The South Brunswick High School baseball team is busily preparing for its showdown with next-door neighbor North Brunswick in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) championship game on Saturday.
Coach Tim Sweeney’s Vikings are 14-9 and have had a solid run thus far, downing Woodbridge, Edison and Bishop Ahr to reach the GMC final.
The GMC final will be played at the Middlesex County Co-Tech School in East Brunswick, starting at 1 p.m.
South Brunswick is coming off a tough 5-4 loss to Monroe High School in the second round of the NJSIAA Central Group IV tourney. The Vikings downed East Brunswick, 5-3, in the opening round.
“It was a tough loss, but our guys will put it behind them,” said Sweeney, now in his second season at the South Brunswick helm. “They’re looking forward to the championship game, and playing North Brunswick will make it a little more intense.”
The Vikings will face the Raiders’ ace Alex Taylor, who is 3-0 in the tourney, having bested Perth Amboy, St. Joseph of Metuchen and Carteret. Taylor, 6-2 on the year, tossed a one-hit shutout against St. Joseph.
South Brunswick, which brings a .359 team batting average into the game, will likely counter with Ryan Phillips, who is 5- 1 with a 3.29 earned run average.
“The biggest thing is pitching and not making errors to prolong innings,” Sweeney said. “We have a deep staff, and our defense has done the job all year long for us.”
Following the loss to Monroe, the coach was looking for his team to pick up where it left off in the GMC semifinal in the 6-4 win against Bishop Ahr. The Vikings built up a 6-1 lead by the fifth inning thanks to sophomore catcher Nick Muha’s three-run homer and two RBI singles by Juan Perdomo, the shortstop. Jeff Dunleavy drove home the other South Brunswick run.
Bishop Ahr refused to quit and continually had the Vikes on the ropes, cutting the lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning. Phillips, who started the contest, was relieved by third baseman Chris Palumbo, with Matt Amato entering the game at the hot corner. Amato’s diving grab of a hard one-hopper off the bat of Dom Mangarella followed by a strong throw across the diamond snuffed out the rally. Bishop Ahr ended up leaving 10 runners on base in the game.
Previously, South Brunswick had bested Edison, 13-3, as Michael Heyer pounded out two hits and scored three times, Perdomo singled in a pair of runs, and Jon Yurecko and Craig Cleffi homered. That followed a 3-2 opening-round success against Woodbridge thanks to an RBI single by Perdomo in the bottom of the seventh. Palumbo picked up the win on the mound.
Eight of Sweeney’s players are batting over .300, topped by first baseman Mike Muha at .429 to go with three round-trippers and 20 RBIs. Cleffi, who patrols center field, is not far behind with a .414 mark and 10 stolen bases. Heyer, the second baseman, is at .397 with 26 runs and 11 stolen bases, leading the team in the latter two categories. Nick Muha is batting .386 with four home runs and 20 RBIs.
The list goes on: Zach Gildenberg is hitting .375 with four homers and a team-leading 21 RBIs to go with a 3-2 record on the mound, Perdomo is at .359 with 17 RBIs, Dunleavy is at .345, and Yurecko, the right fielder, is hitting .340.
“If I had to pick an MVP, I couldn’t do it,” Sweeney said. “So many different guys have come through for us, and it’s been that way all season. That’s a big plus.”