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Talkin' Baseball! County Tournament Preview · NorthJerseySports.com

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  We are talking Baseball North Jersey sports.com's original
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  multimedia series talking all things baseball across North
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  Jersey. This is our third episode of the
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  season and things are getting hot.
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  I am Corey Doviak, being joined by a man of many titles, but
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  we'll just call him Joe. What's going on?
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  Joe Satara. What's up core feels like we
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  haven't done a show in like a month, but yeah, just running
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  around and crazy. And before you know it, like 10
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  days passed and you're like, wow, we we haven't done a show
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  yet. We haven't done it.
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  We haven't done a follow up show.
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  And there's, you know, there's, there's, there's, there's.
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  A lot to talk about. Yeah, there, there is a lot to
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  talk about. It's actually a good time.
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  You got, you know, things are building up towards the towards
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  the state playoffs now. And you know, you have the state
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  county tournament seating meeting I think was last week.
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  You have the Bergen County meeting is for the first time
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  ever at 8:30 in the morning tomorrow.
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  So there's a lot going on. You know, there's there's a lot
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  of teams that are separating themselves.
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  There's a lot of teams that are kind of fighting, scratching,
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  clawing. And when you, when you look at
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  that, where they sit in, you know, in their division or just,
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  or the, or the state playoffs right now, you kind of go, oh
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  wow, they're having a, they're making a quite a nice little
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  season for themselves. So it's a good time, man, good
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  time of year. But I can't believe we're like
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  16 games into the, into the high school season, you know, 8 or 9
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  games. The spring does that to you.
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  I mean, for for basketball, we did 100 episodes because it just
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  kept going on. And I was like, hey, you know,
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  another week went by. You want to do another show?
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  Sure, right, right. Baseball it's a Sprint, you
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  know, like you, you get shaky weather at the beginning and
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  then it gets it, it just it, it flies by and plus it's an
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  everyday thing. You know, they play a lot of
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  baseball games in a week. So things pile up and you know,
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  I, I'm happy that finally I can get.
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  I've seen some teams too, which makes this a better time to do a
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  show for me too, because you know, I, I have some first hand
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  knowledge and I will, you know, we'll, we'll talk about it
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  because yesterday I'm still trying to get through the story
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  of Woodridge, our friend Mike Korsich playing his way into the
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  Bergen County tournament. I, I love going down there.
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  I went down there yesterday as we taped this on Wednesday.
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  So I went down there on Tuesday for a three third.
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  I left the world headquarters of North Jersey sports.com at
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  3:30-ish for a few. In your living room, right?
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  Yeah, OK, Joe, don't pull the curtain back then.
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  You know, so you have to get from from the Northern Valley
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  down to, you know, the Woodridge Athletic Complex there for 415.
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  Game starts about 4:30 and then we play 9 innings and there were
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  about 400 pitches thrown. Literally, literally not even a
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  joke. 3 1/2 hours and Woodridge pulls out an 87V over Becton to
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  claim the spot in the Bergen County Tournament.
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  And you know what, Mike Korsich, our mutual friend, he threw
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  everything he had at it. He threw his number 1, he threw
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  his number two, he threw his number three.
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  He wanted, it's important for him and his program to make the
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  Bergen County Tournament. Now come what may, he's going to
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  be short handed for the first round of the you know, they're
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  going to be in the playing round and he's going to be short
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  handed because he's burned through a lot of pitching
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  yesterday. But I mean, I think that just
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  shows the importance of what it. Means you got to win.
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  Group One team to make the county tournament.
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  And you got to win. Now you, you know, you got, you
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  got to win today because, you know, I was at the, the DuMont
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  game the other day and I was talking to someone who, you
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  know, came through DuMont went on to play at NJIT.
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  And, and we were talking about how in baseball, and we've
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  mentioned it before, I, I think in baseball, more than any other
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  sport, you can look at something and say, well, that team should
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  blow that team out or that team should win.
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  But you know, you got one guy who's trying to get his timing
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  down and you got a guy on the mound who's trying to disrupt
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  that timing. And sometimes that guy on the
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  mound is, is unexpectedly disrupting a very good team.
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  And the next thing you know you're in a one run game or or
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  the quote UN quote not better to it or the the lesser team comes
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  out on top. No doubt about it.
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  Yeah. And you know, everything, it
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  could change very quickly. And we've seen crazy results in
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  baseball more than any other. I mean, we'll talk about the
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  state tournament coming up later, but I think this show is
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  about, well, the Passaic County tournament.
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  Obviously DePaul is the top seed and the overwhelming, you know,
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  Passaic County Tech is also a good side, but DePaul is the
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  clear favorite and if they don't win, it will be a surprise.
