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

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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.