'Twas another good week for Prophet Pat as he climbs to that coveted70 percent mark in predicting high school sports.
It's the goal of the rage of a sage to finish the high school sports year with 70 percent accuracy, and with a 5-2 card this past week he has gone 11-2 over the last two weeks. That has put his overall record at 141-62, a percentage of .695.
The Prophet hit on all of last week's boys lacrosse picks and was1-2 in baseball.
Maryland Scholastic Association powers Severn (11-0) and St. Mary's (4-0) came through twice each for the sage in thesecond annual Al Laramore Memorial Lacrosse Tournament at Broadneck.
Last Thursday, Severn stopped Annapolis, 13-9, making the Prophet's two-goal spread look good while four-goal favorite St. Mary's was dead center with an 8-4 triumph over Broadneck.
On Monday, Severn,a one-goal pick over Broadneck (1-2), was a 7-3 winner, and St. Mary's more than covered its three-goal spread over Annapolis (2-2) by humbling the Panthers, 15-1.
In baseball, Old Mill did not repeat asthe Broadneck Holiday Baseball Tournament champion as the Prophet promised. Instead Archbishop Curley of Baltimore pulled off an April Fools joke on the Prophet, who has no respect for such pranksters.
Had the Prophet known that bad weather would postpone the Saturday-scheduled tournament to April Fools Day there is no way he would have gone with Old Mill. He would have expected some sort of a joke that certain clowns like to play that day.
Sure enough, the Pats were upset in the first game by Curley, 2-1, but host Broadneck did come through for the Prophet by nipping Loyola of Towson by the predicted one run, 3-2, in 10 innings. The Prophet made top-ranked Old Mill a two-run favorite over the Friars.
In addition, the Prophet erroneously said that Old Mill would win the one-day event by two runs over Broadneck. Problem is, Old Mill didn't show up for the final as Curley downed the Bruins, 9-5, and Old Mill instead struggled through an 8-6 victory over Loyola in the consolation.
This week the Prophet delves into six tough games, all of which should go right down to the wire. Sure, the Prophet could pick the gravy games such as Calvert Hall at Spalding in baseball or Northeast at South River in softball to pad his record, but you should know by now that he loves to bite the bullet.
Boys lacrosse
Severna Park at Annapolis, 7:30 p.m. Friday: "Game of the Week."
Here is the boys lacrosse "Game of the Week" asthese two archrivals and Class 4A contenders lock horns on Riva Road.
It will be interesting to see if host Annapolis (2-2) of feisty coach Dan Hart can pick up the pieces after Monday's 15-1 humiliationat the hands of St. Mary's in the Laramore Memorial Tournament. It'snever easy to come back with self-confidence against a tough foe such as Severna Park (1-1) after taking such a good old-fashioned butt-kicking.
Of course, the visiting Falcons, who played host to Queen Anne's last night, were coming off of a disappointing 8-6 loss at Broadneck on March 26. But that kind of loss in this rugged 4A public school league can be expected.
In fact, that game was indicative of the kind of rat race it's going to be among Annapolis, Arundel, Broadneck, Severna Park, Chesapeake, North County and possibly Old Mill bymidseason. You can look for those teams to knock each other off along the way with no dominant team emerging in 4A. The four playoff berths are up for grabs among those teams.
Tomorrow night's game is the Panthers' turn to lose one. Annapolis edged Arundel, 5-4, while Severna Park lost that squeaker to Broadneck. Look for Falcons junior attackman Mike Crawford to score a crucial goal for a late victory on the road.
Severna Park plus 1 over Annapolis.
St. Paul's at Severn, 3:45 p.m. Friday.
Sorry, Admirals, but this is where the bubble bursts!
Severn (11-0) has the best high school stick record in the state and maybe the Western Hemisphere, but it is padded. You see,five of the Admiral wins were picked up on a trip to San Francisco where some surfers pose as lacrosse players.
Tomorrow the Admirals play a legitimate Maryland Scholastic Association A Conference power in St. Paul's (3-0) of Baltimore County. The visiting Crusaders are also unbeaten -- but in considerably fewer games -- but that doesn't matter.
