NCN Girls’ Basketball/Baseball Blog

Carmel 6, John Jay EF 4: A day after beating a red hot, state ranked Arlington squad behind a strong performance from Mike Volpe, the Rams got revenge by defeating JJEF, who had previously no-hit the potent Carmel offense. Zack Graczyk (right) went the distance, striking out eight, and Mike Rooney was the hero at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two RBI.

Croton 4, Briarcliff 3: Absolute shocker to see a Briarcliff squad that was rolling suffer a loss to Croton. But as I said before, this Croton squad is much better than last season. Tyler Dorien led the way at the plate with two RBI and Joe Tralli added one for the Tigers. Dan Finch picked up the win. Jo Jo Pandolfo had two RBIs for the Bears.

John Jay 11, Fox Lane 7: John Jay outslugged Fox Lane behind  three RBIs from Louis Ricci. Kyle Clemmenson, Mike Filice, and Ray Maggi each had two RBIs. Jared Hirschberg picked up the win.

Kennedy 19, Westlake 1: Kennedy continues to put up football-like scores behind a five RBI performance from Mike Mercurio. Luis Gonzalez and Brian Scarano each had three RBIs, while Anthony Corona and Joe Santangelo had two. Nick Modico was the winning pitcher.

Putnam Valley 6, Arlington B 3: Put Valley got back on the winning track with Alex Basso recording the win. Walter Sherwood had three RBIs.

* Rankings are as of April 21

Rank Class AA Record Prev
===== ==================== ===== =====
1. Vestal-4 8-0
2. MacArthur-8 7-0
3. Mamaroneck-1 2-3
4. Ward Melville-11 8-2
5. Kingston-9 7-0
6. Webster Thomas-5 5-0
7. Shenendehowa-2 3-0
8. Connetquot-11 9-1
9. Auburn-3 5-1
10. Mepham-8 7-0-1
11. Newburgh Free Academy-9 7-0
12. Arlington-1 7-1
13. Horseheads-4 5-0
14. Penfield-5 5-1
15. Utica Proctor-3 4-1
16. Commack-11 9-1
17. Orchard Park-6 0-0
18. Shaker-2 6-1
19. Liverpool-3 5-2
20. Frontier-6 0-0

Rank Class A Record Prev
===== ==================== ===== =====
1. Ichabod Crane-2 6-0
2. Lakeland-1 6-0
3. Clarke-8 7-0
4. Aquinas-5 5-0
5. New Hartford-3 3-0
6. Lansingburgh-2 6-0
7. Rocky Point-11 8-1
8. Island Trees-8 8-1
9. Maine-Endwell-4 4-2
10. Beacon-1 5-1
11. Homer-3 6-1
12. Miller Place-11 8-1
13. Malone-10 0-0
14. Cornwall-9 5-2
15. Victor-5 5-2
16. Hendrick Hudson-1 4-2
17. Somers-1 3-1-1
18. Iroquois-6 0-0
19. Massena-10 0-0
20. Cheektowaga-6 0-0

Rank Class B Record Prev
===== ==================== ===== =====
1. Granville-2 8-0
2. Hastings-1 5-0
3. Chatham-2 8-1
4. Lansing-4 4-1
5. Wellsville-5 7-1
6. Marcellus-3 2-0
7. Cold Spring Harbor-8 7-1
8. Red Hook-9 5-1
9. Southampton-11 7-2
10. Ogdensburg-10 0-0
11. Nanuet-1 3-0
12. Windsro-4 4-1
13. Midlakes-5 5-0
14. Marlboro-9 5-2
15. Dobbs Ferry-1 5-1
16. Gowanda-6 0-0
17. Canton-10 0-0
18. Dunkirk-6 0-0
19. Spackenkill-9 4-0
20. Chenango Forks-4 5-3

Rank Class C Record Prev
===== ==================== ===== =====
1. Keio-1 4-0
2. Elmira Heights Edison-4 7-0
3. Fort Plain-2 3-1
4. Port Jefferson-11 8-2
5. Pulaski-3 2-0
6. Candor-4 5-0
7. Blind Brook-1 4-1
8. Maple Hill-2 6-1
9. Frewsburg-6 0-0
10. Fabius-Pompey-3 2-1
11. Center Moriches-11 8-2
12. Cuba-Rushford-5 4-2
13. Oyster Bay-8 6-4
14. Cassadaga-6 0-0
15. Brushton-Moira-10 0-0

