Braeden Trajkovski stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second inning with two outs. Jake Alfano worked a walk, extending the inning for the soft-spoken giant. The Blue Devils trailed 1-0 after a suicide squeeze in the top half of the second inning, and Trajkovski was looking to tie the game up, or even extend the lead. He sat on the curveball and destroyed it, sending the ball over the wall and giving the Blue Devils their first lead of the day and Trajkovski his first home run of the season.
“Home runs always feel amazing,” said Trajkovski. “I saw he was gonna throw that curveball and kinda just sat on that curveball and got into it.”
Westfield’s game was nothing short of a spectacle for fans on the hot Wednesday afternoon. Dominating Governor Livingston throughout the game, it seemed to be little contest for the Blue Devils, who now find themselves on a three-game win streak. The game started off with clean innings for both teams. Junior Seton Hall commit Tomas Cestero took the mound for the second time this season. He debuted for the team this season against Summit, where he pitched only two innings and struggled in an 8-3 loss for the Blue Devils. Today’s game was a different story, with Cestero, this time, much more comfortable and clean on the mound. He pitched four full innings and part of the fifth, giving up only 2 runs to the Highlanders. Cestero and the team were able to eke their way out of tough situations in which Governor Livingston held bases loaded and an opportunity to reclaim a lead lost early in the game.
Westfield’s defensive play was impressive, with few errors in the infield and outfield. A bulk of the game’s action was directed toward shortstop and senior co-captain Leo Mangiamele, who fielded some tough grounders throughout the contest. One of which came at a much needed time. Tommy Hyland, in his first inning of work, seemed to be a bit frazzled on the mound. He gave up two runs, and the Highlanders were itching to get more across the board and diminish the Blue Devil lead. Then the unthinkable happened. An impromptu 6-3-6 double play that saw the end of the top of the fifth inning. Mangiamele fielded the tough ground ball on the backhand before gunning the runner at first by a hair. Then first baseman Trajkovski saw the runner on second taking too big of a secondary lead and threw him out. Just like that, the damage was averted and the Blue Devils would cruise from then on out.
It was offensively that Westfield once again shined. Scoring 11 runs against Governor Livingston, Westfield scored more than 10 runs for the second consecutive game after defeating Chatham 12-1 four days prior. The game’s offense was highlighted mainly by junior Randy Davis and sophomore Trajkovski. Davis went 3-4 with two hits resulting in doubles and another in a triple.
Trajkovski helped lead the team to victory with not one, but two, 2-run home runs. Both home runs falling just along the foul line in left field, the sophomore launched both baseballs to help thrust Westfield toward its 11-run game. Eight of Westfield’s nine batters recorded at least one hit in the game.
“I think towards the back half of the game [against Union Catholic] we kinda changed our approach at the plate and just bought into our approach that we’re trying to preach every single day,” said head coach Jay Cook. “Understanding that they’re good players and certainly just believing in them and reassuring them.”
Westfield now looks to continue its winning streak as it gets set to face off against rival Scotch-Plains Fanwood this Friday. Westfield has won three of its last five matchups against the Raiders, which currently hold a record of 4-2. SPF currently sits third in the Watchung division, just below Westfield. In order to keep building upon their winning streak, the Blue Devils will have to continue to be clean defensively and get into good counts, because when they do so, they are going to be a very hard team to beat, especially with co-ace Jack Chavez on the mound and Callahan behind the plate.
