BB: NJAC: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Lefty]

I have been out of town all weekend but here are all of the scores for Friday and Saturday.

Friday in the NJAC:
Kean 14, NJCU 3
Montclair State 14, Rutgers-Newark 4
Rowan 7, Richard Stockton 4
TCNJ 8, Rutgers-Camden 1


Saturday in the NJAC:Kean 3, Richard Stockton 2
Richard Stockton 6, Kean 4
Montclair State 6, William Paterson 0
Montclair State 9, William Paterson 8
NJCU 7, Rutgers-Camden 5
Rutgers-Camden 11, NJCU 5
TCNJ 14, Ramapo 3
TCNJ 7, Ramapo 5
Rowan 5, Rutgers-Newark 2
Rowan 12, Rutgers-Newark 1

Nice sweep for TCNJ.  Rowan with a huge sweep of RU-Newark to get back in the running for the last playoff spot.

[Spence]

Big sweep for Montclair as well to solidify their position in the tournament field. They're a pretty solid 4th now.

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for April 23rd:

Ramapo 17, Rutgers-Newark 10
Rowan 14, William Paterson 2
TCNJ 17, Staten Island 7

I hope to get some time tomorrow to give a look at the last week of the season and give a short outlook to the playoff race.

[Lefty]

From The NJAC website:

Players of the Week for week ending 4-22-07

PLAYER OF THE WEEK        
Gerard Haran, The College of New Jersey
Senior, Catcher
Matawan, NJ/Old Bridge

Haran earns NJAC Player of the Week honors after hitting .412 (7-for-17) with three home runs, 11 RBI and seven runs scored in a key 5-0 week of conference play for the Lions. He produced multiple-hit efforts in three league contests including a 2-for-4 performance with two home runs, two RBI and two runs scored in TCNJ's 4-2 road win at Richard Stockton. In a key NJAC doubleheader sweep of Ramapo, he went a combined 5-for-7 with a home run, eight RBI and three runs scored as the Lions' posted 14-3 and 7-5 victories. The reigning NJAC Player of the Year, he already has eclipsed TCNJ career records for home runs (44) and RBI (198). Haran currently leads the NJAC in home runs with nine on the season.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK        
Dan VandeVrede, William Paterson University
Sophomore, Right-handed Pitcher
Lincoln Park, NJ/Pequannock

VandeVrede earns NJAC Pitcher of the Week honors after pitching the Pioneers to a 5-0 NJAC shutout victory over Rutgers-Camden. In the win, he scattered three hits over nine innings for his second complete game of the season. He struck out four while not walking a batter in the contest in which only three Camden hitters reached base. VandeVrede currently ranks 13th in the NJAC in total innings pitched with 45.0 on the season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK        
Mike Guadango, William Paterson University
Freshman, Outfielder
Upper Saddle River, NJ/Northern Highlands

Guadango earns NJAC Rookie honors for the second time this season after hitting .409 (9-for-22) with four doubles, five RBI and five runs scored during five contests for William Paterson. He hit safely in 4-of-5 games and produced two multiple-hit contests including a 4-for-6 performance with two doubles, four RBI and two runs scored in the Pioneers' 12-4 non-conference road win at Drew. He wrapped up the week by going a combined 4-for-8 with a double, one RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases in Paterson's doubleheader with rival Montclair State. Guadango currently ranks fourth in the NJAC in total bases with 71 on the season.

ROOKIE PITCHER OF THE WEEK            
Jesus Castano, Montclair State University
Freshman, Right-handed Pitcher
West New York, NJ/Memorial

Castano earns NJAC Rookie Pitcher honors for the third time this season after tossing eight scoreless innings in a pair of appearances during the week for the Red Hawks. He opened the week by tossing a scoreless inning of relief in Montclair's NJAC loss to Kean. Three days later, he scattered three hits over seven shutout innings with five strikeouts to earn the victory in the Red Hawks' 6-0 NJAC blanking of rival William Paterson. Castano, who improved to 5-1 overall on the season with the win, currently ranks tied for second in the conference in victories (5).

[phil]

In the 17-7 victory over Staten Island TCNJ's Haran became the 22nd player in D3 history to record his 200th RBI He also hit his 45th career home run in that game.

[Lefty]

I am going to try to make my best guess on this weekends final regular season games and what teams need to make the playoffs and my final standings.  This is just for fun and don't hold this against me....I am just trying to give an outlook on the upcoming weekend. 

This is based on current standings.

Kean: 11-3 in the conference and 24-6 overall
Upcoming games - @ Ramapo, @ NJCU, and a DH @ RU-Camden
My take – Needs to get by Ramapo and then faces the bottom two teams in the conference.  I think they do that and they and are my regular season champs. 

TCNJ: 11-3 in the conference and 24-8 overall
Upcoming games – vs. William Paterson, and a DH @ RU-Newark
My take – Should beat William Paterson but not an easy doubleheader @ RU-Newark.  I think TCNJ is peaking at the right time and they take the sweep.  They are my second place team.

Ramapo: 11-3 in the conference and 27-8 overall
Upcoming games – vs. Kean, and a DH @ William Paterson
My take – Outstanding season for a team that was selected 9th in the preseason coaches poll.  I think they come up short against Kean but sweeps Paterson to take 3rd place in the conference.

