The tri-county tournament is in full swing and we're down to the final eight teams.
Top seeds Hunterdon Central and Pope John were among Saturday's first-round winners. No surprise there. Central improved to 8-1 all time in HWS games with a 7-1 victory over Hackettstown, which has been eliminated by the Hunterdon County school in every tournament since its inception in 2010.
Pope John, the 2011 champion, is now 5-1 all time in the tournament after a 5-3 win over Vernon.
The quarterfinal round will be played on Saturday. North Hunterdon at Sparta should be a very intriguing matchup as both teams are playing extremely well. I'll have more on the matchups later in the week.
We finally had our first set of rainouts last Monday, but that's both good and bad. Since teams are playing four and five games at a clip, the pitching has been stretched mighty thin. As a result, we've seen some crazy scores. Coaches are also being forced to chose between sending their aces out in conference contests or saving them for tournament games.
Now to this week's set of rankings, which seem to keep turning over quite a bit in the bottom half.
1. Hunterdon Central (10-3) -- No change at the top as the Red Devils have clearly established themselves as the top team in tri-county area. Coach Mike Raymond's troops went 3-1 last week, falling 6-5 to Watchung Hills in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division clash. Central, which beat Voorhees earlier in the week, rebounded with wins over Hillsborough (5-3 on Thursday) and Hackettstown (7-1 on Saturday in the HWS). Geggie Russomagno had another huge week, going 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and five RBIs against Voorhees and 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs against Hillsborough. Brett Bonn was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs against Hackettstown.
Up next for the Red Devils -- Montgomery at home on Tuesday; at Immaculata on Thursday; Voorhees at home on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
2. Pope John (8-4) -- Lions went 2-1 last week, beating Mount Olive (6-2 on Wednesday) and Vernon (5-3 on Saturday in the HWS). PJ's four-game win streak over Delbarton dating to 2010 came to an end with Friday's 8-4 loss to the Green Wave. Ryan McNally belted a double and a homer with five RBIs against Mount Olive and 2-for-3 with an RBI against Vernon. Glenn Gavan went 3-for-3 against Vernon, while ace pitcher Dan Cunico ran his record to 4-0 with wins over Mount Olive and Vernon. PJ improved to 7-0 in the NJAC American Division with the win over Mount Olive.
Up next for the Lions -- at Vernon on Monday; High Point at home on Tuesday; Jefferson at home on Wednesday; at Morris Hills on Thursday; Phillipsburg at home on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
3. Phillipsburg (8-5) -- Stateliners are on a major role, having won five of six, including a 10-4 win over previous No. 3 North Hunterdon on Thursday. Coach Dave Hinkle's club knocked off Hopatcong, 6-1, on Saturday in the tri-county tournament. Ace Anthony Ciavarella dominated Hopatcong on Saturday with 14 strikeouts to up his season ledger to 2-2. Ciavarella also was big at the plate, belting an RBI double in the win over North. Mike Ciesla got the win in that one with five K's. Devin Grade had three RBIs and Tyler Plesnarski had a double and three RBIs.
Up next for the Stateliners -- at Ridge on Monday; at Hillsborough on Tuesday; Montgomery at home on Thursday; at Pope John on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
4. North Hunterdon (8-9) -- Lions snapped their four-game skid with a pair of wins on Saturday -- 4-1 over Wallkill Valley in the HWS and 13-1 against Memorial in an independent clash. Coach Mike Kane's team lost a tough 4-3 decision in 10 innings against Montgomery before a 10-4 setback against No. 3 Phillipsburg on Thursday. Ben Stine (3-3), who will likely start the next county game on Saturday, got the win against Wallkill with six K's, while Tim Howard and Troy Fitzpatrick had RBIs. Against Memorial, Alex Noboa had a double, a homer and four RBIs, while Derek Jenkins had two doubles and three RBIs.
