Simeon Pincus: The Inner Circle

THE INNER CIRCLE HAS MOVED!!!!!

2009-03-25T19:11:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's true, this will be the last post here on Blogger, as we've moved to the Courier News' Web site, MyCentralJersey.com

And while this site will remain up for archive purposes, for new posts, as well as some new aspects of The Inner Circle, check out the new site at:

http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/softball

See you there!

Tick.. tock....

2009-03-22T20:26:00.002-04:00

Opening day of the 2009 varsity softball season -- April 1 -- is coming up fast.

I will resume regular blogging at that time.

Until then, you can look forward to the Courier News softball preview, due out Tuesday, March 31!

Who is your preseason #1?

Franklin seeks to join GMC

2009-01-22T15:58:00.003-05:00

In case you missed Greg Tufaro's story in Thursday's Courier News and Home News Tribune, Franklin has applied for membership in the Greater Middlesex Conference starting in 2010.

Here's a link to Greg's tale

I guess I can't blame Franklin for wanting to move. As one of the reasons Greg mentioned in the story, the Warriors have not been competitive in the Skyland Conference in most girls sports over the past decade and change, and would definitely find better competitive balance in the GMC.

From a softball perspective, while we'll surely miss a program that did have plenty of success in the 70s and 80s, for the good of the student-athletes, I support the move.

ON a related topic, Pingry and Gill St. Bernard's are set to join the Skyland Conference this fall, with rumors abound that Rutgers Prep is to follow (I'll have to try and confirm that at some point, for now it's just rumor).

Of course, with the additions and Franklin's possible secession, the divisions will have to be realligned, which should be another interesting topic for debate when the time comes.

T-minus 68 days until softball season begins!

Changes to SCT schedule coming in 2009

2009-01-05T17:38:00.001-05:00

Happy new year, everyone!

Now that it is officially 2009, it wouldn’t be too much of a reach if we started looking ahead to the new season – now less than three months away!

There has officially been a key change made to the Somerset County Tournament schedule, tournament director and Bridgewater-Raritan High School athletic director John Maggio announced today.

I saw John a while back at a soccer game, and he told me some of the changes we had thrown around during the tournament last season were going to be put in for this year.

Today it became official.

The semifinals, which had been played on Wednesday night between the quarterfinals and final at North Branch Park, will now be played on Saturday at the higher-seeded team, moving the final back a week.

The championship game will continue to be played under the lights at North Branch Park.

This is a great move, and I applaud John for making it happen.

The biggest problem with the way the tournament was scheduled in the past was two-fold:

1 – The seeding meeting is too early. Depending on the season and how much rain we get, teams have come into the seeding meeting have played as few as only two or three games, making it nearly impossible for the coaches to properly seed the tournament, especially the newer coaches who don’t really have a feel for which teams are historically dominant in the county.

2 – With the semifinals being played Wednesday night, it means that the result of that game counts toward qualifying for the state tournament, which is that Friday. Also, with most teams playing conference games Tuesdays and Thursdays, teams advancing in the tournament have a disadvantage, including being up late playing on a school night (the later game usually doesn’t end until around 10pm).

It isn’t easy to fix both these problems, simply because of the time-frame the state allows for the softball season to be played, but it’s great to see one of them was corrected.

Opening day of the spring season cannot happen until April 1. And since the state tournament starts in the third week of May, it isn’t possible to extend the county tournament past the start of states.

Therefore the choice had to be made whether to start the tournament a week later – allowing for the seeding meeting to happen a week later – or to move the final back a week, correcting the problem of having the semis on Wednesday night.

Now, while we have to walk before we can run, perhaps the tournament committee can consider doing what they do in Union County and Middlesex County, where they play multiple games per week in the opening round.

Here is one proposal, off the top of my head, and I ask you, dear readers, to correct me if I’ve overlooked anything.

Move the seeding meeting back a week. Start the tournament that weekend, with a play-in game Friday and the preliminary round with the 9-16 seeds Saturday – as is done now.

Then, the following Wednesday afternoon, you have the surviving teams face the 5-8 seeds, setting up the quarterfinals the following Saturday on the day that you normally play the second round.

Then you have the semifinals the next Saturday (the day after the cutoff for states), and the championship game the Saturday night after that, ending the tournament before states begin.

The only problem I can see is that now, instead of having four teams playing in a Wednesday night semifinal, you have eight teams playing in Wednesday earlier-round games (of course, not having to play at night would be helpful toward the fatigue factor).

But, like I said, one thing at a time.

2009 SCT TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

WED, 4/15: Seeding meeting at Bridgewater High School, 7:30 p.m.
FRI, 4/17: Play-in game (No. 17 seed at No. 16 seed)
SAT, 4/18: First-round games @ 11 a.m. at higher seed
SAT, 4/25: Second-round game @ 11 a.m. at higher seed
SAT, 5/2: Quarterfinals @ 2:30 p.m. (SAT day) at higher seed
SAT, 5/9: Semifinals @ 11 a.m. at higher seed
SAT, 5/16: Final @ 7:30 p.m. at North Branch Park.

Harabedian, Matthew commit to D-I

2008-12-22T17:34:00.004-05:00

Two local softball players have signed National Letters of Intent to Division I college programs this winter.

Hunterdon Central senior shortstop Jenny Harabedian, who helped the Red Devils to their eighth Hunterdon/Warren Tournament title in the past 10 years last season and their 21st straight conference crown, will play for Rutgers University, while Westfield third baseman/pitcher Cyndil Matthew has committed to the University of Massachusetts.

Harabedian batted .467 with 33 RBIs as a junior last season, and blasted 9 home runs to tie a Hunterdon Central record.

Her keynote address came in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Hunterdon/Warren final against North Hunterdon when she hit a 3-run home run to dead-center field to turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 cushion.

As a sophomore, Harabedian hit .400, with 5 doubles, 7 triples, 6 home runs and 27 RBIs.

Matthew, who was named first-team all-Area by the Courier News in each of the past two seasons, hit .625 for Westfield with 7 home runs, 27 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

In the circle, Matthew went 9-4 with a 0.88 ERA, and struck out 117 hitters in 79 2/3 innings.

Matthew hit .642 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs and 34 RBIs her sophomore year, playing exclusively third base.

***

Just over three months left until softball season, folks!!

On behalf of myself and the Courier News sports staff, here's wishing you and yours a very happy holidays and a prosperous new year.

All-Area is here

2008-06-20T01:00:00.002-04:00

The 2008 Courier News All-Area package is out today and is available in its entirety in the print edition of the paper.

Most of it is also available online at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/

Here are some direct links:

For the final notebook CLICK HERE

For the feature on 2008 Courier News Coach of the Year, Jeff Steele of North Hunterdon, CLICK HERE

For the feature on 2008 Courier News Player of the Year Lauren Fitzsimmons CLICK HERE

For a capsule look at the other 2008 first-teamers CLICK HERE

Here are the All-Area teams and honorable mention, followed by the season's final Top 10:

FIRST TEAM
P-Lauren Fitzsimmons, Bridgewater-Raritan, Sr.
P-Jenna Gonzalez, North Hunterdon, Sr.
P-Megan McInaw, Hillsborough, Sr.
P-Alyssa Sutherland, South Plainfield, Jr.
C-Erica Gaeta, Hunterdon Central, Sr.
1B-Lindsay Durant, Bridgewater-Raritan, Sr.
2B-Colleen Trecartin, North Hunterdon, Sr.
SS-Jenny Harabedian, Hunterdon Central, Jr.
3B-Cyndil Matthew, Westfield, Jr.
OF-Meghan Everett, Hunterdon Central, Sr.
OF-Hilary Murray, North Hunterdon, Sr.
OF-Jeanette Ragucci, Voorhees, Sr.
DH-Katelyn Derewecki, Hillsborough, Sr.
Util-Jenna Carmon, Hunterdon Central, Sr.

SECOND TEAM
P-Lydia deMartino, Watchung Hills, Sr.
P-Lindsay Lehman, Somerville, Sr.
P-Kaitlyn Piazzolla, Immaculata, Sr.
P-Courtney Yard, Hunterdon Central, Fr.
C-Erin Siejk, Watchung Hills, Sr.
1B-Megan Alexander, Hillsborough, Sr.
2B-Stephanie Goines, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Sr.
SS-Katie Occhipinti, Pingry, Sr.
3B-Katie Watts, Ridge, Sr.
OF-Lindsey Ciresa, Somerville, Sr.
OF-Ally Hanlon, Hunterdon Central, Sr.
OF-Kristen Sheft, RutgersPrep, Jr.
DH-Blair Curzi, North Hunterdon, So.
Util-Alex Campanaro, Rutgers Prep, Fr.

THIRD TEAM
P-Jennifer Goldberg, Warldaw-Hartridge, Jr.
P-Casey Niper, Montgomery, So.
P-Gina Richardella, Gill St. Bernard's, Fr.
P-Alex Tragno, New Providence, Sr.
C-Megan Kryeling, Dunellen, Sr.
1B-Kaylee Fry, BoundBrook, Sr.
2B—Shannon Deegan, Union Catholic, Jr.
SS-Katie Zolli, Union Catholic, Jr.
3B-Katie Muglia, South Plainfield, So.
OF-Laura Burger, Watchung Hills, Jr.
OF-Katie Pires, Governor Livingston, Sr.
OF-Katie Abruzzo, Westfield, So.
DH-Jen Disch, South Plainfield, Jr.
Util-Liz Miller, Dunellen, Jr.

HONORABLE MENTION
Bernards: Nicole Fresella, Kelly Lallis, Rebecca Sewell, Meghan Sundberg;
Bound Brook: Kristen Longo, Kasey Ludwig, Jillian Mondrone;
Bridgewater-Raritan: Maria Cano, Carianne D'Allessandro, Sammy DeSimone;
Delaware Valley: Amy Mesce;
Dunellen: Michelle Pakenham, Alex Ruskuski;
Franklin: Arielle Liotine;
Gill St. Bernard's: Katie Carbone, Alyssa Creegan;
Governor Livingston: Nicole Koszowski, Christina Kushner, Cat Sacco;
Hillsborough: Margaret Gilroy, Kristi Ann Ivone, Tara Van Doren;
Hunterdon Central: Annmarie Forenza;
Immaculata: Kat Cannell, Ali Cullen, Ariel Doering, Ashley Hartshorn;
Manville: Sam Aichele;
Middlesex: Michelle Casale, Jackie Ferraro;
Montgomery: Elora Daniele, Abby Gray, Taylor Zahn;
Mount St. Mary: Tori Breen, Julia Kennedy, Gina Quartorolo, Alex Russomagno, Marisa Villa;
New Providence: Michelle Ciarrocca, Kelly Marchisio, Caitlin Sneeden;
North Hunterdon: Caitlin McGourty, Sam Rayhon, Rebecca Schaefer, Jenna Taylor;
North Plainfield: Amanda Costello, Tiffany Murphy;
Plainfield: Aliya Davis, Devyn Hale;
Ridge: Sam Fama;
Rutgers Prep: Kelly Prendergast, Anna Steinman;
Scotch Plains-Fanwood: Kelly Cianciotta, Nikki Mineo, Saxoney Neilsen;
Somerset Tech: Jessica Popik, Rebecca Popik;
Somerville: Janelle Jegou, Kim Sacchi, Korri Thompson;
South Hunterdon: Corrine Hart, Amanda Nielsen, Tori Smeigocki;
South Plainfield: Stephanie Szeliga;
Timothy Christian: Sara Poole, Ashley Sivo, Courtney Soucek;
Union Catholic: Angela Sessa;
Wardlaw-Hartridge: Nicole Kopidakis, Alison Monte, Tara Pretty;
Westfield: Katie Esler, Alex Pecora.

FINAL SOFTBALL TOP 10
1. Hunterdon Central 26-2
2. North Hunterdon 25-4
3. Hillsborough 19-6
4. Bridgewater-Raritan 22-7
5. South Plainfield 21-6
6. Westfield 17-6
7. Immaculata 16-12
8. Watchung Hills 12-11
9. Montgomery 15-12
10. Somerville 21-5

ALL-AREA DATE

2008-06-13T17:22:00.000-04:00

After some editorial issues, it has been determined that softball All-Area will run in the Friday, June 20 edition of the Courier News.

I don't expect this to change again.

Sorry for the confusion.

This is the end...

2008-06-11T19:40:00.000-04:00

The final podcast of the season was recorded Tuesday night and is now up at www.mycentraljersey.com, and features, among other things, a look back at the season, as well as a glance at the postseason awards, including the hotly contested battle going on in the polls on this blog.

For a direct link, CLICK HERE

Five awarded scholarships

2008-06-10T14:48:00.000-04:00

ZONED Sports Academy Inc., a training and teaching facility for baseball and softball, has announced the winners of its second annual $10,000.00 Baseball/Softball Scholar-Athlete Scholarship Award, and five local players have been recognized.

According to the press release, scholarships are given to athletes in recognition of their athletic accomplishments, educational success, and community service work, and are applicable to each individual’s first year of matriculation.

This year’s winners for softball are: Katie Watts of Ridge; Megan McInaw and Katelyn Derewecki of Hillsborough; Sarah Pangia of Montgomery; and Jenna Carmon of Hunterdon Central.

Baseball winners are Patrick Doyle of Watchung Hills and Robert Colucci of Immaculata.

“These scholarships recognize athletes who have succeeded in far more than baseball and softball,” said Duke Baxter of ZONED Sports Academy. “They recognize each of these athletes as well rounded individuals whose accomplishments reach well beyond the diamonds they play on. They are true champions in their schools, homes and communities.

“These scholarships provide a way for us at ZONED to recognize and give back to these young role models as well as for those who will follow in their footsteps in years to come.”

ZONED Sports Academy Inc. can be reached on 732-537-1770 or on the web at www.zonedinc.com.

PODCAST: WEEK 10

2008-06-06T13:27:00.000-04:00

The latest edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast was recorded Thursday night and is up at www.MyCentralJersey.com.

For a direct link CLICK HERE

Bittersweet symphony

2008-06-06T12:39:00.000-04:00

It was another exciting, very enjoyable season of varsity softball that has now come to an end. And for me, the most difficult phase of the season has come: Choosing the postseason awards and picking the All-Area teams.

Sure, it's fun to look back on the season and compile stats and performances. But, like every year, certain very deserving people are going to be inevitably left out simply because of the numbers crunch, and I feel a lot of pressure to get it as right as I possibly can.

As usual, I will be selecting a Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, first, second and third team All-Area, as well as Honorable Mention for the 2008 All-Area Softball teams scheduled for release on Wednesday, June 18.

Each team consists of four pitchers, three outfielders, a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop and third baseman, as well as a designated hitter and a utility player (the latter two can be from any position).

I have already begun calling coaches, getting their nominees, stats, as well as their opinions on other players in the area, and I extend the same question to you, the readers:

The Courier News area consists of all of Somerset County and all of Hunterdon County, as well as Westfield, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Plainfield, Governor Livingston, New Providence and Union Catholic in Union County, plus Dunellen, Piscataway, Middlesex, Wardlaw-Hartridge, Timothy Christian and South Plainfield in Middlesex County.

I have narrowed Coach of the Year and Player of the Year to a few candidates, my only criteria being that the team won something (county, conference, section), and I am very interested in opinions on those awards as well as the All-Area teams, so feel free to comment here or send me an email at CourierSoftball@aol.com.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES
Not all of these players are guaranteed to make first team. Like I said, numbers crunch.

Jenna Carmon, Hunterdon Central, senior, pitcher/first base
Undefeated in 16 decisions as a pitcher, one of the big bats in the lineup for the Hunterdon/Warren and co-Skyland Delaware West champs.

Jenna Gonzalez, North Hunterdon, senior, pitcher
Ace righty had a great year for the North 2, Group IV and co-Skyland Delaware West champs and showed to be more than resilient when she didn't have her best stuff.

Lauren Fitzsimmons, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior, pitcher
Did not allow a run in the Somerset County Tournament -- throwing a near-perfect game in the semis and a no-hitter in the final. Did not allow a run in the state tournament until North Hunterdon's late-inning comeback, and even then, did not allow many hard-hit balls.

Jenny Harabedian, Hunterdon Central, junior, shortstop
The top bat in Central's lineup tied a school record with nine homers. Hit a game-breaking three-run blast in Hunterdon/Warren final

Lindsay Lehman, Somerville, senior, pitcher
Emerged as the Pioneers' ace and pitched Somerville to the Raritan Division crown

Megan McInaw, Hillsborough, senior, pitcher
Used her bat and her arm to lead Hillsborough to the Skyland Delaware East championship. Came within one extra inning, international-tiebreaker loss of the Raiders seventh straight trip to SCT final, and lost 1-0 to the eventual Central Jersey Group IV champs in the semifinals.

Did I miss someone? Let me know.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Criteria: Team must have won something. Must not have won the award in previous five seasons (i.e. Hillsborough's Cheryl Iaione was 2003 Coach of the Year, and South Plainfield's Don Panzarella was Coach of the Year in 2005, and are ineligible).

Sandy Baranowski, Bridgewater-Raritan
Led the Panthers to their first county crown since 1998 and first-ever sectional final. B-R won 22 games -- most in school history.

Heidi Kearnan, Rutgers Prep
Returning to the Argonauts bench after an 11-year hiatus, Kearnan has taken big steps toward building Rutgers Prep into a program that can not only continue to dominate the Patriot League and the Prep B Tournament -- Argos won their third straight title this season -- but can be a force in Somerset County and the NJSIAA, which they're reportedly scheduled to join in 2009-2010.

Regina Rossi, Somerville
Balancing a three-arm pitching staff in her second year at the helm, Rossi led the Pioneers to the Raritan Division crown

Jeff Steele, North Hunterdon
The Lions won a share of the Skyland Delaware West and won the North 2, Group IV title for the third straight season. Team showed a refusal to ever give up, pulling off an eye-popping comeback to win the sectional title, and almost repeated the feat in the Group IV semis.

Did I miss anyone? Let me know.

All-Skyland Conference teams

2008-06-05T17:05:00.000-04:00

Here are the complete All-Skyland Conference teams, by division

The teams were picked today by conference coaches at a meeting at North Hunterdon High School on Monday.

You will notice each division has its own format as far as how many players and teams were picked and what positions they were assigned.

Some of it strikes me a bit odd, but you get the idea.

SKYLAND CONFERENCE DELAWARE EAST DIVISION
Division champ: Hillsborough

FIRST TEAM
P: Lydia deMartino, Watchung Hills, senior
P: Lauren Fitzsimmons, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior
P: Megan McInaw, Hillsborough, senior
P: Kaitlyn Piazzolla, Immaculata, senior
C: Sammy DeSimone, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior
C: Margaret Gilroy, Hillsborough, sophomore
C: Abby Gray, Montgomery, freshman
C: Erin Siejk, Watchung Hills, senior
1B: Megan Alexander, Hillsbrough, senior
1B: Lindsay Durant, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior
2B: Carianne D’Alessandro, Bridgewater-Raritan, junior
SS: Kat Cannell, Immaculata, senior
SS/P: Casey Niper, Montgomery, sophomore
OF: Laura Berger, Watchung Hills, senior
OF: Katelyn Derewecki, Hillsborough, senior

SECOND TEAM
P: Arielle Liotine, Franklin, senior
2B: Katie Beegle, Watchung Hills, junior
SS: Maria Caro, Bridgewater-Raritan, junior
SS: Kristi Ann Ivone, Hillsborough, freshman
3B: Alexis Manuel, Watchung Hills, senior
3B: Tara Van Doren, Hillsborough, senior
3B: Taylor Zahn, Montgomery, sophomore
OF: Lauren Fair, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior
OF: Katie Jones, Bridgewater-Raritan, junior

HONORABLE MENTION
Elora Daniele, P/SS, Montgomery, senior
Jordan Helman, 3B, Bridgewater-Raritan, senior

SKYLAND CONFERENCE DELAWARE WEST DIVISION
Division champ: Hunterdon Central/North Hunterdon (tie)

FIRST TEAM
P: Jenna Carmon, Hunterdon Central, senior
P: Jenna Gonzalez, North Hunterdon, senior
C: Erica Gaeta, Hunterdon Central, senior
1B: Courtney Yard, Hunterdon Central, freshman
2B: Colleen Trecartin, North Hunterdon, senior
SS: Jenny Harabedian, Hunterdon Central, junior
3B: Katie Watts, Ridge, senior
OF: Meghan Everett, Hunterdon Central, senior
OF: Sam Fama, Ridge, sophomore
OF: Hilary Murray, North Hunterdon, senior
OF: Jeanette Ragucci, Voorhees, senior
DP: Blair Curzi, North Hunterdon, sophomore
At Large: Nicole Cruz, Warren Hills, senior
At Large: Ally Hanlan, Hunterdon Central, senior
At Large: Sam Rayhon, North Hunterdon, sophomore

SECOND TEAM
P: Lindsay Gibbons, Ridge, senior
C: Hannah Rimar, Voorhees, senior
1B: Julia Povolny, Ridge, senior
OF: Jenna Taylor, North Hunterdon, senior
2B: Katie Ciecwisz, Voorhees, sophomore
2B: Krysten Rosamelia, Warren Hills, sophomore
OF: Kelly O'Dell, Warren Hills, junior
3B: Shawnee Bernstein, Voorhees, junior
SS: Rebecca Schaefer, North Hunterdon, junior

