This Tuesday, May 5th, the Softball team finished their final division game with a win against Pingry (8-1).  With the win, the team not only won their division but went undefeated within the division.  The team has a record of 13-2, with their only two losses from a Chatham tournament in early April.

Sophomore centerfielder Caroline Baratta, who leads the team in homeruns, said, “This team is so special and I’m so proud that we went undefeated in our Division.  I think we can do big things in States as well.” Senior catcher Ali Kramer said, “We are super swag, and we’re not stopping now.”

The team is now taking on The County Tournament semi-finals this Saturday morning.  They received a number five seed before the tournament began.  The girls took down the number four seed last Saturday, Montgomery, 3-1.  Julianne Paris had two big RBI’s, on a triple which scored Emily Dean and Caroline Baratta.  She then scored off a fielder’s choice, hit by Mackenzie Dennis.  The team is now working hard to take on Hillsboro, with practices everyday.  Coach O’Connor is going to scout the team on Thursday in order to prepare her team for the big game.  This is the first time in years that the Softball team has made it to the County semi-finals.

Coach O’Connor said, “I am beyond thrilled for this team. They put in a tremendous amount of hard work and it has paid off. I’m enjoying every minute of coaching them.  I wish the season can go on forever.” O’Connor would also like to remind everybody to vote for Caroline Baratta as NJ.com’s best player in the Skyland Conference. The link to vote is here.

The legacy of Bernards Baseball led by Coach Falzarano has given this 2015 team more pride than ever before. Their record proves exactly that, 14 and 3 and the three losses were to big time baseball schools, Somerville twice and Warren Hills. This year’s lineup consists of various seniors such as Matt Taylor on third, JP Tantleff at shortstop, Luke Bowerbank at center field, Ryan DeLeon at left field, Danny McDonnell at right field, Trevor Dennis at second base and Kyle Oliver on first or pitching.

On Saturday, May 2nd, Bernards showed up to the first round of counties hosted at their home field with the energy to win. Kyle Oliver almost pitched a perfect game, giving Bernards the win with a final score of 5 to 1. Matt Taylor and JP Tantleff both had great defensive games as well.

Although the baseball team has been thrown several setbacks such as Luke Bowerbank having been out for several weeks because of a hamstring issue or Trevor Dennis also getting hurt in the Autism Awareness game, the two are back on the field and, “excited to see how the rest of the season plays out due to the recent outcomes,” Bernards is now considered to be a, “team with huge momentum,” Trevor Dennis says. The younger boys have really stepped up to prove the potential and fill in the several gaps whether its injured players or missing positions.

Bernards lost their Somerset County semifinal game at TD Bank Park to Watchung Hills in extra innings by a score of 7-5. Watchung Hills scored five runs on four hits in the first inning, but Bernards gradually came back from the 5-0 deficit, scoring once in the first and second innings on two RBI singles. In a three-run fifth inning, senior Kyle Oliver hit a two-run double with the bases loaded to bring Bernards within one. A fielder’s choice scored the equalizing run. The game required extra innings, and Watchung Hills scored twice in the top of the 8th inning, closing it out in the bottom of the same inning.

The Girls’ Lacrosse, holding a 14-1 record as of May 5th, enters the county tournament with a four seed. The girls went into a Tuesday night game with their rival, Watchung Hills High School. Watchung Hills came out fired up and ready to get revenge for the previous loss in their regular season game only falling by one goal in the last minutes.

The game started off rough for Bernards while several Watchung players went off on a six goal streak at the beginning of the first half. Coach McGinn took her first timeout to regroup the girls and get their heads back in the game. After the timeout was taken Paige Petty started Bernards off with the first goal and went into half time 6-4. After the halftime break, junior defenders Sophie Staller, Reagan Thompson and sophomore Hanna Christian stepped up to cause many turnovers and huge plays. The final was 9-6 with Bernards scoring nine unanswered goals.

Throughout the whole game, six yellow cards were given out to several players on Watchung including a double yellow to one of their best players and one to Watchung Hills’ Coach. The 9-6 victory soared Bernards into NJ.com’s top 20 and the team will travel to Bridgewater Raritan High School on on Thursday, May 7th to face the Panthers at 4:30.

