Bishop Eustace Remains One of the Top Baseball Programs in South Jersey

by Marc Narducci | Apr 6, 2026

Bishop Eustace is a perennial South Jersey Top 10 contender in baseball, and nothing has changed this year. The Crusaders were considered a preseason Top 10 team in South Jersey and in their second game this season, they defeated defending state Group 4 champion (and fellow preseason South Jersey Top 10 team) Cherokee, 7-1.

That is a Cherokee team that is expected to once again compete for a state title.

Eustace is an annual contender for a sectional championship, but the Crusaders have had the difficult task of being in the same playoff Group as Gloucester Catholic, the three-time defending state Non-Public B champion.

In each of the last two years Bishop Eustace has reached the South Jersey Non-Public B championship game, only to be turned back by Gloucester Catholic, 2-1 in 2024 and 5-1 last year.

Don’t be surprised if the two schools meet again in this year’s sectional title game.

Of course, there is a lot of baseball to be played before then and Eustace should be in many big games. The Crusaders share the record for most Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic titles with seven, tied with none other than Gloucester Catholic. The Diamond Classic matches up 32 of the top South Jersey teams in a single-elimination tournament. In addition, the Crusaders have won eight straight Olympic Conference National Division championships.

Eustace got its defense of its National Division title off to an impressive start with a 5-2 victory over Paul VI, a team that is usually a contender in the division. The Eagles have a quality team this season as well.

What makes what Bishop Eustace has accomplished even more impressive is that the Crusaders annually play one of the tougher schedules in South Jersey.

This year is no exception.

Some of the other non-divisional games included matchups with other top-10 contenders Eastern, Ocean City and Shawnee just to name a few.

The team leader is shortstop Dante Bell, who entered the season with 86 career hits. Bell is a LaSalle commit. During the win over Cherokee, he went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and walk along with two runs scored and an RBI.

In fact, Eustace got home runs in that game by three of its top hitters in the lineup, Bell, left fielder Roman Faiola and centerfielder Dante Matarese.

Senior Dan Passalacqua, a Delaware commit, leads the pitching staff. Passalacqua opened the season with five shutout innings and nine strikeouts in five innings during a 9-3 win over Pennsylvania’s Chestnut Hill Academy.

Even in defeat the Crusaders have been impressive. The Crusaders began the week 3-1 and the lone loss was 7-5 in eight innings this past Saturday against state Non-Public A title contender St. Augustine.

Orchestrating everything for Bishop Eustace is Sam Tropiano, the winningest coach in South Jersey history, who entered the season with 791 wins.

Early in the season look for Eustace to use multiple pitchers as Tropiano looks to establish depth, while also not wanting this players to throw too many innings during the first month of the high school baseball season.

In fact during the 5-2 win over Paul VI, Eustace used three pitchers, with Carson Brandt going two innings and earning the win, while J.J. McLaughlin pitched three shutout innings and freshman Jame Samfilippo pitched the final two innings.

This will be a group that will get a lot of contributions from a wide variety of sources for a team that has won 20 or more games eight consecutive years and shows no signs of slowing down.

No. 23 Roman Faiola of Bishop Eustace / Marc Narducci

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Author: Marc Narducci

Bishop Eustace Remains One of the Top Baseball Programs in South Jersey

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