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  I don't mean to put the pressure on our friend Joe Gambardella
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  over there, but they are the best team in Passaic County.
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  In Bergen County, it's a whole different ball of wax because
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  you got so many more teams, so many.
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  You have the big N, What do they call it?
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  The big boy division. We call it in football, it's the
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  United division. The Paul is in first place, but
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  they're in Passaic County. So all that is to say that you
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  got Bosco Bergen, Joe's and Paramus Catholic.
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  You know, Bosco, Bergen and Joe's are locks for the
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  tournament and. Paramus, you don't think What's
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  I, I, I don't know. I I have to.
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  I'd have to see what I mean. I would assume that Bergen
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  Catholic What what's Bergen Catholics record?
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  8:00 and 7:00. Which you know.
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  Is not eight and seven, which is not automatically qualified, but
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  they have some quality wins and. But no, it's not that they take.
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  24 now that you take 24 teams, I mean, you know, they're they're
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  eight and seven against the schedule that they have played.
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  If this was a 16 team tournament like back in the day, I think
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  they might be, you know, under some bubble pressure, but hard
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  pressed to put 25. You know, I I don't think
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  they're the 25th best team in Bergen County.
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  So well, put it this way here here are my locks, Bosco Bergen
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  Joe's. When I originally made my list
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  on Monday, Paramus Catholic was in it, but there have been some
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  goings on there that make them they're now eight and seven.
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  I know they used they, they got docked for using an illegal
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  pitcher, which cost them a forfeit very against a local
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  orange and white team. So to me they're pushed down to
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  the bubble. Then you got Westwood,
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  Riverdale, Ramsey, Ulta Pan, Pascack Valley, Ramapo,
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  Ridgewood, Fort Lee, Richfield Park in Pagoda.
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  Those are from the big north. And then in the NJIC, the locks
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  to me are Saint Mary, Glen Rock, Rutherford, New Milford, Park
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  Ridge. And with its win over Becton in
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  a basically a play in game, I would say Woodridge that is 1 go
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  ahead. You know, go ahead, Go ahead.
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  Good. I was going to say it's one,
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  It's 3456789101112131415161718 teams that I have for locks,
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  which means the bubble is about 6.
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  You know, it can probably squeeze six teams in there and I
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  think there's a whole lot of competition for those six
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  places. I, I think there is, and I think
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  what it's going to come down to is it's, it's, I, I really think
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  that when you're at this stage, this juncture of, of getting to
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  the selection, I think it's going to come down to, again,
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  what separates, like how far down do we have to go to
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  separate? And, and I think one of the
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  biggest things is, is games played.
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  And I, I honestly don't understand how teams right now
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  can only have 13 or 12 games played at this point in the
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  season. I don't understand how you can
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  end on Wednesday with 14 games played because it's, it's not
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  about the rain this year. Like I just don't understand it,
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  You know, and, and again, and another thing, another thing,
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  Corey is, and we're just going to put it out there and be
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  transparent. We, you and I talked off the off
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  the air about about teams and Big N teams that are 9 and 7,
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  8:00 and 8:00 that are going to have to be up against some of
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  the NJIC teams that may have a record that wins and losses wise
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  is much better than a Big N at at 8:00 and 8:00 or 9:00 and
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  7:00. But again, you know, when you
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  look at strength to schedule, what do you how many times did
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  you put your record on the line and who did you put your record
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  on the line against? And you know, I don't think
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  it's, it's an easy thing to do. Yeah, I know the NGIC reworked
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  their their conferences with baseball and I, I mean their
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  divisions and you know, I know they went to the back-to-back as
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  well. But I think there's a lot of, of
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  a lot of separation and, and a lot of, how do you say it here
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  fine tuning that that's like you're going to have to be as in
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  depth and as thorough as possible when, when selecting
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  teams over other teams. And I think it's going to go
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  both ways. I think you're going to get very
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  good big N teams that are 9 and 7 that might be left out or 8:00
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  and 8:00. And I think you're going to get
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  some teams in the NGIC that have good records and deserve, maybe
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  they think because of their record, they deserve, you know,
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  a top 12 or a top ten seed. And there has to be some sort of
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  determining criteria. And I think the committee's got
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  a tough job this year. No doubt about it.
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  And it it you know, it's not so much the league schedule.
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  The league schedule is what it is, and whether.
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  You were. No, it is what it is.
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  Yeah. And whether you agree with what
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  the NJIC did or or not, I mean, I think there are positives and
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  negatives to it in all sports and the way.
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  It works but. I think you can be judged on who
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  you decided to go play out of the league.
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  And. You know, that is if, if, if
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  you're, you know, I don't, I don't want to single out any
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  teams and say you, you haven't done it, but.
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  No there but it you don't have to single.
