Top 10, Cinco de Mayo version
-
- May
- 5
We waited until the weekend was out and what a weekend it was for Clarkstown South. The Vikes were already rolling, but they took that momentum to a new level with three solid wins over Regis, James Monroe and Guilderland. Those are good teams, but in each case South was better. Their slow start (0-4) is now history, and they will now be judged like it.
With my kudos for South out of the way, here’s a look at a shiny new top 10:
1. Mamaroneck — Don’t gauge the Tigers based on Saturday’s loss. Gauge them on the fact that they’ve still lost just one Section 1 game in two years. They have to get going again today at New Ro.
2. Ketcham — I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure about this team last week, but a spade is a spade: The Indians were still unbeaten. Now, however, I feel much better about their record. That sweep of Carmel was no joke.
3. Stepinac — Last year the Crusaders struggled their second time through the division. They are playing well, but that must be in the back of their minds. This isn’t the time to sit back and play prevent defense, if you know what I mean.
4. Iona Prep — Some of you say the Gaels have no pitching outside of Alex Adami. Consider this: Adami has allowed six ER in 42.1 IP, but his teammates have allowed just 20 ER in 105.2 IP. That’s an ERA under 2.00.
5. John Jay — Not a lot of competition of late, so the Indians will have to keep winning to hold on to this spot. Other teams are nipping at their heels, for sure.
6. John Jay-EF — After a loss to Mahopac, the Patriots bounced back to beat Arlington. This team continues to win amid lowered expectations.
7. Pelham — Winners of 12 straight. ‘Nuff said.
8. Clarkstown South — The Vikings’ tournament victory should open eyes. Every year, a slow-starter catches fire and wins a championship. Could this be the team in ‘08?
9. Mahopac — After some subpar ball, the Indians rallied to beat slumping Arlington in back-to-back games.
10. Kennedy — Sorry Arlington. With four straight losses, you get bumped from the top 10. The Gaels have earned the right to keep this spot by being far and away the most dominant team in Class B/Conference III. Ryan Tatnell and Nick Modico made them a favorite anytime they start, not to mention an offense that could compete with the big boys in Classes AA and A.
On the doorstep:
— Arlington
— Suffern
— Lakeland
— Carmel
— Rye Country Day
Small-school Top 5 (Classes B and C, privates):
1. Kennedy — See above.
2. Rye Country Day — I left them out mistakenly last week. Trust me: This is a very good team. Ask Rye Neck and Briarcliff, both of which lost to the Wildcats.
3. Nanuet — This is a hot team, and it moved up because of it.
4. Valhalla — Back-to-back losses to Keio and Ardsley have me wondering whether this team’s still the Class C favorite.
5. Briarcliff — All of the Bears losses were against strong clubs, including two straight to Kennedy and one to RCDS in Florida.
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on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm by Josh Thomson.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
Josh how can Kennedy fall to #10 with back to back blowouts of Briarcliff? Beat Iona, Beat Pelham, Beat St Rays, Beat Somers had Mahopac beat.
How can you have a team in the top 10 who has not beaten a AA team yet? You wrote "not a lot of competition of late" They don't even play a single team you mention here until the last game of the season Ketcham. There are 20 teams mentioned here. Don't know if your really paying attention.
Having good players does make a good team. All coaches should take that thought with you when you make your schedule and you then prove yourself. Mam'k does, Iona does, Ketcham does, Kennedy does, Mahopac does Clarkstown South does and they make the top 10 with 4 loses already.
Glad to see my Gaels of Iona can stay at #4 even though they have 3 loses and have not moved from the that spot. The team ERA of 1.68 beats the Gaels of Kennedy who also have a sub 2 ERA of 1.8
Josh, there are approx 20 teams mentioned by you in the above top 10. Do you realize that there is (1) team who is in the top 10 that has not played a single game vs any of these teams nor will they until their last game. That team will also compete in the "AA" playoffs and don't play a "AA" team until the end. What make s a team like this deserving? their roster?
If I have time tonight I'd like to see of your top 10 who has played the most top 20 teams including your doorstep and small schools.
How many teams have sub 2 ERA's other then my Gaels. Iona 1.68 and Kennedy 1.8?
Pelham-13 Straight as they roll over Saunders, Greg Bratone 2-3 2 Homers and 4 RBI. Zach Baker tosses 6 shut-out innings.
josh—
have you looked at cross rivers schedule-not very tough top to bottom.compare that too arlingtons carmels or mahopac.not even closeOK folks here is a lot of useless information:
The Catholic schools and Rye Country Day are tough to judge.
