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 3 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 2 preview tommorrow. 

NORTH 1 BRACKET

Ramapo garnered the top spot in this bracket, after going 22-4 during the regular season, with Old Tappan as the two seed and Roxbury as the 3 seed.

+ The Pick - Ramapo
The Green Raiders will look for their first Sectional Title since 2022, but it’ll be a tough road to get there. They could matchup with a scrappy Fort Lee team in the Semifinal who gave then unbeaten Don Bosco Prep a run for its money in the first round of the Bergen County tournament, a tournament that Don Bosco would eventually win. Ramapo is led by senior Charlie Wingfield who recently collected his 100th hit and 200th strikeout for his career. It’s looking like the Green Raiders will ride with Wingfield on the bump for as long as they can, as the senior is headed to Wake Forest early so he can throw on the shoulder pads and get into a grove on the gridiron for the Demon Deacons. 

+ Dark Horse - Fort Lee
The Bridgemen have gone 17-8 this year, with the aforementioned close call with Don Bosco as one of their eight losses. Bergen Catholic transfer junior Chistopher Kim has paced the offense so far, hitting .425 with nine doubles, four homers, and six stolen bases while junior Jacob Greenberg has notched a team leading 44 IP and surrendered just 23 hits to the tune of a 2.05 ERA. Expect For Lee to make some noise in this bracket.

NORTH 2 BRACKET

 Colonia grabs the top slot in this bracket after going 20-4 during the regular season.

+ The Pick - North Hunterdon
Pitching and defense is key this time of year, and North Hunterdon possesses some of the top arms in the state at its disposal. Duke recruit 2026 Alex Famolari has been fantastic this year, logging 31.2 IP with 46 K’s while senior Brandon Suler (Stevens Tech) has logged 36 IP and 34 K. Although they got off to a slow start to begin the season, they recently took down Hunterdon Central to win the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex championship and have some momentum heading into the state tournament.

+ Dark Horse - Cranford
Cranford isn’t used to being a six seed in this tournament with the wave of recent success they’ve had over the last few years, but alas, here they are. First year coach Ryan Matlosz has put together a solid showing as of late. Brayden Fry (2026) has been excellent this year. The junior has seven doubles and nine homers to lead the team, along with hitting at a .434 clip.

CENTRAL BRACKET

Northern Burlington gets the top slot after being one of the top teams in South Jersey for the season and going 22-2.

+ The Pick - Northern Burlington
The Greyhounds are too strong one through nine in their order with a pair of seniors in Rowan commit Luca Mannino and Nick Dromboski leading the way. Mannino has six doubles and seven homers while Dromboski is hitting .532 with six homers and 12 doubles. Rutgers commit Cole Marchetti has 12 doubles of his own while uncommitted junior Liam Velit has pitched in seven doubles and five homers of his own. The Greyhounds have 88 extra base hits as a team. One the mound, Mannino and Marchetti averaged nearly two strikeouts per inning each, while senior Jimmy Musser has thrown 21.1 IP with 29 K’s, too. Sophomore Logan Downey is second on the team in innings pitched with 30 and has allowed just 13 hits and punched out 46. The Greyhounds have been spectacular all year.

+ Dark Horse - Lawrence
Lawrence has had another successful year under legendary coach Jim Maher going 19-7-1. The pitching staff has been stellar with junior Aiden Poot leading the way with 56 IP and junior Aiden Crowley with 34 IP. Rider commit Deacon Moore has logged 24 IP of his own while hitting .391 at the plate. Lawrence is coming off winning the CVC Tournament.

SOUTH BRACKET

Mainland grabs the top spot and has all the momentum coming into the state tournament, after capturing the Diamond Classic championship earlier this month. 

+ The Pick - Mainland
We’re predicting that the storybook season continues for Mainland under first year head coach Joe Smith. Although falling to St. Augustine Prep in the Cape-Atlantic League finals, Mainland rattled off three hard fought wins in a row to capture the Diamond Classic, beating Audubon, Delsea, and Haddonfield. Quinnipiac commit Chase Camac is hitting .391 with 14 stolen bases. Army commit Finn Haines has thrown 34.1 IP and punched out 62 while Miami commit Jake Lodgek leads the team with 48.1 IP and 71 K’s to the tune of 1.88 ERA. 

+ Dark Horse - Cherry Hill West
CHW has been a steady member in the state rankings for the last several years but suffered a tough three game stretch at the end of April, losing to Schalick, Eastern, and Hammonton. That said, CHW is still 16-9 and has some dynamic athletes in the middle of their order in Delaware commit Grant Fournier whose hitting .407 with five doubles, three triples, and two homers, along with seniors Josue Holloway and Aiden Ryder (Rowan) who are second and third on the team in RBIs. Isaiah Pierce-Gonzalez has had a stellar career thus far and as a junior has logged 41.1 IP with 52 K and 33 hits allowed, while senior Zachary Smith has notched 43.2 IP and allowed just 34 hits and fanned 52. CHW will have it’s hands full in the first round, however, as it will take on Ocean City and likely Alabama commit Evan Taylor on the mound and at the plate.

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