Winning streaks play havoc with weekly poll
Although only one North Jersey baseball team remained undefeated entering the week, several teams were able to make jumps in the Top 25 rankings thanks to long winning streaks.
St. Joseph ran its win streak to seven with Friday’s 2-1 win over Ridgewood, which derailed the Maroons’ 7-0 start. The Green Knights also defeated ranked Northern Highlands and Pompton Lakes squads during their run.
Indian Hills leapt 10 spots on the heels of a four-game win streak. The Braves have won 9-of-10, and the only loss in that span came to St. Joseph.
Old Tappan won eight in a row to break into the Top 10, right behind Glen Rock – the lone Bergen County unbeaten, which has reeled off seven straight following an opening-day tie against Dwight-Englewood. Hackensack, meanwhile, won 8-of-9 after starting 0-2. Among those warranting consideration for the Top 25, Ridgefield Park/Bogota enjoyed a 4-0 week, while Wayne Valley bounced back from an 0-4 start with six consecutive wins.
Top 25 rankings
1 Don Bosco (10-1)
2 St. Joseph (9-3) 3 Ridgewood (9-1) 4 Westwood (10-1) 5 DePaul (6-4) 6 Bergen Catholic (4-5-1) 7 Ramapo (8-2) 8 Pascack Valley (7-2) 9 Glen Rock (7-0-1) 10 Old Tappan (8-1) 11 Dwight-Englewood (6-1-1) 12 Indian Hills (9-2) 13 Ramsey (6-4-1) 14 Hackensack (8-3)
15 St. Mary (9-3)
16 Wayne Hills (8-2) 17 Lakeland (6-3)
18 Pascack Hills (5-5) 19 Northern Highlands (5-6) 20 Pompton Lakes (5-2) 21 Demarest (4-5) 22 Emerson (8-3) 23 Passaic Valley (7-4) 24 Midland Park (7-1) 25 Passaic (6-3)
Also considered: Fair Lawn (6-6), Leonia (6-4), Lyndhurst (6-6), Passaic Tech (5-7), Ridgefield Park/Bogota (8-2), Wayne Valley (6-4).
Records through Sunday’s games