Thursday, May 16, 2013

Colonial League softball history: So. Lehigh dominated for a long time, but not lately

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER


With the Colonial League softball championship to be decided Thursday night at Pates Park when Catasauqua meets Pen Argyl, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the league's softball past.
For most of the first 25 years, it was all Southern Lehigh, almost all of the time. From 1975 to 2003, a 28-year period, the Spartans won 25 championships. But in the last 10 years, they've just won one.
These days there's much more parity. All four teams in this year's tournament had 12-4 league records. No one has repeated as champ since Southern Lehigh won four straight titles from 2000-03.
Here's a look back:
League champs in the pre-tournament era:
1975: Southern Lehigh
1976: Southern Lehigh
1977: Southern Lehigh
1978: Southern Lehigh
1979: Southern Lehigh
1980: Southern Lehigh
1981: Catasauqua
1982: Southern Lehigh
1983: Southern Lehigh
1984: Southern Lehigh
1985: Southern Lehigh
1986: Southern Lehigh
1987: Southern Lehigh
1988: Southern Lehigh
1989: Southern Lehigh
1990: Southern Lehigh
1991: Southern Lehigh
1992: Southern Lehigh
1993: Nazareth
1994: Southern Lehigh
Before the 1994-95 school year, the league underwent expansion, prompting the start of a four-team tournament in 1995:
1995: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Pen Argyl 13-3, Northern Lehigh def. Saucon Valley 3-2. Finals, Northern Lehigh def. Southern Lehigh 2-0
1996: Semifinals, Northern Lehigh def. Saucon Valley 5-2, Southern Lehigh def. Pen Argyl 2-1. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Northern Lehigh 1-0 in 12 innings.
1997: Semifinals, Saucon Valley def. Northern Lehigh 3-1, Southern Lehigh def. Bangor 7-0. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Saucon Valley 1-0.
1998: Semifinals, Bangor def. Northwestern 5-3, Southern Lehigh def. Northern Lehigh 3-2. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Bangor 3-1.
1999: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Pen Argyl 3-2, Bangor def. Palmerton 6-1. Finals, Bangor def. Southern Lehigh 6-4.
2000: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Bangor 1-0, Northern Lehigh def. Pen Argyl 7-3. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Northern Lehigh 6-4.
2001: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Bangor 7-2, Northern Lehigh def. Palmerton 6-0. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Northern Lehigh 3-1.
2002: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Northwestern 5-1, Salisbury def. Notre Dame 2-1. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Salisbury 1-0.
2003: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Notre Dame 10-0, Northern Lehigh def. Northwestern 2-0. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Northern Lehigh 5-0.
2004: Semifinals, Northwestern def. Pen Argyl 7-0, Notre Dame def. Salisbury 1-0. Finals, Northwestern def. Noter Dame 3-1
2005: Semifinals, Pen Argyl def. Northern Lehigh 2-0, Notre Dame def. Southern Lehigh 3-0. Finals, Notre Dame def. Pen Argyl 2-0.
2006: Semifinals, Northwestern def. Pen Argyl 3-0, So. Lehigh def. Saucon Valley 6-5. Finals, Northwestern def. So. Lehigh 6-0.
2007: Semifinals, Northwestern def. So. Lehigh 2-0, Pen Argyl def. Saucon Valley 7-0. Finals, Pen Argyl def. Northwestern 5-3.
2008: Semifinals, Northwestern def. Pen Argyl 5-1, Bangor def. Saucon Valley 4-0. Finals, Bangor def. Northwestern 1-0 on Amanda Whitford 1-hitter with 16 Ks.
2009: Semifinals, Palisades def. Pen Argyl 7-0, Saucon Valley def. Northern Lehigh 7-1. Finals, Palisades def. Saucon Valley 4-3.
2010: Semifinals, Northern Lehigh def. Southern Lehigh 3-1, Palisades def. Pen Argyl 1-0. Finals, Northern Lehigh def. Palisades 3-1.
2011: Semifinals, Southern Lehigh def. Notre Dame 1-0, Pen Argyl def. Saucon Valley 3-2. Finals, Southern Lehigh def. Pen Argyl 3-2.
2012: Semifinals, Pen Argyl def. Northwestern 4-3, Saucon Valley def. Palmerton 6-5. Finals, Pen Argyl def. Saucon Valley 5-4.
Overall championships
Southern Lehigh 26
Bangor 2
Northern Lehigh 2
Northwestern 2
Pen Argyl 2
Catty 1
Nazareth 1
Notre Dame 1
Palisades 1
Championships in the tourney era
Southern Lehigh 8
Bangor 2
Pen Argyl 2
Northwestern 2
Northern Lehigh 2,
Notre Dame 1
Palisades 1.
Championship game losses in the tourney era
Northern Lehigh 3
Southern Lehigh 3
Saucon Valley 3
Northwestern 2
Pen Argyl 2
Bangor 1
Salisbury 1
Notre Dame 1
Palisades 1.
Tournament appearances
Southern Lehigh 14
Pen Argyl 14
Northern Lehigh 11
Saucon Valley 9
Northwestern 8
Bangor 6
Notre Dame 5
Palmerton 4
Palisades 2
Salisbury 2
Catasauqua 1
Wilson 0.
All-time tourney records (through Tuesday night)
Southern Lehigh 19-6
Northern Lehigh 8-8
Pen Argyl 7-11
Northwestern 6-6
Bangor 5-4
Notre Dame 3-5
Saucon Valley 3-9
Palisades 3-1
Catasauqua 1-0
Salisbury 1-2
Palmerton 0-4.


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