – winning 6-3 on the road Thursday and 5-1 at home Friday, before topping Dayton 8-4 on Saturday. The run now has South in first place and in the drivers’ seat in the GMC Red Division, with a shot at the tournament’s top seed on the line this week when they play a pair against St. Joseph-Metuchen.

Spotswood (12-1-1) climbs two places to third after a 3-1 week, suffering its first loss of the season. After opening with a home-and-home series sweep of South River – 13-0 on the road Tuesday and 3-2 at home Thursday – the Chargers split two games on Saturday, falling 4-1 to JFK in the morning, then winning 3-1 over Highlands in the Coaches vs. Cancer showcase down in Margate.

Woodbridge (12-2) is up one spot to sixth, also putting together a 3-1 week. The Barrons opened with a 6-1 home loss to South Plainfiled on Monday, but then came back with three straight victories: Wednesday 11-1 at Rahway, Thursday 7-0 at Edison, and Saturday at home 4-1 over Edison. Woodbridge clinched the GMC White Division.

Monroe dropped from third to sixth after a 1-3 week that left them 8-6 on the season. The Falcons lost 9-7 at South Plainfield on Tuesday, then dropped a non-area game at Robbinsville 3-2 Wednesday before snapping the skid with a 6-4 home win over St. Joseph-Metuchen on Friday. They then fell Saturday at home by an 11-5 score to Sayreville.

After two weeks out, Ridge (9-5) is back in the rankings after a strong 4-1 week. That included a win over North Hunterdon 2-0 on Tuesday, a 6-0 win at Randolph Wednesday, an 11-1 rout at Somerville on Thursday, and a loss at New Providence 3-2 on Saturday before the Red Devils bounced back with a 2-1 win over Union Catholic Sunday in the Thank You Classic.

At No. 8 is St. Thomas Aquinas (10-2), up two spots from the Trojans’ previous rank of No. 10. STA picked up wins Monday at home (8-3) and Wednesday (19-3) on the road against North Plainfield, sandwiched around a Tuesday noon-conference loss at Elizabeth, 13-12. They came back and beat Piscataway Friday, 5-4.

In ninth is Watchung Hills, which went 2-1 last week, including a win over then-No. 2 Immaculata, 11-5, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Though they would lose the next day, 8-0 to North Hunterdon, they rebounded with an 11-7 win at Rutgers Prep on Thursday.

And Immaculata falls to tenth after an 0-3 week. After the Tuesday loss to Watchung Hills, they dropped a 5-1 home game to Montgomery on Thursday, and were whitewashed 10-0 Saturday at Phillipsburg.

Below are the full Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving High School Baseball Rankings:

Winning, losing streaks throw chaos into Week 4 Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten – Central Jersey Sports Radio (cjsportsradio.com)

The GMC Top 10, games to watch and storylines after Week 4

 Andy MendlowitzMyCentralJersey.com

Forget the paper rankings, the results are determined on the diamond. There’s a huge shake up in the Top 10 after an eventful Week 4 of the season. That includes a new No. 1, six teams changing spots and two newcomers to the rankings.

Red Division pennant race

Monroe/Old Bridge series – Tuesday at Old Bridge, 4 p.m., Thursday at Monroe, 4 p.m.

South Plainfield/St. Joseph series – Tuesday at St. Joseph, 4 p.m., Thursday at South Plainfield, 4 p.m.

The Red Division pennant is up for grabs as South Plainfield — fueled by its sweep over Old Bridge last week — sits at 8-2 in the division. Monroe and Old Bridge are both at 7-3. St. Joseph (3-7) is in the spoiler role. Hold on, fans.

This week’s GMC Top 10

(records through Sat., April 27)

1. South Plainfield (11-3) — last week No. 4: This is how you get ranked No. 1 – beat the three teams in front of you. The Tigers jump to the top spot after a 5-0 week that included two wins over Old Bridge, a win over Woodbridge, a win over Monroe for the series split and a non-conference victory against Dayton. That’s a lot of pitching and timely hitting.

South Plainfield Pitcher Kevin Penny throws against Monroe on April 18th, 2024 - Andy Mendlowitz

2. Woodbridge (12-2) – last week No. 3: The rankings shake up continues with Woodbridge moving up a spot. The Barrons swept Edison to clinch the White Division pennant. Their only losses were against South Plainfield and Middlesex (their lone White Division defeat).

3. Monroe (8-6) – last week No. 2: The Falcons had a 1-3 week but that win was a big one over St. Joseph, which seemed to be getting hot. That 6-4 victory keeps Monroe in the Red Division race with the upcoming series against Old Bridge on tap. The Falcons lost to Sayreville to end the week.

