“The person who took the game into control from the beginning was Summit’s pitcher. She kept us off balance and really kept us off the bases entirely. So she did a really good job today,” said head coach Caitlin Cheddar.
The first inning hosted three strikeouts for both teams; however, sophomore Charlotte Yarnall, Summit’s pitcher, continued the strikeouts, totalling 14 for the game.
“Today’s biggest challenge was definitely adjusting to the pitcher,” said senior co-captain Alex Laguna. “She had both speed and spin, and her umpire calling the high strike made it very hard to get around on the ball and to know what to swing at and what to lay off of.”
While the No. 3 seeded Blue Devils struggled offensively, the No. 8 Hilltoppers found a rhythm, propelling them to another upset victory in the Union County Tournament. Summit first tip-toed by No. 1 seeded Johnson with a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals, and harnessed that momentum to beat Westfield 9-3 in this semifinal game.
In addition to Yarnall leading the Summit team in the field, she also managed 3 hits out of 4 at bats, including 2 RBIs. Senior Hilltopper Juliana Alicea, a Division I commit to Stonehill College, tallied 2 home runs and 5 RBIs to complement Yarnall’s performance.
Despite Summit’s impressive hitting, Westfield remained composed defensively. “I am most proud that we continued to play our best even when losing,” said Laguna. “There are games when you can feel the team accept the loss and give up, but today we continued to play as hard as we could which you could see in our fielding. We did not have any errors and we were also able to maintain good energy to keep the confidence and positivity within the team.”
Between Westfield’s first baseman, sophomore Claire Kurtz, and third baseman, Laguna, not a single hit in the infield resulted in a Summit player on base.
The first and second innings showed no movement for either team as the score read 0-0 leading into the third inning. But then Summit began their oscillating tear. With a single and a subsequent triple, and then a hit to the deep outfield, the Hilltoppers managed 2 runs before their third out. No response came from the Blue Devils in the bottom of the third.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, following a scoreless inning for Summit, junior Kayla Reyes stepped up to the plate for her second at bat.
Her first at bat was “stressful” because none of her teammates could buy a hit, but this time she told herself, “I can do it. Just stay calm, it’s fine.” Reyes swung at the first pitch, a straight line down the middle of home plate, and it “worked out pretty well,” said Reyes.
Reyes earned Westfield’s first hit and a home run, proving to the Blue Devils “there is a chance for [them] to hit and [they] still have a chance to compete,” said Laguna. “As soon as Summit began to hit, we knew we had to step it up in the field. We were already playing very well on defense, but as Summit hit more and more, we knew we had to do whatever we could to stop them, and I feel the momentum changed when Kayla hit a home run.”
Even with this energy boost, the Hilltoppers responded with four runs of their own in the top of the fifth, pushing the score to 6-1. Although three Westfield batters struck out in the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Devil defense made up for the lack of offensive movement in the top of the sixth.
A play to Kurtz at first, a pop-up by junior Natalie Ardente and a tag-out by Kurtz had the teams switching quickly. “Our defense was really good,” said Cheddar. “We made every play that needed to be made, so I think defensively, we played really well.”
The bottom of the sixth saw a wavering in Yarnall’s pitching, offering an opportunity for Westfield. Freshman Grace Brodo got a walk to first and Reyes launched a rocket to the outfield, just short of a homerun, but still enough for a triple and an RBI.
With powerhouse senior co-captain Quinlan Doherty at bat, Yarnall ushered for an intentional walk, knowing Doherty could do damage while Yarnall was vulnerable. Laguna followed with a double and an RBI, making the score 3-6. Junior Leah Abrams almost notched a single, but a questionable call from the umpire deemed her out at first.
The seventh inning hosted one of two Yarnall doubles and one of Alicea’s home runs, pushing the score to 9-3. The Blue Devils had no response and the game ended with that score, marking the end of Westfield’s UCT run.
Though the loss stings, the Blue Devils are focused on what comes next. With a young roster and more regular-season games to play before the start of the sectional and group tournaments, Cheddar emphasized the importance of growth in these moments.
“The next time we are in a tournament, there won’t be a tomorrow if we lose,” said Cheddar. “The nice thing about this game is that we still have two or three regular-season games left before the state tournament. So, whatever we can take from today and learn from it, we need to do it, and we need to do it quickly.”
Reyes highlighted the lessons from the game. “We can never back down and three runs is never enough. We always want more, but we have to win each inning at a time. Today, we fell short of that, but next time, we need to take it one inning at a time and do our best.”
The Blue Devils will play at Montclair on May 21 at 4 p.m. to prepare for the state tournament.
