Bullets Lose on a Walkoff Single

Justin Donnarumma's seventh inning single plated Chris Carrano from second as Wayne defeated the Bullets 4-3.

Carrano led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rob Stern. Following a walk, Donnarumma laced a single to right on a 3-2 pitch to score the winning run.

Pete Velardi went the distance for Wayne, striking out eight and allowing five hits.

After the Bullets scored twice in the top of the first, Andrew D'Amico hit a three-run double for Wayne in the second to give the Wolfpack a 3-2 lead.

The Bullets came back to tie it in the third on an RBI single by Anthony Dorio that scored Tom Phillips.

Reliever Jose Sotomayor (0-1) suffered the loss for the Bullets. With the bases loaded in the fifth, he entered in relief of Bryce Warden, who struck out six and allowed two hits in 4.1 innings of work. Sotomayor induced a fielder's choice and a strike out to escape the fifth unscathed.

Bullets No-hit in Opener

P.J. Cerreto tossed a no-hitter as the Twin-Boro Bruins defeated the Bullets 1-0 in South Bergen's 2010 opener.

Marc Poinsett was the tough-luck loser. He fired a complete game four-hitter, striking out five and walking one.

Poinsett escaped a bases loaded jam in the second and nearly wiggled out of a similar circumstance in the third. After loading the Bruins loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk, Poinsett got strikeout, before a sacrifice fly plated the game's lone run. He escape the jam with a fly out to Jack Montanile in center.

Despite never getting a hit, the Bullets had multiple scoring opportunities. In the first inning, Montanile walked with two outs and stole second. Anthony Yeswita reached on an error as Montanile moved to third before a ground out ended the inning.

In the second, Anthony Frisina and Ryan Kiczek both walked with one out, but Frisina was caught stealing third and Pat Saracino flied out to center to end the inning.

In the fourth, T.J. Alcorn walked and moved to second on a wild pitch before Frisina struck out to end the inning.

Matt Norton walked to lead off the seventh -- the only leadoff hitter to reach base against Ceretto -- and stole second and third. But consecutive strikeouts by Frisina and Kiczek, Ceretto's 10th and 11th, ended the game.

After taking a short hiatus for the Memorial Day Weekend holiday, the Bullets take on the Wayne Wolfpack on Tuesday June 1 at the Wayne PAL Field in its next game.

Bullets Unveil 2010 Roster

The South Bergen Bullets have announced their roster for the 2010 season.

The season, which will get underway on May 23, will feature 24 regular season games in the prestigious Metropolitan League. In past seasons, the league has featured former (and future) major leaguers.

The Bullets, an expansion team that will compete in its first season in the league, feature 22 players. This includes 17 current college players from the Tri-State region. The team also features 10 former Lyndhurst Legion players.

The Bullets, which will play its home games at Westvale Field in Westwood, is managed by Matt Ackermann, who has coached in the South Bergen area for 16 years. He is joined on the coaching staff by Nick Ackermann, who has coached locally for eight years, and rookie coach CJ Sheppard.

Name		Position
Ackermann	Denis	C
Alcorn	TJ	1B-C
Bayse	Jeff	P
Crouch	Blake	C-OF
Dorio	Anthony	SS
Finora	Joe	P
Frank	Mike	OF-P
Frisina	Anthony	C-1B
Garbe	Scott	P
Glassman	Matt	IF-OF
Kiczek	Ryan	OF-P
Montanile	Jack	OF
Moreno Norton	Matt Matt	3B 3B
Ostag	James	P
Phillips	Tom	2B
Pointsett	Marc	P
Ruzich	Mike	IF
Sotomayor Saracino	Jose Pat	P IF-OF
Warden	Bryce	P
Yeswita	Anthony	OF

Bullets Announce 2010 Schedule

The South Bergen Bullets are pleased to announce their schedule for the 2010 North Jersey Majors Met League season.

The team will feature college and local players from New York and New Jersey.

