Today here at “The Shop,” we bring you comments from the Phillies minor league prospects followed by some insights on their “ceilings” and potential arrival times in the Big Leagues.

Starting right-handed pitcher Jake Thompson and left-handed hitting outfielder Nick Williams, seems to be the odds-on favorites among the top blue-chip prospects to get the call to the major leagues.

Williams could be helped by the fact that Cody Asche won’t start the season on the Phillies roster and Aaron Altherr won’t be ready until late in the summer.  Both Asche and Altherr were penciled in as starters for the parent club before spring training began.  Because of the ‘numbers’ issue in the outfield—or, more appropriately, LACK of numbers, Williams could be one player that gets bumped up a little earlier than expected.

Plus, Williams had a torrid September last year, during the Reading Fightin’ Phillies playoff run, which the organization’s top brass saw first-hand.  A quick start by Williams might give Phillies fans what they’ve already started clamoring for—and that’s a fast promotion to the Big Leagues for some of these high-profile prospects the team received in trades over the last year.  However, it has usually been the Phillies objective to get young players as much minor-league seasoning as possible before reaching the major leagues.  Given the team is not ready to contend and there’s really no reason to start these players “free agency clocks” (the time teams have players under contract), you probably won’t see many of these players before Memorial Day.

A quick example that supports this theory if Maikel Franco, who got hot in Triple-A to start last season and was promoted while he was swinging the bat well.  Dominic Brown is probably a good example of the ill-effects of rushing a young prospect through a system too quickly.

If a team’s success starts with pitching, Philadelphia should be in good shape when you look at their Triple-A starting rotation.  Joining Thompson are Mark Appel (a former top draft pick), Zach Eflin, David Buchanan and Adam Morgan (the latter pitched well enough to make the Phillies out of spring training but was demoted in favor of power-armed Vincent Velasquez).    The Phillies have so much depth in fact, that two pitchers (Alec Asher and Severino Gonzales) who pitched for the Phils last year will start this season down in Double-A.  While not all of these hurlers may be impact players at the major league level, the team has much needed depth and find themselves in the fortunate situation in which not all of these young arms HAVE TO mature into top-level pitchers in order for the franchise to have continued success.

If a couple of these guys can contribute consistently for the Phillies, they will have a nice pitching staff for years to come.  This is a sharp contract when the team looked at having just a couple blue-chip prospects in the farm system and, when most of these guys fizzled out, the team struggled with very few reliable reinforcements available to help out.

For more insights on the Phillies top minor league prospects, check out our most recent “SportsTalk” podcast, here .

Don’t forget to share your baseball opinions by emailing us (rcnsportstalk@rcn.net) and tune in to hear us read and respond to your opinions on our Thursday “RCN SportsTalk” show live at 7pm and on our weekly podcasts.

As much as I love basketball season, I do enjoy the start of the spring sports season.  If the weather cooperates and allows athletes time to get outside (and leads to warmer weather), it’s even better!

I’ve always felt the spring coaches, in general, have the toughest assignments preparing for their seasons.  They not only have to wait for the winter sports teams seasons to conclude to get going, they almost always have to wait for Mother Nature to accommodate them—not just with current weather issues, but snow, rain and cold temperatures during the previous months can literally set sports programs back days, or even weeks.

Then, they have to contend with the mandatory final days of the school year (and sports season) that sneak up on them in seemingly no time.  Factor in all the proms, socials, year-of-school activities, vacations and so many other distractions…it really is tough for high school kids to keep their focus this time of year—not to mention have success on the field (or on the court, for the tennis and volleyball athletes).

There are some interesting Lehigh Valley storylines for the spring sports high school season, including the following:

“Tony’s Return”
Our good friend Tony Cocca is making his return to coaching after a long tenure as both the softball and football coach at Whitehall High School.   Tony compiled a 90-78 record while piloting the Zephyrs teams in the early 2000s.  He takes over a Blue Eagle team that dipped a bit last year, finishing 6-10 in league play (7-13 overall), but still captured a Lehigh Valley Conference title just a few seasons ago.

District XI has always been a hotbed for outstanding softball programs, and this year will not be an exception (both Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic won State Championships a year ago).  Despite losing some very talented players to graduation, the Trojans figure to be one of the top teams in the league again this year, and Coach Cocca will have his hands full with a ton of EPC teams loaded on the schedule.

