Victor is on thr field warming up and we will be starting shortly.

Update 1: Pearl River is the home team in the semifinal and their pitcher is Katie O’Flynn. The Pirates are being introduced to the crowd.

Update 2: In the top of the first, Victor fails to score. Pearl River coming up. The Red Raiders are to cheer on their fellow Section 1ers.

Update 3: In the bottom of the frame, RBI single by Kaitlin Dinet gives the Pirates a 1-0 lead through 1.

Update 4: Top 2: The Blue Devils stranded 2. PR 1, Victor 0.

Update 5: After 2 full, PR 1, Victor 0.

Update 6: Top 3: 1 run stranded by Victor. PR 1, Victor 0.

Update 7: In the bottom of the frame, The Pirates leave courtesy runner Kristyn Neroda stranded. 1-0 PR through 3.

Update 8: Top 4: The Pirates got out 2 jams of runner’s on 2nd and 3rd and no one scored. PR 1-0.

Update 9: Bottom 4: The Pirates are retired in order despite a long strike that was inches from a home run for Kelly Tarsnane. PR 1-0 through 4.

Update 10: Top 5: After a one-out single, walk to Alanna Shelley and Michelle Prong; O’Flynn gets out of the jam. PR 1-0.

Update 11: Through 5, the Pirates leave Gemma Mahoney stranded after a fielder’s choice. 1-0 PR.

Update 12: Jamie DeGennaro makes a outstanding in foul territory behind the plate. The Blue Devils are retired in order. PR 1-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Update 13: Dinet had a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth but was left stranded. PR 1-0 through 6.

Update 14: The Pirates retire the side in order and win 1-0 knocking out the number 1 ranked team in the state. The final numbers on O’Flynn- a complete game four-hitter, three walks and struck out nine. The Pirates will play Section 8’s Floral Park. They won 1-0.

As we get ready to begin just to set the scene; there are 4 fields and right behind me is where the other semifinal is taking place. I’ve Tony Toronto to my left so I will get the score from them. North Rockland is the visitor and Krystn Benson will be in the circle.

Update 1: In the top of the first inning, The Red Raiders were retired in order. Brentwood coming up.

Update 2: The Red Raiders survive a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first. No score through one full.

Update 3: In the top of the second, the Red Raiders are again retired in order on 3 straight fly outs. Still no score.

Update 4: In the bottom of the second Shaakira Samad had a two- run double to right center. Brentwood 2, North Rockland 0.

Update 5: Top 3, Brentwood 2, North Rockland 0.

Update 6: In the bottom of the third, Huge DP by Destiny Jones in right field to double off Kristen Flint. In the top of the 4th, After a judgement call that a catch by the Brentwood left fielder was ruled a catch, the Red Raiders go down in order. Still 2-0 Brentwood.

Update 7: Bottom 4, Benson’s 1st time retiring Brentwood in order. Still 2-0 Brentwood but trust me folks, the Red Raiders are pissed.

Update 8: Top 5, still 2-0 Brentwood.

Update 9: Pitching change for NRk; Welsh comes into pitch with a runner on first.

Update 10: After a hit batter, and runner’s on 2nd and third; Welsh gives up a two-out two-run single to Kristen Flint. Colleen Rivers got on via a sac bunt and on a throwing error by Heather Hansen allowed the run in. Erica Edwards followed with a 2-run double. 7-0 Brentwood through 5.

Update 11: In the top of sixth, the Red Raiders were rtired in order. In the bottom of the frame, Brentwood leaves 2 stranded. 7-0 Brentwood through 6.

Update 12: The game is now final. Brentwood 7, North Rockland 0. PR will start in about 15 minutes. Brentwood pitcher Nicole Flint through a perfect game.

Once again bloggers…

I will be at both games so if you can’t make the long journey up to Waterloo High School; make sure you keep it locked on the blog for live updates on both North Rockland at 9 a.m. and Pearl River at 11 a.m.

It seems that after Pearl River leading all week; it seems that the majority of you think that North Rockland will have the best shot at a state title.

Now if you all don’t mind…. there’s a new poll question to your right.

How many titles will Section 1 win?

I took the idea from Jake and Josh on the Baseball beat. (Good luck to the baseball teams still standing in the state tournament.)

Good luck to the girls tomorrow at Waterloo High School.

