BLOOMFIELD — The following are Bloomfield youth sports teams that competed this summer.
Bloomfield 14U softball team gains great experience
The Bloomfield 14U softball team participated in the Essex County Suburban League this spring. The relatively young team played hard throughout the season and showed signs in spurts.
A good portion of the members of that team signed up to continue to play 14U summer softball in the Denville summer league. Prior to the season, six more players were selected after an evaluation.
Throughout the summer, the team competed and held its own against some very good competition. Many of the teams have played together for several years. At times, the team’s inexperience showed. For example, one inning would put them in a big hole, which was tough to overcome. But all of the girls played hard until the very last pitch.
Several more evaluations were made for a 14U fall softball season. The team was expected to be selected last week.
The team is not judging its success in wins and losses. Rather, the team is trying to create a foundation, skill set and a love of the game so that, come spring, it will be ready to compete and be successful.
Seventh-grade girls hoops team rises up this summer
The Bloomfield Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Department formed an incoming seventh-grade girls basketball summer team.
The team is mainly composed of the sixth-grade girls winter suburban basketball squad that is the two-time Essex County Suburban League champion, coming off a perfect 14-0 season.
This summer, the team competed in the West Orange Summer Basketball League in the Seventh and Eighth Grade Division. The team recognized that it was going to play against some older, more athletic opponents, but that was the goal from the beginning. The team knew that it had to play against bigger, faster and stronger players in order to improve.
The team is not resting on its laurels. The mantra has been “a year older doesn’t necessarily mean a year better.” The coaches challenged the team to play up and they responded by playing pretty well.
The team finished the summer league with a 3-4-1 record, with the tie coming in the last game of the season against a very tough and athletic West Orange squad. Bloomfield had lost to them twice early in the summer, so the tie in overtime showed how much it had improved over the summer. The team can’t wait until next winter for the start of the regular season.
10U traveling softball team enjoys fine turnaround
The Bloomfield 10U traveling softball team made it to the championship game of the Denville Summer League, losing to a tough Cedar Grove squad. Bloomfield went from going 0-9 in the fall to winning four games in the spring and then winning seven games in the summer league.
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