Games of the Week (May 2-7)

Chambersburg at Cumberland Valley, Monday, 4:15 -- Rematch of a wild game Saturday at Greene Township Park. The Eagles rallied for a wild 14-11 win that vaulted them over the Trojans and into first place in the Commonwealth Division. Won't have to wait long for the rematch. Expect CV to send ace Eric Sawyer (right) to the mound.

East Pennsboro at Trinity, Monday, 4:15 -- There hasn't been a bigger game for Trinity yet this year. The Shamrocks are one game behind first-place West Perry in the Capital Division standings with a suspended game against the Mustangs set for Tuesday. Before that game is completed, the Shamrocks face a home test against East Pennsboro. The Panthers need a win here to claw back into the division race. That will be difficult against Trinity pitchers Colin King and Dan Resavy.

Cumberland Valley at Carlisle, Wednesday, 4 -- CV moved into first place in the division Saturday with a win over Chambersburg while Carlisle got back on the winning track with a 1-0 victory at Shippensburg. The Thundering Herd would like nothing more than to complete the season sweep of CV and keep the Eagles from winning this division. With a solid pitching staff -- Harris Glenn, Brian Goodling and Kyler Brown -- Carlisle has the arms to do it.

Northern at Shippensburg, Wednesday, 4:15 -- Polar Bears, behind Joe Tuschak and John Mayer, can wrap up their third-straight Colonial Division title with a win over the host Greyhounds, but it won't come easy. Shippensburg has a couple of nice wins this year and Dan Watkins' club would like nothing better than to upset Northern. Problem is, the Polar Bears are a little too strong for Shippensburg.

East Pennsboro at Susquenita, Friday, 4:15 -- Who knows what the Capital Division standings will look like at this point? We think it's safe to say that both of these teams will be in the running for the title. The Blackhawks, behind pitchers Taylor Nace and Justin Malehorn, seem to be hitting their stride. If they keep playing as well as they did Friday and Saturday in dominant wins over West Perry and Halifax, look out.

Trinity at Boiling Springs, Friday, 4:15 -- The Shamrocks could be closing in on a Capital Division title at this point. Entering the week, they were one game behind West Perry so a big week could lift Al Hobby's club to the top of the division. The Shamrocks pounded out 10 runs on 17 hits against Susquenita in a five-run win last week. Don't take this team lightly.

Cumberland Valley at Hershey Tournament, Saturday -- Talk about a loaded field this year. CV opens with perennial power State College at 12:30 before meeting either South Western or Hershey later in the day. This tournament is always strong, but this year it got a boost from the Little Lions. If CV does well against a brutal schedule this week, it will bode well for their chances in the postseason.

Wild baseball score

Cumberland Valley scored 16 runs in the top of the sixth inning Friday night to stun Red Land, 19-7, in six innings.

The Patriots led, 7-3, after five innings.

As crazy as that game was, it wasn't the wildest Friday night.

Central and Clearfield combined for 58 runs on 51 hits in the former's 36-22, six-inning victory.

The teams scored at least five runs in six of the 12 innings.

Here's the story from the Altoona Mirror.

Baseball for a good cause

When the Red Land and Red Lion baseball teams take the field for a non-conference game at Sovereign Bank Stadium, home of the York Revolution, on May 7, there will be more than baseball on the minds of the players, coaches and fans.

The teams are playing in an effort to raise money for the ongoing battle against breast cancer.

All proceeds will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Red Land is planning to go 'Passionately Pink' by wearing pink jerseys for the game. Fans who wear pink to the stadium will receive $1 off their ticket price.

In addition, Red Land is selling 'Red for Pink' tee-shirts at home baseball games while supplies last. Those who wear the 'Red for Pink' shirt will be admitted to the game free of charge.

The junior varsity game is slated to begin at 4 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow at approximately 6:30.

District 3 baseball power rankings

Finally, the district has released the first batch of the baseball power ratings. Below are four links that will take you to each classificaiton.

Class AAAA (top 20 qualify)

Class AAA (top 20 qualify)

Class AA (top 8 qualify)

Class A (top 12 qualify)

Big Spring, McDevitt post upset wins

Behind a complete-game effort from pitcher Heath Singer, Big Spring handed Northern its first Mid-Penn Colonial Division loss on Tuesday.

Big Spring out-gunned the Polar Bears, 5-4, in a nine-inning thriller.

