Spring sports are officially rolling in East Brunswick, and this past week gave fans a little bit of everything. There were dominant wins, tough losses, statement performances, and plenty of athletes who stepped up in big moments. From golf teams continuing to pile up victories, to boys tennis putting together another strong stretch, to softball and girls lacrosse delivering some exciting results, East Brunswick athletes stayed busy all week long. There is already plenty of fight, talent, and momentum showing across the board, and this week made one thing clear: the Bears are going to give people a lot to talk about this spring.
⛳ Girls Golf stays red hot
East Brunswick girls golf kept its strong start going with a pair of impressive dual-meet wins. The Bears opened the week by beating Old Bridge, 168 to 184, behind a first-place 39 from Dasha Patel, while Tasneem Basrai shot a 41 and Erin Choi added a 42. East Brunswick followed that up with another convincing win over Metuchen, 178 to 261, as Basrai took first with a 38 and Isabella Loufek finished second with a 46. On Thursday, the Bears rolled again, defeating South Brunswick, 163 to 224. Basrai once again led the way with a 39, while Loufek and Choi each carded 41s and Dasha Patel came in at 42. East Brunswick also competed in the Red Devil Invitational on Friday and finished eighth as a team with a 358, with Basrai leading the Bears by shooting an 83 to tie for 20th overall.
⛳ Boys Golf keeps piling up wins
It was another huge week for East Brunswick boys golf, which continued its unbeaten run with three more victories. The Bears took down Metuchen, 155 to 188, as Carlo Salardino, Hsieh Fong-Yang, and Shreyas Batra all tied for first with 38s, while Matt Mikulka added a 41. East Brunswick then beat South Brunswick, 135 to 153, in one of its strongest performances of the week. Hsieh Fong-Yang fired a match-best 32, Batra followed with a 33, and both Salardino and Hsieh Fong-Hou shot 35. The Bears closed out the week with another win, topping Edison, 153 to 181, as Fong-Yang again led the way with a 34, followed by Fong-Hou at 39 and both Salardino and Aiden Lee at 40.
🎾 Boys Tennis puts together another strong stretch
East Brunswick boys tennis had a very good week and showed plenty of depth along the way. The Bears blanked Monroe, 5 to 0, with Neil Lund, Vyan Mahesh, and Timur Savin all winning in singles play, while the doubles teams of Ashwin Deodhar and Saksham Bhardwaj, plus Viaan Muckra and Ketan Deodhar, also earned straight-set wins. East Brunswick followed that with a 4 to 1 win over Edison Magnet. Kaito Woodridge dropped a tough match at first singles, but the Bears took the other four flights. Ishaan Makim and Ashwin Deodhar won in singles, and both doubles teams handled business. The Bears finished the week with a competitive 3 to 2 loss to a strong Chatham team, but not before Woodridge and Makim picked up wins in first and second singles. Even in defeat, East Brunswick showed it can battle with quality competition.
🥍 Girls Lacrosse battles through a busy week
East Brunswick girls lacrosse had a packed week with some highs and some tough matchups. The Bears fell to Monroe, 7 to 4, despite all four East Brunswick goals coming from Erika Riggio, who once again showed her scoring touch. They bounced back in a big way on Thursday with a 12 to 3 win over North Brunswick. Riggio led the attack with five goals, while Gianna Stavola scored twice and Sienna Mitchell, Ashlee McGowan, and Veronica Slavinsky all made strong contributions. Maria Bumbaca finished with five saves in the win. On Saturday, East Brunswick faced a tough Peddie squad and dropped a 14 to 9 decision. Riggio had another huge day with four goals, while Veronica Slavinsky and Gianna Stavola each added two. Even with the loss, the Bears showed they can keep producing offense against strong opponents.
🥍 Boys Lacrosse keeps fighting
It was a challenging week for East Brunswick boys lacrosse, but there were still some big individual efforts. The Bears dropped an 18 to 10 game against Johnson on Monday. A.J. Pepe scored three goals, Foster Dohn had three goals and an assist, Mathieu Silveira also scored three times, and Rhys Vega added a goal and an assist. Later in the week, East Brunswick fell to South Brunswick, 15 to 9, but Foster Dohn once again stood out with four goals and three assists in a seven-point performance. Brian Simpson scored three goals in that one, while Rhys Vega and Mathieu Silveira also found the net. Nicholas Marsicano made 16 saves against South Brunswick, giving the Bears a strong effort in goal even in a difficult matchup.
🏐 Boys Volleyball splits the week before a tough Saturday test
East Brunswick boys volleyball had one of the busiest weeks of any Bears team. The Bears opened with a loss to Old Bridge in straight sets, but Logan Allen had seven kills and Connor Wong handed out 10 assists. On Wednesday, East Brunswick bounced back with a straight-set win over Watchung Hills. Allen led the way with eight kills, Dylan Schon added four kills and two aces, Yuvraj Singla had a strong all-around effort, and Wong delivered 18 assists. The Bears stayed rolling on Thursday with another straight-set win, this time over South Brunswick. Schon led the offense with six kills, Allen added five, Daniel Nam chipped in four, and Wong again ran the attack with 16 assists. On Saturday, East Brunswick pushed Hunterdon Central but fell in four sets. Allen and Nam each had eight kills, Schon finished with seven kills and seven blocks, and Carlos Torres had 24 assists. Even in the loss, there were plenty of strong performances to build on.
🥎 Softball shows plenty of fight
East Brunswick softball had a week full of action and proved it can put runs on the board. The Bears opened with a 5 to 1 win over Bayonne behind another excellent outing from Christina Lee, who struck out nine and allowed just three hits while also going 2-for-4 at the plate. Eva Munoz and Maria Rampolla each drove in a run, and East Brunswick totaled 11 hits in the victory.
The Bears then dropped a 10 to 5 game to St. Thomas Aquinas, despite collecting 10 hits. Rampolla had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Christina Lee, Eva Munoz, and Rachel Gerould also drove in runs.
East Brunswick later fell in a 7 to 5 slugfest against South Plainfield. Christina Lee scored three runs, Isabella Warrington went 3-for-4, and Rampolla drove in three more runs in another productive offensive showing.
The Bears closed the week on a high note with a 5 to 2 win over Old Bridge. Lee earned the win in the circle and also scored twice, while Warrington drove in two runs, Rampolla added another RBI, and East Brunswick pounded out 13 hits in the victory. It was the kind of balanced performance that can give a team real momentum moving forward.
⚾ Baseball delivers a big shutout win
East Brunswick baseball had a mixed week, but the headline performance was a dominant 9 to 0 shutout of St. Thomas Aquinas. Jordan Rudolph was outstanding on the mound, striking out 12 while allowing just two hits over seven innings. At the plate, Julian Satterthwaite had the biggest swing of the day, going 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBI. Joe Spinello also scored twice, and the Bears took advantage of five St. Thomas Aquinas errors in a strong all-around win.
The Bears later dropped a 14 to 4 game to St. Joseph and then came up just short in a 3 to 2 loss in the rematch. In that second game, Javier Casacuberta had two of East Brunswick’s three hits and drove in a run, while Ilan Pony struck out six over five innings. East Brunswick did not get the result it wanted, but it stayed within striking distance the whole way.
The week ahead feeling
This was one of those spring weeks that showed just how much is happening across East Brunswick athletics. The golf programs continue to look tremendous, boys tennis keeps stacking wins, softball keeps showing offensive punch, girls lacrosse picked up an important victory, and boys volleyball answered adversity with a pair of strong wins. There were some tough losses in the mix too, but there was no shortage of effort, standout performances, or reasons for East Brunswick families to keep paying attention.