Rank Class D Record Prev
===== ==================== ===== =====
1. Afton-4 7-0
2. Bolivar-Richburg-5 4-1
3. Chapel Field-9 3-2
4. Andover-5 1-0
5. Fort Ann-2 2-0
6. Pine alley-6 0-0
7. Heuvelton-10 1-1
8. Rome Catholic-3 0-0
9. Harrisville-10 2-0
10. North Collins-6 0-0

— I’m pretty sure there’s a mistake in Class B and Kennedy was supposed to be ranked first. I don’t see how they really can’t be after returning almost the entire team and the way they’ve been crushing teams so far.

— Nice to see three North County teams ranked in Class A in Lakeland, Somers, and Hen Hud. Like I’ve said before, Class A is very much up in the air and any of the three can make a case for being the favorite. Walter Panas is also very much in the mix, too.

— Putnam Valley is much better than their record (1-5) indicates. They’ve lost four games to A schools (Rye, Somers, Beacon, and Ardsley) and one to an undefeated B school (Hastings). They’ve been in every game, falling by one run twice, two runs once, and three once. They’ll will definitely be in the Class B mix. They only graduated one starter, although it was Pat Considine who pitched about 9,000 innings last season. Still, this PV squad has experience and they weren’t the Class B runners up for nothing last season.

— Matthew Cordaro (above) started out slowly on the mound in the first inning yesterday, but he recovered quickly. The left-hander pitched like your typical southpaw — he’s not overpowering but he keeps batters off balance and gets the job done. Cordaro, who added two RBIs, struck out five over five innings. It won’t be easy for Cordaro and company (Chris Orlando, Walter Sherwood, Anthony Tyndal, etc) to live up to what Pat Considine meant to the team.

— Walter Sherwood (right) has skills at third base. He made a diving stop and got up and fired to first in time to rob a base hit. He also came through with a RBI double to get the Tigers going in a four run fourth inning.

— Shortstop Chris Orlando and second baseman Anthony Tyndal (two RBIs) form a solid up the middle combination. They also bat 1-2 in the lineup and both possess plenty of speed as sparkplugs at the top of the lineup.

— Croton (2-3) is definitely better than last season. Their offense came out firing in the first inning and showed signs that they can put up runs on the board. No. 4 hitter Bobby Dusconi had to be removed from the game after suffering a seperated shoulder from sliding after he smacked a two-RBI double.

— Joe Tralli (right) is solid at whatever he does. Whether it be catching touchdown passes, draining jump shots, or smacking doubles (which he did in the first inning). And the junior will only get better.

— The fourth inning was a complete disaster for Croton in the field. They had a dropped line drive, a miscommunication on a pop up to the pitcher, and a funky play that ended up in a run down at third base where the ball ended up being thrown away, allowing the run to score. If they can avoid these defensive meltdowns, they should be in plenty of games.

The squads will both meet again today at Croton in a game made up from Wednesday’s rain out. Croton has the unenviable task of taking on Kennedy Saturday and Monday, while PV tangles with Briarcliff in what is always a great game.

Rankings are as of noon, Tuesday. With Mahopac’s win over John Jay yesterday there is sure to be yet another shake up in the rankings next week.

1) Kennedy Catholic (4-0) — Congrats to senior shortstop Mike Mercurio on breaking the school hits record in, which was previously held by Fairleigh Dickinson’s Matt Maher. Mercurio reached 109 hits on April 15 in a 7-0 win (Rich Lennox, complete game five hitter, nine Ks).

I caught up with senior center Joe Rock this week to find out why he chose Manhattan College. Rock said that he picked Manhattan because it’s a great academic school, as he is looking into getting into engineering. He liked the atmosphere and felt welcome immediately by the coaches and players.

“They have a very solid program, obviously they’re D-1,” said Rock, who also likes the school because it’s close to home. “They have an opening in the outfield that they think I can help fit.”

Manhattan, who currently is in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, came on Rock’s radar very late in the process. Stony Brook, Concordia, and Siena were also in the mix.

Kennedy Head Coach Bob Fletcher thinks he will do very well because of a few qualities he brings to a team: a high on-base percentage, a strong arm and speed in the outfield, and he’s the perfect prototype 1-2 hitter.

