Anderson Homerun Propels Blue Devils Past Clark in County Baseball Semis

The thrill of victory.

With one swing of the bat, Westfield put itself in the 57th annual Union County Tournament baseball championship game.

The Blue Devils reached the final for the third straight season after losing in the title contest the last two years.

This time next week they will be seeking a different outcome.

Sometimes it's said that your first home run is the sweetest.

Westfield senior third baseman Rob Anderson picked a great time to slug his first round-tripper of the season.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh and Dan Kerr leading off first base, Anderson blasted the first pitch he saw the opposite way over the right field fence to lift top-seeded Westfield to a 5-4 come-from-behind win over fourth-seeded Johnson in the first of Saturday's two UCT semifinals at Elizabeth's Williams Field.

"The pitch was left over the outside of the plate," said a joyous Anderson moments after he hit it. "I was thinking opposite way and put the ball up in the air and it happened."

"I knew it was gone," Kerr said. "It was awesome."

Westfield improved to 14-7, while Johnson slipped to 15-7. Both teams lost regular season conference games Thursday and Friday after winning their UCT quarterfinals Wednesday.

The agony of defeat.

Johnson was two outs away from reaching the championship game for just the fourth time in its history and for the first time since 2002.

After Johnson right hander Mark Wilson retired AJ Murray on a pop up to shortstop Dom Feminello, he walked cleanup batter Dan Kerr on four pitches for the second time.

Kerr went 1-for-1 and also walked three times total, including a base on balls on a 3-2 count in the fifth. He produced an opposite field RBI-double in a swirling wind in the first inning that scored AJ Murray to give Westfield a 1-0 lead.

As good as Wilson (4-2) pitched for Johnson, he did not come close to throwing a strike to Kerr in the seventh.

Then Anderson stepped up to the plate having produced two of Westfield's three hits up to that point. After he was hit by a pitch in the first, he singled to left in the third. He then singled to left again in the fifth, but this time drove in Tim Younger and Kerr to pull Westfield to within 4-3 after Johnson scored all four of its runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 advantage.

As it turned out, Wilson was not able to retire Kerr or Anderson. Both reached base all four times up.

"I knew I had him," Anderson said of his home run. "He was struggling with me. I just went up there looking fastball, first pitch, and hacking.

"This is amazing."

This was Westfield's sixth game in six days, with the Blue Devils going 2-3 from Monday through Friday, including a tough 12-3 setback at home to conference arch rival Scotch Plains Friday.

"We're not used to playing six games in a row," Anderson said. "Today we had something to play for. This is our season right here."

Westfield will take on third-seeded Cranford in next Saturday's 1 p.m. UCT championship game at Williams Field. In Saturday's second semifinal at Williams Field, Cranford held off second-seeded and defending champion Scotch Plains 10-7, ending a nine-game Raider winning streak.

It was the first time in 10 games that Scotch Plains failed to score at least 10 runs, while the Raiders had averaged 13 runs during their winning streak.

Wilson and Westfield starter Aiden Scanlon pitched extremely well, both going the distance.

Scanlon (4-1) tossed a seven-inning, five-hitter that included five strikeouts and two walks in a 89-pitch performance. All four of the runs he gave up were earned.

Scanlon gave up a hit to the first batter he faced – Johnson leadoff batter Corey Ryan, who connected on an opposite field single to right on the game's second pitch – and then allowed four hits in the fifth when Johnson did all of its scoring.

Wilson hurled a four-hitter in 6 and 1/3 innings, striking out four, walking five and hitting three batters in a 105-pitch effort. One of the two runs he yielded in the fifth inning was unearned because of an infield error.

For the first four innings, Scanlon allowed only one baserunner to reach second, which was Ryan in the first.

Then he ran into some trouble in the fifth. Scanlon's first walk was to designated hitter Billy Gray, who led off the inning. Mike Pozyc followed with an opposite field single to right on a 2-1 count to put runners at first and second with none out.

Ryan then slugged a 0-1 fastball all the way past the left fielder for what turned out to be a two-run triple, with Ryan sliding into third. His second hit of the game gave Johnson its first lead at 2-1.

After striking out No. 2 batter Rich Mullin looking on a 3-2 count in the first and then on swinging on a 1-2 count in the third, this time Scanlon was not as fortunate with the lefty batter.

On a 1-0 count, Mullin crushed a fastball over the right field fence to give the Crusaders a 4-1 lead.

Scanlon had to readjust a bit on the mound after he gave up those four runs in the fifth.

"I talked to my coaches and I was just leaving the fastball up a little bit and I wasn't really mixing my pitches that well," Scanlon said. "After that inning I calmed down and everything was fine again.

"I found control of my pitches and I used them all."

After the Mullin home run, Scanlon allowed just two baserunners the rest of the way, with Frank Carnovale hitting a triple but not scoring in the fifth and Pozyc walking but not scoring in the sixth.

