DUI Lawyers in North Plainfield, NJ

Bennie Sokolowski received varsity action as a freshman and took some lumps on the mound. But he was constantly learning and improving and tweaking his approach and repertoire.

Now as a seasoned junior, things are clicking.

The savvy righthander is having a terrific start this spring which includes a no-hitter. North Plainfield fans recognized Sokolowski by voting him the MyCentralJersey.com Readers’ Choice Baseball Player of the Week.

Sokolowski hasn’t allowed an earned run in 17 innings with 22 strikeouts for the resurgent Canucks (7-1), who have already matched last year’s win total.

He threw a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and allowed three walks in a 1-0 win over Metuchen on April 9. Sokolowski followed that up by going six innings and giving up an unearned run with five strikeouts in another strong start as North Plainfield topped J.P. Stevens 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday.

Sokolowski has been able to get strikeouts and ground balls by mixing in a fastball and a curveball/slider, along with a split-finger changeup. He’s found ways to succeed even when his dominant stuff isn’t there.

North Plainfield coach Steve Zurawiecki noted Sokolowski always asks questions and he’s been thriving with a consistent routine. Sokolowski, who also plays third base and first when not pitching, threw 50 1/3 varsity innings entering this season.

“It's really just a matter of growing and learning from all those experiences and just not ever giving up or ever being satisfied,” Zurawiecki said, “and just wanting to do better and then understanding what it takes to get better. It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh, I want to get better’ but he has worked tirelessly in the offseason and continues to work tirelessly during the season to get better.”

Game Leaders

Kills

Isaiah Bethea #28

North Plainfield

5

#5 Harry Takyi

South Brunswick

10

Blocks

Isaiah Bethea #28

North Plainfield

1

#5 Harry Takyi

South Brunswick

0

Assists

Rodrigo Mosquera #17

North Plainfield

7

#11 Pranav Halaharvi

South Brunswick

12

Player Stats

North Plainfield

South Brunswick

After failing to win a divisional game in its it first two GMC campaigns, the North Plainfield High Scool softball team entered the week winners of three in a row and senior third baseman Samantha Colon had a lot to do with that.

Colon went 10-for-10 through the three games last week and scored 10 runs with 12 RBIs and five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs. She is the MyCentralJersey.com Softball Player of the Week.

The senior added a couple more big games this week, including a three-hit performance Friday, with a triple, three runs and two RBIs. She’s hitting .826 this season with two doubles, three triples, two home runs and seven walks, scoring 17 times and driving in 20 runs in her first season as a fulltime starter.

“Sam has been truly just hard-working,” North Plainfield first-year coach Drew Bandola said. “She’s one of our captains. She puts in the effort every day. She’s someone who I put at third base who I knew was someone I would be able to build and work with. She’s willing to put in the time. She works really hard in the cage and you see that, her hitting is improving. Her average is extremely high, especially for the past few years, I think she’s batting above what she batted in three seasons combined. She’s just a strong plate presence and I don’t think it’s something she’s really had the opportunity to step into until this year and she’s truly taking advantage of it.”

Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached atCourierSoftball@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus

Correspondent and GMC beatwriter Josh Rosenfeld contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter/X @JoshPRosenfeld

Correspondent

DUNELLEN — Dunellen was trailing by six entering the final stanza when it rallied for a late touchdown Friday.

At least that’s what it felt like on the Faber School softball field as Dunellen rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to trim North Plainfield by the football score of 17-16.

Kyla Fucito singled in two runs and Rose Ciccolella tied the game with an RBI-single before Fucito crossed the plate with the anticlimactic winning run on a bases-loaded walk to winning pitcher Savanna McCann (3-3).

“I think that their pitcher definitely got in her head, so I felt like I had a chance (to contribute),” said Ciccolella, who made the last out in the sixth and was the ninth batter due up in the seventh. “I was just trying to advance the runner and keep it going.”

The winning seven-run rally required just three hits, assisted by five walks and two errors. Nine of Dunellen’s 17 runs were unearned. There were four lead changes in the contest as the momentum swung back and forth like a metronome.

North Plainfield (4-3) took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. Dunellen (6-4) made it 8-4 in the third. The Canucks regained the lead at 9-8 in the fourth and extended that advantage to 16-10 going into the bottom of the seventh by tacking on five runs in the sixth and another in the seventh in what, at the time, felt like overkill. It wound up being not quite enough.