The Gaels’ long awaited match-up with Class AA contender John Jay that was scheduled for Monday was put on hold due to rain. This left the squad bummed out as they were pumped for the game according to Rock.

“We were excited to play,” Rock said. “John Jay’s a real good school.”

I guess we’ll all just have to wait a little longer.

2) John Jay (3-1) — I think there was a collective sigh of relief that spread across Katonah-Lewisboro after the Indians’ finally took down Somers after eight attempts.

Jay couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn against Somers junior Chase Levi, but they woke up Thursday in the second game. When their offense is clicking on all cylinders, they might be one of the most dangerous lineups in Section 1.

Junior ace Stephen Green was as advertised early on against Somers, but his pitch rapidly rose, which meant an early exit. Anthony Iacomini and the rest of the squad are just happy to have him back.

“It’s awesome playing behind him,” Iacomini said.

Kennedy isn’t the only team disappointed that the game Monday was postponed. Iacomini and Mark Swertfager both said they were really looking forward to the game.

“[There’s] a lot of talk out there,” Iacomini said of the game.

3) Carmel (3-1) — I told you Carmel wouldn’t be out of the Top Six for long. I definitely have to see the Rams in person sometime soon.

Ryan Shilling’s was the hero with his walkoff single against Mahopac April 14.

But C.W. Post bound senior Zack Graczyk has been the consistent star. He’s been red hot in the Rams three wins, going 9 for 9 with two home runs and eight RBIs. It’s scary to think that Graczyk and Kennedy catcher Anthony Corona will be battery mates and in the same lineup next year.

4) Lakeland (6-0) — If you told me at the beginning of this season that Lakeland would be undefeated at this point I would have never believed it.

But somehow they still are.

The Hornets continued their winning ways with two wins (10-1, 5-4) over a much improved Ossining squad. Kevin Beatty came through with the game winning single in the 5-4 win.

Jon Cosenza had a big series at the plate, going 5 for 7 with 7 RBIs and a homer.

5) Somers (3-2) — I believe the Tuskers have found themselves another quality starter. Chase Levi lived up to his first name, shutting down the high powered John Jay offense. The Indians were baffled, chasing everything that Coach Geoff Curtis described as about an inch and a quarter off the plate.

The crafty left-hander (think Jamie Moyer or Tom Glavine) greatly impressed Head Coach Joe Wootten with his first varsity start.

“That was just an unbelievable performance,” Wootten said. “Chase put us on his back and he got us a victory. [John Jay] is a great hitting team, he kept them off balanced the entire game. We’re going to build off of that. We’ve got our No. 3 guy, locked and loaded right there.”

Wootten wasn’t the only one impressed by Levi’s performance.

“He reminds you of the prototypical lefty that’s not overpowering,” Curtis said. “He just had our hands tied. We threatened, he shut it down. It was a really impressive outing.”

6) Mahopac (2-2) — I almost booted Mahopac from the Top Six, but something told me it was a poor decision.

The Indians’ lost to Kennedy and Carmel by one run apiece to star the season. They then rebounded with a solid win over North Rockland Saturday. No. 2 starter Chris Erker posted six strikeouts in the win over the previously unbeaten Red Raiders.

Outside looking in: Hen Hud (4-2) and Walter Panas (4-3) split their doubleheader, showing just how even and tight the Class A race is with nobody really emerging as the favorite. You can make a case for both of these squads being in the Top Six. After a solid win over Class A Rye, Briarcliff (5-1) suffered their first loss Friday against undefeated Hastings.

Hen Hud shortstop T.J. Olesczuk does his best Derek Jeter impression circa 1999.

Hen Hud senior Chris Weiner (left) and Panas junior Pedro Reynoso dig for buried treasure.

Panas senior Vito Rullo and Hen Hud junior Mike Tandy practice their dance moves at first base.

T.J. Olesczuk uses his head — literally — ouch! OK, this was probably in bad taste.

Alright, enough of that. I never got a chance to reflect on the Hen Hud/Panas game Saturday and I wanted to share a few quick hits.

— Ian Cole is the real deal. Panas junior ace completely shut down Hen Hud and left them baffled at the plate. Loading the bases and then striking out three straight batters (4, 5, 6) solidified Cole in my mind as a big game player. He wasn’t even supposed to start the game, but he told Head Coach Anthony Fata he wanted the ball. That’s a true gamer.

