Blue Devil Baseball Stages Comeback to Advance to Sectional Final

Westfield did it again.

On Tuesday it was the team’s two best players that came through big-time in the clutch.

Down by a run with runners on first and second and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh, A.J. Murray singled hard past the Hunterdon Central third baseman to tie the game and then Dan Kerr singled just as hard past the first baseman to lift the host Blue Devils to another dramatic, come-from behind state tournament victory, this one by the score of 3-2 in a North 2, Group 4 semifinal dandy played at Westfield’s Robert Brewster Sr. Memorial Field.

Second-seeded Westfield, which scored the least amount of runs in a game this season, will next face top-seeded Perth Amboy in Friday’s final. The Blue Devils, who were averaging 11 runs a game after their first 19, have now scored less than 10 runs in seven of their last eight games.

Westfield is winning because they are getting better pitching and coming through with timely hitting like never before.

Westfield last reached the North 2, Group 4 final in 2007 and only captured it once in this format back in 1988.

Westfield improved to 23-4 and is now 20-3 – all three losses to Governor Livingston – since a 3-1 start. Third-seeded Hunterdon Central slipped to 20-8.

Down 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, senior Tim Younger led off with a single to left in between third and short for his first hit of the game. Like on Friday when he hit a walkoff home run to beat Phillipsburg after going 0-for-3, Younger was 0-for-3 again on Tuesday before his big hit to lead off the seventh.

James O’Rourke then put down a beautiful bunt toward third base and beat relief pitcher Steven Rasile’s throw to first for a single, putting runners on first and second with nobody out for Murray and Kerr – one of the most feared 3-4 combinations in the state.

Murray, who was previously 0-for-3 and had grounded out to shortstop his first time up against Rasile  – a lefty sidearm, submarine-style hurler – in the fifth, was ready to produce this time. On a 2-1 count, Murray lined a fastball past Hunterdon Central third baseman Chris Suseck for an RBI-single, with Younger coming around to score to tie the game at 2-2.

On the game’s very next pitch, Kerr – who singled to center his first time up against Rasile in the fifth – hit a shot that went off the first baseman’s glove, with his single driving in O’Rourke for what turned out to be the game-winning hit.

Westfield came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat 15th-seeded Franklin 5-4 last Monday and on Friday came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to stun 10th-seeded Phillipsburg 5-4.

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Kerr, who was 2-for-2, with two intentional walks, two singles and the game-winning hit and RBI. “I was just looking for something over the plate, something to put in play.”

Kerr will continue playing in the Ivy League at Brown University.

“These have been some of the best baseball games I’ve been a part of,” Kerr said.

Murray, who will continue at Georgia Tech, had a different approach his second time up against Rasile.

“The first time up the ball tailed in on me, so I made an adjustment,” said Murray, who went 1-for-4 with a single and an RBI. He also reached first base as the result of a wild pitch after striking out swinging in the first and then reached on an infield error in the third and later scored Westfield’s first run that inning.

“He’s (Rasile) a good pitcher,” Murray said. “It’s tough to face someone who throws like that. We’ve never seen a submariner before.”

While the Blue Devils fell short of their goal to win the Union County Tournament championship for the first time since 2006, they are now one win away from capturing North 2, Group 4 for only the second time (in this format) and for the first since 1988, which was before all of the present players were born.

“This is a dream run so far,” Murray said. “Every day it’s someone new.

“We just keep on fighting. We’ve had a special season already and we can make it even more special.”

 Both teams scored unearned runs in the third inning. After Hunterdon Central No. 9 batter and sophomore Jeremy Ake reached on an infield error, he moved to third when his older brother Josh - a senior who will continue at the University of North Carolina - lined a double to left-center that Westfield left fielder and lefty glove Matt Varakian almost caught. Then TJ Mordeci brought in Jeremy Ake with an RBI-ground out to short to give HC a 1-0 lead.

Westfield came back in the bottom of the third to tie the game after there were two outs and nobody on. Murray hit a ball that went right through the legs of Suseck at third for an error and then after a 3-0 count, Kerr was intentionally walked for the second time.

Varakian, Westfield’s No. 5 batter, began to walk up to the plate, but then decided that he couldn’t bat. His right hand – glove hand – was bothering him from attempting to catch the double that Josh Ake produced in the top of the inning.

Varakian came out of the game for good and had a bag of ice on his right hand the rest of the way.

Westfield head coach Bob Brewster Jr. sent in junior, lefty-batting Michael Coletta to pinch hit for Varakian. Coletta hung in there at 2-2 after fouling off a couple of pitches. He then smoked an opposite field single over Suseck’s head at third and into left field to score Murray to tie the game.

Brewster then put junior Jonathan Gribbin in to play left field the rest of the game. He immediately paid dividends by throwing out a runner at third in the top of the fourth to help keep the game tied at 1-1.

“We have a set lineup, but our other players have also worked their tails off and are ready when we need them,” Brewster said. “Mike got a big hit and Jonathan made a nice throw to third from left field.”

