WILD RALLIES BRING WESTFIELD WIN OVER LONG HILL 14-13!

Exciting rallies, big steals, key RBI’s, and solid defense earn Westfield a big win over Long Hill, 14-13

The first inning sparked exciting defense with Owen Murray pitching a scoreless first with the help of Tyler Roth nailing the runner at home with a bullet to George Murray at the plate. (Tyler credits one of his basketball pump fakes to trick the batter at third).

Westfield’s aggressive base running and stealing lead to a 2-0 advantage in the second inning with additional help from Rowan’s single, George and Justin Lin’s key hits and Daniel Criscuolo’s RBI. The third inning was highlighted by two outstanding catches in right field by Owen Brancatella, but soon Long Hill rallied and posted 5 runs to give them the lead. Parker took the mound to start the fourth and pitched a solid inning. Parker and George executed another outstanding tag at the plate to keep Long Hill from scoring. The fourth inning was filled with a slew of RBI’s started by Steven Barmakian. With Steven on base, Parker hit a rocket off the fence scoring Steven. Owen Murray singled in Parker and George got a base hit to bring Owen home. Westfield continued their rally with good at bats by Daniel, Justin Lankler, and Michael Jeffery which loaded the bases and generated more runs for the team. Tyler finished off the inning hitting in two key RBI’s with a base hit to secure a Westfield lead 9-5.

Long Hill fought back and started the fifth inning with a solid double and gained two runs to make the score 9-7. With Justin Lin at the mound, Westfield answered with the help of our batters and key RBI’s by Owen Murray, George, Owen Colwell , Justin Lin, Daniel, and lastly, Owen Brancatella’s killer double to bring our lead to 14-7. With such a lead, Westfield thought the game was secured but Long Hill rallied once again and challenged Westfield’s nerves...With the tying run on third base, Justin remained calm and cool and finished off Long Hill with a strike out to end the game!

Game Recap by Daniel Murray

Steven

Parker

Owen Murray

George

Justin Lin

Daniel

OB

Tyler

Owen Murray's Leaping Catch in CF

Photos by Ancilla Murray

Westfield Blue tops Readington 14-7 in N.Edison Tournament

Thursday July 9

On a cool summer night, the Westfield Blue was back at North Edison for tournament play. The players came focused and ready, and their bats heated up quickly. At the top of the first inning, with two outs and Oberman at first base reached with a line drive to the middle, Hess came to the plate. With a vicious swing, Hess reached 2nd while scoring Oberman, which jumpstarted the Westfield offense. After a walk of O. Murray, a strong hit by G. Murray sent both Hess and O. Murray home. Lin followed with a double scoring G. Murray. After another 7 consecutive singles and a double by Barmakian, Westfield collected 11 runs in the inning. By end of the night, every player had at least one hit, while Roth, Oberman, Hess, Colwell, Cruiscuolo, Brancatella, Lanker each had two hits. The 3 for 3 showing by Jeffery earned him the first game ball of the night.

Roth took the mound at the bottom of the first inning, and his fastball proved too much to handle by Readington. Aided by strong Westfield defense, Roth finished the first two innings without giving up a single run.

In the third inning, Colwell started with a double to the middle. With timely hits by Cruiscuolo, Lanker and Jeffery, Westfield added three more scores. At the bottom of the 3rd inning, taking advantage of a couple of walks and well-timed hits, Readington finally got on the board. After three innings, Westfield led by a score of 14 to 3.

In the fourth inning, Barmakian made a strong pitching debut, and was then relieved by Oberman for two more innings. Readington was able to add two scores in the 4th, one in the 5th and one in the 6th inning. At the bottom of the 6th inning with the bases loaded, Lin came to the mound and struck out the last Readington batter thus ending the game with a final score of 14:7.

Westfield Blue had several excellent plays defensively. At shortstop, Barmakian fielded a couple of balls cleanly in the first inning resulting in two quick outs setting the tone for the game. Brancetella caught a fly ball in right field in the 2nd inning and provided the final out of the inning. In the 3rdinnng, Colwell, while playing shortstop, had a beautiful backhanded and over the shoulder grab leading to the first out of the inning. In the 5th inning, Lanker charged on a ground ball in leftfield, and immediately fired to Colwell at 3rd thus throwing out the lead runner and preventing further damage by Readington. Lanker’s effort and spectacular play earned him the second game ball of the night.


Game Recap by Linus Lin

Images from this game can be seen by clicking HERE

WestField Blue Bats Sleep Thru 8-2 loss to Basking Ridge

Perhaps it was the idyllic setting in the fields of Basking Ridge. Perhaps it was being deprived of Gatorade and sunflower seeds. Perhaps it was the fake mound and 46/60 field. Whatever the reason, the Westfield Blue team gave a lackluster performance tonight.

Although both teams got off to a slow start, Basking Ridge was able to turn a couple of hits and walks into a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Westfield came alive briefly in the top of the fifth. Bases were loaded after nice hits by Owen (fast as lighting) Murray, George, and Justin Lin. Owen Colwell and Daniel each had RBIs but Basking Ridge held Westfield to 2 runs. Basking Ridge then pulled away in the bottom of the fifth scoring 4 more runs. Despite a nice hit by Justin Lankler to start the top of the sixth inning, Westfield wasn't able to score. Final score: 8-2. Owen Murray and Parker Hess provided solid pitching and Westfield's defense had a few nice moments, including an awesome relay throw from deep centerfield (Owen Murray) to Justin Lankler to Owen Colwell.


Game Recap by Cindy Roth

See images from this game at by clicking HERE