 “Another ‘Tony’ Moves On”
Speaking of Parkland, one of the area’s top baseball coaches, Tony Galucy, will not be at the helm of this year’s Parkland baseball team.  Tony was very accommodating when we in the media would ask for questions and was a great interviewee, whether his teams won (which they usually did) or lost.  I’m sure the Trojans will be in good hands this year and will be one of several teams expected to do well in the very competitive skyline division (it’s nearly as competitive for baseball as it has been for boys’ basketball).

Another team in their division, Northampton, is rumored to be fielding a very strong team this spring, and we’ll be taking a closer look at this year’s K-Kids team with a feature on them for this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show.

“Hail Hannah”
It has not been uncommon in recent years to have Lehigh Valley athletes and teams receive national attention, but Hannah Edwards has received some MAJOR accolades on an incredibly large scale.  The Catasauqua senior softball player was just named to the 2016 American Family Insurance Preseason ALL-USA Softball Team.  Hannah is one of three outfielders who were selected on a nationwide team that included a total of 25 players.  The Rough Riders’ star was also recently named to the MaxPreps 2016 Pre-Season Softball Team and has now been named to nine All-American teams during her high school career.

Catasauqua is always competitive in softball and features a number of talented players on this year’s squad, so don’t be surprised if we hear quite a bit about their softball team in the weeks ahead.

“One More Winter Shout-Out!”
The sport that also always gets lots coverage during the winter sports season is the girls and boys swimmers and divers.  With the conclusion of their season, the names of the All-Eastern Pennsylvania Conference members were released to the media last week.

I hope everyone checks out the list of some tremendous accomplishments by these athletes in the pool this winter!

Remember, we are always on the lookout for high school teams and athletes to feature here on our blogs and on our “SportsTalk” TV show and podcasts.  Email your suggestions to us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune in for our spring shows and high school features!

Before we turn our attention to the spring sports season, we continue our final look back at the high school winter sports season in the Lehigh Valley region with video and recognition of some amazing performances.

“Dynasty-Making”
I’ve seen some great District XI Class 3A girls basketball teams over the years and, quite frankly, have watched  some rather boring district playoff games (due to one team being SO good).  However, the Southern Lehigh girls’ basketball team turned in one of the most dominant performances ever this winter.  In addition to a phenomenal regular season (they lost just their season opening game to Dunbar), the Spartans won every other game the rest of the way until they lost to Berks Catholic (with a chance to win at the buzzer) in the second round of the state playoffs.

The Spartans lost two very key seniors.  However, the team’s core–four of their five starters—is back next year.  Solehi should have no trouble building on this winter’s legacy with dominant playoff runs in the league, district and state playoffs for years to come.  Their players are a multi-dimensionally talented team AND fundamentally sound (a GREAT combination), and should have no trouble putting together successful campaigns in 2017 and beyond.

We talked quite a bit about the overall competitiveness and great amount of depth in girls’ basketball a few weeks back here at “The Shop.” Like many of the other programs we’ve seen or talked about this winter, there was a ton of talent on display, with many teams returning most of their key players. As I stated on last week’s “SportsTalk” show and podcast, I’m looking at Easton (who returns virtually everyone) to be the team-to-beat on the Eastern Pennsylvania Girls Conference side.  With many other underclassmen back in 2017, expect Nazareth, Northampton and many of other teams involved in this winter’s playoffs to be right back in the post-season again next year.

“A Return to Glory”
In addition to a tremendous season (and another state championship) for the Bethlehem Catholic wrestling team this season, there were many individual stars here in the Valley.  As usual (but following a minor dip last year), District XI was well-represented in the state tournament in Hershey, with eight gold medalists and 20 overall metal winners.  Special props go to Liberty’s Andrew Gunning who captured the school’s first PIAA individual wrestling title in over 30 years.

We invite you to go back to hear many of the teams and individual wrestlers discussed on our “SportsTalk” podcasts  from this winter.

Here’s a look at highlights from RCN-TV’s wrestling coverage during the second half of the wrestling season.