— I still haven’t gotten to see Hen Hud’s big ace Mike Tandy (what is he like 6-5?) pitch. I caught the first game of the doubleheader and Tandy pitched the nightcap. He shut the Panthers down and is 3-0 on the season.

— T.J. Olesczuk is an athlete. He effortlessly pulled off the Derek Jeter throw to first and I couldn’t believe my eyes when it was happening. The junior shortstop, who also plays basketball and soccer, looks like he bulked up in the off-season. He came up with the big three RBI double off the left field fence in the second game to get the Sailors bats back on track.

— Panas offense is pretty solid. They don’t have any big boppers, but the Panthers can rake up and down the lineup. Mike Parish, Vito Rullo, and Brendan O’Connor bat 3-4-5 and are all solid. They also have plenty of speedy line drive hitters in Pedro Reynoso, Billy Scumaci, Rich Dubrisingh, Miguel Arroyo, and more.

— Hen Hud’s offense is underperforming. They have plenty of talent, but Head Coach Paul Natale is searching for more consistency. With the speedy Matt DeSilva leading off, Andrew Biello second, and the potent 3-4 combo of T.J. and Mike Tandy, the Sailors boast a solid 1-4. Nick Ritornato can also contribute in the five hole, but the bottom of the order needs to pick it up.

— Class A is very much up in the air. Panas and Hen Hud looked about as even as two teams could be in this doubleheader. There is no clear cut favorite in Class A and these two squads are very much in the mix. Defending champ Somers and undefeated Lakeland are also top contenders. If these four teams made up the final four, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

John Jay finally did what they couldn’t do in quite some time: beat Somers. Last year the Tuskers outslugged the mighty Indians, two years ago they were shutdown by dominant pitching performances.

This past Tuesday, junior southpaw Chase Levi, making his first varsity start, baffled Jay and shut them out as the Tuskers won again, 4-0. John Jay Head Coach Geoff Curtis said that Levi was hitting the corners and had them off balanced and hitting weak ground balls to second base or flares to shortstop.

And it happened over, and over, and over again.

“It was a wake up call,” Curtis said.

But the bats woke up today.

“Our bats were on fire today,” catcher Mark Swertfager said.

After Somers tied the game at 4-4, the Indians (3-1) unloaded in a seven run fifth inning. Lou Ricci got the big inning going with a picture perfect bunt that came to a halt right on the third base line in a spot where Tusker catcher Jake Levine had to just pray it went foul.

“It was a great bunt at an opportune time,” Curtis said.

Mike Filice followed with an RBI single, then big Jared Hirschberg (pictured above) roped another single that brought home two, making it 7-4. Kevin Watson would then relieve Henry Ruhlandt.

Ray Maggi (right) then blasted another two RBI single, making it 9-4. Maggi would then steal second, and on the throw down, Jay sent the runner from third, who scored. Anthony Iacomini (two RBIs) then capped off the inning with another single to give the Indians an 11-4 lead.

After falling behind 2-0, Curtis rallied the team together before the start of the bottom of the second inning and delivered a message. He told them that it’s a shortened season and that there’s much less margin for error.

“I just said ‘look this is our home park, you guys are expected to be a quality team,’” Curtis said. ‘”I know you’re good, you know you’re good. Go do it.’”

“There’s plenty of game left,” Iacomini said of what Curtis told the squad. “We can hit this guy. We just got ourselves together and started hitting.”

Green shows flashes of dominance
The way the game started I thought Stephen Green (right) was on his way to another no hitter. He struck out the first four batters of the game. He didn’t just strike them out, he blew them away with overpowering stuff.

But Somers would get to him in the second behind a two RBI single from third baseman Todd Benvenuti to give the Tuskers a 2-0 lead. He was lifted after4.2 innings of work, striking out nine, while surrendering five hits and four earned runs.

It was just a relief for many of the Indians to see Green back on the mound this season after missing the second half of last year with a shoulder injury.

Swertfager, who caught Green, said all of his pitches were looking solid.

“His fastball was fast like always,” he said with a laugh.

I sure wouldn’t want to catch it.

