By Dylan Butler
While inclement weather may throw a curve ball into the plans, the PSAL baseball playoffs were scheduled to start Wednesday. And on Monday, the league delivered the first pitch of sorts for the postseason, announcing the seeds for the 32-team field.
Tottenville from Staten Island received the top spot while Bronx teams Lehman and Monroe, the defending city champion, were seeded second and third, respectively. John Adams was Queens' highest ranked team, coming in at No. 4. The Spartans will face Telecommunication in a first-round game scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
“It doesn't make a difference where we're seeded, we could be seeded second, third, eighth or ninth, you still have to play everyone,” said Adams coach Glenn Beyer. “I have no complaints.”
Fresh off winning the Queens A-III title, Francis Lewis was the next highest ranked Queens team at No. 11. Led by the right arm of Jonathan Lewis, who has struck out 19 and allowed just three hits in his last three starts, the Patriots became the first team in 12 years to knock Cardozo from its perch atop the division. Randy James' squad will host Beach Channel, the 22nd-seed, in the first-round
The Judges are seeded 11th and, with a wealth of pitching, could be one of the sleepers in the city. Cardozo takes on No. 21 Stuyvesant in the first round.
No. 14 Newtown, which won the Queens A-II title for the first time since 1998, also earned a home game and will take on the 19th seed New Dorp.
“I'm pleased with the seeding,” said Newtown first-year coach Neil Rosenblatt. “We worked hard all season and this is where it pays off.”
Queens A-II second-place finisher Aviation garnered the No. 26 seed and heads to the Bronx to face perennial powerhouse George Washington, the No. 7 seed. John Bowne is the No. 30 seed and also heads to the Bronx to face Monroe. Bayside, the third place finisher in Queens A-III is the No. 31 seed and will also cross the bridge to take on Lehman and Edison rounds out the top 32 teams in the city and has the unenviable task of trekking to Staten Island to face top-seeded Tottenville.
Weather permitting, the first round games are all scheduled to begin Wednesday with a rain date of Thursday, while the second-round is slated for Friday and will be played at the higher seeded team. The quarterfinals will be next Tuesday at neutral sites and the semifinals, to be held at the College of Staten Island, will be a best-of-three series.
The PSAL also announced its championship games will be held at Shea Stadium June 8 with a tripleheader. The Class B final will be played at 2 p.m. and will be followed by the Exceptional Senior All-Star game at 4:30 p.m. First pitch for the Class A final will be 7 p.m.
Seeds were also announced for the Class B playoffs, which begins Thursday. Chelsea earned the top honor and will face No. 16 Jamaica while Truman was seeded second and hosts No. 15 Flushing.
Defending B champs Forest Hills garnered the No. 3 seed and will host Automotive in the first-round and despite winning the Queens B-II title, No. 9 August Martin hits the road to face eighth-seeded Grady.
The quarterfinals will be May 30 at the higher seeded team and the semifinals are June 4 at a site to be determined.
Bowne 5, Aviation 3. Anthony Gutierrez had two hits and two RBIs and Saul Sanchez picked up the win for the Wildcats (9-6 Queens A-II). Aviation dropped to 10-5.
Edison 10, Van Buren 4. Marc Carias fanned nine and had two hits to lead Edison (15-10, 8-7 Queens A-III) and Ariel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Cardozo 14, Hillcrest 2. Ethan Wasserman hit a three-run home run for Cardozo (18-5, 12-3 Queens A-III).
Francis Lewis 10, Bayside 0. Jonathan Lewis tossed a one-hitter, striking out 12 for the Patriots (19-5, 12-3 Queens A-III), who became the first team in 12 years to knock Cardozo from its perch atop the division.
John Adams 12, Bushwick 3. Sean Bell scattered three hits and struck out eight and Nick Treppiedi went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Spartans (30-5-1, 13-1-1 Queens A-I).
