In school, teachers often warn you about the importance of a first impressions. How will you affect someone’s day? What will they think about you upon first glance?
Based off of Westfield’s first game of the season, it’s clear that the Blue Devils did not take this assignment lightly. They made a mark with their season opener, capping off Union Catholic at 13-5.
After four innings, Westfield was up by 9, controlling the scoreboard.
Sisters junior Quinlan Doherty and senior captain Erin Doherty, were both major contributors to Westfield’s performance. At the top of the seventh inning, Erin Doherty ripped a hit past the outfielders, clearing the fence, sending two of her teammates home with her first home run of the season.
Only a few moments later, Quinlan Doherty was up to bat. Following her sisters lead, she also rips one deep into the outfield, sending herself and one other player on base to home plate.
Fans were ecstatic, the bench was roaring for the wholesome, feel-good moment for the Westfield team, and of course, the two sisters who gave each other a huge hug in the dugout.
When asked about how this moment felt, Erin Doherty remarked, “It felt great. It was really good and I wanted today to go really well, especially because I wanted to set the tone for the whole season.” With a huge smile on her face, she continued, “It was so special that my little sister hit a home run right after me.”
Senior captain Catherine Heflin remarked that the Blue Devils’ performance was reminiscent of their practices thus far, “Another big thing was taking advantage of their mistakes, so if someone’s not covering a base, take advantage of that.”
It was clear sophomore Naomi Kamins was also taking advantage Union Catholic mistakes by finding holes in the outfield. While up at bat Kamins was able to hit the ball in the middle of two outfielders multiple times which helped Westfield with two doubles that allowed the Blue Devils to score three runs.
Westfields enthusiasm in the dugout and on the field was hard to miss.
Heflin said, “I think something we focused on a lot in preseason was energy, and I wanted to keep energy high the entire game. Always talking whether it’s in the dugout or in the infield.”
Whether it was cheering on teammates up at bat or communicating with each other where the ball should go, Westfield’s dug out was easily heard by anyone in the stands.
“Anybody knows that if you want to put together a winning season, there’s got to be a little bit of fun involved,” said head coach Caitlin Cheddar.
Although Westfield had prevented Union Catholic from scoring in the first five innings, in the sixth and seventh innings, Union Catholic was able to hit two home runs, ultimately resulting in the final 13-5 result.
Puglisi, a senior catcher for the team, was pleased with the teams opening performance, giving a special thanks to their preseason. “Our scrimmages were very strong team efforts with each one we learned more with what it meant to play as a team and that allowed us to come out today as a cohesive unit ready to attack, ready to win.”
Despite the huge win, there are still aspects of Westfields game that needs improvement. Cheddar said, “We need to be a little better about pitch selection, and then defensively we need to work on fielding through the ball, we are kinda sitting back on our heels and that’s making us have rushed throws and we don’t need to do that.”
Westfield’s next game against Jonathan Dayton High School on Wednesday at 10 a.m. will reveal if Westfields first impression performance is a true representation of the rest of their season.