Montclair State: 9-5 in the conference and 17-14 overall
Upcoming games – vs. NJCU, vs. RU-Newark, and a DH @ Stockton
My take – I wrote this team off about two weeks ago and then they come back and make a nice little run.  I think they get by NJCU and RU-Newark and will probably split with Stockton and claim the 4th place.

Richard Stockton: 7-7-1 in the conference and 19-11-1 overall
Upcoming games - @ Rowan, and a DH vs. Montclair St.
My take – In a fight for one of the last two spots for the conference playoffs.  I see them losing to a suddenly hot Rowan and split with Montclair St. but it is still enough to make the playoffs.

Rowan: 7-7 in the conference and 17-14 overall
Upcoming games – vs. Richard Stockton, and a DH vs. NJCU
My take – I see them getting by Stockton and sweep NJCU to jump into 5th place.  The Stockton game is huge and the experience should get them the win.

RU-Newark: 7-8 in the conference and 11-22 overall
Upcoming games - @ Montclair St., and a DH @ TCNJ
My take – What a final three games to have on the schedule.  Montclair and TCNJ need wins to solidify their spot in the playoffs and RU-Newark is just trying to stay alive.  I think there lack of pitching gets them swept this week. 

William Paterson: 3-10-1 in the conference and 15-14-2 overall
Upcoming games - @ TCNJ, @ RU-Camden, and a DH vs. Ramapo
My take – What a disappointing season for the Pioneers.  They are technically still alive in the playoff race but they have to sweep TCNJ and Ramapo....I don't think so!

NJCU: 3-11 in the conference and 14-18 overall
Upcoming games - @ Montclair St., vs. Kean, and a DH @ Rowan
My take – NCJU brought in some nice additions to the roster this year but it still wasn't enough to move them up the standings.  They are still in the playoff hunt but that should end with a loss at Montclair on Thursday.  They could be a spoiler at Rowan on Saturday.

**eliminated from the playoff race**
RU-Camden: 2-12 in the conference and 13-20 overall
Upcoming games – vs. Rowan, vs. William Paterson, and a DH @ Kean
My take – Eliminated and get swept this week.  If Kean falls asleep on Saturday they could sneak out a win but I doubt it.

My prediction for final standings:

Kean 15-3
TCNJ 14-4
Ramapo 13-5
Montclair 12-6
Rowan 10-7
Stockton 8-9-1

RU-Newark 7-11
W. Paterson 4-13-1
NJCU 3-15
RU-Camden 2-16

The top six make the playoffs that begin May 3rd.

With all that being said....hopefully I am close in my predictions.  Feel free to give my your opinions.

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for 4-24:

Kean 16, Centenary 7
NJCU 11, Baruch 2
Ramapo 20, Mt. St. Vincent 3
Rowan 22, Haverford 9
Rutgers-Camden 17, John Jay 8
York (PA) 4, Rutgers-Newark 3
William Paterson 11, Manhattanville 1
Johns Hopkins at Montclair State, 7:00 PM

I know the competition isn't the highest level but wow did the NJAC score some runs today.

I'll update the late game tomorrow.

[OldHasBeen]

Hopkins looked like a good ball club...can they give serious competition in the region?

[Lefty]

From April 24th:

Johns Hopkins 10, Montclair State 5

[Lefty]

Hopkins looked like a good ball club...can they give serious competition in the region?

I haven't seen them play this year but they did go 6-2 against the NJAC.  Five of those six wins came against some of the weaker teams in the NJAC (RU-Camden, RU-Newark, William Paterson) and their two losses came against TCNJ....one of the best in the conference.  They should get a good seed (#2, 3,or 4) in the regional and could do some damage early.  Who knows once they meet up with Kean and TCNJ.

[Spence]

This is about where they usually are in their up years, tucked right behind the top teams in the NJAC. Can they break through? I think I picked them to do so this year, but Kean's top two are looking really good pitching-wise. However, if they met in regionals it most likely wouldn't be until the 3rd game. But if Kean is the 1 seed that would be the 2nd game for them.

Lot of buts.

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for 4-25:

Kean 13, FDU-Florham 4
Rutgers-Newark 12, Alvernia 3
TCNJ 11, Widener 0

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for 4-26:

Kean 10, Ramapo 1
Montclair State 8, NJCU 1
Rowan 4, Rutgers-Camden 3
TCNJ 9, William Paterson 1

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for 4-28:

Montclair State 12, Richard Stockton 10
Richard Stockton 5, Montclair State 4
William Paterson 22, Ramapo 1
William Paterson 12, Ramapo 5
TCNJ 4, Rutgers-Newark 1
TCNJ 11, Rutgers-Newark 5


What got into William Paterson??  Ramapo might have played themselves out of a Pool C bid.  I think they need at least one win in the NJAC playoffs, maybe two, to secure the Pool C bid.   

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for 4-29:

Kean 5, Rutgers-Camden 4
Kean 8, Rutgers-Camden 7
Rowan 5, NJCU 4
Rowan 5, NJCU 3


With the Rowan sweep of NJCU today the six playoff teams are set.  Kean, TCNJ, Montclair St., Ramapo, Rowan, and Richard Stockton have qualified for the tournament.  There are still three games on Monday that will effect the seedings.