SPORTS

April 22 GMC baseball roundup

Greg Tufaro
@GregTufaro
Tyler Davis of Sayreville threw ceremonial first pitch prior to Bombers' Autism Awareness Baseball Challenge game against Hudson Catholic on Saturday

EDITOR'S NOTE: WRITE-UPS OF GAMES WILL BE ADDED AS SCORES ARE REPORTED, SO PLEASE CONSIDER REVISITING THIS PAGE. THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING OUR GMC BASEBALL COVERAGE .

Metuhen 25, Weehawken 2: Metuchen was led by Matt Volpe, Michael Lapcznski and Mark Mastromonoco who all homered in the contest. Mastromonoco's was a grand slam in the fourth. Volpe was 5-for-6 with four RBI.

Brendan Smith went four innings of four-hit ball to get the win.

South Plainfield 3, Millburn 1: The Tigers made a huge statement, snapping the winning streak of Millburn, currently ranked No. 9 in the state by The Star Ledger, at eight games with a victory in the Autism Awareness Baseball Challenge.

Winning pitcher Chris Shine allowed seven hits and one earned run over six and two thirds innings. He struck out five and walked three. Shine threw 113 pitches before being lifted under the NJSIAA's new pitch-count regulations. Dylan O'Connor closed the game for a save.

Connor Adams doubled and scored for the Tigers, who improved to 8-3. Jared Marks, Mike Stanczak and TJ Massaro each had an RBI for South Plainfield. Stanczak and Mike Marrero scored the Tigers' other runs.

Millburn outhit South Plainfield 8-4 but committed three errors that led to an unearned run. The Tigers scored in the home first to erase a 1-0 deficit.

South Plainfield scored the go-ahead run in the third and added an insurance tally in the fifth.

Woodbridge 11, Dickinson 6: Harry Rutkowski clubbed his state-leading sixth homer of the season and finished a double shy of the cycle, while pitcher Robert Nunez recorded his first varsity win as the Barrons (12-0) remained undefeated.

After Woodbridge jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning, Dickinson scored twice in the third and four more times in the fourth, closing the deficit to one run. The Barrons answered with four runs in the fifth to produce the final margin.

Trevor Cykowski (3-for-5) and Rutkowski (3-for-4) combined for seven RBI and four runs scored. Justin Silva, Joe Dunn and Josepher Gutierrez went 2-for-3 for Woodbridge.

The Barrons used four pitchers. Nunez hurled three and a third innings.

Spotswood 5, Carteret 0: Nick Mohr went 3-for-3 and Vincent Guardiola went 2-for-4 with a double to help the Chargers (11-2) extend their winning streak to nine games in the Carteret Conquers Cancer Invitational.

Winning pitcher Matt Ciaccio (4-1), a senior lefthander, struck out five and scattered four hits without issuing a walk in a complete-game effort that required an economical 71 pitches. Ciaccio was named MVP of the event.

He outdueled Carteret ace Michael App, who allowed five runs (four earned) over five innings. App fanned six and walked two while yielding eight hits. Michael Gurzynski went 2-for-3 with a double for the Ramblers (4-7).

The Chargers, who App defeated each of the last two seasons, got to him early. In the second inning, Guardiola belted a one-out double and scored on Mohr's single.

Spotswood opened the fourth inning with consecutive singles from Ryan Szatkowski, Guardiola and Mohr for a 2-0 lead with Szatkowski scoring on Mohr's hit. A walk to Mike Izzo again loaded the bases and Guardiola scored on Sal Mistretta's fielder's choice groundout. Nick Vincelli closed the scoring with a two-out line drive off App's glove, which he beat out to first scoring Mohr. Izzo provided the final margin with an RBI single in the fifth, plating Szatkowski.

The Chargers also posted a 17-1 victory over Academy of Urban Leadership. In that game, Derek Buhl went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Guardiola also plated three runs.

Spotswood 17, Academy of Urban Leadership 1: Matthew Amador notched his first career varsity win on the mound in his first start with four-hit ball over four innings. Dylan Seel worked a one-two-three fifth to end the game. Amador had three strikeouts versus one base on balls and one earned run.

Every Charger in the lineup scored at least one time. Nick Vincelli and Derek Buhl scored three times each. Nick Mohr, Mike Izzo, Chris Auciello, and Sal Mistretta scored two runs apiece.

The Spotswood offense socked eight extra-base hits, including a school-record four triples. JT Vento, Ryan Szatkowski and  Mohr each had one three-bagger, and leadoff hitter Vincelli had two. Each triple sailed into the deep right-centerfield gap.