HONORABLE MENTION
Ann Marie Forenza, Hunterdon Central, senior
Caitlin McGourty, North Hunterdon, senior
Lexi Conglione, Warren Hills, senior
Sam Birr, Ridge
Andi Schell, Voorhees, freshman
Rachael Raabe, Phillipsburg, senior

SKYLAND CONFERENCE RARITAN DIVISION
Division champ: Somerville

FIRST TEAM
P: Lindsay Lehman, Somerville, senior
P: Liz Tillou, Hackettstown, sophomore
C: Amy Mesce, Delaware Valley, senior
1B: Laura Nevar, Somerville, junior
2B: Melissa Volkert, Hackettstown, senior
SS: Gina Quartarolo, Mount Saint Mary, junior
3B: Julia Kennedy, Mount Saint Mary, senior
OF: Tori Breen, Mount Saint Mary, junior
OF: Lindsey Ciresa, Somerville, senior
OF: Taylor Thorp, Hackettstown, freshman
At Large: Nicole Fresella, Bernards, junior
At Large: Janelle Jegou, Somerville, senior
At Large: Alex Russomagno, Mount Saint Mary, senior
At Large: Megan Sundberg, Bernards, senior
At Large: Rebecca Sewell, Bernards, freshman

SECOND TEAM
P: Kaitlyn Johnson, Delaware Valley, freshman
P: Marissa Vila, Mount Saint Mary, senior
C: Ashley Iannone, Hackettstown, freshman
2B: Dana Stevenson, Bernards, junior
2B: Korri Thompson, Somerville, sophomore
SS: Kim Sacchi, Somerville, sophomore
SS: Ali Wagner, Hackettstown, sophomore
3B: Samantha Bonaduce, Somerville, sophomore
OF: Kelly Lallis, Bernards, freshman

SKYLAND CONFERENCE VALLEY DIVISION
Division champ: Belvidere

FIRST TEAM
P: Corrine Hart, South Hunterdon, junior
P: Megan Roncoroni, Belvidere, senior
C: Amanda Nielsen, South Hunterdon, freshman
C: Kate Ruby, Belvidere, senior
IF: Kaylee Fry, Bound Brook, senior
IF: Melissa Garris, Belvidere, senior
IF: Nicole Howell, Belvidere, senior
IF: Tori Smeigocki, South Hunterdon, freshman
IF: Megan Vakes, Belvidere, senior
OF: Kristen Longo, Bound Brook, senior
OF: Guistina Lorusso, North Warren, junior
OF: Jillian Mondrone, Bound Brook, freshman
At Large: Michelle Cecchetti, North Warren, junior
At Large: Kasey Ludwig, Bound Brook, senior
At Large: Courtney Wood, Bound Brook, senior

SECOND TEAM
C: Rebecca Hoey, Bound Brook, freshman
C: Lynn Weiss, North Warren, junior
IF: Megan Baloy, Bound Brook, senior
IF: Ashley Leiggi, South Hunterdon, senior
IF: Emily Marley, South Hunterdon, freshman
IF: Hilary Reilly, North Warren, junior
IF: Codie Schaffer, Belvidere, senior
OF: Carly Bigos, North Warren
OF: Amanda Davalos, North Warren

HONORABLE MENTION
Lyndsey Becker, North Warren
Brittany Ennis, South Hunterdon
Melissa Metcalf, Belvidere
Caitlin Shubick, Bound Brook

Never Say die

2008-06-04T00:29:00.001-04:00

The first text message arrived from Whippany Park High School from my colleague, Keith Sargeant, at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday letting me know North Hunterdon was down 5-0 in the bottom of the third inning.

As I relayed the news to one of my co-workers sitting at a desk adjacent to mine, I added, "This one is far from over."

After watching the Lions' miraculous comeback against Bridgewater-Raritan in the sectional final last week, I knew North Hunterdon had plenty of fight left in it. And even after I got a phone call from Harry Frezza, who was at the Hunterdon Central baseball game and received a report that North now trailed Ridgewood 7-2 in the sixth, I again turned to my co-worker and said, "Watch. North's gonna tie it in the seventh inning."

At 5:36 p.m. I got the following text from Keith: "Down 7-2, North rallied w/ 5 in top of 7th."

My reply: "Deja-(expletive deleted)-Vu."

Sure, the Lions would eventually lose in nine innings, but for a team to turn in unlikely comebacks in back-to-back game this deep in the state tournament, well, that's just a phenomenal feat and it speaks volume as to the intestinal fortitude of the young ladies that wear the green and gold of North Hunterdon.

Kudos to the Lions and coach Jeff Steele, who has obviously instilled in his players that never-say-die attitude that is a must-have for a championship ballclub.

Three straight sectional titles is nothing to scoff at, and though North came two games short of a state title this time around, the Lions have to be very proud of their accomplishment as the senior-heavy squad wraps up their high school softball careers.

Well done, ladies. Well done.

For complete coverage of Tuesday's game, check out Keith Sargeant's game story HERE

GROUP IV SEMIFINAL: Deja Vu.. almost

2008-06-03T18:24:00.003-04:00

RIDGEWOOD 8, NORTH HUNTERDON 7 (9 inning)

North Hunterdon got down 5-0 in the third inning and trailed 7-2 headed to the top of the seventh.

The Lions got five in the top of the seventh to tie it 7-7, but Ridgewood got a run in the bottom of the ninth to send North Hunterdon home.

Keith Sargeant was on the scene in Whippany Park. To read his story CLICK HERE

North Hunterdon preview

2008-06-03T01:46:00.000-04:00

My preview of today's North Hunterdon-Ridgewood Group IV semifinal is up at mycentraljersey.com, as well as in today's Courier News.

For my feature on Lions ace Jenna Gonzalez, click HERE

For a preview of the game -- complete with my prediction -- click HERE

Also online are previews of today's group semifinals involving Middlesex County teams by Home News Tribune softball writer Mark Spivey. Check those out HERE

Also, in case you missed it, the latest podcast was finally posted late Monday afternoon. You can find it HERE

Better late than never – plus All-Skyland Delaware East teams

2008-06-02T18:58:00.001-04:00

Nearly four full days after it was originally recorded, the latest edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast is finally up at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/.

For a direct link, click HERE

In fairness to our fine multimedia staff, there was some technical difficulties with the original edit of the recording and it had to be reconfigured today. Thanks for your patience.

In less frustrating news, the Skyland Conference Delaware East Division teams are out.

The teams were picked today by conference coaches at a meeting at North Hunterdon High School.

FIRST TEAM
Seniors
Lydia deMartino, P, Watchung Hills
Lauren Fitzsimmons, P, Bridgewater-Raritan
Megan McInaw, P, Hillsborough
Kaitlyn Piazzolla, P, Immaculata
Sammy DeSimone, C, Bridgewater-Raritan
Erin Siejk, C, Watchung Hills
Megan Alexander, 1B, Hillsbrough
Lindsay Durant, 1B, Bridgewater-Raritan
Kat Cannell, SS, Immaculata
Laura Berger, OF, Watchung Hills
Katelyn Derewecki, OF, Hillsborough

Juniors
Carianne D’Alessandro, 2B, Bridgewater-Raritan

Sophomores
Margaret Gilroy, C, Hillsborough
Casey Niper, SS/P, Montgomery

Freshmen
Abby Gray, C, Montgomery

SECOND TEAM
Seniors
Tara Van Doren, 3B, Hillsborough
Lauren Fair, OF, Bridgewater-Raritan
Arielle Liotine, P, Franklin
Alexis Manuel, 3B, Watchung Hills

Juniors
Katie Beegle, 2B, Watchung Hills
Maria Caro, SS, Bridgewater-Raritan
Katie Jones, OF, Bridgewater-Raritan

Sophomores
Taylor Zahn, 3B, Montgomery

Freshmen
Kristi Ann Ivone, SS, Hillsborough

HONORABLE MENTION
Elora Daniele, P/SS, Montgomery
Jordan Helman, 3B, Bridgewater-Raritan

PROGRAMMING NOTES
Check out Tuesday’s edition of the Courier News for a complete preview of North Hunterdon’s Group IV semifinal meeting with Ridgewood.
Of course, we will have full coverage of the game on MyCentralJersey.com, as well as in Wednesday’s paper.

And then there was one

2008-05-30T01:39:00.002-04:00

It was utter carnage for our local teams Thursday in the state tournament, as three of the four remaining teams were beaten, with just one, North Hunterdon, left standing.

The Lions pulled off the most dramatic, unlikely, amazing comeback I have ever seen or heard of on a varsity softball field in my 10 years on the beat, as they overcame two separate five-run deficits, as well as a one-run hole in the ninth inning, to beat Bridgewater-Raritan 9-8 in nine innings.

This game was a total contrast of emotions for each team in both the outcome, as well as from the first half of the game to the second.

Bridgewater-Raritan came out firing against a rusty Jenna Gonzalez, who hadn’t pitched in over a week as she recovered from an allergic reaction. The Panthers clobbered the Lions ace for five runs in the first four innings to take a 5-0 lead, and after Blair Curzi doubled in a run in the bottom of the fourth, B-R made it 6-1 with a run in the top of the sixth.

Lauren Fitzsimmons, meanwhile, was cruising, retiring the first nine hitters she faced – including seven via strikeout – and did not allow a hit until Curzi’s double in the fourth.

North looked dejected, Gonzalez looked exhausted, and though Bridgewater-Raritan was probably counting the outs left until a sectional title, coach Sandy Baranowski said she kept looking at the scoreboard and thinking it was not enough runs.

She turned out to be a prophet.

Gonzalez settled down and the North bats finally got a bead on Fitzsimmons as they started making contact and strung together five straight hits in the bottom of the sixth inning – six overall – and scored four runs to cut the deficit to 6-5.

The Panthers added a run in the top of the seventh to take a 7-5 lead, but the Lions got two in the bottom of the frame to tie.

Bridgewater-Raritan scored a run in the top of the ninth, but North got two in the bottom of the frame to win it and capture its third straight sectional crown.

For North Hunterdon, it was an amazing, exhilarating, thrilling comeback. The Lions proved to be as resilient as any team can be at this level, doing to unthinkable in a sport where a game is often out of reach against a team like Bridgewater-Raritan and a pitcher like Fitzsimmons at 2-0 or 3-0 – especially at this stage of the season.

Not so Thursday. And it wasn’t Fitzsimmons’ or the Panthers’ fault. Them hits had eyes, so to speak, as seemingly ever ball North hit over the final few innings found a hole and very few were hit hard.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, did not relent, even though she was tagged for more runs in the first four innings Thursday than she had allowed in any one contest all season.

Congratulations, Lions. You definitely earned it.

For Bridgewater-Raritan, this is the kind of loss that can stay with you for a while. They don’t get much tougher than this.

But the Panthers cannot hang their heads. They had an amazing season and played a great game Thursday. It’s just one of those things that you can’t explain.

The universe works in mysterious ways, and Thursday’s game was as strange as they come.

I guess I had it backward when I anointed BR the team of destiny.

Still, I would like to offer my personal congratulations to the Panthers on a phenomenal season, especially coach Sandy Baranowski, who is one of my favorite coaches in any sport, as well as the senior class of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School softball team, led by tri-captains Sammy DeSimone, Lauren Fitzsimmons and Lindsay Durant (you’re right, you are “a beast!”).

It’s been a genuine pleasure covering the final two years of your varsity careers since my return to the beat last season, and I wish you the best in college.

The Panthers exemplify the true meaning of “team,” and they have done great honor to their uniform as well as the sport of softball.

For complete coverage of all three local sectional finals, as well as some of the other games from around the state, go the http://www.mycentraljersey.com/ or click HERE

Also, the latest BATS and BALLS podcast was recorded Thursday night, complete with in-depth coverage and analysis of North’s win, as well as Hunterdon Central’s 2-1 loss to Old Bridge in the CJ IV final.

Jerry Carino was there at Central on Thursday, and he and I both chimed in on what was a very questionable decision by Red Devils coach Pete Fick to start freshman Courtney Yard in the circle instead of undefeated senior right-hander Jenna Carmon.

The podcast should be up sometime Friday afternoon at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/.

I will link to it here when it’s up.

Elsewhere Thursday, Dunellen checked out of the state tournament in the CJ I final, getting blasted by Florence 10-0.

I can’t say I’m surprised.

Immaculata, meanwhile, saw its state tournament run come to an end with a 4-1 loss to Paramus Catholic. We touched on that game on the podcast, too.

Check out Tuesday’s Courier News for a preview of North’s state group semifinal game with Ridgewood, complete with my pick of the game.

That is all. Enjoy your weekend, I’ll be celebrating a birthday Saturday, so I know my weekend will be both celebratory and mournful as I watch my age tick up another notch.

I will be starting my All-Area calls Monday, so coaches, have those stats ready!

Thursday's state results

2008-05-29T19:29:00.001-04:00

North 2 Group IV final
North Hunterdon 9, Bridgewater-Raritan 8 (9 innings)

Central Group IV final
Old Bridge 2, Hunterdon Central 1

Central Group I final
Florence 10, Dunellen 0

Non-Public A North semis
Paramus Catholic 4, Immaculata 1

ALSO OF NOTE:
Hillsborough 13, Montgomery 8 (Regular season) -- Raiders officially clinch Skyland Delaware East title.

Sectional finals preview (and some other stuff)

2008-05-29T02:45:00.001-04:00

There’s a two-time defending champ looking for a three-peat against a local power making its first-ever sectional finals appearance. There’s a perennial state-powerhouse looking to reclaim its place among the elite, as well as a Gold Division giant with something to prove.

Four local public school teams have advanced to today’s NJSIAA sectional finals, and sit two victories from Toms River and a shot at a state group championship.

Here’s my take on the sectional finals, with picks.

NORTH 2, GROUP IV FINAL
WHO: No. 6 seed Bridgewater-Raritan (20-6) vs. No. 1 seed North Hunterdon (23-3)

WHEN/WHERE: 4 p.m. today/North Hunterdon High School

OUTLOOK: Bridgewater-Raritan is making its first appearance in a sectional final since Bridgewater-Raritan East and Bridgewater-Raritan West merged to form one high school in 1991, while North Hunterdon is looking to win its third straight sectional crown.

Of course, these Skyland Conference Delaware interdivision teams are no strangers to each other, playing at least once per regular season since the Delaware split into two divisions – they played twice a year prior to that. North Hunterdon not only beat the Panthers 3-0 when they played April 10, but the Lions also ousted Bridgewater-Raritan in last year’s sectional semifinals.

North Hunterdon has been without ace Jenna Gonzalez this week as the senior has been recovering from an allergic reaction, coach Jeff Steele said, that kept her out of Tuesday’s semifinal victory over Linden, as well as Wednesday’s regular-season game with Voorhees, though that might have been precautionary. Luckily for the Lions, senior Jenna Taylor has filled in admirably, with a one-hitter against Linden, and a five-hit, one-run performance against the Vikings. Gonzalez is expected back today.

North’s offense is second only to Hunterdon Central in this area, and it starts up top with seniors Jenna Taylor and Hilary Murray and finishes with the big bats in the middle, led by Becca Schaefer.

Gonzalez can do the rest.

Bridgewater-Raritan ace Lauren Fitzsimmons, meanwhile, has not allowed a run in tournament play, which includes the Panthers’ run to the Somerset County Tournament championship. If the right-hander is on her game, which she should be, Bridgewater-Raritan simply needs to find a way to get Fitzsimmons a run or two and they’ll add another title.

But offense hasn’t always come easily for the Panthers this season, and while the big bat in the order -- senior first baseman Lindsay Durant -- has had her share of big knocks, lately the big hits have come from unexpected sources, especially right field Katie Jones, who bats at or near the bottom of the B-R order.

The junior has delivered game-winners in both the county final (hitting ninth) and the sectional semifinals (hitting No. 8), so you never know who’s going to jump up and take a bite out of an opposition in this lineup.

The Panthers have the edge in big-game experience this season, and Fitzsimmons has sparkled at every turn down the stretch, but North’s offense tops any in the Delaware East or Somerset County. At the same time, Gonzalez has only been hit hard once this year – by the mighty bats of Hunterdon Central, which scored four runs off Fitzsimmons two weeks ago. And though North possesses the firepower to beat anyone, they are capable of being shutdown, as Central’s Jenna Carmon proved twice in the past two weeks.

I think you can throw out B-R’s loss to North early this season. The Panthers have come along way and been through the wars in Somerset County and the Delaware East. Of course, North is undefeated against those teams.

I’m really on the fence on this game, but here is what it comes down to:
A-Bridgewater-Raritan has shone in big games and might not only have momentum, but also destiny on its side. Also, North has stumbled lately in the few tough matchups they’ve faced, including a 5-0 blasting by Central in the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament final.
B-Gonzalez hasn’t pitched in a week and there’s no way to tell if she’s at full strength.

Look for another lights-out performance from Fitzsimmons and a big hit in a big spot from someone in the Panthers lineup -- not necessarily during the first seven innings.

My Pick: Bridgewater-Raritan 1-0

CENTRAL GROUP IV FINAL
WHO: No. 2 seed Old Bridge (21-2) vs. No. 1 seed Hunterdon Central (26-1)

WHEN/WHERE: 4 p.m. today at Hunterdon Central High School

OUTLOOK: Hunterdon Central has one loss – one month ago to North Hunterdon – and the Lions are one of only two teams (Watchung Hills) to even play the Red Devils to a one-run game.

While freshman righty Courtney Yard has had a phenomenal rookie season, senior ace Jenna Carmon has pitched like the veteran she is, posting a perfect 16-0 record, and she should get the ball the rest of the way.

But while Carmon isn’t dominant -- she rarely breaks double-digit strikeouts, hovering more around the five or six-mark per game -- the Red Devils defense is second to none, led by junior shortstop Jenny Harabedian and Dartmouth-bound senior center fielder Meghan Everett.

Those defensive stars, along with a cast that includes senior catcher Erica Gaeta and Carmon, herself, also provide the offensive punch for a team making its first sectional final appearance since 2005 and looking for its first sectional title since 2003.

The speedy Everett bats leadoff, while Harabedian and her nine home runs hit third and carries one of the quickest, most lethal bats in the state. Gaeta and Carmon, who have delivered big hit after big hit this season, clean up behind them.

But the Red Devils certainly have their work cut out for them as Old Bridge is one of seven Middlesex County squads in the sectional finals and might be the best of the bunch.

The top seed and defending champ of the GMC Tournament will play in Saturday’s county semifinals, but first the Knights will look to win a sectional championship.

Ace Maureen O’Kane struck out 18 and fired a one-hit shutout at Hillsborough in Wednesday’s semifinal, and she’ll need a near-identical performance to have a shot against Hunterdon Central’s vaunted attack.

Offensively, the Knights are no murderer’s row, but they are resilient and know how to win big games, so beware, Red Devils.

Old Bridge shouldn’t be anything Carmon and the Central defense can’t handle, while the Red Devils have hit every pitcher they’ve faced this season, including GMC powerhouses Edison, East Brunswick and J.F. Kennedy in the regular season.

And I while this one is not to be taken lightly, I don’t think this will be as close as you might think.

My Pick: Hunterdon Central 4-1

CENTRAL GROUP I FINAL
WHO: No. 2 seed Florence (15-6) at No. 1 seed Dunellen (18-8)

WHEN/WHERE: 4 p.m. today/Gavornik Park in Dunellen

OUTLOOK: If Dunellen had something to prove after beating up on tech schools in the GMC Gold all season, the Destroyers did just that, legitimizing themselves as a true contender with their 6-5 victory over Bound Brook in the semifinals Tuesday.

Megan Kreyling, who scored the winning run against the Crusaders on an Alex Ruskuski single in the bottom of the seventh, is the big bat for the Destroyers, while Kelli Doremus has been getting the ball lately in the circle.

But Florence has owned this tournament of late and it’s going to take something I don’t know if Dunellen is capable of for it to advance – like not making four errors and giving up a 5-0 lead as it did against Bound Brook.

Then again, I didn’t think the Destroyers had a shot against the Crusaders, so what do I know?

My Pick: Florence 6-2

***

NON-PUBLIC A NORTH SEMIFINAL OUTLOOK
After Mount St. Mary’s 7-2 loss to Immaculate Heart on Wednesday, Immaculata remains the only local non-public team still alive.

The ninth-seeded Spartans will face fourth-seeded Paramus Catholic in today’s NP A North semi, and will need to bring the noise against the team they beat 1-0 in last season’s sectional quarterfinals.

The formula remains the same for Immaculata: Kaitlyn Piazzolla has to not only pitch her game – and she has time and time again in big spots for the Spartans -- and needs to take advantage of any pitches she sees at the plate – and she has time and time again – but Immaculata must support her offensively from elsewhere in the lineup, which the Spartans haven’t always done.

This is no Morris Catholic that Immaculata is facing today.

My Pick: Immaculata 2-1

THE DEPARTED

Bound Brook: The Crusaders run fell to Dunellen 6-5 in the CJ I semifinals, ending an inspired run. If Bound Brook can find a pitcher to replace the graduating Courtney Wood, it’s going to be a very happy season in southeast Somerset County next year.

Gill St. Bernard’s: The seventh-seeded Knights, who were knocked out by second-seeded Eastern Christian in the first round of the Non-Public B North Tournament, enjoyed a solid 12-10 season, with three of those setbacks coming in county, Prep B and NJSIAA games.

Governor Livingston: Nothing was going to top the state Group II title of a year ago, but The Highlanders showed they weren’t dead after graduating eight of nine starters, including the state’s all-time strikeout leader in Capri Catalano. G.L. was edged by Bordentown 1-0 in Tuesday’s CJ II semifinals.

