NJ State Tournament Recap Through Sectional Championship Games/Picks for Tomorrow's Games

Hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day. I'm posting the recap and predictions now because I'll be busy watching tennis tomorrow morning with Roger Federer going up against Robin Soderling who knocked out Rafael Nadal of the French Open last year which helped Federer finally complete the career Grand Slam. It should be a great match and as long as Federer gets by him, I don't think there's anyway that we see a matchup besides Federer-Nadal for the championship, unless Djokovic knocks out Nadal which I could see but it's a long shot. Anyway, there's 12 baseball games tomorrow in the state tournament, which are scattered throughout several college locations for the public school games as well as the higher seed's high school's for the non-public schools, which is a new rule this year. Every winner advances to play in Toms River for their respective group titles. Here is my records through Friday.

33-24 in Group I games
37-22 in Group II games
34-26 in Group III games
36-24 in Group IV games
17-6 in Non-Public A games
12-5 in Non-Public B games
169-107 Overall

• The Iron Hills Conference has done a very good job in this tournament with 3 teams still alive in Randolph, Seton Hall and West Essex. You have to think that at this point, Randolph and West Essex are the favorite in their group to bring home the titles and you can never count out Seton Hall Prep.
• Washington Township once again proves how they are a South Jersey power you can never count out with an improbable run in their section to capture the South, Group IV title as a 13 seed. The other 2 seeds to win as a double digit seed were Spotswood and Lakeland, who were both 11 seeds.
• Seton Hall Prep upset what was considered by many to be the #1 team in New Jersey with a 7-5 win over Don Bosco. They have another extremely tough opponent when they travel to Flemington tomorrow to take on Immaculata with a sectional championship on the line.
• It's only fitting that St. Joe's Metuchen and Bishop Eustace do battle tomorrow for a sectional championship. Both have been very impressive so far with Joe's outscoring their competition 29-8 and Eustace outscoring their competition 27-3. It should be a great game tomorrow and I think the winner has a decent chance to beat Immaculata or Seton Hall Prep.

And now onto my picks for tomorrow.

Group I
#1 Whippany Park over #4 Emerson Boro
#1 Robbinsville over #3 Pitman

Group II
#2 West Essex over #7 Ramsey
#11 Spotswood over #3 Audubon

Group III
#3 Cranford over #11 Lakeland
#3 Ocean City over #4 Hopewell Valley

Group IV
#1 Randolph over #2 Bridgewater-Raritan
#5 Jackson Memorial over#13 Washington Township

Non-Public A
#6 Seton Hall Prep over #1 Immaculata
#1 St. Joe's Metuchen over #2 Bishop Eustace

Non-Public B
#2 St. Mary's Rutherford over #1 Morristown-Beard
#4 St. Rose over #3 Gloucester Catholic

So those are my picks for tomorrow. Many of the games should be great games and pit some of the best teams in the state against each other. I'm looking forward to it as well as the championship games on Saturday. I'll be back on Friday to do more of an extensive preview on each team and see how they stack up with each other in the state group finals. Good luck to every team playing tomorrow.

NJ State Tournament Recap Through Sectional Semfinals/Picks for Today's Games

The state tournament is down to 48 teams. There are 8 teams remaining in each group so 8*6=48. After today the field is cut to 24 and after Tuesday, the field is cut down to the final 12 who will travel to Toms River to play for their group championship. Here is the tournament summary so far.

• Mercer County still has 4 teams alive which is a pretty impressive number considering how small their county is and generally looked down upon when it comes to some sports. One will be knocked out today as Hopewell Valley and W Windsor North are playing for the sectional title. Robbinsville also has a great shot to win a sectional today while Notre Dame will likely have their hands full against St. Joe's Metuchen.
• There's only 5 Shore Conference teams remaining and one of those will be knocked out today as Jackson is playing Manalapan. Henry Hudson and Red Bank Catholic will have their hands full today playing tough Robbinsville and Bishop Eustace teams. Although, St. Rose is an underdog I like their chances today to get a win down at Holy Cross and they are seemingly the team right now along with the Jackson/Manalapan winner who looks like they have the best chance to walk away from this tournament with a title.
• Butler High School is trying their best to imitate their collegiate name by having a Cinderella run of their own as a 15 seed. They've somehow managed to outscore their competition 45-1 through the first 3 games. Northern Highlands is still alive too as a 16 seed and they're playing the 11 so regardless, an improbable team is going to win the title in North I, Group III.
• South Jersey continues to be pretty dominant in baseball having teams from all over still alive which is really showcasing how good South Jersey baseball is. New Egypt, Pitman, Buena, Audubon, Highland Regional, Ocean City, Washington Township, Lenape, St. Joe's Metuchen, Notre Dame, Red Bank Catholic, Bishop Eustace, Holy Cross, St. Rose, Gloucester Catholic and Sacred Heart are all still in it.
• The best games today will probably be:
  2) West Essex vs. 1) Hackettstown
  5) Morristown vs. 3) Cranford
  6) W Windsor North vs. 4) Hopewell Valley
  6) Manalapan vs. 5) Jackson Memorial
  5) Pope John XXIII vs. 1) Immaculata
  6) Seton Hall Prep vs. 2) Don Bosco
  4) Notre Dame vs. 1) St. Joe's Metuchen
  3) Red Bank Catholic vs. 2) Bishop Eustace
  3) Gloucester Catholic vs. 2) Sacred Heart

Here are my records going into today.

