Saturday - What's on?

You need to love AD's like Chatham's Harvey Cohen. "Hutch" sent out an early morning email informing his vast Email list the plans for Chatham's sport's today.

Therefore, I will covering the Chatham-Randolph Boy's Lax game. I am here at Cougar field right now as I post this.

I do know that Kinnelon looks to have all games go off. Softball and Baseball at 2:00, Girl's Lax at 4:00. I know that Morris Hills @ Hanover Park Baseball has been canceled. I know that Chatham Softball has also been canceled.

As much as would like to cover the Girls Softball & Boys Baseball MCT games, I will not drive in circles 100 miles in hopes that a game is still on ...

All the best and good luck!
The Coach

After witnessing an amazing game between two on NJ's best Lacrosse teams, I had to dedicate my time to that game. I was hoping to hit either Dover-Chatham baseball or head up to Kinnelon, but I just could not make it. Sorry.

Here's the Chatham-Randolph Lax Story: Click here

Printable Brackets

This is what you want:

MCT Softball Brackets
MCT Baseball Brackets
MCT Girls Lax Brackets

Where and who shall I cover tomorrow?

Though call. I plan on being at schools that I have not covered this Spring ... so I think you can see that Delbarton & Morris Hills off limits! But I really think that the MH/HP Baseball Game is the place to be. As of now, the game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

What ever it is ... Where ever it is ... we'll be there! Yo uknow why? Because it's all about the ATHLETES!

Boys Seeds

(17-Par Hills @ 16-Morristown-Beard) at 1-Delbarton
(18-Mountain Lakes @ 15-Mendham) at 2-Hanover Park
(19-Boonton @ 14-Whippany Pk) at 3-Morris Hills
(20-Morris Catholic @13 Morristown) at 4-Pequannock
(21-Chatham @ 12-Dover) at 5-Montville
(22-Morris Knolls @ 11-West Morris) at 6-Roxbury
(23-Parsippany @ 10-Mt Olive) at 7-Randolph
(24-Butler @ 9-Kinnelon)
(25-Madison @ 8-Jefferson)

Seeds:
1 Delbarton
2 Hanover Park
3 Morris Hills
4 Pequannock
5 Montville
6 Roxbury
7 Randolph
8 Jefferson
9 Kinnelon
10 Mt Olive
11 West Morris
12 Dover
13 Morristown
14 Whippany Pk
15 Mendham
16 Morristown-Beard
17 Par Hills
18 Mountain Lakes
19 Boonton
20 Morris Catholic
21 Chatham
22 Morris Knolls
23 Parsippany
24 Butler
25 Madison

Morris Hills - Morris Cathloic Video

My site has been unstable for the past few days. But we're back up! All is well.

Here's The MH-Mo Cath video ... ENJOY!

Kinnelon 4 - Morris Hills 1 (Tennis)

MCT SEEDS - GIRLS

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(17 - West Morris at 16 - Chatham) at 1 - Pequannock

(24 - Butler at 9 - Morris Knolls) at 8 - Hanover Park
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(21 - Madison at 12 - Jefferson) at 5 - Morris Hills

(20 - Boonton at 13 - Villa Walsh) at 4 - Montville
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(19 - Mountain Lakes at 14 - Par Hills) at 3 - Mt. Olive

(22 - Dover at 11 - Kinnelon) at 6 - Mendham
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(23 - Roxbury at 10 - Morristown) at 7 - Parsippany

(18 - Randolph at 15 - Morris Catholic) at 2 - Whippany Park
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How Ironic: Kim Jackson, the 1st year coach at Kinnelon draws Dover. Jackson coached as an assistant at Dover the past few years. And remember, just because Kinnelon is the higher seed, does not guarantee a victory.

ARGG!!: One thing I have always hated about the MCT is playing your 1st game vs. a conference opponent. Only Roxbury and Morristown drew prelim’s vs. a conference opponent. Oh, and then they play a regularly scheduled conference game on Monday.

