When I talked to Eastchester coach Dom Cecere earlier tonight, we had a funny moment. I was being totally sincere (you could say a little neglectful in my research), but I told Cecere I remembered that the Eagles hit a tailspin down the stretch. He laughed and said, “Oh, I wasn’t sure if you’d remember that or not,” implying that he’d hope I forgot.

Well, I didn’t, but Eastchester can easily forget a tough finish last year that ended in a first-round playoff loss to Pearl River. The Eagles return tons of talent, including OF/LHP Dan Sorine, a first-team Journal News all-star, RHP Rob Federico, 1B Mickey Abbatiello, and SS David Perleshi.

In Sorine, Eastchester has one of the area’s best all-around players. He’s a terrific hitter who has 10-HR potential playing in the Eagles’ bandbox park, and has a lot of upside as a pitcher. His performance against Mount Vernon last year was one of the best I saw all season. Cecere said they’ve taken it slow with Sorine because he had a tired arm, but he should fill in behind Federico in the rotation.

Federico should be the workhorse. He started strong last year before falling off the mound at Rye. He should be back to form and has looked strong so far. The senior righty will hit, too, (as you can see above), and play some OF.

The other players are set around the diamond. Perleshi will probably play college baseball and is among the area’s best SS. Abbatiello is a masher in the middle of the lineup and an excellent athlete. Senior Joe Hogan (catcher), John Rella (second base), Ryan Royce (DH) and Tony Panio (OF) should all start, rounding out a very experienced lineup.

You’d think the question will be on the mound, but Cecere likes his pitching. The Eagles have solid starters in Federico and Sorine, and junior LHP Andrew Nickoletos won four games last year. If they can get dependable relief/spot start work from Mike Satriale and Tom Medico, the staff should be good enough.

What should be interesting is this: Eastchester and Pelham will be at war in League III-B. If you want to see a head-to-head this year, this one should be on your list. The teams split in ‘07. This time one — if not both — should emerge on the short list of challengers to Somers’ throne.

When I first spoke to Carmel coach Bob Shilling the other day, I had low expectations for the ‘08 Rams. They made an incredible run to the final last season — no question there — but I wasn’t envisioning a repeat appearance.

Let’s face it: They lost key figures that spurred that run, guys like C Kyle Mahoney, SS Marc Garcia, 3B Joe Donnelly, and RHP Tom Sullivan. That’s a lot to account for.

Shilling didn’t change my mind. What he did, however, was help me put Carmel’s returnees into perspective…sure, the meat of the order has left for the greener pastures of college, but the heart of last year’s magical team has not completely vanished. Back is the entire outfield of LF John Kiechle, CF Zack Graczyk, and RF Sal Palmiero. Back is 2B Brian Adams. And back is RHP Mike Volpe, who, as you may remember, had a “decent” finish to the season

Indeed, the Rams have a great deal back. Shilling seemed genuinely excited about the pitching staff, which will feature Volpe as the No. 1, followed by Graczyk (remember: 7-plus IP of relief against defending champ Fox Lane in last year’s Class AA semis) and Palmiero. Shilling said it’s as good a Nos. 1, 2 and 3 as he’s had in a long time. He believes the Nos. 2 and 3 are solid and that Volpe has the talent to be a top-5 or 6 starter in all of Section 1.

With the speedy Kiechle and a rising star in Graczyk, Carmel has hitters, but it must fill the middle of its order and the three vacated spots in its infield. Bobby Rodriguez and Frank Nagel — reserves last year — will slot in at 3B and 1B, respectively. Shilling has a JV callup (whose name completely escapes me right now) to fill in at SS and said he may have another Garcia in the making there. (If you never saw Garcia last year: 1 – I feel sorry for you, and 2 – the comparison is a high compliment.)

Whether it’s pitching or in the field, the Rams appear set. All told, I was wrong. They have the chance to be better, especially in the regular season.

So what’s the big question for them…How ’bout who replaces the Class AA player of the year behind the dish?

I can’t answer that now, but who could? As we know, Mahoneys can be tough to replace, so I’d say that’s the one spot Carmel is vulnerable. Mahoney controlled the game with his arm and his athleticism.

The reality is, the Rams will need to be a little better across the board to account for Mahoney’s absence. If they are, last year’s No. 17 seed may be a fond memory, not a harbinger of their ‘08 future.

