Bloomfield head coach Rich Adams talks to a Bloomfield player during a game against West Essex this past season. (Photo Courtesy of Jerry Simon)
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — In his first year at the helm, Bloomfield High School softball head coach Rich Adams said he was proud of his players for their hard work since day one this past spring.
Though they finished with a 12-13 mark, the Bengals made strong strides.
The Bengals are showing that same dedication this summer, much to Adams’ delight who said he can’t wait for next spring. After all, the Bengals return almost everyone, he added. During an interview while he was working as a camp staffer at the Bengals Baseball Camp at Bloomfield Middle School field on Thursday morning, July 20, Adams talked about this summer’s team, which he noted features a nice blend of youth and experience.
“Our younger players are playing with our older girls, so they are getting good experience playing higher level competition; some of our incoming freshmen too,” he said. “And it gives our varsity players a chance to keep building on what we were doing through the spring.”
The Bengals took part in a competitive league this summer, facing such teams as Nutley, Cedar Grove, West Orange, Montclair, Hanover Park, Paramus Catholic and Payne Tech.
“Overall, we’ve been playing pretty well,” Adams said. “We’ve been playing great competition in the summer, so they are getting good experience; getting good reps. It’s a solid league and everybody is there for the same reason. We’re just trying to get more playing time for the girls.”
Adams, a 2007 BHS graduate who played baseball for the Bengals for current head baseball coach Mike Policastro, replaced Bob Mayer, who built an outstanding program in his 34 seasons at the helm. Mayer, however, stayed with the program and served as an assistant coach. Adams was an assistant coach for Policastro, and was also an assistant coach at Glen Ridge High School.
Coaching softball for the first time has definitely been enjoyable for Adams.
“It was a great experience for me for my first season coaching softball,” he said. “I thought the girls worked very hard between the start of the season and the end of the season. I thought there was a lot of growth. We will return almost the entire team next year.”
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