West Orange Honored to Have No. 2 Seed in Greater Essex Tournament

The Greater Essex County Tournament began its 79th edition Thursday. West Orange High School's baseball team won't begin play until a week from Saturday, but the Mountaineers hold what is believed to be their highest ever seed in the tournament.

The Mountaineers and their 8-2 record are seeded No. 2 behind defending champion West Essex (9-1) in the record field of 27 schools. Following the top two are No. 3 Seton Hall Prep (7-3); No. 4 -Millburn (10-3); No. 5 Montclair (5-4); No. 6 Montclair Kimberley (5-1) No. 7 Livingston (5-4) and No. 8 -Caldwell (7-5).

West Orange was the third seed last year, but was beaten 2-1 in the pre-quarterfinals by 14th seed Montclair Kimberley. So though it is a honor to be ranked so high, it also means little if the Mountaineers don't play well.

"Our job is to take it one game at a time," said coach Steve Zichella. "It's pitching, pitching. Pitching is so important and I believe that every team in the county has a very good one. Last year we lost to a 14th seed.

"We're not used to cracking the first five or six, so our seed ... it's a compliment," he added. "It's really a tribute to the team."

Zichella believes that if things play out with favorites winning, then the Mountaineers could meet Belleville, a team they beat 13-1 last Saturday night.

"I'm looking at the possible pre-quarterfinals and I really believe you're going to see some upsets," he added. "If you have a buzz-saw as a pitcher ... it'll make it very difficult to produce runs. You need two good pitchers. There are going to be so many upsets. Teams that have one good pitcher, a dominating pitcher. It's going to be a great tournament."