Hillsborough: Always one to prove everyone wrong, the young Raiders came up a game short of a sectional final, falling to second-seeded Old Bridge 1-0. Megan McInaw should pitch Hillsborough to a conference title sometime in the next week, needing one victory in the final two games (Montgomery and Franklin).

Mount St. Mary: A year removed from the best season in program history, the Mount Lions did better than many expected and it took a perennial juggernaut in Immaculate Heart to end their run.

New Providence: Also hit hard by graduation, the Pioneers defied Mother Nature and made the state tournament, playing the qualifying game indoors on a rainy Friday, but ran into Group I powerhouse Florence in the first round of Central Group I.

South Plainfield: Like Governor Livingston, the Tigers returned just one starter from last season yet still managed to go to the sectional semis, bowing out to Colonia 2-1 on Tuesday. South Plainfield will vie for a trip to the GMC final Saturday against Old Bridge.

PROGRAMMING NOTES:

I will, of course, post results of Thursday’s games on The Inner Circle as soon as I am able, but for complete coverage of all three sectional finals, as well as Immaculata’s game with Paramus Catholic, check out Friday’s edition of the Courier News, or go to http://www.mycentraljersey.com/ as early as Thursday evening.

I will be covering the North Hunterdon/Bridgewater game, and my colleague and fellow clown Jerry Carino will be out at Hunterdon Central/Old Bridge.

Our sister paper, the Home News Tribune, will handle coverage of the Dunellen/Florence tilt.

The ninth edition of the BATS AND BALLS podcast will be recorded Thursday night and will contain an in-depth looks at the sectional finals, as well as previews and picks of next Tuesday’s state group semifinals involving local teams and a look at the Non-Public North A final, should Immaculata advance.

Of course, we will also have the standard sophomoric shtick and mindless references to unimportant matters, and even possibly some other topics of actual substance.
The podcast should be up Friday afternoon at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/.

Tuesday and Wednesday's state tournament scores

2008-05-27T19:17:00.006-04:00

Central Group IV
Hunterdon Central 8, South Brunswick 2
Old Bridge 1, Hillsborough 0

Central Group II
Bordentown 1, Governor Livingston 0

Central Group I
Dunellen 6, Bound Brook 5
Florence 5, New Providence 4

North 2, Group IV
Bridgewater-Raritan 1, J.P. Stevens 0 (10 innings)
North Hunterdon 2, Linden 0

North 2 Group III
Colonia 2, South Plainfield 1

Non-Public North A
Immaculata 1, Morris Catholic 0 (5 innings)
Immaculate Heart 7, Mount St. Mary 2

Non-Public North B
Eastern Christian 8, Gill St. Bernard's 3

Hillsborough at Old Bridge postponed

2008-05-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

The Hillsborugh at Old Bridge state game scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed until Wednesday.

I will post final scores from todays games as they come in

State Tournament roundup and sectional semifinal preview

2008-05-23T22:07:00.002-04:00

It started with 19 teams, and after two rounds, an amazing 12 have survived.

Sectional semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, while the Non-Public teams will play the quarterfinals.

Here’s a look at what was, and what will be, complete with picks:

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN:

While all five of our local teams that were in action Friday won, seven teams left the proverbial building in Wednesday and Thursday’s first round:

Westfield, which was seeded third in North 2 Group IV, lost 1-0 to sixth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan on Wednesday, while eight-seeded Watchung Hills dropped a 4-1 decision to top-seeded North Hunterdon.

Montgomery, which was seeded ninth in Central Jersey Group IV, lost to eighth-seeded Middletown North 3-0 in the first round.

North 2 Group III has seen the demise of two locals, as 14th-seeded Voorhees was no-hit by J.F. Kennedy and Heather Corica 6-0 in the first round, while seventh-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood was blasted by 10th-seeded Fort Lee 19-1

Bernards, which was seeded 10th in Central Group II, was edged 9-8 by seventh-seeded Madison in the first round Wednesday.

The biggest shocker of the first two rounds was in Central Jersey Group II where fourth-seeded Somerville was ousted by 13th-seeded Jackson Liberty 5-0. The Pioneers loss raised another eyebrow Friday when Jackson Liberty was beaten by 12th-seeded Governor Livingston 3-2.

WHERE WE STAND

Now that the departed have been remembered, let’s focus on who’s still alive:

CENTRAL GROUP IV
Hillsborough, the No. 6 seed, is rolling. After edging 11th-seeded Manalapan 1-0 in the first round, the Raiders flattened Freehold Township 11-1 Friday to advance to the semis against second-seeded Old Bridge.
This is going to be a tough one for Hillsborough against the team seeded No. 1 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. Megan McInaw has been on fire for Hillsborough, with her bat and her arm, but she’s not going to be able to do it alone. If Hillsborough’s offense can perform like it did Friday, the Raiders will advance, but I think Hillsborough will find that Old Bridge is an entirely different animal than the Raiders saw Friday.
MY PICK: Old Bridge 2-1

On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Hunterdon Central cruised past Middletown North 6-1 after a first-round bye, and shouldn’t have any trouble with 13th-seeded South Brunswick on Tuesday.
MY PICK: Hunterdon Central 7-1

CENTRAL GROUP II
So far, No. 12 seed Governor Livingston, is the story of this section, as the Highlanders parlayed a 3-0 upset over No. 5 Roselle Park in the first round – the same team that ousted G.L. from the Union County Tournament – into a 3-2 win over 13th-seeded Jackson Liberty in the quarters Friday.
The Highlanders will face top-seeded Bordentown in the semifinals Tuesday, and, well, I don’t see that one ending well for Rick Iacono’s team.
MY PICK: Bordentown 4-0

Third-seeded Carteret, which barely snuck past sixth-seeded Johnson in the quarters, will face second-seeded Shore Regional in the other semifinal, and I’m sticking with my original pick.
MY PICK: Shore Regional 5-2

CENTRAL GROUP I
Metuchen snuck into this tournament at the last minute as the eighth seed, and though top-seeded Dunellen had lost twice to the Bulldogs this season – including a 17-5 shellacking in the first week of the season – the Destroyers got it done Thursday with a 9-8 quarterfinals victory.
Fifth-seeded Bound Brook, meanwhile, edged No. 4 Brearley 2-1, and will face Dunellen on Tuesday.
I’m officially on the Crusaders’ bandwagon, and I ain’t getting down until the wheels come off.
MY PICK: Bound Brook 7-5

Sixth-seeded New Providence took full advantage of a fortunate first-round draw, and pasted third-seeded South Amboy 13-0 in the Friday’s opening-round tilt.
The Pioneers, who suffered an obscene number of losses to graduation, will not be enjoying the same success Tuesday against second-seeded Florence.
MY PICK: Florence 4-1

NORTH 2 GROUP IV
Top-seeded North Hunterdon is angry, and fourth-seeded Linden, which beat Bayonne 7-1 Friday, is going to be the one that suffers because of it. After handling eighth-seeded Watchung Hills in the first round, the Lions dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Hunterdon Central in a regular-season game Friday, with the Red Devils scoring their second run on a wild pitch and third run – the game-winner – on another wild pitch plus and two errors, on the same play. The lost cost North a chance at winning a conference title outright, and I have a feeling the Lions won’t be in a very generous mood come Tuesday’s semifinals.
MY PICK: North Hunterdon 6-1

Sixth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan edged Westfield 1-0 in Wednesday’s opener, and might have caught a break with seventh-seeded JP Stevens upsetting No. 2 Union, which the Panthers lost to earlier this season, on Friday. Problem is that JP Stevens didn’t just beat Union; the Hawks won 10-0.
The fact is, if Bridgewater-Raritan plays its game, if Lauren Fitzsimmons pitches like she’s capable, and the offense gives her support, the Panthers should win. But beware, JPS has proven it’s no pushover.
MY PICK: Bridgewater-Raritan 2-1

NORTH 2 GROUP III
Fourth-seeded South Plainfield is in a similar position as Bridgewater-Raritan after getting through Union Hill and Morristown. Ninth-seeded Colonia, which has 10 losses, shocked top-seeded Cranford, which was undefeated, by an astonishing margin of 5-1. That sets up a meeting between the Patriots and the Tigers, who have already beaten Colonia twice this season -- 10-0 on April 17 and 7-6 on May 6.
I think South Plainfield has learned not to take Colonia lightly after only winning by one run in their last meeting, so I don’t think I have to state the obvious.
MY PICK: South Plainfield 5-2

Third-seeded J.F. Kennedy will meet second-seeded Nutley in the other semifinal, and considering Heather Corica hasn’t allowed a hit through two rounds of this tournament, I don’t think out friends from the north are quite prepared for what’s about to hit them – or, perhaps, no-hit them.
MY PICK: J.F. Kennedy 4-0

NON-PUBLIC A NORTH
This bracket is still in the quarterfinal round, so I’m not going to make a pick, but here’s a rundown on our locals:
Sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary got the jump on the whole state, playing their first-round game with St. Dominic last Monday, and will now have an eight-day wait before it can face third-seeded juggernaut Immaculate Heart in Tuesday quarterfinals after beating St. Dom’s 3-2 on some heroics by Gina Quartorola.
Immaculata, seeded ninth, shrugged off its first attempt at this game, which was called off by rain in the first inning Wednesday with the Spartans holding a 2-0 lead, by handling Pope John XXIII 3-1 on Friday. Apparently, people in Sparta don’t read The Inner Circle, as the Lions pitched to Kaitlyn Piazzolla up 1-0 with one out and runners on second and third in the sixth inning, and the Immaculata senior made them pay with a three-run home run over the left-field fence.
Top-seeded Morris Catholic is up next for Immaculata, and I think the Spartans will still be standing come Thursday’s semifinals.

NON-PUBLIC NORTH B
This tournament hasn’t even started yet, but allow me to reiterate: MKA, MKA, MKA, plus a first-round exit for seventh-seeded Gill St. Bernard's.

**

Enjoy your holiday weekend everyone. Things get nasty starting Tuesday!

Friday's state results

2008-05-23T20:16:00.001-04:00

Nice to be back. I’ve been away the past couple of days. So thanks to whoever it was posted those state tournament scores yesterday.

Here are today’s state results. I will post a complete roundup of what’s happened so far in the tourney later this evening.

Every local team that played today, won!

FRIDAY’S RESULTS:

Central Group IV
HILLSBOROUGH 11, FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP 1
Senior right-hander Megan McInaw threw a one-hitter and went 3-for-3 with five RBIs and a home run that ended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as sixth-seeded Hillsborough advanced over No. 14 Freehold Township.

The Raiders will travel to second-seeded Old Bridge at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Central Group II
GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON 3, JACKSON LIBERTY 2
Sophomore center fielder Katie Pires led off the bottom of the seventh inning of a tie game with a single, she stole second, and after an out, sophomore third baseman Nicole Koszowski singled her in to lift 12th-seeded Governor Livingston over 13th-seeded Jackson Liberty.

The Highlanders who will travel to top-seeded Bordentown at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals.

Central Group I
NEW PROVIDENCE 13, SOUTH AMBOY 0
Sixth-seeded New Providence got out to a 6-0 lead after two innings in the Central Group I quarterfinal contest and third-seeded South Amboy never recovered.

New Providence will face second-seeded Florence in Tuesday's semifinals.

North 2 Group III
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 7, MORRISTOWN 2
Alyssa Sutherland allowed three singles, no walks, and struck out 10 as fourth-seeded South Plainfield cruised into the semifinals.

The Tigers will face ninth-seeded Colonia, which shocked No. 1 Cranford today, at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Non-Public A North
IMMACULATA 3, POPE JOHN XXXII 1
Senior pitcher Kaitlyn Piazzolla smacked a three-run home run over the left-field fence with one out in the top of the sixth inning and ninth-seeded Immaculata held on to beat eighth-seeded Pope John XXIII in the first round of the Non-Public A North Tournament.

The Spartans will face top-seeded Morris Catholic at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

***

Also note, Hunterdon Central beat North Hunterdon 3-2 today to clinch at least a share of the Skyland Delaware West and its 21st straight conference title.

PODCAST IS UP

2008-05-21T20:58:00.000-04:00

The latest edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast is up at www.mycentraljersey.com

Here's a DIRECT LINK

Catalano's in the Corner

2008-05-20T17:32:00.000-04:00

In case you missed Jerry Carino's story on former Governor Livingston pitcher and New Jersey all-time strikeout queen Capri Catalano in the Collegiate Corner in today's Courier News, you can check it out online HERE.

TUESDAY'S STATE TOURNAMENT SLATE WASHED OUT
Rain has postponed all of Tuesday's scheduled first-round state games to Wednesday. Here's hoping the fields recover in time.

PROGRAMMING NOTES
The latest edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast will be recorded Tuesday night and should be up at www.mycentraljersey.com sometime Wednesday afternoon.

I will post a link when it's up.

STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

2008-05-19T21:07:00.001-04:00

It’s state tournament time, as the 2008 NJSIAA sectionals are getting underway, and, as promised, here is a section-by-section look at how I see things shaping up in the brackets containing our local teams.

I won’t be making any official picks until the sectional semifinals at the earliest, so consider these overviews.

For complete tournament brackets, go to http://www.njsiaa.org/ and click on “tournament brackets” at the top of the page.

(Seeds in parenthesis)
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP IV
The Favorite:
Hunterdon Central (1) – If there was any question how the Red Devils would do against the elite, Central answered it Saturday with an impressive 5-0 victory over North Hunterdon in the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament final.

The Darkhorse:
Old Bridge (2) – The top seed in the GMC Tournament, the Knights will pretty much need to win that title for me to even take them seriously here.

The Sleeper:
Hillsborough (6) – There are several lower-seeded teams in this bracket that are capable of a run, but I’m going to go with the Raiders because they’ve proved they can play with anyone. Two wins over Bridgewater-Raritan is impressive, plus Megan McInaw is as good as any pitcher I’ve seen in the state this season.

Outlook:
Middletown North, Rancocas Valley and West Windsor-South, all of which are on Hunterdon Central’s side of the bracket, have, historically, always had good teams, so the Red Devils’ run to the final will be anything but easy. Montgomery, even if it does get past Middletown North in the first round, will be hard-pressed to beat Central in the quarters. Hillsborough also has some tough nuts to crack on its side of the bracket, but, interestingly, probably has an easier road to the championship game than Central.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP II
The Favorite:
Shore Regional (2) – Shore beat Bordentown in last year’s quarterfinals before being blanked by Capri Catalano in the semis, and the Blue Devils won’t have the state’s all-time strikeout queen to deal with this time around.

The Darkhorse:
Bordentown (1) – Two losses is impressive, but who has Bordentown played?

The Sleeper:
Somerville (4) – The Pioneers definitely have what it takes to make a run here, it’s just going to be a question of their draw.

Outlook:
I expect Roselle Park to handle Governor Livingston in the first round, setting up a Panthers meeting with Somerville. If the Pioneers can get past Roselle Park, I don’t see them having any problem with Bordentown in the semis, even if the Scotties have just two losses. The final will be another story.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I
The Favorite:
Florence (2) – The Flashes have faced little resistance in this tournament in recent years.

The Darkhorse:
Bound Brook (5) – You all think I’m nuts, but I’m telling you, I could totally see the Crusaders winning this section, and I pretty much expect Bound Brook will be playing in the final.

The Sleeper:
Dunellen (1) – The Destroyers have dominated the GMC Gold over the past couple of seasons, but there are no Tech schools in this tournament.

Outlook:
As much as a Florence vs. Bound Brook final is a near-certainty in my mind, the Crusaders cannot overlook Brearley in the first round. After that, it’s just a question of whether Courtney Wood can throw strikes and stymie Florence’s bats because Bound Brook definitely has the bats to swing with anyone. New Providence should get through South Amboy in the first round, but that should be as far as the Pioneers go.

NORTH JERSEY GROUP IV
The Favorite:
North Hunterdon (1) – The Lions are vying for their third straight sectional title, but should have plenty of competition this time around.

The Darkhorse:
Union (2) – The Farmers, who will be playing in the Union County Tournament this weekend, beat Bridgewater-Raritan earlier this season, but lost to Westfield.

The Sleeper:
Bridgewater-Raritan (6) – The Panthers got off the tournament schnide by winning the Somerset County title, and definitely have what it takes to add another trophy.

Outlook:
This should be one of the most exciting brackets in the state, as six of the eight teams all have a shot – fifth-seeded Bayonne is not gong to be able to run with these Central Jersey powerhouses, and I don’t see JP Stevens making much noise, either. I don’t see North Hunterdon having much trouble getting to the final, though Watchung Hills and Lydia deMartino are not to be overlooked. The other side of the bracket should be a war and whoever emerges will definitely have earned it. I think Bridgewater-Raritan will beat Westfield in the first round, setting up a rematch with Union.

NORTH JERSEY GROUP III
The Favorite:
Cranford (1) - The undefeated Cougars have shown they are a force to be reckoned with and will face Union in the Union County Tournament final this weekend.

The Darkhorse:
J.F. Kennedy (3) – It’s all about pitching, and the Mustangs have one of the best in Heather Corica, who no-hit North Hunterdon earlier this season.

The Sleeper:
South Plainfield (4) – The Tigers are on an amazing run, having won 16 of 17 through Monday’s dramatic victory over A.L. Johnson. But South Plainfield is young and inexperienced, and when push comes to shove in the state tournament, the Tigers might find themselves a little overwhelmed.

Outlook:
J.F Kennedy should waltz into the final. Voorhees, meanwhile is just happy to be there, while Scotch Plains-Fanwood has struggled mightily in the latter half of the season and is unlikely to survive the first round. South Plainfield should make the semifinals, but I don’t see the Tigers getting past Cranford.

NORTH JERSEY GROUP II
The Favorite:
Mountain Lakes (1) – Hey, they’re the top seed, so I guess that makes them the favorite, right?

The Darkhorse:
Chatham (2) -- Ditto (no, I'm not getting lazy. There's a point to all this, I promise).

The Sleeper:
West Essex (5) – Always good, so, yeah, sleeper.

Outlook:
This one‘s a Colonial Hills Conference free-for-all, so the seeds pretty much tell the tale. The only thing I can say with any certainty is that I don’t expect former Colonial Hills member Bernards to survive the first round.

NORTH NON-PUBLIC A
The Favorite:
Immaculate Heart (3) – Say what you will about the Eagles’ record; This is their tournament.

The Darkhorse:
Mount St. Dominic (2) -- MSD is always good, and whatever team emerges from its likely meeting with IHA in the sectional semis, should win the title.

The Sleeper:
Immaculata (9) – I’m sure the Spartans’ prospective opponents have heard that pitching to Kaitlyn Piazzolla is not a great idea in big spots, but maybe they don’t realize how bad of an idea it really is.

Outlook:
While most teams won’t play their first-round game until Tuesday, Mount St. Mary already played its semifinals contest and won it in dramatic fashion on a double by Gina Quartorola on Monday with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat St. Dominic Academy. Enjoy it, Mount Lions, because I don’t see you getting through Immaculate Heart. Immaculata, meanwhile, definitely has the pitching to win this tournament; it’s just a question of whether the Spartans can find some offense to support Piazzolla. Sound familiar?

NORTH NON-PUBLIC B
The Favorite:
Montclair-Kimberly (3)—MKA has won the state Non-Public B title in four straight seasons, and while anyone wearing a Cougars uniform is still breathing, I’m not picking against them.

The Darkhorse:
St. Mary’s-Rutherford (5) – Another traditional Non-Public B powerhouse, the Gaels have shown their ability to run with the big dogs.

The Sleeper:
Eastern Christian (2) – The Eagles’ girls soccer team won a state title this year, perhaps the softball squad can build on it.

Outlook: Blah, blah, blah…. Montclair-Kimberly. Oh yeah, seventh-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s = one and done.

Central wins HWT

2008-05-17T14:33:00.002-04:00

Senior right-hander Jenna Carmon threw a two-hit shutout and delivered an RBI single in the first inning, and junior shortstop Jenny Harabedian blasted a three-run home run over the center-field fence in the sixth inning, and Hunterdon Central claimed its second straight Hunterdon/Warren Tournament title with a 5-0 blanking of North Hunterdon on Saturday at HealthQuest Park.

It is Hunterdon Central’s eighth title in the past nine years and its 12th since 1994.
Check out Sunday’s Courier News for complete coverage, as well as online at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/

Podcast is up (and other tidbits)

2008-05-16T15:29:00.000-04:00

The seventh edition of the BATS AND BALLS softball and baseball podcast is up at www.mycentraljersey.com

For a direct link, click HERE

Tune into the podcast for a preview of the Hunterdon/Warren final, as well as my pick for the game, and a look at the upcoming state tournament.

Also, the start time for Saturday's Hunterdon/Warren final at HealthQuest in Flemington has been pushed back an hour to a noon start in an effort to give the grounds crew as much time as possible to prepare the field after Friday's heavy rains.

Check back here at The Inner Circle for updates, including possible postponement of the contest.

PROGRAMMING NOTE:
I will be posting a state tournament preview Monday night or Tuesday morning, including analysis and picks of all the brackets that include any of our local teams.

State tournament set

2008-05-15T20:50:00.001-04:00

The pairings for the 2008 NJSIAA Softball Tournament were released today.

I will be posting a complete analysis of the sections featuring local teams. Look for that Monday night or Tuesday morning here on The Inner Circle.

Also, the latest edition of the BATS AND BALLS podcast will be recorded Thursday night. Look for that to be up on MyCentralJersey.com sometime early Friday afternoon.

