Underdog Brick Memorial Hits the Road in Search of Elusive Baseball Sectional Title
NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Sectional Championship
Thursday, June 5, 2025
No. 2 Brick Memorial (22-6) at No. 1 Northern Burlington (25-2), 4 p.m.
Brick Memorial at a Glance
Head Coach: Evan Rizzitello
Last Sectional Title: None
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2013 (Central Group IV)
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 15 Freehold Boro, 10-0; No. 10 Steinert, 3-1; No. 6 Middletown South
Projected Lineup (with stats)
Tyler Garbooshian, Jr., SS (.367, 33 H, 10 2B, 2 HR, 33 R, 23 RBI, 18 SB)
Joe McGlynn, Jr., C (.506, 44 H, 7 2B, 1 HR, 10 R, 24 RBI, 3 SB)
Dan Golembiewski, Jr., 1B (.427, 35 H, 9 2B, 6 HR, 29 R, 31 RBI, 6 SB)
Brayden Nalducci, Sr., 3B (.413, 38 H, 6 2B, 1 HR, 32 R, 19 RBI, 15 SB)
Jimi Popp, Sr., CF (.393, 33 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 25 R, 19 RBI, 16 SB)
Brody Moore, Jr., LF (.333, 29 H, 4 2B, 15 R, 17 RBI, 3 SB)
Michael Figner, So., RF (.273, 15 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 R, 12 RBI, 1 SB)
Luke Douglas, Sr., DH (.295, 18 H, 2 2B, 13 R, 14 RBI, 10 SB)
Dan Popovitch, Sr., 2B (.264, 14 H, 4 2B, 11 R, 7 RBI, 1 SB)
Probable Starting Pitcher
Zach Pirnik, So., LHP (9-2, 1.49 ERA, 51.2 IP, 44 H, 15 BB, 48 SO) – 110 pitches available
Available Relievers
Brayden Nalducci, Sr., RHP (2-1, 4 saves, 2.92 ERA, 38.1 IP, 29 H, 28 BB, 57 SO) – 110 pitches available
James Martin, Jr., LHP (1-1, 1.75 ERA, 16 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 18 SO) – 110 pitches available
Will Montanye, So., RHP (2-0, 4.29 ERA, 14.2 IP, 22 H, 8 B, 14 SO) – 110 pitches available
Ineligible Pitchers
Brody Moore, Jr., LHP
Northing Burlington at a Glance
Head Coach: Gene Darling
Last Sectional Title: 2015
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2021
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 16 Red Bank, 5-3; No. 8 Brick, 9-8; No. 4 Lawrence, 8-3
Projected Lineup (with stats)
Nick Dromboski, Sr., CF (.522, 47 H, 12 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 42 R, 23 RBI, 12 SB)
Cole Marchetti, Jr., P (.494, 39 H, 13 2B, 4 HR, 28 R, 25 RBI, 6 SB)
Luca Mannino, Sr., 2B (.457, 37 H, 7 2B, 9 HR, 34 R, 33 RBI, 4 SB)
Liam Velit, Jr., C (.372, 32 H, 9 2B, 6 HR, 24 R, 27 RBI)
Jimmy Musser, Sr., 3B (.410, 32 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 13 R, 20 RBI)
Nick Filipponi, Sr., LF (.355, 27 H, 8 2B, 21 R, 10 RBI, 6 SB)
Logan Downey, So., 1B (.365, 23 H, 5 2B, 1 HR, 18 R, 14 RBI)
Brent Walulak, So., SS (.308, 20 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 16 R, 15 RBI, 7 SB)
Jaden Freeze, Fr., RF (.310, 18 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 14 R, 11 RBI, 7 SB)
Projected Starting Pitcher
Cole Marchetti, Sr., RHP (2-1, 1.46 ERA, 24 IP, 15 H, 7 BB, 48 SO) – 110 pitches available
Available Relievers
Logan Downey, So., RHP (5-1, 1 save, 0.70 ERA, 30 IP, 13 H, 14 BB, 46 SO) – 110 pitches available
Jimmy Musser, Sr., RHP (4-0, 2 saves, 1.66 ERA, 25.1 IP, 18 H, 11 BB, 35 SO) – 110 pitches available
Jordan Gilligo, Jr., RHP (4-0, 3.00 ERA, 23.1 IP, 15 H, 17 BB, 29 SO) – 110 pitches available
Jaden Freeze, Fr., RHP (1-0, 3.82 ERA, 11 IP, 7 H, 7 BB, 19 SO) – 110 pitches available
Ineligible Pitchers
Luca Mannino, Sr., RHP
Both tops seeds surge into the Central Jersey Group III final, but not without having to show their team-wide fortitude to go with the well-rounded rosters that will be clashing on Thursday in Burlington County. For Brick Memorial, its test came in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal vs. sixth-seeded Middletown South, which buried the Mustangs in their first four-run hole since April 5 – a deficit from which the 2025 version of Brick Memorial had not recovered in two tries prior to Tuesday.
This time, however, the Mustangs pieced together a rally over the course of the third and fourth innings, led by junior Brody Moore (3-for-3, three RBI) and senior centerfielder Jimi Popp (2-for-3, 3 RBI). With eight runs in the two innings, Brick Memorial pulled out an 8-6 win over Middletown South.
