To be successful in the District 11 baseball playoffs, you have to have good pitching.
A dominating, sure-fire No. 1 who you can give the baseball to and say “Here you go, do your thing.”
Good-hitting teams can win games, but ultimately the teams that have the most dominant pitchers are the ones who end up playing in June instead of making plans for the beach.
How does that translate for the Schuylkill League teams in this year’s District 11 playoffs?
Pretty good.
The Schuylkill League is full of dominant pitchers — several coaches have said the Schuylkill League was more competitive this year than they can ever remember — that are capable of winning games by themselves.
If those aces live up to their billing, a bevy of local fans will be making the trek to Coca-Cola Park next week for the District 11 Baseball Championships.
If they don’t, or their defense lets the team down behind him, there could be some very good teams that go home early.
As I do every year, I pulled out the hated Crystal Baseball to break down this year’s playoffs.
Let’s take a look:
CLASS A
There are plenty of storylines in this five-team bracket.
First, defending champion Schuylkill Haven bumped up to Class AA, so there won’t be a repeat winner in this classification for the sixth straight year. The last school to win back-to-back titles was Williams Valley in 2008-09.
Second, Pius X is closing at the end of the school year. This is the Royals’ last hurrah in any scholastic sport. That’s hard to fathom, isn’t it?
Pius X has a long history of District 11 playoff success in football and baseball. Do the Royals go out with a bang, or a whimper?
Third, there’s some interesting matchups on tap in this class.
Play begins Wednesday with Shenandoah Valley visiting Tri-Valley in a quarterfinal contest. The winner gets top-seeded Marian in Saturday’s semifinals, which are slated for Tamaqua High School.
In the other semifinal Saturday, Nativity takes on Pius X.
Some key questions in this class:
• Which team(s) does Tri-Valley ace Hunter Bordner face, and when? He’s the one guy who can single-handedly win this bracket. Of all the intangibles in this bracket, that may be the most important one.
• Marian dominated its opponents en route to the Schuylkill League Division III title. Can the Colts carry that into the postseason, where they haven’t reached the District 11 finals since 2001?
• What do we make of Nativity? I thought the Hilltoppers would be better than their 13-7 record, but they did close the regular season on a six-game win streak.
• Can Shenandoah Valley be a spoiler? It’s fitting the Blue Devils returned to the District 11 playoffs the year legendary coach Babe Conroy passed away. Can they beat Tri-Valley for a second time this season?
This bracket is a toss-up, and considering I never get this classification right, let’s go for broke ... and some Felty magic.
Championship: Tri-Valley over Nativity
Darkhorse: Marian
CLASS AA
The Schuylkill League hasn’t fared well in Class AA since 2010, when Catasauqua ended Pine Grove’s three-year reign as champions (2007-09).
The Cardinals won it all in 2012, but a Schuylkill League team hasn’t reached the Class AA finals the past two seasons.
I think that streak ends this year.
Top-seeded Schuylkill Haven gets a big break by getting a bye into the semifinals, meaning ace Nick Behm can essentially pitch both of the Hurricanes’ playoff games.
Haven hasn’t hit the ball down the stretch, and will have to if the Hurricanes want to return to the state playoffs. Their senior stars need to come through.
The Hurricanes will face either Pine Grove or Salisbury in the semifinals, not a good matchup for Haven.
Pine Grove has traditionally thrived in the Class AA playoffs — the Cards got hosed last year or would have made it to the finals — and Salisbury is the best AA team from the Colonial League.
In the other half of the bracket, No. 2 North Schuylkill hosts Catasauqua and Minersville visits Notre Dame-Green Pond.
The Spartans have endured several cases of adversity this year, losing Bobby Grigas and Bobby Wagner to injury, and Tevin Murray hasn’t been as dominant as expected.
It’s possible Grigas returns for the playoffs, although it’s not known in what capacity. If he does, he makes North Schuylkill a whole lot better.
Minersville doesn’t have any superstars ... the Miners just win games. Can they knock off Notre Dame?
North Schuylkill is the wild card in this bracket. If Grigas returns, if Murray pitches well, if the Spartans play well defensively, they could win it all.
Championship: North Schuylkill over Schuylkill Haven
Darkhorses: Salisbury, Notre Dame-Green Pond
CLASS AAA
Unlike Class AA, the Schuylkill League has dominated the Class AAA bracket, winning the last four titles and six of the last seven (2010 winner Lehighton wasn’t in Schuylkill League yet).
Colonial League champion Saucon Valley and CL members Northwestern Lehigh and Palisades will look to end that run.
Some key questions in this class:
• Can the Colonial League teams match up with the pitching of Pottsville’s Eli Nabholz, Blue Mountain’s Dean Stramara and the Tamaqua tandem of Bo Rottet and Brett Kosciolek?
• Tamaqua is the two-time defending champion. Is there another district run in the Blue Raiders’ future?
• In the past seven years, Blue Mountain has won four titles and lost in the finals last year. Can the Eagles’ strong senior class get them to Allentown again?
• Can Pottsville end its string of district disappointments?
On paper, Pottsville is the best team in this class. A player expected to be taken in June’s MLB Amateur Player Draft. Two other players headed to Division I colleges. A group of talented underclassmen ready to make an impact.
If Pottsville wins its first District 11 title since 1998 —yes, it’s been that long — it won’t be easy, with possible games against Tamaqua and Blue Mountain standing between them and the title.
But if there’s going to be a year the Crimson Tide get to celebrate at Coca-Cola Park, this is it.
Championship: Pottsville over Blue Mountain
Darkhorse: Tamaqua
CLASS AAAA
What makes this bracket interesting is that eight of the 12 teams just went toe-to-toe in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Tournament.
In those playoffs, top-seeded Parkland and No. 2 Stroudsburg reached the finals, with Parkland winning 4-2 by beating MLB draft-pick-to-be Mike Nikorak.
Can the Trojans beat Stroudsburg again if they face Nikorak in the district finals?
Yep.
Championship: Parkland over Stroudsburg
Darkhorse: Bethlehem Liberty.
Odds and Ends
Congratulations to Minersville head coach Del Hauck for earning his 400th career victory in the Miners’ win over Mahanoy Area on May 6.
Forever humble and team-oriented, Hauck threw a pizza party for his players as a celebration.
Hauck deserves much more accolades than that. Congrats, coach.
• Williams Valley missed the District 11 playoffs this year for the first time since 2003, ending an impressive 11-year run that included District 11 Class A titles in 2008, ’09 and a runner-up finish in 2013.
• Upper Dauphin begins play in the District 3 Class AA playoffs today when the No. 8-seeded Trojans host No. 9 Annville-Cleona.
It’s a rematch of last year’s District 3 Class AA quarterfinal, which Annville-Cleona won 7-2.
(Boyer is sports editor and covers HS baseball for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)