Plenty of local teams still on playoff bubble
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
For those of you who simply can't wait for the high school baseball and softball postseason tournaments to begin, this should be a good week for you.

While the NJSIAA state and Shore Conference tournaments are still a couple of weeks away, the cutoffs for those tournaments are rapidly approaching, with teams scrambling to qualify through a series of must-win games.

Locally, there are a number of baseball and softball teams that have already earned their tickets to the postseason, while four local teams are what we consider "bubble teams." For them, thisweek's gameswill determine their fate in the state tournament, since the cutoff is this Friday, with teams needing to have a .500 record or better at the end of the day to qualify.

The Ocean Township baseball team has been a mainstay in the Central Jersey Group III tournament in recent years, often entering the tournament as the team to beat in most people's eyes. And they have not disappointed very often, accumulating an impressive collection of hardware, most recently a sectional title a year ago. This year, however, with a young team that features a slew of varsity newcomers, the Spartans find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being on the bubble this week.

Ocean won a must-win affair against Mater Dei on Monday, 6-5, to get within one game of .500 at 9-10 on the year. That made yesterday's contest at Middletown North even more important. With a win yesterday against the 6-11 Lions, the Spartans would have secured their spot in the CJ III tourney.

With a loss, head coach Del Dal Pra's team would likely be left scrambling to pick up a couple of games today and tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to qualify.

Red Bank Catholic's baseball team was in a slightly better position following an 8-7 win over Old Bridge on Saturday. The Caseys entered the week at 8-8 on the year, needing to win just one of its two scheduled games to qualify for the Non-Public SouthA tournament.Yesterday,RBCplayed atBrick Memorial against a 9-8Mustangs teamalso looking to lock up a state bid this week. Today, the Caseys will play at Monmouth Regional against a Golden Falcons squad that is headed to theCJ III tournament after improving to 9-7 with a 4-1 win over Wall Township onMonday.

Should Monmouth earn its bid, head coach Ted Jarmusz's team could be a sleeper pick in what is always a very competitive CJ III bracket.

Of the remaining local teams headed to the state tournament, Rumson-Fair Haven and Shore Regional have been themost consistent this season. The Bulldogs suffered a rare loss onMonday, falling to ColtsNeck, 3- 0, as RFH's potent offensewas shut down by one of the state's elite hurlers, Ethan Jackson. Head coachKevin James'Bulldogs have been scoring in bunches since opening day, averaging nearly 10 runs a game,which has enabled them to play to an impressive 11-2 mark.However, itwill be interesting to see if Rumson-FH can win the close, low-scoring games that generally make up the postseason tournaments, rather than relying solely on what is certainly an explosive offense.

Shore Regional gave unbeaten St. Rose a good game on Monday before falling, 2- 1.With the loss, the Blue Devils fell to 14- 2 on the year, but further proved that they should be among the favorites in the upcoming Central Jersey Group I tournaments. Shore Regional has all the ingredients of a team capable of making a deep playoff run.

Many of these same teamswill be looking to battle for a Shore Conference crown. The SCT has aMay 12 cutoff date for eligibility.

In girls softball, theMonmouth Regional teamentered theweek facing a pair ofmustwin games, as the Golden Falcons carried a 7-9 record into Tuesday's game atManchester. With awin there,Monmouthwould have faced another must-win game at Red Bank Regional yesterday.

That game would have carried even more weight when you consider that the Bucs are also a bubble team this week. RBR was 9-9 entering Tuesday's game with St. John Vianney. In addition to facing Monmouth yesterday, the Bucs also face Colts Neck later today and Neptune tomorrow before the cutoff.

Even if they fail to qualify for the CJ III tournament, bothMonmouth and RBR could be playing for their SCT fates this weekend.

Among the local teams that are assured of state playoff berths are RBC, Ocean Township and Shore Regional.

RBC made a statement to the entire state onMondaywith an impressive 5-0win over the state's top-ranked team from Toms River East. The Caseys got a no-hitter from senior Brittany O'Donnell (her ninth), while handing Lyndsey PeQueen her first loss of the year.With thewin, RBC improved to 15- 1 on the season and gained even more momentumheading into Saturday'sMonmouth County Tournament championship game against Mater Dei. Without question, O'Donnell is getting better with every start, making RBC even tougher to beat fromhere on out.

Ocean Township has quietly put together another strong season at 11-4 and should once again be a force to be reckoned with in the CJ III bracket. The same can be said for Shore Regional, which improved to 16-2 on the year with an 8-2 win over St. Rose on Monday. Head coach NancyWilliams' girls are the only team to have beaten Mater Dei this year, and should be one of the top seeds in the CJ Group I tournament.

Lacrosse teams learn their paths to SCT glory

With the state cutoff for lacrosse teams hoping to qualify for the NJSIAA tournaments looming on Monday, there is very little drama for the local squads.

In fact, there are no teams on the bubble at this point, with RBC (10-1), RBR (9- 1) and RFH (9-2) assured of berths on the boys side, and the girls teams from RBC (11-3), RBR (10-3), RFH (10-2),Monmouth Regional (10-5), Ocean Township (10-5) and Shore Regional (12-1) all earning their spots in the upcoming tournaments.

However, before they can worry about the state tournament, all of the aforementioned teams will be gunning for a Shore Conference Tournament crown, with the seeding for that tournament decided on Monday.

In boys action, RBC was given the second seed behind top-ranked CBA, with RFH following as the third seed and RBR getting the fourth nod.

The local girls teams were given equal respect, with Shore Regional and RFH getting the top two seeds, respectively, RBC earning the fourth spot and Ocean Township the sixth. RBR is the ninth seed, with Monmouth Regional being selected 11th.