Now what do we do?

The Celebration Continues...

Let the Celebration of a Great Season Begin

Faces in the Crowd

One Last Battle...Images from CJBL Championship Game

NOW THAT BASEBALL IS OVER....

NOW THAT BASEBALL IS OVER, I FIND MYSELF:

- absent-mindedly driving over to Gumbert for no reason at all
- stepping over a bat bag in my mudroom that isn't there
- forgetting to do laundry since there is no urgency to clean a uniform
- spitting sunflower seeds on the carpet thinking the pigeons will get the shells
- waiting anxiously for a Joe Rinaldi email to come through
- waiting for someone's witty response to Joe's email
- acknowledging that I might have to actually cook a real dinner again
- fighting the urge to go to a field, any field, so I can sit in the bleachers
- recognizing that it is completely inappropriate to scream "Are you blind?" at individuals dressed in blue that are not umps
- evaluating if it's time to retire the vuvuzela (or just keep it for football?)
- wondering why the word "warmups" pops into mind every day at 5 pm
- realizing that watching the MLB is no substitute for watching a really good team of 12 year olds
- counting the days until it's baseball season again!

Happy Off-Season to All!!!

Westfield Battles Branchburg in CJBL Championship Game

Westfield White faced off against perennial powerhouse Branchburg in the Central Jersey Baseball League Championship game in Union on Friday night.  Branchburg was undefeated in CJBL play and entered the contest with a record of 38-3, outscoring their opponents on the year by a margin of 491-118.  Westfield entered the game with a record of 32-12 and on somewhat of a roll with convincing playoff victories earlier in the week against tough squads from Long Hill and Florham Park.

Westfield won the toss and decided to be the home team.  They sent ace Vin Difilippo to the mound and a suberb defensive squad into the field behind him with the hopes of containing the explosive Branchburg offense.  Difilippo changed location and speed often and he successfully kept the Branchburg bats from doing any damage in the 1st inning.  Outfielders Scott Tupper and Hopper Murray recorded the first two outs by making nice plays on fly balls and then shortstop Chris Rinaldi made a running catch on a fly ball in short right center field for third out and Westfield kept Branchburg off the board in the 1st inning.  Westfield mounted a small offensive threat in their half of the 1st when Eric Varakian reached on an error and advanced to second on a ground out by Chris Varano, but Varakian was stranded there when Branchburg recorded two consecutive outs to end the inning.

Branchburg got on the board with 2 runs in the 2nd inning courtesy of a few hits, a walk and a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt.  Difilippo got out of the inning though with great pitching and two solid defensive plays.  Left fielder Mobarakai made an unbelievable running catch on a long fly ball that was foul down the left field line.  It seemed as if the ball would fall harmlessly in foul territory but Mobarakai appeared out of nowhere and snagged the ball for the 1st out of the inning.  Mobarakai was awarded a Blue Ball (defensive award) on the play.  With 2 runs in and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Difilippo then made some great pitches to strike out a batter for the 2nd out.  2nd baseman Chris Varano then made a great play on a slow roller to nip the batter at 1st for the final out.

Westfield got two runners on in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but they were unable to score.  Devin Anderson walked and then Chris Boutsikaris crushed a 2-1 offering off of the wall in right center field but Anderson had to hold up on the play and had to stop at 2nd. Both runners were stranded there as the last out of the inning was recorded.

Branchburg scored 2 more runs in the 3rd inning on a 2 run home run by their clean up hitter.  The damage may have been worse, but Westfield was able to record a double play on a hard liner to shortstop Chris Rinaldi who made the catch and fired to Boutsikaris at 1st base for the out.  Westfield was unable to score in their half of the 3rd and the score remained 4-0 Brannchburg.

Rinaldi came onto relieve Difilippo to start the 4th inning and he retired Branchburg 1-2-3 with a strike out and then two ground outs.  3rd baseman Brett Robertshaw made a nice play on the 1st ground ball and 2nd baseman Eric Varano on the second grounder.

