Westfield White Ends Cooperstown Trip With Playoff Excitement

 Westfield was 1 of 104 teams to compete during Week #4 of the Cooperstown Dreamspark tournament and following tough battles in pool play against 4 Top 20 opponents, they made quite a bit of noise on the final day with an exciting playoff run.  The following is a brief recap of the Cooperstown games.  Photos, video and more information will follow in the coming days:

• Game 1 vs LBA Legends from California (finished 3rd overall) on Sunday at 1:00 PM – LBA Legends (CA) 13 – Westfield 2:   Westfield's opponent in Game #1 was a  regional select team from California who finished Cooperstown pool play as the #3 seed overall and who also advanced to the Final Four of the playoff round.  The overwhelming size difference did not deter Westfield White and the White pitching combination of Hopper Murray and Chris Boutsikaris combined to keep the Legends’ bats in check for most of the game.  The score was 7-2 heading into the 5^th inning when the California team put the game out of reach with a long, 3 run HR.  Westfield could not muster much in the way of offense off of the hard throwing LBA pitcher, but both Michael Mobarakai and Devin Anderson came up with key hits when Westfield plated their two runs in the 4th inning.
• Game 2 vs Colorado Sky Sox (finished 68th overall) on Sunday at 7:00 PM -- Westfield 14 - Colorado Sky Sox (CO) 7:  Westfield got on the board 1st when Chris Rinaldi singled, stole 2nd and scored on an RBI single by Vin Difilippo.  The Sky Sox came back and scored 1 run in the 1st and 2 runs in the 3rd to take a 3-1 lead.  Westfield closed the lead to 3-2 when Chris Varano was hit by a pitch and Nick Mele singled to put runners at 1st and 3rd.  Brett Robertshaw then singled in Varano to pull Westfield within 1.  The Westfield offense then exploded for 10 runs in the 5th and 2 more in the 6th.  Liam Heinbokel had 2 key hits in the 10 run 5th and Vin Difilippo, Scott Tupper, Devin Anderson, Hopper Murray, Eric Varakian, Chris Rinaldi and J. Mack Rembisz all had key hits during the rally.  Vin Difilippo, Chris Rinaldi and Brett Robertshaw shared the pitching duties for Westfield. 
• Game 3 vs Utah Storm Baseball (finished 17th overall) on Monday at 11:00 AM -- Utah Storm 18 - Westfield 10:  Westfield's offense exploded in the top of the 1st inning for 7 runs against the mighty Storm (select regional team from Utah).  Hopper Murray, Vin Difilippo, Nick Mele, Devin Anderson and Liam Heinbokel all had key hits in the inning and Brett Robertshaw, Scott Tupper and Michael Mobarakai also reached base and scored in the 7 run inning.  Utah came roaring back though and they plated 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st and 7 more in the 2nd inning to take a 12-9 lead.  Westfield's defense struggled during these innings and Utah's big #3 hitter made the Blue Dogs pay dearly by delivering long home runs in each of his 1st 3 at bats.  His 3rd shot was a base clearing grand slam that may not yet have landed.  Westfield's pitchers, Michael Mobarakai and Chris Boutsikaris, actually threw pretty well against a very big and powerful Storm lineup but Westfield's defensive miscues behind the hurlers hurt them and the big Utah sluggers took advantage each time.  Mele had 3 hits and Heinbokel and Anderson had 2 hits each.
• Game 4 vs KWBA Bulldogs from Illinois (finished 94th overall) on Monday at 7:00 PM -- Westfield 8 - KWBA Bulldogs 7:  Westfield came to bat in the 2nd inning trailing 3-0 but the Blue Dogs rallied for 6 runs in the inning.  Devin Anderson started the rally with a single and then Brett Robertshaw launched a 2-1 pitch over the fence in left center field for a 2 run HR.  Chris Boutsikaris and Hopper Murray followed with back-to-back singles and then following an out, J. Mack Rembisz, Eric Varakian, Chris Varano and Vin Difilippo followed with successive RBI singles to give Westfield a 6-2 lead.  Liam Heinbokel, Eric Varakian and Chris Rinaldi handled the pitching for Westfield.  Varakian threw 3 1/3 innings of 4 hit ball and held the KWBA Bulldogs to 2 runs (1 unearned) during those innings.  The Bulldogs did not go quietly and trailing 7-5 going into the 6th inning they rallied to tie the game at 7.  Westfield came to bat with a purpose in the bottom of the 6th and Chris Boutsikaris and Michael Mobarakai singled and then Nick Mele hit a clutch, game winning, walk off, line drive single to knock in Boutsikaris and secure the win for Westfield. Heinbokel, Anderson, Difilippo and Rinaldi had 2 hits each.
