As senior Alex Lawrence watched ball four fly by him at the plate with the bases loaded, junior Anthony Narciso strutted home, knowing he was the tying run in the top of the sixth inning of a defensive run game. A comeback that should’ve shifted the momentum for the Blue Devils instead quickly unraveled for Westfield, as they surrendered three runs in the bottom of the sixth and fell to rivals Scotch Plains-Fanwood in a heartbreaker, 5-2.
Coming off a tight 4-3 win against Old Bridge in the Autism Awareness Challenge, Westfield was confident coming into the game against SPF. This game also served a purpose greater than baseball, as both teams wore special jerseys in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness, adding extra meaning to an already intense showdown.
The atmosphere at Snyder Avenue Field was electric. Chants and shouts poured from both dugouts, rolling back and forth with every at bat like a constant challenge no side was willing to drop. “It was a little bit of a chaotic environment, but it certainly, there’s no excuse because this is the environment we want to play in,” head coach Jay Cook explained. In the brisk night air, everything about it displayed a classic Tuesday night baseball game between infamous rivals.
A notable aspect on defense was sophomore Jack Doherty’s full game outing on the mound. He said, “Going to the game I knew I had to throw strikes, and I trust my defense to make plays. I pitch to contact on my infield, and trust them to make plays, because I know we’ve practiced hard and they’ll make the plays.” Starting strong with a 1-2-3 inning in the first, he continued his very efficient outing, ending his appearance with 93 pitches through 6 innings. Although the team surrendered five runs in total, Doherty completed the full game without a single earned run.
In the top of the fourth inning, however, with men on first and second with two outs for the Blue Devils, a check swing by Lawrence was called strike three, ending what could have been an offensive rally. Cook had no issue letting the ump know he disagreed. “It was a horrible call,” Cook said. “He’s supposed to check with the guy at first base, but he got influenced by their dugout. We never want to leave it in the umpires’ hands, but he missed that one.”
The Blue Devils’ offense was very threatening as well. They were able to get a lot of strong contact, resulting in four doubles, two of them hit by sophomore Andrew Digregorio.
Senior third baseman Anthony Bulger reflected on their offensive success, saying “I think we had a lot of good at bats, but we were pretty inconsistent.”
The Blue Devils look to bounce back and take the second game against the Raiders on Thursday, playing at home at 4 p.m. “We need to think about the things that we did and the things that we didn’t do well. We need to practice the things we didn’t do well and strengthen them, and then go from there,” Cook explained.