4. Old Bridge (10-5) – last week No. 1: Don’t worry Knights fans, there shouldn’t be much of a concern after Old Bridge finished the week 0-3 following a shutout over South Brunswick. They lost two games to South Plainfield, then fell to private school power Seton Hall Prep. It’s baseball. Old Bridge has the Monroe series with a game against Edison in between.

5. Edison (9-4) – last week No. 5: The Eagles topped Middlesex for the series sweep then lost twice to Woodbridge to finish at least tied for second in the White Division. That’s a big accomplishment for a young team that had several questions entering the season with many new starters and underclassmen in key roles.

6.Spotswood (12-1-1) – last week No. 6: They were bound to lose at some point. Baseball teams rarely go undefeated and the Chargers fell to J.F. Kennedy for their lone blemish. That sets up an exciting week that will decide the Blue Division pennant. On tap is the rematch against JFK on Monday and then the two-game series against St. Thomas Aquinas.

7.Colonia (7-4) – last week No. 9: The Patriots kept winning, stepping over any trap games last week. Colonia beat Sayreville to complete the series sweep and then went 2-0 against J.P. Stevens. Colonia outscored the three White Division opponents by a combined 30-2.

8. South Brunswick (6-8) – last week No. 10: This could have been a tumble week. Instead, the Vikings showed they’re a top four team in the Red Division. After a loss to Old Bridge, South Brunswick went 2-0 against St. Joseph winning by a combined 29-11. Next up is a division series against North Brunswick.

9.Sayreville (6-7) – last week not ranked: Sayreville’s win over Monroe puts the Bombers back into the rankings after starting at No. 7 in the preseason poll. Sayreville is tied with Middlesex for fourth in the White Division, but the Bombers went 2-0 against Middlesex, as well as Perth Amboy.

10. St. Thomas Aquinas (10-2) – last week not ranked: It’s time to give St. Thomas Aquinas and the Blue Division some recognition. The Trojans enter the Top 10 after inching their way to the top of the division with Spotswood. STA’s only losses were to J.F. Kennedy in the first week and 13-12 to non-conference Elizabeth last week.

Dropped out: No. 7 North Brunswick, No. 8 St. Joseph

NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10, games to watch and last week's storylines (mycentraljersey.com)

2024 - Game # 14 South Plainfield 8, Johnathan Dayton - Springfield 4

South Plainfield Find Success

Baseball Recap: South Plainfield Tigers vs. Dayton Bulldogs

By Maxpreps

Apr 28, 2024, 10:52am

South Plainfield had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They walked away with an 8-4 win over the Dayton Bulldogs. This was payback for South Plainfield, who suffered a 6-4 defeat the last time these two teams met.

For Dayton's part, they saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Peter Ramirez, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.

South Plainfield's victory bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Dayton, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-8 record this season.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. South Plainfield will take on St. Joseph at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. As for Dayton, they will head out on the road to face off against Elizabeth at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. One thing working in Elizabeth's favor is that they have posted big run totals in their last three matches.

Baseball Game Recap: South Plainfield Find Success (maxpreps.com)

South Plainfield 8,  Dayton - Springfield 4

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Dayton (4-8)	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	7	5
South Plainfield (11-3)	3	0	4	1	0	0	0	8	10	1

South Plainfield Batting

	AB	R	H	RBI	1B	2B	3B	HR	BB	HBP	SB	AVG	SLG
Dom Massaro	3	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.667	.667
Dan Kapsch	4	2	3	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.750	.750
Zack Robinson	4	2	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.500	.750
Jayden Alvarez	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.000	.000
Nick Irizarry	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Brandon Bickunas	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333	.333
Aiden McCarthy	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Aldo Pigna	2	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.000	1.000
Steve Studlack	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Anthony Tomei	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Grzan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Totals:	27	8	10	6	9	1	0	0	5	0	6	.370	.407

South Plainfield Pitching

	PIT	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HB	ERA
Ryan Balent (WP)	80	5	3	0	0	1	4	1	0.00
Andrew Csordos	13	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.00
Chase Donovan	39	1	3	4	3	2	1	0	21.00
Totals:	132	7	6	4	3	3	6	2	3.00

Grand Poobah XI Our newest Poobah picked up right where our last Poobah left off. Passing on the big pregame sandwich & saving his appetite to feast on Dayton hitters-We Helmet Ryan Balent (5ip 4k 3h) whose effort put his mates in a position to pick up their 11th W of 2024.