• Game 5 vs Texas Rattlers (finished 18th overall) on Tuesday at 11:00 AM -- Texas Rattlers 5 - Westfield 2:  The Texas Rattlers are another select regional team and they came out of the gate swinging, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning to take an early lead.  Scott Tupper started on the mound for Westfield and he recovered and kept the Rattler hitters off balance and worked out of the inning.  Westfield came back and scored twice in the bottom of the 1st to tie the score.  Tupper, Vin Difilippo, Liam Heinbokel, Chris Rinaldi and Hopper Murray all reached base safely and Tupper and Difilippo quickly scored.  Westfield had an opportunity to break the game open in the 1st when after tying the game at 2 they had the bases loaded with 2 outs and Michael Mobarakai at the plate.  Mobarakai sent a drive to deep right field which off the bat appeared to have a chance to leave the park, but the wind was blowing in and the Rattler's right fielder was able to reign it in for the final out.  The Rattlers scored 1 in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd to take a 5-2 lead.  Hopper Murray relieved Tupper in the 3rd and threw 3+ innings of spectacular shut out ball to keep Westfield in the game, but the Westfield offense could not muster much against the stingy Rattler's pitchers.  Westfield made two unbelievable plays in the field behind Tupper and Murray.  Center fielder Nick Mele threw a rocket to the plate to nail a Rattler trying to score from 2nd on a single and Michael Mobarakai made the catch of the tournament in right field when he dove head first towards the bleachers to catch a ball that seemed destined to fall in for an extra base hit with the bases loaded. 
• Game 6 vs South Maryland Blue Dogs (finished 7th overall) on Tuesday at 4:30 PM -- So. Maryland Blue Dogs 14 - Westfield 0:  Westfield ran into another very powerful team in Tuesday's late game and they were not ready for the select regional squad from Southern Maryland.  Chris Varano took the mound and did a nice job against the oversized Blue Dogs.  Things started out on the right note as Mariano Varano struck out the 1st two batters and got the 3rd batter to line out but the line drive was dropped and the inning continued.  When the inning was over Westfield had committed 4 errors and they trailed 4-0.  Varano and Brett Robertshaw who relieved Varano pitched pretty well but the defense really struggled behind them and the South MD Blue Dogs took advantage of each mistake.  They scored multiple times in each of the first 4 innings and they ended the game with a grand slam that put the score beyond the 12 run mercy rule.  Chris Boutsikaris had the only hit for Westfield.  The team held a players only team meeting to address a couple of issues and while the details of the discussion have not been revealed, all involved agreed it was a productive session.

Playoffs

• Game 1 vs St. Louis Silverhawks (finished 74th overall) on Wednesday at 10:00 AM -- Westfield 17 - St. Louis Silverhawks 1:  Westfield finished pool play 2-4 and ranked 73rd overall.  This was quite misleading and their record and their #73 ranking was largely a result of playing 4 teams in the top 20.   Their opening round match up in the single game elimination tournament was from St Louis and Westfield did not greet them warmly. Pitcher Vincent Difilippo started the game on a good note by striking out the side.  Westfield then scored 6 runs in their half of the 1st inning.  Chris Varano, Hopper Murray, Scott Tupper and Michael Mobarakai each singled and Difilippo and Mele both walked and scored.  Westfield jumped right back on the offensive in the 2nd inning when they scored 9 more runs and out the game out of reach.  J. Mack Rembisz started the rally by drawing a walk.  What followed was a 9 hit, 3 walk attack.  In the 2nd inning, Varano and Difilippo each had 2 hits, Boutsikaris and Rinaldi each doubled and Anderson, Tupper and Rembisz all singled.  Mobarakai relieved Difilippo on the mound in the 2nd and threw the rest of the game for Westfield, holding the Silverhawks to a single run in the mercy ruled shortened contest.  Varano was 3 for 3 and Difilippo and Scott Tupper were both 2 for 2.
