Since 2019, the Blue Devils have danced at the edge of a sectional championship, but could never quite get over the hump. As the three seed, Westfield was the underdog, having to travel away to Ridge, the one seed. The odds were stacked against them, and many doubted whether the Blue Devils had what it takes to pull it off. Nevertheless, like any good playoff story, the underdog prevailed.
The Blue Devils walked away with a 9-6 victory over Ridge along with a shiny trophy. Head coach Jay Cook said, “I’m very happy for these seniors to be able to win a sectional championship, and also a couple more opportunities to practice and get better as a group. I give a lot of credit to these seniors and how they carried us this second half of the season.”
After a fielding error in the first inning gave the Red Devils an early 1-0 lead, the Blue Devils regrouped, rallied their spirits, and fired each other up as they prepared to step up to the plate.
The top of the second inning was outstanding for Westfield, scoring them five runs. Jordan Walsh hit a line drive single to right field and scored a run, tying the game after Aaron Ives was hit by a pitch. Anthony Bulger then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in Pete Cabrales. Andrew Digregorio also hit a hard ground ball to right field that brought in Owen O’Connor, who was pinch running for catcher Liam Sulivan. Lastly, Jake Alfano added a line drive to bring in Ives and Digregorio, giving Westfield the lead 5-1.
Ridge scored one run in the second and third innings, keeping the game close but still in favor of the Blue Devils. Then things began to heat up when Ridge rallied at the top of the 5th inning, bringing in three runs and taking the lead, 5-6.
The pitching throughout the matchup changed often, with Westfield having two pitchers and Ridge having three. Logan Revock began the game for the Blue Devils, pitching three innings, letting up one hit. Despite the Red Devil’s surge in the fourth inning, James Statler took over on the mound and held strong, giving up only five hits and three runs over four innings, striking out five and walking one. Statler said, “I barely changed anything. I know it is a big game, a sectional championship, but it is the same as a regular season. Same routine, nothing changes.” Coming in during a crucial time, Statler said, “We went down 6-5, but we didn’t just throw in the towel. We kept going. We stuck around.”
Although Westfield could’ve accepted this, they did the exact opposite, regaining strength and motivation. The top of the fifth inning scored four runs for Westfield, making the score 9-6, which would serve to be the last runs of the game, and the most important. Cook said, “I don’t think we made adjustments, we knew we were going to have to grind it out all game. They weren’t going to go away. They’re a good team, so we had to just continue to battle and continue to get after it every single pitch, and we knew until the last out that the game wasn’t going to be over.”
Senior Braeden Trajkovski credited his teammate and captain, Jake Alfano, who recorded one run, one hit, and two RBIs. Trajkovski said, “Jake has been so stellar at shortstop, and it’s just incredible. Watching him play and how he’s improved from last year to this year, and even from the beginning of the season to now.” He added, “I think a bunch of guys have just been working today. We showed up playing good defense, and we had big at-bats when we needed them.”
The Blue Devils are back in action in the semifinal round of the group four tournament versus Passaic Tech on June 9. The game is away at Passaic Tech at 4 p.m. The team looks to come out with energy, DiGrigorio said, “We were just the harder-fighting team. We were the grittiest, and that’s the main factor in baseball,” Trajkovski said, “The past two games, our team has really been super united and as one as a whole, we need to bring that again on Monday.”