Curtis said that this is Green’s third outing. He went 70 pitches in a scrimmage with Yorktown and 90 down in Florida in a win over Harrison. Today, he threw about 95. He said that he was incredibly efficient at times against Somers, but then he had some innings where he threw 20-25 pitches.

“Any time you show kids that many of your pitches,” Curtis said, “they start to get a little better opportunity.”

Iacomini said it’s amazing to have Green back.

“It’s awesome playing behind him,” said Iacomini, who will play at South Carolina next year.

Dean Lambert would relieve Green in the fifth with two outs, but would only face two batters before being replaced by Hirschberg, who was solid, going 1.1 innings striking out four. He recorded the win.

Mighty Mark

Swertfager isn’t exactly a big kid (130 pound wrestler), but the sophomore catcher makes up for that with his athleticism and determination. Swertfager, filling in for an injured Alan Filauro behind the plate, blasted a three run homer on over the center field fence on a middle-in fastball in the bottom of the 2nd inning to give the Indians a 3-2 lead.

“I love those pitches,” Swertfager said. “So I just took advantage of it.”

The home run even surprised Swertfager (right), as he said it was only the second dinger he’s ever hit.

“Mark really clutched up today,” Curtis said. “The thing about Mark, he’s not a huge kid, but he’s a wrestler. He’s a lean, strong, catcher. He’s had some great at bats in his games so far. Today, he had just a phenomenal game, that’s his varsity debut on this field.”

“He’s definitely a special kid,” Iacomini added. “I’ve been telling him all along, just get his pitch and drive it, and there it is.”

Tyler Curry, who replaced Swertfager behind the plate late in the game, also blasted a homer in the sixth to give the Indians a 13-4 advantage. Kyle Clemmenson finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

Oh what a relief it is

Curtis said that during his tenure with the Indians, he’s now 2-7 against Somers. The other win came in his first or second year during the Jay Fest tournament.

“Last year we were the league champs, but who were the mars on our record? Somers, twice,” Curtis said. The year before that, 15 wins, how many wins against Somers? Zero.”

“The last three years was tough [with] no wins against them,” Iacomini (right) added. “It definitely feels good to take one.”

Curtis added that it’s a respectful rivalry with Somers as he believes the coaches and program are a class act.

Levi solidifies No. 3 spot

After Tuesday’s complete game shut-out, Somers (2-2) Head Coach Joe Wootten doesn’t have to worry much about who his No. 3 starter is going to be. Chase Levi has got it locked up.

“That was just an unbelievable performance,” Wootten said of the crafty left-hander. “Chase put us on his back and he got us a victory. [John Jay] is a great hitting team, he kept them off balanced the entire game. We’re going to build off of that. We’ve got our No. 3 guy, locked and loaded right there.”

Wootten wasn’t the only one impressed by Levi’s performance.

“He reminds you of the prototypical lefty that’s not overpowering,” Curtis said. “He has command of three pitches and will throw a tantalizing fastball or changeup that you’re not sure about, an inch and a quarter outside. I’m sure he didn’t throw 90 pitches and threw a complete game. He just had our hands tied. There are some good hitters up and down our lineup. We threatened, he shut it down. It was a really impressive outing.”

Wootten still looking for defensive execution

Through four games, Wootten is still not pleased with the defensive execution. The Tuskers had some lapses which cost them some runs again.

“We had good at bats today, we had a good pitched game,” Wootten said. “Our defense let us down, and against this team at this field, you give them a little bit of a bubble and they’re going to take it.”

But Wootten believes they take a positive from the series in that the young Tuskers’ squad competed with a top contender in Class AA.

“We can play with the big guys,” Wootten said.

Zlotnick’s status still a question mark

Dan Zlotnick did not play again today after tweaking his hamstring last Friday against Walter Panas.

“It’s up in the air,” Wootten said of his status. “We’re going to take it day by day, we’re going to see how he feels. He’s working with our trainer each day. I’m not one to ruin his baseball career here in high school. We’re not going to win the sectionals this week, but we definitely might lose them if we play him.”

I’ll be heading over to John Jay shortly for the second game of this series. This game could very well decide the league champion (I know it’s early, but these are clearly the two best teams in the league).

John Jay’s Stephen Green will be on the hill for the Indians. It’ll be my first time getting to see Green pitch, so I’m interested to see if the junior southpaw lives up to his billing.

