Sunday Mets Schedule

Since the weather suspended the Mets game yesterday, today's schedule has been amended to accommodate the completion of yesterday's game.

Yesterday's game will resume at 1:10PM, the original start time for today's game.  Carlos Torres will take the mound as he was announced to be the pitcher for the Mets to start the 7th inning, with the game tied at 1.

There will be a 30 minute break after the first game is done before the second game begins with the debut of Steven Matz on the mound for the Mets.

So today's schedule is as follows:
12:30PM - Mets Pregame with Wayne Randazzo

1:10PM - Game #1 - Resumption of Saturday's suspended game.  Cincinnati will be up to bat in the top of the 7th inning, with Carlos Torres on the mound for the Mets.

Approximately 2:10PM - Game #1 will conclude.  Howie Rose and Josh Lewin will wrap-up the first game from the booth before sending it to the WOR studios for between game programming.

Approximately 2:45PM - First Pitch, Game #2

We will have coverage of both games on FOX Sports Radio 1230 from the first pitch of the 7th inning to the final pitch of the second game.

End of Year: List of Section 2's NYSPHSAA Champions for 2014-15

The Lake George Warriors hold their NYSPHSAA Class C Championship
after beating Waterville in the title game at the Glens Falls Civic Center

With the crowning of state champions in baseball, softball and track and field, the book is now closed for the 2014-15 NYSPHSAA High School Sports calendar, ending a year that began with practices in mid-August.

It's been a wild year for Section 2, filled with ups and downs.  Three teams made it back to Syracuse, but all three came up empty despite great efforts.  In the winter, three teams hoisted the state trophy at the Glens Falls Civic Center, none wilder than Lake George's game-winning bucket by senior Joel Wincowski.  There were several title-holders in the spring, including the first NYSPHSAA title in boys lacrosse for Section 2, claimed by the often determined Niskayuna Silver Warriors.

After the jump, a complete list of the teams and individuals who claimed state titles in Section 2:

NYSPHSAA Schedule for our Section 2 Baseball/Softball teams

This weekend, eight teams from Section 2 will attempt to win a state title in baseball or softball.  While it has been a great year already for Section 2, hopefully one or more of our local teams can join teams like Niskayuna (Lacrosse), Lake George, Scotia and Shenendehowa (Basketball) on the wall of NYSPHSAA Champions for the 2014-15 school year.

Here's the schedule for all of our local teams, and where they will be playing.

SECTION 2 TEAMS ARE IN BOLD

NYSPHSAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

All games are on Saturday, June 13^th at Moreau Recreation Park in Moreau.

CLASS A

AVERILL PARK VS. Pearl River - 9AM

Starpoint vs. W.T. Clarke - 9AM

Championship – 1:30PM

CLASS B

ICHABOD CRANE vs. Alden - 9AM

Solvay vs. Marlboro - 9AM

Championship – 1:30PM

CLASS C

HOOSIC VALLEY vs. Addison - 11:30AM

Chester vs. Elmira-Notre Dame - 11:30AM

Championship -  4PM

CLASS D

FORT ANN vs. Hamilton - 11:30AM

Andover vs. Deposit - 11:30AM

Championship - 4PM

NYSPHSAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

All games are on Saturday, June 13^th at various venues in the Binghamton area.

CLASS AA

At Union-Endicott High School

SARATOGA SPRINGS vs. Orchard Park – 1PM
Mamaroneck vs. Connetquot - 10AM

Championship – 4PM

CLASS A

At Maine-Endwell High School

QUEENSBURY vs. Hamburg – 1PM

Levittown Division vs. Byram Hills – 10AM

Championship – 4PM

CLASS C

At Binghamton University

HOOSIC VALLEY vs. Southold – 10AM

Tioga vs. Geneseo – 1PM

Championship – 4PM

CLASS D

At Conlon Field, Binghamton

FORT ANN vs. Smithtown Christian - 10AM

Oriskany vs. Westfield – 1PM

Championship - 4PM

Good luck to all our local teams from FOX Sports Radio 1230!

A Few Thoughts about the Belmont Stakes

90,000 fans are at Belmont Park this afternoon as American Pharaoh races for the Triple Crown.  He joins a long list of horses who entered Big Sandy having won the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness, but can he join the shorter list of the 11 who have won all three Triple Crown races.

Labeled the 3/5 favorite, American Pharaoh showed he can win on dry and wet tracks in his first two Triple Crown races, but the Belmont Stakes provides a greater challenge that has denied the last thirteen who have entered the Belmont having won the first two legs starting with Seattle Slew's unsuccessful bid.

That's in part, due to the configuration of the Belmont Stakes.  1 1/2 miles is a long race.  It's a distance not often seen on major stakes schedule.  Horses running in the Kentucky Derby are running 1 1/4 Miles for the first time in their career, and five weeks later, are asked to run another 1/4 mile on top of that.

In addition, the size of Belmont Park can be very tricky.  A 1-1/2 mile oval, an inexperienced jockey could fire the horse midway through the turn, to find that there's nothing left in them come the final furlong.

American Pharaoh showed a lot of ability in his win on the slop in Baltimore three weeks ago in the Preakness, giving fans more reason to be excited for this attempt at the Triple Crown.  But the pressure is there, as there are columnists and fans alike who believe that a horse winning the Triple Crown is the ointment that horse racing needs to rejuvenate interest in the sport. That's a lot of pressure to place onto a horse and its connections.

Here, I'll be watching the first quarter mile.  A fast first quarter mile will spell doom for the front-runners.  When Affirmed won the Belmont Stakes to sweep the Triple Crown in 1978, he posted an opening quarter mile in 25 seconds.  Recently, several Triple Crown hopefuls were found near or in the front, recording a 23 and change quarter.  Some bowed out in the far turn, and others had nothing left when pressured in the final stretch.

Then there's the late kick factor.  There were a few horses coming out of the Kentucky Derby who are running in the Belmont Park who were closing strides in the final 1/8th at Churchill Downs.  Will they be a factor on fresher legs?

Finally, there's the five week campaign factor.  How much did the first two legs take out of American Pharaoh?  Will he have anything left in the tank for the Belmont Stakes, running three races in a span of time that most horses nowadays run two.

If American Pharaoh wins today at Belmont Park, he truly will deserve his place among the other 11 horses that have won all three races.  But if he doesn't, then it will feel just like the last 12 Triple Crown attempts on Big Sandy, with that 13th being a withdrawal from the race due to injury days before the race.