4/23/2011 - H/W/S Tourneys To Start
Hunterdon Central’s softball team hosts a tournament every April called the Red Devil Invitational.
It is a four-team tourney that draws top teams from all over the state, including Jefferson, and it seems like HC wins it every year.
Although the old Hunterdon/Warren Tournament was open to all the schools in that area, it also could have been called the Red Devil Invitational. In the 16-year history of the event, HC won 13 titles and things didn’t change at all last year when the Sussex teams were added to the tourney.
The Red Devils, under the state’s all-time winningest coach Pete Fick, won the first-ever H/W/S Tournament with a 4-0 win over Newton behind the outstanding pitching and hitting of Courtney Yard and the Red Devils look to be the favorite once again this season.
The seeds for the tourney were released this week with HC (7-0) getting the top seed in Hunterdon/Warren and Sparta (6-1) the top seed in Sussex.
The tourney gets under way with preliminary round games Wednesday, April 27 at the site of the higher seeded team. The first round is April 30, the quarterfinals May 7, and the semifinals May 14, with all the games at the highest remaining seed.
The final is slated for May 21 at Lenape Valley at 1 p.m.
Here is a breakdown of the tourney as I see it.
APRIL 27
(9) VERNON AT (8) WARREN HIILS—Warren Hills was bumped out last year by Newton and the Blue Streaks (3-5) are paced by pitcher Amanda Berenzny and Angie Ryden.
Vernon (2-6) has struggled this season, but the Vikings can hit. Amanda Gannon, Jess Lambert, Caitlin Molloy, Lauren Poppe and Emma DeLuca can swing the bat. The Vikings will need a good effort from pitcher Jamie Roberts to advance to play Sparta. The pick here is Warren Hills.
(10) NORTH WARREN AT (7) WALLKILL VALLEY—Wallkill Valley got off to a slow start, but the Rangers have picked it up as of late and are 4-6 and 1-4 in the Freedom Division. The Rangers are paced by Sarah Hendershot, Andreanna Nordland, and Reizl Aseron.
North Warren (2-5) has a fine player in Marissa Jones and pitcher Alyssa Grant is solid. This should be a good matchup but I’m leaning toward the Rangers here as they will face No. 2 Delaware Valley (7-4).
(10) HOPATCONG AT (7) PHILLIPSBURG---Hopatcong (1-5, 1-4 Freedom) knocked off P-burg in this round last year and the Chiefs have a chance to do it again behind Kristen Toropiw, Kelsey Spazani and Courtney Stilwell.
The Stateliners are 1-7 and look to pitcher Jessica Buchanan to lead the way with her arm and bat. This could be a slugfest, but I think the Chiefs will prevail and advance to play No. 2 High Point (5-0, 4-0 American).
(9) SOUTH HUNTERDON AT (8) SUSSEX TECH—Sussex Tech is off to a 6-3 start with a very young team. Veteran coach Ed Paiva will look to pitcher Katie Jukubowski as well as Carly Finklestein, Kori Brown and Taylor Kozdedba to pave the way.
South is 4-1 and is paced by Jazz Assad, Danielle Leslie, Megan Donnelly and Amanda Nielson. Despite a long bus ride, South will pick up the victory and will play Hunterdon Central.
APRIL 30
(5) POPE JOHN AT (4) VOORHEES—This should be a great one, folks. PJ (5-4-1) is very young, but extremely dangerous. Junior pitcher Brook Powers can be dominant and she can swing the bat. Alyssa Bolger sets the table and the Lions have several heavy hitters in Toni Santonastaso, Aileen Burgos, Christina Marinara and Kaitlyn Morrison.
Voorhees (6-1) is tough every year and the Vikings will look to pitcher Zara Jakubas, Andi Schell, a marvelous overall player, Erika Croat and Stephanie Martino.
This is a tossup, so I will go with homefield advantage here with the Vikings, but if PJ wins it won’t be a surprise to anyone.
(6) BELVIDERE AT (3) KITTATNNNY—This is another intriguing matchup. Belvidere (5-2) is one of the most consistent Group 1 programs in the state and the County Seaters count on Jessie Sharr, Taylor Rudd, pitcher Paige Merle and Leslee Sena.
Kittatinny (8-0, 5-0 Freedom) is off to its best start since 2008 when it made a run to the Group 2 state final. Pitcher Brianne Morlock has been terrific and has let her defense do the work. Sarah Brook, Paige Smith, Liz Shaffer and Liz Sandford pace the attack.