Lowest Seed to have a chance at Brundage: This is a loaded question, but you need to figure that Jefferson at #12 has a good a chance as any. But who’s to say that Jefferson will get by Madison? By the way, Randolph knocked off Knolls as a 17-seed last year … and Whippany Park a few years before when the Wildcats were a #1 seed ... hmmm?

Is there a lock in the prelim’s? Butler has run into some bad luck and drawing Knolls maybe the cherry on the top. Knolls is tough, very tough, despite their record, so the Golden Eagles would be my pick. But, every other prelim is a coin toss … you can try to tell me different, but stand by my words.

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1 Pequannock
2 Whippany Park
3 Mt. Olive
4 Montville
5 Morris Hills
6 Mendham
7 Parsippany
8 Hanover Park
9 Morris Knolls
10 Morristown
11 Kinnelon
12 Jefferson
13 Villa Walsh
14 Par Hills
15 Morris Catholic
16 Chatham
17 West Morris
18 Randolph
19 Mountain Lakes
20 Boonton
21 Madison
22 Dover
23 Roxbury
24 Butler

what could the seeds be?

This year’s MCT softball seeding meeting may go back to the older voting procedure that was used when I first started coaching. This year, each coach will speak about his or her team. After all 23 teams have spoken, each School will list their rankings 1 through 23, with 1 being the best. That form is handed in and calculated as follows: your raking is the points you are rewarded. The highest and lowest raking is thrown out.

Example: Some School gets seeds of 4, 5, 4, 7, 5, 3, 6, 4, 9, 2, 5. The 9 and the 2 are ignored. Some School has 38 points. The seeds are rank such that the #1 team has the lowest total.

Although I think this is the best method, it is not perfect. The other way, you get nominations for #1 see, the school speaks and the coaches vote. The teams not ranked then fall down for #2 voting. Other nominations are taken and the process repeats. Again, good method, but coaches can jockey for position, already knowing the higher seed and whom they could face, what bracket they are in, etc. But I am pretty sure that the coaches voted for the tally method.

This is how I feel the seeds would fall, based on the tally method and how I feel the votes will go. It usually balances out. I also fell that you could seed these teams 20 times and come up with 20 different results. There are so many teams capable of getting to Brundage, that seeding numbers mean nada.

This is before the Tuesday games are complete. There are a couple of games that will affect this seeding process:

If Jefferson loses, they will move down. Pequannock’s game should not affect the seeds, win or lose, but a lose could drop them a seed or two. Morris Catholic & Morris Hills will affect seeds if Catholic wins.

1) Whippany Park (7-1)
2) Parsippany (6-1)
3) Mt. Olive (9-3)
4) Pequannock (9-3)
5) Hanover Park (7-3)
6) Montville (6-3)
7) Mendham (8-3)
8) Jefferson (5-3)
9) Morris Hills (7-4)
10) Morris Knolls (6-4)
11) Kinnelon (5-2)
12) Villa Walsh (6-3)
13) Morris Catholic (7-4)
14) Morristown (5-4)
15) Par Hills
16) Chatham (5-6)

Roxbury 10 - Mt. Olive 0

Roxbury responds with all the right moves.

Roxbury, NJ - There’s no time to dwell on the past in the IHC-Iron. Roxbury boasted a 6-1 record midway through last week. After two tough losses, a 10-9 to Sparta and 8-1 to Seton Hall Prep, the Gaels had to face a red-hot Mt. Olive squad. The Marauders are coming in seven of their last eight, the only loss being to Seton Hall Prep. The Gaels responded on all cylinders today defeating Mt. Olive 10-0 in 5 innings.

Roxbury used a series of hard hit balls, took advantage of a couple errors and a splendid pitching outing from Todd Burdette. Burdette pitched brilliantly, throwing a 5-inning 1 hitter, while fanning three and walking none. Burdette lost is no-hitter bid in the third inning as Marauder 2nd baseman, Joey Rec, planted arching fly ball precisely between the darting middle-infielders and the center fielder. That would be Mt. Olive’s only base runner. “Todd threw pitches for strikes,” Head Coach Greg Trotter stated when asked about Burdette successfully stifling Mt. Olive. Trotter added, “He’s 3-0 and could very easily be 4-0 right now. He’s doing a great job.”

