The name of the game, not surprisingly, is beat St. Joseph. And that translates into three straight weekend dates with ace left-hander Rob Kaminsky.
The Green Knights, No. 1 in the JerseySports.com Top 10 and The Record baseball Top 25, was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Bergen County baseball tournament Monday night at Emerson High School.
The coaches picked a 24-team field with the first eight teams getting a first round bye. There will be eight games played Wednesday, setting the field for Saturday’s second round games at Emerson, Demarest and Lyndhurst.
This was the first time the coaches used a power point/strength of schedule formula to arrive at the seedings, using that as a supplement to records and head-to-head matchups. Two teams that benefitted most from that setup were No. 15 Paramus and No. 17 St. Mary, both of which received a bid despite 8-8 records at the cutoff because of strength of schedule.
Paramus Catholic earned its first County tournament bid since 1995, and will face crosstown rival Paramus in the opening round. Teaneck got the eighth seed, making just its third tournament appearance since 1987, first since 2008.
Salvano said that Kaminsky, the biggest drawing card in North Jersey, will be pitching Saturday when the Green Knights (18-0) open the tournament against the winner of Indian Hills/St. Mary at Demarest High School.Â
SEEDINGS
1. St. Joseph
2. Bergen Catholic
3. Mahwah
4. Old Tappan
5. Lyndhurst
6. Rutherford
7. Park Ridge
8. Teaneck
9. Demarest
10. River Dell
11. Ridgefield Park
12. Emerson
13. New Milford
14. Hasbrouck Heights
15. Paramus
16. Indian Hills
17. St. Mary
18. Paramus Catholic
19. Ridgewood
20. Glen Rock
21. Garfield
22. Ridgefield
23. Fair Lawn
24. Waldwick
Round 1
Wednesday
Times TBA
Waldwick at Demarest
Fair Lawn at River Dell
Ridgefield at Ridgefield Park
Garfield at Emerson
Glen Rock at New Milford
Ridgewood at Hasbrouck Heights
Paramus Catholic at Paramus
St. Mary at Indian Hills
Round of 16
Saturday
At Lyndhurst
Rutherford vs. w/o Ridgefield/Ridgefield Park, 11:30 a.m.
Lyndhurst vs. w/o Garfield/Emerson 2 p.m.
At Demarest
Teaneck vs. w/o Waldwick/Demarest, 10:30 a.m.
Old Tappan vs. w/o New Milford/Glen Rock, 1 p.m
St. Joseph vs. Indian Hills/St. Mary, 3:30 p.m.
At Emerson
Park Ridge vs. w/o/ Fair Lawn/River Dell, 10 a.m.
Bergen Catholic vs. w/o Paramus Catholic/Paramus, 12:30 p.m.
Mahwah vs. w/o Ridgewood/Hasbrouck Heights, 3 p.m.