NYPost.com’s PSAL softball beat writer Marc Raimondi takes an in-depth look at the Class A playoffs, which begin with the first round Tuesday.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 15
First round @ higher seeds
No. 32 Grand Street Campus @ No. 1 Tottenville
No. 31 Beacon vs. No. 2 Susan Wagner @ Great Kills LL
No. 30 Port Richmond vs. No. 3 James Madison
No. 29 Midwood @ No. 4 Construction
No. 28 Lehman @ No. 5 Cardozo
No. 27 Walton @ No. 6 Francis Lewis
No. 26 Environmental Studies @ No. 7 Bayside
No. 25 Bushwick @ No. 8 Bryant
No. 24 Petrides vs. No. 9 Stuyvesant @ Central Park
William Thomas
Susan Wagner’s Taylor Sarcone is one of the players to watch in the 2012 playoffs.
No. 23 Manhattan Center @ No. 10 McKee/Staten Island Tech
No. 22 Lane vs. No. 11 Stevenson
No. 21 Van Buren @ No. 12 DeWitt Clinton
No. 20 Long Island City vs. No. 13 Telecommunications @ The Dust Bowl
No. 17 Hunter College HS vs. No. 16 Bronx Science @ Harris Park
Wednesday, May 16
First round @ higher seeds
No. 19 InTech Academy @ No. 14 Forest Hills
No. 18 New Dorp @ No. 15 George Washington
Thursday, May 17
Second round @ higher seeds
Monday, May 21
Quarterfinals @ higher seeds
Wednesday, May 23
Semifinals @ TBA
Saturday, May 26 or Sunday, May 27
Final @ TBA
FAVORITE
Tottenville
There’s only one favorite when it comes to PSAL softball. Tottenville has won seven of the last eight city titles and 110 straight regular-season games. The Pirates have won 13 straight division titles and look poised to string together a second PSAL Class A championship victory in a row.
CONTENDERS
Susan Wagner
If the familiarity helps at all, Wagner has as good a chance as anyone of knocking off powerhouse Tottenville. The two teams play twice every season on Staten Island and the Falcons players know all about what makes the Pirates successful. Wagner lost some confidence in the most recent meeting, though.
Construction
The Red Hawks are on a collision course with Tottenville in the semifinals, but perhaps they will have an advantage if the Pirates look past them. For one, Tottenville doesn’t usually get a competitive game in the semis. And a 15-2 loss by Construction in the regular-season meeting means maybe Tots take them lightly.
James Madison
For all the talk that Madison didn’t deserve the No. 3 seed, the Knights did only lose to Tottenville, 3-0, in the regular season. Samantha Rodriguez and Gina Gerone have an incredible amount of experience and Cheyenne Tatesure has been successful against the Pirates. Madison has to get there first, though.
McKee/Staten Island Tech
Yes, the No. 10 seed has a decent shot of making a run and winning the whole thing. How? Well, MSIT didn’t deserve such a low draw, after all the Seagulls only fell to Tottenville, 5-3, last week and the Pirates needed to come back from down 3-0 early in the game to win. Tech has a chance at a deep run.
SLEEPERS
Cardozo, Francis Lewis and Bayside
These teams get lumped together, because they were so close to each other in the regular season, all of the division mates beating up on one another in Queens A-I. Cardozo won the division, but Lewis might be the best team of the three.
Bryant
The Owls can really hit – just ask Cardozo, a team they beat, 12-2 – and when Tiffany Zecena is on, they can shutdown most lineups. The biggest thing standing in Bryant’s way right now is a potential quarterfinals meeting with Tottenville.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Maguette Fofana, DeWitt Clinton
She throws almost as hard as anyone in the city and did well against teams like Susan Wagner and McKee/Staten island Tech in the regular season. If Fofana is on and healthy, Clinton could be looking at a second straight trip to the quarterfinals.
Blayse Halvorsen, McKee/Staten Island Tech
Whether it be with her right arm or her middle-of-the-order bat, Halvorsen very much controls MSIT’s fate. Just a sophomore, she has shown glimpses of superstardom the last two seasons and this could be her coming-out party.
Morgan Higgins, Stuyvesant
She doesn’t get the publicity of pitchers like Cheryl Lopez, Britney Rodriguez and Taylor Sarcone, but Higgins can do similar things those high-profile girls can. She’s a dual threat with her arm and her bat and will be the reason if Stuy makes a run.
Jillian Regan, Tottenville
The sophomore might have the most raw power in the PSAL and she showed that by going deep twice against Susan Wagner in the first meeting. If Tottenville is going to win another city title, it’ll need to hit and Regan is its biggest threat.
Taylor Sarcone, Susan Wagner
Every game for the last four years, Wagner coach Marco Altieri has penciled Sarcone’s name into his lineup card at pitcher and in the middle of his lineup. There are few players more valuable to their team than Sarcone.
