Bloomfield's Tyler Bell fires a pitch against Glen Ridge this past season.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield High School baseball team finished with a 9-19 record this past spring, but the Bengals enjoyed one major highlight — they reached the Greater Newark Tournament championship game for the first time since 1997. The GNT is considered the Essex County tournament.
Though they lost decisively to perennial powerhouse Seton Hall Prep in the GNT final, the Bengals got a taste of what it was like to get to the final. Next year, they want to return to the final and win it, as well as make a strong run in the state tournament.
The Bengals have been led by head coach Mike Policastro, a 1989 BHS graduate and legendary BHS player who has been at helm since 2007.
This summer, the Bengals are competing in games to further their on-field development.
Policastro and his assistant coaches, Rich Adams, Mike Carter Jr. and Liam Penberthy, are coaching the 18U Bloomfield team that is competing in independent games this summer. Adams, Penberthy and Carter are former BHS players — Class of 2007, 2008 and 2013 respectively — who played for Policastro.
The 18U team had a 4-0 record to start the summer, with wins over Elizabeth, Madison, Montville and Montclair.
“They have been doing well,” said Adams, who is also one of the camp instructors at the Bengals Baseball Camp, directed by Policastro, at Bloomfield Middle School’s field. The baseball camp is for boys entering grades 2-9.
Adams has been impressed by the progress of his pitchers, particularly rising juniors Evit Dwyer and Darien Rivas. “We’ve been getting some good pitching outings on the mound,” Adams said.
Rising seniors Tyler Bell and Brandon Piacenza, who were the top pitchers for BHS this past spring, also are on the summer team, while also playing for their respective club teams.
Adams was an assistant coach for the Bengals for three seasons before becoming an assistant coach for six years at Glen Ridge under Penberthy. Adams and Penberthy then returned to BHS this past spring.
The Bloomfield 16U team, comprising mostly incoming freshmen, is coached by Sean Downey and Allen Wannant. Downey is the junior varsity coach and Wannant is the freshman head coach for the BHS program. The 16U team competes in the High School Development League.
Photos Courtesy of Jerry Simon.
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