I didn’t have time to post it because I was upstate closing down the LoHud basketball season a la Trevor Hoffman (a little shaky, but got the job done), but I heard yesterday that Lakeland senior Josh Joy has committed to Canisius College as a 3B/OF.

Joy has been a starter since part-way through his freshman year on the highly-successful team that included Alex Martinez and Joe Cotone. (On a personal note, I remember Joy batting second against Beacon during a playoff game…I’ve always kept an eye on him since, because that spot ahead of Martinez was rarefied air at that point…as many of you probably know, Martinez was the local version of Barry Bonds at the time.)

Joy does a lot of everything for the Hornets, both on the mound and in the field. But he earned his college looks as a member of the Shrub Oak American Legion team. Joy batted over .400 for Shrub Oak and helped them reach the state semis.

Lakeland rebounded last year to go 15-8, but I expect more of the same this year. I imagine the Hornets will miss ace Jim Kelm, but with Joy, Brendan Hourihan and Paul Echevaria back, that’s 106 IP. The bigger question mark will be the offense, which returns just three of the seven regular starters (the other position was a platoon) in Jo, Hourihan and Jon Cosenza, who batted .403 with 33 RBI as a sophomore.

Cosenza had an absurd OPS of 1.153. If you know OPS (and I’m sure most of you do), you know 1.153 is no joke.

Well, some of our resident trash talkers must wait til another day. Somers and North Rockland is canceled for tomorrow

I talked to North Rockland coach Tom Lynch. He said with the rain today (you call it rain — I’m in Glens Falls right now where there’s seven inches of snow on the ground) it seems Somers didn’t want to take a chance its new field would be ruined. I think that’s probably a wise choice. The ground isn’t so hot now anyway; a game would only do damage this early in the year.

Anyway, there’s no makeup date scheduled.

I’m sure no one is more disappointed than the players, who had added a little juice to the season opener the last few days with the friendly banter. The weather always has a way of frustrating teams this time of year, and this is no exception.

I’ll be back in a bit with my random preview on Carmel…

The Indians’ season ended last year with an unforgettable sting, an 11-0 loss to Fox Lane where they were simply unable to solve Donny Pitasi. Even though the margin was wide, I remember that gave vividly. The Mahopac fans had such high hopes for their team despite its overwhelming youth (three seniors, 10 juniors and three sophomores), but those hopes were dashed for the No. 5 seeded Indians, who saw their surprising 15-8-1 season end long before they’d imagined it would.

I find it impossible after last year to stamp a favorite in League I-C — let alone the section — but you have to like Mahopac as a very serious contender. The Indians not only have motivation off last year, they have a serious amount of talent back…13 of the 16 players on the roster return.

One word: Wow.

Among the returnees are three Division I players: LHP C.J. Riefenhauser (Iona), RHP Anthony Castellitto (Iona), and LF Pete DiResta (Albany). The Riefenhauser-Castellitto combo should anchor a strong pitching staff that lost one key piece in LHP James Harlan. The Iona-bound pair combined for a 12-1 record, including (as I said endlessly last spring and summer) Riefenhauser’s incredible 5-1 mark vs. league opponents. … I talked to coach Frank Moloney the other day and he told me the pitching staff isn’t just the two studs. He expects to have as many as four or five quality starters this year, including LHP Luke Giumarro and RHP Nick Inui.

The offense will be where Mahopac needs the most improvement. DiResta is a big, powerful hitter, as evident by his HRs out of the Falls School Field last year. But the Indians were vulnerable on offense and will definitely miss SS Nick Alosco.

Among those looking to emerge alongside DiResta is OF Nick Barbalato, who moves out from behind the plate. Castellitto will look to repeat his production at the plate, too (he led the club with 20 RBI last year), and Nick Raptis will slide over to SS to replace Alosco after earning a lot of burn as a sophomore.

As always the Indians will have a tough schedule. But you have to like their chances to improve upon last year’s trip to the quarters. At least I do.

Their first Section 1 championship since 1997 (my junior year…we were the No. 3 seed, they were the No. 8 or 9) is not out of the question.

Clarkstown South RHP J.J. Giordano will be among the Vikings trying to account for the loss of Corey Baker while leading his team deep into sectionals. But before that, Giordano has given his commitment to pitch at Division II Adelphi.

The senior pitched 27.1 innings for South (11-14) last year. He was 3-2 with a 3.58 ERA. His three wins led the team.

At Adelphi, Giordano will get to play a lot of games close to home. The school is in Garden City, Long Island, but the Panthers play several teams in the metro NY area: Pace, St. Thomas Aquinas, Concordia, CW Post, Queens College, Mercy, New Haven, Molloy College, etc.

