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CCBC Essex Prepares for Region XX Playoffs

No. 1-seed Knights have a bye on Tuesday and then play in the semifinals at home on Friday in men's lacrosse.

Last month the CCBC Essex men's lacrosse team had a stretch of four games in seven days.

Shawn Burke, the head coach for the Knights, said it was a challenging schedule but added it should serve his team well as they begin postseason play this week.

The nationally ranked Knights (No. 3 last week in the NJCAA poll), the top-seeded team in Region XX, will play at home at 4 p.m. on Friday in the regional semifinals against Harford Community College, which defeated CCBC Catonsville, 15-11, on Tuesday. The Region XX title game is at 1 p.m. Sunday at Essex and the winner gains an automatic bid to the national semifinals May 14 in New York.

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The other Region XX semifinal on Friday is Anne Arundel Community College against Howard Community College, where Burke coached before coming to Essex.

With so many games during that stretch last month, Burke said he used his second line midfielders a lot more, and they responded. Burke praised the recent play of freshmen midfielders Sam Chell (John Carroll), Ryan Arthur (Curley) and Ryan Kissner (C.M. Wright).

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"I think we found something there. That gives us more depth," said Burke, who noted his team will have several days of practice before Friday.

"Arthur, he has done a very good job for us. And the guy who has really done the best is Kissner," added Burke, who said his coaching staff should have considered playing that unit earlier in the season.

There are four teams in the national semifinals that will be held in Herkimer, NY. Three schools get automatic bids. Burke said even if his team loses in the regional playoffs, they may still have a good shot at the at-large spot. But his team has beaten all of the teams it could face this week.

"We had a stretch there the week before last where we played four top-10 teams in seven days," Burke told Patch on Sunday. "I have never had a stretch like that. By the end of that stretch it caught up with us a little bit. We ran out of steam."

That busy stretch for the Knights ended April 23 with a 6-5 win over Monroe in upstate New York.

"We are a lot fresher now, going forward," he added. "I really like where we are. Going into the playoff time of year we are in good shape."

The Knights ended regular-season play Saturday with a 21-0 win over Northern Virginia Community College at Stonewall Jackson High in Mansassas, VA. NVCC is slated to join Region XX in 2013, Burke said. CCBC is now 12-2 overall.

Burke said he expects a lot of four-year college coaches to attend the regional playoffs this weekend at Essex. The Knights have several players with Division I aspirations.

The leading scorers for the team are Luke Phipps (39 goals), Dixon Green (29), Christian Leone (23), Brandon Kendrick (19), Matt Hunter (18), Neil Hutchinson (17) and Eastern Tech grad and sophomore Travis Crane (17).

Baseball Gets Strong Pitching

The Knights baseball team, after losing Thursday to Harford at Ripken Stadium, swept doubleheaders from Baltimore City on Saturday and Salem of New Jersey on Sunday. CCBC was 21-20 going into Monday's doubleheader in Waldorf against Southern Maryland at Regency Furniture Stadium, the home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League.

Mike Carter, the Knights head coach, told Patch on Monday morning that Blake Geiger (Calvert Hall) and Greg Myers (Parkville) were slated to start the games against Southern Maryland.

Two of the most impressive pitchers this year for the Knights have been Geiger and Nicholas Morton. Geiger, in his first 40 innings, allowed just 21 hits and was 3-2 with an ERA of 1.13. Morton won five of his first six decisions and had an ERA of 2.90 in his first 34 innings of work.

The opening round of the Region XX tournament is Tuesday, May 10.

Women's Lacrosse Ends Season

The women's lacrosse team ended the season on Thursday at home with Howard Community College in a 24-13 loss. That tied for most goals in a game this season for the Knights, who were 0-12 this year. Top scorers for CCBC Essex this season were Paige Orphin and Julie Hofmann.

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