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  Out more you There's some weak out of league schedules in the
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  NBA. Weak out of league schedules and
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  all all you have to do is go go look it's it's public for
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  everybody to see. You know, our, our job is, is,
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  is not to single out in that manner because we don't have to
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  like just go look at teams and go look at who played who.
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  And you know, you could, you could make the determination,
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  you know, on yourself pretty much so by yourself.
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  So you know, it's, it's going to be, it's going to be
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  interesting. I, I think, you know, that being
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  said, core, I think we, we have some teams that might have, you
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  know, started out a little bit slow and are now starting to, to
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  pick up, pick up the pace a little bit.
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  You know, Indian Hills has rattled off some, some
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  impressive wins. You know, they're sitting at
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  5:00 and 8:00, but you know, I, I don't think anyone's going to
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  knock the door down to, to go play them.
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  You know, I think they're a good, I think they're a solid
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  there. I think they're fifth in, in
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  Group one right now in, in terms of the state playoffs with a 5
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  and 8 record. So that that tells you something
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  about their wins and, and their strength of schedule.
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  You know, in that same Group 1 you got New Milford is still,
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  you know, came out of the gate strong, still going strong at 13
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  and 2. They're actually in first place
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  ahead of a 16 and O Park Ridge team.
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  So again, some of the things that you and I just talked
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  about, you know, are, are right there.
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  So you know that that's it. It it's a it's a very, very
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  difficult thing to do. I I think the committee has the
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  most difficult task that they've had given the things that you
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  and I have talked about and I'm kind of glad that Sitch and I
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  don't have to worry about that. So yeah, you brought up Indian
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  Hills, You brought up Indian Hills and I'm looking at their
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  schedule right now. They have 0 bad losses.
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  I mean, you know, Mawa's not having a great year, but it's
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  still, there's still a representative side.
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  They're not a bad program or a bad team.
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  No, no, no, right. They lost to Group 4 Passaic
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  Tech twice to Westwood, you know, historic power.
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  Westwood lost to DePaul and you know, and went out and played
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  the Paul yeah and put them on their independent schedule.
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  Lost beat, you know, beat Ramsey, beat Wallblick, split
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  with Ramsey, lost to Richfield Park, who's going to be a top 16
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  seed, beat Pascack Hills yesterday and then has a chance
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  to sweep Pascack Hills today. If they get to 6 and eight.
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  You you put that resume up there.
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  And again, I mean, I'm not saying some of those teams with
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  the gaudy records from the NGSE shouldn't be in the tournament,
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  but I'm also not saying that Indian Hills shouldn't be in the
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  tournament with a six and eight record, you know?
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  Well, they, well, they'll be in the bit.
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  You can't get in without at least a 500.
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  So you know that, that, that is what it is.
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  But I mean, I don't know, I I, I looked at.
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  Didn't that, didn't it happen or am I thinking about, oh, it
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  happened in basketball this year where or what could have
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  happened in basketball this year Where the the requirement to be
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  at least 500 is no longer there? I don't think so.
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  Yeah, I, I think. Sports confused.
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  All right. So that, that no worries.
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  Yep. But then, you know, it's just I
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  and, and again, you know, you and I were talking about the
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  States and where people sit and you know, you, you look at teams
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  that have played 10 games, 10 games and you're, you're up
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  against teams that have played 14 1516.
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  And you know, you have a school like Vernon who's six and four.
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  Like I, I, I, I would like, I like, I would like the NSIA to
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  ask like how is it possible that you only have 10 games played on
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  on May for basically what it, what is May 1st?
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  How is that possible? And, and how is this point
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  system work where a six and 14 is, is ahead of a team that's
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  ten and four and has played a, a, a very strong schedule.
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  I, I, I just, I don't get it. I, I don't get it, like, and I
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  don't even know if I, I, I'm not pretending to have the answers
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  as to how to straighten out the point system, but it's, it's
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  laughable, some of this stuff. Well, if you're Lodi and you're
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  9 and like, how could you leave yourself at 9:00 and 3:00 going
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  into the Bergen County cut off? If you want to make the Bergen
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  County tournament, maybe they want to play in the VIT, which
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  is understandable as well. They'd be a, you know, a top.
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  But if you're going to be on the bubble anyway at 13 and three,
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  why would you leave yourself at 9:00 and 3:00?
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  There's a lot more turf around North Jersey now, too.
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  You know, back in the day, you know, you get rain and you
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  couldn't play for three days, but you know, but.
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  You know, but you know. It'll decrease, yeah.
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  And here's. And, and that's a very good
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  point because here's here's what happened on on Saturday, we got
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  a call from Woodridge and they had a team bail on them that
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  they were, they were supposed to play on Saturday.
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  So they did not have a game on Saturday.