30-23 in Group I games
34-21 in Group II games
30-26 in Group III games
33-23 in Group IV games
14-5 in Non-Public A games
9-4 in Non -Public B games
150-102 Overall

Now onto my picks for today's sectional championships and the Non-Public sectional semifinals games.

North I, Group I
#4 Emerson Boro over #15 Butler

North II, Group I
#1 Whippany Park over #2 High Tech

Central, Group I
#1 Robbinsville over #7 Henry Hudson

South, Group I
#4 New Egypt over #3 Pitman

North I, Group II
#7 Ramsey over #1 North Warren

North II, Group II
#2 West Essex over #1 Hackettstown

Central, Group II
#11 Spotswood over #4 Governor Livingston

South, Group II
#4 Buena over #3 Audubon

North I, Group III
#11 Lakeland over #16 Northern Highlands

North II, Group III
#3 Cranford over #5 Morristown

Central, Group III
#4 Hopewell Valley over #6 W Windsor Noth

South, Group III
#3 Ocean City over #1 Highland Regional

North I, Group IV
#1 Randolph over #2 Livingston

North II, Group IV
#2 Bridgewater-Raritan over #13 Edison

Central, Group IV
#6 Manalapan over #5 Jackson Mmeorial

South, Group IV
#13 Washington Township over #3 Lenape

Non-Public North A
#5 Pope John XXIII over #1 Immaculata
#6 Seton Hall Prep over #2 Don Bosco

Non-Public South A
#1 St. Joe's Metuchen over #4 Notre Dame
#2 Bishop Eustace over #3 Red Bank Catholic

Non-Public North B
#1 Morristown-Beard over #12 Newark Academy
#2 St. Mary's Rutherford over #6 Dwight-Englewood

Non-Public South B
#4 St. Rose over #1 Holy Cross
#2 Sacred Heart over #3 Gloucester Catholic

So those are my predictions for today. Come back Tuesday to check out how the tournament has progressed as well as my picks for the 12 games on Tuesday, 8 of those are the Public Group Semifinals while the other 4 games will be some great matchups pitting the Non-Public schools against each other with sectional titles on the line. Every winner on Tuesday will punch their ticket to the final field of 12 in Toms River for next Saturday.

NJ State Tournament Recap Through 2nd Round/Picks for Today's Games

This has really been a great tournament so far. While there are a lot of top seeds around still, there are a substantial amount of low seeded teams who remain in the final 96 teams. It wouldn't surprise me at all if one of those teams went on to win an improbable title because you never know what can happen in baseball. It's easily the most contentious tournament of all sports in New Jersey. Here is the tournament summary so far.

• Currently 3 top 20 teams have been eliminated. #11 Toms River South lost to Clearview Regional in the first round 7-3. #18 Wall lost to Red Bank Regional in the second round 7-3 and #19 Paramus lost to Northern Highlands in the first round 5-2. Teams from here on out in the top 20 will start dropping like flies. Here are the ranked matchups for today.
  #20 Morristown vs. #1 South Plainfield
  #4 Jackson vs. #5 Monroe
  #10 Pope John vs. #6 Delbarton
  #14 Seton Hall Prep vs. #9 St. Joe's Montvale
  #16 Cranford vs. #17 Scotch Plains-Fanwood
• The GMC has fared solidly over the tournament so far with hopes still alive in each bracket. Those teams are South River in Group I, Spotswood in Group II, South Plainfield in Group III, a shocking Woodbridge-Edison matchup to decide who goes on to play for the sectional title in Group IV as well as Monroe. St. Joe's Metuchen and Bishop Ahr are both alive as well playing CBA and Red Bank Catholic today in the Non-Public A Bracket. Lastly, Timothy Christian is joining the GMC next year and they are alive as well although face a very tough matchup against St. Rose from Belmar, who's a perennial powerhouse.
• 15 seed Butler has outscored their competition in their first 2 games 32-0.
• Many Shore teams are still alive. They just weren't the ones people expected to be. The teams still playing are Henry Hudson in Group I, 15th seeded Manasquan in Group II, Monmouth Regional and Red Bank Regional in Central Group III who got their both with big upsets over powerhouses Ocean and Wall Townships, Central Regional in South Group III, Jackson, Manalapan and 15th seeded Toms River North, who just got back to .500 in Group IV, CBA, Red Bank Catholic and St. John Vianney in Non-Public A, and St. Rose and Mater Dei in Non-Public B. Of the teams alive, I think their best 3 chances for a state title are Central Regional, Jackson and St. Rose.
• 15 teams still in the tournament are seeded 10th or lower.