23-May 4:00 PM at New Milford
1-Jun 8:00 PM at Wayne Wolfpack
5-Jun 5:00 PM vs NJ Spartans
8-Jun 8:00 PM vs. North Haledon (at North Haledon)
10-Jun 7:00 PM at Meadowlands A's
13-Jun 5:00 PM vs Tri-City Royals
15-Jun 7:00 PM at Hackensack Troasts
19-Jun 5:00 PM vs. Tri-Boro Sting
19-Jun 8:00 PM vs. Tri-Boro Sting
20-Jun 5:00 PM vs. New Milford
22-Jun 8:15 PM at NJ Spartans
24-Jun 7:00 PM at Belleville
26-Jun 5:00 PM vs Ramapo Valley
27-Jun 5:00 PM vs Wayne Wolfpack
6-Jul 8:00 PM at North Haledon
8-Jul 7:00 PM vs. Meadowlands A's (Lyndhurst)
11-Jul 5:00 PM vs Tr-City Royal
11-Jul 8:00 PM vs Tri-City Royals
13-Jul 7:00 PM vs. Hackensack Troasts (at Foschini Park)
15-Jul 8:00 PM at Ramapo Valley
18-Jul 5:00 PM vs. Meadowlands A's
20-Jul 8:00 PM at Ramapo Valley
25-Jul 5:00 PM vs Belleville
25-Jul 8:00 PM vs Belleville

Uniforms Have Arrived

Baseball has certain sounds, smells and senses associated with it.

The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the feel of that new uniform hanging over your shoulders as you start to brim a new cap.

The Bullets are about to feel those new uniforms.

Saturday should just be marked on my calendar as a holliday. After all of the hard work of the past few months, it will start to feel VERY real on Saturday when I pick up our uniforms from Stan's Sports Center in Hoboken.

I can also officially announce that opening day for our inaugural season will occur on May 23 in North Haledon against the Twin Boro Bruins.

The North Jersey Majors Met League has a league meeting on Sunday to finalize the schedule, so I hope to have the Bullets complete 2010 schedule online at some point on Sunday or Monday.

The roster is really shaping up. I am excited by the number of quality college baseball players on the squad.

More soon. See you at the field!

My Coaching Philosophy

Somebody asked me once what were the core edicts of my coaching philosophy.

(Okay, honestly, no one has ever asked me that, but for the sake of this post, lets pretend I have disciples that are all looking to drink the kool-aid.)

I believe in pitching and defense.

I believe in long at-bats and on-base percentage over slugging percentage.

I believe in fundamentals and small ball. I think the squeeze bunt is every bit as powerful as the three-run home run.

I believe in team speed.

I believe heart and commitment will win more games than cockiness and bravado.

I hate nepotism, politics and favortism. As a coach, its my job to put the best players on the field for every situation. Period.

I believe smart people surround themselves with smarter people.

I believe chatter can be a powerful weapon, but in the wrong hands it can just be irritating.

I believe dedication is underrated. So is a good bullpen.

I believe the worst thing anyone can do is overcoach. I learned a long time ago, sometimes the best coaching I will ever do is sit on my hands and let the game happen. Sometimes, the best thing I can do is trust the players on the field.

I believe in the double-play, the crooked innings, battling back from an 0-2 count. I believe in doubles to the gap and double plays. I believe two-strike hits can destroy a pitcher and two-out errors can destroy a team.

I believe a great left-handed pitcher can carry you to a title. And one cancer on the roster can destroy you.

Above all else I believe that baseball is a great game. A game that I have been lucky enough to be a part of my entire life. Its a game that can teach us about life and can make life more bearable. It served as a distraction in my toughest hours, bound my family tightly together, and helped lead me to my wife.

Some days it motivates me and others it distracts me from the aggravations of the daily grind.

I always just hope I leave it stronger than it has made me, but I doubt that that is possible.

More soon. Hopefully, I'll have enough player fees in this weekend that I can begin disclosing our roster.

Have a great evening!

Bullets Secure Westvale Field for 2010 Home Games

After spending months hunting for a home field, the South Bergen Bullets will spend 2010 at Westvale Field in Westwood.

The facility is located in Westvale Park on Harrington Avenue and Sand Road in Westwood.

Honestly, after talking to every recreation director in Bergen and Hudson counties over the past three months, I am ecstatic about this facility.

To take you inside the process for a moment, we had set up to play at Breslin Stadium in Lyndhurst this summer, but that field is being turfed this summer and we were left to find a new home.

I assumed after volunteering in Rutherford for 15 years that a few well-placed phone calls would be enough to secure a facility.

I was very wrong.

I also assumed that I would have my pick of facilities, complete with lights and a fence.

I was very wrong.

With more teams popping up annually, fields are at a premium and towns are interested in profiting from their facilities. I was amazed at some of the prices that I was quoted.

I was even more surprised at the hoops that we were asked to jump through. Tom Byrne, who has tirelessly worked on this initiative for months, spent many hours going from rec department to rec department trying to negotiate.

Most directors didn't care or (worse) tried to profit from our conundrum.

Westwood's director worked with us and never tried to profit from our unfortunate circumstances. (Though, I probably would've offered my first born to get this field if necessary.)

Now, I am beginning the process of scheduling our home games.

Wish me luck!