Playoff baseball in the Garden State is officially underway and our cameras hit the road to bring you exciting first round matchups!

South Brunswick 3 Sayreville 1 | Central Group 4 First Round

(10) South Brunswick opened the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs with a 3-1 come from behind victory over (7) Sayreville. A throwing error to second would give Sayreville a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ethan Fantel would answer back with a two run home run in the top of the sixth to put South Brunswick in front 2-1, the Vikings would add another run in the inning on a double steal. High Point University commit Joey Tuttoilmondo was South Brunswick’s key contributor, throwing seven innings on the mound while allowing just one hit, no earned runs and picked up 12 strikeouts. The Vikings will take on rival (North Brunswick) in the quarterfinal round.

JSZ’s Nery Rodriguez has the highlights from Sayreville:

Thank you to Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for sponsoring our South Brunswick coverage.

Thank you to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick) for sponsoring our Sayreville coverage.

Eastern 12 Millville 0 (5 innings) | South Group 4 First Round

Pat Karbach tossed a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing just one hit, as the 11th-seeded Vikings stunned the 6th-seeded Thunderbolts. Logan Dawson led the way at the plate with four RBIs for Eastern (13-10-1), while Bill Bentliff added three RBIs. The Vikings will now face third-seeded EHT in the sectional quarterfinals on Thursday:

JSZ’s Mike Frankel has the highlights from Millville:

JSZ’s coverage of Eastern is made possible by Cooper University Health Care.

Highland 6 Pemberton 5 | South Group 3 First Round

The Tartans erased an early deficit, then needed to fend off a late rally from the Hornets to advance to the SJ Group 3 quarterfinals. CJ Crowley and Tommy O’Connor drove in runs as part of a four-run third inning for fifth-seeded Highland (15-8). Matt Mullan racked up ten strikeouts over six-plus innings in the win. Thomas Finn drove in a pair of runs in the loss for twelfth-seeded Pemberton (11-8). The Tartans will now face fourth-seeded Hammonton on Thursday.

JSZ’s James Mooney has the highlights from Blackwood:

JSZ’s coverage of Highland is brought to you by Cooper University Health Care.

Middletown North 3 Hamilton West 2 | Central Group 3 First Round

Gabe Ahlemeyer drove in what proved to be the game-winning run in the fourth and pitched 6 2/3 innings of solid baseball to set the stage for Zach Hampton to get the save in a bases-loaded jam to help the 3rd-seeded Lions an upset. Hamilton West scored a pair of runs in the top of the 7th before a groundout to second base with the bases loaded fielded by Colby McMahon who flipped to Ryan Frontera at second ended the game. Middletown North will host Allentown in the second round this Thursday.

JSZ’s Rich Chrampanis has the highlights from Middletown: