Championship Game: Westfield 3, Berkeley Heights 2

Victory!

Cameron Bremer delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to lift Westfield Blue over Berkeley Heights, 3-2, in the championship game of the Central Jersey Baseball League's post-season tournament in Long Hill on Friday night.

Blue Advances to Championship Game with 6-4 Win over Chatham

After enduring the scotching heat for most of July, the CJBA is delighted to usher in the playoff week in more moderate temperatures. On Wednesday night, Westfield Blue faces Chatham at the beloved home field Gumbert 2 in a semifinal game after enjoying a first-round bye. The players came focused and ready to play.

Blue Closes Regular Season with 12-11 Loss to Florham Park

On a scorching Saturday afternoon , Florham park lead off the game with 4 runs . Westfield Blue was down early after scoring 3 runs in the first. The runs were produced in the 1st by Rowan's lead off hit by pitch and then hits by Cameron, a walk by J Lin and triple by Owen Murray.

Blue Scores 3 in Loss to Branchburg

Westfield Blue never got in to an offensive rhythm and fell to the Branchburg Bulldogs in a tough Friday night loss. Blue took the field at 6:25 p.m. following a lengthy wait for an umpire to arrive. Justin came out firing in the first including a strike out of Branchburg's number three hitter, a 6'1", clean-shaven young man wearing #24. Justin pitched a solid three innings and provided several good defensive plays on balls hit hard back to the mound.

Blue Defeats Springfield 9-1

1st Inning
Springfield up first...
J-Wee pitching/ Parker catching
3 up...3 down

Bottom of 1st
Roth gets up and slams one against the fence.. Great Single
Rowan RBI ... Knocks in Roth

1 Zip

Blue's Bats Make Some Thunder in 15-2 Win Over Mountainside

In dramatic fashion accentuated by simultaneous thunder and sunshine, a gregarious umpire, and a church bell serenade, Westfield got what it deserved tonight: a solid victory.

Tyler started us off with a shot down the third base line, resulting in a double. Next, it was Rowan’s turn, with a single that brought in Tyler for our first run of the evening. Then Justin’s bat brought in Rowan and Parker’s bat brought in Cameron, leaving Westfield with three runs at the top of the first inning.

Westfield Blue Drops a Tough One to Warren, 12-11

Westfield Blue battled through six tough innings in their game against Warren, but some big hits and not so big defense ultimately combined to give Warren the edge and a 12-11 win.

Westfield Steals Victory in Lightning Shortened Game

Westfield Blue came away with a storm-shortened victory over Union, 6-4, to boost their league record to 5-3. All 6 Westfield runs were scored by stealing home, as the Union catcher was unable to handle his hard throwing, but wild lefty pitcher.

UPDATED - Union Tourney 7/11 Game Recap

The 2nd Union Tourney Game Recap has been updated - Click HERE or just click on "older posts"

WESTFIELD FALLS SHORT IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT UNION TOURNAMENT

The combination of solid defense, good pitching and clutch hitting kept Westfield in a tight game with Cranford but fell short in the end, giving Cranford the 5-3 win.

Blue Wins Rematch with S. Plainfield to Advance to Championship Game

Game Recap coming - here are some of the highlights:

Here's a Harder Question- ANSWERED

Suppose the left fielder starts talking to the fans in foul territory. Before he can get back onto the field in fair territory, the pitcher throws a strike to the next batter. What call does the umpire make?

See Answer below

How Well Do You Know Baseball? ANSWERED

A pitcher throws a ball that bounces in the dirt before it reaches home plate. If the batter swings and hits the ball over the fence before the catcher touches it, does it count as a home run?

Westfield Blue drops one to South Plainfield

On Tuesday night, Westfield Blue is back at Hall Stadium of Union to face a hungry South Plainfield team in the Union Tournament. Cameron started the game on the mound, and pitched three sold innings. South Plainfield took advantage a long single and a walk to score one run with a SAC fly at the top of the first inning. Nice defense play by third baseman MJ, quick reflex by Cameron catching a line drive, and a strikeout helped to retire the other batters. At the bottom of the first inning, Tyler led off with a single, and Rowan battled hard at the plate to earn a walk. A SAC by Cameron afforded Westfield Blue its own score, and the game is tied at 1:1 after one inning of play.

