Bloomfield Loss Sends Montclair Junior Legion Series to Three Games

It was the proverbial back-against-the-wall mentality for the Montclair Junior Legion softball team on Sunday.
    

Falling in extra innings to Bloomfield on Saturday, 8-7, the Junior Mounties needed to win on Sunday at Bloomfield Middle School to send the Essex County Junior American Legion final series to a third game on Monday at 5:15 p.m.
    

Despite the loss, Montclair head coach Pat Errico felt confident coming into Sunday's game. "I think we were a little pumped for today," said Errico who added that his team came back from a 7-0 deficit in Saturday's game. "I was happy with how we persevered in that game."  

On Sunday, Montclair combined a big offensive inning along with a gut check from Montclair pitcher Cameron Freda that sent the championship mini-series to a third game with a 13-7 victory over Bloomfield.
    

Even if Montclair loses on Monday, they still qualified for the state district tournament that starts later this week in Denville. 
    

For Errico, the mini-series and state tournament can only help the Montclair baseball team in the future. "We always want to play the big games," said Errico, who added the mini-series is like playing in the Greater Newark Tournament.  

On Sunday, Ben Guterl, the Montclair designated hitter and cleanup hitter, went 3-for-4 in the game with two runs scored.
 "We had to score some runs and it was do or die," said Guterl.  "If I saw a pitch that I liked in the strike zone, I went for it."
    

Max Rosen went 1-for-3 with three runs scored.
  The Junior Legion bats exploded in the top of the seventh inning to the tune of seven runs to break open a three-run lead and take a 13-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
  In the bottom of the seventh, Guterl scored the first run on a wild pitch as Montclair sent up ten batters in all.
   

The inning was highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Jack Biebel and Nick Twomey, bringing home two runners in each double scorched into the outfield.
  Before the big seventh inning, Montclair showed its skill with small ball by getting nearly one run per inning with speed and pushing runs over.
    And the strategy worked: a suicide squeeze play in the fourth inning gave Montclair a 3-1 lead.
    Errico expected Freda to go five innings because his pitch count was not that high until the seventh inning.  Still, he let the Montclair hurler go the distance and he came through.