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  So we got a call and said, listen, if you guys get rained
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  out on Saturday, would you be willing to play us on Sunday in
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  Woodridge at 11 AM? And you know, absolutely we'll
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  play the game because that's what you do.
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  You, you got an opportunity to put your record online, go go do
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  it. And then you get teams that are
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  bailing on games and, and you still, you still have teams that
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  are not rescheduling. Like when does it end?
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  When, when does it end? Like stop trying to manipulate
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  the schedule and to manipulate your arms.
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  You have a team prepare who you have next guy up.
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  Let's go play. Because it's, again, it's
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  frustrating when you know, you're a team that has two arms
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  and, and, and, you know, maybe a freshman kid who's who's doing a
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  great job and, you know, when you're going to a bullpen,
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  you're going to a position player that didn't have time to
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  get loose, has to come in, throw his 8 pitches and, and, and get
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  going. And you know what?
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  Yeah, we'll play a fifth game in six days because it's, it's,
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  it's what you're supposed to do. But you know, we, that's, we've
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  talked about this at, at at nauseam.
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  You know it, it really is. It really is disappointing, but.
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  Hey, all right, so let's do what you got to.
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  Do with your program. Let's turn our attention back to
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  the Bergen County Tournament. And now if if as in years past,
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  you were on the committee, Yep, Yep.
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  Who do you think? Who would your vote be for the
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  top seed in the 2026 Bergen County Baseball Tournament?
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  Ultipen. I agree 100%.
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  It's, it's Ultipen and I think it's, I think it's, I think it's
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  Don Bosco at 2:00. OK, yeah, I can see that.
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  And Old Japan, I saw them last week, one week ago today as we
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  taped this on Wednesday against the Pascack Valley and that's
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  one of North Jersey's top rivalries.
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  And I'll tell you, Kolkbek was on the mound for Old Japan.
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  He is as good a right-handed pitching prospect as I've seen
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  in North Jersey in, you know, he's up there with anybody that
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  I can think of as far as his, well, who they have.
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  Who they have last year, 2 years?
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  Was it last year crandler or two years?
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  Crandler, Alex Crandler. Yeah, he's there with Crandler
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  and Crandler is pitching at at Vanderbilt.
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  But Kolkbeck is even, you know, he, he's just so efficient in
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  his delivery, like there's no wasted motion.
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  It doesn't look like he's efforting that hard.
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  He worked so fast, you know. Yeah, I remember seeing him in
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  the in the in the county, the county final.
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  Did he throw the county final last year against Bosco or was
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  that two years ago? I think it was two years ago,
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  last year they got knocked out in the semis, right?
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  Didn't they? What did they place the?
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  Did they? Make was the year Krantzler or
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  or was it I I don't know. I might be, but I've seen the
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  kid through he's he's he's good. He's he's he's good.
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  I mean he's better than good, But I think you know, I I I
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  think you go, you know, I think these are the considerations.
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  My opinion. It's Old Japan and Bosco 1-2,
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  but I obviously you have Ridgewood at 12 and 4.
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  You have Ramapo at 11 and 4, you have 4.
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  I don't know. I'm not saying 1 seeds.
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  I'm saying you know, your your top 8 seeds and I mean Fort Lee
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  11 and 3 they're they're sitting up there.
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  Westwood is up there. Westwood.
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  Westwood is up there. Who else?
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  We have I. Mean we got Riverdale is is
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  still you. Know Riverdale, Ramsey,
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  Riverdale, Ramsey, Westwood, Old Japan, you know, and I'm talking
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  again, you know, conversation for your top 8, you know, Fort
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  Lee. But then you know what we don't
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  consider here? We're looking at records.
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  We're not looking at head to head like, you know, Fort Lee's
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  11:00 and 3:00. But I think Riverdale then makes
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  the case and goes, well, wait a second.
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  We 10 run, we 10 run to you guys.
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  I know we're 10 and five, you know, but if they win today,
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  they're 11 and five, you know, it's, it's good.
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  That's that's what makes it. That's what it's, you know what
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  it's like core. It's like the NFL.
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  It's like the NFL draft. Like the first round is easy,
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  right? But like the first round is
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  easy. I think your first, your first
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  six seeds are going to be relatively easy.
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  And then you go 7-8, you know, 678, you start to get into all
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  right, that eight seed is huge because that's the home game and
• 20:23
  you know who gets in there. But it's going to be, it's going
• 20:26
  to be definitely exciting, definitely exciting this year.
• 20:30
  It'll be the first Memorial Day weekend and God knows how long I
• 20:33
  I, I don't have to be at a baseball game, but I, I think
• 20:36
  I'll be there anyway. Well, I could save you.
