Dayton Baseball Wins First Playoff Game in Five Years

The Dayton Bulldogs took another big step in head coach Mike Abbate's rebuilding plan with an 18-0 win over Arts High in the opening round of the North 2, Group 1 NJSIAA state tournament.

Spearheaded by ace Ross Goldfarb, the 11th-seeded Bulldogs stunned 6th-seeded Arts. They will next host 14th-seeded Glen Ridge, who had their own shocker, a 16-0 victory over 3rd-seeded Bloomfield Tech.

Dayton [8-10] won only two games last season, so to outsiders this may seem like a monumental upset, but to many within the Bulldogs family, this is just the first step to something potentially big. The win not only means they're advancing in the playoffs but it's also the first post-season win for this senior class. A class which includes Goldfarb, D.J. DiProfio, Tommy Clark, Alex Popolani, Sammy Dushkin, Elliot Karp and Marquay Mayo.

"It's just nice to have these kids, especially the seniors, finally be playing meaningful games," Abbate said.

Dayton wasted no time in putting away Arts [11-7] with a top of the first inning explosion that featured the first six batters scoring runs.

Sophomore shortstop Tyler Bujnowski [3-for-4, two doubles, and three runs] lead off with a double; second baseman Karp walked; third baseman Mayo [3-for-4, two doubles, three runs, and four RBI] had a two-run single; first baseman  Popolani [3-for-4, two runs, four RBI] followed with an RBI-double; right fielder Matt Roland walked; Bohannon [3-for-4, two runs, and two RBI] had a two-run single; and the catcher Clark [2-for-3, two doubles, and three RBI] finished with a two-run double. For the inning, Dayton had five hits and three walks.

The way Dayton batted around the Arts' staff, one would think Abbate is worried the Bulldogs might've emptied their chamber too soon. The first-year coach, however, sees the contrary.

"It was good that almost every player hit well," he said. "This is the time of the season when you want guys all hitting and peaking, so we're not worried we emptied ourselves."

That early margin for error allowed Goldfarb plenty of wiggle room but he didn't need it, as he mastered the Arts lineup. The righty hurler threw three innings of hitless ball and fanned eight of the nine batters he faced. He was relieved by sophomore Ryan Schweikert, who finished the final two innings with no earned runs and three strikeouts.

Abbate said using Goldfarb for only three innings means he has seven more innings to use this week, as per New Jersey state baseball rules. Such a win-win occurrence could spell doom for the rest of the bracket.

"He certainly could pitch again this week, so we were happy to get him some work and still have him to use if needed in the next round," said Abbate.

When asked about Schweikert, a Jayvee regular, Abbate had nothing but praise—and raised expectations.

"He threw strikes and showed a lot. He showed that he can come in and get the job done in a pressure tournament," Abbate said. "He and [Tommy] Losito are two sophomores who can come in and do great things for our staff in the future."

The immediate future will see Losito starting an important conference makeup game at Oratory Prep [5-1 in the Valley Division], Tuesday. Should Dayton [6-2] win that game, they'll put themselves in prime position to actually win the division outright.

Abbate feels the tough schedule not only prepped them for any post-season action but a chance to steal a division that no one outside of the Springfield area code thought was possible.

"That's why we played such a tough schedule early," Abbate said. "The early games, we weren't really concerned with wins and losses against those tough teams. We wanted to build up for these moments. But now that we're in it, we are concerned at winning because this is when they really count."

As for state tournament play, this Friday at Dayton, Glen Ridge will be next in line to see just how serious Abbate's Bulldogs are about winning.