Henry Ruhlandt will start for the Tuskers. Ruhlandt looked fairly solid up until the sixth inning in his start against Panas last Friday. He’ll be facing an angry Jay lineup that was shutuout by Chase Levi the other day. I think the Indians bats will get back on track behind a big day from Anthony Iacomini.

Prediction: None of the current Jay players have ever experienced beating the Tuskers. I think they finally get to see what it’s like today behind a solid performance from Green.

John Jay 6, Somers 2

I’ll be back with some thoughts on the game afterwards.

Rankings as of noon, Tuesday (There obviously will be plenty of shuffling next week after Tuesday’s games..I have a feeling the 2-6 spots will be all over the place this season)

1) Kennedy Catholic (3-0) — The Kennedy football…oops, I mean baseball squad put up video game-like numbers this past week. They’ve outscored the opposition 45-9 in three wins — talk about making a statement.

“They’re very focused right now and they’re seeing the ball real well,” Coach Bob Fletcher said. “They seem determined. They’re getting ahead in the count, so they’re able to hit the pitch they want, as opposed to the pitchers pitch.”

And it’s not like they’re doing it against a cupcake schedule. They mashed Pelham (Class A runner-up), 21-4, Monday, and crushed Pearl River (Class A contender), 20-2, Thursday.

Mike Mercurio has absolutely been on fire. It doesn’t hurt to have Anthony Corona (seven RBIs, homer) behind you in the lineup, either, but the High Point bound senior has been tearing the cover off the ball. He had the game winning homer against Mahopac (April 8), seven RBIs in the rout of the Pirates, and four more against the Pelicans.

“We’ve been getting guys on base for Mike, so the pitchers are pitching out of jams with Mike at the plate,” Fletcher said. “He’s seeing the ball very well, hitting the ball to all fields. Hopefully he continues to stay hot like this.”

I don’t know about you, but I personally can’t wait for Monday’s match-up with John Jay. If you have nothing to do, I suggest you attend this instant classic.

Also, congrats to senior center fielder Joe Rock on committing to Manhattan College.

2) John Jay (2-0) — At the end of practice Monday Head Coach Geoff Curtis rallied his team together and posed a question.

“We said ‘raise your hand if you ever beat Somers,’” Curtis said.

And not one player could raise his hand.

Two seasons ago they fell due to dominating pitching performances from Dan Zlotnick and Dan Tracy. Last season they were outslugged and beat at their own game. This season they’re out for some revenge.

Jay takes on the Tuskers twice this week (April 14 and Thursday).

“We have nothing but respect for that program,” Curtis said. “They’ve done a great job. We’ve been looking forward to it. They’re on our radar.”

The Indians just returned Friday from their yearly trip to Florida where they defeated Harrison twice.

Kyle Clemmenson led the way at the plate with a homer (5 RBIs in two games) that Curtis described as a “monster” shot.

Curtis said that teams have been heading down to Florida for the past six years and the Indians are one of the veterans of the trip. He believes it brings the team closer together, while you’re also getting in plenty of work in games, scrimmages (played Rye, R.C. Ketcham, Pleasantville, Corcoran), and practices.

“It’s one of the purest ways a baseball team can kind of find itself and become a team,” he said.

Stephen Green started and went three innings in his first start in a while after missing the second half of last season with an injury. Curtis said it was great to see him back. Louis Ricci was solid in the Indians second game.

3) Lakeland (4-0) — The Hornets impressed me so much this week I decided to bump them all the way up to the No. 3 spot.

They took the Hen Hud tourney for the second straight year behind a brilliant pitching performance from sophomore Jon Demarte. He struck out 11 batters and walked none. The amazing thing? It was his first ever varsity start.

“He’s picked up things relatively quick,” Coach Dennis Robinson said. “He’s a competitor. He’s mastered being able to throw the ball where we want him to throw the ball. We’re really ecstatic about it.”

Robinson said the defense was solid and they also had timely hitting in the win over the Sailors.

“The thing I’m impressed with, I had one returner (Cosenza) on the field at that time,” Robinson said. “It’s a good test for us, to see what we’re going to do against a veteran team.”

Sophomore Joe Arena was solid against Panas (April 7) and Mike Schoen only allowed one run against Brewster Monday (2-1 win).

The land of lake hasn’t scored many runs outside of their first game with Lourdes. They’re winning with pitching and defense. Their last three wins have been one run games. For a young team to be pulling out wins like that says plenty about their preparation.

