Somerset County Tournament seeds are in!

It was a busy Wednesday night for yours truly.

After a two-day delay caused by the Nor’easter and the subsequent flooding in the area (or technical staff that does the recording was busy covering the flooding), Harry Frezza, Jerry Carino and I recorded our second podcast of the season. It should be up sometime Thursday afternoon. And now here I am blogging into the wee-hours of the morning.

But first I attended the Somerset County Tournament seeding meeting at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, and while the seeds didn’t play out exactly like I thought they should, I must say, overall, it was a fine job by the county’s coaches in seeding the tournament and I really don’t have a major problem with any of the seeds.

Before I get into analysis, predictions and whatnot, here are the 2007 seeds:

1. Montgomery
2. Immaculata
3. Bridgewater-Raritan
4. Hillsborough
5. Mount St. Mary
6. Watchung Hills
7. Somerville
8. Bernards
9. Ridge
10. Rutgers Prep
11. Bound Brook
12. Pingry
13. Manville
14. Gill St. Bernard’s
15. Franklin
16. North Plainfield
17. Somerset Tech


North Plainfield and Somerset Tech will square off in a play-in game Friday, followed by first-round action at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Top 8 seeds will have a bye, with the Top 4 getting a bye in the second round, too.

Here are the matchups:
North Plainfield/Somerset Tech at Ridge, winner at Bernards
Franklin at Rutgers Prep, winner at Somerville
Gill St. Bernard’s at Bound Brook, winner at Watchung Hills
Manville at Pingry, winner at Mount St. Mary

Quarterfinals:
Montgomery will play host to Bernards/Ridge/North Plainfield/Somerset Tech
Immaculata will play host to Somerville/Rutgers Prep/Franklin
Bridgewater-Raritan will play host to Watchung Hills/Bound Brook/Gill St. Bernard’s
Hillsborough will play host to Mount St. Mary/Pingry/Manville


Alright. Those are the facts. Now here are some opinions.

For those of you who might not know, the tournament is seeded via vote by the coaches.
After each coach talks briefly about his or her teams’ accomplishments to date, the coaches rank every team 1 through 17 and tournament director John Maggio runs it through a computer program that figures out the seeds based on a points system.

After the initial seeds are computed, each coach then has the right to appeal their seed and then everyone votes on the appeal with a simple majority deciding whether the appeal is successful or fails. This is to correct any anomalies caused by some of the newer or less informed coaches making bad mistakes in their rankings that skew the results.

There were three appeals Wednesday night:

Montgomery coach Johnny Rooney, whose team was initially seeded second, appealed the seed and it was successful, as the Cougars leapfrogged Immaculata.

Hillsborough coach Cheryl Iaione also appealed her team’s seed – originally fifth behind Mount St. Mary – and her appeal was also successful.

The one appeal that failed was when North Plainfield coach Jim Miller appealed the Canucks’ seed behind Franklin, and that’s what I found most interesting at the seeding meeting.

Both Miller and Franklin coach Mary Pat Lelinski had valid points in their arguments.

On one hand, Franklin plays in the Delaware East Division, meaning the Warriors not only have to play powerhouses like Bridgewater-Raritan, Hillsborough, Immaculata, Montgomery and Watchung Hills twice a season, but they must also play cross-conference games against the likes of North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central, both juggernauts in New Jersey softball. Franklin gets no relief against the other teams in the West, either, as Voorhees, Phillipsburg, Warren Hills and even Ridge have the Warriors seriously outclassed.

North Plainfield, while they have to play Mount St. Mary, Somerville, Hackettstown and Belvidere, they also get two games a season against teams like South Hunterdon, North Warren and Manville, all of which they’ve lost to.

On the other hand, while both teams are winless, all but one of Franklin’s losses have come by the 10-run, five inning mercy rule (7-0 to Spotswood, 15-0 to Warren Hills, 28-0 to Bridgewater, and 12-1 to Montgomery), while the Canucks have lost games 7-6 to Manville, 4-0 to South Hunterdon, and 3-0 to North Warren, while getting blow out by Somerville and Bernards.

Tough call. Should a team be ranked higher because they’ve lost close games to terrible teams, or should a team that gets trounced by the best get the nod?

