In the bottom of the first inning, senior pitcher Bella Scipioni threw a tough pitch to the plate. As she did, the runner on second base took off in a blind sprint towards third. Catcher Gianna Puglisi popped up right as she grabbed the pitch, throwing the perfect ball to senior captain Erin Doherty, reaching down for the tag and getting the commanding second out of the game.
However, defense was Westfield’s only shining moment against Arthur L. Johnson High School. The first two innings came and went without much of an offensive rally on either side. While ALJ had some hits they weren’t able to score, Westfield was struggling to stay in the batter’s box.
In the bottom of the third inning, Johnson was able to get their first score of the game off of a triple sending one runner home. This was followed by a two-run homer and a double, putting Johnson up 4-0 in the span of one inning.
This is not where the offense stopped for Johnson as they were able to tally two more runs the following inning and one more in the sixth while Westfield was never able to touch the scoreboard, resulting in a 7-0 loss. While this loss may be disheartening leading into the beginning of the championship season, head coach Caitlin Cheddar knows what Westfield is capable of: “The good news is we’ve had some really great offensive performances this year. So it’s not a question of whether we have it or not. We know we have it, we just have to find a way to restart it.”
Westfield has been in sort of a slump but keeping their standing very high defensively, Doherty hopes they will be able to get back in their offensive routine in order to have the best team compete in the second half of the season. “I think the last few games haven’t really been a good example of how we’ve been playing so far this season. I just think that we are really struggling up at bat. Today we had people playing out of position but our pitching was strong and besides one or two mistakes in the field I think that we were playing strong defense,” said Doherty.
Westfield, looking for shifted momentum, will take on Elizabeth at home on May 6 looking to make one last run before the championship season begins.
