Blue Devil Baseball Advances to County Tourney Quarter Finals

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The Westfield baseball team took its first step towards what it hopes will be its first county championship in five years when it easily handled St. Mary’s, Elizabeth 15-1 in five innings Saturday in a Union County Tournament first round game at Bob Brewster, Sr. Memorial Field. The Blue Devils will next host sixth-seeded Johnson in a quarterfinal game scheduled for Wednesday at 4 p.m.

THE RECORDS: Westfield, the third seed, won its sixth straight to improve to 12-2. St. Mary’s, the 19th seed, fell to 4-7. St. Mary’s won at 14th-seeded New Providence 3-2 Friday in the preliminary round. It was the first UCT win for St. Mary’s under nine-year head coach Martin Ferreiro.

THE DIFFERENCE: St. Mary’s No. 2 pitcher, junior right hander Stephen Solano, was no match for, arguably, the best lineup in Union County. Westfield scored 12 runs on 10 hits in the first inning to take a 12-1 lead. Senior first baseman Dan Kerr slugged a three-run homer over the left field fence and then produced an RBI-triple, hitting a shot to the bottom of the center field fence in between the signs that read 416 feet and 396. Seniors A.J. Murray and Steve Forgash also banged out two hits in the inning and drove in one run. Senior right hander Justin White (3-1) started on the mound for Westfield and gave up one run in three innings.

WESTFIELD TO FACE JOHNSON AGAIN: In last year’s UCT semifinals at Elizabeth’s Williams Field, senior Rob Anderson hit an opposite field, walk-off, two-run homer over the right field fence off Johnson junior right hander Mark Wilson with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give the Blue Devils a come-from-behind 5-4 triumph. On Saturday, sixth-seeded Johnson defeated 11th-seeded Linden 5-2 at home on a walk-off three-run homer over the left field fence by senior Corey Ryan. As a result, Johnson will get a chance to avenge last year’s UCT loss to the Blue Devils. Wilson went the distance to get the win against Linden, so most likely it will be senior left hander Anthony Fischetti getting the start Wednesday against Westfield. Blue Devils head coach Bob Brewster said senior right hander Zach Archambault (2-0) will probably be his starting pitcher. “Johnson is well-coached and we know it will be a tough game,” Brewster said. “We need to hit the ball, play defense and pitch. We feel we’ve played a real good schedule to set us up for these games. We like the way we’re playing right now.” Johnson head coach Dave Kennedy remembers last year’s game all too well. “It hurt, there’s no doubt about that,” Kennedy said. “We hope to be right there with them again in the seventh inning and see what happens.”

WESTFIELD UCT RECORD: Westfield is now 10-3 in UCT play since its first UCT game in 2008. The Blue Devils are seeking to reach the semifinals for the fourth straight year and have reached the championship game four of the last five seasons. Westfield last won the UCT for a record 12th time in 2006 and has appeared in a record 20 championship games.

UP NEXT FOR WESTFIELD: The Blue Devils are scheduled to host J.P. Stevens Monday at 4 p.m. Then Westfield has a 4 p.m. game Tuesday scheduled at Union County Conference-Watchung Division rival Union. The Blue Devils begin the week 5-2 in the Watchung Division, with five league games to go.

WESTFIELD BLUE DEVILS (12-2, 5-2)

REGULAR SEASON RESULTS:

April 3 (A) Westfield 18, Old Bridge 4

April 4 (A) Westfield 15, Hillsborough 2

April 6 (H) Westfield 11, Union 3 – Watchung Division

April 7 (A) Cranford 6, Westfield 5 (9 inn.) – Watchung Division

April 9 (A) Westfield 5, Bridgewater-Raritan 3 (9 inn.)

April 10 (N) Westfield 12, Monroe 9 – at Elizabeth

April 14 (A) Westfield 9, Dayton 2

April 15 (A) Gov. Livingston 6, Westfield 4 – Watchung Division

April 16 (H) Westfield 6, Elizabeth 0 – Watchung Division

April 18 (H) Westfield 5, South Plainfield 0

April 20 (H) Westfield 11, Linden 3 – Watchung Division

April 21 (H) Westfield 13, Scotch Plains 8 – Watchung Division

April 26 (H) Westfield 10, Cranford 0 – Watchung Division

April 30 (H) 3-Westfield 15, 19-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth 1 – UCT first round