Westfield Grabs Third Seed in County Baseball Tourney

As expected Monday night, Westfield earned the third seed for the 58th annual baseball Union County Tournament, which will commence with four preliminary round games Thursday and conclude for the first time at Kean University in Union on May 15.

In first round action Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bob Brewster, Sr. Memorial Field the Blue Devils will take on the winner of Thursday’s preliminary round game pitting 19th-seeded St. Mary’s of Elizabeth at 14th-seeded New Providence.

Westfield began the week with a 10-2 record and is seeking to reach the UCT final for the fourth straight season.

However, the Blue Devils are not looking to lose a fourth consecutive final should they be fortunate enough to make it that far again.

Westfield, along with defending champion and top-seeded Cranford and second-seeded Gov. Livingston - which has never won the title – are the top three favorites to bring home the trophy.

Westfield has won the most county crowns with 12, is the only team to have won four in a row when it did so from 1994-97 and has appeared in the most county finals with 20 trips to the title game. Last year the Blue Devils became the first program to lose in the final three straight years.

“There are a lot of good teams, including us, Cranford, GL and Scotch Plains,” said Westfield senior first baseman Dan Kerr, who will continue playing baseball in the Ivy League at Brown University. “I also think anybody can win on any given day.”

Westfield catcher and Georgia Tech-bound senior A.J. Murray, who is among the leaders in Union County with five home runs, thinks Westfield is ready to win the county championship again for the first time since his brother Mike’s senior season in 2006.

“I think we have the best shot,” Murray said. “We have an aggressive team. We’ve faced Cranford’s No. 1 (Williamson, a sophomore lefty) and GL’s No. 1 (junior righty Joey Graziano).”

Those are the only two games Westfield has lost so far, with the Blue Devils falling at Cranford 6-5 in nine innings on April 7 and at GL and to Graziano 6-4 on April 15.

“We started the season ripping the ball and then we came back down to Earth,” Murray said. “We’re happy where we’re at. We have two close losses.”

Westfield head coach Bob Brewster, in his 29th season at the helm, has had a few 3-4 combinations in his lineup before that were very difficult to get out. He ranks Murray, who bats third, and Kerr, cleanup, right there with the best of them.

“They’re as good a 3-4 combination as I’ve ever had,” Brewster said after both hit safely in Thursday’s 13-8 Watchung Division home victory over arch rival Scotch Plains. “Whey they fall behind in the count it doesn’t bother them in the least.

“They look for their certain pitches to hit and don’t mind taking a strike to see one.”

Murray took a first-pitch called strike on a breaking ball from Scotch Plains relief pitcher John Howarth. The next pitch was also an off-speed pitch and Murray guessed right, timing it perfectly for a home run over the left field fence.

“A.J. is the strongest kid I’ve ever coached,” Brewster said. “He’s so conscious of the strike zone. He’s ripping more line drives for base hits.

“Kerr has been hitting the ball more to left field lately which makes him feel he’s hitting the ball better.”

Westfield’s lineup is averaging nearly 11 runs per game after its 10-2 start. The question for the Blue Devils will be if they can find the right pitching combination to win four UCT games and capture the crown for the first time in five years.

58th ANNUAL BASEBALL UCT

SEEDS: 1-Cranford. 2-Gov. Livingston. 3-Westfield. 4-Union Catholic.

5-Scotch Plains. 6-Johnson. 7-Roselle Catholic. 8-Dayton.

9-Elizabeth. 10-Oratory Prep. 11-Linden. 12-Union.

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

17-Rahway. 18-Plainfield. 19-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth. 20-Hillside.

St. Patrick and Roselle are not included.

PRELIMINARY ROUND

Thursday, April 28

17-Rahway at 16-Brearley, 4 p.m.

20-Hillside at 13-Roselle Park, 4 p.m.

18-Plainfield at 15-Summit, 4 p.m.

19-St. Mary’s at 14-New Providence, 4 p.m.

FIRST ROUND

Saturday, April 30

All initially have 1 p.m. starting times, although

some games may start at different times.

TOP SIDE OF THE BRACKET

12-Union at 5-Scotch Plains

Hillside/Roselle Park at 4-Union Catholic

9-Elizabeth at 8-Dayton

Rahway/Brearley at 1-Cranford

BOTTOM SIDE OF THE BRACKET

10-Oratory Prep at 7-Roselle Catholic

Plainfield/Summit at 2-Gov. Livingston

11-Linden at 6-Johnson

St. Mary’s/New Providence at 3-Westfield

QUARTERFINALS

Wednesday, May 4

At the higher seeds, 4 p.m.

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, May 7

At Elizabeth’s Williams Field

Top side of the bracket: 2 p.m.

Bottom side of the bracket: 4:15 p.m.

FINAL

At Kean University, Union

Sunday, May 15, TBA