One certainty about the high school spring sports season is that it moves very briskly along - more so than the preceding winter and fall campaigns - and with the seeding meeting for the 93nd Greater Newark Tournament set for this Monday night (April 27) at James Caldwell High School, it’s once again very likely to come down to who has the pitching depth to traverse the quick turnover from the Wednesday, May 6, quarterfinals to the Saturday, May 9 semifinals.
There are definitely mound aces out there around the Super Essex Conference in addition to upper echelon hurlers such as Seton Hall Prep’s Boston College-bound senior JJ Drennan, but as many teams have learned in past county and state tournaments, having enough pitching to keep advancing past the quarters can be a challenge and a bit of Russian Roulette being played by coaches deciding when to pull the trigger on a certain pitcher in a certain spot.
How the field of teams is assembled by the seeding committee of SEC coaches representing the different divisions will be interesting to learn about.
This year's 8-member GNT seeding committee which will work along with tourney co-directors and school athletic directors Dan Romano of Caldwell and Stephan Zichella of West Orange includes Mike Policastro of Bloomfield (Colonial Division), Ryan Smith of Caldwell (Liberty), Ryan Muirhead of Columbia (American), Ron Gavazzi of Montclair (American), Vin Cordasco of Cedar Grove (Colonial), Tim Blumkin of West Orange (Liberty), Jorge Ruiz of Payne Tech (Independence) and Darius Kopec of Weequahic (Freedom).
Preliminary round games are scheduled to be played Wednesday, April 29, with the Round of 16 first round slated for Friday, May 1.
All rounds through the May 6 quarterfinals are at the higher-seeded team’s home diamond.
The semis will continue to be played at SHP’s Porcello Field, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday, May 9.
The GNT championship game will return to Verona’s Doc Goeltz Field on Saturday, May 16, with a yet-to-be-announced time for first pitch.
It’s been a tough start to the season for some former standard bearers in terms of being annual GNT Final 4 contenders - including Millburn (3-9, 1-7) and Montclair (2-9, 1-7) - and figuring how the seeding will go could be tricky once the committee moves past the first four or five teams.
Two-time defending champion SHP (11-3, 7-1)) will be the top seed once again and American Division rival West Essex (8-5, 5-2), which has split its two recent regular season meetings with the Pirates, might be a prime candidate for the No. 2 seed although Caldwell (11-1, 7-1 in the SEC-Liberty Division) will receive much attention as well for a high seed.
Columbia (6-5, 4-3 in the SEC-American) and Verona (9-4, 4-4 in the SEC-Liberty) are among the other teams that will vie for a top 5 seed.
Among the pitchers to watch are SHP’s Drennan (2-1, 1.43 ERA, 3 BB, 31 K’s in 14 2/3 IP) along with fellow seniors Joseph Pontoriero (3-0, 0.52) and Angel Salcedo (1-1, 1.53).
West Essex is spearheaded by ace Jackson Lodgek (3-0, 2.51 ERA, 29 K’s in 22 1/3 IP). Caldwell looks to both junior Dan Vybihal (3-0, 1.52, 30 K’s in 23 IP, and with a no-hitter at Verona) and sophomore Isaac Stein (4-1, 1.56).
Columbia has pitching depth including seniors Will Iozzio (2-0, 0.64), Dax Ellis (2-0, 1.75) and Adam Carlucci (1-0, 5.82, 21 K’s in 13 1/3 IP).
Verona’s mound staff is led by senior Connor Zimany (4-0, 0.94) and junior Dom Kennedy (2-0, 1.91).
Among the other talented pitchers around the county to keep an eye on are Livingston’s George Mason University senior commit Adam Goldberg (1-2, 4.38) and Cedar Grove senior Xavier Andujar (2-1, 4.90).
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GREATER NEWARK TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES:
2025: Seton Hall Prep 6 Livingston 0
2024: Seton Hall Prep 6 Livingston 0
2023: Millburn 3 Seton Hall Prep 0
2022: Seton Hall Prep 15 Bloomfield 0 (in 5 inn.)
2021: Millburn 6 Seton Hall Prep 5 (in 11 inn.)