Giordano accepted a partial scholarship. He turned down offers from LIU and St. Rose among others.

I talked to a bunch of coaches tonight, including Stepinac’s Pat Duffy. He’s team flew back from the Tampa/St. Pete area this afternoon after a week in sunny Florida.

Duffy had some interesting thoughts. His team played five games down there but took a while to adjust to the wood bats. As the week went on, the Crusaders picked it up. Yesterday they beat Hurricane of West Virginia 7-3. Alex Maruri hit an opposite field bomb after an Eric Capowski single to give Stepinac a 2-0 lead. It is the first of many HRs this year for Maruri, although that’s not much of a statement.

Duffy said his pitching staff is deeper than last year. Yesterday it was senior LHP Eric Cuadrado, who tossed six innings and allowed just four hits.

Cuadrado fits in alongside RHP Greg Caruso, the team’s de facto ace, and LHP Gregory McBride and RHP Eddie Byrne, the only junior in the group.

Obviously we know what the Crusaders have on offense in Maruri (Elon), Capowski (Iona), and co., but they have a second baseman on the come in sophomore Steven Martinez. “He’ll be a big recruit in a couple years,” Duffy said.

I’ll have more thoughts later on about a few other teams…

Here’s two more guys who are headed to play ball in college:

First, is Brian Seliber, a Yorktown senior outfielder, who is headed to D-III Washington and Lee University. He batted .347 as a junior, but had a .573 slugging percentage thanks to two triples and three HRs. He leads all returning members of the Huskers in batting and RBI.

The other is Will Falco, a senior 1B/P at Hackley, who is going to Muhlenberg. Falco batted .419 with a .520 on-base percentage and .613 slugging percentage. He had 20 RBI and 18 runs scored in just 62 ABs. He won three games on the mound for the Hornets and struck out 38 in 35.2 IP.

Speaking of Somers-North Rockland, we already know next Saturday’s game will kickstart the season. But it will be followed by another Super Saturday on April 5th. Clarkstown North travels to Mamaroneck and Suffern to Mahopac, both at 11 a.m.

If you’re a local baseball fan just looking for a good game, it’s a tough call. Where do you go? As always, I think it depends on the starters that day. Are Sean Hagan, Robbie Aviles and C.J. Riefenhauser all on the hill??? (Sorry North fans, I don’t know who’s the No. 1 without Chris O’Grady…maybe someone can fill me in…)

I do know Suffern’s at a disadvantage against Mahopac. The Mounties open with a nightmarish week: Arlington on Tuesday the 1st, JJEF on Thursday the 3rd and Mamaroneck on Saturday the 5th.

Hey, look at it this way, at least the first two are at home. … The other three clubs will all be playing their Section 1 openers.

One guy who will miss the festivities on Apr. 5th is yours truly. I’ll be roughing it in Vegas on my bachelor party to celebrate the final stretch of my life as a single man. … It’ll be a little weekend at Caesar’s Palace with my brother and eight or nine of my best friends. … And, oh yeah, it’s during Final Four weekend.

I know: It’s a tough life, but someone has to grin-and-bear it.

I think I’m brave enough at least try and do the best I can.

I had a chance today to talk to a few members of Somers, the reigning Class A champ and a team that returns an intimidating number of arms to the section’s best rotation: RHP Dan Tracy, LHP Dan Zlotnick, RHP Jerry Battipaglia and RHP Ron Stenz. (I know some of you will argue with that claim, so I recommend you check the stats.)

My preview story will run early next month so I’ll save my thoughts on the pitching, which, as Jim Rome would say, should be FEE-nominal. What I also found interesting was the Tuskers’ unusually hard schedule. They open next Saturday (March 29) with defending Class AA champ North Rockland. They’ll also return to the Iona Prep tournament and face other tough foes like Mahopac and Carmel.

Coach Joe Wootten told me he wanted to pump up the non-league schedule, knowing his team had the pitching to compete in every game. Obviously the question will be whether or not they can account for the absence of all-section MIF John Cucchiarella and Mike Levine. Cucchiarella was among the best SS in the area and Levine provided a lot of thump in the lineup. Just ask Sean Giblin.

Anyway, my point is this: Somers will be tested. Will its staff be as unhittable? Will its record be as impressive? Maybe not. But don’t think for a second they aren’t just as good, if not better…