Blue Tops Berkeley Heights 6-5

7/12/10-Berkeley Heights

Westfield Blue continued its winning streak Monday night with a victory over Berkeley Heights.

Westfield Blue closes the weekend with a 12-8 win over Chatham

Westfield's bats were silenced in the top of the 1st, while Chatham although not hitting the ball very hard off of Parker Hess jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.

After some inspirational words from the coaching staff the Westfield bats came alive in the 3rd inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. Justin Lin lead off with a walk and stole second base. J.D. Marner singled to left moving J.Lin to 3rd, and stole 2nd. O.Brancatella came to the plate and drove in J.Lin while moving J.D. to 3rd base. D. Criscuolo singled driving in J.D. and O.B.. Mike Jefferies, Tyler Roth and Rowan Oberman all singled to continue the rally. Parker Hess capped off the inning with a single driving home Cameron Bremer who drew a walk . In total W.B. scored 9 runs.

Westfield Blue Ends 2 Game Skid and Garners 1st Union Tournament Victory Over Host Team 8-5

In Game 2 of the 4-Team Union Tournament, Westfield Blue rallied to defeat the host team 8-5 in a game that was played at Hall Stadium in sweltering 91 degree mid-afternoon heat.

Blue Loses Close One to Cranford 6-5 in Union Tourney

Westfield batters started off with a bang in the 1st inning with 3 singles by Tyler, Rowan and Steven. After Tyler got around the bases to steal home, Owen Murray and Justin hit Rowan and Steven in for additional runs. Parker then took the mound and dealt with the top of the line up quickly, getting the 3rd out with a diving catch and then a throw to 1st, with the announcer exclaiming, "What a play by the pitcher".

Westfield Blue drops one to White

Westfield Blue started out strong and sharp this morning against the
Westfield White team, but the momentum shifted mid-game and the Blue
players just couldn’t swing it back. The gray skies lingered throughout
the late morning game, which ended with the Blue team on the deficit
side of an 11-2 final score.

Article in Westfield Leader

Nice article in the Westfield Leader about the Summit game:
http://www.goleader.com/10jul08/10jul08.pdf#page=14

A WIN IN WARREN

On a hot and stifling summer night more typically experienced in Warren, TX, Westfield Blue traveled to Warren, NJ for an early season matchup. Tyler opened the game with a double down the left field line. After a stolen base and a line shot by Rowan that was snagged by a leaping shortstop, Steven knocked in Tyler on a ground out to 2nd base for Westfield's first run.

WF Blue Denied Trip to States

The South Orange Villagers took the celebration out of the 4th of July semi-final district matchup by shutting down Westfield Blue, and eliminating them from the District tournament.

More Thoughts on Cooperstown

More reflections on the week in the boys' own words

Westfield Blue Defeats Summit with a Walk-off Home Run

Friday July 2

From Cooperstown to Westfield, from Baseball Dream Park to Gumpert, Westfield Blue returns home to face Summit in a league game Friday night. Although dusty and less manicured, Westfield Blue is determined to defend its home field.

Cooperstown Photos

Best way to view these is to click the photo to open a window with larger images and then click "full screen" in the upper left. Roll the mouse over the picture to see controls.

Cooperstown in Their Own Words

The boys each wrote about their experience this week in Cooperstown:

WB Cooperstown Offensive Highlights

Westfield Blue faced some of the best 12 year old pitchers in the country this week, many of whom threw pitches like curve balls that we were not used to seeing. Despite that, WB knocked in an impressive average of over 8 runs per game, with all of the boys contributing. Here are some of the highlights:

Westfield Blue Lives the Dream at Cooperstown

Westfield Blue just returned from perhaps the greatest baseball experience any 12 year old can have – a week at Cooperstown Dreams Park (www.cooperstowndreampark.com) where they competed with 103 other teams from as far away as California, Texas and Florida. The caliber of play was the highest we’ve seen as many of the teams play year round and recruit players from a large geographic area. Despite this, WB more than held its own, finishing with a 4-4 record and being seeded 56th out of 104 teams. For the tournament, WB went by the name the “Westfield Warriors” and had perhaps the coolest pin of any team there:

Blue Drops League Game to Hillsborough

(Recap coming ...)

