The high school baseball gods have smiled down on the Columbia boys this spring and given the locals a chance at a state sectional championship. No matter what they tell you, there is no way they thought this would be happening at the beginning of the season. Even if they did think this would happen, as a great coach once said to me, in order for a team to win a championship, everything has to fall into the right place. You have to be smart, you have to be talented and you have to be lucky.
As far as being smart goes, I think Head Coach Lorenzo Busichio deserves some credit for how good this Red and Black squad is. The best way to tell if a team is well coached is to look at how well the players execute the fundamentals. Putting it plainly, this Cougar team does not make mistakes. They don’t drop the ball, they don’t overthrow a player on defense, they get to every fly-ball in the outfield and they know how to hit situationally. These may seem like things every team should know, but the fact is, Columbia has been better than the opposition at the fundamentals throughout the season, and that's a big reason for why they're winning.
You’d also have to say that Columbia has a very talented team. When the lineup is hitting well—like they are right now—this is a scary team to face. They can hit for power, they can bunt, they can sacrifice, they can hit with runners in scoring position and their pitchers keep the ball low. Then, when the game gets close, and they need four or five big outs to get the win, they have Jonny Rio to come in and close the door. Last week, Rio came in the game with the tying run at the plate and no one out in the sixth inning. He allowed just one run before picking up the save.
As for the luck part, let’s just say that I don’t think many people thought there would be another playoff baseball game at Underhill Field until next spring. The fact that top-seeded Elizabeth lost to a No. 8 seed in the quarters, giving the locals another game at Underhill, where they are 10-3 this season, is a stroke of luck—one that makes me believe that Columbia will win the section.
Both Cougar track teams finished second in the state sectionals at South Plainfield last weekend. For the boys, who lost by nearly 40, I would say the second place spot is something to be happy about. But for the girls, who have been winning so much this season, I think the five-point loss is a huge blow, especially since they got no points from senior Melissa David in either the 1,600 or the 3,200, and she won both of the events in the Essex County meet a week earlier. A few weeks ago, I thought this team had a shot at winning the Group Championships, but I don’t see how it would be possible after not winning the section. But I guess we'll see this weekend.
