Baseball: The GMC Top 10, games to watch and storylines from Week 2
Despite a handful of rainouts, it's been an eventful first two weeks of the baseball season in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Here's what you need to know heading into Week Three.
Storylines from last week
Parity Party: Here we go, the typically tough and balanced Red Division teams are at it again, trading wins and having close contests. North Brunswick split its two-game series with both Monroe and Old Bridge. East Brunswick and South Plainfield also split with St. Joseph topping North Brunswick. Like last season, it appears that no one is going to run away with the pennant, and the champion can have five or six losses.
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The Youngsters: Several underclassmen have emerged as future stars in the early going. They include sophomore pitchers Chris Kozak (Middlesex), Colin Kroner (Colonia) and Robert Roma (Edison). At bat, St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Nikash Patel has two home runs and is hitting .444 (4-for-9) with four RBIs.
Golden Governors: Defending Gold Division champions Carteret seemed to be the favorite to repeat. Well, South Amboy didn’t know that. The Governors went 2-0 against the Ramblers to top the Gold standings. They’ve gotten balanced hitting with Nigel Johnson and Benjamin Smith each driving in five runs.
Looking Good: It’s a long way to go, but teams in two of the divisions are staking claims as the early favorite. Woodbridge in the White Division and Spotswood in the Blue Division are each off to 6-0 starts with all division wins. Both are complete squads with deep lineups and quality pitching.
Games to Watch
Tuesday: Piscataway Magnet at Highland Park, 4 p.m.: The Highland Park bats have been hot, outscoring their three opponents 46-18. That includes a 15-4 win over co-defending Silver Division champ Dunellen. The Owls now look to top Piscataway Magnet, the other co-champion.
Wednesday: South Amboy at East Brunswick Magnet, 4 p.m.: South Amboy already swept Carteret in the Gold Division. Next up is EB Magnet, which looks to be their biggest roadblock to the pennant.
Thursday: South Plainfield at Monroe, 4 p.m.: This is Game 1 of a key Red Division series – they’re all key – and the winner inches toward the top of the standings.
Thursday: North Brunswick at Woodbridge, 4 p.m.: This is a Top-5, inter-division meeting that can impact the GMC Tournament seedings.
This week’s Greater Middlesex Conference Top 10
(records through Sat., April 13)
1. Old Bridge (6-2) – preseason No. 1: Old Bridge went 1-1 against No. 3 North Brunswick, but swept No. 6 St. Joseph and beat East Brunswick to stay at No. 1. The Knights have gotten quality pitching and timely hitting, as advertised.
2. Monroe (4-2) – preseason No. 2: The Falcons also split with North Brunswick and swept East Brunswick. So, it remains status quo up top. A non-conference loss to Hamilton West doesn't hurt them here.
3. North Brunswick (2-3) – preseason No. 3: Here’s an interesting stat – the Raiders haven’t out-hit an opponent through their first five games, yet they managed to earn splits with No. 1 Old Bridge and No. 2 Monroe. Well-placed hitting and clutch pitching are good things.
4. Woodbridge (6-0) – preseason No. 4: First test passed. While early, the Barrons swept a huge White Division series against the defending champions Sayreville. They also went 2-0 against a tough Colonia team and then outscored J.P. Stevens 33-0.
5. South Plainfield (3-1) – preseason No. 5: This is baseball: South Plainfield opened the season with a 14-0 win over East Brunswick then lost to the Bears, 3-2, two days later. The Tigers rebounded with a two-game sweep over South Brunswick by a combined three runs. Taking that series could be huge down the line.
6. St. Joseph (1-5) – preseason No. 6: The Falcons can actually make a case to move up after beating North Brunswick on Saturday. The team has several new starters but couldn’t ease into action against cupcakes. St. Joseph lost twice to Old Bridge and once to Monroe, Seton Hall Prep and St. Benedict’s.
7. Edison (4-1) – preseason No. 9: The mostly young Eagles are shaping up to be a fun team as sophomore pitchers Robert Roma and Connor Murphy are emerging to complement senior ace Jaxon Appelman. Edison swept Sayreville and split with Colonia, along with a win over Perth Amboy to position themselves firmly in the White Division race.
8. Spotswood (6-0) – preseason No. 8: The Chargers are rolling in the Blue Division with series wins over Metuchen, North Plainfield and an improved Piscataway, outscoring them a combined 68-13. Carter Cumiskey is hitting .611 (11-for-18).
9. Colonia (2-3) – preseason not ranked: The Patriots started 0-3 after being on the wrong end of dominant pitching against Woodbridge’s Eddy Nunez and Drew Lukachyk and Edison’s Jaxon Appelman. Those are never fun. The Patriots, though, regrouped and got their own ace outings from Colin Kroner and Cory Pascarella in wins over Perth Amboy and Edison.
10. South Brunswick (3-3) – preseason not ranked: No, one can never forget about the Vikings. South Brunswick opened by sweeping East Brunswick, an 11-10 win included, and beat Allentown. They lost twice to South Plainfield by a combined three runs.
Out: Sayreville (2-4): The then-No. 7 Bombers swept Middlesex but dropped out after going 0-4 after Woodbridge and Edison in the two series.
East Brunswick (1-6): The then-No. 10 Bears got a quality win over South Plainfield in a series split but lost series against Monroe and South Brunswick and fell to Old Bridge in the first game.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10, games to watch and last week's storylines
