Better late than never

The final second round game of the Somerset county Tournament, which had twice been postponed since Saturday, was finally played today between ninth-seeded Rutgers Prep and eighth-seeded Mount St. Mary.

FINAL SCORE: Rutgers Prep 7, Mount St. Mary 4

And while this is easily the biggest win the Argonauts have had in a decade (not counting their numerous Prep B state titles), more importantly, it brings my picks tally to 7-1 in the SCT and 8-2 overall.

Rutgers Prep will face No. 1 Hillsborough in Saturday's quarterfinals.

I will be posting my picks for all of this weekend's games -- three tournament play Saturday -- on Thursday night or Friday

A break in the action

I would like to take a break from the normal shenanigans and regular rhythm of the varsity softball season -- like the broken helmets and the 35-0 scores -- and share something I read today that I found inspiring.

Too often in competitive sports, especially on the high school level, I find that we are too obsessed with wins and losses, the quest for college scholarships, and the drive toward being able to say "We're number 1."

These goals, understandably and predictably, have a habit of causing certain side-effects that have always plagued varsity sports: Poor sportsmanship, unruly fans, parental meddling, over-zealous coaches, and catty behavior in players toward teammates and opponents, alike.

You might not believe some of things I've witnessed and been told -- on and off the record -- in my years covering varsity sports.

Today, while perusing the day's news, I came across an amazing story that I wanted to share.

I have been following and participating in sports for , virtually, my entire 34 years on this Earth, and I've been covering it for over a decade, and I have never heard of anything as absolutely selfless and refreshing -- especially on such a high level of competition -- as the following:

http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/10806690

UCT SET

The Union County Tournament seeds were released yesterday, and no surprise, two-time defending champion Cranford is No. 1

Westfield got the No. 2 seed, Union is seeded third and Linden, which fell 13-0 to Cranford in last year's final, is the fourth seed.

Here are the seeds:
1. Cranford
2. Westfield
3. Union
4. Linden
5. A.L. Johnson
6. Scotch Plains-Fanwood
7. Governor Livingston
8. Mother Seton
9. Roselle Catholic
10. Roselle Park
11. Rahway
12. New Providence
13. Brearley
14. Summit
15. Elizabeth
16. Union Catholic
17. Plainfield
18. Dayton
19. Oak Knoll
20. Hillside


Here are the matchups and some tentative picks:

PRELIMINARY GAMES
16-Union Catholic over 17-Plainfield
13-Brearley over 20-Hillside
14-Summit over 19-Oak Knoll
18-Dayton over 15-Elizabeth

FIRST ROUND GAMES
1-Cranford over Union Catholic
9-Roselle Catholic at 8-Mother Seton
5-A.L. Johnson over 12-New Providence
4-Linden over 13-Brearley
3-Union over 14-Summit
11-Rahway over 6-Scotch Plains-Fanwood
7-Governor Livingston over 10-Roselle Park
2-Westfield over 18-Dayton

QUARTERFINALS
Cranford over Roselle Catholic
A.L. Johnson over Linden
Union over Rahway
Westfield over Governor Livingston

SEMIFINALS
Cranford over A.L. Johnson
Westfield over Union

FINAL
Westfield over Cranford

Saturday's county action

The game between ninth-seeded Rutgers Prep and eighth-seeded Mount St. Mary has been postponed until 4:30 p.m. Monday because of poor field conditions.

I will update the games that were played throughout the day

Here are Saturday's tournament scores:

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Bound Brook 9, Bernards 6
Somerville 9, Ridge 5
Watchung Hills 7, Pingry 0
Rutgers Prep at Mount St. Mary, PPD


HUNTERDON/WARREN TOURNAMENT
Delaware Valley 11, South Hunterdon 1
Phillipsburg 6, North Warren 5

SCT second round selections and HWT seeds and picks

The Somerset County Tournament resumes Saturday with second-round action.

