By Anthony Bosco
Year in and year out the Catholic High School Athletic Association turns some of the best softball teams and players in the entire city out of the Queens varsity softball league. And, at the same time, produces some of the most lopsided games in the five boroughs.
It seems that almost every year three teams in the league are guaranteed playoff spots, while the remaining half is sentenced to getting the tar beat out of it on a regular basis while vying for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Unfortunately, that has been the way of the world in the Queens division for several years now. There are very few upsets and, more often than not, the top teams in the division can be recognized long before the first pitch of the season is ever thrown.
This year, to no one’s surprise, St. Francis Prep and The Mary Louis Academy finished first and second in the division following the league’s final regular season game. Prep wrapped up its season Thursday with a 12-2 win over St. John’s Prep, while Mary Louis blanked St. Agnes 9-0 on the same day.
St. Francis finished the season with a perfect 10-0 record, while Mary Louis was alone in second place with an 8-2 log. As you have probably deduced by now, the Hilltoppers’ two losses this year came against the Terriers, both by scores of 1-0.
If these two teams could play one another every day for the rest of the school year, I don’t think anyone would really complain. They are two very evenly matched clubs that have a natural neighborhood rivalry to add fuel to the competitive fire.
The girls also know how to really play.
Unfortunately, they do not compete against one another every day, but instead play only a handful of competitive games during the league season prior to heading into the playoffs, which began Monday.
Representing Queens against Brooklyn in the annual post-season tournament are St. Francis Prep, Mary Louis, Christ the King and Stella Maris. CK finished the year with a 6-4 record, while Maris was just 3-7.
Prior to the start of the season, St. Agnes head coach Francis Leary was confident that his club could possibly challenge for the fourth playoff spot. And while the team was only one game behind Maris, the final standings turned out about the way they were supposed to be at the start.
Leary has been the only coach to mention the possibility of a ‘B’ softball league to me, even though he knows it will probably never happen.
“I would want one, but there are certain coaches in the league that wouldn’t want it,” Leary said. “It comes up for discussion but it never goes anywhere.”
Girls’ softball and volleyball are the only two sports that do not crossover the borough border to play league games against teams from Brooklyn. This necessitates having only one league in both boroughs for both sports — two six-team ‘A’ divisions.
In Brooklyn, Bishop Kearney rules the roost this year, followed by Fontbonne Hall, Bishop Loughlin and Bishop Ford. Not surprisingly, two of the smaller schools in the borough, St. Savior and St. Edmund, finished fifth and sixth, respectively, this year, out of playoff contention.
As the playoffs progress toward the Brooklyn-Queens finals on May 22 and the state finals on May 31, the games will gradually become more competitive. But I’m sure at least half of the first round games will end up being blow outs.
And the results should not surprise anyone. If the fourth best team in a division cannot come close to competing against the first place team, then you tell me, is it really fair? The coaches themselves, along with their AD’s and the CHSAA, can remedy this situation quickly, but not enough people seem to want to.
Like in the baseball division, the top teams should crossover and play the top teams. Two six-team divisions, an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ should be formed, giving both the stronger and weaker teams a chance to win games, as well as giving all the schools a reasonable shot at the playoffs.
Leary’s St. Agnes team managed only two wins this year only because it was playing against the likes of Mary Louis and St. Francis Prep. That’s four losses, almost half of the team’s league schedule.
Had St. Agnes played in a league that featured Stella Maris, St. John’s Prep, Bishop Ford, St. Savior and St. Edmund, more wins would have certainly come its way.
On the other side of the coin, teams like St. Francis and Mary Louis would not just have to look to one another for tough league competition. Last year St. Francis Prep lost in the semifinals to Brooklyn’s Kearney, which in turn beat Mary Louis for the title. Two league games against the better Brooklyn schools would only serve to make all the Queens teams stronger.
But, like Leary said, this option has been discussed, but never acted upon.
“The coaches would make the decision,” he said. “They could change it right away if they want. If my team was the top team all the time I would rather play top teams.”
Instead, Leary and his girls have already played their last game this year, having only tasted victory twice. And that would be fine with me if there was no other way.
But there is.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
