OK, Jake and I conducted a contest on the girls basketball blog during the winter and it was wildly successful. It’s very simple, but there are strict time guidelines. Here’s how it goes:

Jake and I will each predict every game (with score) for each round of the playoffs. We ask you to do the same. During girls basketball, the participant with the best record in each round was given the opportunity to write a guest blog after that round is over. However, we can’t do that here because there isn’t enough time between rounds. Instead, the winner will have endless bragging rights over your two dutiful reporters and the entire readership. (You have to admit, that’s a pretty sweet prize in itself.)

I hope there are dozens and dozens of you who participate. Here’s how you do it:

— Include your pick below a name/screename (for ex.: CarmelRules, Joe Sandberg, TCobb7, etc.)
— You must pick every game by noon the day that round starts, not including Class AA outbracket games, which we won’t pick. (For ex: this week’s first round starts on Saturday so your picks are due by noon on Saturday)
— You must pick the entire round (every game in every class). This round it’s Class AA first round, Class A first round, Class B first round and Class C quarterfinals.

Get your predicting shoes on…

Opening round
Class AA:
No. 17 New Rochelle/No. 16 Carmel winner at No. 1 Mamaroneck, 11 a.m.
No. 15 Clarkstown North at No. 2 John Jay, 11 a.m.
No. 14 Horace Greeley at No. 3 Suffern, 1 p.m.
No. 13 White Plains at No. 4 Ketcham, 11 a.m.
No. 12 North Rockland at No. 5 Yorktown, 11 a.m.
No. 11 Scarsdale at No. 6 John Jay-East Fishkill, 11 a.m.
No. 10 Fox Lane at No. 7 Mahopac, 1 p.m.
No. 9 Saunders at No. 8 Arlington, 1 p.m.
Class A:
No. 9 Ardsley at No. 8 Panas, 11 a.m.
No. 12 Rye at No. 5 Tappan Zee, 11 a.m.
No. 13 Brewster at No. 4 Somers, 11 a.m.
No. 14 Byram Hills at No. 3 Hen Hud, 11 a.m.
No. 11 Pearl River at No. 6 Eastchester, 11 a.m.
No. 10 Our Lady of Lourdes at No. 7 Beacon, 3 p.m.
Class B:
No. 9 Pleasantville at No. 8 Bronxville, 11 a.m.
No. 11 Westlake at No. 6 Rye Neck, 1 p.m.
No. 10 Hastings at No. 7 Putnam Valley, 1 p.m.

Lest we forget about the CHSAA amid the excitement of Section 1 playoffs, Stepinac played its first playoff game today. It was a terrible game right from the outset, as St. Francis Prep put up seven runs in the first inning. Tough to come back from that. Tough even to get up for a potential rally when the hole is so big so early. Stepinac’s Greg Caruso confirmed after the 8-4 loss that they felt pretty beat down by it.

The season isn’t over quite yet thanks to the double elimination format. It’s just much tougher. Stepinac must win out to move out of the loser’s bracket and back into the main bracket for the championship. The road begins tomorrow at Iona Prep against St. Joseph by-the-Sea at 4:30 p.m.

UPDATE 11 p.m. — If you’re reading, I’m up, so if you have any playoff-related questions or comments fire ‘em off an I’ll answer them. 

When I peruse the brackets, I see a number of intriguing games and potential games worth noting. Jake and I will get into our predictions more either tomorrow or Friday, but here are a few items that stand out from today’s brackets:

1. Mamaroneck vs. Carmel II — Sure, many of you are sick of the Tigers. But can you imagine them facing Carmel as a No. 1 seed a year after losing to the Rams in that same spot? The haters out there must be at least remotely intrigued.

2. The border war — OK, let’s not pretend this is France-Germany here. It’s just high school baseball. But how about Friday’s outbracket meeting between Clarkstown rivals? North won two of three during the regular season, and either will be a tough out for No. 2 John Jay.

3. Fox Lane at Mahopac — Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah, two weeks ago in the championship of the Tantalos tournament, only that time the Foxes didn’t face C.J. Riefenhauser. This could be the best first round game in AA.

