It was the bottom of the second, with bases loaded, and Blue Devil junior Sophia Matielli stepped up to bat. The Bayonne pitcher had already granted three walks to Westfield, but a small intermission to regain focus had her finally throwing over the plate. However, the speed of the pitches faltered, allowing Matielli to strategically place the ball slightly right of the pitcher, where the first and second basemen were forced to leave their posts. The timing was impeccable, with Matielli gaining a single and an RBI bringing sophomore Claire Kurtz home.
“After anybody’s hit, everyone is motivated to keep going and play the inning and drive forward,” said junior Kayla Reyes.
The Blue Devils fed off of Matielli’s energy, surging an explosive six-run inning: a single and RBI from senior co-captain Alex Laguna, a walk for co-captain Quinlan Doherty, a double from Reyes for two RBIs and a sacrificial out-at-first for junior Natalie Ardente giving Doherty the opportunity to slide home and cap the inning.
“I was proud of my second at bat when I hit a line drive between left and center field, a gap ball. It was a good all-around play and we needed more momentum,” said Reyes.
This left Westfield with a heavy lead, 7-0, to start the third inning. This early scoring foreshadowed the outcome of the game, a commanding win over Bayonne 14-4, a mercy-rule victory that saw dynamic plays up and down the line-up on both sides of the ball.
Scoring in every inning but the fifth, Westfield added four more runs in the third, one in the fourth, and two in the sixth, keeping the pressure on a Bayonne team that struggled to find rhythm.
Freshman Darby Revock led the charge with 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 RBIs. Laguna and Doherty each chipped in with multi-RBI efforts, and Reyes delivered 4 RBIs on 3 hits. Freshman Giada Petrarca added speed on the basepaths with 4 runs and 2 hits of her own. Westfield tallied a total of 6 stolen bases as Bayonne’s catcher struggled to catch the inconsistent pitches.
“This year, we have way more speed than we have had in many years. We have a couple of people who can steal just on a regular pitch that the catcher does catch cleanly, and we encourage them, especially today, to go. You have to go and put the pressure on because it’s really hard to play clean defense when you have chaos on the base pass, and if you can cause that chaos you’re in a good position,” said head coach Caitlin Cheddar.
This offensive prowess was coupled by strong defensive plays in the field, especially from freshman pitcher Ava Heuck from the circle. While only allowing 4 runs, she recorded 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. She also handled at least six grounders for plays to first, resulting in four scoreless innings for the Bees.
“So, a lot of my pitches were working, especially my screwball, my curve, and my change-up. Coach Cheddar recently helped me fix my changeup and today it really came in handy,” said Heuck.
Going into the bottom of the fifth, Bayonne picked up a bit of momentum to keep them in the game, thus Westfield required two runs to mercy the game, yet their first scoreless inning surfaced. “We had an opportunity to end the game in five innings and we didn’t. I don’t know if we did anything wrong per se, but we have been focusing a lot on mindset: this isn’t about participating, this is about competing,” said Cheddar.
Despite the temporary rut, the Blue Devils fought back in the sixth inning, to hold down Bayonne and score two runs, finishing the game. Laguna credited Westfield’s constant communication to their overall success. “It is very important. Talking helps to not only think about the next play, but also comforts you to know there are people behind you in case you make an error,” said Laguna.
With a dominant win in hand, Westfield set its sights on a tougher opponent next game. But unfortunately fell to ALJ, 13-3, on April 10. The Blue Devils will face Summit at 4:00 p.m. on April 14.
