A runner on third, one out and Westfield’s lead on the line. Pitcher Tomas Cestero had exited the game prematurely due to injury, and brought in to relieve was senior pitcher Pat Lanza. He slowly jogged to the mound and took his unorthodox stance. Momentum had shifted slightly in favor of Union Catholic, which trailed now by only one run in what was then a 4-3 game.
Lanza readied and fired. His first pitch caught the inside of the plate for a strike. The second was popped back to the mound and caught. The Union Catholic runner on third reacted quickly and started toward home. Quickly realizing his mistake, he jetted back, but his efforts were in vain. Leo Mangiamele had already thrown the ball and secured the double play.
Lanza needed just two pitches to work out of the jam, and this game-changing sequence would help Westfield secure a 6-4 victory over Union Catholic in the first round of the Union County Tournament.
“Coach Cook told me he was going to squeeze so he told me to throw a pitchout. I completely missed my spot, jammed him inside, and thank God for Leo Mangiamele,” said Lanza on his incredible work in the fifth inning.
The Blue Devils came into Saturday’s game with bad memories of the Vikings. In their last matchup, a month ago, Union Catholic narrowly defeated Westfield, 10-9. It was almost an incredible comeback but ended unfortunately for Westfield. This time things changed. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
“It’s always nice, any time you’re in conference to get a win, especially in the counties to get that first one,” said head coach Jay Cook.
Once again on the mound for the Vikings was senior Adam Gross. Last time Gross faced Westfield he pitched four innings and allowed only 2 earned runs. Saturday, Gross pitched five innings and allowed 3 earned runs. A month ago, Gross only allowed 4 hits. Saturday he allowed 7. Accompanied by a flurry of errors from his infield and himself, Gross and the Vikings failed to stop a determined Westfield team.
Offensively, the Blue Devils performed well, scoring early and relinquishing the lead only temporarily in the second. Westfield recorded a run with a ground ball from senior co-captain Owen Callahan that led to a fielder’s choice and resulted in Westfield’s first trip to home. One inning later Jake Alfano followed suit, knocking a double into center field. He would come around and score on the following play, as a result of a well-placed bunt by Kevin Dowling and a fielding error on Union Catholic. Chris Shinners, the next batter for the Blue Devils, hit into a fielder’s choice. Dowling was held up at second as the ball was hit to the shortstop; however, as soon as the shortstop released the ball, Dowling beelined for third. He was safe and, thanks to a throwing error by the first basemen, went on to score. The Blue Devils now led 3-2, and the bottom half of the batting order was doing a lot of damage.
In the next inning, Westfield added another run to its tally. Like so many runs and rallies that have started this year, Owen Callahan led off with a single. His pinch runner, Charlie McCormack, stole second immediately. He then advanced to third on a throwing error by Gross, and the Blue Devils had runners on second and third with just one out. Jake Alfano then laced a sacrifice fly into the outfield, scoring McCormack and extending the Blue Devil lead to two.
The final runs for Westfield would come in the form of a big fly. That was because the always dangerous Braeden Trajkvoski stepped up to the plate with a runner on. Trajkovski sat on a high fastball and sent it into orbit, scoring 2 more runs for the Blue Devils, and, in the process, hitting his third home run of the year.
“He had the two home runs, and then pitchers started pitching him a little differently. Now he is starting to make adjustments, so he’s come a long way and he can really swing it. He’s as good a hitter as we’ve had as a sophomore in the program,” said Cook.
On the mound Westfield once again performed accordingly. Cestero, before sustaining injury, recorded 4.1 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 3 runs, 1 hit and 0 earned runs. Another spectacular outing for the junior Seton Hall commit, who currently leads the team in strikeouts with 30.
Lanza pitched 2.2 innings, allowed only 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Cestero was awarded the win and Lanza the save. Currently Westfield as a whole holds a team ERA of 2.67.
“Every time Pat comes in there, he competes more and more. He gets after the strike zone. He embodies what we want here. Just work hard when your opportunity arises and you go there and perform,” said Cook.
Westfield now looks forward to the Union County Tournament quarterfinals, where it will host division rival ALJ on Wednesday. In their last matchup, Westfield defeated ALJ, 9-8, due to a walk-off hit from Trajkovski.