Westfield came to bat in the 4th with some energy.  Lead off hitter Eric Varakian was hit by a pitch and Chris Varano followed with a single.  Both runners advanced on a double steal and then Varakian scored on an RBI single by Difilippo.  With runners on 1st and 3rd, Difilippo was caught off of 1st base in a run down.  Varano, who was on the 3rd, alertly took off for home and scored just ahead of the throw to cut the Branchburg lead in half at 4-2.  Westfield did not score again in the inning.

Westfield held Branchburg again in the 5th and the key play in the inning was a perfectly executed pickoff play at 2nd base, followed by a run down to cut down the lead runner.  3rd baseman Difilippo then made the defensive play of the game when he made a diving grab of a hard ground ball towards the hole at short and fired to 1st from his knees.  Unfortunately the ump ruled the Branchburg runner safe at 1st on a very questionable call, but the play was fantastic nonetheless.  The runner was stranded when the 3rd out was recorded on a pop out off of 1st base that was grabbed by Chris Boutsikaris.

Westfield threatened again in the 5th and had runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out after Boutsikaris walked and Hopper Murray singled, but Boutsikaris was thrown out attempting to steal 3rd on a passed ball on a very close play.  Replays would have shown that he was safe, but the call stood and it took some life out of the Westfield offense.  Scott Tupper walked and Westfield had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs but they were not able to score.

Branchburg extended the lead to 5-2 in the 6th inning on a walk, a stolen base and a hard single up the middle.  Right fielder Murray and Shortstop Nick Mele made nice plays to close out the inning and Catcher Liam Heinbokel continued his stellar play behind the plate to keep the deficit to 3 runs.

Westfield looked like they might stage one of their infamous late inning rallies when Mobarakai led off with a single, but Branchburg recorded the last three outs to secure the victory and the CJBL Championship.

It was an exciting, very well played game by two great baseball teams and it was a fitting way to close out another tremendous summer travel baseball season for the team they call Westfield White.

Westfield Advances to CJBL 12U Finals With Win Over Florham Park

Westfield traveled to Florham Park on a steamy hot afternoon for the 3rd time this month.  The 1st two trips did not go so well for Westfield and in both earlier games, the Blue Devils did not play their best baseball and ended up losing both contests.    Today's game, which was the Central Jersey Baseball League 12U semi-final game, started in a similar manner to the 1st two meetings.

In the 1st inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, the Florham Park catcher threw behind the runner at 3rd base and got him in a run down.  After Florham Park tagged out that runner, they then went after the runner who had started on 2nd base and they got him in a run down and tagged him out to complete a double play and end the inning.  Florham Park then scored 3 runs in their half of the inning courtesy of 4 consecutive singles and a couple of balks.

Westfield seemed to recover some in the 2nd when Vin Difilippo led off with a smashing double down the left field.  Difilippo advanced to 3rd on a passed ball and then scored on an RBI ground out by Chris Boutsikaris to cut the lead to 3-1.  Difilippo started on the mound for Westfield and he went 3 strong innings.  He did not allow a run after the 1st inning and he struck out 3 batters.

The Blue Devils scored another run in the 4th when Chris Varano, who reached on a fielder's choice, stole 2nd base.  Varano then advanced to 3rd on a Chris Rinaldi single and scored on a Difilippo RBI single to cut the Florham Park lead to 3-2.

Chris Rinaldi took over on the mound for Westfield in the 4th and held Florham Park to one unearned run over the final 3 frames.  He allowed no hits and recorded 7 of the 9 outs by way of strike out.

The Westfield bats exploded in the 5th inning and broke the game open.  Brett Robertshaw started the rally with a single and he came around to score all the way from 1st base when Hopper Murray launched a 1-1 curveball over the left fielder's head for an RBI double.  Scott Tupper walked and both runners advanced on steals to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Liam Heinbokel then cleared the bases with a clutch 2 RBI triple to deep left center field that gave Westfield a 5-3 lead.  Michael Mobarakai and Eric Varakian walked to load the bases and Heinbokel scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Varano.  Chris Rinaldi singled home Mobarakai and Difilippo followed with a RBI single of his own.  Devin "Big Dog" Anderson then knocked home Rinaldi and Difilippo with a 2 RBI double that made the score 9-3.

Florham Park managed a run in the bottom of the 5th following 2 walks and an errant throw on a run down, but Westfield promptly shut down threat and held Florham Park scoreless the rest of the way.

