- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,130,329
- Reaction score
- 59
WOOD-RIDGE – Don Bosco made certain that the 67th Bergen County Baseball Tournament was anything but wide open.
The Ironmen, the No. 2 seed, repeated as champion and captured their third title in four years with a 10-0 victory in five innings over No. 5 Ramapo on May 25 at the Wood-Ridge Athletic Complex.
“This is the one we wanted the most,” said senior left-hander Thomas Collins, the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, “and we went out and did it.”
Don Bosco scored seven runs in the first inning, courtesy of five hits, one walk, and two Ramapo infield errors. Senior Michael Hanna, the tournament’s record-setting Most Valuable Player, contributed two hits, one run and two RBIs for that 7-0 lead.
Senior Victor Reynoso pulled a two-run homer to right in the second inning for a 9-0 lead. Senior leadoff hitter Chase Bagley’s fifth-inning single through the right side scored senior Michael Rooney, the coach’s son who led off with a walk, to trigger the 10-run rule and ignite the Ironmen celebration.
Ramapo managed two hits, a fourth-inning single to left-center by senior cleanup hitter Danny Poppe and a fifth-inning single to right by senior No. 9 hitter Julian Cuttita.
Don Bosco (21-4) has won 11 Bergen County championships – all since 2001 – and is one behind the all-time leader, St. Joseph, which won its first crown in 1984 and its most recent in 2024.
“This is important to us. We walk about this,” coach Mike Rooney said of winning Bergen County titles. “A state championship means a lot, but this doesn’t mean less. We want this, we want to be able to go against the best teams in Bergen County, because we think it’s the best county for baseball in the state of New Jersey.”
The Ironmen outscored their four county tournament foes by a combined, 42-9, and carry a 17-game winning streak into the state tournament.
Don Bosco next focuses on repeating as Non-Public A state champion. Collins will be available to pitch May 28 against the winner of Bergen Catholic/St. Benedict’s, on a limited basis, because he was removed in the fifth after only 70 pitches.
“We’ll see what it means,” Mike Rooney said of Collins pitching in the quarterfinal. “It obviously means he’s available in our next game. We’ll see how he bounces back, obviously. He’s got to feel great in order to take the ball for us at any point in that game.”
Don Bosco sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning en route to the 7-0 lead, and Ramapo’s two errors made every run unearned.
Reynoso, Rooney and junior No. 9 hitter Joey Hanna all had run-scoring singles, and Hanna closed the rally with a two-run single to left.
“I’m really proud of our guys the way they came out,” Mike Rooney said. "It shows that this tournament means a lot to Don Bosco baseball.”
Hanna was 2 for 3, with one run and two RBIs, and the four-year starter has a tournament-record 25 career hits over a record-tying 16 games. He also holds the record for runs with 22.
“It’s amazing,” Hanna said of the tournament-record 25 hits. “There’s so many great players that played in the county tournament, and being the one holding the record is an outstanding accomplishment.”
Three more Ironmen had multiple hits: Reynoso was 2 for 3, with two runs and three RBIs. Rooney was 2 for 2, with one walk, two runs and one RBI. Bagley was 2 for 4, with one run and one RBI.
Collins threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out four. He appeared in all four tournament games, allowing only two earned runs over 15 1/3 innings, featuring 22 strikeouts.
“Our offense, and our defense, too, we made some nice plays, we did some good things defensively,” said Mike Rooney, whose team was error-free. “We were ready right from the first hitter, so I just felt like, collectively, everybody had an opportunity today.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Don Bosco leaves no doubt in Bergen County Baseball Tournament final
Continue reading...
The Ironmen, the No. 2 seed, repeated as champion and captured their third title in four years with a 10-0 victory in five innings over No. 5 Ramapo on May 25 at the Wood-Ridge Athletic Complex.
“This is the one we wanted the most,” said senior left-hander Thomas Collins, the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, “and we went out and did it.”
Don Bosco scored seven runs in the first inning, courtesy of five hits, one walk, and two Ramapo infield errors. Senior Michael Hanna, the tournament’s record-setting Most Valuable Player, contributed two hits, one run and two RBIs for that 7-0 lead.
You must be registered for see images attach
Senior Victor Reynoso pulled a two-run homer to right in the second inning for a 9-0 lead. Senior leadoff hitter Chase Bagley’s fifth-inning single through the right side scored senior Michael Rooney, the coach’s son who led off with a walk, to trigger the 10-run rule and ignite the Ironmen celebration.
Ramapo managed two hits, a fourth-inning single to left-center by senior cleanup hitter Danny Poppe and a fifth-inning single to right by senior No. 9 hitter Julian Cuttita.
What it means
Don Bosco (21-4) has won 11 Bergen County championships – all since 2001 – and is one behind the all-time leader, St. Joseph, which won its first crown in 1984 and its most recent in 2024.
“This is important to us. We walk about this,” coach Mike Rooney said of winning Bergen County titles. “A state championship means a lot, but this doesn’t mean less. We want this, we want to be able to go against the best teams in Bergen County, because we think it’s the best county for baseball in the state of New Jersey.”
The Ironmen outscored their four county tournament foes by a combined, 42-9, and carry a 17-game winning streak into the state tournament.
Don Bosco next focuses on repeating as Non-Public A state champion. Collins will be available to pitch May 28 against the winner of Bergen Catholic/St. Benedict’s, on a limited basis, because he was removed in the fifth after only 70 pitches.
“We’ll see what it means,” Mike Rooney said of Collins pitching in the quarterfinal. “It obviously means he’s available in our next game. We’ll see how he bounces back, obviously. He’s got to feel great in order to take the ball for us at any point in that game.”
Decisive first inning
Don Bosco sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning en route to the 7-0 lead, and Ramapo’s two errors made every run unearned.
Reynoso, Rooney and junior No. 9 hitter Joey Hanna all had run-scoring singles, and Hanna closed the rally with a two-run single to left.
“I’m really proud of our guys the way they came out,” Mike Rooney said. "It shows that this tournament means a lot to Don Bosco baseball.”
By the numbers
Hanna was 2 for 3, with one run and two RBIs, and the four-year starter has a tournament-record 25 career hits over a record-tying 16 games. He also holds the record for runs with 22.
“It’s amazing,” Hanna said of the tournament-record 25 hits. “There’s so many great players that played in the county tournament, and being the one holding the record is an outstanding accomplishment.”
Three more Ironmen had multiple hits: Reynoso was 2 for 3, with two runs and three RBIs. Rooney was 2 for 2, with one walk, two runs and one RBI. Bagley was 2 for 4, with one run and one RBI.
Collins threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out four. He appeared in all four tournament games, allowing only two earned runs over 15 1/3 innings, featuring 22 strikeouts.
They said it
“Our offense, and our defense, too, we made some nice plays, we did some good things defensively,” said Mike Rooney, whose team was error-free. “We were ready right from the first hitter, so I just felt like, collectively, everybody had an opportunity today.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Don Bosco leaves no doubt in Bergen County Baseball Tournament final
Continue reading...