Mt. Olive hurler, Eric Kline looked sharp through four. Klein retired the potent Gaels 1-2-3 in the first. Burdette led off the 2nd and reached on an error. The miscue allowed Burdette to advance to third base with no outs. Burdette’s courtesy runner Joey Shomley scored as Mike Baker launched a screamer down the 1st-base line for a double. After a one-out walk, Kyle Magdziak singled to left field. A quality relay from the Marauders caught Baker at home for the second out. Catcher Dan Lyons immediately fired a strike to Matt Dizinno at third, catching Gaels’ base runner Arthur Lopez for 7-5-2-6 the double play.

Kline retired the side in order again in the third. The Gaels bats came alive in the fourth. Kevin Miller reached on an infield single. Burdette, 2-for-3 on the day, singled. Joey Shomley ran for Burdette and again. Brian Mohr doubled, scoring Miller from second. Two batters late, a bases-loaded walk gave Roxbury a 3-0 lead with one out. Gael’s Nick Riccardi RBI ground out scored Mohr. Weaver’s single to left, combined with an error allowed Roxbury to build a 6-0 after 4. Kline had fanned two batters in the inning, but Roxbury lively bats had already done the damage.

Roxbury added four runs in the bottom of the 5th to end the game via the 10-run rule. The Gaels batted out ten hits on the day as they improved to 7-3, as Mt. Olive fell to an identical 7-3. Amazingly, with both hurlers being so effective combined with aggressive at bats by both squads, the 4:00 start was concluded at 5:01.

Roxbury Head Coach Greg Trotter on the importance of rebounding with a 10-0 victory after two losses in a row: “The kids ... they responded. I had told them that this game was huge. It may be the difference between playing a prelim in the County Tournament on Saturday or getting a chance to scout and prepare for our opponent. ”

SOFTBALL: Week #3 in Review

Rain put a damper on early week games, so we’ll pick up the action on Wednesday. Here’s what happened, by conference:

Northern Hills
Caldwell moved to 9-0 on the week, winning two conference games. A 2-0 victory over Madison was the closest game. Caldwell did not allow a run all week.

DePaul beat St. Elizabeth’s 10-0 & Villa Walsh 5-3. DePaul’s only setback was a 6-1 victory over Montville. Montville went 4-0 on the week, only allowing 1 run. A 4-0 ‘victory over Verona was the Mustangs’ second shutout of the week, the third a 1-0 win over West Milford. Madison bat Morristown-Beard, but lost to Lakeland 5-4 and Caldwell. Villa Walsh revisited NHC old ties in a 2-1 victory over now, CHC-team, Morris Catholic. The Vikings also shutout Butler, 6-0. On Thursday, Pequannock recorded a very respectable victory over West Milford 2-0. On Saturday, the Panthers split in the Blue & Gold; beating J.P. Stevens 2-0, before losing to Kittatinny 2-1 in the final.

NHC Overview: Caldwell is in command of the conference at the midway point. Montville and Pequannock both have one loss, both to Caldwell. The two Morris County Schools faced each other today.

Colonial Hills

Very slow week in the CHC.
On the Hills side, Morristown-Beard earned their 1st victory of the year, defeating Montclair Immaculate. Morris Catholic lost to Villa in a out-of-conference match-up. Catholic defeated Mo-Beard 11-3 and a quality win over Cedar Grove 5-3. On Saturday, Beard fell to Madison 14-1.

Kinnelon had a productive week going 1-1. After defeating Mountain Lakes to improve to 3-1, the Colts gave Whippany Park a scare. Whippany defeated Kinnelon 3-2 in 8-innings. Mountain Lakes went 1-2 with a win over Arts.

Overall: Whippany is in control at 5-0 in conference. The Wildcats have yet to face the new look Boonton Bombers. Boonton is 3-1 inference play, just one of 5 teams with 3 conference wins.

Jefferson: In the SCIL, the Falcons went 1-1 on the week. The only loss coming to Pope John, 6-4. Jefferson lost to Iselin Kennedy 3-1 at the Red Devil Classic, and then beat Wallkill Valley 7-4 in the consolation game.

