Westfield Suffers Sectional Quarterfinal Defeat to Bayonne

After six scoreless innings, Westfield began to pick up the momentum early in the seventh. With bases loaded and only one out, the Blue Devils had a chance to put themselves in front of Bayonne, but the ball was not dropping in their favor. 

A walk-off Bayonne triple in the bottom of the seventh finished off Westfield’s season with an RBI single. No. 4 seed Bayonne defeated No. 5 seed Westfield, 1-0, in the North 2, Group 4 sectional quarterfinals.

Despite this result, the teams were neck and neck the entire game. There were not many offensive opportunities on either side, the pitching and defense playing exceedingly well. 

“Bella [Scipioni] let up 2 hits this game,” said Westfield head coach Caitlin Cheddar. “Most days that’s going to get the job done, that’s going to be a win.”

Additionally, senior outfielder Grace Loder had two catches in the game, one in the bottom of the first and one at the bottom of the seventh, that demonstrated Westfield’s defensive grit. 

Loder said, “I think defensively we played really well. I think our offense could have used a little more work, especially on getting on base early.”

The Blue Devils missed a few opportunities to get on base with Bayonne’s infield errors. Westfield struggled to capitalize on the ground balls that Bayonne failed to keep in its mitts. Even so, the Blue Devils worked hard and hustled the entirety of the game. 

Cheddar said, “We put pressure on the whole game, played really strong defense the whole game, and we have a lot to be proud of… You can play really well and lose and that’s exactly what we did today.”

This loss marks an end to Westfield’s 11-16 season. Starting off the first half off of the season with more losses than wins, the Blue Devils turned their season around in the second half.

Loder said, “In the beginning, I didn’t think anybody thought we would get this far, especially in counties, so I’m very proud of this team and I’m very proud of the culture we created.”

With six seniors leaving, the fate of the team rests in the hands of the juniors and the other underclassmen. Although the seniors  are ending their high school careers on a loss, the season they had will not be forgotten.

Junior starter Catherine Heflin said, “All around we worked our butts off this entire season until the last pitch we had. We worked so hard, and I’m proud of how we played and the season we have had.”