Popp has been one of Brick Memorial’s hottest hitters of late, with a .370 average since the start of the Shore Conference Tournament. He is also one of four seniors – Popp, Brayden Nalducci, Luke Douglas and Dan Popovitch in the Mustangs starting lineup, which has leaned on several players to play the role of hero this year thanks to threats all the way from leadoff to No. 9.
Northern Burlington has been even better than Brick Memorial by the numbers, with all nine of its starters batting .300 or better heading into Thursday. That lineup had to save the Greyhounds in the sectional semifinal last Thursday, when ninth-seeded Brick put up six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead and push Northern Burlington to the brink of elimination.
The Greyhounds, however, were unfazed. With Jimmy Musser pitching in relief for the final three innings and holding Brick to one run, Northern Burlington surged back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth, one more in the fifth and three in the bottom of the seventh to pull off the stunning comeback. Northern Burlington slugged three homers during the comeback, including a three-run jack by freshman and No. 9 hitter Jaden Freeze.
As a team, Northern Burlington has launched 30 home runs – matching Shore Conference leader Ranney and 19 more than Brick Memorial’s 11 home runs this season.
One condition that has helped Northern Burlington’s home-run total is a hitter-friendly distance between home plate and the outfield fence, with the Mustangs will take a shot at behind its power-hitting top-of-the-order that includes shortstop Tyler Garbooshian, catcher Joe McGlynn and long-ball leader Dan Golembiewski.
Scarlet-Knight Showdown
Two Rutgers commits from the Class of 2026 will be central figures in the Central Group III final on Thursday and they are likely to start the game facing each other.
Northern Burlington will run Scarlet Knights commit Cole Marchetti to the mound while slotting him second in the batting order between batting average leader Nick Dombroski (.522) and home-run leader Luca Mannino (nine). Marchetti has been no slouch himself with the bat, posting the second-best average on the team (.494) while leading the Greyhounds in doubles with 13.
Tyler Garbooshian has been committed to Rutgers since before his freshman season and is in line to face his fellow Scarlet Knights commit to lead off the game. The Mustangs shortstop has been batting in the leadoff spot since May 8 – the third different batter to hit at the top of the order for Brick Memorial this season. Garbooshian has cooled off since moving to the leadoff spot (.258 in 10 games) but is a threat to go deep on the first batter of the game while also exercising patience and bringing speed to the base paths.
Revenge Game
The Shore Conference has been tough on Northern Burlington, with the Greyhounds barely slipping by No. 16 Red Bank and Brick this season and with some noteworthy losses to the Shore over the years. Northern Burlington lost to Colts Neck in the 2021 sectional final on a walk-off home run and also fell to Wall’s loaded 2019 team in the Central Group II final that season.
One Shore team that Northern Burlington has a fond recent memory of is the team it will play on Thursday. The Greyhounds went to Brick Memorial as the No. 15 seed in 2023 and shocked the second-seeded Mustangs in the first round of the Central Group III Playoffs. That loss marked the second of three straight first-round losses by Brick Memorial to a team that was seeded No. 12 or worse – including back-to-back losses to a No. 15 seed as a No. 2.
The Mustangs have put that history behind them this year and in a big way. They have already reached the sectional final round for the first time since losing to Hunterdon Central in the Central Group IV final and will now try to add the program’s first ever NJSIAA sectional title to their list of accomplishments this season: 22 wins, an outright Class A South division championship, the runner-up in the Ocean County Tournament and the program’s first ever Shore Conference Tournament title.
Prediction
To bring home the trophy, Brick Memorial will give the ball to sophomore left-hander Zach Pirnik, who has pitched in each of Brick Memorial’s last five tournament games – a streak that will hit six once he throws a pitch on Thursday. Coming off an impressive freshman season at the varsity level, Pirnik was in the midst of an up-and-down season after taking the loss against Toms River East in the Ocean County Tournament final. After that game, he boasted an ERA of 2.71 and a WHIP of 1.45 in 31 innings but ever since, Pirnik has been locked in. The sophomore southpaw has since gone 5-0 with a 0.53 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP over 26 2/3 innings as the games have gotten even bigger.
Nalducci will back up Pirnik now that he has become the Mustangs’ closer over the last three weeks. Junior James Martin also showed he could handle a state tournament game by giving the Mustangs an important inning in the win over Middletown South on Tuesday.
Northern Burlington also has no shortage of arms despite ace Luca Mannino unavailable to pitch. Musser has been dependable working in relief, while sophomore Logan Downey has put up ace-like numbers as the team’s No. 3 starter. If Brick Memorial is going to take down the Group III favorite, it will likely have to be early against Marchetti and with another masterful start from Pirnik.
Both teams have deep lineups, multiple proven pitchers available and experience in big games against quality competition. Both lineups are capable of making early noise and the advantage may go to the team whose pitching can seize control of the game, which could favor Brick Memorial and the unflappable Zach Pirnik. The home field could work in Northern Burlington’s favor and the last at-bat has been crucial throughout the state this spring, but the Mustangs have gone into environments like this all year and come out on top. My pick before the tournament was Northern Burlington, but with the way things have lined up, Brick Memorial’s chances look a little better than anticipated.
The Pick: Brick Memorial, 7-5