There are several more intriguing games but needless to say it should be a great day for baseball in New Jersey with 5 games featuring ranked teams. The most interesting game to me is Jackson vs. Monroe and think the winner of that could be looking at a state title. I'm intrigued as well by the Seton Hall Prep game because they're an underdog here and I beleive they are a live dog and always put up good fights. I'm taking them to win today. I'll get caught up with my records after today but for now here are my picks.

North I, Group I
#4 Emerson Boro over #8 Belvidere
#15 Butler over #3 Wallington

North II, Group I
#4 Lyndhurst over #1 Whippany Park
#11 Jonathan Dayton over #2 High Tech

Central, Group I
#5 South River over #1 Robbinsville
#3 Florence over #7 Henry Hudson

South, Group I
#4 New Egypt over #8 Riverside
#7 Gloucester City over #3 Pitman

North I, Group II
#5 Dumont over #1 North Warren
#7 Ramsey over #11 Lenape Valley

North II, Group II
#1 Hackettstown over #4 County Prep
#2 West Essex over #3 Mountain Lakes

Central, Group II
#4 Governor Livingston over #8 Summit
#11 Spotswood over #15 Manasquan

South, Group II
#4 Buena over #8 Woodstown
#2 Haddon Township over #3 Audubon

North I, Group III
#12 Wayne Valley over #16 Northern Highlands
#2 Pascack Valley over #11 Lakeland

North II, Group III
#1 South Plainfield over #5 Morristown
#2 Scotch Plains-Fanwood over #3 Cranford

Central, Group III
#4 Hopewell Valley over #8 Monmouth Regional
#7 Red Bank Reg over #6 W Windsor North

South, Group III
#4 Central Regional over #1 Highland Regional
#3 Ocean City over #2 Hammonton

North I, Group IV
#1 Randolph over #4 Montclair
#2 Livingston over #3 Ridgewood

North II, Group IV
#8 Woodbridge over #13 Edison
#3 Westfield over #2 Bridgewater-Raritan

Central, Group IV
#1 Monroe over #5 Jackson Memorial
#15 Toms River North over #6 Manalapan

South, Group IV
#13 Washington Township over #8 Cherokee
#15 Clearview Regional over #3 Lenape

Non-Public North A
#1 Immaculata over #9 Roselle Catholic
#4 Delbarton over #5 Pope John XXIII
#6 Seton Hall Prep over #3 St. Joe's Montvale
#2 Don Bosco over #10 Bergen Catholic

Non-Public South A
#1 St. Joe's Metuchen over #9 CBA
#12 Camden Catholic over #4 Notre Dame
#6 Bishop Ahr over #3 Red Bank Catholic
#2 Bishop Eustace over #7 St. John Vianney

Non-Public North B
#1 Morristown-Beard over #9 Eastern Christian
#4 St. Mary's Jersey City over #12 Newark Academy
#6 Dwight-Englewood over #3 Gill St. Bernard's
#2 St. Mary's Rutherford over #7 Marist

Non-Public South B
#8 Wildwood Catholic over #1 Holy Cross
#4 St. Rose over #5 Timothy Christian
#3 Gloucester Catholic over #6 Mater Dei
#2 Sacred Heart over #7 Moorestown Friends

I'll be back on Friday to give my sectional championship picks as well as my sectional semifinal picks in the Non-Public Brackets. Should be a great next two weeks of baseball so definitely check out a couple.

NJ State Tournament Recap through First Round/Picks for the Second Round

It might not be March, but the madness is certainly abundant with the baseball results from Monday's New Jersey High School State Tournament. Out of 64 possible upsets for seeds 13 or lower, 13 actually happened which equates to roughly 20%. That's one huge upset in just about every five games or so. Keep in mind that in past years all these sub .500 teams wouldn't even have made the tournament and this year when they're given the opportunity to, they're wreaking havoc. Here's a summary of the tournament so far in case you missed it or in case you're interested.

• Four Top 20 teams eliminated-Toms River South whose only losses came 2-1 to Brick, 1-0 to Toms River North and 12-2 to Jackson were eliminated as a 2 seed with a 19-3 record to 15th seeded Clearview Regional from Mullica Hill in Gloucester County. Because it is a Group with bigger schools, Clearview had a modest seed with a decent 12-7 record and it isn't as big an upset on paper than at first glance. Clearview's pitcher Shane Taylor who is headed to North Carolina only allowed 4 hits while striking out 6 and giving up 3 walks. He gave up all 3 runs and pitched a complete game to move himself to a 5-2 record. Brett Soloman hit two homeruns and drove in four runs to help spark Clearview over 4th ranked Toms River South.