• 20:38
  I mean, last year you were entitled to one of those front
• 20:41
  row seats. This year I can see if I can
• 20:42
  pull some strings and maybe get you in by that coach's area.
• 20:45
  If no, you know, just give me some going up give.
• 20:47
  Me some advance notice, then I'll see if I can.
• 20:50
  Get I'm going up. Only you know what, Corey, The
• 20:52
  only the only way I'll do that is if you stop at the Coach's
• 20:56
  Corner deli. Oh my God.
• 20:57
  And you don't have. To do, you know, do.
• 21:02
  You know where I'm going with this court, Corey, do you know
• 21:04
  where I'm going with this? Go ahead.
• 21:06
  I'll let you say it. All right, Well.
• 21:08
  The Gaskin that we should be talking about on this show is
• 21:12
  Brendan Gaskin, who is the ace for Pascack Valley, which has,
• 21:15
  you know, returned from the brink to win a few games in a
• 21:19
  row and play its way into the Bergen County Tournament.
• 21:21
  But Joe, that's not what we're here to discuss.
• 21:23
  No, this poor, that poor kid, that poor kid.
• 21:26
  If he doesn't already know, he may actually.
• 21:29
  He may actually be embarrassed. After what we say, we're going
• 21:33
  to say like it's horrible. It's.
• 21:36
  Horrible. I'm a huge fan of Brendan Gasket
• 21:38
  and I've watched him grow up inside the Pascack Valley
• 21:41
  baseball program. I consider his Uncle Chris that
• 21:44
  the now former head coach of the Richfield Park fight in Scarlet.
• 21:48
  It's a great day to be a Scarlet, as is every day, but I
• 21:52
  consider him to be one of my best friends in.
• 21:54
  So all that being said, Coach's Corner, the sponsor of talking
• 22:00
  baseball on North Jersey sports.com and now a, a, you
• 22:04
  know, a better factor of North Jersey sports.com because I go
• 22:07
  in there, my wife loves the tuna, The tuna get get the tuna.
• 22:11
  My wife loves the tuna. I've been going straight down
• 22:14
  the menu. I say what, what am I trying
• 22:16
  next? What am I trying next?
• 22:17
  What am I trying? My daughter loves the, you know,
• 22:21
  straight chicken cutlet with a little bit of mutts on the great
• 22:24
  bread. Oh, it's so good, right.
• 22:26
  So they they do you go in there and I know you were in there the
• 22:29
  other day, but when you walked, I walked in.
• 22:31
  I say, hey, Joe Sottera was just here.
• 22:32
  So I. Was I was there today, I was, I
• 22:34
  was there today. Yesterday I yesterday I got the
• 22:37
  the chicken Caesar salad sandwich.
• 22:40
  Yeah, today, today I got, I got the coach Ed.
• 22:43
  But Core, you walk in there and you open the door.
• 22:47
  You look up at the LED menu. You see Gaskin's face, his bio.
• 22:54
  But what else do you see? Court.
• 22:56
  What else do you see? Well, they do a great thing
• 22:58
  there. It's like that, you know, every
• 22:59
  month they're going to circulate coaches and they're asking for
• 23:02
  input from the community. I think it's great.
• 23:04
  And then they slap the big picture straight up there.
• 23:07
  And what you get when you are named coach of the year is you
• 23:11
  get to design your own sandwich for them to then sell in their
• 23:15
  retail delicatessen with all of North Jersey looking.
• 23:20
  So what is Chris Gaskin? What is his sandwich, Joe?
• 23:23
  I don't know court to tell me what is yo.
• 23:26
  Ham, you know what? Pepperoni and cheese.
• 23:38
  Like what? Are you fine?
• 23:39
  Just why do you just say peanut butter and Jelly?
• 23:44
  Just just say you don't. Don't pretend you're in a Salou
• 23:49
  Maria or how would you say that? Or the best Italian belly or
• 23:53
  Coach's Corner, a ham, pepperoni and cheese.
• 23:59
  Bro, just give me the old lunch ticket and I'll take the
• 24:01
  cardboard pizza slice from Bloomberg School in towns in
• 24:05
  Park, New Jersey. Corey completely do.
• 24:10
  You know, do you know that that sandwich actually comes with the
• 24:13
  corners cut out? They haven't sold one of them.
• 24:18
  I'm I'm 100% sure not even I need I need receipts because
• 24:23
  potatoes. You know, he had so many.
• 24:26
  He was the the original recipient.
• 24:28
  His had everything on him that looks great.
• 24:31
  Ham, ham, pepperoni and fresh mozz it all and that's it.
• 24:37
  No, no oil vinegar, no, no condiments, no roasted, no
• 24:42
  roasted, just a dry sandwich. Could you, could you, could you
• 24:46
  cut the hard part of the bread out too for us when you order
• 24:49
  it? Oh my God.