Here are my official picks for the round:

9-Rutgers Prep at 8-Mount St. Mary
I’m going to go with Rutgers Prep here. Sure, the Mount Lions have played excellently, and yes, they could very well win this one, but I think the Argonauts have been looking forward to a game like this all season and with Alex Carisone and Alex Campanaro both pitching excellently, those arms might be too much for MSM to handle. I plan to cover this game in person, so, Mount Lions fans, feel free to boo me in person for picking against you.
MY PICK: Rutgers Prep 4-1

10-Bound Brook at 7-Bernards
The Crusaders have also played excellent ball as of late, and I could totally see them winning this game. But the Mountaineers, as inconsistent as they’ve been, have shown a penchant for showing up when the chips are down and nothing puts pressure on a team like a single-elimination tournament.
MY PICK: Bernards 5-3

11-Ridge at 6-Somerville
I originally picked Ridge to win this, but an 11-0 roasting by Rutgers Prep this week showed the Red Devils struggles might not only be about their brutal conference schedule.
MY PICK: Somerville 7-2

12-Pingry at 5-Watchung Hills
If the Warriors lose this game, the entire townships of Warren, Watchung, Green Brook and any other municipality that sends its kids to Watchung Hills should be TP’d, and I’m buying.
MY PICK: Watchung Hills 8-0

***

Now that the SCT picks are taken care of, let’s move on to new business: The 2008 Hunterdon/Warren Tournament.

The HWT seeds were released Thursday, and, not surprisingly, Hunterdon Central got the top pick.

The Red Devils are vying for their 12th bi-county crown.

The tournament kicks off with preliminary-round games this Saturday, with the quarterfinals slated for 2 p.m. May 3, the semifinals May 10, and the final at 11 a.m. May 17 at HealthQuest Field in the Flemington section of Raritan Township.

Here are the preliminary and quarterfinals matchups:

9-Phillipsburg at 8-North Warren, winner at 1-Hunterdon Central
5-Voorhees at 4-Hackettstown
6-Warren Hills at 3-Belvidere
10-South Hunterdon at 7-Delaware Valley, winner at 2-North Hunterdon.

And now for some overall picks – not a lot of surprises. Only the preliminary-round selections will count toward our tally (on the right of this page).


PRELIMS
North Warren over Phillipsburg
Delaware Valley over South Hunterdon


QUARTERFINALS
Hunterdon Central over North Warren
Voorhees over Hackettstown
Belvidere over Warren Hills
North Hunterdon over Delaware Valley

SEMIFINALS
Hunterdon Central over Voorhees
North Hunterdon over Belvidere

FINAL
Hunterdon Central over North Hunterdon, 4-2


PROGRAMMING NOTES:
1. It took an extra day, but the latest episode of the BATS and BALLS podcast is up and running at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia
It’s a wacky one.

2. The Union County Tournament is due to be seeded Saturday. I should have the brackets up on the blog by Monday.

NEWS AND NOTES

I think I'm going to have to change my pick of the Somerville-Ridge county game. Ridge got spanked by Rutgers Prep 11-0 on Monday, and, well, that's not getting it done. I will post my official picks for all four SCT second-round games on Friday evening.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood has some serious adversity to overcome, as ace right-hander Briana Mahoney had knee surgery Monday morning and is out for the season. The Raiders' first game since the news was a win, but it did not go as smoothly as SPF fans might have hoped, an 18-16 victory over Elizabeth. That's right, Elizabeth. If the Minutemen can score 16 runs off Raiders pitching, imagine what's going to happen when SPF faces a good team.


TUESDAY'S SLATE
Two succulent Somerset County/Skyland Delaware East game on tap for Tuesday as Watchung Hills visits Immaculata in a possible SCT quarterfinals preview, while Montgomery heads to Bridgewater-Raritan for what could be a look ahead at the SCT semifinals. Both games will have an impact on the race for the conference title.

MORE COUNTY TOURNAMENT NEWS
Both the Hunterdon/Warren and Union County tournaments are scheduled to be seeded this week. Of course, I will post those seeds as soon as I get them with analysis and predictions soon to follow.

PODCAST: EPISODE 4
This week's BATS and BALLS podcast is slated to be recorded Tuesday night and should be up online sometime Wednesday afternoon.

SCT first-round results

Here are Saturday’s Somerset County Tournament first-round results:

Ridge 8, North Plainfield 0
Bound Brook 20, Manville 1
Pingry 7, Gill St. Bernard’s 1
Rutgers Prep 14, Franklin 0

For more details on these games, check out Sunday’s edition of the Courier News, or online at http://www.c-n.com/


Oh, before I forget, I am 4-0 so far picking games!!
**BOWING**


Here are next Saturday's second-round games:


Rutgers Prep at Mount St. Mary
Bound Brook at Bernards
Ridge at Somerville
Pingry at Watchung Hills

Somerset County Tournament picks

After Franklin’s heartwarming 7-3 victory over Somerset Tech on Friday in the play-in game, the 2008 Somerset County Tournament is officially underway.