Also, check out a preview of the Huntedon/Warren Tournament final in this week's softball notebook in Saturday's VARSITY section of the Courier News, as well as online.

Here are the state pairings:

GROUP IV
North 1
9-West New York Memorial at 8-Montclair, winner at 1-Ridgewood;
5-Livingston at 4-Morris Knolls
6-Bloomfield at 3-North Bergen
10-West Orange at 7-Clifton, winner at 2-Belleville.

North 2:
8-Watchung Hills at 1-North Hunterdon;
5-Bayonne at 4-Linden;
6-Bridgewater-Raritan at 3-Westfield;
7-J.P. Stevens at 2-Union.

Central:
9-Montgomery at 8-Middletown North, winner at 1-Hunterdon Central;
12-Colts Neck at 5-Rancocas Valley;
13-South Brunswick at 4-West Windsor-Plainsboro South;
14-Freehold Township at 3-Steinert;
11-Manalapan at 6-Hillsborough;
10-Jackson Memorial at 7-East Brunswick, winner at 2-Old Bridge.

South:
9-Millville at 8-Washington, winner at 1-Toms River East;
12-Cherry Hill East at 5-Eastern;
13-Cherokee at 4-Absegami;
14-Egg Harbor at 3-Vineland;
11-Toms River South at 6-Lacey;
10-Oakcrest at 7-Cherry Hill West, winner at 2-Williamstown.

GROUP III
North 1:
9-Jefferson at 8-West Milford, winner at 1-Mount Olive;
12-Lakeland at 5-Demarest;
13-Teaneck at 4-Ramapo;
14-Old Tappan at 3-Wayne Valley;
11-High Point at 6-Paramus;
10-Northern Highlands at 7-Sparta;
15-Morris Hills at 2-Montville.

North 2:
9-Colonia at 8-Mendham, winner at 1-Cranford;
12-Morristown at 5-Rahway;
13-Union Hill at 4-South Plainfield;
14-Voorhees at 3-J.F. Kennedy;
11-Parsippany Hills at 6-Millburn;
10-Fort Lee at 7-Scotch Plains-Fanwood, winner at 2-Nutley.

Central:
9-Red Bank at 8-Westampton Tech, winner at 1-Wall;
5-Middletown South at 4-West Windsor-Plainsboro North;
6-Monroe at 3-Nottingham;
7-Point Pleasant Boro at 2-Ocean Township.

South:
5-Delsea at 4-Triton, winner at 1-West Deptford;
6-Central Regional at 3-Hammonton;
7-Shawnee at 2-Kingsway.

GROUP II
North 1:
9-Ramsey at 8-Hawthorne, winner at 1-Tenafly;
12-Newton at 5-Dumont, winner at 4-Indian Hills;
11-Hopatcong at 6-Pascack Valley, winner at 3-Kittatinny;
10-Wallkill Valley at 7-River Dell, winner at 2-Pequannock.

North 2:
9-Parsippany at 8-Caldwell, winner at 1-Mountain Lakes;
5-West Essex at 4-Rutherford;
6-Hackettstown at 3-Hanover Park;
10-Bernards at 7-Madison, winner at 2-Chatham.

Central:
9-Raritan at 8-Ewing, winner at 1-Bordentown;
12-Governor Livingston at 5-Roselle Park;
13-Jackson Liberty at 4-Somerville;
11-Allentown at 6-A.L. Johnson, winner at 3-Carteret;
10-Spotswood at 7-Matawan, winner at 2-Shore.

South:
9-Burlington Township at 8-Audubon, winner at 1-Sterling;
5-Haddon Township at 4-Cinnaminson;
6-Buena at 3-Haddonfield;
10-Gateway at 7-Woodstown, winner at 2-Delran.

GROUP I
North 1:
16-Wood-Ridge at 1-Pompton Lakes;
9-Cresskill at 8-Wallington;
12-Sussex Tech at 5-New Milford;
13-Midland Park at 4-Cedar Grove;
14-Emerson Boro at 3-Park Ridge;
11-Boonton at 6-Waldwick;
10-Belvidere at 7-Becton;
15-Leonia at 2-Saddle Brook.

North 2:
5-Hudson County Prep at 4-Whippany Park, winner at 1-Hoboken;
6-McNair Academic at 3-Secaucus;
7-North Arlington at 2-High Tech.

Central:
5-Bound Brook at 4-Brearley, winner at 1-Dunellen;
6-New Providence at 3-South Amboy;
7-Keansburg at 2-Florence.

South:
9-Penns Grove at 8-Point Pleasant Beach, winner at 1-New Egypt;
5-Woodbury at 4-Gloucester Tech;
6-Burlington City at 3-Pennsville;
10-Salem at 7-Pitman, winner at 2-Gloucester City.

NON-PUBLIC A
North:
9-Immaculata at 8-Pope John XXIII, winner at 1-Morris Catholic;
12-Roselle Catholic at 5-Mother Seton, winner at 4-Paramus Catholic;
11-St. Dominic at 6-Mount St. Mary, winner at 3-Immaculate Heart;
10-Holy Angels at 7-Kent Place, winner at 2-Mount St. Dominic.

South:
9-Paul VI at 8-Holy Spirit, winner at 1-Red Bank Catholic;
5-Monsignor Donovan at 4-Camden Catholic;
6-St. John Vianney at 3-Notre Dame;
7-Bishop Ahr at 2-Gloucester Catholic.

NON-PUBLIC B
North:
8-Immaculate Conception at 1-Holy Family;
5-St. Mary-Rutherford at 4-Newark Academy;
6-Dwight Englewood at 3-Montclair Kimberley;
7-Gill St. Bernard's at 2-Eastern Christian.

South:
5-Bishop Eustace at 4-Sacred Heart, winner at 1-St. Joseph-Hammonton;
6-Our Lady of Mercy at 3-Cardinal McCarrick;
7-Holy Cross at 2-Mater Dei.

Rutgers Prep crushes Wardlaw for Prep B title

2008-05-15T19:06:00.000-04:00

Rutgers Prep scored at least a run in each inning, and freshman Alex Campanaro threw a two-hitter, as the Argonauts dealt Wardlaw-Hartridge its first loss of the season 11-1 in six innings to claim Rutgers Prep’s third straight state Prep B title.

Congratulations to coach Heidi Kearnan and the Argonauts on another championship season, and thanks for the beautiful sign!

WESTFIELD SHOCKED IN UCT!

2008-05-14T19:15:00.000-04:00

Senior third baseman Erin Scialabba drove in two runs with a single with two outs in the third inning, and sophomore center fielder Katie Esler drove in a run in the fourth inning, but second-seeded Westfield was shocked by No. 10 Roselle Park 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the Union County Tournament.

Junior Cyndil Matthew singled, scored a run and walked three times, including twice intentionally for the Blue Devils.

I am very surprised, though not shocked by this one. Yes, I know, I had Westfield winning the whole thing.

What can I say, my streak had to end sometime.

Westfield-Roselle Park PPD again

2008-05-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

The Westfield-Roselle Park Union County Tournament quarterfinal game originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed for the third time because of the softball field at Westfield HS still in poor condition after Monday's rain.

The game is now slated for 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Union beat Rahway 9-0 Tuesday in the other quarterfinal tilt that had been moved from Saturday.

GMCT set

2008-05-13T17:03:00.001-04:00

The Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament seeds are out and Old Bridge received the top seed.

J.F. Kennedy and pitcher Heather Corica, who no-hit North Hunterdon for the Lions’ only loss, is the second seed, with Carteret seeded third and South Plainfield seeded fourth.

The tournament gets underway Wednesday with preliminary-round game, with the first round scheduled for Saturday at South Plainfield High School.

The quarterfinals will be back at South Plainfield on Wednesday, May 21, with the semifinals Saturday, May 24 and the final Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day).

The latter two rounds will be held at Middlesex County College.

Here are the preliminary-round matchups and first-round opponents (the top six seeds have a bye into the first round:

No. 17 North Brunswick at No. 16 Mother Seton, winner vs. No. 1 Old Bridge
No. 18 Spotswood at No. 15 Cardinal McCarrick, winner vs. No. 2 J.F. Kennedy
No. 19 Metuchen at No. 14 Woodbridge, winner vs. No. 3 Carteret
No. 20 Middlesex at No. 13 Sayreville, winner vs. No. 4 South Plainfield
No. 21 Piscataway at No. 12 Edison, winner vs. No. 5 East Brunswick
No. 22 South Amboy at No. 11 South Brunswick, winner vs. No. 6 Bishop Ahr

No. 23 Perth Amboy at No. 10 J.P. Stevens, winner vs. winner of No. 26 New Brunswick at No. 7 Colonia

No. 24 South River at No. 9 Monroe, winner vs. winner of No. 25 Perth Amboy Tech at No. 8 Dunellen.

I’m not going to pretend to be overly familiar with all of these GMC teams, so I’m not going to make picks, but here’s how it could play out for our area squads:

We have four local teams in this tournament: South Plainfield, Dunellen, Middlesex and Piscataway:

I do not expect Piscataway or Middlesex to get past their preliminary-round opponents, and while Dunellen should have little trouble with Perth Amboy Tech on Wednesday, the Destroyers’ second-round game against defending champion Monroe should signal the end of Dunellen’s tournament run.

South Plainfield should cruise though whatever team it draws Saturday (Middlesex or Sayreville), setting up a likely quarterfinal game with East Brunswick, which is an interesting matchup.

The Tigers have played way better than most people expected this season after being mauled by graduation losses, while the Bears are perennial GMC Red and Group IV contenders.

If the Tigers survive East Brunswick, South Plainfield would then likely play top-seeded Old Bridge, which is obviously going to be anything but easy.

A potential final against Carteret would be a good matchup for the Tigers, as those teams split their regular-season meetings, but a date with J.F. Kennedy is probably more likely and the Mustangs have already blanked South Plainfield twice this season -- 1-0 and 3-0.

That said, I think South Plainfield has a good a chance as any of the top five or six seeds to win this thing, but no matter who the Tigers face after the first two rounds, it won’t be easy.

South Plainfield played in the final last season, falling to Monroe 5-1, and also played in the championship game in 2003 and 2000, losing both times.
The Tigers have not won the title since 1998.

Lapicki in the Corner

2008-05-13T11:34:00.001-04:00

The latest edition of the Courier News' College Corner is out today, featuring a great story by Jerry Carino on former Immaculata star and current University of Tennessee freshman Jen Lapicki.

You can find the story online HERE.

And speaking of Carino, who has been talking smack about Bridgewater-Raritan for two years now, you can be sure I will make him get up and take the heat he deserves when we record this week's podcast. Perhaps I'll make him sing the Panthers' fight song (do the Panthers have a fight song?) I'll have to look into that.

We're scheduled to record this week's episode Thursday evening, so look for it sometime Friday afternoon.

UCT update

2008-05-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

With all the excitement of the Somerset County Tournament final, don't think I've forgotten about you, Union County fans.

Two of the four quarterfinal games were played Saturday, as top-seeded Cranford housed No. 9 Roselle Catholic 10-1 (missed the final score by one Cranford run); while fourth-seeded Linden blanked No. 5 A.L. Johnson 4-0 (wow, was I off on this game!)

Westfield vs. Roselle Park and Union vs. Rahway will be played Tuesday.

Living up to the hype

2008-05-11T01:55:00.000-04:00

Ok, so our early Saturday deadlines at the Courier News really stinks.

As expected the Somerset County Tournament game story did not make Sunday's paper, and it won't get in Monday, either (you know, the whole timely thing).

But there is good news: You can find complete coverage of the game at www.mycentraljersey.com -- for a direct link, click HERE.

But in case you weren't one of the estimated 700 or so gathered at North Branch Park on Saturday night, or, if for some reason, my opinion really, really matters to you, here's my take on Bridgewater-Raritan's 2-0 victory over Immaculata.

It's amazing how year after year the championship game of the Somerset County Tournament is always a classic. Always a great game. And this year's was no difference.

B-R's Lauren Fitzsimmons and Immaculata's Kaitlyn Piazzolla are two of the best, and they both performed as such.

But someone had to win and someone had to lose.

The knock on Fitzsimmons at times has been her tendency to get rattled in certain situations and let a minor jam turn into a major catastrophe.

She totally shed that label tonight, not only throwing a no-hitter and striking out 12 in a county championship game, but keeping poised and composed even in the situations when Immaculata did start the beginnings of what could turn into a rally.

Credit Bridgewater co-captains catcher Sammy DeSimone and first baseman Lindsay Durant for helping keep their teammate calm and cool.

And of course there's left fielder Katie Jones, the Panthers' ninth-place hitter, who delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit.

The true sign of a good team is when it's not just a player or two that does all the damage, but when a big knock or a stellar defensive play can come from anywhere in the lineup, that's the sign of a true champion and that's exactly what Bridgewater showed they are this week.

In Wednesday night's semifinals it was Carrianne D'Alessandro with the big hit, tonight it was Jones.

Congratulations to coach Sandy Baranowski and her staff, Athletic Director John Maggio, and to the players and fans. Well played, indeed.

But let's not forget Immaculata.

Many people counted the Spartans out at every turn -- myself included -- whether it be against Watchung Hills, Hillsborough, and again tonight.

But Immaculata and Kaitlyn Piazzolla also did a great job. The Spartans showed they are never to be taken lightly, and Piazzolla has proven to be one of the gutsiest hurlers I've ever seen toe a rubber, and it's truly a pity someone had to lose.

Oh, and while we're handing out accolades, allow me to pay myself on the back. Did anyone else notice I nailed the final score in my prediction in Saturday's newspaper?

I'm quite proud of myself, especially after all the abuse I took last year. :-)

North vs. Central for the Hunterdon/Warren crown next Saturday, plus state tournament brackets are coming out this week.

Plenty more softball to come.

For now, happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. I know some proud parents in Bridgewater and Raritan that will be especially enjoying the day.

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN WINS SCT!

2008-05-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

Lauren Fitzsimmons threw a no-hitter, walking three and striking out 12, and Katie Jones delivered the game-winning hit in the third inning, as Bridgewater-Raritan claims the Somerset County title with a 2-0 victory over Immaculata.

Log onto MyCentralJersey.com at around 11pm tonight for complete coverage.

Central, North prevail... and other county happenings

2008-05-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

The Hunterdon/Warren Tournament semifinals were played today, and went off as expected.

HUNTERDON CENTRAL 5, VOORHEES 1
Jenna Carmon threw a three-hitter – allowing just one unearned run – and went 2-for-3 with a two-run double in Central’s win

Annmarie Forenza and Andrea Tarashuk also had RBI for Central.

Shawnee Bernstein had two hits for Voorhees.

Thanks to the anonymous reader who posted here that I nailed the score in my predictions. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it. As for the smile on my face when the game ended, that probably had more to do with the fact that I was relieved I would no longer have to deal with the gnat infestation that settled on and around the softball field at HCRHS.

NORTH HUNTERDON 4, WARREN HILLS 0
The Lions obviously learned their lessons after last year’s upset as Jenna Gonzalez posted her 11th shutout.

Sophomore catcher Sam Rayhon had two doubles and three RBIs for North Hunterdon, while sophomore designated hitter Blair Curzi also doubled twice and drove in a run.

It’s Hunterdon Central vs. North Hunterdon in next Saturday’s final (11 a.m. at HealthQuest).

It will mark the third time in the past five years these two teams met for the championship (they split the first two meetings).

Look for a preview of this game next Saturday in the Courier News and on MyCentralJersey.com

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT NOTES

I haven’t confirmed the fate of the other three games, but the Roselle Park/Westfield tilt has been postponed until Tuesday.

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT FINAL

In case your local newsstand was sold out of today’s Courier News and you missed the preview package on the county final, the second part of it can be found online at MyCentralJersey.com/sports

Don’t ask me what happened to the first half of the story, or the rest of what went with it. The new Web site is a work in progress and we’re still trying to work out the kinks.

The result of tonight’s game WILL NOT be in Sunday’s paper – due to early Saturday deadline – but we will have complete coverage on MyCentralJersey.com. Expect a game story to be up about an hour or two after it ends.

I will, of course, post a brief recap here as soon as I get back to the office from the game.

PODCAST IS UP

2008-05-09T12:16:00.001-04:00

More than 24 hours after it was recorded, the latest BATS AND BALLS podcast is up on mycentraljersey.com

You can find it HERE.

HWT semis picks, UCT quarters picks, and other notes

2008-05-08T23:39:00.000-04:00

While many of us will have our attention focused on Saturday night’s Somerset County Tournament final, there are still two other tournaments in action this weekend.

Here’s a look, complete with pick:

HUNTERDON/WARREN TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS

NO. 4 SEED VOORHEES at NO. 1 SEED HUNTERDON CENTRAL
12 p.m. Saturday at Central

The Vikings pulled off a nice little upset of Hackettstown in the quarters, and after losing to Warren Hills in a regular-season tilt Tuesday, came back and beat Immaculata 3-0 Thursday to qualify for the state tournament.
Enjoy it, Voorhees, because you’re about to see the difference between Imamculata and Hunterdon Central
MY PICK: Hunterdon Central 5-1

NO. 6 SEED WARREN HILLS at NO. 2 SEED NORTH HUNTERDON
1 p.m. Saturday at North

Warren Hills shocked North in last season’s semifinals, but I cannot see that happening again. The Lions’ only loss has been to J.F. Kennedy’s Heather Corica, who might just be the best pitcher in the state this season. This one could be ugly.
MY PICK: North Hunterdon 9-0

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
All games scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (subject to change)

NO. 10 ROSELLE PARK at NO. 2 WESTFIELD
The Blue Devils are the only remaining local squad left in this tournament, and after a 7-0 loss to South Plainfield on Tuesday – just the third loss of the season for Westfield -- the Blue Devils are itching to get back on track.
The Panthers are no pushovers, but if the Blue Devils play like they’re capable, I don’t see them having too much trouble here.
MY PICK: Westfield 6-2

NO. 9 ROSELLE CATHOLIC at NO. 1 CRANFORD
Say goodnight, Lions.
MY PICK: Cranford 11-0

NO. 5 A.L. JOHNSON at NO. 4 LINDEN
I don’t expect this one to be as close as most 4-5 games tend to be. Linden plays in a fairly weak Watchung Conference where Westfield is the only real powerhouse, while the Crusaders have been through the wars in the Mountain Valley Conference Mountain Division.
I wouldn’t rule out a Linden win, but I don’t see it.
MY PICK: A.L. Johnson 7-2

NO. 11 RAHWAY at NO. 3 UNION
Some might say the Rahway mascot, the Indians, is offensive. I think the people in southeast Union County might find the outcome of this one even more off-putting.
MY PICK: Union 8-0

**

PROGRAMMING NOTES:

PODCAST NEWS
The sixth edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast, believe it or not, was actually recorded Wednesday night. I swear. Don’t ask me why as of Thursday evening at 11:30 p.m. it still hasn’t been posted on MyCentralJersey.com.
I hope to remedy that tomorrow morning.

COMING SATURDAY
We’re going all out with a preview of the Somerset County Tournament final. Make sure to pick up Saturday’s edition of the Courier News and check out the package in the VARSITY section. The preview should also be available online at MyCentralJersey.com.

Also in Saturday’s VARSITY, the regular weekly softball notebook will be out, complete with the latest Athlete Spotlight, standings, a look at who’s in and who’s out of the state tournament and a new Top 10, which features a few shakeups.

COMING SATURDAY NIGHT
Game time for the SCT final is 7:30 p.m. at North Branch Park, meaning the best-case scenario is that it will end at around 8:45.
Too bad the Courier News’ deadline is about 8:10.
But don’t fret; we will have complete coverage of the game online at MyCentralJersey.com. A full game story should be posted about an hour or so after the game ends, and, of course, I will check in here on The Inner Circle after the game with a score and a brief recap.
SI hope to see you all out in Branchburg. I’ll be the good-looking guy, more than likely wearing a Mets cap, sitting at the press table behind the backstop. Feel free to drop by and say hello -- or just rip me for picking against your team.

SCT Semifinals game stories online

2008-05-08T00:45:00.000-04:00

Here are the links to the game stories of both SCT semifinals games frm Wednesday evening:

For my story on Bridgewater-Raritan over Montgomery, CLICK HERE

For Jerry Carino's story on Immaculata's win over Hillsborough, CLICK HERE

Also, the sixth episode of the BATS AND BALLS podcast was recorded late Wednesday night, it should be up on mycentraljersey.com sometime Thursday afternoon.

I'll link to it here once it's up.

SCT SEMI: IMMACULATA 1, HILLSBOROUGH 0 IN 10 INNINGS

2008-05-07T22:25:00.000-04:00

The Spartans use the international tiebreaker and score in the top of the 10th inning to end another classic SCT pitcher's duel, this one between Immaculata's Kaitlyn Piazzolla and Hillsborough's Megan McInaw.

Immaculata vs. Bridgewater-Raritan in final at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

For complete coverage of this game, as well as the BR-Montgomery semi, check out Thursday's Courier News, or go online to www.mycentraljersey.com

SCT SEMI: BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN 3, MONTGOMERY 0

2008-05-07T21:27:00.001-04:00

Bridgewater-Raritan's Lauren Fitzsimmons flirted with a perfect game, finishing with a one-hit shutout, and Carrianne D'Alessandro and Lindsay Durant led the offense as the Panthers advanced to the Somerset County Tournament final for the first time since 2001.

Check out Thursday's Courier News and online at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/ for complete coverage of the game.

I will post the Hillsborough-Immaculata result as soon as it goes final.