The Bulldogs are a pleasant surprise this year and still have a shot to pass two-time defending champion Northern and second-place Greencastle-Antrim for the division title. With Waynesboro off to a slow start, it looks like Colonial is a three-team race between Northern, Greencastle-Antrim and Big Spring.

Also on Tuesday night, Bishop McDevitt delivered one of the bigger upset this year with a 6-4 win over defending champion Lower Dauphin in Keystone Division action.

The Crusaders are under .500 but somehow found to way to hand the Falcons their second division loss this year. Lower Dauphin, a PIAA Class AAAA semifinalist last June, is still our pick to win the division but Hershey (first in the division after Tuesday), Mechanicsburg (third) and Palmyra (fourth) are still very much alive.

The streak is over for Red Land

Tuesday afternoon in suburban Harrisburg, the Red Land baseball team ended an ugly losing streak against Mid-Penn Commonwealth cellar-dweller Central Dauphin East.

Jeff Scaramuzzino and Kyle Zimmerman equally split six RBIs and the Patriots had six players with multiple hits in a dominant 13-7 win.

At the end of last week, the Panthers captured a 7-6 victory at Brandt Cook Field that ran their winning streak against Red Land to three straight games.

Last year, the Patriots dropped 11-8 and 1-0 decisions to East. Thanks to those losses, the Patriots failed to share the Commonwealth Division with rival Cedar Cliff.

Tuesday's victory was the first for Red Land over East since it clinched the 2009 division title with a 7-0 victory May 9.

District 3 baseball playoffs

According to the District 3 Web site, the first batch of baseball power ratings will be released Wednesday morning.

This year, the top 20 teams qualify in Class AAAA and Class AAA, eight qualify in AA and 12 qualify for A.

Games of the Week (April 25-30)

Chambersburg at Mechanicsburg, Monday, 4 -- Here's an interesting Mid-Penn crossover game between teams that were supposed to compete for their respective division titles. Chambersburg is well on its way to winning the Commonwealth while Mechanicsburg has some work to do in the Keystone. But, if they can knock off a team like Chambersburg, it's going to do wonders for the confidence of the Wildcats.

Big Spring at Northern, Tuesday, 4:30 -- The Bulldogs were awfully close to taking out Northern before falling, 1-0, the first time these two met. The Polar Bears are still cruising along with a perfect record in the Colonial. Don't be surprised if there's an upset -- Big Spring has the pitching to do it.

Chambersburg at Red Land, Wednesday, 4 -- With two games remaining against the front-running Trojans, Red Land can still win the division. But it's going to probably need to win out and receive some help if it doesn't want to share the title. Important home game here against big, bad Chambersburg.

Trinity at West Perry, Wednesday, 4:15 -- This one was postponed from last Wednesday. It's a rematch of West Perry's 15-0 rout back in March. Depending who Trinity coach Al Hobby sends to the mound, the result this time could be vastly different. Colin King and Dan Resavy, who took the loss to West Perry last month, are tough to beat. The same can be said about West Perry pitchers Jade Wilson, Jarrid Willette and Kurt Little.

Cedar Cliff at Carlisle, Thursday, 4 -- Both teams are mired in the middle of the Commonwealth and, to be quite honest, fighting for their postseasons lives. That makes this game huge in terms of the District 3 race. Whichever pitcher Carlisle coach Brett Livingston sends to the mound will have his hands full against a potent Cedar Cliff offense. The big question is, can Cedar Cliff's pitching hold down the Herd?

West Perry vs. Susquenita at Metro Bank Park, Harrisburg, Friday, 6:30 -- The first meeting between these rivals went to West Perry in 11 innings (above). Don't think for a minute that the Blackhawks don't remember that one. The rematch, being played at the home of the Harrisburg Senators, should be just as fun. Both teams are still in the running for the Capital Division crown.

Carlisle at Shippensburg, Saturday, 11 a.m. -- The last time these two teams met, Shippensburg exploded for 23 runs in a 20-run rout at George Bowen Field last year. Don't expect that to happen again. Shippensburg has posted a couple of nice wins -- the Greyhounds own victories over Greencastle-Antrim and East Pennsboro -- so this should be an interesting crossover affair.

Spam is back in comments

Unfortunately, it looks like Inside the Red Zone is being hit with spam comments again.

A warning to readers: please do not click on any link that isn't posted by me. Sunday night, a comment was posted in the Games of the Week section with a link. It was obviously spam and promptly deleted.

We had this issue a few years ago, so we're confident that Blogger will fix the problem but again, please don't click on links that aren't posted by me.

