Although a novice, every time I watch or go to a horse race, I fashion myself as somewhat of an expert. Take last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. I read a few things, checked out the odds and made my picks. I liked Super Saver because of jockey Calvin Borel, Ice Box because of New Yorker Nick Zito and Paddy O’Prado because of its heritage and that it ran well in the slop.
If had somehow put that together in a trifecta, I’d be a very rich man right now. As it is, I couldn’t even get the right exacta combination together.
That said, picking the Derby winner is much easier than figuring how who will win the CHSAA Class A intersectional baseball title next month.
While there will be a lot of talk this week about the Preakness and if Super Saver could claim the second leg of the Triple Crown, we’ll have a little fun with the teams in contention for the CHSAA baseball championship, complete with fictional odds.
The favorite
Xaverian Clippers (12-0)
Oh the Clippers liked to talk about being the underdogs this year during the preseason, but Xaverian hasn’t missed a step despite the departure of longtime coach Dennis Canale and most of his staff. Lou Piccola and Frank Del George have the Clippers clicking on all cylinders. Xaverian is the lone undefeated team in the CHSAA and have found different ways to win games. If you’re looking for the fastest horse, err team, Xaverian is your squad.
Odds: 2-1
The contenders
St. Joseph by the Sea Vikings (9-1)
It’s a strange phenomenon every year. The teams in the highly competitive Staten Island division beat up on each other during the regular season with every game having a playoff atmosphere and yet the borough’s squads fall apart in the postseason. Will things be different this year? We’ll see, but any team that is atop the Staten Island division with just one loss should be considered a strong contender. Sea has arguably the best big-game pitcher in the CHSAA in Wagner-bound Nick Pavia so they’re obviously not to be counted out.
Odds: 5-1
Fordham Prep Rams (8-2)
These are the defending champions and there is certainly something to be said for that. It is their title to defend and Fordham Prep, which lost most of last year’s best pitching staff in the city to graduation, has surpassed expectations already. Mike Maschi is the Rams Robinson Cano, a threat at the plate and on the bases, and Sal Annunizata is their Mark Teixeira. Fordham might not be as stacked as the Bronx Bombers, but they’ve proven to be tough to beat.
Odds: 7-1
Monsignor Farrell Lions (8-2)
When you look for ingredients to make up a deep playoff run, Farrell has most of them. The Lions have three solid starting pitchers in Joe Fiori, Chris Mione and Matt Cascello and a solid defense. Farrell doesn’t have the most potent offense, and that might prove to be its downfall, but the Lions do have one of the best coaches in the city in Bob Mulligan.
Odds: 9-1
Best of the rest
If it was just a four-horse race, the CHSAA baseball playoffs wouldn’t be so difficult to handicap. Just below these four teams, though, is a mix of about seven clubs, all capable of making a deep run.
Among those teams are Bishop Ford and St. Francis Prep, currently tied for second in Brooklyn/Queens with identical 9-4 records, Westchester squads Iona Prep and Archbishop Stepinac, which fell to Fordham Prep in last year’s title game, and the seemingly inseparable trio of Xavier, St. Raymond and Regis from Bronx/Manhattan.
A step below are teams like Moore Catholic and its litany of lefties, Monsignor McClancy and Archbishop Molloy, which both boast pop in their lineups, and scrappy sides like All Hallows, Mount St. Michael and St. Edmund. Do those squads have a shot to make it to the final? It’s a longshot, but then again, how many people outside of Rose Hill had Fordham Prep winning it all last year?
The bottom line is that it’s a wide-open field this year, arguably even more so than last year. That should make for a wild and memorable postseason.