NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 4, 2019) -- With victories in the first round on Saturday, Wilmington University, Dominican College, Jefferson and Bloomfield College advanced to the double-elimination tournament of the 2019 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Championship, which will be staged May 9ththru 11th at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Conn.
The Bears reached the double-elimination stage of the tournament by defeating the top-seeded Golden Falcons from Felician University. The Saturday afternoon battle was hosted by Felician at the Lyndhurst Recreational Field and saw Bloomfield outlast the regionally ranked home team, 5-4. On the mound, rookie hurler, Wilfrido Valenzuela got the start and pitched six solid innings, giving up one run while scattering five hits, a walk and struck out four but ultimately, senior Anthony Maldonado picked up the win as the visitors pushed across four runs beteen the 7thand 8thinnings. Justin Tavarez drove in Tyree Bradley on a sac-fly to knot the score at 1-1 in the seventh before Bloomfield erupted for three runs in the top of the eighth.
The Golden Falcons scratched across two runs in their half of the eighth and set the stage for a drama filled final inning. Senior Khalid Legette hit a single up the middle which proved to be the go-ahead run as junior catcher, Christopher Morillo came across homeplate to put the Bears up 5-3. Felician scored a run in the ninth but reliever, Anthony Elefante closed the door on the tournament's #1 seed and picked up his first post-season save.
Looking ahead in the post-season, Bloomfield has scored a victory against each of the remaining three teams in contention for the CACC Championship. The tournament schedule for this week is as follows:
2019 CACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE-ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT
Thursday, May 9 (Day 1, Municipal Stadium, Waterbury, Conn.)
Game 1: S#2 Wilmington vs. S#4 Jefferson (11 a.m.)
Game 2: N#2 Dominican vs. N#4 Bloomfield (2 p.m.)
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (5 p.m.) / Elimination Game
Friday, May 10 (Day 2, Municipal Stadium, Waterbury, Conn.)
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (12 p.m.)
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (3 p.m.) / Elimination Game
Saturday, May 11 (Championship Saturday, Municipal Stadium, Waterbury, Conn.)
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (12 p.m.)
Game 7: "If Necessary" Game (3 p.m.)
More information on the upcoming championship tournament to follow later on this week at caccathletics.org(.)