A few of the boys made their pitching debuts for WF Blue tonight:


Daniel


OB


Cameron

Blue Advances in Districts with 11-2 Win Over Cranford

Westfield Blue put it all together in beating Cranford, 11-2, to clinch first place in Group A of the District tournament. Outstanding pitching, dynamite hitting, and spectacular defensive plays were the norm.

Long Hill Rainout

Westfield Blue went to Long Hill. The game started. Coach Murray planned to win. Michael Jeffery ripped a double. Coach Murray really wanted a vanilla milkshake in the top of the fourth inning and called time to talk about it with a couple of Westfield baserunners. It started to lightning, thunder and rain. We lost and Coach Murray didn't get a milkshake afterward. Tough night. The new plan is to beat Cranford tomorrow and then have Coach Murray get a vanilla milkshake in Cooperstown.



JD makes his pitching debut and shows some quick reflexes


MJ starts a rally with this double to right field

Westfield Blue Downs Westfield Silver 14-1

With a game time temperature of 90 degrees and the humidity on the rise on this first day of summer 2010, Westfield Blue heated up quickly and their bats stayed hot throughout a lopsided victory over Westfield Silver. The Blue team welcomed Coach Murray back from a weekend out of state and continued to make Coach Roth proud with hard hitting, solid defense and aggressive base running.



In the top half of the first inning Rowan had the only hit and scored a run. The battery of Justin and George proceeded to strike out the side in the bottom half of the first. In the visitor’s half of the second, Justin singled and scored on Cameron’s single. JD drove in Cameron with a hard hit single and Tyler followed with a hit. Rowan doubled in another run and Blue led 4-0. In the bottom half of the inning Blue recorded a nifty double play with Steven fielding a hot grounder at third and flipping it to JD at second who threw it on to first in time to end the inning. In the top half of the third, Owen M. singled and proceeded to steal both second and third base on the next 2 pitches and then scored on a single by Justin. Cameron followed with an infield hit, which scored Justin, and JD added another hit. Westfield Silver scored their only run of the game in the home half of the third on a home run and the inning ended with Blue up 6-1.

In the top of the fourth inning, Blue smashed 9 hits and scored 8 more runs. In the inning Rowan had 2 hits and an RBI; Steven had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s; Parker smashed a single; Owen M., Daniel and Justin each had a hit and a RBI; and, Tyler had a single and 2 RBI’s. The top half of the inning ended with Blue dominating Silver 14-1. In the bottom half of the fourth Blue retired Silver 1-2-3 with Justin making a great catch on a line drive smash hit between third base and shortstop. The game was ended after only 4 innings as the umpire invoked the 10-run rule and Westfield Blue recorded an impressive third District tournament victory in just 3 days.

Game Recap by Scott Jeffrey


Justin starts off 2nd with single


Cameron rips one to score Justin


JD drives in Cameron


Rowan doubles to left to score the 3rd run in the 2nd inning


Steven to JD to Rowan Double Play


O.Murray laces one to right in the 3rd inning


Steven doubles to send home the final runs in the 4th

Westfield Blue Defeats Mountainside for the 2nd District Win

Solid pitching, hitting and defense contributed to a 7-3 win on Father's Day against Mountanside.

The top of the 1st inning went quickly with Rowan striking out 3 hitters. Owen Murray got two of his 4 RBIs for the day in the bottom of the 1st scoring Rowan and Steven. Impressive pitching and defense continued in the 2nd to keep the score 2-0.

Mountanside started to rally in the 3rd and scored one run. With players on the bases, W.B was able to shut them down highlighted by M.J.'s relay from right field to Rowan and then to George to rob Mountanside of a run and to close the inning. Westfield's bats came alive in the bottom of the 3rd with Rowan, George and Justin's singles and Owen Murray's double, adding 4 runs altogether.