• While many people think that is a big upset, to me, the biggest upset of the day was Paramus losing to Northern Highlands. Paramus is a school with a decent amount of baseball history and usually has pretty good teams. While Northern Highlands does have a decent schedule, they don't have a schedule near what Paramus has. Paramus has wins over schools still alive in the state tournament such as Pascack Valley and Lakeland as well as their win of the year on opening day over Don Bosco. So to me, for a 21-5 team to lose to a 10-12 team with a weaker schedule is extremely surprising and really opens up North I, Group III. Paramus was ranked 6th in the state.


• Other two teams eliminated in the top 20 were: Steinert(22-5) at #11 and Montgomery(15-7) at #16. Everyone was praising Montgomery for their win in the county championship over Immaculata over the weekend...funny how everything changes so quickly. I'd look for one or two more of the teams in the top 20 to be gone after Friday.


• This has to be noted because if this persists, Newark schools should not be allowed in the tournament. Allow teams in tough conferences with bad records these spots instead of Market Street in Newark and other schools like that. Newark had 6 teams in the state tournament. Here are their results. Hoboken beat Universiy 18-0. Jonathan Dayton beat Newark Arts 18-0. High Tech beat University Charter 9-0. Garfield beat Market Street 19-1. Caldwell beat Science Park 24-1. Shore Regional beat Weequahic 18-1. So in those 6 games, Newark was outscored 106-3. That's embarassing. There's no way around it and if these teams put up games like this for maybe two more years, get them out. It's ridiculous. The surrounding schools didn't fare much better either with teams like Harrison losing 10-0 and Bloomfield Tech losing 16-0 as a 3 seed.


• The Shore Conference has had an impressive showing with a 14, 15 and 16 seed all pulling out upsets. They had over an .800 winning percentage in their state tournament so far and also had several matchups in which two Shore teams played each other, so they were guaranteed to advance. Because many of these seeds are lower, I suspect that they will have a rougher time on Friday and after that it will be interesting to see what happens.


• Millville bounces back after being bounced last year from the state tournament when they fell to Toms River East. They defeat Cherry Hill West 9-0.

Here's how I did Monday. Truth be told, this isn't the basketball tournament and I think through the first round, I already have half the losses I had in the entire basketball tournament lol.

19-10 in Group I games
21-10 in Group II games
23-9 in Group III games
17-15 in Group IV games
80-44 Overall

There's three games today(Thurs.) before states goes into high gear tomorrow. The three today are: Lenape-Toms River East, Bishop Ahr-Monsignor Donovan, and St. John Vianney-Paul VI. Since I'm getting my car back today, I'll probably go to the Bishop Ahr-Monsignor Donovan game and since that game is at 2:30, I'll try to get to the St. John Vianney-Paul VI game in Holmdel afterwards. On Friday, I'll be too busy to post anything because I've been asked to scout CBA-St. Augustine down in Richland so I have a couple hour drive ahead of me. It is also my 21st birthday, so I may head to Atlantic City or something afterwards, so my day will be pretty full. Here are my picks for today's and tomorrow's games. In caps are the teams who I picked as my favorites for each section. Originally there were three, so there may be less now that some teams have been eliminated. In asterisks are the teams I had in my original brackets to advance past this round, so if there's no asterisks, it means I didn't pick the matchup right in the first round and in some cases I missed both teams, such as Emerson Boro vs. Park Ridge and Midland Park vs. Wallington.

North I, Group I
*#1 RIDGEFIELD over #8 Belvidere
#4 Emerson Boro over #5 Park Ridge
#11 Midland Park over #3 Wallington
*#7 SADDLE BROOK over #15 Butler

North II, Group I
*#1 WHIPPANY PARK over #9 New Providence
*#4 LYNDHURST over #12 Hoboken
#11 Jonathan Dayton over #14 Glen Ridge
*#7 Secaucus over #2 High Tech

Central, Group I
*#1 ROBBINSVILLE over #8 South Hunterdon
*#5 SOUTH RIVER over #4 Metuchen
*#6 Bound Brook over #3 Florence
*#2 SOUTH AMBOY over #7 Henry Hudson

South, Group I
*#1 POINT PLEASANT BEACH over #8 Riverside
*#4 NEW EGYPT over #5 Wildwood
*#6 Pennsville over #3 Pitman
*#7 GLOUCESTER CITY over #2 Penns Grove

North I, Group II
*#8 WESTWOOD over #1 North Warren
#5 Dumont over #4 Glen Rock
*#3 INDIAN HILLS over #11 Lenape Valley
*#2 PEQUANNOCK over #7 Ramsey

North II, Group II
*#8 HANOVER PARK over #1 Hackettstown
#5 Bernards over #4 County Prep
*#11 Garfield over #3 Mountain Lakes
*#2 WEST ESSEX over #10 Caldwell

Central, Group II
#8 Summit over #16 Matawan
*#5 RARITAN over #4 Governor Livingston
*#11 Spotswood over #14 Rumson-Fair Haven
#15 Manasquan over #10 Shore Regional

