Falcons earn a chance to defend their title
Will face second-seeded East Brunswick in June 1 final
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer

METUCHEN — The St. Joseph High School baseball team will look to win its second straight Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament when it squares off against GMC Red Division rival East Brunswick in the June 1 title game.

It is a just match-up for the title as the two teams, seeded No. 1 and No. 2 in the tournament, played to a share of the Red Division title during the regular season.

The top-seeded Falcons reached the finals behind the arm of ace Chris Parenti. Parenti upped his record to 9-0 on the season when his Falcons defeated Edison 7-4 in the semifinals this weekend at East Brunswick Tech High School.

Parenti went the distance, scattering seven hits over seven innings of work. Parenti will duel East Brunswick’s ace, Nick Meyers, for the championship.

“He’s been our go-to guy all year,” St. Joseph head coach Lou Urbano said. “He performed very well against a good-hitting Edison team. He had some rough spots, but he hung in there and was mentally tough, and that’s what we needed from him.”

The Eagles were far from intimidated to be facing the unbeaten Parenti. Edison climbed back after an early three-run deficit, thanks to Mike Shymanski’s solo shot over the right field fence in the fourth. The Eagles evened the score in the fifth, but the Falcons rallied for four in the bottom of the inning and the four-run lead was enough for Parenti.

“Edison got their share of hits,” Urbano said. “When Parenti needed to bear down, he did, and we were able to get the win.”

Falcon center fielder Alex Vitale had a big day at the plate. He belted a triple and his two-run blast led to a four-run fifth.

“Alex had a big day for us,” Urbano said. “Harry Douglas was another guy that was effective for us at the plate.”

Douglas finished with a double and scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first.

The Falcons journey to the finals started with a 6-3 win over No. 16 Bishop Ahr. A 9-7 win over No. 9 Carteret in the quarterfinals propelled them into the semifinals with Edison.

Prior to the June 1 meeting with East Brunswick, St. Joe’s will travel to Monmouth County to meet Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) in the first round of the Parochial A South state tournament.

The Falcons enter the state tournament the No. 6 seed with 23 wins and five losses. CBA is the No. 3 seed with a record of 22-1.

“That gives you an idea of the quality in Parochial A South,” Urbano said. “They have great pitching and they are a great high school team. The crowd down there is rough, and it makes it a tough place to win, but we’ll give it a shot.”

The Falcons will rest up until the May 31 meeting with CBA as a result of playing 25 regularly scheduled games, the maximum allowed by state officials. Urbano has decided to go with Parenti in the GMC Tournament finals and pitch Matt Owens (6-2) against CBA.

“We got a chance to win one title, so we’re going to go with our ace in the finals,” Urbano said. “Matty Owens is having a solid year and he’ll be up for the challenge.”

Parenti pitched a 1-0 gem earlier in the season to beat Meyers and East Brunswick before Meyers blanked the Falcons 5-0 in the second meeting.

“I just hope we can get more than three hits in this one,” Urbano said. “That’s what we managed in both games against them earlier this season. We will obviously have to hit better in order to beat them. They have some great hitters, so we can’t rely on blanking them.”