Articles and Pictures on CJBL PLayoffs in Leader

• July 31st edition, page 11 on the Union game
• August 7th edition, page 13 on the chamionship game
• Fred Lecomte from The Leader was kind enough to allow us to link to the pictures he took from the Union game.

Westfield White 10 Year Olds Complete Season with CJBL Tournament Win

Westfield White 10 Year Olds completed their season with a thrilling 7-6 victory over Long Hill to win the Central Jersey 10 Year Old Tournament. With the win, the Blue Devils completed their season with a 26-8 record and championship wins in both the Babe Ruth District 12 and Central Jersey Baseball tournaments.

Westfield's Eric Varakian jump started the offense with a line drive triple to right center field to lead off the 1st inning. Vin Difilippo promptly knocked in Varakian with a hard hit RBI single up the middle to give Westfield a 1-0 lead. Nick Mele and Chris Boutsikaris followed with consecutive singles to load the bases and then Devin Anderson drove a single through the right side that allowed Difilippo to score. Mele then alertly scored on a passed ball to increase Westfield's lead to 3-0.

Westfield added two more runs in the 2nd inning with timely hitting and aggressive base running. Hopper Murray led off the inning with a sharply hit single to left field. Chris Varano followed with a hard grounder that was fielded by the Long Hill 2nd baseman who forced Murray at 2nd base. Tommy Summers then battled the Long Hill pitcher for a walk and with runners on 1st and 2nd, Westfield runners Varano and Summers successfully executed a double steal. Varakian was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then Christopher Rinaldi drove a hard single threw the left side that allowed Varano and Summers to score, increasing Westfield’s lead to 5-0 after 2 innings.

Pitcher Rinaldi and the Westfield defense held Long Hill scoreless through the first 3 innings. Ethan Smith, Christopher Varano and Brett Robertshaw made strong defensive plays to prevent Long Hill from scoring in the first three frames. Long Hill managed to get on the board in the 4th with 2 runs via a walk, a triple and a single. The damage would have been worse had it not be for a leaping stab of a hard liner by shortstop Nick Mele who then doubled the runner off of 2nd base for an inning ending double play, ending Long Hill’s scoring threat.

Westfield responded in the bottom half of the 4th with another run. Scott Tupper led off with a line drive single to right field and Hopper Murray walked, putting Tupper in scoring position. Christopher Varano then stepped to the plate with 2 outs and delivered a clutch, line drive single to right center field to score Tupper giving Westfield a 6-2 lead.

Long Hill was not finished though and they took advantage of 2 walks and 3 hits to score 4 runs in the 5th to tie the game at 6. With 1 out and 4 runs in, the battery of Nick Mele and Vin Difilippo switched positions and they then combined to end the scoring threat. Catcher Mele threw a great strike to Devin Anderson, who made a great scoop and tag at 3rd base, to nail a Long Hill runner attempting to steal and then Difilippo struck out the next batter to end the inning.

With the score tied at 6 in the bottom of the 5th, Varakian once again ignited Westfield’s offense by leading off with a line drive single to left center. He stole second and moved to 3rd on a fielder choice. Vin Difilippo continued his hot hitting and drove Varakian home with a single up the middle to put Westfield ahead 7-6.

Difilippo took the mound again in the 6th and he found a Long Hill team that would not go quietly. Long Hill managed to make things very interesting and they loaded the bases on a walk and two bunt singles, but Difilippo recorded a strike out and a pop out to short to pull Westfield within an out of the championship. He got the last Long Hill batter to ground out to Chris Boutsikaris at 1st base to secure the victory and complete a truly phenomenal season.

Westfield Defeats Union 9-3 to Advance to CJBL Championship Game

Westfield met up with a tough Union team in the semi-final round of the Central Jersey Baseball League playoffs and prevailed 9-3 to advance to the championship round. The Blue Devils had not played a game in just over a week and the break seemed to help as they appeared well rested and focused. Vin Difilippo pitched four very strong innings and Chris Rinaldi and Hopper Murray each threw an inning in relief, holding Union to 3 runs on only 5 hits.