• Game 2 vs Champlin Dayton (MN) Rebels (finished 66th overall) on Wednesday at 12:00 PM -- Westfield 11 - Champlin Dayton Rebels 4:  Westfield had no sooner finished winning their first round playoff game, when they found themselves switching dugouts, changing jerseys and socks for their 2nd round match up.  Vin Difilippo took the mound and held the Rebels to 2 runs in 3 innings of work.  Devin Anderson stopped the Rebels running game in the 1st inning when he threw out an attempted base stealer at 2nd with a missile.  Westfield managed to score 2 runs of their own in the 1st two innings.  In the 1st, Chris Varano scored on an RBI sac fly by Difilippo and in the 2nd, Chris Rinaldi scored after he singled, advanced to 3rd on stolen bases and then stole home.  The score was tied at 2 when Westfield exploded for 9 runs in the top half of the 4th  inning.  Chris Varano and Eric Varakian started things with singles and Difilippo cleared the bases with a towering 3 run HR to left field.  Nick Mele then singled, stole 2nd and scored on Chris Rinaldi's RBI single.  Michael Mobarakai then singled in a run and Brett Robertshaw and Hopper Murray followed by reaching base safely.  Varano knocked in a couple of more runs with his 2nd hit of the inning.  Things would have continued for Westfield in the 4th if it weren't for a questionable call where Difilippo who was batting, was called out for interfering with the catcher who was throwing to 3rd to prevent an attempted steal.  As it turned out the call didn't affect the outcome of the game as Boutsikaris threw 2 innings of shutout ball and Nick Mele made his 2010 pitching debut by closing out the 6th inning for the win.  Eric Varakian made a spectacular diving catch in right field to end the inning and a scoring threat.  Varakian charged hard on a short fly ball that looked like it would dunk in for a hit, but he completely laid out and caught the ball just before it hit the grass.
• Game 3 vs Vipers Baseball (TX) (finished 35th overall) on Wednesday at 3:00 PM -- Vipers Baseball 9 - Westfield 8:  Following their 2nd win of the day, Westfield players and fans geared up for a tough matchup against a select regional team from North Texas.  The Westfield offense went to work immediately, scoring 3 runs in the top of the 1st.  Eric Varakian got things started with a single and then Vin Difilippo connected for his 2nd HR of the day to give Westfield a 2-0 lead.  Nick Mele and Devin Anderson singled and advanced on a double steal and then Mele scored on a sac bunt by Chris Rinaldi.  Vipers Baseball came roaring back in the bottom of the 1st when they scored 4 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks.  They would have scored more but with the bases loaded, third baseman Difilippo made a nice backhand stab of a hard grounder toward the line and threw to catcher Anderson for the force at the plate.  Rinaldi entered in relief and recorded the last 2 outs of the 1st inning.  The score remained 4-3 until the 4th inning when Westfield scored 2 more runs.  Difilippo led off the inning with a double to deep left field and he scored on an RBI single by Mele.  Mele stole 2nd and scored on an RBI single by Rinaldi to make it 5-4 Westfield.  Vipers Baseball scored 2 of their own in the 4th on a home run by the #3 hitter, making it 6-5 Vipers.  Westfield responded quickly with back-to-back home runs by Michael Mobarakai and Liam Heinbokel.  Mobarakai's blast was a towering, majestic shot over the scoreboard in left center field.  Heinbokel's blast was a smashing line drive on a 3-1 pitch that cleared the left center field fence in the blink of an eye.  The HRs gave Westfield a 7-6 lead.  They held the Vipers' bats in check in the bottom of the 5th and then scored another run in the 6th.  Varakian led off with a single and Difilippo walked but Difilippo was double up when Mele's hard liner was stabbed by the Viper's shortstop.  Rinaldi followed with an RBI double off of the left center field wall that scored Varakian and made it 8-6 Westfield.  The Westfield faithful were ecstatic and White needed only 3 more outs for the victory, but the Vipers would not go quietly.  After the 1st batter struck out, they managed to score a run via a bunt single, a stolen base and an RBI single.  Two stolen bases and a walk put runners on 1st and 3rd so the clean up hitter was walked to set up a force at the plate.  Unfortunately the Westfield pitchers were out of gas and they walked in the final 2 runs to allow the Vipers to escape with the victory.  The loss hurt, but it was a hard fought, well played game and Westfield held their heads high as they left to a standing ovation from the Westfield and the Vipers' fans.