I’m going with the hot hand here as the Cougars will advance.
(5) HACKETTSTOWN AT (4) LENAPEVALLEY---Lenape Valley (6-3, 4-1 Freedom) already owns a 6-1 win over Hackettstown this season behind the strength of a Brianna Simko grand slam. The Pats are a dangerous bunch and are led by catcher Deanna Utter, Maria Lacatena , Simko, Jenna Tambasco, Kristen Millian and pitcher Caitlin Zaleski.
The Tigers will count on Emily Takarka, Christine Begley, Faith Ely and Ashlie Armstrong. But look to Lenape Valley to top the Tigers again to move on.
(6) NEWTON AT (3) NORTH HUNTERDON—Newton (2-6, 1-4) has been up and down all season, but the Braves definitely have the talent to surprise some people in this tourney. Pitcher Jess Cannon is solid and catcher Sam Hoffman is in the middle of a monster senior season.
North Hunterdon (6-4), which fell to Pope John 9-0 earlier this season, looks to pitcher Alison Kucharski, Steph Zengel, Jen Smith and Marissa Meisinger. This will be a close one, but it will be North Hunterdon which moves on.
Okay, that is a look at the first-round matchups. Here is a breakdown of the top seeds which received a bye.
(1) SPARTA---The Spartans have the capability of beating anyone in the state behind pitcher Sam Greiner, who is headed to South Florida on a scholarship. Mary Kociencki is also a top-flight pitcher and swings a mean bat.
The Spartans also play good defense and also look to Casey Cresbaugh, Sam Casey, Meg Casey, Courtney Noone, Kelsey O’Connor, Lauren Krulikowski, Colleen Burdsall, Jackie Perez, Nicole Decker and Gianna Geradiello.
(1) HUNTERDCON CENTRAL---What is left to say about the Red Devils? They are terrific with Yard, Keri Steele, Kim Englehardt, Alyssa Bauer and the list goes on. The Red Devils do not have a weakness and will be extremely tough to beat.
(2) HIGH POINT—What a season the young Wildcats (5-0, 4-0 American) are enjoying, the only problem is that they haven’t played too many games because of the lousy weather and poor field conditions.
Freshman pitcher Allie Frei is the real deal, while Brittany English can pitch, too. Catcher Taryn Anderson, Sam Sliker, Carly Satter, Kaitlyn Patton, Gina Onerevole, and the rest of the Wildcats are a very strong favorite to see HC in the semifinals and that will be a good one.
(2) DELAWAREVALLEY—The Terriers (7-4) return a very solid group from last year and count on pitcher Kaitlyn Johnson as well as Kasey Kieswetter and Danielle Novotny. The Terriers should get past the winner of the Wallkill Valley-North Warren clash.
All right, so who will win? Well, the easy pick is Hunterdon Central. But I have a funny feeling that this Sparta team is ready to do some real special things this season, so I’m going with the Spartans in the upset just because Greiner is that good in the circle and with the bat.
Jefferson (3-4) is the 16th seed in the Morris County Tournament and the Falcons roughed up Par Hills 24-1 to advance to play top seed Morris Knolls Tuesday, April 26. MK is paced by All-State pitcher Caitlin O’Connor, but Jefferson can be dangerous behind Sam Abromavage, Anna Carlson, Katie Lisa and Kelly Noonan.
The H/W/S Baseball tourney also gets under way this week. Baseball will play on the same days as softball with the final set for May 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Hunterdon Central topped Sparta 10-0 in last year’s final
To be honest, I have not seen enough baseball this spring to give a compete breakdown, but look for Pope John, Sparta and High Point to be competitive on the Sussex side with HC, North Hunterdon and Voorhees leading the way in H/W.
And just on a gut feeling, this is the year Pope John wins the tourney.
Here are the pairings and seeds.
Preliminary round April 27
9-Kittatinny at 8-Belvidere
10-Delaware Valley at 7-Wallkill Valley
10-Sussex Tech at 7-North Warren
9-South Hunterdon at 8-Newton
First-round games April 30
Kittatinny-Belvidere, winner at 1-Pope John
5-Lenape Valley at 4-North Hunterdon
6-Warren Hills at 3-Sparta
Delaware Valley-Wallkill Valley winner at 2-Voorhees
Sussex Tech-North Warren winner at 2-High Point
6-Hopatcong at 3-Hackettstown
5-Phillipsburg at 4-Vernon
Newton-South Hunterdon winner at 1-Hunterdon Central
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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