GRHS Baseball County Tournament Run About to Kick Off

All season long, the Glen Rock High School Baseball team has proven that they are among the best in Bergen County.  That was validated on Monday night, when the county selection committee released the twenty-team bracket. 

The Panthers received the No. 5 seed in the tournament, which came after some controversy. Glen Rock was originally slated as the No. 6 seed, but Dumont, who was originally the No. 4 seed forfeited a game won against Rutherford, so they dropped down to No. 8, propelling the Panthers up a spot.

The tournament begins for Glen Rock on Saturday at Lyndhurst, when they take on No. 12 seeded St. Mary at 2 p.m.

While conventional wisdom would suggest that if the Panthers win they would next face No. 4 Emerson, with a wide open field this year, any team advancing is no guarantee.

If, in fact, Glen Rock and Emerson win their first round games, it will most likely set up a pitching matchup between Matt Lawsky and Emerson's hard throwing David Palladino. 

Other than #1 seed Don Bosco, who is the clear cut favorite — they’re ranked in the top-10 nationally — any team has a chance to make a splash.   Many of the teams possess an ace pitcher who can carry a team any time he’s on the mound.

For Glen Rock, it’ll be Lawsky, whose pinpoint control and accuracy will force batters to stay aggressive and put the ball in play, because there won’t be many walks to come by.

It’ll be a great tournament and Glen Rock has certainly shown that they have a shot at making a deep run.  The road to a memorable run starts on Saturday. 

Last week the team picked up some big wins, defeating Pompton Lakes 12-1, Pascack Hills 6-5, Elmwood Park 10-0 and Ridgefield 9-7.

They also picked up a win on Monday, beating Harrison 10-0 and then drubbed Manchester 17-5 on Tuesday to run their record to 16-3-1. 

Softball (14-4)

Taylor Feuss gave it everything she had on Saturday in the Bergen County Tournament game against Ridgewood.  She pitched brilliantly, except for one pitch that proved to be the difference, as Ridgewood’s Lauren Tom belted a first inning home run. 

The Lady Panthers struggled with the bats, getting no-hit, but stranded runners in scoring position on more than one occasion.

With a character building loss, this team should be ready to compete in a highly competitive Group II bracket, which features Indian Hills, Ramsey and River Dell.

The girls had a big week otherwise, defeating Pascack Hills 3-0, Elmwood Park 9-4 and Harrison 10-0 on Monday. They defeated Mary Help by a score of 13-1 yesterday. 

Boys Lacrosse (10-4)

After suffering a loss to Ramapo in the county tournament, the team rebounded with a big win against a solid Pequannock team, but they fell 8-7 to North Hunterdon, a team who plays in the competitive Skylands Conference.

With their state birth locked up, the team now sets their eyes on the Rizk Division crown, a title they split last year. 

The path to that crown is simple, beat Sparta at their home field on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and the Rizk Division title is theirs.

Girls Lacrosse (6-6)

After suffering tough losses to some great programs last week, the Lady Panthers came into Monday’s game against Dwight Englewood with one thing on their mind. A win would allow them to even up their record and make the state tournament, a loss and there would be no trip to states.

The team answered with a resounding 20-7 win to clinch a postseason birth.

Kelsey Yenco netted 5 goals and Fiona McDonald and Maggie Egan chipped in with 3 goals each.

They will be back in action on today, taking a trip to Verona at 4:30 p.m.

Tennis (10-3)

The team split two matches last week, defeating Elmwood Park by the score of 5-0 but dropped their match on Monday to Leonia 4-1.

The team picked up  a solid win yesterday, beating Eastern Christian by a score of 4-1. 

Golf  (12-7)

On Monday, the golf team defeated Ridgefield 21 ½ to 4 ½ to raise their record to 12-7 on the year.  Diamo Streaser led the way with a 41.