There were also outstanding accomplishments this winter by local swimmers, with their season culminating last week with the PIAA meets.  Congrats to Salisbury’s Mahlon Reihman for being named swimmer of the state meet, who beat out fellow District XI competitor Gabe Castano (Allentown Central Catholic) for the Class AA gold in the 100-meter freestyle.  Like wrestling, there were numerous Lehigh Valley athletes in the water who also posted solid performances at last weekend’s final events.

Let us know what were your top moments, teams and athletes from this past winter.  Email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and tune in Thursdays, 7-8 pm, to hear us talk about your local teams on our “RCN SportsTalk” program.  This Thursday will be our final “winter show” and your last opportunity to talk about this recently completed scholastic season in the RCN viewing area.

Over the next two weeks we’ll take a look back at what has been an extraordinary year for District XI winter high school sports.

“Eight is Enough”
Eight is the maximum number of gold medals one could accumulate while playing two sports—and that feat was accomplished by Parkland’s DeVante Cross.  He and his Trojans completed another dominating performance in District XI, not losing a game in the Lehigh Valley once he and his football teammates were finished with another district title (and playing for a state championship) on the gridiron.

Cross will be taking his talents to the Boston College football team where he will look to follow in the recent footsteps of other Lehigh Valley athletes who’ve had collegiate football success and then moved on to play at the professional level.  In my opinion, I believe him to be one of the top point guards we’ve had in District XI in some time, and my only regret is that we won’t see him on the basketball court again, but I know we’ll be seeing plenty of highlights once the collegiate football season gets underway.

We’ll be talking with Parkland Head Coach Andy Stephens and members of his boys basketball team on the Thursday, March 24^th edition of “RCN SportsTalk” at 7pm.

I don’t think Parkland will drop off too much, despite the graduation of some key seniors.  However, the 2017 boys basketball season will be wide open with so many returning star performers back on the hardwood again, and many will benefit from the extra year of varsity experience.  The same is true for a few key women’s basketball teams—we’ll have more on them next week.

“Save Your Programs”
On both “SportsTalk” and during our high school basketball broadcasts, we’ve talked at length this winter about all the amazing underclassmen talent around the region.  Heck, Allen, Central Catholic and Pocono Mountain West boys’ teams (among others) have virtually their entire teams returning next year.

While Emmaus will lose several quality people to graduation as well, they return arguably the area’s best player, David Kachelries, along with his twin brother Matt.  The Hornets also have some MAJOR size coming up through their system and will return to make the competition for league and district championships in 2017 even more challenging than it was this winter.

One underclassman who won’t be returning is Nazareth’s Jahan Dotson, who will be moving to play at a prominent high school football program this fall.  Dotson was a great athlete to watch and I enjoyed watching him on the hardwood—both being a dynamic scorer and delivering some great passes setting up his teammates.  We wish him the best on what could be a lengthy athletic career.

“Colonial League vs. EPC”
While some people like to put down the Colonial League in favor of the bigger schools that comprise the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, I always enjoy the opportunity to see and meet the members of the “smaller school” league in District XI.  We’ve often highlighted their accomplishments (including having both Bangor and Salisbury as in-studio “SportsTalk” guests).  The Slaters and the Falcons posted some tremendous wins this year, with both teams reaching the state tournament after having to battle each other for the Colonial League Championship.

“Rifling”
We also did our first ever feature on rifling this winter.  Many people don’t realize it is a PIAA-sanctioned sport—and has been for some time.  Our chat with members of the Freedom Rifle Team on “SportsTalk” was very informative and certainly brought to light many unique aspects of the sport.

Look for more high school winter sports notes and videos coming your way in the next “SportsTalk Shop” entry.  Also, be sure to tune in for this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” (and then on our podcast here on Friday) as we take a more in-depth look at the boys and girls high school basketball programs in the Eastern Pennsylvania region.

Spring Training baseball is underway, and the Nats and Phils have two opposite perspectives on what to watch for this month during the exhibition season as they get ready to accomplish distinct different goals in 2016.  Here’s a look at key issues for both teams as the pre-season unfolds.

Nationals…

 …continue to look for and add depth.

