Bengals Blitz: Regular Season Wrapped Up

Baseball: With the Bengals making history this season with one of the best teams in school history, the hardworking Barnegat squad came up just short in the Ocean County Tournament and Shore Conference Tournament.

On Friday May 11th, the Bengals travelled to Jackson Memorial for an Ocean County Tournament Quarterfinal game. On the mound for the Bengals was ace Mark McCoy, who lived up to the hype on the biggest stage he had faced. McCoy made quick work of one of the most fearsome lineups in the Shore, needing just 65 pitches for a complete game four hitter, yielding just one run. Unfortunately, it was the only run scored of the day, and Barnegat lost 1-0.

Last Thursday, McCoy once again took the mound for the Bengals in the opening round of the Shore Conference Tournament. With the 19th seeded Bengals travelling to 14th seeded Monmouth Regional, the Bengals took a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning. In the sixth however, things unraveled as Monmouth scored three unanswered runs to eventually win the game.

The Bengals will have every opportunity to make up for the losses with a win Tuesday against Collingswood High School in the South Jersey Group II Tournament. The fifth seeded Bengals will host twelfth seeded Collingswood at 3 PM. Barnegat sits at 10-10 overall and 6-3 in the division.

Softball: While the Lady Bengals fell in the Ocean County Tournament Small School semifinals to Central Regional by just one run, they won their first round match up of the Shore Conference Tournament. It took an extra inning but Emily Gambuti and company got the job done. With the win, Gambuti improved her record to 15-5 on the year striking out three and pitching all eight innings. The eighth inning rally started when Gambuti beat out an infield single to reach first before being pinch ran for by Tara Jackson who was later plated by Holly Walker's single for the walk off win. In the second round, the Lady Bengals will be taking on Toms River South.

Barnegat will host No. 13 seed Overbrook in the first round of the SJII tournament which begins Tuesday at 3:00.

Boys Lacrosse: After bowing out of the Shore Conference Tournament with a 15-2 loss against powerful Rumson-Fair Haven, Barnegat finished the season at 10-9, splitting their final four games. The Bengals picked up wins over Lower Cape May and Neptune while dropping games to Glen Ridge and Oakcrest.

It was a landmark season for the Bengals, turning in their first winning season in school history to finish 10-9 and it comes on the heels of three straight one win seasons. Highlighting the season were wins over Manasquan and Shore Regional, two well established programs

Girls Lacrosse: The Lady Bengals enjoyed a 13-1 regular season, including an 11 game winning streak yet struggled in both postseason tournaments going 0-2. In the Shore Conference Tournament Barnegat fell to Manasquan 15-3 and in the state tournament, the Lady Bengals lost to Sterling 14-3.

Highlighting the season for the Bengals were back-to-back double overtime games to keep their winning streak intact over Brick Township and Holmdel.