Here's a safe link from Sunday night's Hershey Bears game that I was lucky enough to cover.

Baseball: Schedule updates

Because of the horrible weather this month, there's a couple changes to the schedule for this week.

The Boiling Springs at Central Dauphin East game has been pushed into May so that the Panthers can play a Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division game at Carlisle on Monday at 4 p.m.

Tuesday, West Perry hosts a Mid-Penn Capital Division doubleheader against Steelton-Highspire beginning at 3 p.m. The Mustangs will be the home team for Game 1 and the guests for Game 2.

Also on Tuesday, Cumberland Valley's home game against defending District 3 Class AAAA champion Cedar Crest has been postponed to a later date due to Cedar Crest's make-up game against Lancaster-Lebanon Section I foe Manheim Twp. on Tuesday.

Mid-Penn baseball tournament

Mid-Penn baseball chairman Scott Govern recently released the information regarding this year's Mid-Penn baseball tournament.

The format and pairings are the same as last year.

The first round games will be held at Northern on May 16 at 4 and 6:30 p.m. with the Capital champion playing the Commonwealth champion and the Colonial champion facing the Keystone champion. The order of the games will be announced when the matchups are known.

The winners return to Northern on May 18 for the conference championship game at a time to be announced.

Baseball tournament schedules

The following is all the information you need on baseball tournaments in the area.

PERRY COUNTY TOURNAMENT
First Round
April 21 -- Susquenita 11, Greenwood 1 (5)
April 25 -- Newport at West Perry, 4:15

Consolation
May 9 -- Newport/West Perry loser vs. Greenwood at Newport, 4

Championship
May 9 -- Newport/West Perry winner vs. Susquenita at Newport, 7

BIG SPRING TOURNAMENT
April 30 at Big Spring's varsity field
First Round
Steelton-Highspire at Big Spring, 9 a.m.
Biglverville vs. New Oxford, 11:30 a.m.

Consolation
First-round losers, 2

Championship
First-round winners, 4:30

HERSHEY BOOSTERS TOURNAMENT
May 7 at Memorial Field in Hershey unless noted
First Round
State College vs. Cumberland Valley on the junior varsity field, 12:30
South Western at Hershey, 12:30

Consolation
First-round losers, 3:45

Championship
First-round winners, 6

PECO Tournament starts today

Ever see the Science Channel show 'Oddities'? It's a series that features a store in New York City, Obscura, that buys and sells strange things.

This spring, the Perry County baseball tournament belongs on the show.

The twice-postponed tournament kicks off today at 4:15 p.m. when Susquenita travels to Greenwood. Each team will then move back into regular-season play before heading to Newport on May 9 for the conslation and championship games.

The other semifinal, Newport at West Perry, is being played Monday in Elliottsburg.

The annual tournament was to be played on opening weekend, but cold temperatures and unplayable field conditions pushed the date to April 9, which was a rain-soaked Saturday.

Red Land hires football coach

Red Land stayed in-house to find its next football coach and recently hired Chad Weaver to replace Frank Gay.

Red Land athletic director Robert Ackell confirmed the hire this morning.

Weaver, a heath and physical education teacher at Red Land High School, was an assistant coach on last year's 2-8 team. According to his web page, it was his 6th year as an assistant at Red Land.

A graduate of Red Land and West Chester University, Weaver takes over a team that won five of its last 20 games and hasn't beaten rival Cedar Cliff since 2008.

Gay resigned as the head coach in early January after compiling a record of 45-43 in eight seasons. Two months later, he was hired as Camp Hill's head coach.

State Champions: How they're doing

Last year four baseball teams left Altoona's Blair County Ballpark with gold medals.

It's rare that teams repeat, so let's take a look at how last season's state champions are doing.

Class AAAA
West Chester Henderson -- Indians are off to a solid 8-2 start with losses to Twin Valley (keep an eye on these guys in both the District 3 and PIAA Class AAA playoffs) and perennial power West Chester East. Henderson has been winning close games (three wins by two runs or fewer) and blowouts (two mercy-rule wins).

Class AAA
Conrad Weiser -- Scouts steamrolled their way to a state championship last year and are off to a good start in 2011. Conrad Weiser is 6-2 with losses to Twin Valley (again, keep on eye on this team) by nine and Governor Mifflin by one. The Scouts trail Twin Valley by a half game in Berks League II with a 4-2 record, but have yet to score a signature win.