Someset County Tournament semifinals preview and picks

2008-05-06T22:31:00.002-04:00

The chips are down, the gloves are off, the helmets are fastened (or the screws loosened, depending on who you are), and it’s time for the battle royal known as the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.

For every classic the final of this tournament has produced, the semifinals have spawned just as many, and tonight should be no different.

Here’s a look -- complete with picks – of the games scheduled for tonight at North Branch Park.

GAME 1 – 6 P.M.

NO. 3 SEED MONTGOMERY vs. NO. 2 SEED BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN
My records for this tournament go back to 1999, the year I started covering softball for the Courier News. In that time, believe it or not, Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan did not meet in the tournament before now.
While the Cougars won the 2006 crown and went to the final in 2005, Bridgewater-Raritan has not won a county championship since 1998 – coach Sandy Baranowski’s first year at the helm – and have not played in the title game since 2001.
Here’s what it comes down to in my mind:
Bridgewater-Raritan has the experience factor in its corner, having graduated just one starter from last season’s team that fell to eventual-champion Immaculata in the semifinals. Senior pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons knows what it takes to be successful in this tournament, and if she can keep her concentration and not get rattled, she can be near-unhittable.
Montgomery, meanwhile, will rely on the sophomore righty Casey Niper, who has pitched phenomenally since taking over as the Cougars’ ace in the early part of the season, but, let’s face it, she has never been through the wars in this tournament.
Bridgewater-Raritan won the only regular-season meeting between these teams, 2-1 on April 22.
MY PICK: Bridgewater-Raritan 3-1

GAME 2 -- 8 P.M.

NO. 4 SEED IMMACULATA vs. NO. 1 SEED HILLSBOROUGH
This one is a rematch of last year’s final between the defending champion Spartans and the Raiders, who have played in six straight county championship games and won three straight titles from 2003-2005.
And since I’m so fired up about getting my archives together, try this stat on for size: In the past 10 years, Immaculata is 3-0 against Hillsborough in the county tournament.
I expect that to change tonight.
Hillsborough has shown to be the team to beat in this tournament, going to the final year after year when, on paper, some might have though they should be watching from the bleachers.
Raiders ace Megan McInaw has, arguably, been the best and most consistent pitcher in the county this season and will be pitching in her third straight semifinal without a loss, while Hillsborough – despite having a young team without a lot of pop – has found ways to manufacture runs and dent the scoreboard in big spots against elite teams all season.
Immaculata’s Kaitlyn Piazzolla has gotten knocked around at times this season, but I don’t expect that to be an issue against the Raiders. What will be an issue, however, is that if Hillsborough is able to shutdown the top of the Immaculata order allowing it to pitch around Piazzolla, the Spartans really doesn’t have anywhere else to generate the offense it’s going to need against McInaw to advance.
Hillsborough won the teams’ meeting earlier this season, 1-0 on April 8
MY PICK: Hillsborough 2-0

***

If you can’t make it out to North Branch Park (right off Route 202 on Milltown Road on the Branchburg/Bridgewater border), check back here Wednesday night for results of this game.

Look for complete coverage of both games in Thursday’s Courier News and online at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/

Break out the bubbly

2008-05-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not talking about champagne. Sorry if I got you fired up for nothing. But Friday is the cutoff for qualifying for the state tournament, and seven teams are still on the bubble for berths.

Here’s who's definitely in and who’s definitely out (records through Monday’s games):

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP IV
IN: Hillsborough (11-4), Hunterdon Central (15-1), Montgomery (13-6)
OUT: None

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP II
IN: Somerville (13-3)
OUT: North Plainfield (2-13), Delaware Valley (7-11)

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I:
IN: Bound Brook (10-8), Dunellen (13-4)
OUT: Manville (0-13), South Hunterdon (4-8)

NORTH 2 GROUP IV
IN: Bridgewater-Raritan (13-3), North Hunterdon (14-1), Watchung Hills (9-7), Westfield (14-2)
OUT: Franklin (1-14), Piscataway (3-12), Plainfield (2-10), Ridge (3-12)

NORTH 2 GROUP III
IN: Scotch Plains-Fanwood (10-7), South Plainfield (13-4)
OUT: None

NON-PUBLIC A NORTH
IN: Immaculata (11-6), Mount St. Mary (8-4), Union Catholic ()
OUT: None

NON-PUBLIC B NORTH
IN: Gill St. Bernard’s (10-7)
OUT: None

NON-PUBLIC B SOUTH
IN: None
OUT: Timothy Christian (3-7)

**

Here’s a look at the bubble teams and what needs to happen for them to get into the postseason:

WHO: Governor Livingston (8-6)
SECTION: Central Jersey Group II
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Wednesday vs. Newark Central; Thursday at Union; Friday at Union Catholic.
SCENARIO: The Highlanders are in as long as they don’t lose all three.
OUTLOOK: The defending state Group II champion is all but in – having Newark Central on the schedule pretty much locks that up. Union is a loss, while Union Catholic should be a win, but you never know. After al, GL did lose to Ridge on Monday. I did find it curious, however, that the Highlanders’ scheduled game against juggernaut Cranford on Tuesday was moved to May 28. Don’t think I didn’t notice that little magic trick.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 99%

WHO: Bernards (8-8)
SECTION: North 2 Group II
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Thursday vs. North Warren.
SCENARIO: Win and they’re in. Lose and the Mountaineers aren’t. A rainout and they’ll qualify.
OUTLOOK: Assuming there’s not some other game scheduled that nobody but the Bernards Athletic Dept. knows about, it’s a simple scenario for the Mountaineers: Just win, baby! Bernards already beat North Warren this season – 14-7 on April 8 – so you’ve gotta like the Mountaineers’ chances
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 85%

WHO: Pingry (8-9)
SECTION: Non-Public North A
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Tuesday vs. Morristown-Beard; Wednesday at Mountain Lakes; Friday vs. Arts
SCENARIO: The Big Blue need to win 2-of-3 this week to qualify, though if they get a rainout they have to win twice. Two rainouts and they’re in with one win.
OUTLOOK: Pingry beat Mo-Beard 7-2 earlier this season, and Arts, is, well, just not very good. That leaves Mountain Lakes. The best bet for the Big Blue is just two win Tuesday over Mo-Beard, bank the win Friday against Arts, thus making Wednesday’s game irrelevant. The X-factor, however, is that if Pingry splits the games with Mo-Beard and Mountain Lakes, and then get rained out Friday against Arts, no state tournament.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 70%

WHO: Voorhees (5-7)
SECTION: North 2 Group III
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Tuesday vs. Warren Hills; Thursday vs. Immaculata
SCENARIO: The Vikings need to win both games and not get rained out.
OUTLOOK: Voorhees is playing its best softball of the season. The Vikings took Bridgewater-Raritan to extra innings last week, before falling 1-0, and beat Warren Hills in Saturday’s Hunterdon/Warren quarterfinals. Voorhees will need every bit of that mojo if it is to sneak into the state tournament. The Vikings proved they can beat Warren Hills, and if they muster the same aura that they had against Bridgewater-Raritan, it isn’t unthinkable that they could beat Immaculata, especially with the Spartans scheduled to play in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals the previous evening and the hang over they might have Thursday, win or lose. This reminds me of Hillsborough last season. The Raiders a slightly more precarious scenario and I gave them even less of a chance to qualify, yet they got in. Hopefully that works for Donna Exley’s crew, here.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 50%

WHO: New Providence (5-7)
SECTION: Central Jersey Group I
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Tuesday at St. Mary’s; Wednesday vs. Kent Place; Thursday at A.L. Johnson
SCENARIO: The Pioneers cannot lose any of these games. One rainout is okay.
OUTLOOK: Bottom line is that New Providence will be praying for rain Thursday. St. Mary’s and Kent Place should be fairly easy victories for the Pioneers, while A.L. Johnson is one of the top teams in Union County. The good news is that New Providence played the Crusaders tough in their Union County Tournament meeting on Saturday – falling 8-6 after allowing eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning – so Johnson will not, by any means, intimidate the inexperienced Pioneers.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 40%

WHO: Middlesex (5-7)
SECTION: Central Jersey Group I
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Tuesday at Highland Park, Wednesday at Cardinal McCarrick
SCENARIO: The Blue Jays must win both games. A rainout would eliminate them.
OUTLOOK: The good news is Middlesex already beat Highland Park 10-0 earlier this season. The bad news is the Blue Jays lost to Cardinal McCarrick by the same score a couple of weeks ago. Things have not gone as planned for coach Jen Grasso and friends, and I don’t think a playoff berth is in the cards.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 10%

WHO: Union Catholic (5-7)
SECTION: Non-Public North A
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Tuesday vs. Hillside; Thursday at Cranford; Friday at Governor Livingston
SCENARIO: The Vikings cannot lose a game. Two wins and a rainout gets them in.
OUTLOOK: Assuming a win over Hillside is a given, Union Catholic is still going to need a miracle – or a well-timed thunderstorm. Let’s face it, Union Catholic has little-to-no chance of beating Cranford – the Vikings were 10-runned by the Cougars in Saturday’s Union County Tournament. But even if by some miracle Thursday is a washout, the Vikings would still need to beat Governor Livingston on Friday, which is anything but automatic. Rain wont help UC there.
CHANCE OF QUALIFYING: 5%

******
Check back all week for an update on the bubble teams, as well as our coverage of the county tournaments.

Central wins

2008-05-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

Hunterdon Central defeated Phillipsburg 13-0 Monday to wrap up the quarterfinals round of the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament.

WEEKEND COUNTY TOURNAMENT WRAPUP

2008-05-05T13:45:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this weekend's county tournaments wasn't Somerville's near-win over Montgomery, Bound Brook giving Bridgewater-Raritan a game, Voorhees' upset of Hackettstown, or even the fact that all but one of our local teams were eliminated from the Union County Tournament.

No, what I found most shocking was that with all the rain in the forecast, these games actually were played!

Joke's on you, Al Roker!! (insert sinister laugh here).

***

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

HILLSBOROUGH 6, RUTGERS PREP 1
Rutgers Prep did a good job getting here, but if anyone knows how to stay focused and knows how to win in this tournament it's Hillsborough. There's a reason the Raiders have played in six straight county finals.
As for the Argonauts, they're on their way. They're not quite there yet, but with a team with two ace pitchers that are both underclassmen, expect Rutgers Prep to be right in the thick of it in the years to come.

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN 3, BOUND BROOK 0
Great job by 10th-seeded Bound Brook keeping this game competitive and making me look like a fool for insisting the Crusaders would get 10-runned.
It's clear that the Bound Brook offense is on par with any of those upper-division teams, and Bridgewater-Raritan coach Sandy Baranowski said she was very impressed with the Crusaders' offensive, and even defensive, effort.
Nothing against pitcher Courtney Wood who does a great job against most of Bound Brook's opponents and did a good job limiting the Panthers to just three runs Saturday, but I think we can all agree she's not quite at the level of the superstar-hurlers of the Delaware Division. Having a big-time pitcher is a necessity to win this tournament, something Bound Brook has not had since the days of Rachel Coddington and Heather Yarashas a decade ago.

MONTGOMERY 5, SOMERVILLE 4 (9 innings)
To the phantom poster who's become so fond of leaving "BEWARE OF THE 'VILLE" comments on the blog lately, this one goes out to you.
I'm not going to say Montgomery looked past Somerville, but I think it's safe to say the Cougars didn't expect this game to be this close and probably should have been a little more "aware" of the Pioneers.
Still, Montgomery found a way to survive and advance, setting up a very interesting semifinals matchup with Bridgewater-Raritan.

IMMACULATA 2, WATCHUNG HILLS 1 (10 innings)
This game reminded me of the 2000 SCT final between these two schools, where Immaculata's Erica Bell and Watchung Hills' Kacey Stewart locked in a fierce pitcher's duel on a cold, rainy day in Warren, only to have the game decided by an error, eerily similar to the botched pickoff attempt at third base that ended this one.
As I sat in the bleachers at a cold and wet North Branch Park on Saturday watching this one unfold, I was thankful I at least had a great game to watch as I tried to keep my hands from getting numb.
Hats off to Spartans ace Kaitlyn Piazzolla for staying focused and getting a whole bunch of big outs when she really needed it. But I was even more impressed with Warriors' senior Lydia deMartino who pitched a phenomenal game (17 strikeouts!), and would have won if not for that meddling Piazzolla in the bottom of the fourth inning (Scooby Doo is still on, right?). With Watchung up 1-0, deMartino made a near-perfect "pitcher's pitch," a beautiful fast ball on the outside corner at the knees, but Piazzolla did an amazing job of going down to get it and lined it over the right-center-field fence for a game-tying home run.

HUNTERDON/WARREN TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

NORTH HUNTERDON 8, DELAWARE VALLEY 0
With North Hunterdon playing every bit as well as its top ranking in the Courier News Top 10 indicates, the Lions made short work of the rebuilding Terriers.

WARREN HILLS 4, BELVIDERE 1
I should have seen this coming.
While I acknowledged in my preview that Warren Hills could easily win this game, I picked Belvidere and I should have known better. The County Seaters have now lost four straight after a 10-0 start, while Warren Hills has continued its tournament run of the past couple of years. It was the Blue Streaks that upset North Hunterdon in last season's semifinals, and Warren Hills will have a chance to do it again Saturday.

VOORHEES 4, HACKETTSTOWN 2 (11 innings)
Here's an upset I picked right. I predicted good things for the Vikings coming into the season, and after some growing pains, things have seemed to gell for Voorhees. Last week's extra-innings affair with Bridgewater-Raritan was a good indication that the Vikings are finally clicking.

HUNTERDON CENTRAL vs. PHILLIPSBURG
This game will be played Monday at Central. If Phillipsburg wins, my next blog will be written from the ICU at Overlook Hospital.

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

WESTFIELD 20, DAYTON 0
No shocker here. Westfield is still my pick to win the whole thing.

ROSELLE PARK 4, GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON 1
I'm a little surprised the Highlanders were eliminated, but not shocked by any means. GL and Roselle Park have a nice little rivalry going, and this is just another chapter.

A.L. JOHNSON 8, NEW PROVIDENCE 6
A valiant effort by New Providence, which has struggled of late. The Pioneers, who were devastated by graduation losses, had this one until an eight-run Crusaders fourth inning doomed New Providence.

RAHWAY 6, SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD 4
Another upset I picked correctly, this one wasn't as close as the final score indicates, as the Raiders scored four in the bottom of the seventh to save a little face. It's been a tough couple of weeks for SPF since losing ace pitcher Brianna Mahoney to season-ending knee surgery, and this one stings.

CRANFORD 12, UNION CATHOLIC 2
Union Catholic never really had a prayer against the juggernaut Cougars.

LINDEN 2, BREARLEY 1
Closer than it should have been.

UNION 14, SUMMIT 0
I look forward to a Westfield-Union semifinal.

ROSELLE CATHOLIC 7, MOTHER SETON 6
Um, ok.

PROGRAMMING NOTES:

COMING TUESDAY: As Friday's cutoff for qualifying for the state tournament approaches, we'll take a look at who's in, who's out and who's on the bubble.

COMING WEDNESDAY: I will preview the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, complete with my picks. The top four teams have advanced, but will the rest of the tournament follow the chalk?

COMING THURSDAY: The sixth episode of the BATS and BALLS podcast will be recorded Wednesday night following the SCT semifinals and should be up Thursday in the early afternoon. We'll talk about the semis and look ahead to Saturday's final. We'll take a peek at the other tournaments, as well as get into the non-county tournament happenings on the baseball and softball fronts.

COMING FRIDAY: I'll preview and make my picks for the Hunterdon/Warren semifinals and Union County Tournament quarterfinals, as well as update the bubble teams as they make a last-minute dash toward qualifying for the state tournament

COMING SATURDAY: First, look for a big preview package on the Somerset County Tournament final in Saturday's VARSITY edition of the Courier News and online at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/, in addition to the regular softball notebook package.
Later that night, you will find complete coverage of the game right here on The Inner Circle. Due to the game's late start, there's little-to-no chance the game will make the newspaper, since your already insanely early deadlines are that much earlier on Saturdays. Obviously, I will be covering the 7:30 p.m. game in person, but I will hurry back to the office and get the game up on the blog ASAP. Figure around 10:00 p.m.

SATURDAY'S COUNTY RESULTS

2008-05-03T18:46:00.005-04:00

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERS
Immaculata 2, Watchung Hills 1 (10 innings)
Hillsborough 6, Rutgers Prep 1
Bridgewater-Raritan 3, Bound Brook 0
Montgomery 5, Somerville 4 (nine innings)

HUNTERDON/WARREN QUARTERS
North Hunterdon 8, Delaware Valley 0
Voorhees 4, Hackettstown 2 (11 innings)
Warren Hills 4, Belvidere 1
P'Burg at Hunterdon Central (MONDAY)

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
Roselle Park 4, Governor Livingston 1
Linden 2, Brearley 1
Union 14, Summit 0
Roselle Catholic 7, Mother Seton 6
Rahway 6, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 4
Cranford 12, Union Catholic 2
Westfield 20, Dayton 0
A.L. Johnson 8, New Providence 6

Podcast is up

2008-05-02T14:00:00.000-04:00

The latest edition of the BATS and BALLS podcast is up at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/

Here's a DIRECT LINK

SCT and HWT quarterfinals and UCT first round picks

2008-05-02T00:43:00.000-04:00

The rain dance is famous among Native Americans hoping for sustenance for their crops, my only wish is I knew a little jig to keep the rain away this weekend.

Here my picks for this weekend’s slate:

SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

9-RUTGERS PREP at 1-HILLSBOROUGH
Hillsborough’s run of success in this tournament during this decade is well-documented, with six straight trips to the final and three championships. Rutgers Prep has never made a semifinal, and I don’t expect that to change this year. Sure, I give the Argonautrs a shot here, they have enough talent that if everything goes right they could pull off an upset, but with Hillsborough’s experience and with coach Cheryl Iaione as good as anyone in motivating a team and making sure they don’t get complacent, look for a fairly comfortable Raiders victory.
MY PICK: Hillsborough 4-0

7-BOUND BROOK at 2-BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN
Congratulations to Bound Brook for its inspire effort in getting here and the Crusaders’ clutch upset over Bernards last week. But there will be no emptying of Gatorade buckets here for Bound Brook. The Crusaders might have won eight in a row, but they haven’t faced a team like the Panthers during that run.
MY PICK: Bridgewater-Raritan 11-0

6-SOMERVILLE at 3-MONTGOMERY
Montgomery has struggled at time this year, while Somerville is having a nice little season at 12-2 (through Thursday). Much like Rutgers Prep against Hillsborough – to borrow a phrase from my colleague, Jerry Carino – I give the Pioners a puncher’s chance against the Cougars, meaning if everything goes right for Somerville it could advance, but I don’t see it happening.
MY PICK: Montgomery 7-2

5-WATCHUNG HILLS at 4-IMMACULATA
This one is a true toss-up, folks. The Warriors already beat the defending champion Spartans once this year (6-4 on April 22), while Immaculata has the experience on its side after last year’s run. While Immaculata’s Kaitlyn Piazzolla is probably the more dominant of the two pitchers, Watchung Hills’ Lydia deMartino has probably been more consistent this season and has pitched far into this tournament in each of her three seasons as the Warriors’ ace.
I plan to cover this one Saturday, so be kind Immaculata fans; Boo me all you like, but please don’t throw anything sharp at me.
MY PICK: Watchung Hills 5-4

HUNTERDON/WARREN TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

9-PHILLIPSBURG at 1-HUNTERDON CENTRAL (Monday at 3:45 p.m.)
Merely a formality.
MY PICK: Hunterdon Central 8-0

7-DELAWARE VALLEY at 2-NORTH HUNTERDON
Another game with only one logical outcome.
MY PICK: North Hunterdon 12-0

6-WARREN HILLS at 3-BELVIDERE
Here’s where things get interesting: Belvidere, after starting the season 10-0, has dropped three straight to teams one would figure the County Seaters would handle. Warren Hills, meanwhile, despite losing a bunch of talent to graduation, was still a finalist last season, so the Blue Streaks know what it takes to pull off an upset. That said, I see Belvidere bouncing back and winning a close one.
MY PICK: Belvidere 6-5

5-VOORHEES at 4-HACKETTSTOWN
Every loss Voorhees has suffered this season has been to a quality team, and while Hackettstown is solid, the Tigers are not exactly world-beaters. The Vikings almost shocked Bridgewater-Raritan on Thursday, as the Panthers needed 10 innings to claim a 1-0 victory, so look for Voorhees to carry that momentum into Saturday.
MY PICK: Voorhees 6-2

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

1-Cranford over Union Catholic
9-Roselle Catholic over 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 or 15-Elizabeth*
*preliminary game to be played Friday

PROGRAMMING NOTES
The fifth episode of the Bats and Balls podcast was recorded Thursday night, complete with a more in-depth looks at this weekend’s county games. We hope it will be up on the new Courier News-Home News Tribune Web site at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/ sometime Friday. We’re still getting used to the new site and trying to locate everything, so check back here Friday afternoon and I will try and provide a direct link to the podcast.

Look for my picks for Wednesday’s night’s SCT semifinals, hopefully, Monday, and get ready for some double-barrel coverage of those games, featuring yours truly, as well as Jerry Carino, as we will cover both games that evening.

Look for a big preview of next Saturday’s Somerset County softball final in next Saturday’s (May 10) VARSITY section of the Courier News

I will do my best to post scores as games go final on Saturday, right here on the Inner Circle.