There are also teams that have played Regis, St Rays, Don Bosco and a few others that could easily be in the top 20. This is just some BS for debate
Iona Prep plays 3 of the JN ranked teams and is 1-1
Stepinac plays 3 ranked teams and are 2-0
JJEF plays 15 games vs ranked teams and are 4-2
Lakeland plays (0) ranked teams
Kennedy plays 7 ranked games and are 5-1
Clarkstown S playes 6 ranked games and are 0-3
Carmel plays 13 ranked games 13 ranked games and are 1-6
Briarcliff plays 4 ranked games and are 0-3
Arlington plays 15 ranked games and are 4-5
Mahopac plays 14 ranked games and are 5-3
Mamaroneck plays 4 Ranked 5 with Bosco and are 2-1
Nanuet plays 4 ranked games and are 0-2
JJCR plays 2 ranked games and are 0-1
Suffern plays 8 ranked games and are 2-2
Pelham plays 3 ranked games and are 1-1
Ketcham playes 16 ranked games and are 5-0
Valhalla plays 1 ranked game and are 0-1
lots of games coming up in the next 2 weeks so there should be plenty of movement, Carme with 7 loses Arlington with 6, Nanuet with 6 and Briarcliff with 5 have the most loses of the ranked groups. Stepinac has the most wins (14) followed by Kennedy 13, Iona, Clarkstown S, Pelham and Mam'k have 12. Ketcham, JJCR and Lakeland have 11.Ketcham has no loses.
Gaelfan,
What is your point with this? Right away you have mistakes..I watched Iona get beat by JFK and Stepinac already…..And how do you account for Ckarkstown South? They just beat Regis who already beat Stepinac and Iona? Does that count in your analysis? And South's wins over Guilderland and Georgre Washington are as good as beating any team on this list….Are you saying some team does not belong in the top 10?
Curve ball your right Iona was 1-2.
I wanted to use Regis and a few others but they were not mentioned here and are not part of the section 1 ranking etc. The first line said it all. It's tough to evaluate games for and against CHSAA teams as well as the teams you mentioned from the Albany or Section 2 area. This was not a who doesn't or does belong. South's victories over those quality teams do count thus the reason they are ranked. They are getting credit too for the 3 loses to teams that Josh has ranked (Ketcham, Suffern and JJEF). The purpose was to see what kind of schedules teams are playing. A 12-4 record with as tough a schedule as South has shows just how good they are.
south did not play george washington. they beat james monroe 5-4
Anyone hear about who won the Mahopac , RCK game today???
GOOD match up!
We just got the game now. Ketcham won 6-3.
Ketcham won 6-3, It was not a great defensive game both teams had trouble in the field,but Mahopac really fell apart in the bottom of the sixth inning throwing away two bunt plays.To beat these top teams you have to play top defense for the whole game, not have melt downs that waste good pitching performances. The team tries hard but at some point players have to step up and come through in the clutch in the field and at bat. The great thing about baseball is that there is always another game. Shake it off Pac you play again tommorow so forget today and go get them tommorow.
arlington beat JJEF today also behind strong pitching from ackley i am assuming
Gaelfan,
It must be nice to have that much time on your hands. Who cares who is in the top 10 at this point. Win the section and check the rankings in three weeks.
BB Fan, nothing like having a little extra time and a passion for the game. I still can't figure why they have MLB standings in the paper everyday and why sports center covers games daily (your thinking). It was all just done to spur some friendly debate. Actually no cares who's in the top 10 at the end either if you don't win the section.
The Pac defense is abismal. Hit or bunt a ground ball, win a base.
Valhalla over Pvlle – 2-1 yesterday. Nice win.
how can you even consider briarcliff in the top 10? they were humiliated twice by kennedy including @ home for the celebration of their 98 state champion team…....joe lombardi was shelled that game nd both the lombardi brothers are not living up to their hype
What about Joe Lombardis little brother James. He has hit a home run in 2 straight games. Jordan Sacks is pitching great for them at 5-0 with an 1.3 era. Watch out for Briarcliff.
briarcliff can not be considered a true contender when there not even the top team in there league….kenndy dominated them and humiliated there top 2 pitchers….i just dont see how they can be considered a contender when they fail to evn compete within their own league
First of all Briarcliff didnt throw their top two pitchers at us, they threw their #3 the first game at JFK and their 3rd baseman who was starting the first game of his high school career, in fact his only other time on the mound was one inning vs. us in the first game.
Lombardi came in relief w/bases loaded and one out hit a batter and struck out the next, Mercurio hit a ground ball to short that would have ended the inning but was booted, corona and Luis then singled. He retired the side in the 6th and gave up and unearned run in the 7th on a two out error by their second baseman in the 7th. 3 hits O earned runs 2K's in 3 inninings is not exactly a shelling.
