Junior Jake Alfano stepped up to the plate. One man on, up by three in the bottom of the fourth. Alfano took a hack at a pitch, and launched the ball well over the right field wall, breaking the game wide open for Westfield, increasing the Blue Devils’ lead to 9-4 over Union.
Westfield’s season has been outstanding to start, especially their pitching staff. Senior Villanova commit Jack Chavez took the mound to start for Westfield, punching out all three batters in the top of the first inning. Westfield was able to grab an early 1-0 lead heading into the second, when the game turned on its head.
Two singles and three walks brought home two runs for Union, leading to Chavez being pulled early. “Jack didn’t have his best stuff today, and struggled a little bit with his command,” said head coach Jay Cook.
After another walk and a hit by pitch, Westfield was able to get the final two outs, going into the bottom of the second down 4-1. Luckily for Westfield, they kept a great mindset, and they were not deterred at all by the score.
An immediate leadoff single and a walk set them up tremendously for the inning, and they notched two runs on the board to cut the Union lead down to one. Junior pitcher Brendan Kelly came in clutch in the third, only facing four batters to get the Westfield offense back on the field.
Immediately, seniors Randy Davis and Kellen Edwards knocked back-to-back doubles to tie the game, and a throwing error on an attempted steal brought home Edwards to give Westfield the lead. The Blue Devils did not stop the offensive performance, as junior Aaron Ives and junior Charlie McCormack both came around to score, giving Westfield a three-run lead. Of course, Westfield’s big bat this season, Alfano, knocked another home run over the wall, breaking the game wide open for Westfield.
Union could not get anyone on base in the fourth, as all three batters went down quickly. The offense was right back up to the plate, and Westfield continued to put runs on the board. Ives brought home two with a triple, McCormack hit a sacrifice fly, and Westfield needed only two more runs to end the game early, by way of the mercy rule. “It was nice to see some hits go, and running the bases well. It was definitely nice to see the bats going,” coach Cook said.
Freshman pitcher Anthony Narciso sat down two men on strikes, while forcing the other batter to ground out. Westfield was able to finish off Union in the bottom of the fifth, as junior Jake Park notched an RBI groundout, and senior Brendan Scheper finished the game with an RBI single, cementing the final score of 14-4.
Westfield has a gauntlet of games next week, and they start with a matchup against Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday on the road. “We’re going to be facing a good arm, I heard he throws 97 [mph], so we have to have good team at-bats,” Alfano said.
