2010 Westfield Blue 12S Summer Travel Baseball: 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.

At the top of the second inning, Parker hit a booming solo home run affording Westfield Blue another score. JD also had a single in the inning. At the bottom of the second inning, South Plainfield led off with a single, but solid defense plays by Steven at third base, Rowan at centerfield, and Justin at first base provided three quick outs, and Westfield Blue held South Plainfield to no score. Westfield Blue led by 2:1 after two innings.

At the top of the third inning, Daniel battled for a walk, and MJ followed with a line drive to reach first. A SAC fly by Tyler sent Daniel home, and a subsequent single by Rowan drove in MJ. Rowan then alertly stole home on a wild pitch. South Plainfield returned the favor at the bottom of third inning when the leadoff hitter drove a ball beyond the fence, but Cameron struck out the next two batters and Justin picked up at hard hit ground ball at first base prevented further damage. After three innings, Westfield Blue led by a score of 5:2.

Unfortunately, the lead that Westfield Blue worked hard to build would evaporate in the 4th inning. At the top half, Westfield Blue was not able to reach base. Rowan then came to the mound at the bottom half. As usual, Rowan pitched well by hitting the corners , but defensive lapses and unlucky breaks allowed South Plainfield to take an 8:5 lead after four innings of play.

Westfield Blue refused to give up. At the top of the 5th inning, JD hit his second single of the day, OB battled for a walk, and a line drive by MJ sent JD home, followed by another single by Tyler driving in MJ. Rowan would hit another single, but a heads-up play by South Plainfield catcher provided the third out and stopped the rally of Westfield Blue. At the bottom of the 5th innings, excellent pitching by Parker and sold defense behind him held South Plainfield for no hit or score. The game was tied at 8 apiece after 5 innings of play.

At the top half of the 6th innings, Cameron hit a single, but was not able to reach home. With the game tied, Justin came to the mound at the bottom half of the inning. A short fly by the leadoff hitter, a bunt and a walk loaded the bases. A well-timed off-speed pitch induced a ground ball from the next batter, which Tyler pick up smoothly and throw home to provide the first out, but the bases remained loaded. The next batter came to the plate and would hit his second homer of the day thus ending the game. You can see in the eyes of Westfield Blue players that they wish to have a chance to play a couple more innings with South Plainfield. The tournament organizer quickly complied and arranged for the two teams to play again on Friday night in the semifinal match. See you then!

Game Recap by Linus Lin