Class AA: If North Rockland wins their semifinal game tomorrow; they will get the winner of Section 2’s Columbia and Section 5’s Fairport at 1:30 p.m.

Class A: If Pearl River advances, they will face the winner of Section 8’s Floral Park and Section 10’s Franklin Academy at 3:30 p.m.

As I’m here in my hotel watching round one of the Subway Series; I’ve really had a chance to sit and think about how things may or may not play out tomorrow so as I promised… here’s my take on the state semifinals.

Class AA: North Rockland vs. Section 2’s Brentwood: From the story that I read about how Brentwood made the state semifinal, it seems like they are a very scrappy team. That hit the catcher had was incredibly clutch. And if you read the post made by Hank Greenberg under my post “My thoughts about yesterday; this team is really led by pitcher Nicole Flint and her twin sister Kristen.
If you missed it; here’s what he said. “If anyone is going to Waterloo, the big focus will be the coaching genius of Brian Lynch and Joseph Lacova of the Long Island Brentwood team, and the super talented duo of the Flint twin sisters. This AA game begins at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday. The key will be the play of these Flint twin sisters. Nicole Flint is the pitcher. Both are strong hitters. So hold your breathe when these Flint sisters are up to bat. And hold your breathe on every pitch from Nicole Flint. It all boils down to how well these two sisters perform.”
That’s all fine in good… but it seems to me that if North Rockland can continue scoring runs like they did in the regional tournament, then it seems to me that this team doesn’t have the same kind of thump that the Red Raiders have. However, it’s probably going to come down to pitching. And from what I’ve read, Nicole Flint is good. But to my knowledge, I don’t think they have a backup. We all know what Samantha Welsh and Krystn Benson can do. For North Rockland to come out and win the game, they need to continue doing what they’re doing. Get good hitting, and solid pitching.
Prediction: North Rockland 2, Brentwood 1.

Class A: Pearl River vs. Section 5’s Victor: Now this game is a whole other animal. If any of you guys who are up here get a chance to check this game out, you should; this is going to be a treat. Bethany DeMarco, after her performance in the regional final, is a bat you don’t want to mess with. Folks, this team isn’t ranked number 1 in the state because they slacked off. This team is no joke. Someone once mentioned on the blog that the Blue Devils had a real tough schedule this season and that will help factor into the win. I think that at this point in the season, that’s hogwash. Remember this, Harrison was given the top seed over Pearl River because they played and beat more double A teams then the Pirates did. But Pearl River won that game. At this point in the season, it really comes down to who wants it more. Let me begin with the pitching, I really believe that Katie O’Flynn will benefit tremendously for having a game like Wednesday under her belt. No, it wasn’t her best stuff by a country mile, but what she did (and I’m quoting Ron Darling on this) but she went out and pitched. She still gave the Pirates every opportunity to win that game. Offensively, the Pirates need to wake the bats up earlier then the sixth inning. They can’t shut down early and expect to try and comeback like they did on Wednesday. Victor is way too good for that. If the Blue Devils do their homework, they probably won’t give Krystina Poloni anything to hit. So the rest of that line up needs to step it up and get a clutch hit.
Prediction: Shrugs the shoulders: This is probably the first time all post-season that I can’t even make a general prediction. This game is a complete and total toss-up in my opinion. If the Pirates can some how get a lead early in the game, then they could possibly have a chance to pull off the upset. If I went down to Vegas and found out that there were betting lines on this game, I would think that it would be fair to say that Pearl River is the underdog in this game.

Here’s how Brentwood made the state final four. Story courtesy of Newsday. CLICK HERE TO READ

Here’s how Victor made the state final four. Story courtesy of the Democrat and Chronicle. CLICK HERE TO READ

I will give you my take and predictions tomorrow once I’ve made the drive and had a chance to sit back and really think about it.

As I said earlier, my colleague Jake Thomases was at Mitchel field for the game and he wanted to add his thoughts:
“The main thing to stress is that it was 1-1 until the sixth when Rhinebeck blew the doors off. Kinally had only one K but got the Rhinebeck girls to hit balls at people. The only really hard hit ball was Kelly’s triple in the sixth. The girls seemed in OK shape after the game. Only one was crying. I think they know they went as far as they could and will have a very good shot next year.”