The Warriors had won just once since April 9, 2005 coming into Friday’s contest and hadn’t won a county tournament game since I don’t even know when (Franklin did win a string of titles in the 1980s).

Thursday, Franklin was bombarded by Hunterdon Central 35-0 – don’t get me started on that! – but rebounded nicely to beat the Runnin’ Jags in a game most observers picked Somerset Tech to win.

Now, on to some predictions.

DISCLAIMER: I was terrible at picking games last season, and even worse at picking the tournament. These predictions are being done now, but remember, things can change in a hurry and momentum can shift just as fast. I will pick games round-by-round when those matchups come set, and I will keep track of those predictions for your amusement.

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


FIRST ROUND - Saturday

9-Rutgers Prep over 17-Franklin – Nice win by the Warriors on Friday, but the honeymoon is over.

10- Bound Brook over 15-Manville – I should listen to my mother, who taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That said, if the Mustangs win, I’m taking full credit for getting them fired up!

11-Ridge over 14-North Plainfield – The Red Devils finally get a break from their brutal Delaware Division schedule.

12-Pingry over 13-Gill St. Bernard’s –Should be the best game of the day, but I think Pingry’s Colonial Hills experience trumps the Knights’ Patriot League slate.


Yeah, I know, I’m really going out on a limb with those picks. But here is where I think it will get interesting:


SECOND ROUND – April 26

9-Rutgers Prep over 8-Mount St. Mary – The Mount Lions lost a lot to graduation, while Rutgers Prep is on the upswing.

7-Bernards over 10-Bound Brook – The Mountaineers are having a nice little season, albeit somewhat inconsistent.

11-Ridge over 6-Somerville **UPSET SPECIAL!* - We’ll see if Ridge is a victim of a tough conference, or simply not a very good team.

5-Watchung Hills over 12-Pingry – Sorry, Big Blue, if you think things are tough in the Colonial Hills Conference, let me introduce you to the Skyland Delaware East.


QUARTERFINALS – May 3

1-Hillsborough over 9-Rutgers Prep – The Argonauts have come a long way, but they’re not quite ready for the big time.

2-Bridgewater-Raritan over Bernards – The Mountaineers are no pushovers, but it would take a perfectly played game to knock off the Panthers.

3-Montgomery over 11-Ridge – The Cougars would be the team that would benefit most by a Ridge upset in the second round. Then, at least, Montgomery coach Johnny Rooney can relax and not worry about getting kicked in the, um, head by the proverbial glass slipper. Eh, after what Montgomery’s been through lately, Rooney will probably be freebasing Tums in the Cougars’ dugout.

5-Watchung Hills over 4-Immaculata – That oughta get the Spartans faithful fired up! (yes, I’ve changed my mind on this game since the podcast).


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

2-Bridgewater-Raritan over 3-Montgomery – Rooney just switched from Tums to Xanax.

1-Hillsborough over 4-Watchung Hills –- Can you say SEVEN straight trips to the final for the Raiders?


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

I believe that Bridgewater-Rartan, on paper, has the best team in the county, but the Panthers have been snake-bit by the Raiders the past couple of seasons, including a 10-inning loss on an error earlier this season, as well as a loss in last year’s semifinals in which B-R gave up a lead late in the game.

Hillsborough’s got two very important advantages:
1. Experience. 2. Arguably, the most dominant pitcher in the area this season in Megan McInaw.

MY PICK: Hillsborough over Bridgewater-Raritan, 3-1

Let the ripping begin!

On the SCT seeding debate...

I have had several inquiries about why the SCT seeds came out the way they did.

The first thing you need to remember is that recent tournament history has proven that anything can happen, and just because a team might be ranked high going in, when the dust clears on May 10, someone very different can be standing there with the trophy.

In my opinion, any of the top five teams -- Hillsborough, B-R, Montgomery, Immaculata and Watchung Hills -- has what it takes to win it and it's going to come down to who gets hot, who executes, and who catches a couple of breaks along the way, while there are a couple of other squads that could sneak in.

That said, Hillsborough, in my opinion -- and in the opinion of all but two of the county's 17 head coaches, according to their votes -- is clearly the top seed.

The Raiders' only loss was to North Hunterdon, while they've beaten Bridgewater, Watchung HIlls and Immaculata.