• 24:50
  And I think they have I think they have a chocolate milk
• 24:52
  special with it too. But.
• 24:54
  It comes in the the short carton, not the big carton.
• 24:59
  Just just take the sandwich down for crying out loud.
• 25:03
  Leave, Leave the resume up, take the sandwich down and and no one
• 25:07
  said he had to eat it. He could have made-up anything
• 25:10
  he wanted. To yeah, make them.
• 25:14
  Just. Put a man's sandwich up there.
• 25:16
  Seriously, just put a man's down like anything with.
• 25:19
  Roast just for a roast. Beef and it's, it's, it's, you
• 25:22
  know, give me roast beef, Turkey, give me everything.
• 25:25
  Throw on some, throw on some, some raw onions and, and, and at
• 25:29
  least you have a strong sandwich, a strong
• 25:32
  representation. You walked in.
• 25:34
  I'm like, I read the sandwich and I was like, are you guys
• 25:36
  going to leave that sandwich up there on the board like that?
• 25:40
  You can't even, you know how sometimes they'll display a
• 25:42
  sandwich like, you know, you'll get a, a picture of it.
• 25:45
  You can't even do that. Oh my.
• 25:51
  It's funny that we both had the same reaction to it too, because
• 25:53
  I looked at him like, I'm like, really dude?
• 25:55
  I can. I texted you when I was.
• 25:58
  Roni. When I was when I was in, when I
• 26:01
  was in the deli, I took a picture of it and sent it to you
• 26:03
  and said gaskin sandwich for the show like.
• 26:09
  Yes, please. In the show notes, please put
• 26:12
  please. We're we're we're out kicking
• 26:15
  our coverage with our, you know, the sponsorship arrangement that
• 26:17
  we have over there with coaches. Oh yeah, because 10 minutes.
• 26:21
  But what a actually, it turned out to be a great marketing tool
• 26:24
  for Coach's Corner. You can buy the landed sandwich
• 26:27
  under the name of the Gaskin Special.
• 26:29
  If you If you've had a stomach virus in the last day and you
• 26:32
  need something plain and bland, go get the gaskin at the which
• 26:37
  is corner. Ask for it on white bread, with
• 26:41
  the crust, with the, with the. Crust cut off and chocolate.
• 26:45
  Milk. Not.
• 26:46
  Not the regular white bread, the kind that gets stuck to the roof
• 26:49
  of your mouth when you take the. First, yes, yes, that's it.
• 26:53
  It's great. All right, So what else?
• 26:55
  What else are we missing here? We got bubble teams.
• 26:57
  I I got now. I think we got to start to get
• 27:00
  I, I think we got to start to get some guests on the show.
• 27:02
  I I think we got to get like, you know, we, we got to get some
• 27:04
  of these kids that, you know, are, are really having some
• 27:10
  years. Like, you know, I know you, you
• 27:11
  know, you mentioned the, the Co Quebec kid.
• 27:13
  I, I think, you know, I think we used to do it.
• 27:16
  We would get, we would get the kid on the show with their
• 27:18
  coach. And, you know, we have a lot of
• 27:22
  kids that are, there's a lot of kids now that are, that are
• 27:25
  coming up and, and committing to schools.
• 27:27
  And, you know, I think we, we, we should get some, some coaches
• 27:31
  and especially, you know, maybe this weekend after, after they
• 27:35
  play the, the first round of the, of the Bergen County
• 27:38
  tournament in the BIT tournament on Saturday, the not, not the
• 27:43
  first round, the playing round, But I, I think we, I think we
• 27:47
  need to do that. People are tired of hearing just
• 27:48
  me and you, you know? Yes, and I should a couple
• 27:52
  things I talked to Kolka back last week.
• 27:54
  Well, I'm all things being fair, we did invite Al Barela on.
• 27:58
  He gave us the Heisman. I invited Tim Tim Byron on last
• 28:01
  week after he won his 600th game and he responded with A2.
• 28:05
  Words, Yeah. Didn't he tell you to go after
• 28:07
  yourself? Yes.
• 28:10
  It's so many words, yes. It'll work out great, but I, you
• 28:14
  know, I and, and I was going to have Anthony Onembo on who's a
• 28:18
  great story, the catcher, all the pen and I was going to write
• 28:22
  the feature story. In fact, I have 4 paragraphs
• 28:24
  written there sitting here right in front of me, but I think I've
• 28:26
  been preempted by every other major news outlet in the
• 28:30
  tri-state area. He's all over the.
• 28:31
  Place. Yeah, I think I'm gonna.
• 28:33
  Pull my story and maybe I could, you know, we'll talk to we could
• 28:37
  even have him on to to tell his side of it.
