BELLEVILLE — The Belleville High School baseball team hopes to make a strong run in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament.
The Buccaneers, seeded ninth, will visit No. 8 seed Union City in the first round on May 27.
It’s a rematch of last year’s sectional tournament in which the Bucs upset No. 4 seed Union City 11-0. If the Bucs beat Union City again, they will face either No. 1 seed Passaic County Tech or No. 16 seed Memorial in the quarterfinals on May 29.
Prior to the game vs. Union City, the Bucs will visit Nutley on May 26 in the final regular-season game. Edwin Velazquez will get the start on the mound for Belleville.
“Both teams will definitely be prepared for us so we need to be at our best,” said BHS head coach Joe Sorce, referring to Nutley and Union City.
Last week, the Bucs lost all three games to move to 11-12.
On Monday, May 18, the Bucs lost at Lodi 4-3 in eight innings. Senior Sean Walsh pitched seven strong innings and got a no-decision. “We made two errors early in the game, which gave them two runs, but Sean settled in and did a great job,” said Joe Sorce.
On Wednesday, May 20, the Bucs lost at Clifton 5-2. Velazquez pitched into the sixth inning. “Edwin did a good job of locating his pitches and kept us in the game, but we didn’t get him enough run support,” said Sorce.
On Thursday, May 21, Belleville lost at Verona 5-0. “Senior Jordan Armstrong continued to pitch well, as he faced a good Verona team,” said Sorce.
“Our pitching has done a great job keeping us in games all season,” continued Sorce. “Our team ERA is 2.44.”
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