IHC-Iron
Chatham went 2-1, defeating Randolph and Dover, while losing to Parsippany. Dover beat Summit, but lost to Hanover & Mendham. Hanover Park beat Dover & lost to Parsippany. Parsippany has responded nicely since losing to Morris Hills. The Red Hawks beat Chatham and Hanover Park to improve to 5-1. Mendham continues to ride the roller coater. The Minutemen beat Morris Hills, Summit & Dover, but were upset by Par Hills. Now can we keep calling this, “ … an Par Hills upset?” The Vikings handed Morris Knolls a 1-0 defeat as well as knocking off Mendham, both top 10 teams. Morris Hills is now 6-4, after the loss to Mendham.

Hills-side Overview: Mendham leads the IHC-Hills with 6 wins, but West Essex is undefeated and continues to get stronger. Mendham has 3 losses in conference, while Hanover and Parsippany have 1. All in all, Morris teams need people to start knocking off West Essex if they want a piece of that title.

IHC-Iron:
Essex County’s Livingston maybe answering all the critic, such as myself, who suggested that the Lancers maybe down this year … not so much down … as just unknown potential. Livingston beat Roxbury and Morristown this week. Knolls got two back in the conference win column with wins over Columbia and Randolph. The Golden Eagles were shut out by Par Hills. Randolph also lost to state powerhouse North Hunterdon and Chatham, falling to 3-6. Mount Olive had a big week, going 3-0. The Marauders won by the 10-run rule over East Orange and Morris Catholic, after staring the week with a 4-2 win over Morristown. Mt. Olive lead 4-0, before stomping out a Colonials’ comeback. West Morris is now 2-4 after a win over Columbia.

The Iron Outlook: Mt. Olive and Livingston are now 5-0 in conference play. Morristown and Knolls have 2 in-conference losses, and are not out of the running.

The top 10: Click Here

BASEBALL: Week #3 In Review

Baseball – Week #3 – (4-16 through 4-21)

Rain kept the players in the gym until Wednesday, but our patience was rewarded which a short, but great week of baseball.

Northern Hills

Wednesday: In an oddity of all oddities, Madison and Caldwell played to a 4-4 tie. Montville continued to play well and defeated DePaul 11-6.
Thursday: Delbarton defeated Butler 13-0 and Montville exploded for 16 runs in a 16-2 victory over out-of-conference foe, Verona.
Friday: In what proved to a great baseball game, Delbarton needed a single from Greg Sherry to score a pinch runner. The Green Wave had jumped to a 6-1 lead after 3 innings. Pequannock put up 3 in the 5th and 3 in the 6th to tie it up.
Saturday: In two out-of-conference match-ups, Pequannock rebounded against then undefeated Morris Hills. A 6-run top of the 7th was crucial, as the Morris Hills pressed in all of the final 4 innings, including a three run 7th. Madison’s bid at a third win fell short, losing to Mountain Lakes 11-2.

Overall: A quiet week in the conference, but things heat up on Monday as Pequannock and Montville square off! If you go there with a score book, you may need 3 pencils! Montville and Delbarton remained undefeated in conference play.

Colonial Hills

Wednesday: Cedar Gove beat Morris Catholic 11-4. Kinnelon added a conference victory, defeating Mountain Lakes 11-5.
Friday: No CHC-Morris County teams were in action on Thursday. Friday brought the warm weather and two shut-outs. Verona blanked Mountain Lakes 10-0 and Sean Bierman threw his second no-hitter of the season, both over Whippany Park by the score of 4-0. Morris Catholic won a big in-conference match up with Morristown-Bread. The Crimson had defeated Morris Catholic in both teams’ openers, an extra inning game won on a double by Mike Betz. This time, Ryan Smith and Chris Perret held Mo-Beard in check allowing the offense to do the work. The 6-3 victory improved the Crusaders to 3-5.
Saturday: Whippany Park spoiled Cougar day in Chatham. Mike Bizarro was responsible for the most of the damage, including a solo home run. Cedar Grove continued to put up runs, defeating Butler 11-3.