We will win the League but expect to see Bcliff in Sectionals. I wouldnt call D1 scholarships hype.
Briarcliff is likely the #2 team in class b, lets not be Mam'k and got over-confident.
JFK is clearly the favorite in B, JFK will win their league but other than Briarcliff(who needs some work) I dont see anyone else to compete with Kennedy in B. Contender means contend it doesnt mean favorite.
class b favorite,
Both Lombardi's have better numbers than anyone on JFK including Corona and GonZalas. Joe Lombardi will play D1 next year and was an early commit. The younger brother is a soph and is having a great season both pitching and hitting.
Unless Corona and Gonzalez are freshmen your head is up your buttocks with your dumb statements. If and when someone on your team gets a scholarship then maybe you can talk.
sorry to ruin your day "math class" but joe lombardi is hitting 439 while his brother is hitting 297. now Mercurio is at 518, Dowd 450, Corona 444 Smith 365 and Gonzales 333. Now correct me if im wrong but it seeams like 3 of kennedys batters have batter numbers then Joe Lombardi and it looks to me if you add in Joe Rock 6 of the Kennedy batters have better numbers than James Lombardi. so hey YOU DO THE MATH.
are you serious kennedy has atleast 7-8 potential d1 players on their roster
Class b. Not. maybe 3 tops and 2 of the Jr's already have offers NOW. Scouts at every game.
JFK
Numbers include things like SLG.%, OBP%, BB, etc. take a look and while your looking double check how many are sophs who by the way are also left handed pitchers.
There is a slight difference betwwen D1 commited and "potential" D1 recruits wouldnt you say. Realistically you have two, Mercurio and Corona(obviously good players) after that lets just say your s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g things more than a bit.
class b favorite? 7 or 8 D1 recruits??? lol dude lay off that JFK cool-aide, I find you to be foolish.
There is no way ketcham should be in front of Stepinac and Iona. Dont get me wrong they are a solid team but they cant compete with Stepinac or Iona when there aces are on the mound.
The reds are winning the world series and joey votto is breaking the homerun record. And pam is hot
Math Class if you keep looking i'm sure you'll find a catagory your right in. I belive it's that they have more walks then Carona or maybe OB/E or is it K/BB ?....Yes you found one. Let's just look at the one's that really matter and then let me know. BA, Runs, and Rbi's
In Class B clearly Kennedy is the favorite, Briarciff is solid, but Nanuet, dobbs Ferry,and a few others are solid Contenders as well, it is gonna be interesting come playoff time
Gaelfan,
Lets try this category…. D1 Scholarships! I would say that is the most important one.
I recognize that Mercerio and Corona have D1 prospect "potential" despite their size and I assume they have the grades…right?
JFK, Geal Fan, and class b favorite(likely the same person)
First of all, calm yourself! The JFK High School Baseball team/Taconic Rangers/Clippers or whatever your calling yourself these days is a joke! Its nothing more than a bunch of kids that play AAU baseball together that decided to go to the same high school(with the same coach). Stop trying to compare yourself to "real" public high school teams that have players from the same town.
If the bayside yankees all decided to go to high school at Sacred Heart in Yonkers I'm sure they would win. Its nice to see that your all getting along again now that the former Clipper Skipper is out of the picture.
Section 1 committe put you basketball team in class A and that took care of that, I'm sure thats where youll be next season(again a year late). Oh, and thats right you dont recruit kids either. yeah sure okay
Go play in the CHSAA with Stepinac and Iona Prep and then talk. Here is a novelty for ya, kids on a high school team in a school distict where everyone on the team lives in that town/district and goes to that school..thoughts?
No one was saying anything about your guys at Briarcliff. It's great that they have players going D1. That makes all of Section 1 look good for all involved. It was you who got defensive after 2 poor showings. Nothing is in stone until someone carries the sectional trophy. Math Class, BTW, these kids had to take a test (admissions) to go to Kennedy. Both players already have the size to play at the next level. Check with Joe P from Lourdes who will be playing in the ACC next year at Duke.
Section 1. Who are the real public school teams? We have already read about Mam'k getting kids from the Rye Neck district and Ketcham getting kids from JJEF and on and on the sobbing goes. Iona Prep, Stepinac etc etc etc.
I'm very sure if Kennedy was playing "A" in the league with Lakeland, Beacon, Brewster, Peekskill, Lourdes and whoever else, not much would change. The league they are in this year "B" is tougher. Yes I wrote "This year" as all the teams in that "A" league are down and young. That's the league that they play in for basketball after they went to the state final in 05'-06'.
