BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The Bloomfield High School varsity softball team certainly proved to be one of the best teams in Essex County this season.
The fifth-seeded Bengals dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision in extra innings against top-seeded Mount St. Dominic Academy in the second game of the Essex County Tournament semifinals doubleheader on Friday night, May 19, at Ivy Hill Park in Newark.
Mount St. Dominic, ranked No. 7 in the state by The Star-Ledger, scored the lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a one-out fielder’s choice grounder to win it in walk-off fashion.
Lexi Corio was sensational on the mound for the Bengals. The freshman pitcher went the distance, allowing just four hits and one walk and striking out five. The run was unearned.
Senior Jalia Santos doubled in the seventh inning for the Bengals’ only hit of the game. The Bengals moved to a 16-10 record.
Mount St. Dominic, which improved to 22-5, will face second-seeded and defending champion West Essex in the final on Saturday, May 20, at Ivy Hill Park at 7 p.m. West Essex defeated third-seeded Cedar Grove, 3-0, in the other ECT semifinal.