The defense was razor sharp behind the Westfield hurlers and almost every play was executed to perfection. The umpire commented after the game that “the Westfield defense was the best he has seen all year” and several outstanding plays were turned in by the team. Center fielder Ethan “DC” Smith started the highlight reel catches with a beautiful sliding stab of a fly ball that seemed destined fall in just over 2nd base. Smith read the hit perfectly, got a great jump on the ball and he finished off the play with a sliding catch in short right center field. Vin Difilippo was up next and he added some flare to his diving catch of a short pop-up near the 1st base line. Difilippo left his feet to snag the ball just before it hit the ground and then he rolled over a few times, kicking up a cloud of dust for effect, before showing the ump that he held onto the ball. Hopper Murray closed things out and recorded the last out of the game with a diving stop of a sharply hit ground ball to the right of the pitcher’s mound. Murray kept his composure after the catch, got back to his feet and made a nice throw to Chris “Boots” Boutsikaris at 1st base for the final out. Boots made some very nice plays at first base, saving a couple of throws in the dirt and Brett Robertshaw made a nice stop of a hard hit ground ball at 3rd base and threw out the runner at 1st base to save a run. Nick Mele turned in a great job behind the plate and completely shut down Union’s running game. Chris Rinaldi and Devin Anderson teamed up to throw a runner out at the plate after Rinaldi made a backhand stab at shortstop and threw to Anderson who was blocking the plate. Anderson did a great job of holding onto the ball and applying the tag as the runner was initiating contact with him.

Westfield’s offense came alive early and often with almost every batter recording a hit. Difilippo (3 RBIs), Boutsikaris (1 RBI) and Murray each had 2 hits and Nick Mele batted in two runs. Westfield came back from a 1-0 deficit in the 1st inning to score 5 runs. Rinaldi led off with a hard single to the right side and Difilippo walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Rinaldi and Difilippo advanced on a delayed steal and scored on a line drive double by Nick Mele. Boutsikaris followed with an RBI single and then Brett Robertshaw crushed an RBI double to left center. Scott Tupper and Ethan Smith drew walks to the load the bases and then Murray laced an RBI single to complete the scoring in the inning. Westfield’s offense plated another run in the 2nd as a result of hard hit doubles by both Eric Varakian and Vin Difilippo. In the 4th, Westfield scored two more runs on timely hitting and aggressive base running. Hopper Murray led off with a single and then Chris Varano scorched a hard ground ball to 2nd base that the Union 2nd baseman made a great play on to force Murray. Tommy Summers followed with a beautiful bunt single to put runners on 1st and 2nd and Rinaldi walked to load the bases. Difilippo then drove a single threw the right side to score Varano and Summers. Boutsikaris then rounded out the scoring in the 5th by leading off with a triple and then scoring on a passed ball.

Westfield plays Long Hill in the championship game on Monday night. The game will likely be played in Warren at 6PM.

Article in July 24th Edition of The Leader

There is a nice article in today's Leader on the Babe Ruth State Tournament.

Pictures from Westfield Blue Babe Ruth Game

Tommy Summers looks to start a rally


Scott Tupper refrains from offering on a high pitch


Brett Robertshaw draws a walk


Chris Rinaldi scores a run


Eric Varakian rips a single



Chris Rinaldi receives the throw and...


applies the tag


Nick Mele before his shot to deep center


Nick guards the plate and...


holds onto the throw


Chris R following his throw


Vin Difilippo prepares to throw a strike


Vin slaps a ball to the left side


Eric doesn't like this pitch...


or this one!


Eric sees one he likes


Chris Boutsikaris scores a run


Boots rips a single


Devin Anderson with a powerful swing


Brett Robertshaw with a huge double play


Vin fouls one back

All pictures courtesy of Dave Corbin from The Westfield Leader

Playoff Schedule as of Wednesday, 7/23 PM

• Friday, July 25th - vs winner of Warren/Union at 6 PM (likely in Westfield) -- we are the home team and will wear our blue jerseys -- warm ups will start at 5:15)
• Monday, July 28th - if win vs Warren or Union, we will play the winner of Westfield Blue/Chatham vs Long Hill in Warren at 6 PM

Pictures from Babe Ruth Scotch Plains Blue Game

Chris Varano lines a single


Vin Difilippo blocks the plate


Eric Varakian launches one to left field


Ethan Smith looks for a pitch to drive


Tommy Summers swings hard


Tommy prepares for the pitch


Scott Tupper drives a low pitch


Eric Varakian looks for a pitch to drive



Nick Mele launches a deep drive


Brett Robertshaw scores a run


Chris Rinaldi singles to center


See if you can make the throw blind!



Vin Difilippo takes his lead off of 2nd


Vin driving a double to the fence


Vin D guards the plate


Chris Varano turns the double play


Devin Anderson drives an extra base hit


Devin keeps his weight back and launches one


Chris "Boots" Boutsikaris tracks down a fly ball


Boots scoring on a close play

All pictures courtesy of Dave Corbin from The Westfield Leader