Westfield found themselves down early to a tough Bridgewater Nationals team in a Basking Ridge tournament game, but the Blue Devils settled down and rallied late to win 10-7.
Trailing 5-0 as they came to bat in the 2nd, Westfield went to work and began chipping away at the lead. Chris Boutsikaris, who was 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored on the day, singled and stole 2nd base to put a runner in scoring position. Brett Robertshaw then followed with a monsterous 2 run home run that cut the Bridgewater lead to 5-2.
The score remained that way through the middle innings mainly as a result of solid pitching by Hopper Murray and some great defensive plays by the Blue Devils. In the 3rd inning, Center fielder Nick Mele made an outstanding play when he dove to snag a sinking line drive before it hit the ground. He then fired the ball into the infield and Boutsikaris and Chris Rinaldi teamed up to double up a Bridgewater runner on the bases. Shortly after Mele's play, 2nd baseman Eric Varakian made a tremendous diving stab of a hard ground ball up the middle and then fired a strike to Boutsikaris at 1st base to record the out.
Westfield's offense got hot and took the lead in top of the 4th. Chris Rinaldi started the rally when he was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Boutsikaris singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd and then Brett Robertshaw knocked in Rinaldi with an RBI single which advanced Boutsikaris to 3rd. Robertshaw stole 2nd to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and then Liam Heinbokel laced an RBI single to score Boutsikaris. Hopper Murray (3 for 3 on the day) then stepped to the plate and he quickly delivered a clutch 2 RBI single the knocked in Robertshaw and Heinbokel, giving Westfield a 6-5 lead.
Bridgewater took advantage of a couple of defensive miscues by Westfield in the 5th inning to take a 7-6 lead.
Westfield came to bat in the top of the 6th trailing by 1 run and they immediately began to threaten. Vin Difilippo led off and battled for a walk. Devin Anderson then sent the Westfield faithful into a frenzy when he launched a 2-1 offering to deep center field. The ball looked like it would clear the fence, but the Bridgewater center fielder reached back over the fence and somehow caught the ball. The play seemed to be the play of the game and one that would be enough to secure a victory for Bridgewater, however Westfield had other ideas. Chris Rinaldi stepped to the plate and worked the count to 2-2 before launching a line drive, 2 run homer into the trees beyond the left center field fence to give Westfield a 7-6 lead. Westfield poured on the offense after the home run. Boutsikaris walked and then scored on a line drive RBI double by Liam Heinbokel (2 for 3). Hopper Murray followed with his 3rd hit of the game which drove Heinbokel home.
Michael Mobarakai finished the game on the mound, throwing the last 3 innings and only allowing 2 hits over the final 3 frames.
Next up for Westfield is Manalapan in the State Tournament in Wayne at 3PM today.
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