Overall: Kinnelon lead the conference at 4-1, but Boonton is undefeated at 3-0. Verona is 3-1 and can easily spoil the chances for the Morris County teams.

Iron Hills – Hills

The IHC was busy and there was tons of action!

Wednesday: Cedar Grove beat Morris Catholic 11-4. Kinnelon added a conference victory, defeating Mountain Lakes 11-5. The one-run games on the Hill-side continue. Chatham defeated Parsippany 4-3 in 8-innings. A Mike Thompson single gave the visiting Cougars the victory. One-run victory … yep, another … Guyer-ball at its best. Mendham put up 10 and defeated Par Hills 10-9. I guess it should be said, but you probably already know … Par Hills has 4 losses; all four are by one run. Dover continues to pile up wins, defeating Summit 8-5. Morris Hills defeated Weequahic and I was bit upset that Sam Rosenberg’s home run was not mentioned in either paper.
Thursday: Hanover Park improved to 5-1, handling the hot-Tigers 10-1. Mendham was fell victim to Summit stand-out, Kevin Lackaye. The Hilltopper no hit the offensive minded Minutemen. You know that I feel this is quite an accomplishment. He would be MCHSS.net player of the week, but alas, Summit is not a Morris County School. (Sorry Kevin and Coach Kevin.)
Friday: Dover hopped right back on that winning horse and defeated Chatham 6-3. Hanover’s offensive assault has been prevalent this week. The Hornets defeated Parsippany 8-4 … oh and do not bring your dog to Parsippany. No Dogs allowed. The guy that booted my 5 month old pup was very nice, and I know rules are rules … oh yeah ... baseball … Morris Hills used a six-run fifth on way to a 7-1 victory over Mendham. And the one you’ve been waiting for … PARSIPPANY HILLS WON A 1-RUN GAME!! After all the hard luck and tough losses, the Vikings come up on top of these prevalent one-run games, defeating West Essex 2-1.
Saturday: Morris Hills may have been caught off guard by a Pequannock team that many people consider too young to be as competitive as they have been in the past. West Morris and Dover handed Mendham two losses. If I had to pick a Coach of the Year the right now, I may just have Dover’s Rich Guglielmo at the top of my list.

Overall: Mendham had a tough week. Hanover Park and Morris Hills are both 5-0 in Hills Division play and you’ll have to wait until Saturday for that match-up (assuming that both teams are in the top 9 of the MCT seeds). By the way … Hanover Park has a game every day this week and 4 of the 5 are in conference. Tuesday is NJ’s #1 Seton Hall Prep. Morris Hills has only Tuesday off. Dover is in 3rd with 4 wins.

Iron Hills – Hills

This maybe one of the strongest, most competitive conference in the state of New Jersey. West Morris is 1-5 in conference and they are a very good team.

Wednesday: Full day of action as Mt. Olive goes extras and defeats Morristown 5-4. Knolls falls to Columbia 3-0. Roxbury defeats Livingston, 4-2. Seton Hall Prep hands Randolph their third loss of the year, 2nd in conference. West Morris passes East Orange 12-0.
Thursday: Seton Hall defeats West Morris 16-3 and improves to 8-0.
Friday: Seton Hall hands a very, very good Roxbury squad an 8-1 loss. Morristown falls to Livingston 8-2.
Saturday: Mt. Olive improves to 7-2 by defeating Morris Catholic 18-6. Sparta hands Roxbury their second loss in a row, 10-9.

Overall: Seton Hall Prep has a strangle-hold on the path to the Division championship as the middle pack keeps knocking each other off. Livingston, Randolph, Mt. Olive and Roxbury all ended the week with 4 wins in conference

Jefferson

Nah, I didn’t forget the Falcons. I seemed to have missed a few games for the Falcons who came into the week at 4-0 and are now 6-2. I know that they beat Pope John 5-4 and lost to Lenape 5-2.

Week #3 Top 10: Click here

Week #3 Player of The Week: Sean Bierman.