Scoops: Heavens to Murgittroyd, A Top 50

My thanks to my friend GT for reminding me of the line of the year, his Snagglepuss catch phrase (see title) with reference to Ramsey third baseman Melissa Murgittroyd. I'm sure she has never heard it before.

And Cuba and Puerto Rico are correct, that is the answer to the trivia question posed to Christina Miquel.

And how do kids "commit" before they are seniors? Its very simple. They aren't officially committed, they have given a verbal commitment to sign with a school, for instance, PC star Candice Beards has committed to Maryland and has every intention of going there, but is she signed on the bottom line yet? No. But kids do this to end the recruiting hassle, and colleges do this so they know who they are going to get.

Got it? 

All right, someone said something about a Top 50.

Sorry this took a while, we just had a Varsity Toddler tub incident involving a washcloth being sucked down a drain (that little sneak!) and this was a lot harder than I thought. 
I came up with a list of 27 schools for spots 26-50, so what I did was look up some results of certain teams and then, in my head, had a draft essentially, of what was the next best team, and so on. In some cases the Team A beat Team B theory applied (Team A was higher) in some, I didn't think it made sense. Also note, this is just my opinion, I looked up some information and tried to compile a list as best as I could. A lot of teams don't report scores, so I know I have some records incorrect, and this may (or may not) have influenced my rankings.
Coming next is my final season review (including some more pictures) plus I will unveil the first Pre-season Top 25 for the 2010 season.

Without further adieu....from the top, er, bottom.

