Westfield White 10 Year Olds completed their season with a thrilling 7-6 victory over L
ong 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.