As for the Montgomery-Immaculata thing, the key here is that according to the by-laws of the tournament, only games through TUESDAY count toward the seedings.

There was a big debate at the meeting whether or not the knowledge in the room of Immaculata's 11-0 win over Montgomery on Wednesday afternoon should affect how people vote. And while you cannot remove the knowledge from people's mind, ultimately it became clear that the Immaculata loss shouldn't be a factor.

Immaculata coach Bob Gillespie, of course, appealed the No. 4 seed -- and rightfully so -- and the final vote was 9-8 to uphold Montgomery's seeding.

Check out the latest Bats and Balls podcast, which should be up sometime today, for more on what went down at the meeting and how the brackets were set.

You can find the podcast at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia


PROGRAMMING NOTE:
I still plan to post my analysis about how this tournament will play out -- complete with picks, of course.

I know I've said I will post it here Thursday night, but at this point it's looking more like it will be up sometime Friday afternoon or early evening.

SCT seeds set

Here are the seeds for the 2008 Somerset County Tournament.

Check back here Thursday evening, and check out the latest podcast, which should be posted Thursday afternoon, for analysis and predictions.


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

Sowing the seeds

The Somerset County Tournament seeding meeting is scheduled for Wednesday night at Bridgewater-Raritan High School where all of the county’s coaches will gather to hash out the 2008 bracket.

I plan to attend, as usual, and the seeds will be posted here as soon as I get back. Check back Thursday evening for analysis and predictions for the tournament.

Also, listen to the BATS AND BALLS PODCAST, which will be recorded Wednesday evening after the seeds have been set.

Now that Tuesday’s results are in, here is how I would seed the tournament:


1. HILLSBOROUGH (5-1)
WINS: Immaculata, West Orange, Ridge, Bridgewater-Raritan, Watchung Hills
LOSSES: North Hunterdon
OUTLOOK: After an opening-day loss to two-time North 2 Group IV sectional champ North Hunterdon, Hillsborough has won five straight, including wins over three of the four other perennial contenders in the conference.
This was a tough choice between Montgomery and the Raiders for top seed, but ultimately it came down to two things:
A. Hillsborough has beaten three of the county’s elite, while Montgomery has just one victory against those squads. A scheduling side effect, sure, but fact, none-the-less.
B. Hillsborough has made six straight SCT championship games and beat Montgomery in last year’s semifinals.

2. MONTGOMERY (7-2)
WINS: Voorhees, Watchung Hills, West Windsor-Plainsboro North, Middlesex, Paul VI, Rutgers Prep, Franklin.
LOSSES: Hunterdon Central, St. Joseph-Hammonton
OUTLOOK: Granted, the Cougars’ two losses have come to the Courier News’ No. 1 team and the fifth and sixth-ranked team in the state, according to the Gannett Top 20 poll, but Montgomery had its collective heads handed to them in those games and have not looked great in several of its wins. That said, the Cougars are more than capable of beating anyone in this tournament and, as usual, should be considered a favorite to reclaim the crown they won in 2006.

3. BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN (4-2)
WINS: Roselle Park, Phillipsburg, Franklin, Immaculata
LOSSES: North Hunterdon, Hillsborough
OUTLOOK: An extra-innings loss to Hillsborough on Monday means the preseason favorite will be denied the top seed, but, in the eyes of many (myself included), the Panthers are still the team to beat.

4. IMMACULATA (4-4)
WINS: Middlesex, Rutgers Prep, Phillipsburg, Governor Livingston
LOSSES: Westfield, Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough, Bridgewater-Raritan
OUTLOOK: The defending champion Spartans are struggling, offensively, in the early season as Kaitlyn Piazzolla is the only proven bat in the Spartans lineup with Jen Lapicki’s graduation. Still, with Piazzolla’s arm, and with Kat Cannell’s stick having come on of late, the Spartans could be dangerous. Immaculata gets the nod over Watchung Hills mostly because of its status as reigning champion.

5. WATCHUNG HILLS (3-2)
WINS: Ridge, Governor Livingston, Warren Hils
LOSSES: Montgomery, Hillsborough
OUTLOOK: The Warriors’ only losses have come to the two teams likely to be seeded in the top 3 in this tournament. Senior Lydia deMartino pitched in the semifinals as a sophomore, and if the Warriors return, that experience could pay off.

