Westfield defeated South Orange Maplewood (SOM) by the score of 7-2 to secure the #1 seed in the District 12 (12U) Pool B Division. As the #1 seed, Westfield receives a bye which allows them to advance directly to the District Semi-final game.
Westfield and South Orange Maplewood are no strangers and the two have played some great baseball games over the last few years, including great match-ups in the District Championship games in 2008 and 2009. Westfield won both of those games in hard fought battles and tonight's game was no different.
Vin Difilippo started on the mound for Westfield and he threw 3 innings and allowed only 1 run. The defense behind the Westfield pitchers was strong all game. Catcher Devin Anderson shut down the SOM running game early, when he threw out a runner attempting to steal in the 2nd. His throw to 2nd base was missile and that play seemed to deter SOM from running further. Difilippo was assisted in the 3rd on a perfectly executed cut off and tag play. With a runner on 1st, a SOM hitter hit a long single to center field. Nick Mele tracked the ball down near the fence and threw a strike to cutoff man Chris Rinaldi who turned and fired to third baseman Hopper Murray who applied the tag to the runner who was attempting to go 1st to 3rd.
While Difilippo and the Westfield defense was stifling the SOM offense, the Blue Devil offense went to work out of the gate, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 1st. Chris Varano reached base on a line drive single to right and Nick Mele followed with a line drive single of his own to put runners on 1st and 2nd. A perfectly executed double steal put both runners in scoring position and Difilippo drove both runners home a 2 run single to right center.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the 3rd when SOM scored a lone run. Rinaldi took over pitching duties after the 3rd inning and he, along with the stingy Westfield, held SOM scoreless in the 4th and the 5th.
Westfield scored 4 runs in the 4th inning to extend the lead to 6-2. With 2 outs and no one on, Liam Heinbokel singled hard to center field and then Devin Anderson and Chris Boutsikaris followed with walks to load the bases. Heinbokel alertly stole home on a passed ball and then Scott Tupper battled for another walk to reload the bases. Eric Varakian earned a free pass as well and that forced the 2nd run across. Michael "Mobi" Mobarakai then stepped to the plate and promptly lined a clutch 2 RBI single down the left field line, knocking Boutsikaris and Tupper across.
The Blue Devils added one more run in the 5th inning. Rinaldi walked, stole his way to 3rd and scored on an RBI single to right center field off of the bat of Boutsikaris.
Westfield White gathers tomorrow night for their team hair cuts in preparation for their trip to Cooperstown. They play next on Sunday in the Cooperstown Dreamspark tournament.
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