South, Group II
*#1 HADDONFIELD over #8 Woodstown
*#4 BUENA over #12 Overbrook
#6 West Deptford over #3 Audubon
*#2 HADDON TOWNSHIP over #7 Haddon Heights

North I, Group III
#9 Wayne Hills over #16 Northern Highlands
*#12 WAYNE VALLEY over #4 West Milford
#14 Ramapo over #11 Lakeland
#2 Pascack Valley over #10 NV Old Tappan

North II, Group III
*#1 SOUTH PLAINFIELD over #8 W Morris Central
*#4 Nutley over #5 Morristown
*#6 J F KENNEDY, ISELIN over Cranford
*#2 SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD over #7 Millburn

Central, Group III
*#1 OCEAN TWP. over #8 Monmouth Regional
*#12 Hamilton North over #4 Hopewell Valley
*#3 JACKSON LIBERTY over #6 W Windsor North
*#2 WALL over #7 Red Bank Reg.

South, Group III
*#9 SENECA over #1 Highland Regional
*#4 CENTRAL REGIONAL over #5 Moorestown
*#6 BRICK TWP. over #3 Ocean City
*#7 Cumberland over #2 Hammonton

North I, Group IV
*#1 RANDOLPH over #8 North Bergen
#4 Montclair over #12 Morris Knolls
*#3 RIDGEWOOD over #11 Roxbury
*#2 LIVINGSTON over #7 Union City

North II, Group IV
*#8 Woodbridge over #16 Piscataway
#13 Edison over #12 Linden
*#6 HILLSBOROUGH over #3 Westfield
*#2 BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN over #10 Phillipsburg

Central, Group IV
*#1 MONROE over #9 South Brunswick
*#5 JACKSON MEMORIAL over #13 W Windsor South
#6 Manalapan over #3 Rancocas Valley
#7 Howell over #15 Toms River North

South, Group IV
*#1 MILLVILLE over #8 Cherokee
#13 Washington Township over #12 Absegami
#3 Lenape over #11 Toms River East(THURS.)
#15 Clearview Regional over #7 Egg Harbor Twp.

Non-Public North A
#1 IMMACULATA has a bye.
#9 Roselle Catholic over #8 Morris Catholic
#5 Pope John XXIII over #12 Pingry
#4 Delbarton over #13 Paramus Catholic
#3 St. Joe's Montvale over #14 DePaul
#6 SETON HALL PREP over #11 St. Peter's Prep
#10 Bergen Catholic over #7 Queen of Peace
#2 DON BOSCO over #2 Union Catholic

Non-Public South A
#1 ST. JOE'S METUCHEN has a bye.
#8 St. Augustine over #9 Christian Brothers Academy
#5 HOLY SPIRIT over #12 Camden Catholic
#4 Notre Dame has a bye.
#3 Red Bank Catholic has a bye.
#6 Bishop Ahr over #11 Monsignor Donovan(THURS.)
#7 St. John Vianney over #10 Paul VI(THURS.)
#2 BISHOP EUSTACE has a bye.

Non-Public North B
#1 MORRISTOWN-BEARD has a bye.
#9 Eastern Christian over #8 St. Patrick
#12 Newark Academy over #5 Oratory Prep
#4 ST. MARY'S JERSEY CITY has a bye.
#3 Gill St. Bernard's has a bye.
#6 Dwight-Englewood over #11 Montclair Kimberley
#10 HUDSON CATHOLIC over #7 Marist
#2 St. Mary's Rutherford has a bye.

Non-Public South B
#9 St. Joe's Hammonton over #8 Wildwood Catholic
#1-#7 seeds all have byes.

The next round of states is on Tuesday, May 25th. It is the sectional semifinals for public schools and the sectional quarterfinals for the parochial schools. Today, tomorrow as well as next week should continue to be great days for catching baseball games featuring some very good teams and to see who will be the 12 teams who make up the championship field in Toms River 2 weeks from this Saturday.

Getting Caught Up/High School Baseball Essay/ H.S. Baseball Tournament First Round Picks for Groups I-IV

Sorry about the long hiatus guys. Between getting caught up in watching the NCAA Tournament as well as the start of baseball and also finishing up the school year with papers, presentations, etc. I haven't had the time to make any new posts. I am taking one class both halfs of the summer and possibly a job or an internship, but I should have much more time to write now. Perhaps its good I stopped making NCAA predictions because needless to say, I did not have Northern Iowa over Kansas haha although unlike many people in the country, from watching as much college basketball as I have, I was well familiar with guys such as Ali Faroukmanesh and knew he could step up in big spots and he did twice and shocked really the nation with the second one. To my credit, I did have Duke and West Virginia in the final 4. If anyone had the left side of the bracket's two teams in the semifinals, I really need you to go with me to Vegas or something haha. But I do remember reading back in October that this year's Butler team was a once in a generation team. They will be remembered for what they did a long time...but it would've been nice to see Gordon Hayward nail that half court three as time expired in what all probability would have been considered the best tournament championship game ever...it may have already been.