This, in my mind, was one of the biggest issues with the 2015 Nationals.  When injuries came, they had one or two “backup” plans, and when they didn’t pan out, there were major issues.  Acquiring players as the season unfolds, both quality bench personnel, along with high-character guys, are key for this team to make it to the next level.  Washington does not want to get painted into a corner where they have to make a move for someone like another Jonathan Papelbon out of necessity, but should be continuing to look for ways to add depth into and throughout the season.  Just ask the Phillies how important a “minor” addition like Matt Stairs turned out to be.

Speaking of depth, the Nats need to bring up at least one or two players from the minors that will contribute.  With the number of injuries players sustain today, it isn’t realistic to think that five, or even four, members of the starting rotation will make it through an entire year—no matter how good they are.  Plus, they need players to come up and challenge the veterans.  Guys like Trea Turner, Wilmer Difo, Lucas Giolito and others must continue to improve and push the more established players at the Major League level (both Difo and Giolito had nice performances last Friday).

Finding a couple players to contribute as the season wears on is key to driving this team forward–if, for the purposes of just this year, that role is simply to light a fire under a current player who’s underperforming.

 …the return of Rendon—the REAL Rendon.

Anthony Rendon was one of a number of injured players during 2015.  He did play last season, but he wasn’t the Rendon that people wanted…needed for the Nationals to play a legitimate playoff run.  Instead of building on a tremendous 2014 campaign, a string of issues (starting in spring training and lingering throughout the year) kept the third base-turned-second baseman from ever truly hitting his stride last summer.  This spring, following the acquisition of second basemen Daniel Murphy, he’s been returned to his natural defensive position and hopefully will lead the team offensively in the way the team needs him to be.  The Nationals have done a great job, in my opinion, building an offense around the core.  But Rendon is that special player that, if healthy, is the guy who can carry a team during team-wide struggles and also is the guy I’d want at the plate with the game on the line.

Getting him ready for the season is nice, but, perhaps more than any one position player, a healthy exhibition season and a clean, injury-free, path to Opening Day is one of the most important issues for Washington this month.

Phillies…

 …Maikel Franco MUST continue improving.

Much like Rendon, Franco, right now, looks to be the centerpiece of the Phillies position players and will be looked to (until proven otherwise) as the team’s “go-to guy.”  The Phillies have done a great job of building a collection of great prospects, with the knowledge that, while some young players won’t live up to their potential, an increase in the number of blue-chip players in the organization strengthens the chances that SOME of these players make a significant impact.  The organization has been hedging their bets and not riding all their hopes on one player.  However, Franco—a home-grown entity—has been touted as the one key player to build around.  If he regresses, it won’t end the rebuild, but any lack of progress this summer will be tough for Phillies to deal with, especially from a PR-standpoint (see the 76ers situation).   Franco is the guy who Phillies fans can see–right now–in Philadelphia, and he’s shown flashes of amazing ability.  The fan base can be patient if they have some hope that they can see in close proximity.  Philadelphia’s starting third-baseman is off to a great start (he’s already hit as many home runs the first week of spring training as the two previous pre-seasons combined.)  As long as he continues to flourish at the Big League level this summer, it is easier to sell the fact that more players like him are coming down the pipeline.

…the pitching watch.

Through all the horrible 2015 baseball seen in the Delaware Valley…it was made dreadfully worse by poor pitching.  Again, new GM Matt Klentak has done a great job of building an abundance of low-risk, high-reward players, in the hopes that a few can be serviceable major league hurlers—either to be traded away for more prospects, or as veterans to help hold a future pitching staff together with experience.  There’s a number of pitchers to keep an eye on as spring training and the regular season unfolds, and a finding a few gems this season could really help the rebuilding efforts along.

Keep in mind, even the older veteran’s success—pitching or position players–can impact and have a significant influence on the future.  If one or more players is having a solid season heading into July (and approaching the trade deadlines), a contending team may be desperate to add a necessary piece (see the Nats’ with Papelbon a year ago).  Players that don’t figure in as regulars in the Phillies lineup two-to-three years from now (Carlos Ruiz, Cody Asche, Darin Ruf, Charlie Morton and others) might get you a diamond-in-the-rough prospect that helps Philadelphia in future seasons?

Join us on “RCN SportsTalk” in the coming weeks (Thursdays live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV or catch our podcasts here) as we get updates on the Phillies and Nationals’ spring training updates from the team’s beat writers.  We’ll also have discussions on this weekend’s Pennsylvania and Washington, DC high school playoff action on this week’s program.