4) Hen Hud (1-1) — The Sailors gave the Hornets a run for their money in the championship game of the Hen Hud tournament. This squad will only get better as the season progresses and by sectional time I think they’ll be peaking.

Mike Tandy had a 10 strikeout performance against Croton and T.J. Olesczuk blasted a grand slam. This young duo is already one of the most dangerous 1-2 punches in the area. Chris Weiner pitched well against Lakeland, but the offense didn’t give him the run support needed for the W.

A doubleheader with Panas this weekend should help clear up the Class A picture — maybe.

5) Mahopac (0-1) — Holding Kennedy to only five runs might be a moral victory in itself to most squads, but not for a program like Mahopac. The Indians are solid year in and year out.

This week will be a true test with Carmel (April 14) and North Rockland Saturday. I’ll have a better grasp of what these Indians are all about a week from now.

6) Somers (1-1) — Bad news in Tusker land. In the fourth inning of their loss to Walter Panas, Dan Zlotnick tweaked a hamstring sliding into second base. He wasn’t going to play Saturday against Mahopac (rained out) and probably isn’t playing this week, according to Coach Joe Wootten.

“We’re going to take it day by day,” Wootten said. “He’s going to be working with the trainer each day. As far as him coming back soon, it’s just not in the cards right now. We’ll find out what kind of team we have.”

Bad timing for the injury with a crucial series with John Jay this week. Last season, the Tuskers pulled off two big wins over the Indians and they carried that momentum into sectionals. Wootten said they always look forward to playing Jay.

“We’re always up for games against AA teams, especially if they’re league games,” he said. “John Jay’s a dynamite team, they’ve got good pitching, good hitting. They’ve got a lot of guys coming back.”

Outside looking in: I know Walter Panas (2-1) beat Somers, but I think it was more of a case of the Tuskers beating themselves, so I can’t knock the Tuskers out of the Top Six just yet. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t impressed by the Panthers — they definitely look like a contender in an up-in-the-air Class A race. Briarcliff (4-0) continues to play well, indicated by a 21-0 beating of Sacred Heart (Jordan Sacks, 16 Ks! Wow) and 15-3 thrashing of Ardsley (Tim Orr, 3 RBIs). Putnam Valley (0-1) was in the game with Somers and led early on. I think they’ll be a force in Class B this season against teams not named Kennedy. I have a feeling Carmel should be in the Top Six, and things could change very soon.

Somers 4, John Jay 0: Somers continued to have the Indians number, beating them for the fifth time in three seasons. Chase Levi, making his first varsity start, threw a five-hit shutout. Kyle Woltersdorf provided the pop, going 2 for 2 with two RBIs.

They’ll meet again Thursday. Stephen Green will be on the hill for the Indians, and I’m guessing Henry Ruhlandt will go for Somers with Dan Zlotnick still sidelined.

Carmel, 4, Mahopac 3: Carmel’s Ryan Shilling hit a walkoff single to complete a comeback from a two run deficit. Zack Graczyk went 5.2 innings and struck out 10 Mahopac batters. Nick Iuni pitched well for ‘Pac, but suffered his second loss of the young season.

Yorktown 8, Peekskill 0: Jake Matranga tossed a four-hit shutout for the Huskers.

Kennedy Catholic senior center fielder Joe Rock has committed to play baseball at Manhattan College in the fall.

Rock said that he picked Manhattan because it’s a great academic school, as he is looking at getting into engineering. He liked the atmosphere and felt welcome immediately by the coaches and players.

“They have a very solid program, obviously they’re D-1,” said Rock, who also likes the school because it’s close to home. “They have an opening in the outfield that they think I can help fill.”

Manhattan, who currently is in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, came on Rock’s radar very late in the process. Stony Brook, Concordia, and Siena were also in the mix.
“I think he’ll do very well,” Head Coach Bob Fletcher said. “He’s got a great on-base percentage. With his speed in the outfield and his arm strength. He’s the perfect prototype 1-2 hitter.”

Also, Kennedy destroyed Pelham (last season’s Class A runner-up), 21-4 today, to improve to 3-0. I’ll have more on this game later as well. That’s 41 runs in their past two games, yikes. Some teams may not score that many runs in a month’s worth of games.