Sports
Bloomfield Bengals Softball Team on a Roller Coaster Week
Their next scheduled game is Monday, May 23, when they host Montclair Kimberley at 4 p.m. They also have a makeup game against Livingston.
For Bengal softball, last week was like a roller coaster.
There were high points, like a game that Bob Mayer, the coach, said was the best he’d seen, and lows, like their elimination from the Essex County Tournament. Regardless of the outcome, there’s no doubt that Bloomfield made a lasting impression on four of the best teams in the area.
Any team would be a little nervous about taking on four great teams in just as many days. For Mayer’s squad, who play in a tough SEC division, it was comparable to the rest of the season.
“We’ve had some really tough games all year,” Mayer said. “We just practiced hard, knew it was coming and we dealt with it.”
The week started off with a tough road loss to Cedar Grove on Wednesday. Bloomfield hosted Ridgewood at Clarks Pond South last Thursday. Pitcher Debbie Mazzeo and the Bengals let up three runs early in the game before shutting the Maroon offense down.
The Bengals threatened several times throughout the game, but could not capitalize, falling to the Maroons 3-0. Melany Zeller went 2-for-3 in the game, hitting two singles. Victoria Ross was 2-for-4, also hitting two singles. Mazzeo, a sophomore, pitched a complete game and struck out three batters.
Luck was on Bloomfield’s side on Friday when they faced Montclair. They held the lead twice early in the game, but fought back to within one run before the seventh inning. With a runner on base, senior catcher Alex Ross came up big for the Bengals, drilling a two-run homer to give Bloomfield a 9-8 win at home.
“It was one of the greatest games I’ve ever coached,” Mayer said
That gave the Bengals some momentum heading into Saturday’s Essex County Tournament quarterfinal against Nutley, one of the top teams in the area. The Raiders scored one run against Mazzeo in the first inning, before the sophomore shut them down the rest of the way. In what turned out to be a pitcher’s duel with Nutley’s Kayla Huegel, that one run was all Nutley needed to advance in the tournament, winning 1-0. Mazzeo pitched a complete game, allowing only six hits.
After four straight days of play, rain forced the Bengals inside on Monday, when they were scheduled to play Livingston.
“It’s like we’re in a holding pattern,” Mayer said.
They’re scheduled to take the field again Wednesday at Newark Academy, but rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week and may keep the Bengals indoors. Their next scheduled game is Monday, May 23, when they host Montclair Kimberley at 4 p.m. They also have a makeup game against Livingston.
The brackets for the state tournament should be coming out in the next few days. Mayer expects the Bengals to receive a low seed in the group stage, but believes that their placement in the tournament won’t be a problem, with the way they’ve been playing lately.
“I’m confident we can take on anybody,” he says.