2020: No tournament due to covid-19
2019: Montclair 10 Seton Hall Prep 0
2018: Livingston 8 Nutley 3
2017: Seton Hall Prep 4 Millburn 2
2016: Seton Hall Prep 11, Nutley 1
2015: Seton Hall Prep 12, Millburn 6
2014: Seton Hall Prep 7, Cedar Grove 6
2013: Seton Hall Prep 4, Montclair 2
2012: Montclair 2, Nutley 1
2011: Seton Hall Prep 8, Millburn 2
2010: West Essex 5, Columbia 4
2009: Livingston 5, Nutley 4
2008: Seton Hall Prep 8, Millburn 7 (8 inn.)
2007: Seton Hall Prep 5, Newark East Side 1
2006: West Essex 5, Seton Hall Prep 2
2005: Seton Hall Prep 11, Nutley 0
2004: Nutley 3, Seton Hall Prep 2
2003: Seton Hall Prep 3, Nutley 0
2002: Nutley 6, Seton Hall Prep 2
2001: Nutley 5, Seton Hall Prep 3
2000: Seton Hall Prep 3, Livingston 1
1999: Seton Hall Prep 4, Columbia 3
1998: Seton Hall Prep 6, Essex Catholic 4
1997: Seton Hall Prep 5, Bloomfield 2
1996: Bloomfield 3, Livingston 0
1995: Columbia 1, Belleville 0
1994: East Side 4, Glen Ridge 3
1993: Nutley 10, West Essex 3
1992: East Side 5, Seton Hall Prep 2
1991: Livingston 7, Cedar Grove 6
1990: Seton Hall Prep 13, Columbia 0
1989: Glen Ridge 7, Livingston 0
1988: Cedar Grove 5, Livingston 3
1987: Glen Ridge 3, Irvington 0
1986: Columbia 9, Belleville 8 (8 inn.)
1985: Cedar Grove 2, Caldwell 1 (8 inn.)
1984: Millburn 4, Nutley 3
1983: Seton Hall Prep 3, Glen Ridge 1
1982: Caldwell 4, Glen Ridge 1
1981: Belleville 10, Glen Ridge 4
1980: Livingston 8, Belleville 6
1979: Columbia 5, Livingston 4
1978: Columbia 3, Our Lady of the Valley 2
1977: Livingston 9, Seton Hall Prep 1
1976: Livingston 6, Essex Catholic 4
1975: Essex Catholic 5, Irvington 1
1974: Livingston 5, Verona 1
1973: Our Lady of the Valley 3, Bloomfield 1
GNT has been Essex County teams only since 1973.
GNT also included teams from outside Essex County from 1933-1972.
1972: Ewing 7, Bloomfield 3
1971: Seton Hall Prep 7, Haddonfield 2
1970: Union 5, Ewing 1
1969: Morristown 12, Montclair 3
1968: Morristown 2, Piscataway 1
1967: Morristown 5, Roselle Catholic 4
1966: Union 2, Parsippany 1
1965: Parsippany 5, Westfield 3
1964: St. Benedict’s Prep 6, Montclair 5
1963: Montclair 6, St. Benedict’s 3
1962: Garfield 6, Nutley 0
1961: South River 5, Linden 3
1960: New Brinswick 3, East Side 0
1959: Bayonne 14, Verona 8
1958: St. Peter’s Prep 3, Hanover Park 1
1957: Rahway 3, Irvington 2
1956: New Brunswick 11, Barringer 0
1955: Jefferson 7, Montclair 6
1954: Montclair 8, Englewood 0
1953: Englewood 9, Irvington 4
1952: Bloomfield 3, Nutley 0
1951: Linden 8, Jefferson 3
1950: Rahway 9, East Side 7
1949: Bayonne 3, Montclair 2
1948: Montclair 1, Irvington 0
1947: Irvington 6, Columbia 0
1946: East Side 4, Roselle Park 2
1945: Bloomfield 5, Columbia 0
1944: Caldwell 9, Bloomfield 0
1943: Kearny 6, Hillside 3
1942: Montclair 3, Irvington 2
1941: Hillside 9, Kearny 5
1940: Irvington 2, Trenton 0
1939: Irvington 4, Woodbridge 3
1938: Irvington 6, South River 1
1937: Hillside 8, Bloomfield 4
1936: Hillside 11, Nutley 2
1935: Bloomfield 4, Hillside 3
1934: Hillside 5, Barringer 1
1933: Irvington 1, Kearny 0
*GNT historical information from Jeff Goldberg
