The South Brunswick High School baseball team had one win against Monroe this season. Unfortunately, it didn't happen this past week.
Monroe defeated South Brunswick in the opening round of the Greater Middlesex Conference and the Central Jersey Group IV tournaments. The two losses end South Brunswick's season at 15-8.
"During the course of the season, players will get hot and cold," South Brunswick Manager Tim Sweeney said. "The guys on our team just all seemed to be hot or cold at the same time."
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South Brunswick started the season 0-3. It lost its last two games. In between, South Brunswick won 15 of 18 games.
"After that 0-3 start, we had a really good regular season," Sweeney said. "We were playing our best baseball of the season going into the tournaments. It was a little disappointing how we finished."
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On May 17, South Brunswick was defeated by Monroe, 11-8, in the opening game of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.
South Brunswick was held to only four hits. Even so, aided by walks, it was able to score seven runs in the bottom of the first. Unfortunately, Monroe countered with a very steady attack. Monroe scored three in the first, two in the second, two in the third, two in the fifth and two in the seventh.
Nick Muha had a double and RBI. TJ Perkowski had a hit, run scored and two RBI. Alex Beglia had a hit, RBI and two runs scored.
South Brunswick was scheduled to open play in the Central Jersey Group IV Tournament on May 21. After the game was pished back two days by rain, Monroe won, 10-4.
"I don't know that Monroe is a better team than us," Sweeney said. "We beat them earlier in the year. Yesterday, (May 23), Monroe just played better in every phase of the game than us. Obviously, in the last two games they outplayed us and deserved to win the games."
Nick Muha provided the highlights in the state contest for South Brunswick, connecting for two hits (including a home run).
"Nick had a great year for us," Sweeney noted. "He was a First-Team outfielder and First-Team All-Conference."
It was a great comeback story for Muha, who missed all of last season with a back injury. Muha, now a senior, started as a catcher in his sophomore season.
Muha finished with a .526 batting average. He had 36 RBI in just 23 games. Muha had five homers.
Sean Keenan was picked First-Team for the Red Division and the GMC as an infielder. TJ Perkowski was First-Team for the division as an outfielder. Luke Rimmer also earned an At Large spot on the division squad.
"It was a good year," Sweeney said. "We had a really good regular season. I think we all wished we could have done better in the post-season. That's just the way it goes sometimes. That's just baseball."