**** PLEASE NOTE: If Immaculata beats Montgomery on Wednesday, I would move Montgomery down between Immaculata and Watchung Hills. If Montgomery blows out Immaculata, I would consider flipping the Spartans with Watchung Hills in the bracket ****

6. SOMERVILLE (5-2)
WINS: Hackettstown, North Warren, Mount St. Mary, Rutgers Prep, North Plainfield.
LOSSES: Belvidere, Bernards.
OUTLOOK: Yes, I am well aware that Bernards beat Somerville 5-4 Tuesday night, but here’s my dilemma: Bernards beat Somerville, Mount St. Mary beat Bernards, and Somerville beat Mount St. Mary.
The key is that the Pioneers also beat Rutgers Prep, which gave Immaculata a run in their game last week. Plus, I believe Somerville is the non-Delaware Division team best equipped to make a run, with two quality pitchers in Lindsay Lehman and Lindsey Ciresa.

7. MOUNT ST. MARY (3-2)
WINS: South Hunterdon, Bernards, Delaware Valley
LOSSES: Somerville, North Warren
OUTLOOK: The Mount Lions were hit hard by graduation, especially in the circle, but Mount St. Mary has still managed to keep its head above water in the Raritan Division. As a quarterfinalist last season, and with its only county loss to Somerville, MSM gets the nod here.

8. BERNARDS (4-4)
WINS: South Hunterdon, North Warren, Franklin, Somerville
LOSSES: Chatham, Delaware Valley, Belvidere, Mount St. Mary
OUTLOOK: The Mountaineers have been as inconsistent as their record indicates, and, with the right matchup, could win a couple of games in this tournament.

9. RUTGERS PREP (4-3)
WINS: Princeton Day, Pennington, Bound Brook, Gill St. Bernard’s
LOSSES: Immaculata, Somerville, Montgomery
OUTLOOK: The Argonauts had designs on a top seed when the season began and loaded their schedule with some of the county’s top teams to try and prove their worth. And while some of those games were rained out, the only public school Rutgers Prep managed to beat was Bound Brook, though it did play well against Immaculata and Somerville.

10. RIDGE (0-6)
WINS: None
LOSSES: North Hunterdon, Watchung Hills, Morristown, Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough, Warren Hills
OUTLOOK: Four of Ridge’s six losses have come to the elite of the Skyland Conference, including the top two teams in the Courier News Top 10 (Central and North), and the likely top seed in this tournament in Hillsborough. The Red Devils scored their first run of the season Tuesday in a 6-1 loss to Warren Hills, but should have no trouble against some of the lesser teams in this tournament. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see the Red Devils in the quarterfinals.

11. PINGRY (2-5)
WINS: Morristown-Beard, St. Elizabeth
LOSSES: Cedar Grove, Montclair Kimberly, Newark Academy, Villa Walsh, Morris Catholic.
OUTLOOK: No doubt the Big Blue have struggled, but the Colonial Hills Conference is no joke and I would like to think Pingry’s record would be better if they were playing in, say, the Skyland Conference Valley Division.

12. BOUND BROOK (2-4)
WINS: Manville, Somerset Tech
LOSSES: Delaware Valley, Rutgers Prep, Hackettstown, Belvidere
OUTLOOK: Bound Brook was my preseason pick in the Valley Division. Shows how much I know.

**** PLEASE NOTE: Should Bound Brook beat Somerville on Wednesday afternoon prior to the seeding meeting, I would drop Somerville down behind Bernards, and move Bound Brook ahead of Ridge and behind Rutgers Prep. ****

13. GILL ST. BERNARD’S (5-2)
WINS: Kent Place, Sussex Tech, Saddle River Day, Purnell, Ranney
LOSSES: Rutgers Prep, Wardlaw-Hartridge
OUTLOOK: A very good Prep team, but nothing more.

14. SOMERSET TECH (4-2)
WINS: Newark Tech, Morris Tech, East Brunswick Tech, Bloomfield Tech
LOSSES: Sussex Tech, Bound Brook
OUTLOOK: At 4-2, the Runnin’ Jags have already matched their win-output of a year ago when they went 4-10 in their first season as a varsity squad. Somerset Tech should avoid the play-in game this season.

