Bloomfield Batters Livingston

At the start of the season, Livingston and Bloomfield had a slugfest showdown in Bloomfield and the Lancers came out on top 29-19.

There was a different result on Wednesday afternoon, as Bloomfield traveled to Livingston and handily defeated the Lancers 12-2 in a five-inning affair.

"We did not execute offensively," Livingston head coach Scott Schroeder said.  "Against a good team like Bloomfield we need to execute to the best of our potential."

Bloomfield took an early first inning lead and after that they never looked back.

Livingston senior starter Jordan Haberman walked Mike Carter and Pat Bollotta. Then one of the best hitters in the Super Essex Conference, Jared Guglielmino, trotted up to the plate and lined a single into center field, which scored Carter. Joe Santora followed and he crushed a double to left field, which plated both Bollotta and Guglielmino. 

With Cavan Penberthy batting, Santora stole third base and on the next pitch Penberthy hit a sacrifice fly to John Beaubien in right field giving the Bengals a 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning.

Throughout Wednesday's contest, Livingston's hitters had trouble figuring out Bloomfield hurler Zeb Smith. Smith struck out Livingston seniors Nick Kozlowsky and Jimmy Napolitano on nine pitches. Livingston catcher and St. John's-bound Frank Schwindel then roped a double to left field. But Smith quickly gained his composure and struck out Seton Hall-bound John Beaubien.

In the second inning, Bloomfield immediately picked up where they left off in the first and scored four more runs off Haberman. After the conclusion of six outs for the Bengals, they had scored eight runs on five hits.

Like Bloomfield's batters, Smith continued his dominance on the mound as he struck out the Livingston side in the second.

Livingston brought junior Brian Drapeau in to pitch the third inning.  Drapeau retired the Bengals in order, hoping to inspire a Livingston rally in the bottom of the third.

His teammates did score one run in the third inning. Junior Matt Flynn hit a single into right field, stole second base and later scored on a Jimmy Napolitano single cutting the deficit to seven runs after three innings.

But Bloomfield had another offensive outbreak in the top of the fourth, scoring four more runs. Once again, Jared Guglielmino and Joe Santora led Bloomfield. Guglielmino hit a single, which scored Carter yet again, and Santora crushed a triple scoring Bollotta and Guglielmino.  The Bengals led 12-1 after the top of the fourth.

"I saw the ball well today and hit it hard," Santora said. "We had a good day offensively as a team."

Livingston scored one more run in the bottom of the fourth as junior Nick Grande plated junior Matt Rehm, but nothing else ensued for Livingston. 

Smith continued to pitch flawlessly and over five innings of work struck out eight.

"I felt good out there today but I give a ton of credit to my offense," Smith said.

Jared Guglielmino finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs and one run batted in.  His teammate, Joe Santora, was also 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, five runs batted in, and two runs scored.

"It was a great team effort today and a great win," Santora concluded.