To no one’s surprise Livingston is the No. 1 seed in the 91st Greater Newark Tournament assembled its field for the 2024 diamond event that culminates with the championship game at Verona on Saturday, May 18.
Seven of the top eight seeds are from the Super Essex Conference’s top division, the American.
The Lancers (7-2-1 overall, 6-0-1 in the SEC-American, are followed in the top eight seeds – all of whom receive a bye until the Round of 16 (first round) – by 2-Seton Hall Prep (10-2-1, 5-1-1), 3-Columbia (7-3-1, 3-3-1), 4-Montclair(7-5-1, 4-3-1), 5-Millburn (4-7, 2-6), 6-Caldwell (5-8, 3-5), 7-West Essex (10-2, 9-0 in SEC-Liberty) and 8-Nutley (1-8, 1-6).
According to GNT year-by-year records dating back to 1983 maintained by historian Jeff Goldberg Livingston had never before received the No. 1 seed in the tournament during that 40 year span.
There are 23 teams that entered the 2024 GNT which is one more than the last two years. There will be seven preliminary round games on Wednesday, May 1, which will be followed by the Round of 16 on Friday, May 3, and quarterfinals, Wednesday, May 6, all at the higher-seeded team’s home field.
The semifinals are 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday, May 11, at Seton Hall Prep’s Porcello Field and the final is Saturday afternoon, May 18, at Verona’s Doc Goeltz Field.
The preliminary round matchups on May 1st followed by the first round on May 3rd with the survivor of the prelim contest moving on will see: 17-Belleville at 16-Newark, winner at 1-Livingston; 21-Technology at 12-West Orange, winner at 5-Millburn; 20-Central at 13-Montclair Kimberley Academy, winner at 4-Montclair.
The other first round game in the upper bracket will see 9-Barringer at 8-Nutley.
In the bottom bracket, the prelim and first rounds will see: 18-St. Benedict’s at 15-Glen Ridge, winner at 2-SHP; 23-North Star Academy at 10-Cedar Grove, winner at 7-West Essex; 22-Orange at 11-Verona; winner at 3-Caldwell; and 19-East Side at 14-Bloomfield, winner at 3-Columbia.
The pitching-strong Lancers (7-2-1 overall, 6-0-1 in the Super Essex Conference-American Division) head a field of 22 teams which also includes No. 2 seeded Seton Hall Prep which dropped a 5-4 decision to the Lancers in a key conference clash.
Livingston, which last won the GNT in 2018, features depth on the mound and solid defense which has helped account for the fact that the Lancers have not allowed more than four runs in any one game so far this season.
“Our pitching coach Corey Feigenbaum has done a terrific job working with our young pitchers and we’re very comfortable with the five guys that we’ve been sending out to the mound,” said head coach Mickey Ennis, who looks to starters Julian Schultz, Max Peri and Adam Goldberg and relievers Robbie Lynn and Tyler Chen. “We’ll find out more about our depth as the season continues to progress and the games mount up on the schedule and we hope to find a couple of more guys to throw out there.
“But, so far we’ve done a good job of throwing strikes, playing solid defense and getting key hits.”
The Lancers certainly earned their top seed, but their veteran coach knows that there are never any guarantees in the pressure-packed, single-elimination tournament setting where a well-pitched game by an opponent can spell defeat for any higher seed.
“It’s an honor to be the No. 1 seed in the GNT, but we also know that anyone can beat you on a given day and we will certainly concentrate on being ready for our first opponent.”
Among the leading hitters for Livingston are junior led by right fielder E.J. Frayne (4 doubles, 12 RBI, .375 BA), shortstop Alex Yang (11 runs, .357) and third baseman Lynn (.375).
Schultz, who starts in center field when not on the mound, is hitting .292 with 6 RBI. As a pitcher he has a 2.06 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 17 innings.
Fellow junior Peri ( 2.21 ERA, 22 K’s in 25 1/3 IP) and sophomore Adam Goldberg (2.94 ERA, 21 K’s in 16 2/3 IP) have also been superb as starting pitchers.
Peri tossed 5 2/3 innings while scattering eight hits, walking two and striking out four and allowing two earned runs as Livingston nailed down the No. 1 seed with Sunday’s 4-2 win over Montclair at the Oval.
Lynn hurled 1 1/3 innings of 1 hit relief with two strikeouts to nail down the win vs. the Mounties.
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While changes in sites for the GNT Final 4 and championship game have occurred at different times in the last quarter century, the one constant in the past 15 years, or since the conference formed in the 2009-2010 school year, is that the SECs top division, the American, makes up the top tier seeds, which is once again be the case as the field was assembled for the 91st edition of the popular diamond event on Monday night.
The semifinals are returning to SHP’s Porcello Field on Saturday, May 11 marking the third time and second straight year at that venue after the GNT Final 4 was held there starting in 2021, while Verona’s historic Doc Goeltz Field, a traditional semifinal or finals site through the years, will be the venue for the 91th GNT championship game scheduled for a noon start on Saturday, May 18.
Athletic directors Dan Romano of Caldwell and Stephan Zichella of West Orange are GNT co-directors this season. Zichella, the former head baseball coach for the Mountaineers, replaces Frank Bifulco, who left Millburn last June to become the principal of the Grandview elementary school in North Caldwell.
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GREATER NEWARK TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES:
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
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