April 8 GMC baseball roundup
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Montgomery 7, South Brunswick 6: The undefeated Cougars rallied for four runs in the fifth to snap a 2-2 deadlock.
The Vikings (3-1) scored three times in the sixth, closing the deficit to 6-5. Each team scored a run in the seventh to produce the final margin. Montgomery (4-0) was outhit 10-8.
Will Beck, Jordan Trimpert and Adam Britton had two hits apiece for the Vikings. Marco DiIusto plated two runs for South Brunswick, while teammates Victor Heutz, Trimpert and Britton each had an RBI. Ryan Moran and Trimpert each doubled.
Sophomore Jacob Ciccone endured the defeat. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits over five innings. Ciccone fanned five and walked one before yielding to relievers Sean Jun and Josh Liao.
South Brunswick 13, Rutgers Prep 11: After scoring 10 runs in the home first to erase a 3-0 deficit, the Vikings held on to win a wild nonconference game in which both teams combined for 26 hits.
Eight Vikings recorded at least one hit apiece. Chris James (3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI) and Adam Britton (3-for-3 with three RBI) were South Brunswick’s hitting stars.
Ryan Moran and Troy Sweeney each had two hits and two RBI. Marco DiIusto, James, Moran, Sweeney and Britton each doubled.
South Brunswick used five pitchers in the contest. Justin Cross, who hurled two innings, earned the win.
St. Joseph 11, Marist 0: Jake Hellwig pitched five shutout innings for his second victory as the Falcons (2-2) snapped a two-game losing skid.
Freshman designated hitter Seb Mueller, making his first varsity start, doubled, tripled and plated three runs. Teammates Jon Sot, Ross Maertz and Brandon Warick each had two hits including one apiece for extra bases.
Sot tripled, while Maertz, who homered in each of his two previous games, and Warick, who homered last time out, both doubled.
The contest was shortened to six innings via the mercy rule.
Metuchen 15, South River 1: Kyle Harry and Matt Volpe collected four RBI apiece to help the Bulldogs (1-1) rebound from a 1-0 loss to Colonia with an impressive Blue Division victory over the defending Central Group I champion Rams (0-3), who graduation decimated.
Winning pitcher Mike Lapczynski scattered three hits over four innings. He fanned four, walked two and allowed one earned run. Volpe retired the side in order in the fifth to seal a mercy-rule victory.
Sam Johnson, Jay Harry, Will Hronich, John Szpara, Volpe and Lapczynski each doubled for Metuchen. Kyle French had South River’s lone RBI. Johnson and Lapczynski had two RBI apiece.
Kyle Harry’s two-run homer in the second inning helped Metuchen build a 6-0 lead. The Rams were outhit 14-3.
Old Bridge 5, A.L. Johnson 1: Winning pitcher Joe Papeo allowed one unearned run on six hits over six innings for the Knights (1-2). He fanned five and walked three on 97 pitches. Connor Freel retired the side in order in the sixth.
Old Bridge was outhit 6-3 but took advantage of four Crusader errors to score five unearned runs.
After A.L. Johnson scored its only run in the second inning, the Knights responded with two runs of their own in the third to take a 2-1 advantage. Old Bridge scored three more times in the fifth.
Jon Sammarco and Ryan Bradley each had an RBI for the Knights, while teammate Zach Scire went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Mike Russo, Jake Kodros, Sammarco and Bradley each scored a run. Sonny Fauci had Old Bridge’s other hit.
East Brunswick 3, Hillsborough 1: Senior lefthander Tyler Burnham, a Seton Hall University signee, went the distance, allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks. He fanned seven in a 107-pitch effort.
Burnham spotted himself an early lead with an RBI double in the first inning. James Schuld followed with a run-scoring fielder’s choice groundout to help the Bears build a 2-0 advantage.
Hillsborough cut the lead in half with a single run in the third inning. East Brunswick added an insurance run in the fifth.
Burnham and leadoff batter David Bermudez each doubled twice for the Bears, while teammate Mike Falco also had a double. Bermudez scored twice and Ryan Flynn (1-for-3) also crossed home. Brad Edwards contributed two hits to the victory. Nick Martino walked and stole two bases.
The Raiders were outhit 8-4. The teams combined to strand 12 runners with East Brunswick (2-1) leaving seven men aboard.
Burnham threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 27 batters he faced. He recorded five groundball outs and eight flyouts.
Hudson Catholic 8, Colonia 7: Anthony Palmisano’s first homer of the season was one of 13 Colonia hits, but the Patriots could not overcome seven errors, which led to three unearned runs and their ultimate demise.