With junior attackman Tim Whitely and a solid first midfield, the Crusaders will invade Severn and sink the Admirals for the first time this season.
St. Paul's plus 1 over Severn.
Gilman vs. St. Mary's, 3:45 p.m. Tuesday at Weems-Whelan Field in Annapolis.
This could safely be called the "MSA Game of the Week" as The Sun's seventh-ranked Greyhounds (3-0) visit the No. 5 Saints (4-0) at the legendary pit known as Weems-Whelan Field.
Gilman of Baltimore is coming off of an 8-4 victory over McDonogh of Baltimore County on Tuesday, while Jim Moorhead's Saints cleaned Annapolis' clock Monday night, 15-1, without two star seniors and leaders -- attackman Rob Chomo and midfielder David Jones.
That's the big question in this one. Will Chomo and Jones play Tuesday in this important MSA contest? They're not expected to play tomorrow at Mount St. Joseph (0-2).
Chomo and Jones are both four-year players who never had missed a game untilthis season. Chomo has a pulled hamstring sustained in the first half of the Broadneck game in the Laramore tourney, while Jones suffereda collapsed lung in the first half of the Annapolis game and did notplay in the second half.
"David was making a shot and got hit in the side," Moorhead said. "They both go back to the doctors on Mondayand we hope they will be able to play Tuesday against Gilman.
"I told them it's the first time we've had two captains who couldn't play. Other kids have stepped in and taken advantage of their chance to play, but no team can afford to lose two players like Rob and David, who are more than scorers. They are our leaders."
Even without those two guys, the Saints should have enough firepower to win at St. Joe tomorrow, and the Prophet predicts Chomo will be back Tuesday and the Saints will win. If Jones plays Tuesday, it will be St. Mary's by two goals or more.
If Jones doesn't play and Chomo does, it will be the Saints by one over the Greyhounds. And if neither plays, it will still be. . . .
St. Mary's plus 1 over Gilman.
*
Baseball
Arundel at Old Mill, 3:45 p.m. Monday.
For those of you who don't have Opening Day tickets to see the Orioles play at Memorial Stadium, catch this game instead.
No question, this is the "Baseball Game of the Week," maybe even more so than the Chicago White Sox against the Orioles on 33rd Street. After all, those big-leaguers will play161 more after Monday, while Arundel (4-0) and Old Mill (2-1) only play twice in the regular season and possibly a third time in the Region IV playoffs.
This is the county's best baseball rivalry, and once again both well-coached teams are among the metro area's best. MelMontgomery-coached Old Mill is ranked No. 1 by The Sun this week, and Bernie Walter's Wildcats, who maybe should be higher, are No. 4.
Annually, these two clubs vie for the county championship and the No. 1 seed in the 4A Region IV playoffs. On Monday they play for the first time, and the game will be decided by a mistake among two teams that rarely beat themselves.
It's interesting to note that each club plays much-improved nemesis Meade before this game -- Arundel at Meade yesterday and Meade at Old Mill tomorrow. The games before and after will determine Monday's pitching match-ups.
But it makes no difference who pitches, because this game will be a beauty nonetheless.
Old Mill plus 2 over Arundel (home-field advantage).
*
Softball
Severna Park at Chesapeake, 3:45 p.m. Friday.
While the Falcons (1-0) are capable of an upset, the host Cougars (1-1), led by Amy Jakubowski, will be too much to handle and shut Severna Park out.
Chesapeake plus 1 over Severna Park.
Archbishop Spalding at Glen Burnie, 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, North County Tournament Championship game.
Spalding flamer Kim Sheridan will earn the Cavaliers (4-0) the respect of the highly regarded public school league by defeating the Gophers (1-1) for the tourney title. Sheridan three-hit Chesapeake for a 2-0 win on Monday in the first game.
Spalding plus 1 over GlenBurnie.
The Prophet to date
Right .. Wrong.. Pct.
..141.. ..62.. .. 695