The Bloomingdale High School Bulls came into the 44th Saladino Tournament as favorites, rated as the number one overall seed. They did not disappoint, beating Strawberry Crest 3-0 to claim the program’s fourth Saladino Tournament victory.
This was the first Saladino Tournament Championship for the Bulls since winning it in 2013. The spring break tournament now has three different divisions, Gold, Bronze and Silver. Bloomingdale was the Gold Division winner. The team won their pool, despite losing to Jefferson 6-4 earlier. They defeated Carrollwood Day 11-1 in the semifinals.
Junior outfielder Luke Long pitched a complete game after only having thrown one inning all year long before that. That performance let Bloomingdale save its star pitcher for the final game.
Co-MVP of the tournament Javier Navas-Hoyer was stellar in the championship game, pitching 6 2/3 innings, striking out 12 batters and only giving up one hit. Head coach Kris Wilken saved his ace for this particular occasion, and Navas-Hoyer was able to deliver.
“Going into that game, I really tried focusing on remembering that it was just another game,” said Navas-Hoyer. “Not making it bigger than it was but realizing the moment and knowing that I was prepared, and that my coaches trusted me enough to save me all week for that specific game.”
Wilken said that the environment at the University of Tampa was electric and the crowd was loud. Catcher Vinny Dinzeo Jr. was impressed with the crowd as well.
“The moment I will remember forever is when we took the field and I could hear all the fans rooting for us and having our backs,” Dinzeo said.
Infielder Isaiah Perez gave the Bulls a spark on offense during the tournament. He had a grand slam and a two-run homer against Carrollwood Day in the semifinals. He also doubled in a run in the championship game. Perez was thrilled to help his team get a win.
“My reaction when we got that last out was relieved and proud, I would say,” said Perez. “I was relieved it was over and we secured the W, and proud that my team and I made it that far and came through. We were all jumping around and dog piling and excited.”
Wilken said that in order to win a tournament like this, everybody has to play well. He was happy with his team’s pitching, two-out hitting and defense in particular.
“The guys came into the tournament with a lot of confidence. I think this win shows the team that if things get all put together, we are pretty tough to beat,” said Wilken.
Navas-Hoyer will never forget this victory and how it felt, but he knows that the team wants to accomplish more this season.
“We’re still pushing,” said Navas-Hoyer. “Obviously, it feels great to win, but this season still has a long way to go, and I feel that we could do some really cool things this year.”
