Following a mercy-rule victory in the previous game, maintaining that level of dominance can be difficult, but today, Westfield softball proved they could do just that. After a slow start to the season, the Blue Devils knew they needed to improve. They had just previously defeated Union 15-0 under the mercy rule and were able to continue that streak, dominating Roselle Catholic with the same score.
Westfield started strong, with senior Kayla Reyes hitting a sacrifice fly to score a runner and put the Blue Devils on the board. Senior Leah Abrams then carried that momentum, driving in two more runs.
The team then added a single, further strengthening their offense. Junior Claire Kurtz said, “I think our bats really did what we needed them to do, which helped our pitcher and us a lot.”
This was clear as the Blue Devils played aggressively. Their bats, which had seemed silent earlier in the season, appeared to wake up.
Recently, the team’s defense had cost some runs, but today, head coach Caitlin Cheddar noted, “When the ball is in play in the last two days, we’re making the right decisions and attacking the ball. We weren’t so sure what to do with it earlier this week when the ball was hit in play, but now we’re handling it better. You can’t play or win games with that mindset. This was just a much better defensive performance.”
Their hitting kept the momentum, and in the bottom of the third inning, sophomore Giada Petraca hit an inside-the-park home run, increasing their lead.
By the bottom of the 4th inning, the score was 10-0, and the Blue Devils continued their dominance by scoring 5 more runs to end the game via mercy.
Cheddar praised the win, saying, “We did exactly what we were supposed to do. We’re a more talented team, and we put the ball in play, chipping away inning by inning, and got the shutout. All of those things are important, so I really think both sides of the ball were good today.”
After two dominating wins, the Blue Devils will face a top team in the state coming up vs ALJ. Senior co-captain Natalie Ardente said, “They are the top two in the state. We need to carry the momentum, and the energy will be there itself as we know how badly we want to win.”
The Blue Devils will face Johnson away on Thursday at 4:00 p.m., looking to maintain their winning streak.
