Softball players from Bloomfield HS seeking valuable experience during the summer

Photo by Jerry Simon.
BHS head coach Bob Mayer, right, is coaching the Bengals in a summer league.

BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The Bloomfield High School softball team is looking to gain valuable experience this summer.

The Bengals are competing in the Metropolitan Softball League.

Though the league is informal, it gives players a chance to develop for the high school season in the spring.

Games are doubleheaders, beginning at 6 p.m., with each game going five innings, on Mondays and Tuesdays for the month of July. There are no playoffs. Bloomfield’s home games are held at Clarks Pond South, which is also the team’s home field for the high school season.

BHS head coach Bob Mayer is coaching the summer team.

Bloomfield will begin play on Monday, July 2, at Nutley. They will host Belleville the next day.

The Bengals have to replace 11 graduated seniors,  so the league is a good way for the inexperienced players to get some playing time.

“We have a lot of inexperienced players, so this gives them experience,” Mayer said.

In addition to Bloomfield, some of the teams in the league are Nutley, Belleville, Cedar Grove, Chatham, Montclair, and an Essex team with a mix of players, mostly from Newark Academy.

For Bloomfield this summer, there are about 20 players, so there won’t be any problems trying to field a team on any given day, said Mayer. Some of the players will be missing some games due to their commitment to their travel teams.

The Bengals are looking to improve on this spring’s 8-15 record.

Lady Bengals Softball Camp offered

The fourth annual Lady Bengals Softball Camp will be held for two weeks: July 9-12 and July 16-19 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Bloomfield Middle School field.

The camp is offered to girls in grades 2-8 (ages 7-15). The camp director is Jennifer Santa, a BHS softball pitcher and outfielder from 1996 to 1998 in which she led the Lady Bengals to the 1998 Section 2, Group 4 championship. The camp is charged a fee. The camp includes instruction in all phases of the game, highly-qualified staff, games and challenges, awards and prizes, free camp t-shirt and camper evaluation sheet.

For more information, email jennsanta@hotmail.com or call 201-452-7448.