BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield High School baseball team ended an amazing run this season.
The Bengals, under head coach Mike Policastro, finished as runner-up in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament.
It was an emotional time for Policastro, whose mother died a few days prior to the 8-3 victory over Livingston in the semifinals.
In the victory over Livingston on Tuesday May 30, at Bloomfield Middle School field, Evit Dwyer pitched four-plus innings for the win; Brandon Piacenza recorded the save and had a double and two RBIs; Dan Murawinski had three hits and two RBIs; Tyler Bell had two doubles and a single; and Evan Freid had a single, a double, and two RBIs to lead the No. 2 seed Bengals. Livingston was the No. 3 seed.
The Bengals then lost to fourth-seeded Ridgewood 12-11 in the sectional final on Friday, June 2, at BMS field. The Bengals finished the season with a 20-10 record.
Ridgewood scored five runs in the top of the second for a 5-0 lead. After Bloomfield scored a run in the bottom of the second, Ridgewood scored two runs in the third for a 7-1 lead. Bloomfield scored three runs in the bottom of the third to cut it to 7-4. After Ridgewood scored three runs in the fifth to make it 10-4, Bloomfield exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-10 lead. Ridgewood scored two runs in the top of the seventh to win.
Piacenza went 3-for-3 with three singles, two walks, two runs and an RBI; Bell went 2-for-5 with two singles, a stolen base, a run and an RBI; Murawinski went 2-for-4 with two singles, a hit by pitch, a stolen base, two runs and an RBI; Jake Sullivan went 2-for-3 with two singles, a walk, a stolen base and one run; Keithdem Perez went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks, a stolen base, an RBI and two runs; and Michael Rosamilia went 1-for-4 with a single, a walk, a stolen base, two RBIs and a run.
“Today was not meant to be, but I am so incredibly proud (of) my team for the way we played today in the North 1 Group 4 Championship game,” said Policastro in a Facebook post. “We were down 5-0, 7-1 and then 10-4 in the 5th inning before mounting a huge comeback, scoring 7 runs to take an 11-10 into the seventh inning. Hats off to Ridgewood, down to their last strike, they scored 2 runs to take a 12-11 lead. We put the first two guys on base in the bottom (of the) 7th (but) couldn’t finish off the comeback. So proud of this entire group for a great season. They worked extremely hard and made our coaching staff, administration, parents, and community so proud.”
Policastro is a 1989 Bloomfield High School graduate who has been the head coach since 2007.
Photos Courtesy of Jerry Simon
First photo gallery: Bloomfield vs. Ridgewood, sectional final
Second photo gallery: Bloomfield vs. Livingston, sectional semifinals
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