The wacky weather patterns in the northeast resulted in Section 2's baseball & softball schedules wrapping up yesterday, but there's no rest for the weary, as sectional play begins today.
To be fair, tournaments were supposed to start tomorrow, but with rain in the forecast yet again, many games marked for tomorrow were moved up to today in order to keep the schedule on track as best as possible.
Before we get into details, we will note the conclusion of the historically worst season in Troy High baseball history.
After beating Averill Park, 7-0, on April 5, 1st year coach Chris Strack knew he needed six wins to qualify for the post-season tournament. Unfortunately, the psychological damage done to the team with the departure of senior 1B/pitcher David Judge before the start of the season set in, and the Flying Horses find themselves packing their gear and getting ready for travel teams. Since not all the scores were reported in a timely fashion, perhaps to avoid further embarrassment, we must assume that Troy finished with just the 1 non-league win. Averill Park collected a receipt on Wednesday, as Anthony Germinerio, cousin of former Troy star John Germinerio (now at Union) pitched a complete game victory for the Warriors, who qualified for the sectionals as a result.
Averill Park's next game is today in what amounts to a play-in game vs. South Glens Falls in the Class A tournament. The winner then travels to Amsterdam on Tuesday, with the championship game a week later at Bruno Stadium.
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Troy High's lacrosse team wrapped its season with a 15-10 win over Averill Park on Thursday night, spoiling Senior Night for the Warriors. Troy finishes 5-11 for coach Joe Bennett. Senior star Derrick Cipriani, in his final game, scored 7 goals. Apparently, you also need six wins for sectionals in lacrosse.....
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Meanwhile, Troy's softball team is just scorching hot entering sectional play. Coach Sean Geisel's club has won 8 of their last 9 after collecting a receipt from Averill Park on Wednesday, then escaping with a 6-5 verdict over Niskayuna on Thursday. Sophomore catcher Maddie Rifenberick, who has been on the varsity since her middle school days (!), was profiled in today's Albany Times-Union (remember, The Record is not allowed to talk to Troy players or coaches because of a petty district policy that must needs be abolished yesterday). She's batting .419 for the season with 7 homers, most of them coming in the last couple of weeks.
Troy landed the #6 seed in Class AA. That's the good news. The bad? They travel to #3 Shenendehowa, the last team to beat Troy, on Wednesday. Here's to hoping Cinderella doesn't lose her glass sneakers.....
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Section 2 has scheduled the sectional title games for May 25-29 at Bruno Stadium, figuring that putting the games on a weekend will draw bigger crowds. Well, duh! The Class A & AA title games, however, will be on Tuesday, May 29, when most folks are back to work after the Memorial Day holiday. Like, here's a thought. If it rains on the 25th or 26th, and also on the 27th, why not try to play on Memorial Day?
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Let's try to figure out baseball & softball:
Baseball:
Class AA:
Shen is the top seed, while defending champion Niskayuna winds up as the #6 seed. The Silver Warriors open defense of their title today vs. Shaker. LaSalle, the lone Colonial Council representative, will play at Columbia, with the winner advancing to face Bethlehem in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Bruno Stadium hosts the semi-finals on Thursday. Columbia will be playing their 2nd game in 24 hours, while LaSalle will be relatively fresh. Bank on the Cadets, and look for them to make another run to the finals.
Class A:
Amsterdam is the #1 seed, and awaits the winner of Averill Park-South Glens Falls on Tuesday. We'll be taking a look----weather permitting, of course---at Lansingburgh's quarterfinal match with Mohonasen in what will be a preview of things to come in the Colonial Council next year, on Tuesday.
Class B:
Albany Academy begins defense of their title today at home vs. Voorheesville. All signs point to a rubber match with #2 Ichabod Crane, the only Section 2 team to beat the Cadets, at The Joe on the 26th. At least the Riders have had a game this year on the Bruno Stadium field, even though they lost to Columbia last night. If form holds, Academy would get a 3rd game vs. Schalmont, a team they swept in the regular season, in the quarters. Last year's runner-up, Saratoga Central Catholic, is seeded #4 this year, and would be a semi-final opponent for the Cadets this time.
Class C:
Maple Hill holds the top seed, and will await the winner of a play-in game today between Duanesburg & Berne Knox-Westerlo.. If form holds, the Wildcasts would be playing #2 Rensselaer in the finals at The Joe.
Class CC:
This is the only sport where this classification still exists. Greenwich, which bounces between Classes C & D in football, for example, holds the #1 seed here. Hard to believe a former Big 10 school like Bishop Gibbons is down at this level, but here they are at #2. This will be interesting.
Class D:
The smallest classification in Section 2 gets to wait until Monday to start play, with the title game being the opening act of a Saturday double-dip at Bruno Stadium on the 26th. Whitehall is the top seed, but I wouldn't discount Mekeel Christian Academy, which has been a power in basketball in recent years. This to me looks like a wide open affair.
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Now, let's move on to softball:
Class AA:
Colonie holds the top seed. As noted Troy may be the hottest team right now, but their last loss was to Shen, and another receipt may be nigh. I like Troy as a dark horse sleeper pick. Realistically, the winner of Troy-Shen will be in the title game at Luther Forest on the 29th.
Class A:
South Glens Falls holds the top seed here, with perennial Suburban Council power Averill Park at #2. Catholic Central usually fields a strong softball team, but they've struggled just to get here, and have to go through Mohonasen in order to get another look at South Glens Falls. Not going to happen, I'm afraid.
Class B:
Emma Willard School's campus is on Pawling Avenue, but for some reason, they're playing their sectional home game at Russell Sage College vs. Bishop Gibbons. The Jesters don't get the respect from the press that they should. Should they get past Gibbons, they will have to play Ichabod Crane. Here's to hoping they can get some extra eyeballs at the game. Wasaren League champ Tamarac is the #3 seed, and awaits the winner of Cohoes and Fonda. I think the road to Luther Forest leads through Chatham (Ichabod Crane).
Class C:
Maple Hill also tops the class for the women, and will open vs. Cambridge, another school that has hopped between Classes C & D. Funny thing. Saratoga Central Catholic is a B school in baseball, but a C in softball? The mind boggles, man.
Class D:
Salem is the #1 seed, and Heatly, out of Green Island, will be looking for an upset in Wednesday's opener.
The semi-finals & finals in Classes C & D will be at Moreau Recreational Facility, rather than Luther Forest. Makes perfect sense, but in a perfect Title IX world, why not let the girls get some shine at The Joe right alongside the boys? Just sayin'.
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For parochial reasons more than anything, we're rooting for LaSalle (AA baseball), Albany Academy (B), Lansingburgh (A), and, just for kicks, Emma Willard (B softball), and, of course, Troy (AA) to continue their late season hot streak and avenge their loss to Shen.
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