4. .625, 11 HR, 57 RBI — Are those A-Rod’s little league stats? Nope, that’s the regular season put together by the great Brendan Hourihan, who leads the section in all three triple crown hitting categories. What’s more is Hourihan leads in one triple crown pitching category (95 K’s) and is tied for first in wins and third in ERA. Can he keep it up in the playoffs?

5. 82 years of experience — If they win their first round games, Eastchester’s Dom Cecere (44 years at the helm) and Hen Hud’s Paul Natale (38 years) will meet on Monday in the quarters.

6. Possible first-round pitching matchups — Ryan Blicker (Hastings) vs. Pat Considine (Putnam Valley); Robbie Aviles (Suffern) vs. Drew Levinson (Greeley); C.J. Riefenhauser (Mahopac) vs. Donny Pitasi/Mike Giordano (Fox Lane); Dan Sorine/Rob Federico (Eastchester) vs. Stephen Putnick (Pearl River); Ian Cole (Panas) vs. Kioyta Gomi (Ardsley). There are a few good ones in there, but I like Blicker vs. Considine. Blicker has been under a lot of pressure this year, but he may fare well against an inconsistent hitting club. Considine has been one of the best strikeout pitchers in the area the last two years.

7. Kennedy path to the final pretty clear — This is not to disrespect any of the teams in Kennedy’s way, but it could be a smooth ride to the Class B final. Not only do the Gaels get a first-round bye, they have four clubs in their half of the bracket, three of which are in Conference 4. The other is Pleasantville, which Kennedy swept. I feel Dobbs has the best chance for the upset, but it’ll be awfully tough after traveling to North Salem on Monday, then Kennedy 24 hours later (if North Salem doesn’t win of course).

There’s a new poll up in the blogroll. Vote away!

Here’s the complete Section 1 playoff schedule. I’m here all day for questions…

(All times to be determined unless otherwise noted)

Class AA tournament
Friday, May 30
Outbracket round:
No. 18 Clarkstown South at No. 15 Clarkstown North
No. 17 New Rochelle at No. 16 Carmel
Saturday, May 31
Opening round:
New Rochelle/Carmel winner at No. 1 Mamaroneck
Clarkstown South/Clarkstown North winner at No. 2 John Jay
No. 14 Horace Greeley at No. 3 Suffern Read more of this entry »

One of my favorite days of the year has arrived. I just returned to the office from BOCES in Elmsford, where things unfolded as I expected.

Here are the seeds for each class. I’ll come back later with matchups and Jake and I will have a ton of stuff for you throughout the day. Read more of this entry »

The Stepinac-St. Francis Prep CHSAA playoff game has been moved from Mount St. Michael to Iona Prep. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15.

Like I said yesterday, I usually get the brackets around 12-12:30. I’ll have them posted shortly thereafter. Check back to see where your team fell…

For the last time tonight, these are just predictions…enjoy…

CLASS C SEEDS —

1. Tuckahoe (11-3, 3.64)

2. Valhalla (13-11, 2.625)

3. Blind Brook (7-9, 1.94)

4. Keio (8-11, 1.89)

5. Haldane (4-11, 1.67)

6. Solomon Schechter (5-10, 1.6)

Quarterfinals — No. 1 Tuckahoe and No. 2 Valhalla, byes; No. 6 Solomon Schechter at No. 3 Blind Brook; No. 5 Haldane at No. 4 Keio

Again, these are just predictions. The real things drop tomorrow…

CLASS B SEEDS —

1. Kennedy (18-3, 3.76)

2. Briarcliff (17-5, 3.32)

3. Nanuet (15-7, 3.0)

4. North Salem (11-6, 2.76)

5. Dobbs Ferry (11-6, 2.65)

6. Rye Neck (12-8, 2.5)

7. Putnam Valley (10-8, 2.39)

8. Bronxville (8-8, 2.0)

9. Pleasantville (10-14, 1.875)

10. Hastings (8-11-1, 1.875)

11. Westlake (9-13, 1.77)

Note: Pleasantville will win the tiebreaker over Hastings because of its regular season win over the Yellow Jackets.

First round — No. 1 Kennedy, No. 2 Briarcliff, No. 3 Nanuet, No. 4 North Salem, No. 5 Dobbs Ferry, all would receive byes; No. 11 Westlake at No. 6 Rye Neck; No. 10 Hastings at No. 7 Putnam Valley; No. 9 Pleasantville at No. 8 Bronxville