15. FRANKLIN (0-6)
WINS: NONE
LOSSES: Warren Hills, Bridgewater-Raritan, Bernards, Voorhees, Princeton, Montgomery
OUTLOOK: Warriors coach Mary Pat Lelinski successfully lobbied to keep the 15th seed last season ahead of North Planfield and avoid the play-in game, despite being winless then, like now. I’ll save her the trouble this year. Sure, Franklin is 0-6, but when you match the Warriors’ level of competition against anyone else in the bottom half of this bracket, there’s no contest.

16. NORTH PLAINFIELD (1-6)
WINS: Manville
LOSSES: Delaware Valley, South Hunterdon, North Brunswick, Somerville, North Warren, Hackettstown
OUTLOOK: Take heart Canucks fans; you get to face Manville once more this season.

17. MANVILLE (0-5)
WINS: NONE
LOSSES: Bound Brook, North Plainfield, Delaware Valley, South Hunterdon, Belvidere
OUTLOOK: Memo to Manville athletic director Pat LaMastro: Might I recommend scheduling a couple of tech schools next season?

Latest poll results

Here are the results for the latest poll:

Who do you think should get the top seed in the Somerset County Tournament?
Bridgewater-Raritan 42%
Montgomery 18%
Hillsborough 13%
Other 13%
Rutgers Prep 7%
Somerville 5%

Look for a new poll Thursday

Righting a wrong

The powers that be in the Skyland Conference are scheduled to meet Wednesday to decide, among other things, the fate of the duel crossover games between teams in the Raritan and Valley Divisions. And, according to a source, there’s an excellent chance the schools in the two lower divisions will only have play each other once starting next fall.

The Skyland Conference expanded prior to the 2006-07 school year when Immaculata, Ridge, North Plainfield, Mount St. Mary, Bound Brook and Manville moved west from the Mountain Valley Conference, and Bernards, came down from the Colonial Hills Conference to join the Skyland.

The league, which originally consisted of just two divisions – the Delaware for Group III and IV schools, and the Raritan, for Group I and II schools – was split into four divisions: The Delaware East, Delaware West, Raritan and Valley.

Now the Delaware divisions, which were divided geographically into two six-team divisions, consists of mostly Group IV schools, plus Warren Hills and Voorhees, which are Group III, and Immaculata, which is a always a force in Non-Public A.

In those divisions, where crossover games count, each team plays opponents from its own division twice, and opponents from the other division once, giving each squad 16 conference games – nine short of the 25 total regular-season games allowed each season by the NJSIAA.

Fine, great, outstanding. Works awesome. Wonderful idea.

Not so in the Valley and Raritan divisions.

The first issue is that crossover games between the Raritan Division -- which, for softball, consists of Group II squads Bernards, Delaware Valley, Mount St. Mary, Hackettstown and Somerville -- and the Valley Division -- which consists of Group I schools Bound Brook, Manville, South Hunterdon, Belvidere and North Warren – count in the standings, which is an obvious advantage for the upper division, but at least everyone is standing on the same ground.

But the bigger issue is that teams in the Raritan and Valley have to play each other twice, which means 20 conference games a year, which not only limits teams’ ability to schedule more interesting and more competitive non-conference games, but the Valley Division schools now have virtually no shot to qualify for the state tournament.

Case and point:

Last season, Belvidere was the only team in the Valley Division to make states. The County Seaters went 7-5 against Raritan Division opponents, and a perfect 8-0 against the Valley.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Valley Division was a combined 13-38 in crossover games.

But is anyone really surprise?

If there’s a case to be made for keeping the status quo and continue to watch the Raritan Division teams beat up on their Valley Division counterparts, someone please present it to me. I sure don’t see it.

Al Roker hates softball

I don't mean to pick on the noted NBC weatherman, but I figured it was safer for my soul to take a shot at a prominent, recognizable name in weather prediction than, say, the man upstairs.

But hey, it's Saturday morning. I just went outside and you know what, it's a pretty nice day. Still, that doesn't change the fact that a whole bunch of games have been canceled for the today, including Bound Brook at Somerville, which I had planned to attend.

This is the second straight weekend that Saturday's weather forecast was grim all week, only to have it turn out to be a nice day. Yet, once against the day's games were washed out.

I can only hope that these cancellations are being done because of poor field conditions and not in anticipation based on weather reports. We know how accurate those always are.

I understand, for logistical purposes -- busses, umpires, etc. -- a decision needs to be made as far in advance as possible, but all I'm saying, athletic directors, is don't jump the gun.