• 28:39
  But you're right, we'll do it this weekend.
• 28:41
  And like I said, now that I'm out and about and get into some
• 28:44
  more games, I can much easier to interact with people.
• 28:48
  And I loved interviewing the Woodridge kids yesterday after
• 28:51
  the game. Lucas Mendoza from Woodridge is
• 28:53
  one of my favorite kids because last year in the first round of
• 28:57
  the county tournament, they played Northern Highlands.
• 28:59
  And he he was trying to score from second on a base hit and
• 29:03
  was obviously out at the plate. And I had pictures of it of him
• 29:07
  being thrown cut down at the plate by a good, you know, a, a
• 29:10
  good wide margin. He refuses.
• 29:13
  To put that on the third base coach, base coach.
• 29:16
  Probably yes, but he. Refuses to.
• 29:19
  He refuses to accept that he was out at the plate.
• 29:22
  He pulls up my picture on his phone all the time and says,
• 29:25
  see, I was in. I said, no, you're out, you're
• 29:27
  out, whatever. So it's been an ongoing thing.
• 29:30
  And I talked to him yesterday. He had six plate appearances and
• 29:33
  reached in all six of them in the marathon.
• 29:35
  That was the nine in the game against Becton.
• 29:38
  And you know, just a good kid form to talk to and have some
• 29:42
  fun with. You know, it doesn't take itself
• 29:44
  too seriously. Jack Caprio I spoke to as well
• 29:47
  from Woodwards. It's all going to be in the
• 29:49
  story which will soon be posted on North Jersey sports.com.
• 29:52
  But all of that is to say that I am out and I'm interacting,
• 29:55
  Jill. So I will get us some guests for
• 29:57
  the next show. That's great.
• 29:59
  I, I also, you know, we were talking about the Bergen County
• 30:02
  tournament. We mentioned a bunch of teams.
• 30:04
  I'm going to mention a little dark horse that if you're inside
• 30:08
  the big baseball community, you wouldn't think that they're a
• 30:10
  dark horse. But no one ever seems to talk
• 30:13
  about them every single year. And every single year they just
• 30:16
  keep doing it, doing it quietly, quietly.
• 30:19
  And that is the Bergenfield Bears.
• 30:21
  They are a solid, solid baseball team.
• 30:24
  They are sitting only one game behind Old Japan in the
• 30:27
  division. They're nine and six.
• 30:32
  They are five and two in the division.
• 30:34
  Old Tapan is five and one. They're currently tied with with
• 30:37
  Pascack Valley. I think they are going to make
• 30:41
  some noise in the Bergen County Tournament.
• 30:45
  Trepidation about them because the guy who was there before
• 30:48
  help me again, who was the head? Not true.
• 30:51
  Not. True.
• 30:52
  Anyway, he left and it was like, you know, the the, the sky is
• 30:57
  falling and what's gonna happen to Bergenfield And then Tom
• 31:00
  Ardis has come in. They're nine and six.
• 31:02
  Yes. And.
• 31:03
  Nine and six and very talented, very talented team.
• 31:07
  Yeah, they have. Very tough they return.
• 31:09
  They they. Return everybody.
• 31:10
  Yeah, they return everybody. I believe their two, their twin
• 31:15
  brothers, shortstop second baseman are going to William
• 31:18
  Patterson. I believe they're #1 is going to
• 31:22
  is going to William Patterson from what I understand, or at
• 31:25
  least that's that's been some talk.
• 31:27
  Who by the way, William Patterson tonight I mentioned
• 31:30
  knocked off the three seed Kane University yesterday in Kane
• 31:34
  32-IN-11 innings. Matt Caruso, former first
• 31:41
  baseman for PCTI, drove in the winning run.
• 31:45
  So that was a huge win for The Pioneers and Coach Laurahan.
• 31:49
  But yeah, they are. Bergenfield is a very, very
• 31:54
  solid baseball team and I think they are going to make a little
• 31:57
  bit of a run as we wind down and get into both county and state
• 32:01
  playoffs. All right, so Bergenfield, Joe
• 32:04
  Cetera, if it was the. They're like my 11, you know,
• 32:08
  the not the Kentucky Derby if it's the field of 64.
• 32:13
  Yeah. They're my that 11 seed upset
• 32:16
  that you that you picked, even though I don't think I don't
• 32:19
  think it's going to be that much of an upset when no matter no
• 32:22
  matter who they play because they are, they're a good
• 32:24
  baseball team, very solid. So you think they wind up wind
• 32:28
  up in the first round in the playing game and hosting a
• 32:30
  playing game and or do you think?
• 32:32
  That dude, I'll tell you I don't know as AC. 16.
• 32:36
  I don't know who they play, if they play today.