Class AA
Bermudian Springs -- Judging by scores and scores alone, the Eagles are a tad thin in the pitching department. Bermudian, which is a pedestrian 4-4 overall, has wild wins over Biglerville (14-9), Susquehannock (20-14) and Littlestown (12-8). The Eagles have also lost games by insane scores to York Catholic (19-8), York Suburban (18-16) and Delone Catholic (17-2). It's safe to say that if Bermudian doesn't find some pitching soon, it has zero shot at defending its district and state gold.

Class A
Christopher Dock -- The Pioneers are off to a good start with a 4-2 record that includes one-run losses to Holy Ghost Prep and Devon Prep. Christopher Dock, which beat Serra Catholic with a memorable rally in the bottom of the seventh to win the state title last year, has scored double-digit runs in all four of its wins. Look for the Pioneers to challenge for their fourth state title this June at State College's Lubrano Park.

Games of the Week (April 20-23)

Cedar Cliff at Red Land, Wednesday, 4 -- Five days ago, Cedar Cliff rallied behind Jordan Lawson and Tim Kelly for a 6-4 win over Red Land at Metro Bank Park. The Patriots, who clipped Central Dauphin in extras Monday, don't have to wait long for revenge. No matter where this rivalry is played, it's always fun.

Trinity at West Perry, Wednesday, 4:15 -- Remember the first time these two met? There was sleet and snow falling from the sky and West Perry senior Jade Wilson fired the first of his two no-hitters in a 15-0 rout. Well, the Shamrocks haven't lost since and will likely send ace left-hander Colin King to the mound. A win by Trinity will pull the Shamrocks into a first-place tie with West Perry.

Greencastle-Antrim at Big Spring, Thursday, 4:15 -- The Bulldogs find themselves in second place in the Colonial Division two games behind Northern. If they harbor hopes of winning the league, a win over perennial power G-A is a must. The Blue Devils, who won the Capital Division last year, are off to a slow start this year with two losses.

Cumberland Valley at Chambersburg, Saturday, 11 a.m. -- Thanks to all the rain, this vital Commonwealth Division game will be played in the late morning. Doesn't matter, it's still a huge game. Chambersburg holds a half game lead over CV at the time of this writing but that could change by the time Saturday rolls around.

Games in limbo

The horrible spring weather has taken its toll on the high school baseball season.

We have yet to complete a week without any games being postponed.

So there's a slew of area games haven't been played and have no makeup date as of Tuesday night. Here's a list:

Postponed on April 9

Northern at Red Land (suspended in the sixth inning with the game tied, 11-11)

Postponed on April 13

Milton Hershey at East Pennsboro (this Capital Division game has now been postponed three times and because it was moved to April 13, the game scheduled for that day, East Penn at Bishop McDevitt, as also been postponed)

Postponed on April 16

Big Spring at Bermudian Springs

Hempfield at Cumberland Valley

Northern at York Suburban

Carlisle at West York (suspended in the second inning with Carlisle leading, 4-0)

Postponed on April 19

Bible Baptist at Lancaster Country Day

Trinity at Mechanicsburg

West Perry at Steelton-Highspire

How are we doing?

We're a little less than halfway through divisional play, so what better time to look back on our predictions for champions?

Commonwealth -- We picked Cedar Cliff to repeat. Right now, the Colts are mired in the middle of the pack behind Chambersburg, Cumberland Valley and Red Land. Cedar Cliff has struggled to put it all together. When the team scores run, the pitching falters and vice versa. If coach Justin Phillips doesn't figure it out quickly, there won't be another celebration in Lower Allen Twp.

Keystone -- Our choice was Lower Dauphin. The Falcons won the division last year and returned enough talent to win it again. After a rough start, Lower Dauphin is back on top and we think the only team that can dethrone them is Palmyra. The Cougars are solid but already lost to LD once.

Colonial -- We went against two-time defending champion Northern in favor of Waynesboro and we're regretting it. The Polar Bears have out-scored Waynesboro, 18-0, in two games and, with a two-game lead over Big Spring, are cruising toward another title. Behind pitchers Vince Apicella and Andrew Keirn, this team is going to be hard to beat.

Capital -- East Pennsboro, our pick, is still trying to figure it all out. The Panthers and leadoff hitter Tyler Mardis (above) went through a four-game losing streak this month and sit three games behind West Perry, the division leader. East Penn needs to leap over Susquenita, Trinity and West Perry if it hopes to win this division. Alex Card is the staff ace but the other pitchers have struggled.

Problem fixed

Apparently we're back up and running after nearly a month.

Check back soon for the Baseball Games of the Week.