Playoff baseball is upon us. Starting Tuesday, May 27th the 2025 New Jersey state playoffs kick-off with the round of 16. Plenty of interesting matchups will take place next week, all of which are must win games for everybody. Today, we will be taking a dive in to the Group 2 brackets, highlighting teams, players, and out staff will be picking winners for each bracket as well as picking a dark horse team to watch in each bracket. Stay tuned as we will be releasing our Group 1 preview tomorrow. 

NORTH 1 BRACKET

Pascack Valley garners the top seed in this bracket. The Bergen County runners up logged a record of 18-6 through Sunday and were 9-0 in the Big North National league.

+ The Pick - Pascack Valley
The Panthers have a plethora of arms to lean on in the tournament, led by William Paterson commit JT Deriso, uncommitted junior LHP Brendan Gaskin, and talented RHP Cameron Sidrow who will surely be on the radar of division one coaches this summer. The lineup has a good balance of senior leadership and talented underclassmen, led by Drew University commits Nick Donofrio (.446, 6 2B, 7 HR, 45 RBI) and 3B Trevor Kirkby (.426, 3 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI). 6-foot-5 twins Max Stalb and Sam Stalb have provided some depth in the lineup, with Sam Loggin 13 IP with 16 K’s – although suffered a knee injury in the Bergen County final and is uncertain for the remainder of the season. That said, PV has the weapons and the leadership to get far in this bracket.

+ Dark Horse - Mahwah
The Thunderbirds played Old Tappan tough in the Bergen County quarterfinals, leading through the first five frames before the wheels fell off in the 6th inning. Junior Tyler Thoelen has been the workhorse on the mound thus far, leading the team with 47.1 IP and 62 K’s. St. Peter’s commit Jake Buonanno has paced the offense with .481 10 2B and five homers while sophomore Ryan Hawken has been outstanding in the middle of the order, too, with a .427 average, five doubles and four homers.

NORTH 2 BRACKET

West Essex gets the top seed in this bracket after going 14-8 in the regular season.

+ The Pick - Madison
Second seeded Madison is rolling into the state tournament to the tune of 18-4 and is led by junior Lafayette commit Chris Vaughan (.433, 5 2B, 6 HR, 35 RBI) and uncommitted junior Andrew Haviland (.406, 5 2B, 27 RBI). Junior James Doehner has a 1.99 ERA and has logged the most innings at 51.2, allowing 41 hits and punching out 51. Fellow junior Luke McGuire is second on the team with 35 IP with a 2.40 ERA.

+ Dark Horse - Lyndhurst
The Golden Bears are 16-9 heading into tournament time and played top ranked Governor Livingston tough back in April. Shawn Bellenger leads the team with nine doubles and three triples as the team uses the cavernous confines of Lyndhurst Rec’s field to their advantage. Junior Tyler Herman leads the team with 56.1 IP and 80 K’s with a 1.24 ERA, while Bellenger has logged the second most innings with 26.2 IP and a 1.58 ERA.

CENTRAL BRACKET

Governor Livingston’s undefeated streak continues into the state postseason, after going 22-0 thus far.

+ The Pick - Governor Livingston
It’s hard to pick against a undefeated team at this point in the season. The Highlanders have won some hard fought games, a sign of a very good team, including a 1-0 win over Elizabeth in the Union County semifinal. Zach Geertsma has been on fire all season long. The junior Virginia commit is hitting .458 with eight doubles, seven homers, 29 RBI, and 33 runs scored out of the leadoff position, while UMass commit Michael Novotny is hitting .379 with 25 RBI. Junior Ryan Pappas has been great in the middle of the order, too, hitting .426 with 25 RBI and Caldwell commit Ryan Denora recent picked up his 100th career hit and is second on the team in RBI with 28.

On the mound, the Highlanders pound the strike zone and have just 47 walks in 132 IP. Stetson commit Matthew Diskin has a 0.22 ERA through 31.1 IP and has fanned 27 while allowing just 16 hits and senior Vinny Graham has a 1.77 ERA through 23.2 IP. Junior Keith Mann leads the team with 36 IP and 40 K’s GL is poised for a another long run to Veterans Park come June.

+ Dark Horse - South River
South River is lined up to face GL in the second round of the bracket and if it works out, it’ll be a tough matchup. Rutgers commit Julius Rosado has put up video game numbers throughout his career at the plate and is a mid-80s arm on the mound, too. Senior James Zsorey leads the team with 47.1 IP to a 2.66 ERA. It'll be a tall task, but South River has the talent to pull it off.

SOUTH BRACKET

Haddonfield grabs the top seed after going 20-5 and being the runner up in the Diamond Classic tournament.

+ The Pick - Haddonfield
There’s just  too much firepower in the lineup for Haddonfield to not be favored in this bracket. Sophomore Dan Keenan is among the state leaders in doubles with 15 while senior Griffin Clarke has eight and junior James Rowe has 11. Haddonfield has 72 extra base hits and is hitting .323 as a team.

+ Dark Horse - Sterling
Sterling has been a surprise team this season going 18-6 and 8-0 in the Colonial Patriot league. Junior Luke Lomax is hitting .352 with eight doubles, three homers, and 30 RBI while senior Vaughn McVeigh has a team leading 42 IP and a 1.83 ERA.

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