Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/12/2009 - NJSIAA Hits Grand Slam

Curt Pakutka smiled when he was told that the state had extended the cutoff for qualification for the baseball and softball state tournament by one day due to the lousy weather this spring.

The Newton softball coach then laughed and said to me, “Where was this last year?”

Pakutka had the luxury of laughing because the Braves had already secured a spot in the postseason this season, but that wasn’t the case last year.

As everyone who follows Sussex County Interscholastic League softball remembers, the Braves had to play Sussex Tech indoors (yes, you read that right) at 10 p.m. on the night of the cutoff date to reach .500 and make the tourney. The Braves then proceeded to prove they belonged in the tourney and pulled off two upsets before getting bounced in the North 1, Group 2 semifinals by Hawthorne.

Newton had to schedule the game against the Mustangs when the playing conditions at Upper Memory Park in Newton and at Pope John, the Braves' original opponent, were unplayable due to recent heavy rains.

At the time, I applauded the Braves and Sussex Tech for going the extra mile to allow the Newton kids an opportunity to make the states, and I still agree with that statement. It seems to me that Mother Nature shouldn’t decide which team makes the tournament, and this season, the gang at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association agreed.

For the first time in anyone’s memory that has covered sports that I know, the state extended a state tourney cutoff, and in my opinion, it was the right call.

The state made the announcement with little fanfare as it posted a message on its website last Thursday indicating that due to the weather the cutoff would be extended by one day.

Word spread quickly, however, and the announcement gave new life to several teams around the state, including Vernon’s baseball team, which had lost to Pope John the day before the cutoff and didn’t have a game scheduled for the day of the cutoff.

But as quickly as the word spread, there were many questions about the decision and the ramifications of the extension. Bob Behre, the outstanding sports writer for the Star-Ledger, made a valid point on NJ.com when he asked about the teams who were at .500 already and had game scheduled after the cutoff. Would a loss bounce them from the tourney?

As I said, a great question. The other question was would the extra game be counted toward seeding of the tournament? Would it be fair for a team that had a game already scheduled the day after the original cutoff to have its seed affected either way with a win or loss? And would schools drop games so not to hurt their chances of getting a higher seed? Or add games against lesser opponents in order to boost their seed?

Well, I don’t know if the powers that be in Robbinsville read Bob’s story, but on Saturday another little announcement was posted on the state’s website noting that games played on Saturday (the day after the original May 8 cutoff) would only count for state tournament qualification for teams under .500. Teams that had qualified on or before the original date would not be affected and neither would their seed.

Wow. Two grand slams in a matter of days for the NJSIAA, an organization more known for never bending its rules, no matter what the situation.

Is this the sign of a kinder and gentler NJSIAA? I hope so. Taking the horrible, wet spring we have had into consideration and putting the best interests of the member schools ahead of playing by its rules was great to see.

Now I know there is a faction of people out there who firmly believe that the cutoff is the cutoff and if you can’t get to .500 by the designated date, too bad. Win more games, they say. And there is truth to that, but you can’t fight Mother Nature and this spring has been one of the worst I can remember.

There is no real wiggle room during the spring season; once it starts it is off to the races. The regular season is a sprint from April 1 to mid-May and then before you know it, the state tournament is here. So all it takes is one week of rain to wreak havoc with the schedule, but this year, it was closer to three weeks with schools playing games everyday when the sun would peek out.

The final SCIL regular season games for softball and baseball were scheduled for Friday, May 15. Yeah, right. As I write this it is May 12 and most teams still have six league games left.

And how about this, Pope John and Sparta played each other for just the first time in baseball this season today. Incredible.

The spring season is definitely unique for many reasons, including the unpredictable weather, proms and graduations. Here is a suggestion for the state. If it rains on the day of the cutoff, the cutoff should be extended one day, just like this year. The state should apply the same rules that the extra day should be only used for teams trying to reach .500.

Ok, you are probably saying, hey, what if it rains on the next day, too, smart guy? Well, then teams will have to go the way of the Newton Braves and get very creative. But giving schools the chance to do what the Braves did, I think, is in the spirit of high school competition in which every school should have a chance to play in the states despite the weather.

The only downside, if you want to call it that, about this year’s extension is the story of the Vernon baseball team. As I said, the Vikes walked off the field after their 6-0 loss to Pope John thinking that their postseason dreams were over. But the Vikes received their reprieve and played Wallkill Valley in the SCIL Baseball Tournament on May 9 only to lose to the Rangers.

Ouch. Missing out on states twice in three days is a tough pill to swallow, but at least the Vikes had a chance and that is all they could ask for.

Throughout this brutal spring, I was reminded of something that High Point baseball coach Mickey Thomas once proposed many years ago in his first go-round as coach. It was unseasonably cold that spring and he suggested that we should flip-flop the fall and spring seasons.

He reasoned that most of the fall sports, excluding tennis, were more suited to adverse conditions than baseball and softball. He said by the time the good weather rolls around in the spring the baseball season is over. It is an interesting theory, but it will never happen, but still food for thought.

HI MOM!....A happy belated Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there, especially my mother, Liz, and my sister-in-law, Michelle, who became a first-time mom this week. From Soccer Moms to Hockey Moms, you always find a way to get your kids to and from practice and offer unconditional love and support win or lose.

And when athletes look at the camera and say, “Hi, Mom,” I always think of the old Bill Cosby routine in which he says that athletes will tell everyone how much their Dads did in helping them become outstanding players, but once the camera comes on who do they say hi to, that’s right, dear old Mom!

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/12/2009 - NJSIAA Hits Grand Slam