Parker took the mound in the 4th and in addition to keeping Mountanside primarily hitting ground balls, he made an impressive play by picking off a player at second with solid defense by Tyler. In the bottom of the 4th, Rowan gets a single, but Mountanside's defense able to hold Westfield and prevent any runs. Although Mountanside was able to add a run in the 5th, Westfield countered by also getting a run in the bottom of the 5th with JD hitting Justin in after Justin singled and stole two bases.

Owen Murray took over for Parker in the final inning. Westfield was able to stop a rally with Tyler making some outstanding defensive plays once by stopping a ball from getting to the outfield and holding the player at first and then getting the next out at 3rd. Owen struck the last batter out to end the game.

Game Recap by Fiona Oberman


O.Murray 2 RBI single


Rowan rips one to start off 4 run 3rd inning


George takes it the other way to drive in 2 runs in the 3rd


Justin starts off 5th with single to left


JD drives in Justin to pick up an RBI


Parker picks off the runner on 2nd


MJ fires to Rowan who relays to George for the out at the plate

Westfield Blue Opens with a 6-0 Win Over Scotch Plains

Westfield Blue finally took the field tonight and won the first game of their season—and the first game of the Districts—with a combination of stellar pitching, strong defense and some big hits from Tyler Roth, Dan Criscuolo and Owen Brancatella.

Justin Lin took the mound to start the game and retired Scotch Plains without a hit or a run. The bottom of the first set the stage for a great season when lead-off hitter Roth stepped to the plate and promptly put Blue on the board with a solo homer over the left field fence.

For the next two innings, Lin pitched a strong game, allowing just two hits and no runs in three full innings of pitching. His teammates provided some great defense to keep Westfield in the lead, including a steller double play turned by Roth at short, J.D. Marner at 2nd base, and Rowan Oberman at 1st. Roth fielded the ball and tossed to Marner for the out at second; Marner swiftly gunned the ball to sure-handed Oberman at 1st for the double play. The third out of the inning came when another base runner took off for second, and catcher George Murray threw him out.

Roth took over the pitching duties in the top of the fourth. Scotch Plains threatened to get on the board in the inning after two batters reached base, but with one out, George threw out a runner trying to steal third, then caught a sky-high foul ball at the plate to shut them down.

Westfield was held to just one run until the bottom of the fourth despite walks and singles by Oberman and Steven Barmakian. But in the fourth, Owen Murray and George Murray reached on walks, and Criscuolo singled to bring in Owen, move George to 2nd, and put Westfield up by 2. Roth returned to the plate and doubled down the left field line to score both George and Criscuolo, putting Blue up 4-0.

Roth retired the Scotch Plains line-up quickly in the fifth and sixth. Westfield scored two more insurance runs in the bottom of the 5th when Owen Brancatella ripped a two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle to drive in the team’s final two runs of the game. Top of the sixth: Roth closes it out, no hits, no runs. Westfield wins its first, and celebrates J.D. Marner’s 12th birthday with some wonderful birthday cupcakes compliments of Gail Marner!

Other Game Notes: Right fielder Cameron Bremer chases down a hit that hugged the right field line and quickly hits the cut-off to steal a double from the Scotch Plains hitter. Left fielders Parker Hess and Criscuolo make diving catches to steal hits from Scotch Plains. Michael Jeffery and Owen Murray make a great plays at second and short, respectively, to end the game.

Westfield Blue returns to the field Sunday morning to face Mountainside in the second game of District play.

Game Recap by Audrey



Tyler starts off the season with HR into the trees at G2


Daniel drives home a speedy O.Murray


Tyler to JD to Rowan Double Play kills SP rally


George makes another great defensive play


OB picks up 2 RBI in the 5th


George guns down his 2nd runner of the game

WF Blue Welcomes New Teammates

At the first 2010 season practice, Westfield Blue extended a hearty welcome to its newest teammates, Cameron Bremer and J.D. Marner. Both boys were so excited to be a part of the team, they regaled us with their unique versions of our national anthem. The team was so impressed that they volunteered the duo to sing again during each game of the upcoming Babe Ruth district tournament.