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Baseball: The GMC Top 10 and notes after Week 6

andy mendlowitz, mycentraljersey.com
·5 min read

Down the stretch they come.

This is a key week for Greater Middlesex Conference baseball fans. Two trophies will be awarded and teams are jostling for postseason berths as the NJSIAA cutoff for power points is Saturday, May 18.

The seeding for the sectional tournaments is May 20 with the non-publics starting May 22 and the public schools beginning May 23.

More: Baseball: South Plainfield reaches GMCT final with aggressive approach, strong pitching

More: 'We like to fight': Pesky Old Bridge chips away at bat, Meyer throws gem in GMCT semis

First up, is the GMC Tournament final Saturday between top-seeded South Plainfield and No. 3 Old Bridge at East Brunswick Magnet at 2:30 p.m.

The GMC Invitational’s semifinals are Monday between top-seeded South Amboy and fifth-seeded North Plainfield on one side and No. 2 Carteret against third-seeded East Brunswick Magnet. The final is Friday at Edison High School.

This week’s GMC Top 10

(records through Sat., May 11)

1. South Plainfield (18-3) – last week No. 1:  Great champions find a way. Take top-seeded South Plainfield on the verge of getting upset in the GMCT quarterfinals. South Brunswick scored four times in the top of the sixth to take a 9-3 lead. Well, upsets happen — not so fast. South Plainfield scored in the bottom of the sixth and added six more runs in the seventh to prevail 10-9. Make it 12 wins in a row following the semifinal win over Edison. What’s even more impressive is they’re playing without injured outfielder Dom Massero, who may return for the final.

Edison's Teddy Eyler slides against South Plainfield in the GMCT baseball semifinal on May 11, 2024
Edison's Teddy Eyler slides against South Plainfield in the GMCT baseball semifinal on May 11, 2024

2. Old Bridge (16-6) – last week No. 3: The Knights also showed heart in rallying from deficits of 4-0 and 5-4 with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to top North Brunswick in the GMCT quarters. They then had a no-drama semifinal with a 10-0 win over Sayreville. Old Bridge has pitching, timely hitting, team camaraderie —it should be a great final against South Plainfield.

3. Woodbridge (15-6) – last week No. 2: How do you weigh regular season vs. postseason in the rankings? The second-seeded Barrons were upset against 10th-seeded Sayreville in the GMCT quarterfinals. However, Woodbridge topped Sayreville twice in the regular season and won the White Division with an 11-1 record. The Barrons can also make a run in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 section. So, their body of work keeps them in the Top 3 with the sectional tournament looming.

4. Edison (13-8) – last week No. 5: The Eagles played some tight, tense playoff baseball en route to reaching the GMCT semifinals. How’s this for knuckle-biting — the fifth-seed topped No. 12 Piscataway 2-1 in the first round and No. 13 Middlesex 1-0 in the quarterfinals behind Jaxon Appelman’s home run and Robert Roma’s two-hitter. Considering all the upsets in the GMCT, safely getting to the semifinals was a success.

5. Sayreville (10-8) – last week No. 9: The body of work counts — but so does the postseason. Sayreville earns big points for advancing to the GMCT semifinals as the No. 10 seed. In doing so, the Bombers gained some White Division redemption. Sayreville went 0-2 against both Woodbridge and Colonia in the regular season, but topped each of them in the tournament with one-run wins on the bigger stage. They’re rewarded this week by jumping into our Top 5.

6. North Brunswick (6-11) – last week No. 10: The Raiders had a pair of typical Red Division donnybrooks in the GMCT. First, the 11th-seed upset sixth-seeded Monroe, 2-1, in the first round behind Kyle Anderson’s no-hitter. North Brunswick then fell to third-seeded Old Bridge, 8-5, after leading early. Forget the record, they jump a few spots this week. For one, they’re 2-1 against Monroe this season and have splits with Old Bridge and South Brunswick.

7. Colonia (13-5) – last week No. 7: Tournament baseball is tough. The Patriots had won eight in a row and drew the No. 7 seed in the GMCT with all the momentum. In the first round, they ran into a locked-in pitcher and that’s that. Sayreville’s Tom Schlaline threw a two-hitter in the 1-0 win over Colonia. Keeping them at No. 7 feels right.

8. Spotswood (17-2-1) – last week No. 6: Example B of tournament baseball is tough. The fourth-seeded Chargers seemed primed for a run in the GMCT, but ran into Middlesex’s Chris Kozak. He threw a one-hitter and Middlesex’s bats got going in an 8-0 win in the first round. Spotswood will simply regroup and is a contender in Central Group 2.

9. Monroe (10-9) – last week No. 4: The Falcons have been on the wrong side of recent close games. Witness the 2-1 loss to North Brunswick in the GMCT first round. They also fell to Old Bridge by scores of 1-0 and 4-1 the week before. That’s just baseball. Monroe certainly has enough quality pitching and hitting ability to get hot again entering the NJSIAA postseason.

10. South Brunswick (11-11) – last week No. 8: It doesn’t seem fair dropping the Vikings two spots, especially since they’ve been boosted with the recent return of pitcher/slugger Ethan Fantel. South Brunswick also came so close to upsetting top-seeded South Plainfield in that 10-9 loss in the GMCT quarterfinals. However, that’s just the way the ranking wound up this week and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to make jumps in the coming weeks.

Consideration: Middlesex (7-14) – Middlesex is just one of those teams that never seems to be an easy out. The 13th-seeded Blue Jays upset fourth-seeded Spotswood, 8-0, in the GMCT first round and lost 1-0 to Edison in the quarterfinals. They also split with Woodbridge in the regular season.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10 and notes after Week 6