When the brackets for the state sectional tournaments come out this week, several local baseball and softball teams will learn where they will begin their quests for state championships.
With the cutoff for qualification passing on Saturday, local teams can now concentrate on the upcoming postseason, though a few teams are still locked in battles for division titles.
On the baseball diamond, the East Brunswick Bears entered the week with a lot to play for, starting with the Red Division title. The Bears entered the week trailing St. Joseph and Edison by a game in the division race, but had to put that race behind them in order to concentrate on their run at a GMC Tournament title.
On Monday, the Bears faced North Brunswick in the second round and came away with a 6-0 win behind a six-hit shutout from junior right-hander Matt Metsch. The Bears jumped on the Raiders early as Andy Anderson roped a two-run first-inning triple to stake them to a lead they would never relinquish.
East Brunswick advanced to play Spotswood yesterday in the quarterfinals after the Chargers, who are still battling with both Bishop Ahr and Metuchen for the White Division title, knocked off JFK, 4-1, in their second-round GMCT game. Eric Hines was the star of that game, tossing a three-hitter, while Spotswood took advantage of some spotty defensive play by the Mustangs to forge ahead.
Both Spotswood and East Brunswick will also be looking forward to their respective sectional tournaments, where the Bears can expect a high seed in the Central Jersey Group IV bracket, and the Chargers can hope for the same in the CJ Group II section.
The Bears and Chargers were the only local baseball teams to earn state tournament berths.
The same cannot be said for the local softball teams, where all but one local squad is postseason bound.
The South River Rams, who are engaged with Middlesex in a battle for the Blue Division title, will be among the top seeds in the CJ Group II bracket, which will also include Spotswood.
Meanwhile, both the Old Bridge Knights and East Brunswick Bears will look to emerge from a loaded CJ Group IV bracket, though the Bears still have hopes of catching J.P. Stevens in the Red Division-title race.
And don’t forget about Monroe, who earned their spot in the CJ Group II bracket by getting to 9-7 by Saturday’s cutoff, and should benefit from playing a very difficult GMC White Division schedule this season.
Local softball teams are also preparing for what is being called one of the most wide-open GMC Tournaments in recent memory. With upsets springing on a daily basis, seeds will have little bearing on the outcome this spring, with some of the smaller schools having a legitimate chance to challenge for what is usually an elusive conference title.
With so much on the line over the next few weeks, there is certainly no lack of drama within the local high school baseball and softball seasons.
— Doug McKenzie