Everyone likes to kick back on a Saturday -- I'm fired up I won't miss Mets-Brewers -- but we have such a short window to get these games in, and plenty of days with actual bad weather, that we should do our best to get these games played when we're able, and be sure they're unplayable before canceling them.

And while I'm venting, how the heck is Kristy Lee Cook still alive on American Idol???


PROGRAMMING NOTES

* This week's softball notebook actually made it online! Yay! It can be found at http://c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/SPORTS03/804120316/1013.
For the latest Top 10, as well as the Softball Athlete of the Week, check out the VARSITY section of the print edition of the Courier News.

* After a one-day delay, the latest podcast is also up and running since Thursday. You can check that out at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia.
If you cannot find the April 10 episode, try using the direct link on the C-N.com home page.


COMING NEXT WEEK

MONDAY:
There's talk of eliminating the duel-crossover games in the Raritan and Valley Divisions of the Skyland Conference, starting next season. I am all for this. Monday, on The Inner Circle, I will tell you why.

TUESDAY NIGHT:
In advance of Wednesday night's seeding meeting, I will break down the Somerset County Tournament following Tuesday's games. I will share how I would see the tournament, complete with team-by-team analysis and my reasons for why I will rank the teams the way I do.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
Check back at the Inner Circle after 9 p.m. as I will post the actual seeds as soon as I return from the meeting at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. We will also record the year's third episode of the Bats and Balls podcast that night, where -- among other things -- we will review the seeds, provide an overview of the tournament, and I will set myself up to look the fool, as usual, with some general predictions.

THURSDAY:
I will take an in-depth look at the tournament, and, of course, try and fully predict how it will turn out. After my woeful run at prognosticating last season, I think I'm going to keep a tally on The Inner Circle as to how well my predictions go this time around, just so you can all laugh at me.

Looking at Thursday

Four key games on the schedule today, all of which will impact conference races and the seeding of the upcoming Somerset County Tournament.

Today's featured matchup, which my colleague, Jerry Carino, will cover for the Courier News, has defending Skyland Conference Delaware East Division champion Montgomery traveling across county lines to take on defending Delaware West champ Hunterdon Central.

It's the Courier News' No. 3 team vs. No. 1 and I expect this to be a war.

Montgomery stumbled a bit Tuesday, but still managed a 9-6 victory over Watchung Hills, and while Central has cruised through the season's first week and change, this will be the Red Devils' first real test against an elite team.

Second-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan, meanwhile, will be at No. 4 North Hunterdon today in a game that is reportedly to be televised on Comcast (not sure if it's going to be live, or broadcast taped at a later date).

North has looked great in the early going and has shown no ill-effects from graduation losses. The Panthers, meanwhile, have designs on their first-ever conference title, and this will be a key game in that quest.

While the big guns battle in Hunterdon County, Valley Division contender Bound Brook will make the trip up to Warren County to meet defending conference champ Belvidere.

If the Crusaders are going to be major players in the conference, this is a must-win for Courtney Wood and friends. The County Seaters have already knocked off a couple of Raritan Division teams, including Somerville.

Speaking of the Pioneers, Somerville will play host to Rutgers Prep today as the Argonauts continue to try and make inroads against the county's top public school squads.

Rutgers Prep played a very competitive game against Immaculata yesterday -- falling 4-2 -- and the game with Somerville today will directly impact where both these teams end up seeded in the Somerset County Tournament, which will be seeded next Wednesday night, April 16.

There's rain in the forecast all weekend, so enjoy the softball while you can.


PROGRAMMING NOTES:

The second episode of the Bats and Balls podcast should be up online sometime this afternoon. Technical difficulties prevented it from going up Wednesday like we hoped, but I've been assured it will be up and running by today.

The podcast can be accessed at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

Also, the first full softball notebook package of the season will run in Saturday's VARSITY section of the Courier News, complete with notebook, standings, Softball Athlete of the Week, and the latest Top 10.

Here's hoping it gets up online this time around.

PROGRAMMING NOTES

The second episode of the Bats and Balls podcast was recorded Tuesday night and should be up and at you sometime Wednesday.

Check it out at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

The season’s first poll vote is over, and according to you, the readers of The Inner Circle, you feel Bridgewater-Raritan will win the Skyland Conference Delaware East Division.

Here is the final tally:

Bridgewater-Raritan 32%
Immaculata 24%
Montgomery 18%
Franklin 11%
Watchung Hills 8%
Hillsborough 5 %

Check out the new poll on the right of this page. You will have one week to vote.