50. Hasbrouck Heights. We only have them listed as 7-10, and I know that's not right. But the Aviators really got on the map this year, thanks to a freshman pitcher, Julie Sheridan, the Aviators split with Becton, North Arlington and St. Mary and were in the hunt for a Bergen County Tournament bid for a while.
49. Passaic Valley. We have them as 10-9 (again, Im sure this is not complete....but coaches don't call in scores). I saw the Hornets play once this season and they weren't bad. They beat Caldwell....who was sectional champs, but that was really about it.
48. Demarest 8-16. About 3 months ago, I got an email from a Demarest parent who was reading the countdown of the initial Top 25 and asking me where Demarest was and didn't I give them any credit for what they did last year. I politely wrote him back saying that I did not, and didn't expect the Norsewomen to be as good having lost P Jessica Iuliano to graduation. I told him if I was wrong, he could email me again. Never heard back. Still, the Norsewomen have a good young coach in Keith Johnson, and beat Northern Highlands twice, split with Pascack Hills and played Indian Hills tough twice. In another league, they maybe over .500, but the NBIL doesn't forgive.
47. Becton, no idea what its final record was. The Wildcats started off really hot and then just went into a tailspin. They beat North Arlington, split with St. Mary and lost a bad one to Queen of Peace.
46. Bergen Tech. We had them as 8-10, which I know isn't right. The Knights were contenders for a BCT berth there for a while. I never did get the score from their last game of the year with Hackensack, which, incredibly was for 2nd place NNJIL Division B.
45. Leonia. We had them at 11-8. They beat Hawthorne Christian 2-1, played Cedar Grove tough in states before losing 5-0 and split with Cresskill. Of all the teams in North Jersey, I think the weather impacted Leonia the most.
44. Ridgefield Park. We had them as 12-13, I believe this is correct. When the Scarlets were good....they were darn good, they beat River Dell opening day (easily their biggest win), but split with Queen of Peace and lost to Garfield and Secaucus.
43. Garfield. The Boilermakers always play hard for Coach Frank Dawson and getting them into the State Tournament was a real coup for them. They beat Ridgefield Park, lost to Hawthorne 2-1 in one meeting, but got beat by Elmwood Park.
42. Hawthorne Christian. Not sure of its record. The Defenders really I think could have been higher and this speaks to the depth of the teams in North Jersey. HC reached the Non Public B semifinals and upset Hawthorne in the PCT, easily the biggest win of the year.
41. Passaic. They made the State Tournament for the 1st time and nearly won its first round game. Now the challenge is to do it consistently.
40. Secaucus. I saw them at the end of the year, very young, very young....but has some talent. Lost 3 times to North Arlington, faded late in the BCSL National race.
39. DePaul. We had them as 11-10. Hey, this was a season of almosts for DePaul, they almost beat Clifton (lost in 10 innings), they almost beat IHA (lost 1-0), but they were a lot better than I thought they would be.
38. Lakeland 13-10. Lancers coach Lonnie Smith always sends in emails after his games. If anyone heard me early in the year on GHT, Lakeland was my sleeper team in all of Passaic County. I was wrong about that. I should have said Wayne Hills. But still a solid year for Lakeland.
37. North Arlington, I believe they finished 14-10 or something like that. The weather really seemed to mess the Vikings up too, but they seemed to get better as the season went on. They drew a tough spot in the states having to play High Tech in the 2nd round. This is a team who could win the BCSL National in 2010.
36. Pascack Hills 10-16. So the Cowgirls finished 10-16, they lost twice to Wayne Hills in a season-ending doubleheader,but they beat Old Tappan in 9 innings, beat Tenafly in the BCT, lost to Pascack Valley in 8 innings, and split with Ramsey. And honestly, is there a team I ranked lower than them you think would really beat them? I didn't think so.
35. Dwight-Englewood 12-11. Truly one of the best stories in North Jersey this season. The Bulldogs beat Hawthorne Christian two out of 3 times, beat Newark Academy, hung tough with PV, Saddle Brook and New Milford. Im eager to see what Sara Brescia can do next season.
34. St. Mary 11-11. Not sure if that is its record either. But few teams were more up and down than the Gaels, but Coach Mac tells me when they come back, they are coming back in a big way. The Gaels finished 2nd in the National, lost big to West Milford, lost to Holy Angels and split with Wood-Ridge.
33. Holy Angels 10-13, this was a Team A beat Team B thing since I think Angels beating Mary's is a pretty good win. And actually, when I looked back at Angels season, they just seemed close, but never broke through, they played Ridgewood tough and lost, played Belleville tough and lost, and got beat by a fired-up Northern Highlands team at the Blake Invitational.
32. Westwood 12-11. This was a team I really regret not getting to see in person. The Cardinals swept Fort Lee, split with Rutherford, so they had some talent. They lost to Old Tappan, Fair Lawn and River Dell (I think they lost to RD three times).
31. Fair Lawn 14-12. Another NBIL team that -- if they were in the BCSL National or something -- could have really made some noise. The Cutters beat Ramapo, lost a heartbreaker to Indian Hills in 9 innings and were knocked out by Rutherford in the BCT. 
30. Ramsey 13-12. The Rams had another strange season. To me, they are starting to become the Pequannock of Bergen County, they have talent and you keep waiting for it to blossom and yet....it just hasn't happened yet. The Rams were also hit hard by injuries of course. They beat Old Tappan, took Indian Hills to 11 innings and lost 1-0, beat Fair Lawn and beat Midland Park (big) in the BCT.
29. Glen Rock 14-9. The Panthers are a team I like heading into next year, a lot of talent coming back. The most impressive game for Glen Rock was probably a loss, when they got edged by Ridgewood late in the season, pitching a back-up pitcher. There is some talent here. The Panthers also split with Hawthorne.
28. Immaculate Conception 16-7. This may be a case of where my 1 impression of IC may not be fair, but I saw them in the BCT and they lost to Dumont and just didn't play well. IC had one of those years where they beat everybody they were supposed to beat and lost to everybody they were supposed to lose too. They did beat Glen Rock and Midland Park twice.
27. Midland Park 17-8. So why is Midland Park ahead of IC? The Panthers were just a more consistent team in my opinion. They beat Cresskill, and beat Pompton Lakes in extra innings. Those are 2 quality wins, really good wins in my estimation.
26. Clifton 15-9. You know, when I sat down to do the final Top 25, I almost wrote the Mustangs out completely, but then when I really looked at what they had done....it wasn't that bad. The Mustangs beat a good Livingston team, a good DePaul team, they knocked off Bloomfield, Wood-Ridge and Passaic. They also played IHA and lost 1-0 (another one of those magical IHA wins). Losing to Ridgewood 17-1 or whatever was a red flag though, and they lost to Pompton Lakes in the PCT. I didn't think this was a great year in Passaic County, or Clifton.

