Down 2-0 and struggling to get anything going offensively all game, Westfield entered the bottom of the 6th inning fired up. Closing in on the last inning and a half, the Blue Devils needed to get something going desperately. At the top of their lineup, senior captain Tomas Cestero led off. A line drive sent right to the gap put Cestero on second. Numbers two and three in the lineup, junior Jake Alfano and junior Braedan Trajkovski both got on base as well.
When Randy Davis stepped up to the plate, there was already a feeling that Westfield had taken over the game. Once he connected with the ball, everyone knew that they would be taking home a victory on Senior day. Davis’ single sent home two runners, notching the score at 2 runs apiece.
Speaking on the importance of a senior day win, Coach Jay Cook noted that ““You always like for the seniors to get a win on senior day and especially when you can come back like that down 2-0 in the sixth inning, throw up a five spot and close it out, it’s always great and always nice to honor our seniors before.”
Senior Nic Labin felt a win on senior day was very important going forward for their season, citing that “It’s good for everyone to get a win on Senior Day. Everyone’s happy on Senior Day we get some food after the game, so its good to have something to celebrate.” Davis added to the sentiment, saying, “It feels great. We have been playing out here for basically our whole lives waiting to play on Senior Day. It’s a day to honor us and it feels great.”
That was just the beginning. Keeping the momentum going, Labin had a single with an error that brought home 2 more runners. The Blue Devils came out of the 6th up 5-2, needing just 3 more outs in the top of the 7th to solidify their win. “We had more energy in the 6th definitely and usually when the first guy gets on like Tomas, that gets us going. Alfano kept it going with his walk and then we built off that to get the five runs,” Labin noted after the game.
Before the sudden Westfield explosion in the sixth inning, the game was slow to say the least. High Point’s pitcher skillfully kept Westfield off the bases while holding onto their 2-0 lead. In addition to the notably poor conditions, with slight rain and harsh winds keeping spectators bundled up, an air of distress pervaded the bleachers. The worst thing for this unbeaten Westfield team would be to drop a game to a team they should’ve beaten, especially on Senior Day. With the swing of Cestero’s bat, the sixth inning changed the game and erased any doubt from the crowd.
Cook felt that the change in momentum was due to a renewed mentality from his players; “I think we changed our approach a little, they [the players] had a meeting right before the sixth and they talked a lot about having at bats for one another, not to say we had selfish at bats before that but I don’t think we adjusted well enough before, and the changes ended up working out for us.”
The Blue Devils look to remain undefeated on Tuesday against Scotch Plains, home at 4pm.