Next up for Westfield is Branchburg in Union at 6:00 PM on Friday in the Central Jersey Baseball League 12U Championship game.

Westfield Wins CJBL Playoff Game vs Long Hill

Westfield defeated a tough Long Hill team earlier tonight by the score of 13-6 to advance to Wednesday's Central Jersey Baseball League semi-final game against Florham Park (Florham Park defeated Branchburg tonight 10-4).  Westfield got solid pitching from Chris Rinaldi, Brett Robertshaw and Vin Difilippo and clutch hitting from a host of Blue Devils, including Chris Varano (3 RBIs) and Hopper Murray who both had 2 doubles and Michael Mobarakai who had 2 hits and scored 3 runs.  All 11 hitters in the line up had hits in one of the most balanced offensive displays of the year.

Varano cleared the bases with a clutch 2 out double in the 3rd inning and then Rinaldi followed with a hit to score Varano, giving Westfield a 4-2 lead.  Long Hill scored 1 in the bottom of the 3rd to make it 4-3. 

Westfield went right back to work in the top of the 4th, scoring 5 runs on 6 hits.  Devin Anderson led off with a single and was followed by Chris Boutsikaris who also singled.  Brett Robertshaw and Hopper Murray then hit back-to-back RBI doubles.  After 2 outs were recorded, Mobarakai hit an RBI double and Varakian laced an RBI single to give Westfield a 9-3 lead.  Brett Robertshaw relieved Rinaldi and held Long Hill scoreless in the 4th.

Long Hill scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th to close the lead to 9-6, courtesy of a long home run and 2 miscues by the Westfield defense.  Difilippo relieved and struck out 2 of the 4 batters he faced in the inning to end the Long Hill threat.

Westfield scored 4 more times in the top of the 6th to extend the lead to 13-6.  Murray hit a one out double down the left field line and promptly stole 3rd.  Scott Tupper followed with a walk and stole 2nd putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  Liam Heinbokel then ripped a 2 RBI double to left center field scoring Murray and Tupper.  Mobarakai then laced an RBI single to score Heinbokel and Mobi alertly advanced to 2nd on the throw home.  Varakian then launched an RBI single to left center that allowed Mobarakai to score the 13th run.  Difilippo and the Westfield defense retired Long Hill in order in the bottom of the 6th to preserve the win.

Next up for Westfield is Florham Park at Florham Park on Wednesday at 5:45 PM in the CJBL semi-final game.

 

Spectacular Comeback vs Ridge Falls Just Short

Westfield found themselves down 8-1 going into the last inning of the Basking Ridge tournament semi-final game against a tough Basking Ridge squad, but rather than go quietly, they dug down, didn't quit and put up one heck of a final at bat.

Basking Ridge scored 3 in the 1st inning and 2 in the 2nd to take a 5-0 lead.  Westfield got one of those runs back via singles by Devin Anderson, Chris Boutsikaris and Brett Robertshaw.  Ridge went onto score 1 more run in each of the next 3 innings to make the lead 8-1.

In the bottom of the 6th inning Westfield came to bat down 7 runs.  With 1 out, Hopper Murray started the Westfield offense with a line drive single to right field.  Scott Tupper followed with a walk and then Liam Heinbokel knocked in Murray with an RBI single.  After an RBI ground out by Michael Mobarakai to cut the lead to 8-3 with 2 outs, Eric Varakian drew a walk to put runners on 1st and 3rd.  Chris Varano hit a ground ball in the hole to short and with tremendous hustle out of the box, he beat the throw to 1st for an RBI single.  Nick Mele then launched a 2-1 offering off of the wall in deep right center field for a 2 run single cutting the lead to 8-6.  Vin Difilippo then stepped to the plate and fouled off numerous pitches before lacing a single to left field which scored Mele to make it 8-7.  Ridge then changed pitchers (2nd time in the inning) and recorded the last out to preserve the win.

Vin Difilippo and Nick Mele each threw 3 solid innings for Westfield.

Next up for Westfield is a CJBL playoff match up against Long Hill in Long Hill on Monday at 8:00 PM.