After a busy and exciting week of calling District XI high school championship playoff action on RCN-TV, I am taking a few days off as we prepare for RCN’s coverage of PIAA State Playoff action.

So at the “SportsTalk Shop,” here is a highlights package of the playoff action over the past few weeks featuring teams in the RCN coverage area.  I’ll be back next week with more sports insights here at “The Shop” as well as on “RCN SportsTalk” next Thursday, live at 7pm.

Don’t forget to check out RCN’s sports coverage of District XI teams in the state playoffs starting this Friday and best of luck to all the teams participating in the tournament!

There are some great high school match-ups over the next few days that I’m very excited about–especially on the girls basketball side.  Here are some observations and notes about District XI teams in the RCN coverage area to get you ready for this week’s playoff coverage on RCN-TV.

The 4A Girls Bracket
It was a coming-out party for Northampton freshman Victoria Keenan, who made her RCN debut last Friday with a spectacular performance en route to a big win over the second-seeded Parkland Trojans.  Despite her (and her frontcourt mates) getting in some early foul trouble, Keenan showcased her ball-handling and shooting abilities from different spots on the floor all game long.  I immediately noticed her poise and confidence in the pre-game warm-ups and she did not seemed fazed in the least about the win-or-go-home contest in front of her.

She finished with a game-high 23 points (no one else on either side finished in double figures) and set up her team to face their area rivals, Nazareth, in the semifinal matchup (7:30pm LIVE, Tuesday, RCN-TV).

I don’t often make predictions about players, and even more rarely do I single out a freshman, but after seeing Keenan play last week I feel confident in saying she’ll become one of the top girls basketball players in the area, if she’s not almost there already.

Not to be left out was Aja Blount, who came into the quarterfinal match-up averaging 20 points per game.  The Trojans played stifling defense on her and did not allow Blount her usual amount of touches, but Aja returned the favor by playing her own brand of ‘shut-all-windows-and-doors” defense against a talented Parkland frontcourt in the victory. Devon Saul, Lauren Sterner, Jenna Rogers, Brielle Ringo and (despite some quick fouls called on her) Sophia Eckroth all played well and I’m looking forward to seeing their next game on Tuesday.

I have not seen the Blue Eagles in person this year, but I’m well aware of the high level of play from returning players Tessa Brugler and Jessica Durnin, and the strong defense Head Coach Rick Bickert always cultivates.  This semifinal game should go right down to the wire.

I was very impressed by my first look at this year’s Easton game–a squad I saw last year and knew they would surpass those levels from a year ago.  We’ve spoken quite a bit about the Red Rovers on recent “SportsTalk” shows and podcasts (which you can hear here).  Pottsville has been led by two outstanding scoring threats, Kyra Schenk and Sadie Cresswell (the latter really shoots well from three-point land and will play college ball at East Stroudsburg University).  The Tide have some size and could create some interesting match-up issues for Easton (Tuesday, 6pm Live, RCN-TV).

Was Parkland vs. Allen the best HS game in decades?
I had a number of people answer in the affirmative about the above question between the boys teams from Allen and Parkland.   Emmaus’ Saturday victory over the Canaries will keep area fans from seeing a rematch of this contest (Parkland and Allen did not play each other during the regular season).  While I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was the greatest local game in over ten years, I will say unequivocally that on any given night, the Allen boys team can be as entertaining to watch as any team in the RCN viewing area.

Remember, nearly all of Allen’s key players were juniors or younger this winter and should return in 2017.  With Parkland graduating a number of the area’s top performers, I think you could certainly put the Canaries as one of the two or three best teams heading into the next high school basketball season, and should be a fun team to watch during the summer leagues.

With the Hornets win, we’ll see another great Parkland vs. Emmaus battle on Wednesday night (live, 7:30pm, RCN-TV).

We’ve talked about both teams quite a bit this season, and on paper, it still seems that the Trojans are heavy favorites.  The Hornets have battled through some tough games this season and we’ll see if Emmaus can come up with a new wrinkle or two to try to frustrate top-seeded Parkland.

