Following a frustrating 5-2 loss to the Cougars two days prior, the Blue Devils successfully bounced back and redeemed themselves by a slim margin of 7-6. Cranford Memorial Field was overcast and windy, but Westfield baseball was on fire, ignited by junior Pete Cabrales’ two-run home run in the first inning.
After only scoring two runs in their first matchup of the week on Tuesday against their neighboring rivals, the team was able to score twice in the first inning behind a two-run home run from junior Pete Cabrales during the second matchup, starting a chain of scoring for the Blue Devils: Another two runs from senior Anthony Bulger, as well as runs from senior Alex Lawrence and sophomores Owen O’Connor, Andrew Digregorio and Jack Doherty, put themselves over Cranford to seal the victory. “Everyone was just taking at bats for the team, doing anything they could to score runs,” Cabrales said.
Head coach Jay Cook agreed, saying, “We had more team at-bats today. I think that we were trying to just pass the baton, and we competed on the mound, and then we made the plays behind.”
To keep the momentum going, the Blue Devils pulled through on the pitching side. “When the pitchers are competing, it makes it a little bit easier, defensively, to stay in the game,” Cook said. More specifically, senior pitcher James Statler pitched five innings, serving seven strikeouts in his outing, after Westfield switched pitchers from senior captain Logan Revock to Statler at the bottom of the third.
In the bottom of the seventh, Cranford was able to load the bases with two outs. As the Cougar’s next batter walked up to the plate, the noise from both dugouts was booming. With Westfield clinging to a narrow one-run lead, the pressure was unmistakable. On a full count, Statler delivered, and the batter went down swinging, ending Cranford’s potential scoring rally and sealing the Blue Devils’ hard-fought victory. “I really felt the weight of the game,” Statler explained. After sealing the deal, Statler and the team celebrated their victory, evening the score between the rival teams for the week.
Cook reflected on how the team focused on the intensity at practice during the one-day break between games. “It was the attention to detail and focusing on making every play so that, when the routine does happen, we’re able to make those plays.” This definitely paid off, and it was clear Westfield had made adjustments since Tuesday. With the new NJ high school baseball rules, teams will now play conference opponents twice in one week, rather than spacing it out across their schedule, preventing a team from pitching their ace in both games. The Blue Devils used this to their advantage.
The team will have its next matchup on April 7 away against the Summit Hilltoppers at 4 p.m. “They’ll have some time to rest and recoup over the weekend,” Cook said. “Monday, we will get back to practice and be ready to go.”
