Baseball: The GMC Top 10, games to watch and storylines from Week 3

The pennant races for the five Greater Middlesex Conference divisions are starting to heat up, and there was some movement in our Top 10. Here’s a recap of last week's action with a look ahead.

More: Baseball April roundup: Results, analysis, links for GMC, Skyland and area Union County

Storylines from last week

Highland Park on rise: 4.3 wins. That’s what Highland Park averaged over the past three springs. Now, the Owls are 5-3 and in good position to get at least a share of the Silver Division title with Dunellen (both are 5-1 in division). Highland Park lost to Dunellen for a series split but bounced back to sweep Piscataway Magnet (3-2). Connor Roth-Zappo drove in his brother Owen for a 7-6 walk-off win, and Oscar Caraballo-Duran had four hits and three RBIs in a 10-7 win.

Underdogs. What underdogs?: The White Division is too tough for a team just to run away with it. Evidence A of anything can happen: Middlesex (2-5 in division) beat Woodbridge (7-1) behind Dominic Long’s complete game. Also, Perth Amboy (2-5) beat Edison (7-2), led by John Almonte’s three RBIs.

Coaching milestones: Spotswood’s Glenn Fredericks earned his 300th-career coaching victory, and South River’s Mike Lepore Jr. got his 292nd win to surpass his father, Mike Lepore Sr.’s, wins at South River, Cedar Ridge and Madison Central. It was nice to see the mutual respect between the two skippers as Fredericks congratulated Lepore on social media, and Lepore was sure to send a text to make sure that Fredericks’ milestone was written about.

Games to Watch

Dunellen/Piscataway Magnet series – Wednesday at Piscataway Magnet, 4 p.m., Thursday at Dunellen, 4 p.m.: Last season, they split games and shared the Silver Division title. Now, they’re again in the mix, and this series holds great importance. Dunellen (5-1 in division) split with Highland Park (5-1), which swept Piscataway Magnet (3-2).

Edison/Woodbridge series – Thursday at Edison, 4 p.m., Saturday at Woodbridge, 11 a.m.: The White Division pennant may be closer to a home come Saturday afternoon. Woodbridge (7-1 in the division) and Edison (7-2) are one-two in the standings.

Old Bridge/South Plainfield series – Thursday at Old Bridge, 4 p.m., Friday at South Plainfield, 4 p.m.: Down the stretch they come, and the Red Division has three teams pulling away: Old Bridge (6-1 in division), South Plainfield (5-2) and Monroe (6-2). First, they have key games Tuesday – Old Bridge hosts South Brunswick (3-4) and South Plainfield goes to Monroe.

This week’s GMC Top 10

(Records through Sun., April 21)

1. Old Bridge (8-2) – last week No. 1: When it comes to the Old Bridge pitchers, it’s almost like it’s, "Anything you can throw, I can twirl better." The Knights beat East Brunswick, 4-0, as Frank Papeo threw a two-hitter over 6 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. Two days later, JT Meyer tossed six shutout innings (3 hits, 7 Ks) as Old Bridge topped South Brunswick, 8-2. Who’s got next start?

2. Monroe (6-2) – last week No. 2: The Falcons gave their fans plenty of thrills – and knuckle-biting – with a walk-off win over South Plainfield and a win over Shore Conference power Jackson Memorial, fueled by Harrison Lollin’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh. Monroe also went 1-1 against South Brunswick.

3. Woodbridge (9-1) – last week No. 4: Hey, losses are going to happen in the White Division. The Barrons fell to Middlesex, 4-3, to split their series. Woodbridge bounced back quite nicely to get a pair of wins over Red Division teams in North Brunswick and East Brunswick.

4. South Plainfield (6-3) – last week No. 5: Well, the Tigers had your typical action-packed week that included a quite amazing 27-6 win over North Brunswick and a 3-2 walk-off loss against No. 2 Monroe. In all, they went 3-2 against quality teams.

5. Edison (7-2) – last week No. 7: Not getting hits sure makes it hard for teams to win. In Edison’s case, that’s a plus. The Eagles allowed two hits in three victories last week. Dom Innocenti had a five-inning no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 13-0 win over J.P. Stevens and Robert Roma allowed a single with 10 strikeouts in an 11-0 triumph over J.P. In a 4-0 win over Middlesex, Jaxon Appelman gave up a hit with 17 K’s. Edison ended the week with a 7-6 loss to Perth Amboy.

6. Spotswood (9-0-1) – last week No. 8: Keeping that 0 in their record wasn’t easy for the Chargers, but Spotswood kept winning – except for getting stopped by the sun. Spotswood’s lone blemish was an 8-8 tie against Marlboro that was called for darkness. Spotswood also prevailed over Somerville, Plainsboro and South Brunswick.

7. North Brunswick (3-7) – last week No. 3: This is where the records start to look not-so-great. The Raiders had a 1-5 week with losses against teams with winning records. North Brunswick does have splits with No. 1 Old Bridge, No. 2 Monroe and No. 8 St. Joseph.

8. St. Joseph (2-8) – last week No. 6: Yeah, the two wins don’t look so great, but they’re all against teams with non-losing records save for the split with North Brunswick. The Falcons beat East Brunswick, 5-2, last week.

9. Colonia (4-4) – last week No. 9: After opening with two losses against Woodbridge, the Patriots have White Division splits with Edison and Perth Amboy, as well as a 1-0 win last week over Sayreville.

10. South Brunswick (4-7) – last week No. 10: The Vikings had a 1-4 week, but it included a split with No. 2 Monroe. The Vikings lost to No. 2 Old Bridge, No. 6 Spotswood and West Windsor-Plainsboro South.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: GMC Top 10, games to watch and Week 3's storylines