The Chargers look to extend their nine-game win streak tomorrow versus Mercer County rival Robbinsville in the Autism Awareness Challenge hosted at North Brunswick Community Park.

Verona 3, South River 0: Collin Kiernan pitched a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts and two walks as the Rams (5-7) had a three-game winning streak snapped and were blanked for the third time this season.

RJ Fischer was the hard-luck loser allowing six hits, two walks and no earned runs over seven innings. He struck out three.

Brandon Szerszen and Billy Marlow had South River's hits.

Seton Hall Prep 1, Old Bridge 0: The Knights (4-6) were shutout for the second consecutive game and saw their string of scoreless innings extend to 15 as Old Bridge has dropped four of its last five while facing some outstanding arms.

Mike Russo registered Old Bridge's only base hit, a single. He was the Knights' lone base runner as winning pitcher Jack Mahala did not walk a batter and the Pirates did not commit an error.

Joe Papeo was the hard-luck losing pitcher. He yielded six hits, fanned six, walked one and surrendered one earned run over seven innings.

Papeo threw 102 pitches.

Perth Amboy 13, Marist 1: After opening the season with an eight-game losing streak including four defeats by a total of just five runs, the Panthers recorded their second consecutive victory.

Perth Amboy has totaled 27 runs in its last two outings, one more than it scored in all of its eight losses. The Panthers have registered a total of 55 hits in their last five games as the offense has really come to life.

Manuel Pozo went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored for Perth Amboy (2-8), while teammate Bryan Marte doubled twice, plated four runs and scored. Darius Diaz went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and three runs scored.

Winning pitcher Devin Rodriguez helped his cause with two singles and three runs scored. He allowed two hits, three walks and one run over two and a third innings for the victory.

Rodriguez also struck out four batters.

Middlesex 9, South Hunterdon 4: The heavy-hitting Blue Jays (11-1) exceeded eight runs against an opponent for the eighth-time this season.

Quincy West and Michael Schweyer each went 2-for-4 to pace a balanced offense that featured eight Middlesex players recording at least one hit apiece. Nick DiMaggio and West, who homered, each plated two runs. Teammates Mike Salerno, Matt Carovillano and Jared Zimbardo had one RBI apiece.

Zimbardo earned the win, fanning seven, scattering five hits, walking four and allowing four runs (two earned) over five and a third innings. He threw 92 pitches before Jack Hnylycia entered in relief, closing the game with one and two thirds scoreless innings.

Middlesex scored four runs in the top of the sixth to build a 9-1 lead. The Eagles (1-7) were outhit 9-7 and committed four errors that led to five unearned runs.

South Brunswick 11, Ewing 1: A day after getting one-hit by Oklahoma State commit Jordan Winston of Allentown, South Brunswick's bats returned to life as the Vikings outhit Ewing 12-2 on the way to their  third mercy-rule victory of the season.

Nine Vikings recorded at least one hit apiece. Chris James (3-for-3 with two RBI and a run) led the way. Ryan Moran plated three runs. Will Beck and Alex Pollock has one RBI apiece. Jordan Trimpert scored twice. Kevin Reyes' double was the game's only extra-base hit.

Winning pitcher Josh Liao struck out three, walked three, allowed two hits and one earned run over four and two thirds innings. Reliever Sean Jun recorded the final out.

South Brunswick (9-3) scored five times in the home fifth to invoke the mercy rule.

Ewing fell to 1-9.

Hudson Catholic 5, Sayreville 4: The Bombers, who entered the home third trailing 5-0, chipped away at the deficit with home runs from Jayson DeMild and Bryan Fernandez, but wound up dropping their second one-run game in the past four days.

Fernandez (2-for-3 with two runs scored) was the lone Sayreville player with a multiple-hit game. Drew Zimmerman doubled and scored a run, while Sayreville teammates Brian Cuadra and Kyle Richards each singled.

Cuadra hurled five innings of scoreless relief, giving the Bombers (4-5) a chance to come back. He fanned six, walked two and allowed two hits.

Hudson Catholic improved to 8-3 with its third win over a GMC White Division opponent. The school defeated North Brunswick and Colonia and now has as many wins against division foes as five schools that actually compete in the division.

Middlesex 8, New Brunswick 1: Matt Carovillano homered for the second consecutive day, while Jack Hnylycia went 2-for-3 to pace the Blue Jays. Mike Salerno, Nick DiMaggio and Carovillano each scored twice.

Winning pitcher Quincy West fanned nine, walked six and allowed three hits over six innings.