Senior right hander Matt Rivera pitched quite well for six innings, allowing only one earned run on seven hits. He got 10 batters to ground out for a total of 11 outs when you include Westfield’s inning-ending 6-4-3 double play in the first.

“My fastball was my best pitch until I was able to get my curveball over in the later innings,” Rivera said. “I got the ball down low and was able to get them to hit it on the ground.”

“Rivera did an outstanding job,” Brewster said. “He didn’t have his best stuff, but he kept us in the game.”

Hunterdon Central had runners on first and third with two outs in the top of the seventh against Westfield relief pitcher Mike Mondon. The junior righty was then ahead of cleanup batter Kenny Wilson at 0-2 before throwing the ball over to second baseman James Barry in an attempt to keep Suseck at first, while still watching Josh Ake – who walked with one out – at third base and making sure he didn’t race home.

“It’s something we’ve worked on all year,” Mondon said. “You throw to second to keep the runner at first and make sure the runner from third doesn’t score.”

Mondon threw over to Barry a second time and this time Barry threw to Kerr at first who tagged out Suseck for an inning-ending 1-4-3 pickoff.

“You worry about the pitcher balking when trying that,” Brewster said. “Mike threw the ball to James and then James was smart enough to get it to Dan and we got the runner out. That was a very big play.”

Westfield took the momentum from that pickoff and kept it going, obviously, in the bottom of the seventh.

Here were two other big plays that both went Westfield’s way. In the top of the third with runners on first and second and two down, Wilson hit a shot to right-center. Westfield center fielder O’Rourke raced to his left, dove full body and came up with a sensational, run-saving, backhanded, one hand catch to rob Wilson of what could have been a two-run hit that would have given HC a 3-0 lead.

“James is a punt returner (for the football team) and is used to going all out like that,” Brewster said. “This time he didn’t have to worry about getting hit, though.”

Then in the top of the fifth with the game tied at 1-1, Rivera threw Josh Ake an off speed pitch on a 1-0 count. Jeremy Ake led off the inning with a single to left on a 3-1 count, so Josh was seeking to continue HC’s good fortune in the frame. On the breaking pitch, Rivera got Josh Ake to fly out to deep left for the inning’s second out.

Just keeping Josh Ake in the ball park there and also retiring him was huge. Ake was 2-for-3, with a single, a double and a walk.

NORTH 2, GROUP 4 BASEBALL SEMIFINAL

AT ROBERT BREWSTER SR. MEMORIAL FIELD

3-HUNTERDON CENTRAL (20-8)                      0   0   1     0   0   1     0 – 2  8  1

2-WESTFIELD (23-4)                                           0   0   1     0   0   0     2 – 3  6  1

HUNTERDON CENTRAL STARTING PITCHER:

Greg Scassera, senior right hander, (record stays 7-1)

4 innings, 72 pitches: 1 run, unearned, 1 hit (single),

3 strikeouts (all swinging), 4 walks – 2 of them intentional,

2 wild pitches, 1 perfect inning (the 4th).

Pitch count: 1-19. 2-16. 3-21. 4-16. Total: 72.

HUNTERDON CENTRAL RELIEF PITCHER:

Steven Rasile, junior lefthander, (took the loss)

2 innings, plus 4 baserunners, 41 pitches: 2 runs, both earned,

5 hits (all singles), 2 strikeouts (both swinging), 1 walk.

Pitch count: 5-20. 6-11. 7-10. Total: 41.

WESTFIELD STARTING PITCHER:

Matt Rivera, senior, right hander, (record remains 5-0)

6 innings, 80 pitches: 2 runs, 1 earned, 7 hits (5 singles, 2 doubles),

0 strikeouts, 2 walks – 1 of them intentional,

Retired 10 batters on ground ball outs, 11 outs total when you

Include a 6-4-3 double play to end the first.

Pitched a perfect second inning and at one point retired five

straight batters on grounde ball outs, beginning with the first-inning

double play.

Pitch count: 1-11. 2-10. 3-16. 4-11. 5-16. 6-16. Total: 80.

WESTFIELD RELIEF PITCHER:

Mike Mondon, junior right hander, winning pitcher, (5-1),

second win in relief (first: Monroe, 12-9 on April 10 at Elizabeth)

1 inning, 14 pitches: 0 runs, 1 hit (single),

0 strikeouts, 1 walk, 1 pickoff – 1-4-3 to end the seventh.

Pitch count: 7-14. Total: 14.

SINGLES: Hunterdon Central – Josh Ake, Sean Thomas, Geggie Russomagno, Jeremy Ake, Kenny Wilson, Chris Suseck. Westfield – Michael Coletta (pinch hit), Dan Kerr 2, Tim Younger, James O’Rourke (bunt), A.J. Murray.

DOUBLES: Hunterdon Central – Josh Ake, Geggie Russomagno. Westfield – None.

TRIPLES: Hunterdon Central – None. Westfield – None.

HOME RUNS: Hunterdon Central – None. Westfield – None.

ERRORS: Hunterdon Central – Chris Suseck. Westfield – James Barry.