In front of me, I have this year's high school tournament brackets for New Jersey. To me, this is easily the most unpredictable of all the championships in high school sports, because you are only as good as your next day's pitcher. Great teams have off days. Mediocre teams can overachieve and in some cases, teams who play like Jekyll and Hyde suddenly get hot which is what happened to my high school's team my senior year. My senior year could not have ended personally for me any better. As someone who had managed St. Joe's Metuchen's basketball team for three years, we wound up never winning the county tournament as well as never winning a sectional or state final, losing to CBA, our archrivals, both my junior and senior year. I decided to try to be a part of a team in the spring with a last ditch effort to possibly be part of a championship winning team before I graduated. Because we get out so early, it also would fill a large void before I started working in the summer between May and June. So in essence and what I thought was great about the end of my senior year was that for the last 3 weeks of our season, since we were done with class, baseball was the sole reason for me to keep going to school and I actually think that may have relaxed us in the state tournament time. We wound up losing in the Quarterfinals to Carteret and then qualified in the state tournament with just a 10-8 record....but then our luck seemed to change. Our first round opponent was Red Bank Catholic who we got 10 runned by earlier in the season and we wound up using our ace pitcher who pretty much had as dominant a run in states as you could possibly have. We won 6-2. We then played top seeded Notre Dame, who was a decent team, they just played nowhere near the competition we do most of the time so that greatly benefitted us. We went to their place and won in as impressive a fashion as you could ever beat a top seed, 12-0. Although Coach gave our pitcher a one hitter, you could have definitely made the case that the hit was an error which would've been a phenomonal accoomplishment, especially playing the 1 seed. This perhaps is where our luck reached its peak although I beleive we would have beaten them regardless. We played at Holy Cross at a really random 1:00PM start time on a Friday afternoon on June 1 because Holy Cross's graduation was later that night so I don't think their heads were in the game as much as it normally would have been. Our bats picked up right where they left off and we destroyed Holy Cross 14-2. And easily the game I was anticipating that would eventually happen with one last shot to beat them before I graduated was a game against CBA on a neutral field, and for a sectional championship no less. Going in we obviously knew it was going to be a grind it out game and that's exactly what it was. It was the greatest game I've seen St. Joe's play in watching them over the last 3 years or so, although I think I would always take St. Joe's basketball team's 4OT victory on the road vs. Top 5 in the state Holy Spirit as the best game I've been involved with at St. Joe's. But nonetheless, I don't think I've ever been prouder of a team than that day where we showed a hell of a lot of heart and desire and knew that some of these guys didn't want their playing careers to end. We were facing Kyle Slate who would eventually get drafted by the Phillies. He came into that game with a 10-0 record and a .6 ERA. We wound up getting a run across on a wild pitch in the Top of the 8th inning to take a 1-0 lead and we would hold on in the bottom to become sectional champions. Not a bad way to end my high school career as manager. Obviously, I wanted us to get to CBA and win that game, but I thought as long as we won our first two state games including knocking off the 1 seed that would have made our season. After the CBA game, we played Seton Hall Prep for the state championship three days after Rick Porcello had been underdrafted for the Detroit Tigers so I think he was coming in with extra motivation. Unfortunately I really believe our players mentally lost the game before it was even played. We had to play a stellar game just to compete with them and since we were mentally and psychologically fragile about facing him, we lost the game before it was even played. Granted we probably wouldn't have beaten them anyway. I'll never forget looking at the state breakdowns that day in the paper...it said St. Joe's Metuchen 16-12 vs. Seton Hall Prep 33-1. It really felt like Hoosiers and in my graduation year no less. It was really great that I got to experience a great run like this to win a title just as I was about to leave high school. But I think the important thing to take out of this is that we were like Hoosiers all along. We only finished 10-8 as of state cutoff and were underdogs each game. Even though we walked away losers after the Seton Hall game, we were still champions which is something I think many people doubted we could be going into states. Baseball is a funny game and there is no rhyme or reason to things that happen. There are no St. Pat's or St. Anthony's in baseball who rely on their legacy and just overall physical domination to win games. All it takes is a hot pitcher. Just like we had with Kevin Poll my senior year who in his games, we outscored our opponents 21-4. One or more of these stories will come into fruition this year...it will be interesting to see who will it be. And now to my picks...

In each bracket I'll capitalize my three teams who I think could potentially win the section.