Up next for the Lions -- at Watchung Hills on Tuesday; at Bridgewater-Raritan on Thursday; Sparta at home on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
5. Voorhees (6-6) -- Vikings bounced back nicely this week with a pair of wins -- 7-4 over Warren Hills on Thursday and 13-8 against Lenape Valley on Saturday in the first round of the HWS. Bryan Konsig went a combined 4-for-9 in the victories. Tyler Duplaga (2-1) got the win on the mound against the sixth-ranked Blue Streaks and went 2-for-4 with a pair of homers and five RBIs against the Patriots. Trey Conroy had a double and three RBIs against Hills. Kyle Honickel went 2-for-4 with two doubles and got the win on the mound against Lenape.
Up next for the Vikings -- North Plainfield at home on Tuesday; at Franklin on Thursday; at Hunterdon Central on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
6. Warren Hills (7-6) -- Blue Streaks have stumbled a bit, dropping four of six since a 5-2 start. Coach Mike Quinto's club snapped a three-game slide with Saturday's 6-1 win over Kittatinny in the HWS first round. Ryan Curto had a great week, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs against the Cougars and 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Thursday's 7-4 loss to No. 5 Voorhees. Mark Apgar was 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI against the Vikings. Kyle Allen fanned seven in the loss. Connor Cruts improved to 2-0 with the win against Kittatinny.
Up next for the Blue Streaks -- at North Warren on Monday; Somerville at home on Tuesday; at Pingry on Thursday; at High Point on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
7. Sparta (9-5) -- Watch out for the Spartans, who have won eight of 10, including three wins last week. Coach Sam Slobodzian's team, which scored a total of 22 runs in the wins, capped it with an 8-7 win over No. 8 Delaware Valley in the HWS first round on Saturday. Devon Livingston doubled in that one and had a pair doubles in Wednesday's win over Morris Hills. Jason Postorino went the route against Del Val to pick up the win.
Up next for the Spartans -- at High Point on Monday; at Montville on Tuesday; Vernon at home on Wednesday; Mount Olive at home on Friday; at North Hunterdon on Saturday in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
8. Delaware Valley (6-6) -- Terriers have dropped three of four in their toughest stretch of the season. After a 6-4 loss to a very good Somerville club in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division clash on Thursday, coach Marty White's squad rebounded with a 13-2 pounding of Pingry on Thursday. Tom Chiswick, who had three hits and two RBIs against the 'Ville, picked up his second win on the mound against Pingry. He also had three RBIs in Saturday's loss to No. 7 Sparta. Scott Scripko had a pair of RBIs against Pingry and went 2-for-4 against the Spartans.
Up next for the Terriers -- Franklin at home on Tuesday; Metuchen at home on Wednesday; at Lenape Valley on Friday.
9. Hopatcong (10-6) -- Chiefs had been the hottest team in the area until dropping three out of four last week, including a 6-1 loss at Phillipsburg in the HWS first round. Coach Chris Buglovsky's club got a second win over Hackettstown, 10-5, on Wednesday. Chiefs were outscored by a combined 30-15 in losses to Kinnelon and Morristown-Beard. Big showdown on Monday against rival Lenape Valley, which Hopatcong needs to stay atop the NJAC Freedom Division.
Up next for the Chiefs -- Lenape Valley at home on Monday; Parsippany at home on Tuesday; at Newton on Wednesday; Morris Catholic at home on Friday.
10. Wallkill Valley (11-7) -- Rangers have won five of six since a loss to Hopatcong, including back-to-back 13-3 wins over Vernon on Tuesday and South Hunterdon on Wednesday. Wallkill also kept pace in the NJAC Freedom Division title hunt with a 2-0 win over Kittatinny on Thursday. Tommy Sweller went 3-for-4 with four RBIs against Vernon and Jake Konopka had back-to-back two-RBI games against South Hunterdon and Kittatinny. Casey Jervis also had a big week, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs against Whippany Park on Friday. He also got the win on the mound -- his third in four decisions this season -- against Kittatinny. Owen Law was 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and five RBIs against Whippany Park.
Up next for the Cougars -- Hackettstown at home on Monday; Lenape Valley at home on Wednesday; at Vernon on Thursday; at Wayne Valley on Saturday.
On the bubble -- High Point (6-6); Lenape Valley (8-6); North Warren (7-3).
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