And now the Top 25, that was already in the paper Sunday, but maybe needed some explanation in spots.
25. Cresskill 17-9. Honestly, I just liked the way the Cougars finished up the season strong, and it had some good wins on its resume.
24. Fort Lee 14-9. A history making year near the GW Bridge.
23. Hawthorne 14-6. I had the Bears out of the poll forever after losing to Hawthorne Christian, but they did win the league, and obviously, losing to Pequannock in the States is forgivable. No one was beating the Golden Panthers.
22. New Milford 16-8
21. Wood-Ridge 18-7. A league champion you know. I think Jill Clementi has got her sea legs now (meaning she is showing she can coach).
20. Rutherford 16-9. That loss to Caldwell in the states will carry over into next year, I promise.
19. Tenafly 13-9. You know, I can't believe the Tigers didn't play more games than this. This is just a good program. They may be too high here though.
18. Emerson 17-8. I haven't said a lot about the Cavos and what they did this year, but it was pretty amazing....and they gave Saddle Brook fits in the States.
17. Dumont 19-6. Another year, another no league championship for the Huskies, they finished 2nd behind River Dell. Replacing Brianna Carlo will be difficult, but they have a good team coming back.
16. North Bergen 23-4. I admit it, every year its hard to rank them because of their competition, but they were league champs, and they stayed with Ridgewood for a while....kinda what I expected.
15. Pompton Lakes 21-6. But this is the last year for Karyn Albanesius! Im just kidding, Karyn is getting married this summer, so she will have a new name next spring. Im sure she will be back.
14. River Dell 19-6
13. Paramus 17-8 kinda faded at the end. This will be a good team the next 2 years.
12. Old Tappan 20-10. Well, I thought they would be the surprise team of the county, and hey, I think I was right and had Jen Capazzi not split her finger open in the state game, who knows how far they may have gone.
11. Wayne Hills 20-8. County champs for the first time.
10. Paramus Catholic 19-7. I talk a lot about the talent at PC, and its true they have some good players, but watching them against IHA in the sectional final, I kept thinking they were just one more good player away. There were spots in the order you just didn't fear, and that was the biggest difference between them and IHA. IHA didn't give you a break.
9. Park Ridge 24-5. I mistakenly had them as 24-6 in the paper. My apologies. Its been quite a couple of years for the Owls. 
8. West Milford 21-5. Higher than Wayne Hills? Yeah, although you could probably switch those two teams in the rankings and make a good argument.
7. Pascack Valley 25-7. What more can be said?
6. Ramapo 24-10. This was the team that just killed me with the poll. Killed me. 10 losses, they lost to Mahwah, Bergenfield and Fair Lawn, then ripped through a killer bracket in North 1, Group 3. You could make a case for them being No. 3, you could make a case for them being 23.
5. Indian Hills 24-5. I think Joe Leicht was right when he said the best 2 teams in Group 2 played in the sectional final when Pequannock came to town. Joe is usually right about these things.
4. Ridgewood 24-4. 3 sectional titles in 4 years? Not too shabby. Jaime Kircher will have some big shoes to fill if she is the one to replace Ali Vagianos in the circle. This senior class at Ridgewood will be remembered for a long time. I spent some time with Patti Auger on the phone after the Union game and reminisced a little about the last couple of years. This will be a tough class to replace.
3. Saddle Brook 30-3. Yes, its true, Saddle Brook went 30-0 on Mondays through Saturdays and 0-3 on Sundays, losing to Ridgewood, IHA and Gloucester City in the state final. And yes, I know Ridgewood beat Saddle Brook head to head, I really wrestled with this, but it was 3-2 in extra innings, and you just have to respect what the Falcons were able to do this season. They made it to a state final, Ridgewood didn't. They made it to the BCT semifinals, Ridgewood didn't. So overall body of work, I favored Saddle Brook. Could you make a case for Ridgewood? You sure can.
2. Pequannock. Group 2 state champs. Enough said.
1. IHA. Non Public A state champs. Its too bad No. 1 vs. No. 2 didn't play. They did play last year, if you remember and Pequannock whupped them. I actually tried to get something going that last week.(Remember, IHA was supposed to play Saddle Brook, but rain interfered) I had conversations with Leslie Stephen (Ramapo) Patti (Ridgewood) and Maryann Goodwin (Pequannock) about playing in those in-between days after the Group semifinals. (I really, really wanted to see Ridgewood-Ramapo once and for all), but Ridgewood got beat, Ramapo had prom and Maryann Goodwin wanted to give her girls a break. But I tried.

Comments

[Wes C Adle]

westwood beat river dell

[Trish Stratus]

I think the New Milford catcher is one of the best I saw all year long. Can throw, catch and hits the ball as well as anyone. Good luck to her in college. I hope she gives it a shot.

[Softball Nut]

Not sure how Wayne Hills doesn't make the top 10. Would love to see how you project 2010. There will be changes amongst the top 10 I suspect. Some programs will get hit hard with graduating seniors,etc...

[Cutter 79]

you are right nut, and also the realignement-cough cough- for next year removes teams from leagues until 2010 rears its head. should be an interesting season next year.

[GT]

My work here is done. Exit, stage left...