http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
As we type away before 9 in the morning, the hope is that the fields dry and games are played today. We don't need another round of postponements. We've had enough schedule changes.
Once they play, here's how we see the games going:
Class 4A
Northampton 2, Parkland 1 -- The Konkrete Kids can not, and I repeat NOT get overconfident even though they have beaten the Trojans twice this season by a combined 15-0. Both of those games were close for awhile and just got away from Parkland. The Trojans were very impressive in beating Emmaus and will try to stay off the high pitches. If junior Morgan Rentzheimer can avoid that one bad inning, she is capable of shutting down Northampton. The K-Kids don't exactly tear the cover off the ball these days. But right now, you simply don't predict anything but a great performance by Marly Laubach, who remains the area's premier pitcher.
Liberty 6, Pleasant Valley 3 -- Coming into the season, the Hurricanes probably had more proven offensive weapons than any team in the Lehigh Valley Conference. Girls like Mariah Kondravy and Alyshia Dellatore can flat out hit. The only question with this team was the pitching and for a long while this season, they were giving up too many runs. That has changed now and Liberty is playing as well as anyone in the entire tournament. Pleasant Valley has a good team. Not great. There have been better Bears teams in recent years. Still, they are capable of pulling an upset if Liberty doesn't come to play.
Class 3A
Bethlehem Catholic 5, Wilson 1 -- It has been nearly two weeks since the Golden Hawks have played a game. Have they lost their edge in that time frame? I doubt it. These girls are very focused on winning the district title that eluded them last year and even though it may take them an inning or two to get into the flow, they will get back on the beat. Wilson is a spunky team and has actually been looking forward to this matchup. Michaela Moninghoff is a solid pitcher, and the more she keep the Warriors in the game, the more pressure the Golden Hawks might feel.
Palmerton 6, Southern Lehigh 2 -- The Blue Bombers have waited longer to play than Becahi and they still have that bad taste in their mouths from the very one-sided Colonial League semifinal loss to Catasauqua. Before that debacle, the Bombers were playing outstanding softball. During this long layoff, you wonder if they rediscovered their edge. If so, they will avenge an earlier loss to the Spartans who I am sure will be well-prepared by Brian Neefe. He has been coaching in these games before even some of his girls' parents were born.
Class 2A
Catasauqua 4, North Schuylkill 3 -- When we last saw the Rough Riders, they were scoring runs in bunches and pitching and playing better defense than they had all year. But North Schuylkill, as proven against Notre Dame, is a qualtity team. If they can slow down the Catty offense, particularly speedy Hannah Edwards, they have a chance to knock off the No. 1 seed. Either way, this one figures to be much closer than any of the Roughies CL tourney games.
Pine Grove 5, Pen Argyl 3 -- These two have owned this bracket for the last five years and the surprise is that they're meeting in the semis and not the finals. But that's what happens when you lose your league title games. The Green Knights have lacked consistency all season. I am sure they have spent the last two weeks working hard on the offensive part of their games. I am not ruling out an upset, but the Cardinals have been the more consistent team.
Class A championsup
Tri-Valley 5, Williams Valley 2 -- Have not seen either team all year, but this has been a remarkable year for the female athletes in Hegins. Why not one more banner?
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