Game of the Week: Fort Lee Baseball Team Loses Rivalry Game to Ridgefield Park 10-1

On a cool Wednesday afternoon in the rain, the Fort Lee Bridgemen lost at home to the Ridgefield Park Scarlets 10-1.

As many fans reached for their umbrellas, the rival teams reached for the baseball to play their first game of the season up north.

Last week, the Bridgemen were down in Florida, while the Scarlets were competing in South Carolina, both under temperatures nearly double that of the 45 degrees on Wednesday.

But both teams put that behind them as they started with a scoreless first inning.

Ridgefield Park struck first with a run in the next inning on a sacrifice fly from designated hitter Corey Miller. Bridgemen starting pitcher Bryan Halpern also allowed a run in the third inning to fall behind 2-0 as Ridgefield Park widened the lead. Behind 2-0, the Fort Lee junior committed a throwing error to begin a six run inning for the Scarlets. The visiting team would go on to take advantage of a few Bridgemen errors and bat around in the inning.   

“You can’t have four errors in one inning and expect good things to happen,” Fort Lee head coach Mike Raferty said. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Ridgefield Park also received a pitching performance from Steven Tellian that held the Bridgemen to just one hit entering the fifth inning. Facing a possible mercy rule, junior second baseman Ross Fasman singled up the middle with two outs, scoring senior outfielder Jeremy Infante to keep the game going.

However, there would be no more scoring the rest of the way as Ridgefield Park hung on for the nine run victory.

“They did the little things right, and we didn’t,” Raferty said after the game.

Infante finished 1 for 1 in the loss, including two walks and a run scored. Fasman, who had the lone RBI for the Bridgemen, also contributed by pitching the final 2 2/3 innings for Fort Lee.

Fort Lee tarped the field after the game in hopes of keeping the field dry for practices later in the week as they prepare for a Friday road game at Dumont.

“Next game we got to get going from the first pitch,” coach Raf said. “We got to make the plays defensively.”

Dumont has won the last three league titles, something that Fort Lee is hoping to accomplish this season on their way to a possible county and state tournament, which would also be a first.

Friday's contest begins at 4 p.m.