Better late than never

2008-04-30T18:44:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-30T17:46:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-27T13:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-26T15:01:00.004-04:00

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

2008-04-24T23:51:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-21T22:51:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-18T21:06:00.001-04:00

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...

2008-04-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-16T22:21:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-15T23:33:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-15T17:34:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-14T21:11:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-12T12:02:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-08T23:56:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-04T19:17:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-03T13:50:00.000-04:00

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!

Looking ahead: Week 1

2008-03-31T13:22:00.001-04:00

It's opening day of the Major League Baseball season and the eve of the start of the 2008 varsity softball campaign. And as I sit here getting fired up for Johan Santana's regular-season debut for my New York Mets, let's take a look at some of the prime matchups for opening week of the softball season:

OPENING DAY, TUESDAY, APRIL 1

Hillsborough at Bridgewater-Raritan, 3:45 p.m.
Bridgewater-Raritan is in prime position to make a run at a conference title, but the Raiders and Megan McInaw are about as tough a draw as the Panthers can get on opening day.

Immaculata at Montgomery, 3:45 p.m.
Montgomery begins its Delaware East title defense against the reigning Somerset County champs with a full compliment of working catchers helmets in the Cougars' equipment bag.

Ridge at North Hunterdon, 3:45 p.m.
North wants to know what it's got after some key graduation losses. Ridge was also hit hard by graduation, and after being buried in the conference last season, the Red Devils are looking to see if they've got what it takes against one of the Delaware West's elite in their opener.

Monroe at South Plainfield, 4 p.m.
The Tigers were decimated by graduation, and will face the defending GMC White Division champs in their opener.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2

Immaculata at Westfield, 4 p.m.
The Spartans are ranked eighth in the Courier News Top 10. Westfield is ranked fifth. This is a good test for both teams.

THURSDAY, APRIL 3

Hunterdon Central at Immaculata, 3:45 p.m.
The top-ranked Red Devils' first game against real competition after facing Phillipsburg in their opener. The third straight elite opponent for Immaculata in the new season.

North Hunterdon at Hillsborough, 3:45 p.m.
A key crossover game in the Delaware Division, and a real momentum-grabber for the winner.

Oak Knoll at Governor Livingston, 4 p.m.
The Highlanders graduated seven of their nine starters, including All-State Player of the Year Capri Catalano. This will be G.L.'s first test against a team that doesn't play its home games in Newark and regularly ends up on the wrong end of the 10-run mercy rule.

FRIDAY, APRIL 4

Montgomery at Middlesex, 4 p.m.
The Blue Jays are looking to return to glory in the GMC and in Group I after a string of sectional titles and a state crown a few years ago. If Middlesex can handle one of Somerset County's elite, the Blue Jays might be onto something.

Mount St. Mary at Belvidere, 3:45 p.m.
The Mount Lions are one of several teams to be walloped by graduation. The County Seaters are the defending Valley Division champs, and while this would have been a walk for Mount St. Mary last season, it's the Mount Lions first test of any kind in 2008.

SATURDAY, APRIL 5

Immaculata at Rutgers Prep, 11 a.m.
A game I plan to attend, the Argonauts are looking to establish themselves among the contenders in Somerset County. The Spartans already holds that distinction. If Rutgers Prep can turn in a solid performance here -- win or lose -- people will be forced to stand up and take notice.

Up and At'cha!

2008-03-29T12:20:00.001-04:00

The 2008 Courier News varsity softball preview is out today, and, as usual, CN scholastic editor Tom Rysinski did a phenomenal job of laying it out along with the rest of the Varsity section.

Most of the Skyland Conference preview capsules can also be found online here, while the feature on Elora Daniele can be accessed here.

For some reason, the Top 10 did not appear in the paper or online, so here it is:

2008 SOFTBALL PRESEASON TOP 10
1. Hunterdon Central - Jenna Carmon, Jenny Harabedian, Meghan Everett and Erica Gaeta head a meaty list of returning stars

2. Bridgewater-Raritan - Lost just one starter to graduation. Returns ace Lauren Fitzsimmons and slugger Lindsay Durant, among others.

3. Montgomery - Katherine Stoltenberg is a big graduation loss, but with Elora Daniele in the circle and at the plate, as well as plenty of other returning starters, the Cougars will always be a factor.

4. North Hunterdon - Losing Sam Pellechio hurts bad, but North should still have enough to make a run.

5. Westfield - Cyndil Matthew is one of the top talents in the state, and the Blue Devils have plenty to choose from to replace Lauren Brown in the circle.

6. Hillsborough - Megan McInaw is a fantastic two-way player, plus coach Cheryl Iaione always finds a way to have her team right in the thick of things.

7. Scotch Plains-Fanwood - Kelly Cianciotta is one of the most exciting players in the area, she heads a list of returning starters that should have the Raiders raring to go in the Watchung Conference and the UCT.

8. Immaculata - How do you replace a player like Jen Lapicki? You simply don't. Kaitlyn Piazzolla will have to be lights out in the circle and take advantage of every opportunity with runners in scoring position while at the plate. Sophomore Shuana Mulkerin should also be a big factor.

9. Watchung Hills - Lydia deMartino is as talented as any of her peers in the conference. As she goes, so will the Warriors.

10. Somerville - The Pioneers boast some talented arms, it's just a matter of it all coming together.

If you haven't already, check out the season's first edition of the Bats and Balls PODCAST.

Lots of shtick, lots of substance.

THE BOYS ARE BACK!

2008-03-28T17:31:00.000-04:00

The season's first podcast is up and running at http://www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia, it includes a sneak peak at the Preseason Top 10 and some other nuggets as we get ready for opening day Tuesday.

PREVIEW RUNS SATURDAY IN THE COURIER NEWS!!

Deep Thoughts

2008-03-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

So I finally finished the softball preview last night at around midnight and headed home to watch American Idol, which I had DVRd -- by the way, there's no way that dude should have been voted off. Can someone please explain to me what that little country dame, Kristy Lee Cook, is still doing on that show?

But I digress.

As I pulled onto Route 22, I got to thinking about a few things:

1. Why do I watch American Idol? I hate reality TV.

2. I wonder what kind of animal I just ran over

3. Should I have ranked the Top 10 the way I did.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're probably saying to yourself, "Where's he going with this? The Top 10 isn't out yet. Is he going to tell us the rankings?"

No, he will not. But there is good news, and it has nothing to do with car insurance:
The 2008 softball preview will be out in Saturday's Varsity section of the Courier News, and online at http://www.c-n.com/

Also running Saturday will be previews of all the other spring sports (except track), and Ice Hockey All-Area, which has also been taking up my time the past two weeks.

The softball preview will include the new Top 10, a feature on Montgomery right-hander Elora Daniele, a preview capsules on all 34 of our local softball teams, and Montgomery coach Johnny Rooney's 'Guide to Equipment Maintenance and Emergency Repair.' (just kidding about that last part, but if he does write such a book, I want a cut of the royalties).

While the first real games won't be played until Tuesday, consider Saturday the unofficial start to the 2008 varsity softball season.

I know I'm fired up.

PODCAST RESCHEDULED

2008-03-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

Due to some scheduling conflicts -- namely the fact that Carino lives on the opposite end of the universe -- the season's first podcast will now be recorded Friday afternoon.

Hopefully it will be up sometime Friday.

I'll keep you posted.

New and Improved!

2008-03-22T12:36:00.000-04:00

Alright, so all I did was pick a new template and change some colors around, but a new season calls for a new look to The Inner Circle.

One new feature, however, is the softball poll (located to the right of this screen). Here, I will give you, the readers, yet another chance to voice your opinions (as if the comment option got SO much use).

Enjoy.

PROGRAMMING NOTES:

* The 2008 Courier News Softball Preview will run Saturday, March 29 in the Varsity section of the Courier News. While the weekly softball notebook ran on Wednesdays last season, this year -- with the return of the Varsity section after a six-year hiatus -- the softball notebook, as well as the notebooks from every other sport -- will run Saturdays in Varsity.

* As a preview to the preview, so to speak, the first podcast of the season is scheduled to be recorded Wednesday evening (March 26), so expect that to be up at http://www.c-n.com/ sometime Thursday afternoon (we hope).

Those of you who were faithful listerners last season know we began every podcast with a couple of bars from a song, but we've had trouble coming up with a song to use for the opening broadcast this season. Any suggestions?

Gettin' down to it

2008-03-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

The 2008 Courier News softball preview is scheduled to run Saturday, March 29 in the Varsity section of the Courier News.

As usual, the preview will contain a capsule for each of the area's 36 teams, a preseason feature, and the season's first Top 10.

Who do you think should be No. 1?

Three weeks

2008-03-11T08:58:00.000-04:00

The 2008 varsity softball season is three weeks away.

Applause!

And while regular blogging won't resume for another couple of weeks, here's a peek at what's to come:

* I will begin working on the softball preview in the next week or so. It will run in the Courier News on or about opening day (April 1). I will post the exact date when it's finalized.

* Look for some upgrades to this blog, including some minor redesign, and some fun new additions. Those changes should be made in the coming weeks.

* The Bats and Balls podcast, about which we received tons of positive feedback last year and many inquiries about over the past couple of weeks, will return for 2008. Many of you have inquired, and let me assure you, Harry, Jerry and I have every intention of resuming our weekly audio clown-show on the local softball and baseball scene. Check back here to find out when the first episode will be posted.

That is all for now. Questions? Comments? Stock tips? Email me at CourierSoftball@aol.com

Central's Everett chooses Dartmouth

2008-01-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

Hunterdon Central High School senior Meghan Everett has committed to play softball at Dartmouth College.
The Red Devils' center fielder and leadoff hitter, Everett batted .425 last season with two doubles, seven triples and seven home runs, including one in the final of the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament. She also scored 28 runs, notched 28 RBIs, and stole six bases.
Everett, who carries a 3.7 GPA at Hunterdon Central, was named first-team All-Area by the Courier News in both her sophomore and junior seasons. She was also a second-team field hockey player for the Red Devils this past fall.
Despite Ivy League schools not offering athletic scholarships, Everett said she committed to Dartmouth before fully exploring her options with programs that were willing to supplement her tuition because of the school's strong Environmental Studies program and its commitment to building a nationally competitive softball program.
The Big Green went 16-24 against some of the best competition in the nation, and 11-9 in the Ivy League.
"Their softball program is developing,'' said Everett, who said she will attempt to walk on to the field hockey team next season. "They play a lot of southern schools, so they play really great competition. I like that they're looking to improve on what they already have.''

Back.. for the moment

2007-11-26T19:55:00.000-05:00

Yeah, it's been a while since I checked in. What can I say? Not much happening on the high school softball scene between July and March. But here's a little something of note that came in:

Voorhees outfielder Jeanette Ragucci has accepted a "Athletic Grant in Aid" from Seton Hall University to play softball next year.

Ragucci, who is a senior at Voorhees, hit .333 as a junior last season, with 15 stolen bases.

Cheer up, it's almost spring.

Happy holidays to all, in case I don't check in again 'till April.

Tarulli-Fisher story published

2007-07-11T19:37:00.000-04:00

The feature story on former Ridge catcher Jackie Tarulli-Fisher ran in today's Courier News (July 11).

You can also check it out at http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/SPORTS02/707110364

Be on the lookout

2007-07-02T22:38:00.000-04:00

STORY ALERT: I've been working on a story on former Ridge standout Jackie Tarulli-Fisher, who has been starring for DePaul University for the past two years and helped the Blue Demons to the College World Series this season.

The story will appear in the Courier News sometime over the next week or so.

Also in the works is a story on former Voorhees star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Michelle Smith and the work she's been doing in trying to restore softball as an Olympic sport.

Look for that piece later this summer.

All-State Teams Due Out Wednesday

2007-06-26T17:36:00.000-04:00

The 2007 Associated Press All-State softball teams will be released Wednesday, look for it in Thursday's Courier News and online at www.c-n.com.

Softball beat writers from around the state were asked to submit nominations last week for the 2007 team, here are the players I nominated for consideration:

Capri Catalano, Sr., RHP, Governor Livingston

Jen Lapicki, Sr., C, Immaculata

Sam Pellechio, Sr., SS, North Hunterdon

With regret

2007-06-24T18:26:00.000-04:00

Due to an error on my part, two very deserving players were accidentally left off All-Area.

Jillian Lusk of Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Nicole Sgromolo of Delaware Valley both made the team as honorable mention. But because they were the two final cuts among the final candidates for the first three teams, I accidentally failed to move their names to the honorable mention list once I had made my decision on the top three teams as I did for every other position.

My sincerest apologies -- and congratulations -- to Jillian, Nicole, and their families.

Today's the Day

2007-06-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

The 2007 Courier News Spring All-Area section is out.

For non-subscribers, grab your copy at your local news stand. It is not available online today.

PART 7: PITCHERS

2007-06-23T02:16:00.000-04:00

This is the seventh installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
LAST MONDAY – Second baseman
LAST TUESDAY – Shortstops
LAST WEDNESDAY – Third basemen
LAST THURSDAY – Outfielders/Designated hitters
YESTERDAY – Catchers
TODAY – Pitchers
TOMORROW, Sunday, 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

Pitching wins ball games, and that is even truer in softball. Without a good hurler in the circle, teams have virtually no chance at success on the varsity level, and this year was no different. Both pitching and – to a lesser extent – hitting stats were considered for pitchers. And, once again, expect to see a pitcher or two appear in a designated hitter or utility spot on the top three teams.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

STAT KEY: SHO = Shutouts; NH=No-hitters; ERA=Earned runs allowed per 7 innings; K/7=Strikeouts per 7 innings; AvgVs=Batting average against

DANI ACCARDI, Sr., Mount St. Mary
Pitching Stats: 22-2, 13 SHO, 3 NH, 0.45 ERA, .153 AvgVs., 8.49 K/7
Hitting Stats: .538 avg., 9 2BH, 4 3BH, 4 HR, 29 RBIs
Upside: Dominant in the circle and at the plate. Was the complete package in leading MSM to the Skyland Raritan crown.
Downside: Her numbers came against the Raritan and Valley Divisions of the Skyland Conference. Didn’t play an out-of-conference schedule, though we’ll give MSM athletic director/coach Denise Materia a break on the scheduling since the Raritan and Valley Divisions teams not only had to play everyone in their own division twice, but also the teams in the other division two times. That doesn’t leave much room on the schedule for non-conference opponents.

LINDSAY BROWN, Sr., Westfield
Pitching Stats: 11-7, 5 SHO, 1.67 ERA, .203 AvgVs, 9.51 K/7
Hitting Stats: .281 avg., 3 2BH, 3 3BH, 1 HR, 9 RBIs
Upside: Great pitching numbers. Walked just 1 batter per 7 innings while striking out 9.5.
Downside: Her pitching numbers probably should have been better considering some of the opponents Westfield got to face. Her hitting stats were fair at best. Westfield was upset in the county tournament and was eliminated in the first round of states.

NICOLE CARAVANO, Sr., Union Catholic
Pitching Stats: 12-9, 2.04 ERA, .265 AvgVs., 6.21 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Decent pitching numbers. Not great. Walked just 0.74 batters per 7 innings, which is outstanding.
Downside: ERA and batting average against were fairly high.

ALEX CARISONE, Fr., Rutgers Prep
Pitching Stats: 16-4, 1.53 ERA, .275 Avg.Vs, 7.47 K/7
Hitting Stats: .400 avg., 6 2BH, 1 HR, 17 RBIs, 15 SB.
Upside: Very good hitting stats, and it is not often a pitcher steals as many as 15 bases. Her pitching numbers were also very good, overall, for the Prep B state champs and Somerset County Tournament quarterfinalists.
Downside: Her batting average against was rather high, plus Rutgers Prep’s schedule wasn’t exactly suffocating.

JENNA CARMON, Jr., Hunterdon Central
Pitching Stats: 14-6, 5 SHO, 1.17 ERA, .292 Avg.Vs., 4.09 K/7
Hitting Stats: .363 avg., 4 2BH, 4 3BH, 1 HR, 12 RBIs
Upside: Great control, walking just five batters in 143 2/3 innings. Emerged as Central’s ace during a 17-game winning streak. Was winning pitcher in semifinals and final of Hunterdon/Warren Tournament.
Downside: Very high batting average against -- but made up for that with lack of walks. Did not strikeout a lot of batters, relying on the Red Devils’ defense to make plays. Hitting stats were good, but not great.

CAPRI CATALANO, Sr., Governor Livingston
Pitching Stats: 24-1, 19 SHO, 4 NH (1 perfect), 0.14 ERA, .077 Avg.Vs., 18.95 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: The state’s all-time strikeout leader had mind-blowing numbers across the board. Allowed just six runs all season – three earned – and averaged just under 19 strikeouts per game – two less than the 21 outs a pitcher must get in a regulation contest. Won a Group II state title. Threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in the Group II state semifinals. Shall I continue?
Downside: Did not hit.

ELORA DANIELE, Jr., Montgomery
Pitching Stats: 16-5, 1.34 ERA, .201 Avg.Vs., 8.23 K/7
Hitting Stats: .406 avg., 4 2BH, 3 3BH, 3 HR, 19 RBIs
Upside: Her pitching numbers are excellent, especially her strikeout numbers against a tough Skyland Delaware schedule. Pitched Montgomery to the Skyland Delaware East Division title. Her hitting numbers are stellar, especially against the Cougars’ schedule. The fact she drove in 19 runs while hitting leadoff half the season is also impressive.
Downside: Walked 62 in 131 innings, which is obscenely high. Some of her numbers were overshadowed by some of the other hurlers in the conference. Was blasted for eight runs in a first-round state tournament loss to East Brunswick – a significant upset -- and failed to return the Cougars to the county final.

LYDIA DEMARTINO, Jr., Watchung Hills
Pitching Stats: 9-11, 6 SHO, 0.95 ERA, .167 AvgVs., 7.8 K/7
Hitting Stats: .286 avg., 4 2BH, 2 3BH, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Upside: Excellent ERA and batting average against, nice strikeout numbers, too.
Downside: Tended to lose her cool and meltdown when things didn’t go her way in the circle. Sub-.500 record for a team that didn’t make the state tournament, though you gotta give the Warriors somewhat of a break playing in the Skyland Delaware. Her hitting stats weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great.

JOSIE DENNY, Sr., Dunellen
Pitching Stats: 17-6, 2.38 ERA, 0.333 Avg.Vs., 6.73 K/7
Hitting Stats: .450 avg.
Upside: Nice batting average. Won 17 games.
Downside: Dunellen won a share of the GMC Gold with its offense. Denny’s pitching stats were not great, especially against a Group I and Gold Division schedule, but it was enough with the Destroyers’ bats – including her own – behind her. She gave up a lot of hits and a lot of walks, though she did get her share of strikeouts.

LAUREN FITZSIMMONS, Jr., Bridgewater-Raritan
Pitching Stats: 18-6, 8 SHO, 2 NH (1 perfect), 1.04 ERA, 1.81 AvgVs., 11.17 K/7
Hitting Stats: .269 avg., 4 2BH, 0 3BH, 4 HR, 14 RBI
Upside: Arguably the most dominant pitcher in the Skyland Conference, she was downright unhittable when she was focused and had everything working. Struck out a ton of hitters and walked just over 1 batter per game.
Downside: Sometimes lost focus when facing adversity in the circle, which turned harmless hits into big innings for the opposition. Hitting stats were not good, overall, but she did come up with several clutch hits – including a couple of longballs -- in big spots for the Panthers.

ALI FREEDMAN, Sr., North Hunterdon
Pitching Stats: 10-5, 1.54 ERA, .260 AvgVs., 4.41 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Stepped up down the stretch to emerge as the Lions’ ace and pitched North to its second straight sectional title. Walked a phenomenally low 0.56 batter per seven innings.
Downside: Wasn’t dominant in terms of strikeouts, and her .260 batting average against is a bit high. A victory over Hunterdon Central with the conference title on the line would have given her a nice leg up.

LINDSAY GIBBONS, Jr., RIDGE
Pitching Stats: 11-14, 1.72 ERA, .275 Avg.Vs, 3.06 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Posted a respectable ERA, especially against the Delaware Division. Walked a mere 0.75 batters per 7 innings.
Downside: Had a losing record and a high batting average against. Struck out just 3.06 hitters per 7 innings.

JENNA GONZALEZ, Jr., North Hunterdon
Pitching Stats: 11-2, 1.48 ERA, .161 avgVs, 7.82 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Got off to a hot start before an injury forced her into a limited role for North. Great pitching numbers across the board.
Downside: Did not pitch in the state tournament.

MICHELLE JENSEN, Sr., Delaware Valley
Pitching Stats: 23-6, 11 SHO, 1.34 ERA, .231 avgVs., 9.16 K/7
Hitting Stats: .292 avg., 6 2BH, 17 RBI
Upside: Solid overall numbers. Won 23 games and pitched Del Val to sectional final. Threw 11 shutouts and struck out 9.16 per 7 innings. Hitting numbers are decent.
Downside: Failed to win the big game and got knocked around by some of the better teams she faced – not that her defense did her any favors, especially in the county semifinals against Central.

LINDSAY LEHMAN, Jr., Somerville
Pitching Stats: 14-7, 2.72 ERA, .276 avgVs, 8.2 K/7
Hitting Stats: .333 avg., 4 2BH, 3 3BH, 1 HR, 12 RBIs
Upside: Hitting stats are better than her pitching stats. Remained Somerville’s ace, even with the arrival of highly touted transfer Lindsey Ciresa. Won 14 games and struck out 8-2 per 7 innings. Walked just 0.89 per 7 innings.
Downside: Her ERA was extremely high, while her batting average against wasn’t too impressive, either. While her hitting stats are solid, they aren’t good enough to set her apart.

