Michael Rueger struck out 10 and got plenty of offensive support as Teaneck topped Tenafly 9-3 in opening round play of the Bergen County Baseball Tournament.

"We hit the ball in clutch spots," said Teaneck coach Ed Klimek. "I thought we hit the ball well with men in scoring position - some real big hits. And at the bottom of the lineup too."

The Highwaymen scored two in the first on two singles, a hit batsman and a wild pitch.

They added a third run in the third inning when left fielder Mike Chiaradio smacked a home run over the left center field fence.

"The last couple of days we have been hitting the ball real well," said Klimek. "We are getting more confident. We were banged up, we had a few guys out, but everyone is back."

One of the players who recently came back is junior pitcher Anthony Berroa who was hit above the right eye with a line drive off the bat of a Bergenfield batter April 22. There was no damage to his eye but he missed a few games.

In this game Berroa played second base and contributed three hits and an RBI.

"It stunk having to sit out those games," he said. "I was dying. Then finally to come back out and play and help the team. It feels great."

Berroa said he pitched against Barringer two weeks ago, although he admitted he was not in top form..

"It was not my best," he said. "I still have to build up and get stronger. And I was a little nervous in the first inning."

Tenafly closed the gap to 3-2 in its half of the fourth inning.

Andrew Abahoonie walked and moved to second on Chris Brown’s base hit. Brian Sherman followed with a grounder in the hole and Brown beat the throw to second from shortstop John Bowe.

The Tigers had bases loaded and nobody out.

Rueger struck out opposing pitcher Zack Durr for the first out. Jon Sobo followed with a liner to center and Ahahoonie scored. Brown scored one batter later on Pete Loconte’s single to right.

Teaneck put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth by scoring three more runs.

With one out, a pitch hit Ryan Braemer. Junior Matt Turner and sophomore Kasey Grabe ripped base hits to center and left, respectively, to score one run.

After Robert Germinario was plunked by a Durr curveball, Rueger blasted a ball off the top of the fence in right center field and two more runs scored to make the score 6-2.

"That’s the second day in a row," Rueger said. "I had one hit off the fence in left field yesterday. I’ve had bad luck the last two days."

Rueger’s luck was not all bad, however. Tenafly had a couple of chances but the junior right hander got out of the jams with minimal damage caused.

"I used the curveball and change up a lot more today [to keep them off balance]," said Rueger. "The past couple of starts my off-speed has been a little bit off, but it was on today and that definitely helped out. It was something I could rely on today."

The Tigers loaded the bases again in the fifth with no outs after Zack Kraushar and Ethan Rosenblum each singled and Abahoonie walked.

Rueger retired Brown on an infield pop up and Sherman on a fly ball to center. Kraushar scored on the Sherman sacrifice fly but Rueger struck out Durr to end the inning.

"He threw strikes," Tenafly coach Kurt Homman said of Rueger. "We hit the ball hard at times. He did a nice job of keeping the ball down and getting outs when he needed them. That was the difference. He got outs with men on base when he needed to."

The Highwaymen closed out the scoring with three more runs in the fifth.

Berroa and Liam Cohen singled and Braemer walked. Turner plated two with a single and Josh Mendoza, Braemer’s courtesy runner, scored on a throwing error.

Tenafly threatened in the seventh as Kraushar and Rosenblum singled to start the inning. But Rueger fought back with two strikeouts and after a walk to Sherman to load the bases, he got the final out to end the game.

"That’s a good baseball team over there," Klimek said of the Tigers. "They have some big kids. And in baseball it doesn’t matter what league you are from. Anyone can win on any day.

"That kid (Durr) threw hard. He didn’t get ahead a lot but his curve ball was real sharp. That was one of the best curveballs we have seen all year."

After the game, as his teammates were packing up to leave the field, Rueger went into the outfield to get in some running.

"See what a great kid he is," said Klimek. "He’s running out there on his own. You can’t teach that."

"I started this last year to get some endurance work in and keep the legs strong after I pitch," Rueger explained. "It helps the lactic acid get out of the shoulder.

"It helps a lot so I’ve kept doing it."

The win put Teaneck into the next round against No. 3 seed Old Tappan in a game scheduled for this past Saturday, May 17.

"We definitely knew we could do well if we played our game this season," said Rueger. "We thought we had a lot to prove. With the amount of talent we have we knew we could have a good season. We knew it was just a matter of coming out and showing it, especially after the way we struggled last season."

"They are realizing they are a pretty good team," said Klimek. "I think earlier they didn’t. Not much was expected because we are a young team. But you start winning the close games and you begin to realize you’re pretty good."