You make yourself sound like a moaner. Can't beat'em move'em. Coach Fletcher has done a good job and the Clipper Skipper, along with Coach Menchen did a good job getting this group ready the last few years.
Question for ya? How do you recruit kids to go to Kennedy. Offer their parents the opportunity to pay $7000. extra so they can play baseball with their friends. Hey mom and dad, we want your kid to play at Iona, I'm sure you can spare the $12,000. No problem.
Bayside has no players anymore so sacred heart would not be any better then they are now
i just dont understand why people complain about jfk the one good year theyve had…...people dont understand after this year nd the next kennedy will be right back where it was competing to be 500
class b favorite is very correct…...kennedy only has two sophmores on varsity nd both the jv and freshmen teams are extremely weak
Its seems to me most of the focus is on the big schools New Rochell, White Plains etc…which indeed has a greater pool for players, but guys some pvt and smaller schools have to play with what there have..so whan you see the JFK,Rye Country etc…. playing good baseball ,and having a good year it would be nice to see how they would do playing ,,say the schools in the CHSSA…
Rye Country Day should have scheduled some real teams if they want to be taken seriously. Statistics racked up against Masters? and King Heyward are meaningless. Those schools can't play baseball
BTW all. Which school district does Steve Green live in? Was he recruited to play at jay? Where would they be without that 1 player?
????? Rye Country Day school is no different schedule wise compared to JJCR and Lakeland. they play no one evn mentioned in any of these rankings. except JJCR did play Stepinac, oh yea and they lost
EVERY game in league I-C is like a sectional game. In EVERY game there are multiple D-1 prospects from both teams playing.
EVERY game has at least one D-1 pitching prospect…many times D-1 prospect vs. D-1 prospect.
Add to that the non-league schedule of JJEF, Ketcham, Mahopac and Arlington who face the D-1 prospects of those teams.(not Carmel…that is why they only have one win in I-C…cake for non-league schedule).
Stats…come on! Stats are only comparable with a balanced schedule. That is why, even at the college level, stats are difficult to compare. That is why every .300 hitter in AAA does not hit .300 in the Majors.
When a player faces "the best" competition day-in and day-out, there will be a difference in stats which are NOT measureable vs. the player who faces "the best" once in a while.
This is not to say that any other players in other leagues are not great players, or not D-1 players; but a .500 average vs. pitchers who will not even play in college…at any level…is at the very least, not realistic.
Stats only show who is the best within the particular league in which a player competes.
This is why the summer travel teams have become so popular for the college coaches. Not only do they see the best players in one place(friendly towards their budgets), but they also get a look at "the best vs. the best".
Again, the players in easier league may be better players overall than anyone, anywhere. But unless they play against "the best" every day…it is just hype!
My boy is not a D-1 prospect and may not play in college, but I am quite certain that his stats would be elevated, padded, juiced, etc…in many other leagues where the majority of games are blowouts.
Arlington is back…2 straight wins vs. #6 JJEF. Offensive stars Gatewood, Hart, Comastro, McAvoy. Pitching stars Boetcher, Albrecht. Defensive stars Matuk, Comastro, Hart.
EVERY game in league I-C is like a sectional game. In EVERY game there are multiple D-1 prospects from both teams playing.
EVERY game has at least one D-1 pitching prospect…many times D-1 prospect vs. D-1 prospect.
Add to that the non-league schedule of JJEF, Ketcham, Mahopac and Arlington who face the D-1 prospects of those teams.(not Carmel…that is why they only have one win in I-C…cake for non-league schedule).
Stats…come on! Stats are only comparable with a balanced schedule. That is why, even at the college level, stats are difficult to compare. That is why every .300 hitter in AAA does not hit .300 in the Majors.
When a player faces "the best" competition day-in and day-out, there will be a difference in stats which are NOT measureable vs. the player who faces "the best" once in a while.
This is not to say that any other players in other leagues are not great players, or not D-1 players; but a .500 average vs. pitchers who will not even play in college…at any level…is at the very least, not realistic.
Stats only show who is the best within the particular league in which a player competes.
This is why the summer travel teams have become so popular for the college coaches. Not only do they see the best players in one place(friendly towards their budgets), but they also get a look at "the best vs. the best".
The players in easier league may be better players overall than anyone, anywhere. But unless they play against "the best" every day…it is just hype!
My boy is not a D-1 prospect and may not play in college, but I am quite certain that his stats would be elevated, padded, juiced, etc…in many other leagues where the majority of games are blowouts.