Scanlon needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the top of the seventh and keep the game at 4-3, with Murray, Kerr and Anderson due up in the bottom of the seventh.

"My curveball hasn't been good, basically, all this year and it came alive today, finally," Scanlon said. "My changeup was moving down in the strike zone. I was feeling really good."

Scanlon has been sidelined, somewhat, by a knee injury recently and was making his first start since shutting out Governor Livingston 7-0 in Berkeley Heights on April 20.

"Physically, I felt fine," Scanlon said. "My knee, which has been hurt for the past two weeks, was fine. I got a bandage on it.

"The wind was blowing a lot, like straight into my face, and that bothered me a little bit."

The most important thing Scanlon did in his first start in more than two weeks was give Westfield an opportunity to win.

"It came down to the last at-bat," Scanlon said. "We fought our hardest and Robby got it done for us."

It was important for Westfield to answer right away after Johnson scored its four runs in the top of the fifth for its 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Younger - Westfield's solid leadoff batter - took Wilson's first pitch in the helmet. After Younger was looked at to make sure he was okay, he took his helmet off, put it back on and ran to first base.

Following an out, Murray hit a shot in the infield that was misfielded, putting runners on first and third. After Kerr walked for the second time, Anderson came through with his second hit to make it 4-3.

NOTES: Westfield defeated Cranford in the UCT semifinals in 2006, 2008 and 2009 – all at Elizabeth's Williams Field.

Cranford last won the UCT in 2007 and Westfield in 2006.

Westfield will be making its record 20th appearance in the final and has won the most crowns with 12.

Cranford has won five titles and is the last team to repeat as champion after winning its first three crowns in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL

AT ELIZABETH'S WILLIAMS FIELD

4-JOHNSON (15-7)                  0   0   0     0   4   0     0 - 4  5  1

1-WESTFIELD (14-7)              1   0   0     0   2   0     3 - 5  4  1

PITCHERS OF RECORD:

Johnson – Mark Wilson, junior right hander, (4-2).

Westfield – Aiden Scanlon, senior right hander, (4-1).

DOUBLES: Johnson – None. Westfield – Dan Kerr.

TRIPLES: Johnson - Corey Ryan, Frank Carnovale. Westfield - None.

HOME RUNS: Johnson – Rich Mullin. Westfield – Rob Anderson. 

57th ANNUAL BASEBALL

UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT 

SEEDS:

1-Westfield. 2-Scotch Plains. 3-Cranford. 4-Johnson.

5-Gov. Livingston. 6-Roselle Catholic. 7-Union. 8-Elizabeth.

9-Summit. 10-Union Catholic. 11-Linden. 12-Rahway.

13-New Providence. 14-Dayton. 15-Brearley. 16-Roselle Park.

17-Oratory Prep. 18-Plainfield. 19-St. Patrick. 20-St. Mary's, Elizabeth

21-Hillside. 22-Roselle.

PRELIMINARY ROUND

Thursday, April 29

Linden 22, Roselle 0 (5 inn.)

Rahway 15, Hillside 3 (5 inn.)

New Providence 10, St. Mary's 0 (5 inn.)

Dayton 16, St. Patrick 6 (5 inn.)

Oratory Prep 9, Roselle Park 2

Friday, April 30

Plainfield 9, Brearley 8

FIRST ROUND

Saturday, May 1 

Gov. Livingston 9, Rahway 2

Johnson 11, New Providence 1 (5 inn.)

Elizabeth 13, Summit 1 (5 inn.)

Westfield 6, Oratory Prep 1

Union Catholic 5, Union 3

Scotch Plains 17, Plainfield 0 (5 inn.)

Roselle Catholic 15, Linden 2 (5 inn.)

Cranford 11, Dayton 5

QUARTERFINALS

Wednesday, May 5, 4 p.m.

TOP SIDE OF THE BRACKET:

Johnson 13, Gov. Livingston 4

Westfield 4, Elizabeth 1

BOTTOM SIDE OF THE BRACKET:

Cranford 7, Roselle Catholic 5

Scotch Plains 14, Union Catholic 2 (5 inn.)

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, May 8

At Elizabeth's Williams Field

Westfield 5, Johnson 4

Cranford 10, Scotch Plains 7

FINAL

Saturday, May 15

At Elizabeth's Williams Field

3-Cranford vs. 1-Westfield, 1 p.m.

coin flip for home and visiting teams     

UCT CHAMPIONS THE PAST DECADE: 

2009 - Scotch Plains - first time since 2004

2008 - Elizabeth - first time since 1991

2007 - Cranford - first time since 2003

2006 - Westfield - first time since 2002

2005 - Roselle Catholic - first time since 1971

2004 - Scotch Plains - first time since 1976

2003 - Cranford - first time since 2001

2002 - Westfield - first time since 1997

2001 - Cranford - first time since 2000

2000 - Cranford - first time since 1999