The winning rally began with Alexa DeVesa’s third walk of the afternoon/evening — it was a 4:30 start — followed by an infield error and single by Kasey Manna to load the bases. Kaitylee Garcia walked to force in the first run, but the Canucks’ Briyith Castro (1-3) recorded her third strikeout to momentarily quell the threat.

Kyleigh Tigue and Mikayla Sheehan both walked to force in two more runs, before Fucita’s single to right made it 16-15. Ciccolella, who doubled twice previously, stroked a single up the middle to knot the score and, following another error, McCann walked to earn the victory.

“We’ve done it in multiple games this season,” noted Dunellen coach Kerry Johnson, who huddled her team before the winning rally. “The only thing I said going into the last little bit was, ‘We’ve been here before, we’ve got this.’ We knew we were going to come back. I kept saying, ‘This is our moment.’”

There were no shortage of hitting stars as one might expect from a 33-run contest. Ciccolella went 3-for-5, Sheehan, the Destroyers No. 9 batter, went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Garcia got on base four times and scored on three of them despite going hitless.

North Plainfield had its share of heroes, as well. Taylor Mooney went 4-for-5 with two triples and four RBIs, Samantha Colon went 3-for-4 and drove in the game’s initial two runs with a first-inning triple and Chloe Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and scored four times.

The result knotted both teams at 5-2 for second place in the GMC Blue Division standings behind unbeaten Calvary Christian, but Johnson was looking at the bigger picture.

“Definitely, a little bit, but it’s not our main focus,” Johnson explained. “I think we’re in a good spot. I told them, ‘This is the turning point in our season,’ and I hope I’m right.”

A house in Plainfield that sold for $580,000 tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Plainfield area in the past week.

In total, nine residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $438,043. The average price per square foot was $295.

The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of April 7 even if the property may have been sold earlier.

9. $275K, condominium at 1300 Rock Ave.

The property at 1300 Rock Ave. in North Plainfield has new owners. The price was $275,000. The condominium was built in 1965 and has a living area of 1,040 square feet. The price per square foot is $264. The deal was finalized on March 27.

8. $333K, single-family house at 359 Richard Way

The property at 359 Richard Way in North Plainfield has new owners. The price was $333,000. The house was built in 1947 and has a living area of 1,055 square feet. The price per square foot is $316. The deal was finalized on March 27.

7. $356K, single-family residence at 419 Watchung Ave.

The 1,058 square-foot single-family home at 419 Watchung Ave. in Plainfield has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $356,385, $337 per square foot. The house was built in 1924. The deal was finalized on March 26.

6. $390K, single-family home at 125 Emerson Ave.

The 1,404 square-foot single-family house at 125 Emerson Ave., Plainfield, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $390,000, $278 per square foot. The house was built in 1936. The deal was finalized on March 24.

5. $435K, single-family home at 255 N. Jackson Ave.

The sale of the single family residence at 255 N. Jackson Ave. in North Plainfield has been finalized. The price was $435,000, and the new owners took over the house in March. The house was built in 1944 and has a living area of 1,344 square feet. The price per square foot was $324. The deal was finalized on March 26.

4. $449K, single-family house at 1466 Linbarger Ave.

A sale has been finalized for the single-family house at 1466 Linbarger Ave. in Plainfield. The price was $449,000 and the new owners took over the house in March. The house was built in 1951 and the living area totals 875 square feet. The price per square foot ended up at $513. The deal was finalized on March 24.

3. $549K, single-family residence at 1837 Rangewood Court

The sale of the single-family home at 1837 Rangewood Court, Plainfield, has been finalized. The price was $549,000, and the new owners took over the house in March. The house was built in 1961 and has a living area of 2,215 square feet. The price per square foot was $248. The deal was finalized on March 28.

2. $575K, single-family residence at 104 Manning Ave.

The 3,014 square-foot detached house at 104 Manning Ave., North Plainfield, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $575,000, $191 per square foot. The house was built in 1909. The deal was finalized on March 27.

1. $580K, single-family house at 650 South Ave.

The 1,344 square-foot detached house at 650 South Ave. in Plainfield has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $580,000, $432 per square foot. The house was built in 1901. The deal was finalized on March 21.

Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data.