For tonight, It's "Wayne's World"

Things were not so "excellent!" for Westfield tonight in the opening game of the State tournament against Wayne, as the Blue Devils went down to defeat by a score of 16-10.

Westfield started strong with 2 runs in the first on a leadoff single by Eric Varakian and a double by Chris Rinaldi. Both runners scored on an RBI groundout by Nick Mele.
In the bottom of the first Chris Rinaldi showed the knuckle ball and struck out two of the three batters in a 1-2-3 inning.

In the second, Westfield came back with 3 more runs. Devin Anderson began his fine day at the plate with a hard single up the middle. Hopper Murray had a great at bat, fouling off balls until singling through the left side on the 8th pitch. Scott Tupper continued to wear down the pitcher, fouling off four 2-strike pitches before the pitcher finally got him on an infield fly. Varakian knocked a double down the right field line and Rinaldi singled in a run. Wayne scored a single run in the bottom of the second but in the top of the third the Blue Devils got it back on a two out double by Devin Anderson who later stole home. A winded Anderson remarked that was the first steal of home in his career. Brett Robertshaw also knocked a single but then the rally stalled. After the top of the third Westfield seemed in control with a 6-1 lead. But then the Fountains of Wayne rained upon Westfield's parade. Two walks, 3 doubles and one single later the game was tied, 6-6 after three innnings. As Stacy's mom cheered on the Wayne team, Westfield tried to re-group.

In the top of the 4th another two out rally plated two runs for Westfield. Chris Rinaldi started it with a single. Vince Difilippo hit a hard grounder that the second baseman had trouble handling and threw wildly to first. Nick Mele and Chris Bouts followed with singles. A fine defensive play by the Wayne first baseman on a line drive by Anderson ended the inning with Westfield ahead 8-6.

In the 4th and 5th innings, the usually strong Westfield defense faltered. A combination of walks, errors and some timely hitting by Wayne added up to 6 runs in the 4th and 4 more in the 5th. Westfield was gallant at the plate scoring 2 more in the 5th but the 16 runs by Wayne was just too much to overcome.

The positives on the night included the bats coming alive again, with solid nights at the plate by Anderson (2 for 4), and Rinaldi (4 for 4). Varakian had 2 hits and Boutsikaris, Mele, Murray, Robertshaw and Varano all had hits in the 13 hit attack. Tommy Summers reached on a walk in his only plate appearance and once again used his speed to score a run by dashing home on a ground out. Wayne played good defense and their shortstop made several "excellent" plays. For Westfield the defensive play of the night was probably Ethan Smith charging a single to left and throwing to third to force the runner.

The Westfield squad looks forward to returning to Mount Olive on Sunday for their second tournament game - against Bayonne. Bayonne will have to drive 8 miles further than Westfield which should provide a decided advantage to the Devils of Blue.

Guest Blogger
Garth