CHAVEZ K’S 9, 5-HITTER; EDWARDS KEY RBI 2B IN 3RD
Blue Devil senior Jack Chavez and Stateliner Jared Diefenbach were engaged in a tight pitchers’ duel when the fourth-seeded Westfield High School baseball team hosted fifthseeded Phillipsburg in the quarterfinal round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 playoffs at Bob Brewster, Sr. Field in Westfield on May 29. But in the end, it was a key RBI double off the bat of Kellen Edwards that earned the 19-6 Blue Devils a 2-1 victory over the 17-9 Stateliners.
Chavez recorded nine strikeouts and managed to spread out five singles, while walking three and hitting a batter. Chavez has been very effective in his past two outings but on a few occasions earlier in the season, he had made things interesting by hitting a few batters and filling the bases with some walks.
“Obviously like hitting a kid every once in a while, it’s going to happen. So I don’t let that get to me. If I keep it out of my head and stay focused on what I need to do next, I can just keep progressing in the game. That’s what I did today. I may have hit the second kid in the game but I looked past it and kept pushing for the rest of the game,” Chavez explained.
“That’s one thing we’ve always harped on him. He’s got good enough stuff that he needs to trust it and not worry like trying to over throw. When he throws his stuff in the zone, he can get anybody out. He has that kind of stuff where he can still get strikeouts, he can get the guys to still miss the ball. As soon as he gets that kind of trust, the results are going to follow,” Blue Devil Head Coach Jay Cook said.
Diefenbach recorded five strikeouts, while walking four and hitting a Blue Devil. Edwards went 2-for-2 with an RBI double, and was hit by a pitch. Braedan Trajkovski went 2-for-3 and Tomas Cestero went 2-for-3 and scored once. Kevin Dowling went 1-for-3. Jake Alfano walked twice and scored once. Nic Labin walked once.
The toughest customer for Chavez was Stateliner Mike Bracco who went 3-for-3. Eddie Weindel went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Garrett Bobrowski singled once. Chavez walked Jake Kisselbach, Jim LaBella and Kevin Burgess, and hit Felix Matos.
The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Cestero rapped a leadoff single.Alfano walked and Edwards took one for the team to load the bases. With Labin at the plate, Cestero managed to score on a wild pitch.
The bottom of the third had Alfano drawing a leadoff walk. Trajkovski slashed a single to right field. After Randy Davis struck out, Edwards stepped in and whacked his RBI double down the right field line. Labin walked to load the bases but Aaron Ives hit into a (4) second-to-(6) shortto-( 3) first double play.
“I love you Kellen,” Chavez shouted then added, “Kellen has been becoming in clutch recently the past two games. He’s getting the hits right when we need them. He’s getting us our runs. That’s what gives me confidence on the mound when I’m pitching. When I’m pitching from a lead and I know my team is behind me, I don’t have to worry about what could go wrong.”
“That was huge! Kellen’s approach the past week, week and a half has been outstanding where he’s trying to use the whole field. It’s understood that putting the ball in play is a priority. He got a good piece out of that one. It’s unfortunate that we only got one run out of that with the bases loaded but you got to give them (Phillipsburg) credit. They turned two double plays that almost changed the direction of the game but we had a guy on the mound, who was able to write a lot of our wrongs,” Coach Cook added.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the P-Burg crew got something going when Weindel tapped a leadoff single to left. Nick Stetter’s fly ball was hauled in by Ives in right field. Bracco beat out an infield single toward shortstop. Jim LaBella lined out to Edwards in leftfield for the second out. Chavez walked Kisselbach to load the bases then walked Burgess to bring home Weindel. Matos grounded out back to the mound for the third out.
Trajkovski hopped a one-out single to right in the Westfield fifth but Davis hit into a 6 (short) – 4 (second) – 3 (first) double play. In the Westfield sixth, Edwards beat out a high chopping infield single. Labin’s sac bunt moved Edwards to third and Ives’ groundout to second moved him to third. Dowling’s bunt for a hit attempt came up just short.
In the Phillipsburg seventh, Chavez struck out Burgess then got Matos and Dylan Wayne to line out to right.
The Blue Devils would next face the top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers on May 31. The Panthers, who beat Edison, 3-0, in the quarterfinal, would go on to shut out the Blue Devils, 10-0.
Phillipsburg 000 100 0 1 Westfield 101 000 x 2
