Varsity Aces

Meeting the Olympians

Had the pleasure of an incredibly fun - and unique - Sunday evening. Dan McCabe, the CEO of Next Investments, hosted a meet-and-greet with Olympic gold medal wrestler Henry Cejudo and Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller at his Upper Saddle River home. There were well over 100 people - including Californian philanthropist Dan Honig, who pledged $25,000 to Cejudo and an additional $5,000 to Miller - a live band, children jumping in and out of the pool, bouncing on the bouncers and going down an inflatable slide.

Plenty of the youths enjoying the party were wrestlers which, to McCabe, was the crux of the evening. "I thought, what an incredible thing," McCabe said. "For the children to meet an Olympian. If that doesn't inspire you. He's only a couple of years older. Maybe I can do this."

Raise your voice

Consider this a last call for letters to the editor regarding the NJSIAA re-alignment plan. We're looking to publish some in Sunday's editions. Here's the drill:

"Is the NJSIAA's realignment plan good or bad? Is The Record's plan better or worse? We want to know how you feel.

E-mail your opinions (100 words or less) to localsports@northjersey.com and we'll publish some of the responses next Sunday (Aug. 31). Please include full name, hometown and phone number for verification.

Taking my cuts

OK, I'm no George Plimpton but I do enjoy swinging a baseball bat. So in conjunction with my story on Radial Bat, which appears in Wednesday's editions of The Record, here are some thoughts on actually swinging the bat.

If you haven't read the story, the set up is this: Ward Dill has designed a bat he claims is unbreakable, or at least impossible to shatter. That's because it's comprised of 12 wedges, either maple or ash, strengthening the bat because all the tight grain is on the outside. So while one of the wedges might chip, the bat won't shatter. If you buy a Radial Bat and it breaks within the first year, Dill will replace it. In fact, Dill has yet to break the first bat he constructed, which was about two years ago. He put on a demonstration today at Yogi Berra Stadium on the Montclair State campus, but I had a one-on-one with Dill and his partner, former pro pitcher Tim Bausher, last week.

Baseball: Strikeout leaders

In compiling the list of North Jersey strikeout leaders, the totals for Ramsey's Marcus Garone were not included. So with all mea culpas possible to the senior right-hander, here is how the final strikeout leaderboard looks:

Glenn Flora, Lyndhurst    121

John Savoie, Hawthorne    99

Julian Diaz, North Bergen    96

Dan O'Neill, St. Mary            96

Jared Forestieri, Elmwood Park 93

Eric Pfisterer, Don Bosco         91

Derrick Bligh, Wayne Valley      85

Mike Dennhardt, Don Bosco       78

Michael Rueger, Teaneck          77

Chris Fichtel, Rutherford           74

Marcus Garone, Ramsey            73

Kevin Herget, Park Ridge          72

Will Vidulich, West Milford         71

Ryan Furbeck, Indian Hills          70

Jake Menzo, Ramsey                  70

Re-alignment: You be the judges

Way back in March when local sports editor Rob Tanenbaum told me he was looking for a project he wanted to pursue, I'll admit I had no idea what I was getting into. That said, being part of The Record's panel on re-alignment was one of the most satisfying things I've done in my career. The four-part series that appeared in The Record between May 25-June 6 was the result of six panel meetings and countless out-of-meeting hours compiling and re-compiling lists.

The complete package can now be viewed here at NorthJersey.com.

Baseball: Much success

So there will be plenty to do Saturday at Toms River as five of the local teams advanced to the state finals. That's pretty good since there was only one team guaranteed to go since Lyndhurst-Park Ridge in the Group 1 semifinals represented the only local vs. local game.

Here are the scores:
Group 1 semifinal: Lyndhurst 4, Park Ridge 3
Group 2 semifinal: Mahwah 6, Hanover Park 5 (I was at this one, more below)
Group 3 semifinal: Old Tappan 17, Millburn 8
Non-Public, North A final: Don Bosco 3, Seton Hall Prep 2
Non-Public, North B final: St. Mary (Rutherford) 8, St. Mary (Jersey City) 3

Baseball: Don Bosco, St. Joe in BCCA final

As discussed in the press area today at Demarest, being a weatherman must be the most stress-free job in the world, since there's little to no accountability. That hail and thunderstorms predicted for today never showed up in Demarest (a good thing) and today's semifinals were played without a second's delay.

Don Bosco will face St. Joseph tomorrow at 3 p.m. for the championship in the 50th annual Bergen County tournament. The Ironmen got a good game from Ramapo yet still won, 8-1, in seven innings. And after week(s) of trumpeting the St. Joseph-Old Tappan matchup as potentially the best this season in the area, it was a stinker, with St. Joseph winning, 11-1, in five, slow innings. Seriously, it took just about two and a half hours to play five innings. That's a pace not even the Yankees and Orioles can match.

Baseball: Still on, for now

The forecast looks ominous (hail is actually predicted during the afternoon storms) but, as of right now, the Bergen County Tournament semifinals at Demarest is still on. Don Bosco is slated to face Ramapo at noon with the much-anticipated Old Tappan-St. Joseph game at 2:30.

However, this could all change in a heartbeat so check back to Varsity Aces for updates.

I did just get off the phone with Don Bosco coach Greg Butler and it appears, unlike the state tournaments, whatever is played today will count and games will be suspended if rain halts them in the middle, not replayed in its entirety.

Baseball: Sectional results

Here, then, is what happened around the diamonds today as sectional champions were crowned:

North 1, Group 1: No. 8 Park Ridge 7, No. 2 Cedar Grove 6
North 1, Group 2: No. 14 Mahwah 3, No. 1 Ramsey 2 (8 innings) (I was at this game, read more about it below).
North 1, Group 3: No. 2 Old Tappan 3, No. 8 Montville 0
North 1, Group 4: No. 1 Bloomfield 13, No. 2 Memorial 3
North 2, Group 1: No. 1 Lyndhurst 8, No. 3 Weehawken 2
North 2, Group 2: No 1 Hanover Park 7, No. 2 Lenape Valley 1
North 2, Group 3: No. 1 Millburn 9, No. 3 J.F. Kennedy, Iselin 8
North 2, Group 4: No. 7 North Hunterdon 8, No. 13 Bridgetown-Raritan 7

The North 1 champions face the North 2 champions Tuesday as we move closer to determining the state champions.

Baseball: Proud of their league

Plenty of NBIL chest-thumping after top-seeded Ramsey upended No. 13 Pascack Valley in a North 1, Group 2 semifinal today. And, no doubt, with good cause. Three-fourths of that bracket's final four came from the NBIL and Ramsey will host No. 14 Mahwah in Friday's final.

Meanwhile, fellow NBIL member Old Tappan defeated league rival Ramapo, 6-3, today in a North 1, Group 3 semifinal.