Week 1 musings

After a wet opening day that saw about half the games postponed, a wetter Friday that cancelled the entire slate, and a Saturday that looks grim with a bunch of games already washed out, let’s take a look at what some of what did get in this week means for our area squads.

Life isn’t fair, but nobody at Hunterdon Central feels bad about it, I’m sure.

Every year, the Red Devils lose talent to graduation, and every year they reload, win their conference, and are right in the thick of things in Hunterdon/Warren county and Group IV.

This year’s potential gem has a familiar last name, but is wearing an unfamiliar uniform.

Freshman right-hander Courtney Yard made her debut for Hunterdon Central on Thursday and matched up with Immaculata and veteran right-hander Kaitlyn Piazzolla, and Yard came out on top as Meghan Everett’s two-out, 2-run double in the 10th inning boosted the Red Devils to 2-0.

You might recognize Yard’s last name. She is the cousin of former Hillsborough standouts Chrissy Yard (grad. 2005) and Katie Yard (grad. 2007).

She’ll be in a rotation with senior righty Jenna Carmon, among others.

For Immaculata, meanwhile, it was their second heartbreaking defeat in as many games.

The Spartans opened Wednesday against Westfield and fell 2-1, as the Blue Devils got a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

No surprise that Immaculata is still having trouble scoring runs and that Piazzolla is keeping the Spartans in games.

I keep saying this, and I’ll keep saying this; Immaculata’s going to have to find some offense soon or – considering the conference they play in – they’ll have plenty of time to study for finals come state tournament time.

The Spartans managed just 4.3 runs per game last year, and just 3.2 against Skyland Conference Delaware Division opponents not named Franklin. And that was with Jen Lapicki in the lineup.

By the way, Saturday’s Immaculata-Rutgers Prep game has already been postponed until April 9.

Elsewhere in the Skyland Delaware, North Hunterdon has to be encouraged by its start.

The Lions beat Ridge 2-0 on opening day, and came back Thursday and blanked Hillsborough 3-0.

Kudos to Jenna Gonzalez, who is now North’s ace after she split time with Ali Freedman last year.

More importantly, kudos to the Lions’ offense for not letting the loss of Sam Pellechio to graduation get them down.

Take note, Immaculata.

And while we’re all taking notes, jot this down; I think Voorhees will be one of the surprise stories of 2008.

The Vikings’ 9-0 blanking of Warren Hills on opening day was an eye-opener. I know the Blue Streaks lost a lot to graduation, but for Voorhees to thoroughly dominate a team that went to the Hunterdon/Warren final last season, well, that tells me something.

I’m not saying Voorhees is going to win the conference – especially when you consider it has to play North and Central twice, as well as those East Division teams we all know and love – but the Vikings went 5-12 last year, and that simply isn’t going to happen again.

Before I wrap things up, for those real softball junkies out there that will be chomping at the bit when all the high school games get rained out, if you still need a fix, head down to Rutgers on Saturday.

The Scarlet Knights softball team will be facing the University of South Florida, and former Governor Livingston right-hander and New Jersey's all-time strikeout queen Capri Catalano will be pitching for the Bulls in the second game of the doubleheader.

I will leave you with this thought:
How bad must Elizabeth be if Piscataway can beat them 26-3??

Piscataway isn’t exactly the cream of the GMC Red. The Chiefs won just three games last season, and then lost their top players to graduation, and has lost its other two games of this season by a combined score of 16-1.

Now we know why Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood want to stay in the Watchung Conference. Two games a year against Elizabeth!! Not to mention those games with East Side, Irvington, etc.

SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK AND TOP 10 RUNNING SATURDAY. DON’T MISS IT!

Off and running

While much of Tuesday's opening-day slate was washed out, and most of Wednesday's games featured out-of-conference games, Thursday promises to be a solid day of softball action (see previous post for key matchups).

Some programming notes:

* The first notebook of the season will run in Saturday's VARSITY section of the Courier News (complete with updated Top 10 -- I mean it this time).

* The second episode of the Bats and Balls podcast is scheduled to be recorded Tuesday night, and should be up sometime Wednesday afternoon.

* The new feature on The Inner Circle -- the poll -- has been a rousing success, as many of you have cast your vote. Look for a new poll early next week, and a fresh question each Monday.


Here's hoping the rain stays away!