SHOUT-OUTS
* Pocono Mountain West’s Lance Singh (a junior) had one of the best individual men’s performances I’ve seen in quite some time.  He scored 35 against Allen in the EPC semifinal and owned the first and last quarters, with the ability to score despite sometimes being triple-teamed, but also set up his teammates well down the stretch run.  Jalen Vaughns (also an 11^th grader) is also a difficult match-up—a guy who can score from different spots on the floor and is also a beast on the boards, and Isaiah Wiggins (another junior, by the way) also has a very similar skill set.  I think it’s safe to say PMW is clearly the single most talented scoring machine that Bangor has faced all season, and the Slaters will have their hands full in their semifinal match-up.

* Speaking of Bangor, props to last week’s “SportsTalk” panelist Toomey Anderson (from “LV Basketball Rankings”) for stating on the show that the Slaters will have a breakout performance and post a statement-declaring win over Whitehall in Saturday’s quarterfinal game.  We have been touting the great teams in the Colonial League since early December here at the “SportsTalk Shop” (feel free to go back through our past blog entries to see for yourself) and it is no surprise to me that there are two Colonial League teams still alive as we advance to the semifinal round of the District XI playoffs.

* Another correct “lock” prediction made on last week’s program was Andre Williams declaring that Bethlehem Catholic would beat Allentown Central Catholic in the so-called “Lehigh Valley Holy War.”   First-year Head Coach Ray Barbosa has done a remarkable job since taking over the program, even before his big win over the Vikings last Friday.  He has his team playing its best basketball of the season at just the right time.  They face undefeated Pottsville on Tuesday night (9:30pm, tape-delayed, RCN-TV).  The Tide have played some quality opponents and are an athletic team.  If Becahi can play like they did against Parkland in the EPC Quarterfinals, they’ll have a shot.  Regardless of this game’s outcome, the Golden Hawks already have had a tremendous season after winning just three games a year ago.

Send us your high school basketball comments and opinions via email (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and enjoy all the playoff basketball action coming your way on RCN-TV over the next week!

Last week, we discussed a number of teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference or Colonial League post-season races—nearly all of them will look to be major players in the District XI tournament, which starts this week.  Today here at “The Shop,” we take a look at a few more teams that begin their district championship quests over the next few days.

“Give Me Liberty…”
Don’t let a first-round loss in the EPC playoffs fool you.  Chad Landis always seems to find a way to get his team playing deep into the district playoffs—and usually well enough to get at least one of the top-3 district seeds, which would give the Hurricanes a trip to states.

Liberty lost to a very talented Allen team last week.  On paper, however, I think Liberty could play with almost anyone in their bracket.  They have a tremendous talent on the inside in Cam Hoffman and exciting guard play with added depth now that Chance Neilly has returned and gotten some game action under his belt. They’ll open up the tournament by facing Nazareth on Wednesday (live, RCN4 at 7pm).

“…or Fly Like An Eagle”
Nazareth Head Coach Joe Arndt has to be on a short list of underrated basketball coaches in the region.  Following his great run in the post-season last year (more on that later), he has done a great job grooming young talents Jahan Dotson and Kevin Wagner to become one of the strongest 1-2 underclassmen punches among EPC teams.  Nick Youngkin has added scoring punch from different spots on the floor and probably deserves more attention that he’s received this season.  The key will be containing the likes of Hoffman, Andrew Hudak and Caleb Martinez on the inside and for Nazareth to get its share of rebounds.  More inside scoring could go along way for Blue Eagles—the loser of this ball game sees their season come to an end.

The 3A Race Should be Fun To Watch
Central Catholic has an incredibly talented team, filled with underclassmen and amazing potential.  But when you have a younger group of players, there’s always an element–however slight—of ambiguity in reading how they will play together in the post-season.  They lost to a very solid Pocono Mountain West team in the first round of the league playoffs and, unlike previous years, I don’t think the Vikings are your ‘stone-cold locks’ to win the district title.  Salisbury, Notre Dame and Saucon Valley are all good, well-balanced teams who can play with Central Catholic.

Bethlehem Catholic also showed a tremendous amount of poise in hanging with the area’s best team, Parkland, in their EPC first-round match-up and have scored some impressive wins during the regular season.  Ray Barbosa has done a great job in his first year with the Golden Hawks and I don’t think a lengthy run in districts should be seen as a shocker.

