Wet field conditions in Westfield had the Westfield baseball Blue Devils hosting the Cranford Cougars at Memorial Field in Cranford on May 6. The change of venue certainly did not affect the Blue Devils as they turned up the volume offensively in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to claim a 9-2 victory.
Jack Doherty stepped to mound for the 11-4 Blue Devils and stayed there until he got Tyler Muccogrosso to ground out to third base to finalize the game. Doherty scattered 10 hits, struck out five Cougars and permitted no free passes.
“Jack did a great job on the mound. He’s a freshman, and he had mono for the first couple of weeks of the season. He is just working his way back over the past couple of weeks. He is going to continue to get better and improve on the mound and as a twoway player for us,” Blue Devil Head Coach Jay Cook explained.
The 8-6 Cougars went with starter Owen Kwiatkowski, who pitched 3.1 innings and gave up eight hits, three runs a walk and two hit batters, while striking out one. Muccogrosso relieved and was tagged for four runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out one. Christian Pereira pitched one inning and was charged with two runs, one hit and a walk, while striking out one. Cooper Falk finished, walked two and hit a batter.
Jordan Walsh went 3-for-5 and had two RBI for the Blue Devils. Charlie McCormack went 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI, two runs scored and was hit twice. McCormack also was very rangy in the outfield and made several smooth plays. Braedan Trajkovski, who has been excellent at first base with his high leaps and split scoops of throws in the dirt, had an RBI single and stole third base.
“Charlie did a great job for us and has always been solid in the outfield. Brady has worked hard to continue to be a complete player for us, and he’s seeing his hard work pay off,” Coach Cook said.
Anthony Bulger went 2-for-3, was hit, scored once and had two RBI. Andrew DiGregorio went 1-for-2, walked twice, was hit, scored once and had an RBI. Pete Cabrales launched a ground-rule double, walked twice and scored twice. Jake Alfano doubled, walked and scored. Aaron Ives singled, stole a base and scored. Liam Sullivan walked and his courtesy runner Owen O’Connor scored.
Cougar Pat Bendert went 2-for-4 and scored once. Adam Kielczynski went 2-for-3. Mike Tripodi and Tyler
more photos at goleader.com Ballyhoo Sports Veltre (stolen base) both singled as did John Fiore. Quinn Smith rapped a ground-rule double and scored. Muccogrosso had an RBI single as did Jesse Weaver.
As the visiting team, the Cougars drew first blood with a run in the top of the first inning. Bendert singled and scored on Muccogrosso’s single. The Blue Devils threatened in the bottom of the second inning. Cabrales drew a leadoff walk and after Kwiatkowski struck out Ives, McCormack and DiGregorio were hit by pitches but Bulger hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Brayden Fry, who flicked to second baseman Tripodi, who in turn, fired to Kielczynski at first for the inningending double play. The Cougars got singles from Tripodi and Veltre in the third but with two men out, Muccogrosso sizzled a grounder to shortstop Alfano, who threw a dart to Trajkovski at first for the third out. The Blue Devils then knotted the score. Walsh lined a oneout single, attempted to steal second but was gunned down by catcher Oliver Nelson.Alfano followed with a double down the right field line and scored on Trajkovski’s hard single to leftfield.
Two more Blue Devils danced home in the bottom of the fourth. Cabrales bounced a ground-rule double over the right field fence, Ives moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt and McCormack hammered an RBI triple to left-center. Bulger’s infield grounder confused everybody as McCormack skipped across the plate. DiGregorio and Walsh lined short singles to load the bases. Muccogrosso relieved Kwiatkowski, struck out Alfano and got Trajkovski to ground out to short.
McCormack made a great running catch in right-center to rob Fry in the fifth inning. Bendert hopped a twoout single into right field then Veltre ground out to short. Westfield answered with four runs to extend its lead to 7-1 after five innings. Sullivan drew a leadoff walk, and his courtesy runner scooted to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a ground out to first and scored on McCormack’s chopping single up the middle. Bulger hacked a single down third, DiGregorio walked and Walsh slashed a two-run single to right. Pereira relieved and after DiGregorio scored on a ball in the dirt, he struck out Alfano.
The Cougars’ sixth inning had Smith bouncing his ground-rule double over the left-centerfield fence. Kielczynski singled to left and Bendert poked an RBI single to right. The Blue Devils scored twice in the sixth to grab a 9-2 lead. Pereira got the first two batters out but walked Cabrales and Ives followed with a single to right. In came Falk and he hit McCormack to load the bases. He then walked Bulger and DiGregorio to allow Cabrales and Ives to strut home.
Only Veltre managed to reach base on an error in the Cougar seventh.
The Blue Devils received the second seed for the Union County Tournament and would host 15th-seeded Rahway in the first round on May 10. Cranford received the fifth seed and would host 12th-seeded New Providence.
Coach Cook commented, “We are looking to improve every day and be successful through county and state tournaments.”
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