North I, Group I
#1 RIDGEFIELD over #16 Leonia
#8 Belvidere over #9 Palisades Park
#12 Verona over #5 Park Ridge
#13 Cedar Grove over #4 Emerson Boro
#14 Cresskill over #3 Wallington
#6 HASBROUCK HEIGHTS over #11 Midland Park
#7 SADDLE BROOK over #10 Morris Tech
#2 Waldwick over #15 Butler

North II, Group I
#1 WHIPPANY PARK has a bye.
#9 New Providence over #8 North Arlington
#12 Hoboken over #5 University
#4 LYNDHURST over #13 Weehawken
#3 BLOOMFIELD TECH over #14 Glen Ridge
#11 Jonathan Dayton over #6 Arts
#7 Secaucus over #10 Harrison
#2 High Tech over #15 University Charter

Central, Group I
#1 ROBBINSVILLE has a bye.
#9 Dunellen over #8 South Hunterdon
#5 SOUTH RIVER over #12 Somerset Tech
#4 Metuchen over #13 Asbury Park
#3 Florence over #14 Keyport
#6 Bound Brook over #11 Roselle Park
#10 David Brearley over #7 Henry Hudson
#2 SOUTH AMBOY has a bye.

South, Group I
#1 PT. PLEASANT BEACH over #16 LEAP Academy
#8 Riverside over #9 Paulsboro
#12 Burlington City over #5 Wildwood
#4 NEW EGYPT over #13 A.P. Schalick
#14 Salem over #3 Pitman
#6 Pennsville over #11 Maple Shade
#7 GLOUCESTER CITY over #10 Gateway
#2 Penns Grove over #15 Palmyra

North I, Group II
#16 Kinnelon over #1 North Warren
#8 WESTWOOD over #9 River Dell
#5 Dumont over #12 New Milford
#4 Glen Rock over #13 Hopatcong
#3 INDIAN HILLS over #14 Elmwood Park
#11 Lenape Valley over #6 Pompton Lakes
#7 Ramsey over #10 Mahwah
#2 PEQUANNOCK over #15 Hawthorne

North II, Group II
#16 Cliffside Park over #1 Hackettstown
#8 HANOVER PARK over #9 Ridgefield Park
#12 PARSIPPANY over #5 Bernards
#13 Orange over #4 County Prep
#14 Madison over #3 Mountain Lakers
#11 Garfield over #6 Essex County Market Street
#10 Caldwell over #7 Science Park
#2 WEST ESSEX over #15 Lincoln

Central, Group II
#1 MIDDLESEX over #16 Matawan
#8 Summit over #9 Bordentown
#5 RARITAN over #12 Willingboro
#13 Delaware Valley over #4 Governor Livingston
#14 Rumson-Fair Haven over #3 Delran
#11 Spotswood over #6 Cinnaminson
#7 WEEQUAHIC over #10 Shore Regional
#15 Manasquan over #2 A. L. Johnson

South, Group II
#1 HADDONFIELD has a bye.
#8 Woodstown over #9 Glassboro
#5 Sterling over #12 Overbrook
#4 BUENA over #13 Middle Township
#3 Audubon over #14 Woodrow Wilson
#11 Barnegat over #6 West Deptford
#7 Haddon Heights over #10 Gloucester Tech
#2 HADDON TOWNSHIP over #15 Collingswood

North I, Group III
#1 PARAMUS over #16 Northern Highlands
#9 Wayne Hills over #8 Tenafly
#12 WAYNE VALLEY over #5 High Point
#13 Jefferson over #4 West Milford
#3 PASSAIC VALLEY over #14 Ramapo
#6 Sparta over #11 Lakeland
#7 Morris Hills over #10 NV Old Tappan
#2 Pascack Valley over #15 Bergenfield

North II, Group III
#1 SOUTH PLAINFIELD over #16 West Morris Mendham
#8 W Morris Central over #9 Ferris
#5 Morristown over #12 Colonia
#4 Nutley over #13 Carteret
#3 Cranford over #14 Voorhees
#6 J F KENNEDY, ISELIN over #11 Somerville
#10 Belleville over #7 Millburn
#2 SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD over #15 Warren Hills

Central, Group III
#1 OCEAN TWP. over #16 Lawrence
#8 Monmouth Regional over #9 Middletown South
#12 Hamilton North over #5 Hightstown
#13 Northern Burlington over #4 Hopewell Valley
#3 JACKSON LIBERTY over #14 Allentown
#11 Hamilton West over #6 W Windsor North
#7 Red Bank Reg. over #10 Holmdel
#2 WALL over #15 Freehold Boro

South, Group III
#1 Highland Regional over #16 Lacey
#9 SENECA over #8 Manchester Regional
#5 Moorestown over #12 Lower Cape May
#4 CENTRAL REGIONAL over #13 Burlington Twp.
#14 Timber Creek over #3 Ocean City
#6 BRICK TWP. over #11 Pinelands
#7 Cumberland over #10 Kingsway
#2 Hammonton over #15 Pemberton

North I, Group IV
#1 RANDOLPH over #16 Clifton
#9 East Orange over #8 North Bergen
#5 Hackensack over #12 Morris Knolls
#4 Montclair over #13 Kearny
#3 RIDGEWOOD over #14 Fair Lawn
#11 Roxbury over #6 West Orange
#10 Memorial WNY over #7 Union City
#2 LIVINGSTON over #15 Passaic