I completely agree with that. As I said before, these girls played their tails off and from what it sounds like… they left it all on the field and that’s all you can do. The team only loses two seniors in Lindsay New and Chrissy Davidson so I think that Jake is right. This team should be a team to watch out for next year.

Great season ladies.

I can only talk about what I saw from the wild Wednesday we had and that was the two regional finals that were at Nanuet High School.

I’m going to start out with North Rockland.

Congratulations to the Red Raiders for making their first trip to the state final four in 25 years. This team is really firing on all cylinders. The bats have come around and are scoring early and often. But they have also gotten great pitching too. Krystn Benson and Samantha Welsh have been dominant in the circle. The numbers don’t lie, Welsh with an .58 ERA and Benson with an .41. Posting back to back double digit strikeouts. Brianna Rivera, Heather Hansen, and Amanda Babcock all batting over 300 for the season. Right now things are definitely going right for the Red Raiders.
What has impressed me the most about the Red Raiders especially during the post-season is the play of the younger players. Brianna Rivera, Taylor Corretjer, Amanda Bender, Destiny Jones, and Olivia Rivera have all stepped up huge for this team. And you know things are going right when Corretjer makes two circus catches in the same inning (Horseheads game). And yesterday’s game was no different. Amanda Bender with her hit in the second inning. Brianna Rivera, the entire post-season; Taylor Corretjer in the sectional final. It seems that every time I see this team play, that I find something to talk to these youngsters about.
And I found it a little bit fitting that it was Samantha Welsh who caught the final out of the game because of what she has meant to this team and what she has done all year long. It would’ve been cool to see Amanda Babcock get that put out the batter before but she just had a little too much mustard on the throw to Welsh but she has been a phenomenal leader for this team. Congratulations again to the Red Raiders.

Now to the comeback kids. What a game by the Pearl River Pirates yesterday. And congratulations to them on making a second straight trip to the state final four.

Before I get to the sixth inning; I’ve got to say what a gutsy performance by Katie O’Flynn. If you track her numbers back through the playoffs beginning with the eight inning thriller against Eastchester, she has been mowing down batters left and right. Yesterday, she gave up five hits which was the second time she did that. The last time, was when they lost to North Rockland in the finals of their tournament. What O’Flynn was able to do was pitch in and out of jams and gave her team a chance to win the game. She also hit two ropes off a Jessica Wood and was the first to really figure out what Wood was throwing. Now to that sixth inning, what a job by the Pirates and their senior leaders; Krystina Poloni, Kaitlin Dinet, and Katie Scrima; to get on base. Poloni was walked, Dinet and Scrima each with a single. Then Kelly Tarsnane’s sac fly to center to tie the game at one. Which then set the stage for Katie Meyers’ pinch hit two-run single.
As you all well know, this isn’t the first time that Meyers was asked to come up in a pinch-hit pressure situation. Back on May 11, she had the game-winning home run against Clarkstown North. But to me, what this shows is something that I’ve known for a couple of years. The Pirates have a lot of depth and anyone on that bench could come in and do some damage.

Both teams played their guts out yesterday and I’ll be looking forward to see what these teams can do up at Waterloo.

Regarding Valhalla and Albertus Magnus… Just having read my colleagues stories Valhalla (Jake Thomases) and Magnus (Jane’s) both did play gutsy. Going with Valhalla, I did follow live updates from our sister paper the poughkeepsie journal before I left for Nanuet High School and I give the Vikings a lot of credit for hanging tough. They were able to get the lead early but unfortunately couldn’t hold it. I give this team a lot of credit for getting their first Section 1 title since 2003. But Rhinebeck has been in this position before. Don’t knock what experience can do.
On the flip side, the Falcons got down early and just couldn’t make it up. The Falcons did an amazing job getting back to the state tournament but couldn’t get over the hump. That senior core did a great job keeping the team in the game and giving them a chance.

The bottom line, what a wild Wednesday in High School softball for Section 1 and then there were two left standing.

Class AA: North Rockland vs. Brentwood (Section 11), 9 a.m.
Class A: Pearl River vs. Victor (Section 5), 11 a.m.

If either or both win:
The finals are at 1:30 p.m. for Class AA and at 3:30 p.m. for Class A.

All the games will take place at Section 5’s Warterloo High School