The PSAL seeding committee released the pairing for the Class A baseball playoffs. You may want to sit down for this. I mostly agree with them. They are below.
1. George Washington
2. Grand Street Campus
3. Tottenville
4. Lehman
5. Cardozo
6. James Monroe
7. Telecommunications
8. William Bryant
9. Beacon
10. John Adams
11. South Bronx
12. James Madison
13. John F. Kennedy
14. Manhattan Center
15. Fort Hamilton
16. McKee/Staten Island Tech
17. Norman Thomas
18. Stuyvesant
19. Lane
20. Forest Hills
21. Taft
22. Bushwick Campus
23. New Dorp
24. DeWitt Clinton
25. FDR
26. Susan Wagner
27. Gregorio Luperon
28. Environmental Studies
29. Long Island City
30. Midwood
31. Bayside
32. Morris
33. Curtis
Great minds think alike. This may be the first time – in any sport – I have agreed with the seeding committee on the entire top 10 teams, though we do differ slightly. Clearly, George Washington and Grand Street need no explanation at Nos. 1 and 2. I thought Lehman deserved the third seed over Tottenville since it won the head-to-head matchup and the same thing goes for Cardozo and Monroe at fifth and sixth, respectively.
The committee rewarded Telecommunications at seventh – as I predicted – followed by Queens A West champion Bryant, Manhattan A West winner Beacon and John Adams at 10. The similarities don’t end there. We both agreed South Bronx, James Madison and John F. Kennedy as the next three, though the committee had South Bronx a notch higher than me, and they obviously thought highly of Manhattan A East, giving Manhattan Center the 14th seed and Norman Thomas No. 17, neither which I can find a gripe with.
But enough with the compliments – I’m starting to get nauseous.
I did have one major problem with the seeding as there are way too many probably second-round matchups of division winners such as Lehman-Kennedy, George Washington-Norman Thomas and James Monroe-South Bronx. All promise to be tremendous matchups, yet are unfair to both sides with such familiarity. I understand the seeds should be based on accomplishments, not possible future pairings, but I would’ve done my best to avoid them.
A few further observations on the brackets. Grand Street Campus can’t be happy. The Wolves likely get Fort Hamilton in the second round, a pitching-rich club capable of shutting them down, and gritty Telecommunications in the quarters. Both foes played Grand Street tough during the regular season.
Lehman, meanwhile, should be extremely pleased. It handled rival John F. Kennedy twice and could very well see them again in the second round. If the Lions advance to the final eight, they would get Cardozo, the weakest of the top seven teams in my opinion. Madison, likewise, got a nice draw with Cardozo in the second round. Queens A East was arguably the weakest division in the city and the Judges took advantage of that. Don’t sleep on No. 28 Environmental Studies pulling the upset in the first round.
Other possible sleepers include No. 24 DeWitt Clinton, an inconsistent bunch capable of putting together a few wins; No. 19 Lane enjoyed a breakout season in Queens A East and has a huge arm in senior Michael Gonzalez; and No. 23 Dorp, which has as much pitching as anyone led by stellar senior Dan Karasinski.
The way I see it, the top two of George Washington and Grand Street are the clear-cut elite in the city. Beyond them, nothing would surprise me, and I mean nothing. That includes teams in the 20s reaching the semifinals, a top five losing in the round. Nothing.
For more (likely incorrect) predictions, be sure to visit the site tomorrow for my comprehensive preview.
