It was a tough week for Belleville sports in the county tournaments.
Leading off was the loss in the Essex County Tournament final for the Belleville volleyball team to Livingston and then the Bucs baseball team missed a chance to get to the Greater Newark Tournament semi-finals by dropping a 7-3 decision at Nutley.
But the high school teams will have a chance next week to make a run in the state tournaments that kick off on Monday.
Baseball
Belleville's baseball team came back in the bottom of the sixth inning and was looking like it might pull off another upset in the Essex County Tournament last Thursday, May 12.
Bolstered by an upset of second-seeded West Orange in the first round of the GNT, 15th-seeded Belleville was looking to go a little north and upset 10th-seeded and neighborhood rival Nutley.
With the Bucs chipping away at rival down to a 5-3, two-run deficit, Nutley scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, a deficit from which Belleville could not come back.
Down 7-3, Nutley went to their top pitcher Mark Gualtieri to shut down Belleville in the seventh inning and the Bucs could not make another comeback.
While it was not a good day on the mound for pitcher Gabe Rivera, at the plate Rivera went 2-for-4 along with a double to lead the Belleville offense.
In addition Joe Anello was 2-for-3 on the day with an RBI and Gerard Gilfone smacked a solo home run to back the Bucs.
Against the Raiders Belleville seemed to take one step forward and two steps back.
In addition the Bucs had a hard time against Nutley starting pitcher James Juhrden in the first five innings.
After going down 2-0 in the first inning, the Bucs sliced it in half at 2-1 in the top of the second inning, but Nutley came back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
With the sobering thought that their GNT trek was over, Belleville traveled to Newark Academy and dropped a 13-10 decision to the Minutemen on Friday.
Again the Bucs got off to a slow start as Newark Academy went up 2-1 and 9-2 after three innings.
But again Belleville did not give up as the Bucs scored six times in the top of the sixth inning to shave the Minutemen lead to two runs, 10-8. But the Minutemen bounced back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three times.
Volleyball
After falling to Livingston in the ECT final on Saturday, Belleville (18-8) rebounded in fine fashion with a pair of victories earlier this week.
Head coach Chris Terranova was testing the character of his team to comeback and they passed the test with a 25-15, 25-10 victory over Golda Och at home on Monday.
And then on Tuesday the Bucs had to go to three games, but defeated Millburn, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20.
Against Golda Och Julian Rodgriguez led the way with 12 kills while Carl Laroco chipped in 13 digs. Luigi Zanoria was there to back Rodriguez and Laroco with 28 assists. Thomas Rosario and Jaleel Dolor added seven and six kills respectively.
In the three-game victory over the Millers, the Bucs rebounded with the help of the offensive attack from Rosario, Rodriguez and Dolor. Rodriguez led with 13 kills while Rosario and Dolor contributed 10 kills each. Rosario had seven blocks to gain the Super Essex Conference victory.
Softball
In the post-Essex County Tournament play the Lady Bucs split a pair of games with Columbia.
Belleville defeated Super Essex Conference rival Columbia, 5-2, on May 11 at home while the Cougars turned the tables on the Bucs on Friday by dropping Belleville by the same score, 5-2.
In the victory over Columbia, the Lady Bucs got on top early in the second inning with a 3-0 lead that turned out to be the game winner.
Victoria Andreola led the Belleville offense with a pair of runs and two RBI, both of which came in that crucial second inning. Bucs Jessica Benacquista chipped in with a pair of hits and pair of RBI.
Belleville pitcher FrankieAnn Fontana scattered five hits while also fanning five Columbia batters in the victory.
Belleville was 10-6 at the cutoff, but the Lady Cougars put a crimp on the Bucs plan to have a higher seed and avenged the May 11th loss.
Just like how Belleville went ahead early in the first two games between the teams, the Cougars turned the tables by putting the Bucs behind 4-1 in the second inning.
Belleville could not rebound despite a pair of hits from Gianna Veniero, Kristina Gomez and Michele Knafo.
Boys tennis
Belleville's run on the hard court came to an end in the first round as they dropped a 5-0 decision at Iselin-Kennedy on Thursday.
Iselin was just too much for the Belleville with the closest match coming at second singles as Bucs Dan Robaina lost 6-1, 6-3 to Kennedy's Nick Patel.
Belleville dropped to 8-7 on the season after falling 5-0 to Cedar Grove on the day after the state tournament on Friday.
The Bucs will have a chance to end the season on a high note with two matches, both on the road at Bloomfield on Monday and at Nutley on Wednesday.