North II, Group IV
#1 North Hunterdon over #16 Piscataway
#8 Woodbridge over #9 Ridge
#12 Linden over #5 Bayonne
#4 HUNTERDON CENTRAL over #13 Edison
#3 Westfield over #14 Elizabeth
#6 HILLSBOROUGH over #11 Union
#10 Phillipsburg over #7 Columbia
#2 BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN over #15 Perth Amboy

Central, Group IV
#1 MONROE over #16 Brick Memorial
#8 East Brunswick over #9 South Brunswick
#5 JACKSON MEMORIAL over #12 Pennsauken
#4 Montgomery over #13 W Windsor South
#14 North Brunswick over #3 Rancocas Valley
#11 Old Bridge over #6 Manalapan
#7 Howell over #10 Colts Neck
#2 HAMILTON EAST over #15 Toms River North

South, Group IV
#1 MILLVILLE over #16 Cherry Hill West
#9 Triton over #8 Cherokee
#5 WILLIAMSTOWN over #12 Absegami
#13 Washington Twp. over #4 Eastern
#3 Lenape over #14 Cherry Hill East
#6 Shawnee over #11 Toms River East
#10 Winslow Twp. over #7 Egg Harbor Twp.
#2 TOMS RIVER SOUTH over #15 Clearview Regional

I will due round by round predictions. The tournament shapes up like this...

Publics Groups I-IV First Round is tomorrow.
Publics Groups I-IV Sectional Quarterfinals are Friday. Non-Public's First Round action starts then as well.
Publics Groups I-IV Sectional Semifinals are Tuesday, May 25th. Non-Public's Quarterfinal action is then.
Publics Groups I-IV Sectional Finals are Friday, May 28th. Non-Public's Semifinals are going on as well.
Public Groups I-IV Group Semifinals are Tuesday, June 1st. Non-Public's Sectional Finals are going on as well.
On Saturday June 5th, down in Toms River at Toms River North, South and East High Schools, the Group championships in baseball and softball are being played so come down to check them out and see future college players as well as the future of High School Baseball. It's a really convenient way to check out a bunch of great teams all at once. Below are my predictions(in bold) for who will be playing and who will win in Toms River.

Group I
#4 Lyndhurst over #1 Ridgefield
#2 South Amboy over #4 New Egypt

#4 Lyndhurst over #2 South Amboy

Group II
#2 West Essex gets revenge on #2 Pequannock in the same round from last year and defeats them.
#1 Middlesex over #2 Haddon Township

#2 West Essex over #1 Middlesex

Group III
#1 South Plainfield over #3 Passaic Valley
#2 Wall over #4 Central Regional

#1 South Plainfield over #2 Wall

Group IV
#1 Randolph also gets revenge from last year by defeating #4 Hunterdon Central.
#2 Toms River South over #1 Monroe

#2 Toms River South has the hometown behind them and with their help wins a Group IV title over #1 Randolph

Non-Public A
#1 Immaculata over #6 Seton Hall Prep
#1 St. Joe's (Metuchen) over #2 Bishop Eustace

#1 St. Joe's (Metuchen) over #1 Immaculata

Non-Public B
I guess I should put a disclaimer on this one. For some strange reason, Hudson Catholic was moved out of the A bracket where they should have faced Immaculata in the first round. On the NJSIAA website, Hudson Catholic is a A school rather than a B school. A school's are bigger than B school's so by putting Hudson Catholic in here, they should be at an advantage. At some point, some one will probably realize they don't belong here and should've been in A as a 16 seed all along where they would've in all likelihood lost to Immaculata first round. In this spot with a bracket MUCH weaker than North A, they are a dangerous team and I think good enough to win the section. Here's hoping to all hell breaking loose once they find out the NJSIAA's error.

#10 Hudson Catholic over #1 Morristown-Beard
#4 St. Rose over #3 Gloucester Catholic

#4 St. Rose wins their third Non-Public B title in a row with a rout of #10 Hudson Catholic.

It may be unrealistic to have 5 GMC teams in the remaining 20 teams, but I imagine they will have at least 2 or 3. The county has showed in its tournament how deep the county is and how anyone can make a run any given day. Just look at yesterday when the 16 and 20 seeds were doing battle for a spot in the championship. Now the 16 seed will have a shot to be the lowest seed to win the county title. While the top teams are very good like St. Joe's, South Plainfield and Monroe, I certainly give teams such as Middlesex or South River a chance to make some noise in this tournament. It will be interesting to see and I think there is definitely a possibility of at least 2 GMC teams walking away from Toms River with group titles.

Last note, my NBA picks for the conference finals are the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 over the Phoenix Suns and the Orlando Magic in 6 over the Boston Celtics. I think Magic defeats the Lakers in 6 this year. Somehow my title pick is still alive haha. Hopefully the Magic can pull it out this time around.