Also, waiting “in the wings” is a Pottsville team that just completed a perfect 22-0 regular season.  The Tide will face the winner of Tuesday’s match-up between Saucon Valley/Lehighton (live, RCN4 at 7pm).  There will be very few “easy” games in the District XI 3A Classification this time around, and I doubt very many people could clearly predict just how this bracket will shake out this winter.

This Year’s Cinderella?
Last year it was Nazareth’s boys team that surprised people with a lengthy and exciting run through the District XI tournament—winning a few more games than many expected.

Who will be this year’s dark horse squad to last the longest? Stroudsburg is always an underrated team that seems to find a way to advance deep in the playoffs—despite the fact local experts rarely predict a successful post-season run for the Mountaineers.  If they can get by Freedom on Wednesday, they have as good a shot against Pocono Mountain West, then would face the winner of the Bangor vs. Solehi/Whitehall matchup, so another post-season run by the Mounties certainly looks like it has potential.

Also, there’s a number of talented girls basketball individuals and teams to keep an eye on that don’t get the hype they deserve.  Easton is coming off an impressive performance in its EPC Championship victory and are led by standout stars like Gabby Bloshuk, Leanna Deegan, Olivia George and Shelby Stocker.

However, this might be one of the most competitive District XI girls playoff fields we’ve seen in some time.  Parkland features Emily Piston, Rachel Medlar, Nadine Ewald and Sarah Stagaard.  Among the other top EPC talents include Nazareth’s Tessa Brugler, Northampton’s Aja Blount and Victoria Keenan.  Colonial League players to watch include Southern Lehigh’s Amanda Mobley, Olivia Snyder and Ellie Cassel (all underclassmen, by the way), Palisades’ Karlee Krchnavi, Northwestern’s Erika Thomas and Bangor’s Marissa Fernandez-Tierney.  We talked about a number of these teams and players in last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast (listen here: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk).

Don’t forget, we’ll be discussing many more teams, previewing match-ups and making District XI playoff predictions on Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show, live from 7-8pm on RCN-TV with the show’s podcast available on Friday.  Guests include RCN Basketball Analyst Tom Stoudt along with Toomey Anderson and Andre Williams from LVBasketballRankings.com.  Email your high schools opinions and questions to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and our panel will read and respond to your comments live on the air!

The high school basketball playoffs have arrived in the Lehigh Valley region.  Thanks to the expanded playoff format (of which there’s been much debate amongst local sports fans–discussed at length on ‘RCN SportsTalk’), the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and the Colonial League post-season actually got underway last weekend, with the league semifinals to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday (check the RCN broadcast schedule for our coverage).

On this Thursday’s live “SportsTalk” program (7-8pm), we’ll have local coaches and experts Megan Dellegrotti (former Southern Lehigh Head Coach/fmr. DeSales Assistant Head Coach), Joe Jarjous (current Dieruff boys head basketball coach), Kyle Hutnik (Pen Argyl Boys Basketball Head Coach) and Ed Seidick (Catasaqua Girls Head Basketball Coach) on the show to give their insights on the teams involved, along with opinions, predictions and key match-ups to watch for on both leagues’ championship nights for both the boys and girls title games (also to be broadcast on RCN-TV on Friday).

To get you set for the semifinals, here are thoughts on the teams that I’ve seen so far this winter, along with the video highlights from RCN’s regular season coverage of high school basketball in the Lehigh Valley.

EPC:  PARKLAND
Despite just a five-point lead over Bethlehem Catholic at halftime, Parkland looked just as strong in the second half of its opening round playoff game as they have at any point during their season since the football players returned.  I’m sticking with my prediction from early December that the Trojans win the EPC and continue to advance all the way to the PIAA state championship.  A big key for this to happen will be for Parkland to avoid one of the top Philadelphia schools (aka., Roman Catholic) in the first few rounds of the  tourney.  However, this team is so well-balanced and has all the advantages (size, speed, shooting ability et al) over nearly every team they’ll face over the next few weeks.

