South Brunswick meets Old Bridge in first round of states
By: James McKeever
Since a surprising loss to Piscataway in the Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Tournament, South Brunswick has had to shift its focus to the state tournament.
The Vikings were knocked out of the GMCT quarterfinals with a 3-2 setback to Red Division rival Piscataway on May 17. Now they are concentrating on Old Bridge, their opponent in the Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals. Game time on Friday at South Brunswick is 4 p.m.
"Old Bridge knows us and will play us tough," said South Brunswick coach Leo Danik. "They are a good young team and they are going to be dangerous."
Old Bridge, seeded seventh in CJ Group IV, defeated 10th-seeded Lawrence, 6-1. Second-seeded South Brunswick (15-6) earned a first-round bye.
During the season Old Bridge and the Vikings split a pair of Red Division games. Old Bridge won 8-7 on April 12. South Brunswick took a 7-2 victory on May 3. Senior pitcher Kyle Breese defeated Old Bridge the last time the teams met, striking out 14.
On Friday Breese will get the start as the Vikings try to advance to next Tuesday’s semifinals.
Breese pitched the Vikings’ GMCT game against Piscataway and took the loss, but certainly pitched well enough to win. Breese (6-2, 1.40 ERA) threw a six-hitter, allowed three runs (one earned) with no walks and six strikeouts.
"Kyle pitched a good game," Danik said. "He had good command."
The Vikings were just one big hit away from giving Breese the victory. Trailing by a run in the final inning the Vikings loaded the bases with one out, but Piscataway reliever Ken Walker ended the threat with a pop-out and strikeout as the Vikings lost under the lights at Sondek Park.
"We left 11 men on base, it was a frustrating evening," said Danik. "We had the bases loaded three times but we just couldn’t get the clutch hit. But you have to give (Piscataway) credit. They made all the plays and everything hit to them they fielded."
Dan Gurney singled home a run in the Vikings’ seventh to make it a one-run game.
The day after the GMCT loss, South Brunswick played a regular season game against Hamilton West. Understandably they were flat and lost, 8-0. Elliott Burgos, who shut out the Vikings in that game, went on to blank Monroe in the first round of the Central Jersey Group III tournament.
"We just had no gas in the tank and Hamilton West is a good team," Danik said. "The Piscataway game was rough. It was a letdown. We were playing in front of a big home crowd and these kids are expected to win every game. They had big aspirations. They wanted to go to the final."
Getting the players focused on the next task at hand has been the top priority for Danik and his staff.
"We had practice last Friday, but then gave them off for Saturday and Sunday because of the prom," Danik said. "Then we came back with good practices Monday and Tuesday."
South Brunswick played Sayreville Wednesday and play at Monroe today (Thursday).

