North Bergen drops 4-3 decision to Toms River East in Group IV state final
In the days leading up to last Saturday’s NJSIAA Group IV state championship game against Toms River East, North Bergen Head Baseball Coach Brian Boyce was asked how he prepared to face the No. 1 team in the state.
After all, Boyce’s Bruins were facing a team with a pitcher, Ryan Doherty, who stood an imposing 7-foot-1 on the mound and had an equally imposing 9-0 pitching record and a 1.06 earned run average.
"We don’t get to face many seven-foot pitchers in Hudson County," Boyce laughed. "Maybe someone can come and simulate what it would be like to face a seven-foot pitcher."
Neither Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nor Patrick Ewing was available to pitch batting practice to the Bruins before the game to simulate what it would be like to face such a menacing figure on the hill. The Bruins pretty much had to fly by the seat of their pants.
As it turned out, the Bruins really didn’t need that much help. And they were far from overmatched, even facing the premier team in New Jersey.
It didn’t help that Doherty was staked to a 4-0 lead before his team ever took the field, but the Bruins hung tough from there, losing a tough, yet valiant, 4-3 decision in the state title game at Toms River North High School last Saturday.
Certainly, the Bruins’ game performance caught the eye of veteran Toms River East Head Coach Bill Frank, who was a standout pitcher during his high school days at Snyder.
"I’ll tell you what, they fought really hard," said Frank, whose team won its third state championship and finished the season at 29-3. "They hit the ball, they did all of the right things on the field and they made it very tough on us. We had to earn it and they were the ones that made sure that we earned it."
Being in the four-run hole to start the game didn’t help the upstart Bruins, who closed out their brilliant season with a 22-9 mark. Facing a sure-fire All-State pitcher, as well as a famous catcher in Colin Gaynor, who gained recognition as part of the famed Toms River Little League team that won the Little League World Series, the Bruins could have easily folded up the tents and headed home.
But they didn’t. In fact, the Bruins scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to slice the lead in half and added another run in the third, to climb to within, 4-3. But they couldn’t get any closer.
"Our kids really played hard and have nothing to be ashamed of," Boyce said after the game. "I really thought that we could come back and get another chance at them. We just didn’t get the break we needed and didn’t get a timely hit in the late innings. We had a spectacular run and brought home the first state sectional championship in the school’s history. We have a lot to be proud of."
Felix Urena and Omar Tavarez continued their fine hitting, each contributing two hits and an RBI for the Bruins. Probably the star of the day was sophomore pitcher Emil Fuda, who bounced back from a tough outing against Roxbury in the Group IV semifinals to pitch four scoreless innings against the No. 1 team in New Jersey, giving Fuda something to shoot for next season. Fuda allowed just two hits against TRE, striking out five and walking three. It’s a performance to build on. Hudson County fans will hear more about Fuda in the coming years.
They’ll hear more from North Bergen too. It was a thrilling run and definitely one for the memory banks, even if the Bruins did fall just one run short.