Pre-season Top 5
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- April
- 2
Now that I have completed the softball previews and my wrestling all-star stories, I will you give my pre-season top 5:
1. Yorktown: The defending Class AA champions have the two most feared hitters in Section 1 in Cassie Reilly-Boccia and Kasey O’Connor. They will hit consecutively in the lineup and it will be impossible pitch around them, unless you want to walk both and take your chances with the rest of the lineup. However, as both emphasized, Yorktown’s lineup is very good 1 through 9. Larissa Porcellis returns to the circle after winning 14 games last year. The Cornhuskers are a senior-dominated team who know what it takes to win.
2. White Plains: The Tigers reached the Class AA final for the second consecutive year behind eighth-grader Lauren Sputo. In her first varsity season, Sputo won 15 games. The scary part is she is only going to get better. Sputo had a tremendous hand in her success in senior catcher Sandra Mastrangelo. A five-year varsity starter, Mastrangelo, along with Hen Hud’s Kirby Wright, are Section 1’s two finest all-around catchers. Senior centerfielder Jackie Flooks controls the outfield and junior Katherine Samyda returns after an excellent sophomore year.
3. Pearl River: The Pirates, who lost in the Class A sectional quarters last year to Tappan Zee, lost four-year windmiller Melissa Tarantino to graduation. Tarantino will be missed, but coach Mike Carlacci always has a windmiller-in-waiting. Kaitlin Dinet threw a few games last year and this year, Katie Scrima joins Dinet. Pearl River’s lineup is fierce with lead-off hitter Kelly McMorrow as the catalyst, hard-hitting shortstop Jackie Bruno, catcher Krystina Poloni and third baseman, Carolyn Lundemo. Add in Lauren Schule, with her speed in the 9 hole, and Pearl River can amass runs at an alarming rate.
4. Hen Hud: The defending Class A champions will be right there come sectional time, thanks to pitcher Nicole Tamburri and catcher Kirby Wright. Tamburri had 17 wins last year and Wright, along with White Plains’ Sandra Mastrangelo, are Section 1’s two best catchers. Hen Hud’s offense was downright nasty on opposing windmillers last year, but the Sailors will miss the Gallagher sisters, Jillian, a freshman at East Carolina, and Jackie, who is playing for Putnam Valley. Junior Shanna Brown is back at shortstop and will contribute heavily to the offense.
5. Tappan Zee: It’s a good thing I am no longer the Rockland County beat writer because I wouldn’t be allowed on the high school grounds. Yes, Tappan Zee will miss Julie Pacino, Rockland County’s best player in 2007. However, senior centerfielder Brittni Alexander is Rockland County’s finest all-around player with her speed, hitting and defense. Alexander is at her disruptive best on the basepathes. Sophomore Tayla Gardiner will solo in the circle this year after an excellent second half of the season as she windmilled the Dutchies to the sectional final. Kayla Meyer moves behind the plate, where she played some last year when Pacino played first base, and Theresa Pagnani is back at the hot corner.
There you have it. I know I have angered some by these selections. I will say that come sectional time, Class AA and Class A are going to be one difficult tournament.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm by Tony Pinciaro.
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What about Eastchester? Aren’t they usually a powerhouse in softball?
Eagle1 –
Eastchester had an excellent year last year. The Eagles will miss Jamie Lorenzo and Emily Kehoe, who both had fine 2007 seasons and were Journal News first-team all-stars.
I think your pre-season picks are right in line. It is pre-season. Based on the performances of these teams last year, how can they be overlooked? Everyone else will have to prove themselves worthy to crack the top five when they start playing.
Only time will tell. If you remember last year I said there would be alot of young talent moving into HS. Look at the rosters…..alot of freshmen playing varsity this year at alot of schools. It will be interesting to see if they can slide in and make an impact for their respective teams.
Are you covering any games this week?
I like your preseason top 5 picks. However, come playoff time strange things happen. Last year, who thought New Ro would lose to WP in the semis.
Well said Pinky’s Brain… it’s only pre-season! As the great boxer Mike Tyson once said prior to a big fight about his opponent, “they all have a plan until they get hit for the first time”. Good Luck to all the teams this season!
Let’s PLAY BALL!
How do you think Yorktown will do in the Morabito Tournament this year?
hey sandy how you doing ???
Hallie,
What is the deal with your love for the Morabito tournament? Nice to see you back this year. It is hard for many of us in Rockland and Westchester to relate to that event because it is so far away. The majority of the teams, and players are unknown to us. How can we have an opinion about it? Let alone guess how one of our local teams will do against unknown competition this early into the season. Long Island Schools don’t even go to it anymore. Arguably, if you want to be fair, Nassau and Suffolk counties have the best teams in the state currently. They have closed in on the STAC conference teams. It is not what it was like 10 years ago.
So best of luck to everyone! Enjoy the season.
Pinky:
Valid point. I played in this tournament back in 2003 and my sister played in it back in 1993 when it was held in Port Chester and it helped us and our team tremendously. With Yorktown having so many outstanding players coming back this year, the competition should certainly help them out. I was very impressed with the young Tappan Zee pitcher last year at the tournament. TZ should do very well again, defending their title. Brewster should come back this year in a big way. Coach Gosh is one of the best and last year was just small set back. Don’t know much about JJEF out of Dutchess County. The Long Island Teams (Section 8 & 11) have a restriction on the number of official games that they can play. The rest of the state can play up to 24 games, where Section 8 & 11 can only play 21. This is why you don’t see those teams participating. I see that for 2008, the tournament has more Section 9 teams than in the past, with Newburgh FA and Valley Central joining Minisink Valley. The STAC Teams appear to be stronger than ever, with Chenango Valley, Horseheads and Binghamton leading the way. Overall, this Section 1 originating tournament, which is considered to be the best tournament around, should prove out to again be the “acid test” for many many teams this year. For those Cornhusker fans out there, how do they feel YHS will do this year at the tourney?
I would like to know how the realigment of the leagues affects qualifying for the play-offs?
Can someone please explain if there were any changes to procedure?
Some of the leagues are much bigger than others so they have more league games, then the smaller ones. Last year one of the ways to get in play-offs was to be .500 in league games. Doesn’t sound right to me when league to league you have different requirements of number of league games. Some have eight and come have 16.
It seems like each class plays the same amount of league games but then you have the crossover schools like Yorktown, Eastchester, Pelham etc… who play the lower league schedule and then move up in class for playoffs? How does the section make up these things?
Insight if anyone has it would be nice.
Winning 50% of a team’s league games was eliminated as one of the qualifying criteria for the 2007 season. The three qualifying criteria are:
40% – Overall Record
50% – Class Record (total number of games in a team’s class)
50% – Class Record and Above Your Class Record
Thanks One who Knows.
I, for one, did not know.
Best Regards,
Pete
For those of you who have not been keeping track of how the softball season has finally begun, have clearly been missing out. Lauren Chomes who is a standout player at Kennedy Catholic in Somers NY has had a brilliant start to the 2008 season. As a four year starter her experience at the varsity level is unmathced. She is heading the section batting .819 with 4 home runs right now, and is the backbone of a strong JFK squad. Chomes is a determined player with the heart of a lion, and is dominating play right now. For those who want to see how real softball is played come to Somers tomorrow at 1 o’clock sharp to see # 14 do her thing!