Seton Hall Prep senior JJ Drennan fires a pitch.
WEST ORANGE — On Saturday morning, May 9, the 93rd Greater Newark Baseball Tournament was held at Porcello Field in West Orange, which is the home field for Seton Hall Prep. In the first game, Seton Hall Prep senior right-hander JJ Drennan was one out away from his second straight perfect game, as the top-seeded Pirates defeated No. 4 seed Columbia 6-0.
In the top of the seventh with two outs, Joey Kerner was hit by a Drennan fastball. On the next pitch, Jack Livingstone hit a liner to third that third baseman Jack Webber made a leaping snag to complete the no-hitter and send Seton Hall Prep to its 30th GNT final on Saturday, May 16, at Doc Goeltz Field in Verona against seventh-seeded Nutley, which defeated No. 3 seed West Essex 2-1 in the second game of the semifinals.
The Pirates scored one run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Devin Aiken, a West Orange resident. They increased their lead to 4-0, scoring three runs in the second inning on back-to-back hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded to Drennan and fellow senior Jordan Burwell, before Aiken drove in a run with an RBI single to center field.
In the third inning, senior Xavier McKnight drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center field. Their final run was scored by Burwell in the fourth inning. Burwell had a one-out single and later in the inning scored on a wild pitch.
Drennan (4-1), who had 10 strikeouts, said following the game, “I felt good in the first inning and throughout the game felt more comfortable with all my pitches. I was really on with my fastball today and I like using all my pitches. After the hit-by-pitch, I just wanted to get the no-no. I was a little upset about it, but I knew there was one more out to get and Jack made a great catch.”
On Friday, May 8, the Pirates dropped an 11-1 decision to The Hun School in Princeton. McKnight hit a two-out double to drive in Aiken, who had doubled with one out, for the only Pirates’ run of the afternoon.
On Thursday, May 7, in the quarterfinals of the GNT, the Pirates defeated No. 8 seed Verona 5-3. The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to right field by Webber and a two-run double by junior Joey Maiella. After Verona tied the score at 3-3 with two runs in the second inning and one run in the third inning, the Pirates took a 4-3 lead on an RBI single to center field by Maiella and the final run scored on an RBI single to right field by junior Aiden Nugent.
Junior right-hander Anthony Mustacciuolo (3-0) threw a complete game with five strikeouts. After the game, he said, “I was a little nervous starting my first GNT game, but I settled down as the game went on. My arm felt great and I told my coaches each inning that I wanted to continue to pitch each inning. I left it all out there today.”
PIRATE NOTES: This will be the 18th time since 1971 that Seton Hall Prep will face Nutley, as the Pirates lead in the series 9-8 in the GNT. Earlier this season, Seton Hall Prep (16-4) defeated Nutley 12-7 at Tangorra Field at the Park Oval in Nutley.
Most GNT titles won: SHP 20, Nutley 4.
Most appearances in GNT title game, including 2026: SHP 30, Nutley 15.
Photo Courtesy of PJ Candido/Seton Hall Prep
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