Colonia pitcher Jarred Ruiz allowed three earned runs over three and a third innings. The Patriots are now 2-1 in one-run games including a 1-0 win over Metuchen and a 3-2 win over Perth Amboy. Their two losses are by a total of three runs including a 6-4 extra-inning loss to Bridgewater-Raritan.
Hudson Catholic opened the season with a 10-1 drubbing of North Brunswick, another GMC White Division school.
South Plainfield 2, Spotswood 1: Pinch runner TJ Massaro scored on David Tavarez’s pinch-hit single to left with two away in the home sixth to snap a 1-1 deadlock as the Tigers (2-0) won a crossover game with the Chargers (2-1).
Running for Jean Sapini, who singled to lead off the sixth, Massaro advanced to second on a sacrifice and took third on a fielder’s choice groundout.
Rob Gonzalez, a transfer from Dickinson, earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief. He fanned three and allowed one hit. Spotswood stranded the tying run at first base in the top of the seventh.
Spotswood starting pitcher Matt Vento scattered five hits over five innings for a no-decision. Matt Ciaccio, a 6-foot-7 lefthander, took the loss.
South Plainfield starter Chris Shine, a sophomore, lasted five innings. He scattered four hits, walked four and fanned four.
Nick Vincelli led off the second inning with a triple and scored Spotswood’s lone run on Ciaccio’s sacrifice fly. Mike Stanczak scored South Plainfield's first run on a wild pitch in the opening frame.
Spotswood was outhit 6-4. Vincent Guardiola went 2-for-3 for the Chargers. Six Tigers had one hit apiece.
“I feel good about it,” South Plainfield head coach Anthony Guida said about his team’s 2-0 start which includes an 8-1 victory over Sayreville.
“We’ve had two well-pitched games. They are playing great defense and we’ve been able to put the ball in play. I feel really good with 1 through 9. I’ve been really impressed with our pitching and defense.”
J.P. Stevens 8, Edison 6: The Hawks (1-1) rallied for six runs in their final three at-bats to erase a 6-2 deficit en route to a comeback victory over their crosstown rivals.
After Matthew Pastor, who was hit by a pitch in the home sixth, took third on Luke Jacobi’s single, Shiv Patel snapped the 6-6 deadlock with a sacrifice fly. The Hawks added an insurance run on an error.
Winning pitcher Joseph Traina, victimized by five defensive miscues, rebounded from a rocky start to close the game with five scoreless innings in a complete-game victory. Trains fanned nine, scattered five hits, allowed three earned runs and did not issue a walk.
Edison (1-2) scored three runs in the first inning and three more in the second to build a 6-2 lead. Aided by four consecutive walks, J.P. Stevens scored two runs in the home first.
Jeremy DeOle (2-for-3 with an RBI) and Frank Vega (2-for-4 with two runs scored) paced Edison. Mike Barnato, Christian Biolsi and Colin Lombardo each had an RBI for the Eagles.
Jacobi (2-for-2) was the only Hawk to finish with multiple hits. Pastor doubled and scored three runs. Sagaar Pande contributed a solo homer to the victory. Patel had two RBI.
Middlesex 8, Carteret 0: The Blue Jays’ pitching staff, which has not allowed a run since Bishop Ahr scored twice in the opening frame of a game last Wednesday, extended its string of scoreless innings to 20 with a second consecutive shutout of the Ramblers.
Kyle Nepton struck out 10, scattered three hits and walked two over six innings for the win. Quincy West hurled a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts to preserve the shutout.
Senior first baseman Mike Salerno (4-for-4 with a double and two RBI) raised his team-leading batting average to .769. He is 10-for-19 on the year.
Mike Schweyher (2-for-4 with two runs) and Jared Zimbardo (2-for-2 with an RBI) paced Middlesex (4-0), which outhit the Ramblers 13-3.
Nick DiMaggio, Quincy West, Tyler Dymond and Jack Hnylycia each contributed a hit and an RBI to the victory. Only five of the runs off a total of four Carteret pitchers were earned.
James Hart, Bryan App and Matt Gurzynski each had a hit for the Ramblers (2-2).
Union Catholic 11, Timothy Christian 0: The Tigers, who allowed eight first-inning runs, were no-hit.
Losing pitcher Daniel Lai hurled three innings and was victimized by three errors.
Hunterdon Central 9, Bishop Ahr 0: The Trojans fell to 0-3.