Welcome to splitsville.
Just like last season, the first full week of Greater Middlesex Conference action featured evenly matched teams having a haul of two-game splits within the division. Woodbridge was the only ranked preseason team to jump out to an undefeated start.
Here are the rankings with notes on the bottom.
GMC Top 10
(Records through Saturday. Note: because of deadlines, Sunday’s games couldn’t be included)
1. Old Bridge (4-3) – preseason No. 1: With all the splits, consider this a push. Old Bridge remains at No. 1 after going 1-1 against No. 2 South Plainfield, No. 4 Edison and unranked East Brunswick. It’s not football – you really can’t ding a baseball team too much for losing one game against an always tough Red Division opponent like East Brunswick. The Knights have a quality win over No. 5 Spotswood. The emergence of senior pitchers Akhil Penkala and John Smith, who threw a combined seven innings last season, makes the Knights that more dangerous.
2. South Plainfield (4-2) – preseason No. 2: The Tigers dropped a 14-7 slugfest to St. Joseph, in which they trailed 13-1, but ultimately remains at No. 2. South Plainfield’s hitting, speed and pitching were on display with a sweep over No. 4 Edison and splits in a pair of one-run games against No. 1 Old Bridge. They also beat non-conference Millburn.
3. Colonia (4-1) – preseason No. 3: Welcome to the White Division tussles. The Patriots split with No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas with a 2-0 win Wednesday and a 7-6 loss Thursday. Yes, every pitch in these nail-bitters count, which makes things fun. Colonia is still well positioned to make a run for the division pennant with their pitching led by Cory Pascarella (12 IP, 25 Ks, 0.00 ERA) and Colin Kroner (12 1/3 IP, 20 Ks, 1.70 ERA).
4. Edison (2-4) – preseason No. 4: While that record isn’t pretty, there’s been plenty of fine moments on the field. First, veteran skipper Vinnie Abene won his 300th career game last week in 23 seasons at the helm. Then, the Eagles split with No. 1 Old Bridge and No. 7 Monroe, while losing twice to No. 2 South Plainfield. Despite that sweep, the quality wins keep them at No. 4. Daren Tirado is off to a nice start hitting .409 ...
