On Thursday, Westfield suffered a thrashing against Ridge, 8-1, in the North 2, Group 4 sectional quarterfinals. Ridge came into the game as the No. 1 seed against the eighth-seeded Blue Devils. The loss seemed to mark the end of the season for Westfield, but something unexpected happened. Ridge went over the pitch count for a single pitcher in a five-day span and violated NJSIAA rules, forcing the Red Devils to forfeit the game. Westfield moved on and faced No. 5 seed Bayonne in the semifinals Tuesday. Despite this new opportunity, Westfield once again fell, losing the game in the fifth inning on the mercy rule after trailing the Bees 14-3.
The game began optimistically for the visiting Blue Devils. Leadoff hitter Randy Davis stepped up to the plate, hoping to make a serious impact on the game. That is exactly what he was able to do, as he used the short fence to his advantage, picking out a pitch he liked and turning on the baseball, lacing it over the fence. The Blue Devils took the early 1-0 lead, as Westfield fans optimistically piled into the outfield stands. Two batters later, Braeden Trajkovski stepped up to the plate looking to extend the Blue Devil lead further. Trajkovski, like he has done so many times this season, turned on a pitch and hit it over the left field fence. The Blue Devil lead was now 2-0, and they were attempting to outscore the powerful Bayonne offense, which seemed like a Herculean task, as Bayonne had already won via the mercy rule seven times this year.
“Too many errors, you can’t give good teams [these opportunities]. It’s kind of been our Achilles’ Heel all year. That’s unfortunately what happened today,” said head coach Jay Cook.
This Herculean task proved impossible, as the rest of the game was entirely one-sided. Besides an offensive burst in the form of their third home run of the game, from Leo Mangiamele, the Blue Devils accomplished little at the plate. Bayonne dominated, going back-to-back innings scoring 5 runs in the second and third and recording a total of 14 or more runs for the fifth time this season. The Bees’ home field was smaller than what Westfield was used to and provided various opportunities for the ball to travel beyond the fence for both teams. Bayonne’s performance ended with a bang, when the Bees buzzed toward victory, launching a ball beyond the fence for a 2-run home run, forcing a mercy. One could say this loss really stung, as the Bees made Westfield their eighth victim via mercy.
“It didn’t look great early, but we just felt confident that we were going to get good swings, we felt like we were prepared throughout the course of the season, through our schedule, and we have a lot of seniors with a lot of experience, so we just kinda felt that no matter what, we’re never out of the game,” said Bayonne head coach David Hoffmann.
Tuesday’s game was an interesting and unexpected one. Neither team believed it would be in Bayonne for the semifinal until news of the Ridge violation broke. It is a hard adjustment for a team to go from ending its season to once again jump-starting on a dime.
“It’s us against everybody, but [we] stick with each other, compete with each other, and, you know, stay together,” said Cook.
“Everybody has to abide by the rules,” said Hoffmann. “It’s extremely unfortunate. I feel horrible for the Ridge kids because they’re a great team. I just think sometimes [coaches] get caught up in not knowing certain specificities with rules.”
Westfield finishes its season with a record of 14-10 and a division record of 6-5. The Blue Devils most notably went on a six-game winning streak during the middle of the season, where they beat a few top teams like Chatham and Governor Livingston, and it is hard to talk about this Blue Devil team without bringing up the art of the comeback.
The Blue Devils never gave up in any game, and this was displayed perfectly in the seventh game of the year, as they worked back from a 7-run deficit in their win against Arthur L. Johnson. Nothing was out of reach for this Westfield team, and it competed in the face of all competition.
