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High School Baseball Starts Well; Bring on the March Madness!

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Kevin Carver

Well, the parody has just begun in high school baseball throughout the county. It looks like the SMAC could be taken by five different teams (Central, East, Burns, Shelby and Patton) and Rutherford County’s R-S Central has gained the early advantage.

R-S Central baseball has just one loss so far this season after downing East Rutherford on the road in a well played 1-0 pitcher’s duel contest. Central followed with a 10-0 victory over Chase, moving to 6-1 overall, 2-0 in conference. They have Patton in a huge game on Friday (march 22) at home.

East Rutherford is 1-1 in conference as they scored a huge comeback win on the road at Patton, 5-4.

Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson has also jumped out to a 2-0 start in conference play. They host Mountain Heritage at McNair this Friday (March 22).

East Rutherford softball is out to a 2-0 SMAC lead after taking down R-S Central and then holding off a solid Patton club to start conference play last week. As odd as it sounds, it looks like East Rutherford could be battling Shelby (7-1, 2-0) as the Lady Golden Lions won both conference games last week in softball. Chase softball lost to Patton, but got a victory over Central to move to 1-1 in conference play.

Chase baseball, R-S Central softball and Thomas Jefferson softball have all started slow by losing their first two conference games.

Lastly in high school sports, the defending 1A West champs in girls soccer are at it again. Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy sits 5-0-1 so far this season and ranked No.2 in the latest Eurosport 1A state girls soccer poll.

March Madness is here and I believe predicting an NCAA basketball champion this season is extremely difficult. The field has 20 teams or so that I really feel could be a national champion. So here is my breakdown of how I see the ACC doing.

North Carolina’s youth has seen a growth spurt over the second half of the season. They showed well against Florida State, Maryland and then against Miami, before falling to the Hurricanes in the ACC title game. I think North Carolina can upset Kansas in the second round, but whomever wins that game has a good shot to win the South Region.

N.C. State has a nice first round test against Temple, but I think the Wolfpack will get a chance at Indiana and unfortunately fall in the second round. State is solid and I expect them to give the Hoosiers a tough fight. 

Duke is angry after falling in the ACC quarterfinals to Maryland. Many think that Duke won’t have a shot at the NCAA title, but I don’t see it that way. Michigan State vs. Duke in the Sweet 16 is the marquee matchup I am waiting to see. Either of those two teams is a national championship caliber team.

Miami has the senior leadership and one of the most balanced teams this year. They lost a couple of games down the stretch, but played like a national championship caliber team this past weekend in the ACC tourney. The sky is the limit with Coach Laranaga and this bunch since they already know how to win close games.

Side Notes: Don’t underestimate the mid-majors of Butler, St. Louis and Virginia Commonwealth are quality teams. In first round upsets, give me Oregon (12), Iowa St. (10) and Minnesota (11) winning. I think Ole Miss should have been higher than a 12 seed, but they won’t get past Wisconsin’s defense in the first round.

So, who do I have in the Final Four? Let me take it a step further. Although, I love the way Gonzaga plays, I have Ohio St. vs. Kansas St. in the West. Louisville and Duke in the Midwest. Kansas vs. Georgetown in the South. Indiana vs. Miami in the East to complete the Elite Eight.

From there, I will go Ohio St., Duke, Kansas, Indiana in Final Four. How about a Duke-Indiana final with Indiana as the National Champion.

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