The South Brunswick Post 401 American Legion baseball team is heading to the state playoffs. The only thing left to be determined now is where and when the playoff games will be held.
The Middlesex League gets three spots in the state playoffs, with the top two finishers getting automatic bids. South Brunswick placed second behind Piscataway in the league. The third- and fourth-place teams will face each other to determine the final playoff participant.
"We'll probably open up the playoffs on Tuesday or Wednesday at Community Park in North Brunswick," South Brunswick Manager Tony Cosumano said. "We still also have the option of going to Toms River, but we're probably not going that route."
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The way the state playoffs are setup, the Middlesex League will put two playoff teams into North Brunswick and another at Toms River. The teams that place higher in the standing have first choice. With two openings in North Brunswick, however, South Brunswick is guaranteed to stay closer to home if it wants.
South Brunswick finished league action this week by winning three of the four games it played. It finished with a record of 12-4-2 in the league (14-6-2 overall) Three of the losses were to Piscataway by a combined score of 5-0.
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The third loss to Piscataway was on July 9 by a score of 2-0.
"We haven't scored in 23 innings against them," Cosumano said. "I don't know if it's a mental block or what. It's a shame because if we had won one of those games, we probably would have won the league."
Theodore Moke pitched for South Brunswick and allowed just two runs in nine inning of work. He allowed only three hits.
In its other game on Saturday, South Brunswick defeated North Brunswick, 6-3, as Jimmy Nemeth worked five innings and allowed just one run.
Ray Lang had two hits, a run scored and three RBI in the win. Harris Fliegelman scored two runs. Chris Winkleman had two hits, two runs scored and two RBI.
On July 11, South Brunswick defeated Monroe, 6-3.
Ryan Phillips worked all seven innings and allowed just two earned runs.
Robbie Fliegelman had two hits, a run scored and RBI. Ariel Torres had two hits and a run scored. Ernie Forcella had a hit and two RBI.
"Ryan pitched a good game and we also played pretty solid defense," Cosumano said. "The hitting also came around a bit."
The hitting never stopped on July 12 as South Brunswick pounded out a 16-1 win over South Amboy.
"It was a great way to finish the regular season," Cosumano said. "We scored ten runs in the first and five in the second. The game was basically over after that. They didn't want to play anymore."
Robbie Fliegelman worked all five innings in the win, stopped by the blowout rule. He allowed just one hit. Fliegelman also added two hits, a run scored and three RBI on offense.
This was a game in which South Brunswick had a lot of offensive standouts. Chris Winkleman had four hits, three runs scored and three RBI. Ariel Torres had two hits and three runs scored. Kevin Mayce had two hits, a run scored and four RBI. Michael Huber had two hits, two runs scored and a RBI. Harris Fliegelman added two hits, two runs scored and three RBI.
South Brunswick now has a week off before it sees what it can do in the state tournament, which will be a double-elimination event.
While none of the spots have been locked in yet, South Brunswick was hoping to join Piscawatay at North Brunswick.
"My guys would like another crack at Piscataway," Cosumano said.