But what I found even more interesting is that Franklin is on a 43 game losing streak, dating back three years, and playing in the Skyland Delaware, that streak doesn’t figure to end anytime soon, at least not in conference. Yet, as she should, Lelinski stuck up for her team’s seed and the advantage of not having to play an extra game, and was successful in keeping the 15th seed,

But what she probably didn’t realize is that had she accepted the 16th seed, it would have set up a play-in game against Somerset Tech, which is a first-year varsity program that is 0-3, managing just two hits, total, so far. Had Franklin played Somerset Tech, chances are, the losing streak would have been snapped Friday.

As it is, the Warriors will face 10th-seeded Rutgers Prep and have to be considered a heavy underdog.

As for the rest of the tournament, I expect North Plainfield to handle Somerset Tech with ease in the play-in game, but that’s probably the end of the Canucks’ run. I don’t expect any upsets in the first round -- all the top seeds should win comfortably.

Still, anything can happen, which is why we play the games.

Here is a long-term look at the tournament, in my humble opinion:

First, I believe any of the top 7 seeds could win the whole thing.

There is so much parity – especially in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division – that this is really going to come down to who gets hot and catches the breaks. All seven teams have quality pitching and solid offenses, and they all have realistic chances to win a title.

In the top half of the bracket, Somerville could be a sleeper, and a quarterfinals victory over Immaculata wouldn’t shock me if the Spartans aren’t on top of their game.

Somerville carries the ultimate wild card in pitcher Lindsey Ciresa, who transferred from Blair Academy. Ciresa, like Immaculata’s Kaitlyn Piazzolla, is a member of the Elite 60 MPH Club, and if she’s as good as that distinction indicates, she could give Somerville the lift it needs to make some serious noise in this tournament. Still, Ciresa isn’t eligible until May 3 (she has to sit out her mandatory 30 days as a transfer), so it’s going to be interesting to see if she can jump right into a varsity game and perform as she becomes eligible just in time for the quarterfinals. Ciresa is also, reportedly, quite a hitter, too.

In the bottom half of the bracket, I think Bound Brook is underrated, though a victory in its second-round meeting with Watchung Hills is a tall order to fill.


Here’s how I predict the tournament will play out:

PLAY IN GAME
North Plainfield over Somerset Tech

FIRST ROUND
Ridge over North Plainfield
Rutgers Prep over Franklin
Bound Brook over Gill St. Bernard’s
Pingry over Manville

SECOND ROUND
Ridge over Bernards
Somerville over Rutgers Prep
Watchung Hills over Bound Brook
Mount. St. Mary over Pingry


QUARTERFINALS (here’s where it gets interesting)
Montgomery over Ridge – I don’t expect the Cougars to have any trouble here

Hillsborough over Mount St. Mary – The Raiders’ experience wins here, but expect a good game from the Mount Lions and righty Dani Accardi. I would be surprised with a MSM win, but not shocked.

Immaculata over Somerville – Ciresa is the X-factor

Bridgewater-Raritan over Watchung Hills – The Warriors’ experience could be key here, too, and I could see this one going either way. But I’ll go with the Panthers and right-hander Lauren Fitzsimmons. I think Bridgewater-Raritan is a team of destiny.


SEMIFINALS – 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 9 at North Branch Park

GAME ONE: Bridgewater-Raritan over Immaculata – Immaculata's gotta faulter at some point... don't they?

GAME TWO: Hillsborough over Montgomery – Revenge is sweet, plus Montgomery lost four outstanding players from last season’s championship squad. The Cougars also have yet to be tested this season by the Skyland’s elite.


FINAL – 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 12 at North Branch Park

MY PICK: Bridgewater-Raritan over Hillsborough --
Fitzsimmons in the circle, Lindsay Durant, Kelly Rafferty and Fitzsimmons in the heart of the order with Taryn Schnell leading off equals a formidable lineup for Bridgewater-Raritan.
Hillsborough and right-hander Megan McInaw have experience in big games, as do pitcher/outfielder Katelyn Derewicki, who leads off, and No. 3 hitter Katie Yard.
Destiny beats experience, 4-2.

***

Like I said, anything can happen, which is why we play the games. The county is full of quality teams – deepest it has been in years – and we should be in for a phenomenal tournament.

I still haven’t decided which first-round game I will cover Saturday. Perhaps some lobbying is in order. Feel free to leave comments as to where you think I should go Saturday, or your thoughts on any of the other topics we’ve addressed.

Finally, make sure to check out the latest podcast (labeled April 19) at http://www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia/index.htm.