Westfield defeats Bayonne 17-16 in Extra Inning Classic

Westfield tested scorekeeper Rich Varakian’s sanity by collecting 19 hits, 6 walks and 17 runs and the boys treated the Westfield faithful to a game that saw the Blue Devils come from behind by 5 in the bottom of the 6th to tie it and from 1 back in the 7th to win it.

The beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon started well for Westfield with Vin Difilippo holding the Bayonne bats in check in the top half of the first and the Blue Devils offense coming alive in the bottom of the 1st and scoring 3 runs. Eric Varakian walked, Vin Difilippo singled and Nick Mele tripled to right center field to plate the first 2 runs. Chris Boutsikaris’ hard grounder to first brought in Mele for the 3rd run and gave Westfield a 3-0 lead. Difilippo and the Westfield defense held Bayonne scoreless again in the 2nd and the Westfield offense could not score in the 2nd despite a solid single by Scott Tupper.

Bayonne’s bats came alive in the 3rd and were accompanied by loud chanting from the Bayonne players and fans. Westfield seemed to lose their focus and Bayonne scored 6 runs on 2 doubles and a long home run. The rally was also fueled by 4 walks. Chris Rinaldi came on in relief and struck out two of the last 3 batters he faced to slow the Bayonne chants. Westfield’s offense responded in the bottom of the 3rd. Rinaldi led off with a double, Mele walked and Boutsikaris singled before Brett Robertshaw cleared the bases with a booming triple to deep right field that almost cleared the fence. The three bagger pulled Westfield even at 6-6.

Westfield held Bayonne scoreless in the 4th and the Blue Devil offense continued pounding the Bayonne pitchers, scoring 4 more runs in the bottom of the inning. With one out in the 4th, Varakian doubled and Rinaldi singled. Difilippo, Mele and Boutsikaris hammered back-to-back-to-back doubles to put Westfield ahead 10-6.

Neither team was able to score in the 5th so the game went into the 6th inning with Westfield protecting the 4 run lead. Mele was on in relief and throwing hard, but Westfield’s defense did not hold behind him and Bayonne erupted for 9 runs. Boutsikaris relieved Mele in the inning and was able to get some big outs, but when the dust settled and the chants faded, Bayonne had taken a 15-10 lead.

Westfield demonstrated tremendous character and refused to quit as they batted in the bottom of the 6th. Difilippo led off with a walk and that was followed by back-to-back singles by Mele and Boutsikaris. Devin Anderson’s hard grounder allowed Difilippo to score, but with two outs Westfield was still behind by 4 runs. Chris Varano fought back from an 0-2 count to lace a single to right field to force in a run and keep the rally alive. Hopper Murray pinch ran for Varano and then Scott Tupper and Varakian fought hard in their at bats to earn free passes to load the bases. Rinaldi came up with the bases loaded and 2 outs with Westfield trailing 15-13 and drove a line shot to deep center field. The ball bounced over the center field wall for a ground rule double and the game was tied at 15. Westfield could not score again and the game went into extra innings.

In the top of the 7th Bayonne scored a run on 2 hits and an error and once again Westfield found themselves behind in their final at bat. With one out, Boutsikaris and Anderson gave Westfield hope with hard singles. Robertshaw delivered with another key hit and Westfield tied the game at 17. Tupper then came to the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd and two outs. He delivered a clutch, walk off single up the middle that allowed Anderson to truck home from 3rd for the winning run!

The win evened Westfield’s record at 1-1 in the Babe Ruth State Tournament. They face Branchburg on Tuesday night in Mount Olive at 5:45 PM.