Baseball: Carteret wins GMC Invitational title behind Kee's gem, strong defense

EDISON – The brackets came out and Nick Kee’s eyes lit up, as did the excitement level of all his Carteret baseball teammates.

While the Ramblers drew the No. 2 seed in the Greater Middlesex Conference Invitational Tournament, South Amboy earned the top seed. South Amboy, as in the team that edged Carteret for the Gold Division pennant with two early wins.

So, this was Carteret’s chance for not only a trophy, but some redemption.

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The hot-hitting Ramblers outscored their first pair of opponents 20-3, and South Amboy also advanced to set up Friday’s anticipated final.

“Everyone for the past week, we couldn’t stop talking about it,” the junior pitcher said. “Like it was the only thing on our minds. It was crazy.”

Enter a classic pitching duel with great defense and all the knuckle-biting worthy of a championship game.

Carteret prevailed 1-0 to win the title and then happily posed for cherished photos. Kee threw a two-hitter allowing a walk and a hit batter with seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings before reaching the pitch limit. Freshman Luis Hernandez came on to get a strikeout for the final out.

South Amboy freshman Micah Nemeth was also excellent, allowing one hit, four walks and striking out four in seven innings.

The Ramblers (17-6) scored in the top of the second after cleanup hitter James Rodriguez led off with a single. Jared Nelan and Rashad Bennett drew two-out walks and Eric Thompson’s ball down third base was bobbled and it scored Rodriguez.

Credit Carteret’s defense. Freshman first baseman Joniel Martinez made a nifty pick on a throw in the final inning. Senior right fielder Jossue Torres charged for a fly ball and made a diving catch in the sixth inning that prevented an extra-base hit.

“He’s played four years and anything I ask him to do, he does and he made a huge diving play,” Carteret coach Dan Morvay said. “I think it saved the game. That gets past him, it’s 1-1 before you blink an eye.”

Kee, who is hitting .367 with 13 RBIs, did the rest. The righthander now has a 1.35 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings. He might be getting even better. Kee said he was watching coaching tips on Instagram a few days ago that noted you should keep your wrist stiff on a slider.

So, he practiced it while warming up Friday and implemented the tweak. It worked. He was also able to keep his cool in the duel.

“I try to slow myself down sometimes, you know, take a deep breath,” Kee said. “Don’t think about it too much. Just go up there and throw the ball, that’s pretty much all it is. That’s what you want to think. You don’t want to have a bunch of things running through your head while you’re trying to pitch and then you can’t throw a strike.”

Morvay called him “a bulldog. He wants the ball. He never shies away from the ball. Never shies away from any competition. We have tons of faith in him anytime he takes the ball.”

Carteret has been getting it done, all around. While Nemeth silenced the Ramblers bats, they’ve been smoking. Justin Santana (.317, 20 RBIs), Rodriguez (.391, 22 RBIs), Rivera (.352, 14 RBIs) and Nelan (.385, 14 RBIs) have all added to the output. On the mound, Hernandez (2.14 ERA, 37 Ks), Thompson (1.58 ERA, 33 Ks) and sophomore Marc Schiraldo (3.96 ERA) have all emerged to round out the staff.

South Amboy (12-4) is also in the midst of a great season having earned the Gold Division title, which includes 6-3 and 6-5 wins over Carteret during the first week of the season.

Friday, though, was Carteret’s day and now has won seven of eight with the NJSIAA playoffs looming.

“I tip my hat to Danny (Morvay) and I wish them luck in the states,” South Amboy coach Dan Poulsen.

“It’s awesome,” Morvay said. “Some of these kids have stepped up at the right time and hopefully we continue it to next week.”

Carteret also topped South Amboy in the inaugural GMC Invitational Tournament final in 2019. Now, they get another notch on the banner and some comfort after finishing second to the Governors in in the division.

“So today was almost like our revenge game,” Kee said. “It felt really good to win this one. It feels amazing.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: Carteret tops South Amboy to win GMC Invitational title