The 2014-15 boys’ lacrosse team here at Bernards got off to a very slow start. They only won once in their first six games of the season, but they rebounded with seven wins in their last nine games, including an active five-game win streak. Their most recent win came in the Somerset County tournament in the form of a 9-6 victory over Hillsborough. Senior and junior attackers Kyle Verduin and Miles Kenny each recorded hat tricks in the victory, and seniors Declan Swartwood and David Leskauskas scored twice and once, respectively.

Led by Swartwood, Verduin and Leskauskas, the team has averaged 9.4 goals per game, including one 21-goal outburst against Phillipsburg on their home turf. Another game against St. Peter’s Prep was a high-scoring affair that saw them win 15-13. This game was the only game they won in which they conceded more than ten goals. Each of the team’s seven losses saw their opponent score more than ten goals. The team hopes to carry their explosive attack and their strong defensive play of their five-game win streak and use that momentum to their advantage throughout the county tournament.

As predicted, only merely half way through the season, Bernards High School’s Spring Track Team has already proven that they have maintained their driven and champion-bound status.

So far, both the girls and boys track teams have participated in twelve meets, and fortified their undefeated reign within their division, overcoming teams such as Bound Brook, North Plainfield, Mount St. Mary’s, and Manville. “I would say the most successful meet that the girls have run yet was their two-point-win victory over Mount St. Mary’s.” Girls head coach David Szostak revealed. “For the boys, their most successful meet was definitely their win over North Plainfield. In years past the Bernards and North Plainfield meet has been really close, but this year’s group of boys really persevered.”

In addition to team accomplishments, a number of individual teammates have achieved vast success this season, especially among the members of the senior class. For the girls, senior Danielle Aharoni has improved and scored points for the team in each her many events, including sprinting, pole vaulting, and throwing. “When it came to our close win against Mount St. Mary’s, Danielle was scoring points in every event she participated in. Without her, there is a good chance that we would have lost the meet”, Coach Szostak remarked. As for the boys, Junior Quintin Petty has been a force to reckon with this season, scoring points and achieving personal bests in hurdles and sprints.

In conjunction with dual and invitational meets, select members of the boys and girls teams got the chance to race at Penn Relays this year at the University of Pennsylvania Track. Elee Khademi, Jackie Perez, Abby Ferrara, and Sydney Rudin comprised this year’s Penn Relays 4×400 relay, achieving a time of 4:25. As for the girls 4×100, Danielle Aharoni, Taylor Murphy, Alexis Vitali, and Sophie Luik finished with a time of 54:19. The boys meanwhile finished their 4×800 with a time of 8:17 with teammates Richard Gruters, Stuart Gruters, Will Howes, and Quintin Petty.

When asked of his reaction to the track team’s mid-season success, Coach Szostak replied saying that he is “happy the results”, but that he hopes to “keep improving and not peak now”. He concluded his statement, stating, “The Bigger stuff is yet to come.”

The boys tennis team is having a commendable season with a record of 10-2 and a five win streak currently. Their first single, senior Teddy Apt has been out for two weeks with an injury but that has not caused the team any hardships. “[Senior] Evan Nguyen, and Mitchell Lui have both had to move up with Teddys injury, but even with him out we have only lost one match” says Chris Shaw. The team has played some tough matches against Hillsborough and Millburn but Evan Nguyen said “Everybody steps up during practice and with our dedication our team never gives up and we are able to push through.” Unfortunately the team did not perform as well in counties as they hoped but junior Stephen Sewellsaid “Our section has gotten harder from previous years and we cannot let that loss slow us down.” With their mental toughness and aggressive style, they hope to pull a victory on Thursday, May 6th where they will be competing in the Group Two State Tournament.

The Bernards Golf team has been having a great season this year. As of April 30th their record was 8-2 with recent victories over South Hunterdon and Belvidere. Bernards Golf has been having a great season due to the growth and development of the seniors on the squad who have been golfing for all four years of their high school career. The seniors on the varsity squad this year are Shawn McDole, Josiah Panza, Troy LaVecchia, and Carson Brienza. Shawn McDole, the captain of the team, is playing golf for Stevenson University.