JEN LITTLE, Sr., South Plainfield
Pitching Stats: 19-8, 5 SHO, 1.30 ERA, .265 avgVs., 6.33 K/7
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Solid numbers, overall. Won 19 games, while several of her 8 losses were the product of poor defensive play behind her. Her five shutouts against fairly solid competition is also impressive.
Downside: Her ERA is not as good as some of the top pitchers in the area, while her batting average against, strikeouts per 7 and walks-allowed – 1.30 per 7 – doesn’t separate her from the pack.

BRIANNE MAHONEY, Sr., Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Pitching Stats: 14-8, 2.13 ERA
Hitting Stats: NA
Upside: Won 14 games for a good Raiders team.
Downside: Her ERA was high, plus Scotch Plains-Fanwood didn’t win anything.

MEGAN McINAW, Jr., Hillsborough
Pitching Stats: 9-11, 3 SHO, 1 NH, 1.71 ERA, .235 avgVS, 9.21 K/7
Hitting Stats: .349 avg., 4 2BH, 0 3BH, 2 HR, 10 RBI
Upside: Another total package. Her pitching numbers were more than solid across the board, despite a sub-.500 record. Hitting numbers are good batting cleanup for the Somerset County Tournament finalists. Single-handily beat Mount St. Mary 2-1 in the SCT quarterfinals, pitching a three-hitter and smacking a two-run first-inning homer to account for Hillsborough’s runs.
Downside: Her ERA and walks-allowed were a bit high, especially compared to some of the other candidates, while her hitting stats were solid, but not excellent. Hillsborough failed to win a title and were ousted in the first round of the state tournament after barely sneaking in at the cutoff.

KAITLYN PIAZZOLLA, Jr., Immaculata
Pitching Stats: 11-8, 6 SHO, 0.66 ERA, .135 avgVs., 7.00 K/7
Hitting Stats: .323 avg., 3 2BH, 1 3BH, 2 HR, 15 RBI
Upside: Also a part-time catcher, her pitching numbers are phenomenal. Walked just 0.71 per 7 innings, while pitching the Spartans to their first Somerset County Tournament championship since 2000. Was an offensive threat in the middle of the Immaculata batting order, hitting behind Jen Lapicki. Delivered a key sacrifice bunt in the county final to set up the game-winning squeeze.
Downside: Lost eight games, though she gets a partial pass due to the level of competition and the fact that Immaculata didn’t score a lot of runs as a team. Couldn’t find a way to beat Mount St. Dominic and advance to the sectional final, as she gave up four runs. She also lost a lot of head-to-head battles with some of the conference’s other great hurlers.

CAITLIN ROSS, Sr., New Providence
Pitching Stats: 17-3, 14 SHO, 5 NH (3 perfect), 0.73 ERA, .131 avg.Vs, 12.15 /7
Hitting Stats: .492 avg., 4 2BH, 4 3BH, 7 HR, 31 RBI.
Upside: Her hitting stats are just as impressive as her pitching stats for the Mountain Valley Conference Valley Division champions.
Downside: Her numbers came against a Valley Division schedule. New Providence failed to make any noise in the state tournament.

DON’T FORGET TO PICK UP THE COURIER NEWS TOMORROW, SUNDAY, JUNE 24, WHEN THE 2007 ALL-AREA TEAMS WILL BE REVEALED!!

PART 6: CATCHERS

2007-06-22T03:02:00.000-04:00

This is the sixth installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
LAST MONDAY – Second baseman
LAST TUESDAY – Shortstops
LAST WEDNESDAY – Third basemen
YESTERDAY – Outfielders/Designated hitters
TODAY – Catchers
TOMORROW – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

Like shortstop, there is also a ton of top-notch talent at the catching position. While there are plenty of quality players whose numbers would have made them legitimate candidates for a spot on one of the top three teams had they played another position, I left a lot of them off this list simply because their numbers don’t compare to the other catchers I have listed. But that doesn’t mean they won’t make All-Area as an honorable mention. Once again, don’t be surprised to see some of these players make a team as in a DH or utility spot.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

HEATHER BERGMAN, Sr., Governor Livingston
Stats: .435 avg., 7 2BH, 1 3BH, 3 HR, 18 RBI
Upside: Not only did she call the pitches for the state’s all-time strikeout leader -- Capri Catalano – but she was also the spark atop the batting order for the Group II state champs. Great average and pretty good power numbers, especially for a leadoff hitter. Also, not only did she strikeout just three times all season, but she failed to get at least one hit in just three of the Highlanders’ games.
Downside: You could make a case her numbers should have been better against a Group II schedule.

LAURA DUBELL, Sr., Piscataway
Stats: .408 avg., 9 2BH, 0 3BH, 1 HR, 11 RBI
Upside: Nice batting average and a good amount of doubles against a Group IV schedule.
Downside: Overall, her numbers do not compare favorably to some of the other talent at the position. Piscataway struggled, overall, winning just three games.

ERICA GAETA, Jr., Hunterdon Central
Stats: .421 avg., 1 2BH, 3 3BH, 4 HR, 15 RBI
Upside: Very nice average, especially against the competition Central played. Four homers is impressive.
Downside: Overall extra-base hit numbers are kind of low. Several players have better numbers against the same conference schedule.

MEGAN KREYLING, Jr., Dunellen
Stats: .521 avg., 56 R, 12 2BH, 5 3BH, 4 HR, 49 RBI
Upside: Led Middlesex County in runs scored and RBIs, while the rest of her numbers are just as excellent.
Downside: Once again, you’ve got to take some of these stats with a grain of salt, considering Dunellen played in the GMC Gold.

JEN LAPICKI, Sr., Immaculata
Stats: .493 avg., 10 2BH, 2 3BH, 3 HR, 16 RBI
Upside: Great average, nice power totals. Had several big hits for the Spartans during their run to the Somerset County title, including a big home run in the semifinals to get Immaculata going. Scored the winning run in the championship game.
Downside: RBI totals are kind of low, even if Immaculata managed just 4.2 runs per game.

HEATHER MENDEZ, Sr., Ridge
Stats: .410 avg., 11 2BH, 3 3BH, 9 HR, 31 RBIs
Upside: Great numbers across the board, especially against a Skyland Delaware schedule.
Downside: Ridge failed to make the state tournament.

LYNSEY ROSS, Sr., New Providence
Stats: .417 avg., 3 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 12 RBIs
Upside: Nice batting average, knocked in 12 runs hitting first and second for the MVC Valley Division champs.
Downside: Power numbers are unimpressive. New Providence played in the Valley Division.

ALEX RUSSOMAGNO, Jr., Mount St. Mary
Stats: .470 avg., 7 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 11 RBIs
Upside: Excellent batting average for the Raritan Division champs. Came within a foot of a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.
Downside: Power numbers and RBI total is lacking, especially for someone hitting down in the order on a team that scored a ton of runs against an unimpressive schedule.

ANGELA SESSA, Jr., Union Catholic
Stats: .458 avg., 6 2BH, 0 3BH, 0 HR, 18 RBIs
Upside: Great average, nice RBI total.
Downside: Outside of a lofty average, the rest of her numbers aren’t anything to write home about. Team didn’t do much in the county or state tournaments.

Part 5: Outfielders/Designated hitters

2007-06-21T00:24:00.000-04:00

This is the fifth installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
LAST MONDAY – Second baseman
LAST TUESDAY – Shortstops
YESTERDAY – Third basemen
TODAY – Outfielders/Designated hitters
TOMORROW – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

OUTFIELDERS

KATIE ABRUZZO, So., Westfield
Stats: .328 avg., 13 R, 4 2BH, 2 3BH, 0 HR, 14 RBI
Upside: Solid numbers. Played for a quality team.
Downside: One would expect better numbers considering some of the Blue Devils’ Watchung Conference opponents. Unimpressive power numbers

DIANA ARK, Sr., Ridge
Stats: .464 avg., 23 R, 2 2BH. 1 3BH. 0 HR, 5 RBI, 10 SB
Upside: Great average, especially when you consider the kind of pitching she saw all year in the Skyland Delaware East. Nice number of stolen bases.
Downside: Power and run-production numbers are not very good.

MEGAN BOYLE, Sr., South Plainfield
Stats: .354 avg., 20 R, 7 2BH, 1 3BH, 2 HR, 19 RBI
Upside: Solid average and a nice RBI count. Seven doubles is very nice, too, playing for the GMCT and North 2, Group III runners-up.
Downside: Not a ton of pop. Had as many strikeouts as hits – 20.

TORY BREEN, So., Mount St. Mary
Stats: .398 avg., 29 R, 4 2BH, 3 3BH, 5 HR, 16 RBI
Upside: Great balanced numbers across the board for the Skyland Raritan champs, especially for a sophomore.
Downside: Played in the shadow of Dani Accardi and Alyssa D’Addio.

KELLY CALAMIA, Jr., Dunellen
Stats: .423 avg., 52 R, 27 RBI, 28 SB
Upside: Some of her numbers are mind-boggling for a team that scored a ton of runs and shared the GMC Gold Division title.
Downside: You would think she’d hit for a better average against Gold Division competition, especially considering the number of runs and RBIs she tallied.

KELLY CIANCIOTTA, So., Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Stats: .587 avg., 23 R, 6 2BH, 5 3BH, 8 HR, 13 RBIs, 21 SB, .620 OBP
Upside: Fantastic power numbers, phenomenal average and 13 RBIs out of the leadoff spot is very impressive. A .620 on base percentage and 21 stolen bass, what more can one ask for from the top of the order? Oh, and she’s only a sophomore.
Downside: Scotch Plains-Fanwood failed to win a title of any kind and was upset in the county tournament.

MEGHAN EVERETT, Jr., Hunterdon Central
Stats: .425 avg., 28 R, 2 2BH, 7 3BH, 7 HR, 28 RBI
Upside: A first teamer as a sophomore, she had another stellar year for the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament and Skyland Delaware West champs. Great overall numbers, especially when you consider the quality of competition. Great power and RBI numbers for anyone -- let alone a leadoff hitter.
Downside: Trying to remember there’s an “H” in her first name can be problematic.

NICOLE KOSZOWSKI, Fr., Governor Livingston
Stats: .380 avg., 5 2BH, 4 3BH, 9 HR, 29 RBI
Upside: Solid batting average, fantastic power and RBI numbers for a freshman batting cleanup for the state Group II champions.
Downside: Struck out 16 times. Could have, and probably should have, batted for a better average against a Group II schedule.

CAROLINE MERCK, So., Gill St. Bernard’s
Stats: .445 avg.
Upside: Hit .445.
Downside: Did it for Gill St. Bernard’s, which won just three times all year

HILARY MURRAY, Jr., North Hunterdon
Stats: .323 avg., 19 R, 2 2BH, 0 3BH, 0 HR, 10 RBI
Upside: Scored 19 runs atop the North batting order. Had several big hits for the North 2, Group IV champions.
Downside: Power numbers aren’t great.

CASEY NIPER, Fr., Montgomery
Stats: .322 avg., 11 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 7 RBI
Upside: Batted for a solid .322 as a freshman for the Delaware East champs.
Downside: Did not produce many runs. Eleven doubles are nice, but that’s it as far as extra-base hits.

MITCHEL ROBERTSON, Sr., Governor Livingston
Stats: .423 avg., 19 R, 3 2BH, 4 3BH, 2 HR, 20 RBI
Upside: Great batting average and pretty good power numbers hitting third for the state Group II champs. Also stole nine bases. Had a nice bounce-back season after making first team as a sophomore and tanking last year.
Downside: You’d like a little more pop from your No. 3 hitter.

KRISTEN SHEFT, So., Rutgers Prep
Stats: .406 avg., 25 R, 3 2BH, 3 3BH, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 38 SB
Upside: Solid offensive numbers across the board for the Prep B state champs. Stole a ton of bases. Is only a sophomore.
Downside: Rutgers Prep didn’t exactly play a tough schedule. You would like an even higher average against that kind of competition.

LAUREN SINGER, Sr., Hillsborough
Stats: .341 avg., 4 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Upside: Batting average is solid against the pitchers of the Delaware Division, especially in the East Division.
Downside: Power numbers weren’t anything to write home about. Hillsborough barely finished about .500.

MELISSA SOUCEK, Sr., Timothy Christian
Stats: .453 avg.
Upside: Hit .453 for Timothy Christian, which made the state tournament in its first year of eligibility.
Downside: Timothy Christian played a Non-Public B schedule.

DESIGNATED HITTERS

ANU RIMAL, Sr., MONTGOMERY
Stats: .358 avg., 15 R, 8 2BH, 1 3BH, 3 HR, 24 RBIs
Upside: A very good average in the Skyland Delaware, she hit eight doubles, a triple and three homers for the East Division champs, driving in 24.
Downside: With positions like shortstop, pitcher and catcher so deep, it’s going to be tough for her to crack one of the top two teams as a DH.

ERIN SCIALABA, Jr., Westfield
Stats: .395 avg., 24 R, 2 2BH, 2 3BH, 6 HR, 24 RBI
Upside: Her batting average is more than solid for a Group IV school, has some nice power and RBI numbers.
Downside: Her numbers pale in comparison to some of her teammates, plus Westfield didn’t win any major titles.

KRISTEN TITUS, Sr., Immaculata
Stats: .356 avg., 4 2BH, 0 3BH, 0 HR, 10 RBIs
Upside: Solid average against Delaware Division pitching.
Downside: The rest of her numbers are unspectacular, even for a leadoff hitter

PART 4: Third basemen

2007-06-20T00:16:00.000-04:00

This is the fourth installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
LAST MONDAY – Second baseman
YESTERDAY – Shortstops
TODAY – Third basemen
TOMORROW – Outfielders/Designated hitters
FRIDAY – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

KELLY DOWNES, Sr., South Plainfield
Stats: .380 avg., 18 R, 11 2BH, 1 3BH, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 13 E
Upside: A nice average and extra-base hit numbers. Team went to county and sectional final.
Downside: 13 errors is a ton. While her numbers are solid, there are players with better or comparable totals against better competition at the position.

KELLY MARCHISIO, Jr., New Providence
Stats: .448 avg., 15 R, 5 2BH, 2 3BH, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 5 E
Upside: Great average, solid extra-base hit numbers. Drove in a nice amount of runs for MVC Valley Division champs.
Downside: New Providence won eight games by 10-run mercy rule, while racking up many of its other victories against less-than-stellar competition. Was not among top 1 or 2 players on her team, statistically.

CYNDIL MATTHEW, So., Westfield
Stats: .642 avg., 34 R, 11 2BH, 2 3BH, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 2 E
Upside: Her numbers are excellent across the board.
Downside: While Westfield played plenty of solid competition, the Blue Devils also fattened up against the punching bags of the Watchung Conference.

LACEY NEMERGUT, Fr., Rutgers Prep
Stats: .460 avg., 17 R, 1 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 19 SB
Upside: Great batting average and 19 stolen bases made her a fixture on the bases for the Prep B champions and Somerset County Tournament quarterfinalists.
Downside: Poor power and RBI numbers. Poor schedule.

MICHELLE PAKENHAM, JR., DUNELLEN
Stats: .415 avg., 50 R, 2 HR, 34 RBI, 24 SB, 3E
Upside: Fifty runs scored is a mind-boggling statistic, even if one’s team scored 325 runs and averaged 12 runs pre game. Her 34 RBIs and 24 stolen bases were also impressive. Made just three errors.
Downside: Played a schedule stacked with tech schools, and won 12 games by the 10-run mercy rule. Destroyers were 10-runned by the only legitimate team on the schedule.

MOLLY WARD, Sr., North Hunterdon
Stats: .325 avg., 10 R, 5 2BH, 14 RBI, 9 E
Upside: Her batting average is respectable, considering the teams North played.
Downside: Nine errors is a lot, plus she doesn’t compare, statistically, with the other players at the position, even if you consider her schedule vs. the other players.

KATIE WATTS, Jr., Ridge
Stats: .352 avg., 15 R, 4 2BH, 3 3BH, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Upside: Solid average and good power numbers for a team that played in the Skyland Delaware.
Downside: Ridge didn’t make the state tournament. Had a couple of other players on her team whose numbers eclipsed her own.

Part 3: Shortstops

2007-06-19T00:15:00.000-04:00

This is the third installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
YESTERDAY – Second baseman
TODAY – Shortstops
TOMORROW – Third basemen
THURSDAY – Outfieldesr/Designated hitters
FRIDAY – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

Shortstop is probably the deepest position, overall, so a lot of players who had good numbers and would have normally been considered serious candidates for a first-third team spots were only considered for honorable mention, and were thus not listed here. Don’t be surprised to see a couple of these players show up as a DH or a utility player on one of the teams.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

ALYSSA D’ADDIO, Sr., Mount St. Mary
Stats: .598 avg., 31 R, 49 H, 9 2BH, 9 3BH, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 4 E
Upside: Mount St. Mary’s all-time hits leader batted .545. And though, I’m sure, it was inflated against the likes of North Warren, South Hunterdon and Manville, even if you knock 20 percent off her numbers, they’re still very impressive. Had a ton of extra-base hits and slugged 1.000. Made just four errors.
Downside: Her numbers have to be deflated somewhat because of some of the less-than-impressive competition on the Mount Lions’ schedule.

ARIELLE GRAPSTEIN, Sr., Pingry
Stats: .529 avg., 13 2BH, 1 3BH, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 8 E
Upside: Drove in 25 percent of Pingry’s runs, hit an astonishing .529, 13 doubles led the area. The unquestioned MVP of the Big Blue.
Downside: Her number also have to be deflated somewhat because of her team’s less-than-impressive schedule, plus the Big Blue did not have a great year, though they did make the state tournament.

CHRISSY GRAZIANO, Sr., Delaware Valley
Stats: .393 avg., 26 R, 6 2BH, 2 3BH, 2 HR, 20 RBIs, 4 E
Upside: Very nice average, solid extra-base hit numbers, good number of RBIs and just four errors for the Central Jersey Group II finalists.
Downside: Schedule wasn’t great. Team didn’t do much against the better pitchers it faced.

JENNY HARABEDIAN, So., Hunterdon Central
Stats: .400 avg., 21 R, 40 H, 5 2BH, 7 3BH, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 9 E
Upside: Fantastic offensive numbers across the board against top-notch competition. Team won the bi-county tournament and its conference crown.
Downside: Made nine errors. Numbers were great, but there are several shortstops whose numbers were even better.

LIZ MILLER, So., Dunellen
Stats: .479 avg., 9 2BH, 4 3BH, 1 HR, 42 RBIs, 2K, 8 E
Upside: Great offensive numbers. Struck out just twice all season. Team won co-championship of GMC Gold Division.
Downside: Team plays in the GMC Gold Division. Made eight errors. Was third-best player on her team.

SHAUNA MULKERIN, Fr., Immaculata
Stats: .411 avg., 2 2BH, 0 3BH, 1 HR, 12 RBIs, 4 E
Upside: Had a nice little season, especially for a freshman, and hit .411 against a Skyland Delaware schedule. Made just four errors after moving to shortstop because of injury to Caitlin Bay. Team won Somerset County Tournament.
Downside: Other than her average, the rest of her numbers aren’t very impressive, especially compared to some of the other players at the position.

SAM PELLECHIO, Sr., North Hunterdon
Stats: .545 avg., 33 R, 10 2BH, 1 3BH, 7 HR, 31 RBI, 4 E
Upside: Last year’s Player of the Year had another phenomenal season for the North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV champions. Her numbers are stellar across the board. She tied her own school record for hits in a season with 48.
Downside: Slumped in the state tournament and went hitless in North’s two final games.

KATHERINE STOLTENBERG, Sr., Montgomery
Stats: .449 avg., 25 R, 9 2BH, 4 3BH, 0 HR, 16 RBIs, 9 SB, 13 SAC, 7 E
Upside: The all-time hits leader for the Skyland Delaware East champions finished with 100 for her career. Hit an impressive .449 against a tough schedule, including nine doubles and four triples. Drove in 16 runs hitting second. Stole nine bases and notched 13 sacrifices.
Downside: Seven errors are a bit high. Her numbers would make her a prime first-team candidate at another position, but with the depth at shortstop, she will probably have trouble cracking first team.

BRITTANY WARGO, Sr., New Providence
Stats: .456 avg., 21 R, 7 2BH, 3 3BH, 1 HR, 20 RBIs, 3 E
Upside: Good numbers across the board. Made just three errors. New Providence went 19-3 and won its conference.
Downside: Even at face value, her numbers don’t compare to some of the big guns at the position. Plus, when you consider the Pioneers play a Group II and Valley Division schedule, the numbers look even less impressive.

PART 2: SECOND BASEMEN

2007-06-17T23:59:00.001-04:00

This is the second installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
LAST SATURDAY – First basemen
TODAY – Second baseman
TOMORROW – Shortstops
WEDNESDAY – Third basemen
THURSDAY – Outfielders/Designated hitters
FRIDAY – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

TARA ALBERSE, Sr., New Providence
Stats: .340 avg., 28 R, 1 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 7 RBIs, 0 E
Upside: Hit a respectable .340 for the Mountain Valley Conference Valley Division champions and scored 28 runs. New Providence scored victories over some quality opponents, including Roselle Park (twice) and Union Catholic. Played a flawless second base, committing no errors.
Downside: Though New Providence lost just three games and went to the semifinals of the Union County Tournament, the Pioneers’ strength of schedule was fair, at best. Alberse managed just two extra-base hits and drove in just seven runs.

