Westfield headed north on Sunday, following their win in Basking Ridge in the scorching 95 degree heat, to face a relatively unknown team from Manalapan. The Blue Devils and many of their fans met at an Applebees on Route 46 to escape the sweltering heat. As they enjoyed their meals, little did the group know that they were about to witness the 2nd coming of Nolan Ryan just a few short miles away.
Westfield's offense resumed where they had left off in Ridge and they came out swinging red hot bats. Lead off hitter Chris Varano put a charge into a 2-1 offering and came within a foot or two of a home run before the Manalapan right fielder tracked it down at the fence for an out. Undeterred by the strong defensive play on Varano's drive, the next 6 Westfield batters recorded hits and the Blue Devils quickly took a 4-0 lead.
Chris Rinaldi singled to put a runner on base and then Nick Mele quickly launched a blast to deep center field for a 2 run home run. Vin Difilippo followed by belting a 2-1 offering to deep left center field for back-to-back homers and a 3-0 Westfield lead. Devin Anderson and Brett Robertshaw continued the offensive onslaught with singles and Anderson scored on an RBI single by Boutsikaris. Enter the 2nd coming of Nolan Ryan...
Manalapan's Rodriquez relieved with runners on 2nd and 3rd. He recorded the next two out and struck out 14 of the next 17 hitters he faced. In all he threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing no hits and only 1 walk.
Westfield held off Manalapan's offense for a while and maintained a lead heading into the 3rd inning. Vin Difilippo was throwing very well and only allowed 1 run through the 1st 2 innings. In the 3rd, Manalapan's offense came alive and they took advantage of several Westfield defensive mistakes to take a 6-4 lead. Nick Mele relieved Difilippo to start the 4th and he threw well but he was also victimized by defensive miscues and Manalapan extended their lead to 8-4. Chris Boutsikaris relieved Mele in the 5th to shut down the threat and close out the inning. When the dust settled, Westfield was down 10-4 and they were unable to stage a miracle comeback.
Next up for Westfield on Tuesday is the continuation of the suspended game against Bridgewater American in the Basking Ridge tournament. The game will be resumed at 7:45 PM on Tuesday at Ridge Field #4.
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