2026 Baseball NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 1

Even with the emergence of Point Pleasant Beach as perennial challenger to Middlesex in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I Playoffs, the road to a sectional title for a top team in the section has typically required just one tough game, with a few exceptions. Two years ago, Point Beach had to win at Middlesex and at home vs. Shore in back-to-back rounds to win the title, but that kind of challenge in consecutive rounds has been the exception rather than the rule for the two dominant teams in the section.

This year is another exception. Four teams in Central Jersey enter the first round with the pieces to make a title run and there is another Division I pitcher elsewhere in the bracket, which is likely to make for a highly competitive Central Group I Tournament. There is just one catch: three of those four contenders and the down-bracket ace are all on the same side of the bracket, while one of the contenders has one side all to itself. With that configuration, the Central Jersey Group I bracket will test whether iron will sharpen iron on the loaded side or whether a chance to manage pitching on the weaker side of the bracket will prove beneficial.

 

Central Jersey Group I

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 3 Point Pleasant Beach, No. 5 Shore, No. 7 Keyport, No. 9 New Egypt, No. 15 Henry Hudson
Top Seed: Middlesex
Defending Champion: Middlesex

The Favorite: Middlesex. The balance of power resided with Middlesex for a long time in Central Jersey Group I before Point Beach wrested it away from the Blue Jays for three straight years from 2022 to 2024. Last year, Middlesex won it back by beating Point Beach and now goes into the NJSIAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed, which rightfully makes the Blue Jays the unofficial team to beat. Chris Kozak and Dominic Long have been a stellar duo at the top of the rotation for Middlesex, so even though one of them will likely pitch to the point of ineligibility for a potential championship game against Point Beach, as long as one is available, the Blue Jays will have a great chance to beat any opponent.

If there is a team with a right to object, it is Point Beach, which has played the most loaded schedule it has ever played and now faces a very friendly road to the championship game. If the tournament plays out according to seeding, Point Beach will play three teams from small-school divisions of their respective conferences: No. 14 South Amboy, No. 6 Dunellen and No. 2 Piscataway Magnet. If any of those teams go down, Point Beach will face either Class D North champion Keyport or a team with a double-digit seed. The road ahead should not only allow Point Beach to reach the final but do so while lining up its pitching for the championship game however the Garnet Gulls see fit.

The Dark Horse: New Egypt. If New Egypt was seeded one spot lower at No. 10, the Warriors would be a likely semifinalist and a legitimate threat to reach the final. As it is, they still have a chance to shake up the bracket if they play their cards right. It is rare for a coach to withhold his best pitcher during the first round, but it might behoove New Egypt coach Mike Kibildis to prioritize keeping Iona commit Nolan Arnold eligible for a potential quarterfinal game at Middlesex, where Arnold on his game could give his team a real shot to dethrone the Blue Jays. Arnold and teammates Dylan Harper and Paul Kennedy already led an improbable state tournament run this past winter, when New Egypt’s basketball team won its first ever NJSIAA sectional title as a No. 14 seed, so there could be more magic in store if New Egypt is able to line up its pitching to challenge Middlesex.

While the Warriors are the best team on the road in the first round, No. 10 Delaware Valley is the double-digit seed with the best draw. The Terriers played a tough enough schedule that a first-round game at Keyport should be winnable, as would a second-round game at Piscataway Magnet, which feasted on the weakest division in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

Henry Hudson lost to Piscataway Magnet, 9-1, during the regular season, but should have a better chance to knock off the No. 2 seed this time around simply because the Admirals can roll out their pitching any way they would like. With an experienced team, Henry Hudson fell short of winning a Class D North division but can make it a memorable season by pulling off a state-tournament upset.

Bracket Breakdown: Point Beach and Middlesex have been the dominant programs in the Central Group I section, but the teams to watch throughout the next two weeks are Shore and No. 4 Metuchen. The road to a state championship in Group typically starts with at least two relatively easy games, but Shore and Metuchen – two teams with real Group I championship aspirations – will have to win five very tough games in a row to capture the overall Group I championship. Both teams should roll in the first round, then face off vs. one another in the sectional quarterfinals, with the winner likely heading to Middlesex, where a date with Point Beach in the sectional final will likely be on the line.

Both teams have an ace to give the ball to in a big game, with Shore hoping to get the ball to Ryan Barham and Metuchen to sophomore James Fenton. As outstanding as Barham has been for Shore, Fenton has been even better for the Bulldogs, going 7-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 45 innings, which includes wins over Spotswood (twice), Edison and Millburn. The only team to beat Fenton this year is Middlesex, which hung five runs on him.

Once the Shore-Metuchen quarterfinal is settled, the winner will have to decide how to attack its semifinal opponent on the mound knowing Point Beach is likely awaiting in the final with most of its pitching at the ready. Since there are four off days between the quarterfinal and semifinal, either team could double-up with its ace in back-to-back rounds – a strategy more likely to be deployed by Middlesex than Shore, which has more depth on the mound.

Earning a first-round home game was a worthwhile pursuit for Keyport, which won its first division championship in nearly 30 years during the regular season and would like to add its first state tournament win since 2017 to the list of accomplishments. The Red Raiders rolled through No. 16 Highland Park in the final game of the regular season to snap an eight-game losing streak and while those eight straight losses suggest Keyport is vulnerable, those games were also necessary to prepare for state-tournament competition after going 11-1 against Class D North. If Keyport gained some confidence vs. Highland Park to go with some tough lessons from the eight-game slide, the Red Raiders might be in the perfect frame of mind to take on Delaware Valley on Wednesday.

Prediction: Point Beach over Middlesex. In falling short of clinching a top two seed, Point Beach actually might have bolstered its chances of winning the section for the fourth time in five years. While Middlesex may have to deal with Nolan Arnold and New Egypt, followed by either Barham and Shore or Fenton and Metuchen, Point Beach will be facing a collection of teams that either put up a lofty record vs. soft season-long schedules or struggled against better schedules. The only downside to that is whichever team Point Beach plays in the final will have just gone through some intense games while the Garnet Gulls could very well need just 15 innings to make the final. Point Beach has done everything in its power to prepare itself for a run at its first ever Group I championship and the bracket appears to have enhanced that opportunity.

Round-by-Round Picks
First Round
(1) Middlesex over (16) Highland Park
(9) New Egypt over (8) South Hunterdon
(5) Shore over (12) Manville
(4) Metuchen over (13) Somerset Tech
(3) Point Beach over (14) South Amboy
(11) Florence over (6) Dunellen
(10) Delaware Valley over (7) Keyport
(2) Piscataway Magnet over (15) Henry Hudson

Quarterfinals
(1) Middlesex over (9) New Egypt
(5) Shore over (4) Metuchen
(3) Point Beach over (11) Florence
(10) Delaware Valley over (2) Piscataway Magnet

Semifinals
(1) Middlesex over (5) Shore
(3) Point Beach over (10) Delaware Valley

Championship
(3) Point Beach over (1) Middlesex