BRITTANY BROWN-WEBSTER, Sr., Delaware Valley
Stats: .435 avg., 22 R, 4 2BH, 5 3BH, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 9 E
Upside: The Terriers’ leadoff hitter hit .435, including four doubles, five triples and a homer. Had several big hits in the state tournament as Delaware Valley went to the sectional final.
Downside: Delaware Valley didn’t play that many good teams, and didn’t perform well against those it did. Nine errors is a ton.

GINA CAPRIGLIONE, Sr., Mount St. Mary
Stats: .418 avg., 7 R, 0 2BH, 3 3BH, 1 HR, 21 RBIs, 1E
Upside: A nice batting average and an impressive error and RBI total for a team that lost just twice and went undefeated in its conference.
Downside: Low number of extra-base hits for someone hitting in the middle of the order, plus you have to take some of her numbers with a grain or salt considering the quality of competition isn’t as good as some of the other players at the position.

STEPHANIE FALZARANO, Sr., South Plainfield
Stats: .400 avg., 28 R, 4 2BH, 1 3BH, 0 HR, 14 RBIs, 2 E
Upside: Had nice numbers across the board for a team that went to the final of the GMC Tournament and its section. Only made two errors, which is highlighted by the fact Tigers pitcher Jen Little did not strikeout a ton of hitters, putting the ball in play quite a bit.
Downside: Low extra-base hit total and her average, while solid, is not as high as some of the other players at the position.

ALYSSA LOCOCO, So., Montgomery
Stats: .312 avg., 8 2BH, 3 HR., 16 RBI, 15 E
Upside: Eight doubles and three homers are some nice power numbers for a sophomore second baseman. Montgomery won the Skyland Delaware East.
Downside: Low batting average and 15 errors are hard to ignore, but she’s only a sophomore, so her best days are probably ahead of her.

PART 1: First Basemen

2007-06-16T02:55:00.000-04:00

This is the first installment of a seven-part blog-series highlighting the candidates for the 2007 All-Area softball teams.

BLOG SCHEDULE
TODAY – First basemen
MONDAY – Second baseman
TUESDAY – Shortstops
WEDNESDAY – Third basemen
THURSDAY – Outfielder/Designated hitters
FRIDAY – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

THE CANDIDATES
(Players listed alphabetically by last name)

LINDSAY DURANT, Jr., Bridgewater-Raritan
Stats: .355 avg., 13 R, 6 2BH, 1 3BH, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 4 E
Upside: Bridgewater-Raritan’s No. 3 hitter led the team in batting and tied Lauren Fitzsimmons for the team lead in RBIs. Was the offensive anchor on a team that won a program-best 20 games and finished second in an ultra-competitive conference.
Downside: While she boasts some of the better numbers from among first basemen, and she played a first-class Skyland Delaware and Group IV schedule, it was a down year, offensively, for the Panthers. B-R also didn’t win any major championships, nor did they beat any quality opponents in the state tournament.

KAYLEE FRY, Jr., Bound Brook
Stats: .329 avg., 11 R, 7 2BH, 3 3BH, 0 HR, 10 RBIs, 3 E
Upside: Had a nice little year with seven doubles and three triples, and a respectable .329 average. Made just three errors at first base.
Downside: Doesn’t really compare, statistically, with the other players at the position, plus the Crusaders won just 10 games in an awful conference.

LAUREN FRY, Sr., South Plainfield
Stats: .390 avg., 24 R, 12 2BH, 1 3BH, 2 HR, 24 RBIs, 3 E
Upside: Struck out just once all season, which is amazing, and drove in or scored 25 percent of all the runs South Plainfield tallied all season. The Tigers went to the GMC and sectional finals.
Downside: Did not play quite as tough a schedule as some of the other candidates, as South Plainfield won eight games by nine runs or more.

JOELLE JACOBSEN, Sr., Hunterdon Central
Stats: .391 avg., 16 R, 5 2BH, 2 3BH, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 5 E
Upside: Her .391 batting average is no joke, as the Red Devils play in one of the toughest conferences in the state, as well as playing, perhaps, the most competitive out-of-conference slate in the area. Her 20 RBIs was third on the team, batting from the No. 3 spot for the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament and Skyland Delaware West champs.
Downside: Her power numbers are a little low for a No. 3 hitter, as she managed just eight extra-base hits

JILLIAN LUSK, Sr., Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Stats: .343 avg., 6 2BH, 0 3BH, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 12 SB
Upside: It is unusual for a first baseman to have enough speed to swipe 12 bases. She posted a .987 fielding percentage and hit two homers. Scotch Plains-Fanwood enjoyed mild success, notching the upset of the state tournament over Union County champion Cranford in the sectional quarterfinals before falling to eventual sectional champ JFK.
Downside: Here batting average is decent, at best, and 16 RBIs isn’t that impressive for a team that won 10 games by 10-run mercy rule. The Raiders also didn’t win any major tournaments or their conference, and played a decent, but not overly exciting schedule (see 10 10-run mercy rule victories).

NICOLE RUGGIERO, Sr., Governor Livingston
Stats: .301 avg., 2 2BH, 1 3BH, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs.
Upside: Co-captain of state Group II champions. Hit four homers for a team that didn’t score a lot of runs. Delivered several big hits for the Highlanders.
Downside: Batted just .301 against a Group II schedule and hit eighth in the order. Though she hit four home runs, she managed just two doubles and one triple, which makes me question her ability to drive the ball consistently.

NICOLE SGROMOLO, Sr., Delaware Valley
Stats: .402 avg., 20 R, 5 2BH, 5 3BH, 0 HR. 15 RBIs, 3 E (one in OF)
Upside: Her batting average and low error total are impressive. The Terriers went to the sectional finals before losing 1-0 to Capri Catalano and state Group II champion Governor Livingston, and finished second in the Raritan Division to Mount St. Mary, which ran the table in the conference.
Downside: A low RBI total and a subpar slugging pct., compared to some of the other candidates at the position. The Terriers’ fattened up against some of the pushovers of the Raritan and Valley Divisions, and didn’t face nearly the quality of pitching the others did. Was also not among the top 1 or 2, statistically, on her team in most categories.

Waiting to Exhale

2007-06-15T00:10:00.001-04:00

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.

Between previewing and covering the Group II final, putting together the softball All-Area section, as well as my responsibilities toward my day job, I’ve hardly had time to breathe.

There is nothing a sportswriter agonizes over more than distributing postseason awards and choosing all-star teams, and this was no exception.

There are scores of deserving, quality players in the CN area, and I wish I could reward them all.

As of Thursday evening, finally, I’m all done. The teams have been picked, the stories and charts have been written, and the photos have been taken (well, except for one player who is out of town until next week).

Starting Saturday 6/16, and continuing daily through next Saturday (except for Sunday, 6/17), I will review the top candidates, by position, for the Courier News All-Area team, set for release Sunday, June 24 in the Courier News.

While the first-teamers have already been notified and have come in for their photos, nobody but myself, a couple of coaches who inquired as to their players’ fate, and my colleagues at the Courier News know who has been placed on second and third team and honorable mention.

All-Area, our postseason all star section, encompasses players from the Courier News coverage area, which is all of Somerset County, all of Hunterdon County, as well as Governor Livingston, Westfield, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, New Providence and Plainfield in Union County, and South Plainfield, Middlesex, Piscataway and Dunellen in Middlesex County – a total of 36 high schools.

All-Area will contain a first team, second team and third team, as well as honorable mention. Each team consists of four pitchers, a catcher, a first baseman, a second baseman, a shortstop, a third baseman, three outfielders, a designated hitter (could be from any position), and a utility player.

There are a lot of different criteria I use for choosing these teams other than my own observations over the course of the season, including statistics, input from players’ coaches – as well as opposing coaches – strength of schedule and quality of competition, and a player’s value to her team, among others.

This is not an exact science, and I’m sure there will be plenty of picks – as always – the people will disagree with. All I can say is that I try and do my best and be as objective as possible in making the selections.

The package will also consist of a feature story on the player and coach of the year, a final notebook – containing a year in review, including Freshman of the Year, Game of the Year, Performance of the Year, etc. etc. – as well as final standings and the final Top 10.

For more on the All-Area process, as well as a sneak peak at Player and Coach of the Year, check out the final Bats and Balls podcast, available at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

BLOG SCHEDULE
TOMORROW – First basemen
MONDAY – Second baseman
TUESDAY – Shortstops
WEDNESDAY – Third basemen
THURSDAY – Outfielder/Designated hitters
FRIDAY – Catchers
SATURDAY – Pitchers
SUNDAY 6/24 – The 2007 Courier News All-Area team hits the street.

One last hurrah

2007-06-12T22:55:00.000-04:00

It was a great season of softball in the Courier News Area, but we're not done yet, folks.

While the games have all been played and the final podcast of the season has been recorded and posted, there is one last thing to do -- All-Area 2007.

The teams have been picked, and I will be putting the finishing touches on the softball section over the next few days.

What does that mean for you loyal Inner Circle readers?

Check back here, starting Saturday, as I will begin posting a position-by-position look at the players that are candidates for spots on the All-Area teams.

SATURDAY 6/16 - FIRST BASEMEN
MONDAY 6/18 - SECOND BASEMEN
TUESDAY 6/19 - SHORTSTOPS
WEDNESDAY 6/20 - THIRD BASEMEN
THURSDAY 6/21 - OUTFIELDERS
FRIDAY 6/22 - CATCHERS
SATURDAY 6/23 - PITCHERS
SUNDAY 6/24 - The 2007 Spring All-Area section appears in the Courier News.

Don't Stop Believin'

2007-06-12T01:09:00.000-04:00

The 10th and final edition of the season of the Bats and Balls podcast was recorded Monday night and should be posted sometime Tuesday afternoon.

I promise a better payoff than the Sopranos finale (which I loved, by the way).

www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

Gettin' 'er done

2007-06-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Governor Livingston reached the promised land Saturday and took care of business with a 2-0 victory over Pascack Hills to win the Group II championship at Toms River East.

Check out the game story in Sunday's Courier News, or online at http://www.c-n.com/.

Senior righty Capri Catalano struck out 11 in firing a two-hit shutout and walked two. She finishes her brilliant varsity career with a state record 1,346 Ks.

Freshman Nicole Koszowski provided the offensive support with an RBI triple in the fourth inning, and scored the second run on an error on the same play.

Here's the complete box score

GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON (27-1)
Player pos AB-R-H-RBI-BB-K
Bergman C 2-0-0-0-1-1
Lesnewich 3B 2-0-0-0-0-0
Robertson CF 3-1-0-0-0-0
Koszowski LF 3-1-1-1-0-0
Kushner DH 3-0-0-0-0-2
Buonaguro SS 3-0-2-0-0-0
Bennett 2B 1-0-0-0-1-1
Ruggiero 1B 3-0-0-0-0-0
McAdam RF 3-0-0-0-0-0

3B: Koszowski. SAC: Lesnewich, Bennett. SB: Robertson
E: Lesnewich

PASCACK HILLS (23-11)
Player pos AB-R-H-RBI-BB-K
Palish C 3-0-0-0-0-0
Trieble RF 3-0-0-0-0-1
Moppert CF 3-0-1-0-0-2
Smith 1B 3-0-0-0-0-2
Fischer SS 2-0-0-0-1-2
Lomia 2B 3-0-1-0-0-1
Proderick 3B 3-0-0-0-0-2
Haertsch DH 1-0-0-0-1-0
Abate LF 2-0-0-0-0-0

SB: Fischer, Lomia. DP: Proderick
E: Fischer 2

LINE SCORE
GOV. LIVINGSTON 000-200-0--2-3-1
PASCACK HILLS 000-000-0--0-2-2

PITCHING LINES

GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON
Name IP-H-R-ER-BB-K
Catalano (W - 24-1) 7.0-2-0-0-2-11

PASCACK HILLS
Name IP-H-R-ER-BB-K
Mascarelli (L - 23-11) 7.0-3-2-1-1-4

GL-Pascack Hills preview

2007-06-09T21:06:00.000-04:00

Check out today's Courier News for a preview on today's Group II final, as well as a feature on Highlanders freshman left fielder Nicole Koszowski.

Podcast up

2007-06-08T01:25:00.000-04:00

The Week 9 edition of the Bats and Balls podcast is up and available for your listening pleasure at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

Bringing it up a notch

2007-06-05T23:51:00.000-04:00

As if Capri Catalano had anything more to prove, the Governor Livingston High School senior right-hander took it to a whole new level in Tuesdays semifinals of the New Jersey state Interscholastic Athletic Association Group II final.

In case you missed it, Catalano tossed a perfect game as she struck out the first 20 batters of the game and got the final out on a weak grounder to second base, and the Highlanders advanced to the Group II championship.

GL will face the winner of today's game between Caldwell and Pascack Hills on Saturday. Site and time TBA.

Check out Jerry Carino's game story for all the details in Wednesday's Courier News, or click here.

Reigning Group IV champion North Hunterdon, meanwhile, fell to Clifton 2-0 at Whippany Park, as the Lions' quest for back-to-back crowns was thwarted by the Mustangs.

Jason Sherman was on hand for the game, check out his story here.

For the record, I predicted Governor Livingston to win 4-0, the won 3-0. I picked North Hunterdon to lose 4-2, they lost 2-0.

That oughta help make up for my brutal record in picking county tournament results!

One step from Toms River

2007-06-05T01:14:00.000-04:00

Group semifinals are slated for today, with North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV champion and defending state Group IV champ North Hunterdon facing North 1 champ Clifton at 4 p.m. at Whippany Park High School, and Central Jersey Group II champion Governor Livingston facing South Jersey champ Sterling at 3 p.m. at Rancocas Valley.

I've picked one local team to win and the other to lose. Find out which is which, and check out a preview of both game in Tuesday print and online editions of the Courier News.

Click HERE for the GL-Sterling preview.

Click HERE for the North Hunterdon-Clifton preview.

Also, we will be recording a state finals edition of the Bats and Balls podcast Wednesday night. Look for that at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia Thursday afternoon.

Finally, last call for feedback on the upcoming All-Area teams. I have already begun collecting nominations and thoughts from the area's coaches. Contribute your picks and opinions by leaving a comment here.

Moving on and moving out

2007-06-01T02:45:00.000-04:00

Governor Livingston won its first, North Hunterdon went back-to-back, South Plainfield couldn't make it three against J.F. Kennedy, and Immaculata and Mount St. Mary fell a game short of their sectional final.

It was sectional final day for the public schools, while the non-public squads played in their sectional semifinals. Here's a look at what went down.

HERE'S TO THE WINNERS:

GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON
The Highlanders took advantage of a first-inning error, and senior right-hander Capri Catalano threw a four-hit shutout, as GL won the first sectional title in program history, 1-0 over Delaware Valley in the Central Jersey Group II final.

Check out Jerry Carino's story in Friday's Courier News, or read it online.

While heartfelt congratulations go out to coach Rick Iacono and the Highlanders, let's face it, they were lucky to come away with a victory.

Governor Livingston might have gotten one monkey off its back by finally winning a sectional crown, but, once again, the Highlanders failed to hit in a big game against a quality pitcher -- they managed just two singles -- and this one could have easily gone the other way if not for the work of Capri Catalano, as well as -- from what I'm told -- some generous umpiring.

Governor Livingston has some quality hitters in its lineup -- Mitchell Robertson, Heather Bergman, Nicole Ruggiero, Nicole Koszowski -- and the Highlanders cannot expect the softball Gods to smile upon them every game. If they don't figure out how to string some hits together in big spots, their tournament is going to end in Tuesday's state semis.

At the same time, kudos to Delaware Valley right-hander Michelle Jensen for a fantastic pitching performance, and you can't fault the Terriers for not being able to get much done against the state's all-time strikeout queen.

NORTH HUNTERDON
It's deja vu all over again for the Lions.

Despite struggling down the stretch in the regular season, including getting upset in the semifinals of the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament, North Hunterdon is back playing the kind of softball that resulted in the state Group IV championship last season.

The Lions pounded out eight runs on 10 hits and junior righty Ali Freedman tossed a one-hit shutout with the defense behind her coming up with several great plays, as North Hunterdon won its second straight North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV crown with an 8-0 victory over JP Stevens.

Check out Jason Sherman's game story in Friday's Courier News, or read it online.

A nice win by North against a team in JP Stevens that caught some breaks in making the final. Things are not going to be so easy in the Tuesday's state semifinal against North 1 Group IV champ Clifton, which beat North 6-0 on April 23.

The Lions are going to need not only another stellar effort by Freedman in the circle, but the big bats like Sam Pellechio, Becca Schaefer and Hilary Murray, among others, are really going to have to be on top of their game against Clifton.

THE END OF THE LINE

Four local teams saw their seasons end Tuesday.

While Delaware Valley put forth a valiant effort in losing 1-0 to Governor Livingston in CJ II, SOUTH PLAINFIELD fell 2-1 to J.F. Kennedy in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group III final.

Check out the game story by Gannett New Jersey's Mark Spivey in Friday's Courier News, or read it online.

Considering South Plainfield had beaten JFK in 2-of-3 meetings this year entering Tuesday's game, including a 1-0 win in last week's GMC Tournament semifinals, this has to be a hard one for the Tigers to stomach.

Still, you gotta give coach Don Panzarella and his team a ton of credit for shaking up their mid-season doldrums to rebound and advance to the finals of the GMCT, as well as their section.

I, for one, definitely wouldn't have expected South Plainfield to be playing in a sectional final after a 7-5 start.

Meanwhile, things did not go well for out local squads in the North Jersey Non-Public A Tournament semifinals, as top-seeded Mount St. Mary fell to Immaculate Heart 3-2, while third-seeded Immaculata was edged by No. 2 Mount St. Dominic 4-3 in eight innings.

IMMACULATA
The Spartans scored three runs in third inning and led 3-0 heading into the fourth. MSD got a run in that frame and two more in the bottom of the sixth to tie it, before scoring the winner in the bottom of the eighth inning.

A tough loss for Immaculata, for sure. It would have made a fantastic story for coach Erica Bell to have led the Spartans back to the sectional final for the first time since she was a senior at Immaculata, especially after she returned them to SCT glory for the first time since 2000.

Still, a great season for Immaculata and a fine job by Bell in her rookie year at the helm.

MOUNT ST. MARY has got nothing to be ashamed of, either.

Not only did the Mount Lions go a perfect 20-0 in their conference, but when you consider that their two losses came to Group IV Hillsborough -- by one run in the counties -- and the other to perennial state powerhouse Immaculate Heart by one run in the sectional semis, coach Denise Materia and friends should stand up and take a bow on a stellar campaign.

Mount St. Mary's season ended Tuesday with a 3-2 loss to the Eagles, as IHA scored three times in the fourth inning. The Mount Lions scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough.

Another fine performance by senior righty Dani Accardi, who allowed just four hits.

PROGRAMMING NOTES:

Look for previews of the state semifinals in Tuesday's print and online editions of the Courier News, as well as, hopefully, a more in-depth look at those games here on The Inner Circle.

The state finals edition of the Bats and Bals podcast is scheduled to be recorded either Tuesday or Wednesday night. Look for that at www.c-n.com/specialsectionas/multimedia by Thursday afternoon.

ATTENTION COACHES:
I will be contacting most of you by phone or email in the coming week or two as I begin working on the 2007 All-Area softball teams. Get those stats and nominations ready!

ATTENTION FANS:
Please, feel free to chime in with your comments on who you think should be considered for a spot on the teams, as well as your picks for Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

You can leave your thoughts by commenting on this blog, or I can be reached via email at couriersoftball@aol.com

All-Area will hit the newsstands on June 24.

Checking in on North Jersey Non-Public A

2007-05-31T00:53:00.000-04:00

Sure, it’s sectional final day for the public schools, but let’s not forget our non-public teams playing in the sectional semis.

We ran public sectional finals previews boxes, complete with predictions, in today’s Courier News. You can find those here.

You can also listen to a review and preview of the tournament on the Week 8 edition of the Bats and Balls podcast which is up and running at www.c-n.com/specialsections/multimedia

Meanwhile, here is a look at the North Jersey Non-Public A semis:

MOUNT ST. MARY vs. IMMACULATA HEART ACADEMY
Despite being the top seed, Mount St. Mary is not battle-tested against the type of perennial powerhouse that is Immaculate Heart. Could I see the Mount Lions winning? Sure. Anytime you have the kind of quality in the circle Dani Accardi brings, as well as quality clutch bats in Accardi, Alyssa D'Addio, Sam and Alex Russomagno, Gina Capriglione and others, you have a chance. But the toughest opponent MSM faced all season was Hillsborough in the county quarters, and while the Mount Lions played a quality game, they ultimately were denied.
Advanatage: IHA

IMMACULATA vs. MT. ST. DOMINIC
Mt. St. Dominic is another program that has been very successful over the past decade. But Immaculata should be ready. The Spartans play in one of the most competitive conferences in the state, and I don't figure MSD is going to show Immaculata anything it hasn't seen before. With Katelyn Piazzolla and Jen Lapicki wearing Spartans blue, talent won't be an issue. Still, while Immaculata hasn't shown to be invincible, it has shown the ability to win big games in big spots under the most pressured conditions. Rookie coach Erica Bell is no stranger to this tournament, having played in four straight sectional finals during her varsity career, and she has shown that she is willing to make a gutsy call in a big spot. This should be another close one that comes down to a big play late in the game.
Advantage: Immaculata

The winners of these games will face off at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Bellville High School.