• 32:41
  Yeah, they play. They play at Tenafly.
• 32:45
  OK, so they'll be if they if they win, they'll be 10 and six,
• 32:50
  but if they. Get to the top 16.
• 32:52
  They lost. They played Donbosco in an
• 32:53
  independent game. Lost 95, lost 95.
• 32:58
  Beat Mawa. Beat Teaneck twice, Beat
• 33:01
  Cliffside. 2 Nothing on opening day.
• 33:03
  Lost to Old Depend 2. Nothing beat Pascack Hills 42.
• 33:07
  Beat Demarest 10. Nothing beat Demarest 86 lost to
• 33:12
  Highlands 52. Their only bad loss is is to
• 33:16
  Ramsey. They lost, they got 10 run ruled
• 33:20
  on April on April 11th, but they beat Mahwah 98.
• 33:24
  I think I said that, you know, and and then they're going out,
• 33:28
  you know, after the cut off, they still have Pascack Valley
• 33:30
  twice and and if things stay the way they are in that division,
• 33:34
  those are tremendous games that you might be covering.
• 33:38
  Yeah, I got to get. Yes, I got to get out and see
• 33:40
  Bergen, you know, and again, now that I am free to pursue some
• 33:44
  coverage and do some other things, they got to be on my
• 33:47
  list of because it to me, it's a good story when Bergen feels
• 33:50
  good. I mean, you know, I remember
• 33:51
  those teams with what's his name did former head coach John
• 33:57
  Farley Farley, Farley, Farley. They had I remember going and
• 34:01
  they had well, the kid who is their good pitcher who went
• 34:03
  Grimm. Oh my God.
• 34:05
  I. Oh yeah.
• 34:06
  Grimm, Grimm, Grimm, Grimm. Yeah, Yep.
• 34:09
  Grimm. One off the Seton Hall, one off
• 34:12
  the play at Seton Hall. I always I I like that those
• 34:15
  offbeat stories. I and the other thing, you know,
• 34:17
  we haven't mentioned, you mentioned them as a potential
• 34:19
  top four seed and they definitely should be.
• 34:20
  But you know, Ram post started the season.
• 34:22
  Oh, and two and they're 11 and 4, you know, nine and two and
• 34:25
  their last 11 games. So they.
• 34:27
  Got a home over? There and they got some, they
• 34:28
  got some depth, they got 19 seniors on that team so.
• 34:32
  And still playing. Still playing everybody.
• 34:35
  Yep, so they're going to be a force to be reckoned with too.
• 34:39
  And you know, I'm not saying that the the non publics are not
• 34:43
  amongst the favorites to win. They always will be.
• 34:45
  I mean Bosco, Bergen and Joe's certainly you know, Bosco is the
• 34:49
  defending champion. Joe's can, you know, swing the
• 34:52
  bats. They have some arms and and
• 34:53
  Bergen Catholic has been up and down, but when they're on their
• 34:56
  best day, they can certainly play with anybody but the
• 34:59
  public. I got push, I feel this year.
• 35:01
  Yeah, OK. Yeah.
• 35:03
  You get with with old Japan and then some of the other ones too,
• 35:06
  who, you know, like Westwood making a run.
• 35:07
  Would not surprise me. You know, they're all making a
• 35:11
  run. Not surprising, Ridgewood making
• 35:13
  a run. Not surprising.
• 35:14
  Ramsey. Ramsey.
• 35:15
  Making a run? Not surprising.
• 35:16
  Yeah. And Fort Lee, a team that had
• 35:18
  never made the county tournament before last year, all of a
• 35:21
  sudden you look at them and they're 11:00 and 3:00 and yeah.
• 35:23
  They're good. They, they, let me tell you
• 35:24
  something. They, they swing, they swing the
• 35:26
  bats and, and they have a lot of kids that can get on the mound
• 35:29
  and you know, they, they might not have a kid.
• 35:33
  That's like how they, they had a freshman they brought in, in
• 35:35
  relief. There's three brothers there,
• 35:38
  the Kim brothers. He's the youngest freshman.
• 35:42
  You know, he came in and, and, and kind of closed it out for
• 35:45
  them. But that team swings the bats.
• 35:49
  They, they swing the bass, they swing the bats core.
• 35:51
  They're, they're, they, they make a little noise too.
• 35:55
  You know, we have to go play them again today and you know,
• 35:58
  we we have to play a a, a clean game defensively and and we got
• 36:04
  to jump out early because they they just they're patient.
• 36:08
  They don't get cheated and and he's doing the Pete's doing a
• 36:11
  nice job over there again with them.
• 36:14
  So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens buddy.
• 36:18
  We. We will see what happens and we
• 36:20
  will follow it all on Talking Baseball.
• 36:22
  Follow the leader.