If you ask anyone who regularly follows Hudson County high school baseball, they will be quick to tell you that this season has been one of the wildest and most bizarre in recent memory, if not of all time.
Usually by now, there would have been a sure-fire favorite to capture the HCIAA Coviello Division title. In years past, you would have had the rest of the county chasing after either Memorial or St. Peter’s Prep, grasping at straws to try to earn the distinction of county supremacy.
And there would have been teams with shut-down, flame throwing pitching aces, the kind of hurlers that would have sent fear into the rest of the opponents.
Not this year. As the HCIAA playoffs began this week, there wasn’t a legitimate favorite. Sure, Hudson Catholic won the regular season title and only lost once inside the humble confines of the league. The Hawks have the pitching depth in Sean McGrath and Robert “Hammer” Doughty to get the job done.
But are the Hawks clearly ahead of everyone else? Not really.
If you ask a veteran of the HCIAA playoff wars, namely Bayonne High School head coach Phil Baccarella, who will capture the league title this weekend, he gives Hudson Catholic the edge – but not a huge one.
“I think Hudson Catholic has to have the advantage,” Baccarella said. “They have the depth in pitching and they have a 15-1 record in the league, so they’re the best.”
But if you’re looking for a team that might come away with the league title this weekend, don’t look any further than the Bees of Bayonne, who advanced to the Final Four, the league semifinals, with a win over Ferris on Tuesday.
Bayonne was slated to face North Bergen in one semifinal, while Hudson Catholic was squaring off with Emerson in the other semifinal after press time Thursday.
Notice there isn’t mention of perennial favorites Memorial (last year’s champion) and St. Peter’s Prep (winners of five of the last eight HCIAA titles). Both teams went down in a wreck in the semifinals, with North Bergen manhandling Memorial and Emerson taking care of the Marauders.
“I really think this year you could have put the names of six different teams into a hat and pulled one out,” Baccarella said. “It’s been that close. We’re the No. 2 seed and we’re no better than the sixth seed (North Bergen). We were very fortunate to get the No. 2 seed. It’s been a totally different season.”
Baccarella said that he knows what the playoff fever feels like and the sense of the unknown.
“We went in one year as the No. 1 seed and lost,” Baccarella said. “One year, we were the No. 6 seed and won the thing. So you never know. But this year is so wild.”
Another reason for the lack of a favorite has to be the scheduling. The league was broken into two divisions for scheduling purposes, so teams like Bayonne had to face the powers like Memorial and St. Peter’s Prep just once.
Another factor that has to come into play is the early scheduling, cramming the entire county playoffs in both divisions (Coviello and Seglio) in both baseball and softball into a five-day window.
The reason behind the compacted schedule is to get the HCIAA playoffs finished before the NJSIAA playoffs begin on Tuesday.
It’s a good idea in some aspects, because teams don’t have to change focus and gears from one playoff to another.
However, what does that do to the pitching? You’re asking a high school kid to pitch a quarterfinal game on Tuesday and if his team is fortunate enough to get by Thursday’s semifinal, then that kid gets the ball again on Saturday? It’s asking a lot, especially for the teams that don’t have sufficient pitching depth.
“I honestly don’t understand why they do that,” Baccarella said of the playoff scheduling. “We’ve played 24 games now (21-3) in a span of 46 days. It’s almost like we’re playing every day. And the weather has just now started to get nice. It’s very difficult to do. The game is still being played by kids and I think that’s being lost a little.”
In any respect, the Bees have to be considered as a possible contender this weekend, because senior left-hander Jeremy Ives is finally working his way back into pitching shape.
Ives suffered from some shoulder tendonitis earlier in the year and had to miss three weeks. It made an impromptu ace out of James Young and if the Bees are to win this weekend, it will be with Young on the hill. But having ace Ives back healthy is a sigh of relief for Baccarella.
“We had been taking it very cautiously with Jeremy,” Baccarella said. “He’s back now, so we’ll see what happens.”
Senior catcher Mike McGuckin has been the team’s most consistent and clutch hitter, batting .403 as the playoffs reach the Final Four. His younger brother, sophomore Thomas, has been also a solid contributor, batting .380.
The McGuckin brothers bat fourth and fifth. The table setters are centerfielder Vinny Terhune, second baseman Joe Norton and left fielder Marc Percella.
“All three of those are seniors and two-year starters,” Baccarella said. “They set the tone and give the McGuckin brothers a lot of chances to drive in runs.”
Junior first baseman Pat Walsh has been a pleasant surprise and leads the Bees in homers with three.
So the Bees have the pitching depth and the hitting to emerge victorious, even though in reality, it’s anyone’s guess.
All four of the teams standing have a shot. North Bergen has the pitching in Damien Seguen and Jules Diaz, but the Bruins have faltered in recent games before pounding Memorial. North Bergen has been Hudson County’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because they look unbeatable one minute and awful the next.
Emerson has been on a roll and also has pitching depth, with Yoken Castro and Jordaris Espaillat.
Hudson Catholic has McGrath and Doughty, both of whom are drawing raves from college scouts.
It’s a total crapshoot. The pick here is Hudson Catholic over Bayonne in a close one. In the Seglio, it will be Hoboken once again over St. Mary’s.
The girls’ Coviello Division showdown will be between North Bergen and St. Dominic with the Bruins finally emerging victorious. And the coronation of Danielle Gaffey becomes complete when County Prep topples High Tech to win the HCIAA Seglio crown.
We’ll have coverage of all four title games in next week’s editions.