ALLEN

Another prediction I made back on this blog before the season started (and I’m sticking with now) is that Talek Williams is one of the most dynamic players in the Lehigh Valley.  From what I’ve seen of his Canaries teammates this year, I don’t believe Allen is a one-star team.  At any given time, Williams and Co. could be the Lehigh Valley team to give Parkland its biggest challenge.  The key for the Canaries is their consistency—they’ve looked great at times, and have also struggled: sometimes game-to-game, other times quarter-to-quarter.  If Allen can put together a string of solid efforts, they could give the Trojans a battle for the EPC Championship Friday (RCN-TV, live, Friday at 7:30pm), provided they don’t look past Pocono Mountain West in the semis.

Emmaus
The Hornets also have the size, guard-play and speed to hang with Parkland, but have not been able to come close to a win in the two meetings between these two juggernauts.  I believe they have the biggest collection of underrated players in the area (Cam Widdoss, Brandon Rapose, Jake Freirtag, Joey Polczynski, Eric Cichocki, Jake Scarnulis).  Because of their regular-season finale loss to Whitehall, they drew Parkland in the semifinal round (RCN-TV, live Tuesday at 7:30pm).  This might be the wrong way to look at things, but if Emmaus loses to Parkland in the league playoff, the old adage of “it’s hard to beat a good team four times” might apply if these area rivals would face each other again in the District XI playoffs—or even a fifth time if they would both clinch and meet in the state playoffs.

Colonial League:  Bangor vs. Saucon Valley
While Bangor’s Michael Martino has been the headline name in the league this past year, I think both the Slaters and the Panthers have a lot of high-talent players, and their semifinal matchup (RCN4, live Wednesday at 7:30pm) should be just as competitive as their regular season meetings.  While Bangor won each contest, Mike Kane was not available for the first meeting between these two teams, and he has shown he can be a difference maker.

Another player to watch?  While he’s certainly gone under the radar, I believe Saucon Valley guard Josh Snead might just be the best point guard in the Colonial League this year.  Equally underrated are Bangor’s guard Reece Jones along with the Slaters’ frontcourt—with some up-and-coming talent also on the way.

Southern Lehigh vs. Salisbury
I haven’t gotten a chance to see in person either of these teams this year, but will this Wednesday in the first Colonial League semifinal contest (RCN4, live at 6pm).  For some great insights on the Falcons from Head Coach Jason Weaver and his players, check out their “SportsTalk” appearance on our podcast here.  In addition to talking about their successes this year and thoughts on the post-season, top scorer Tevon Weber told some great stories about his shot selection, and what he does every time he hits a three-pointer.

If you have a comment or question about the local high school basketball playoffs, email them to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune in Thursday at 7pm for our “League Championship Preview Show” as we read and respond to your thoughts on the local league playoff season in the Lehigh Valley.

One of the biggest Lehigh Valley local sports winter events is happening this Saturday—the District XI AAA Team Wrestling Final & Ultimate Qualifier (live, 4:30pm on RCN-TV).  Local wrestling gurus Gene Waas and Jack Logic were on our “SportsTalk” show to discuss that event, as well as give their opinions on many local wrestling issues.  Among the topics discussed–they gave their takes on the “EPC Challenge” and on the first year of the “revamped” alignments for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  Here’s a brief sample of our discussion of the “new look EPC” for wrestling–the entire program along with thoughts on the District XI tournament structure is available here on our podcast.

We’ve also had some great wrestling action on RCN-TV this past winter.  We covered a number of Colonial League teams on our “RCN SportsTalk” show—the interviews and videos are available on-demand for RCN customers.

To get you set for this weekend’s tournament action, here’s a look back at the highlights of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference wrestling matches featured on RCN-TV this season.

In addition to this Saturday’s team district wrestling coverage, we have more wrestling coverage coming up in the next few weeks.  On the Thursday, February 25^th edition of “SportsTalk” from 7-8 pm, we’ll have preview of that weekend’s District XI AA and AAA individual wrestling tournament.  On Saturday, February 27^th at 9:30 RCN-TV will have the AAA Wrestling Final and the following week RCN will be broadcasting the PIAA Northeast Wrestling Final at 9pm.

Keep checking the RCN-TV schedule page here on the website for the latest news and/or changes for our local sports coverage.  Also, don’t forget to email you opinions and feelings the local sports action to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com .