WF’S IVES, LABIN 2 HITS EACH; CR’S BENDERT 2 HITS
Late inning errors added plenty of suspense in the showdown between the Cranford High School baseball team and the Westfield Blue Devils at Bob Brewster, Sr. Field in Westfield on April 24. Trailing 4-3 entering the top of the seventh inning, the Cougars took advantage of two errors to plate three runs but their defense returned the favor in the bottom of the inning and the Blue Devils found a way to come up with a 7-6 victory.
The 7-5 Cougars finished with eight hits but did commit four errors, while the 9-1 Blue Devils had seven hits and committed two errors in that seventh inning. Joe Paccione started on the mound for the Cougars and yielded four hits, five walks and a hit batter, while striking out four until he was relieved by Chris Pereira with one out in the sixth inning. Pereira, who was charged with the loss, allowed three hits and three walks.
The Blue Devils had lefty Grant Como on the mound until he was relieved by Kevin Dowling with two outs in the third inning. Como gave up six hits and four walks, while striking out one batter. Dowling, who was on the mound 3.2 innings, struck out the first three batters but finished with four strikeouts, while allowing two hits and a hit batter. Logan Revock stepped to the mound with one out in the seventh and would pick up the victory.
Blue Devil designated hitter Aaron Ives went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored. Nic Labin went 2for-3 and had an RBI sacrifice fly. Mikey Lynch doubled and walked once. Kellen Edwards walked once and scored twice. Catcher Liam Sullivan walked and was hit by a pitch, and his courtesy runner Charlie McCormack stole a base and scored once. Jake Alfano had an RBI single, scored once, stole a base and walked. Randy Davis stole two bases, walked and scored once. Braedan Trajkovski singled, walked twice and scored once. Tomas Cestero had an RBI sac fly, walked and stole a base.
Pat Bendert rapped a pair of RBI singles and scored once for the Cougars. Ed Toy had an RBI sac fly, doubled and scored once. Dennis McCaffery singled, walked and scored once. Brayden Fry singled and scored. Catcher Ryan Carracino singled, was hit by a pitch and his courtesy runner Josh Ketschke stole a base and scored once. Mike Tripodi walked twice, stole a base and scored once. Sean Riley singled. Brendan Berry went 1for-2 with a walk.
The Cougars tried to get something on the board in the top of the first inning when Tripodi and McCaffery walked with two outs but Como struck out the next batter. In the bottom of the inning,Alfano and Trajkovski both walked with one out but a pair of ground outs also kept them off the board.
The Cranford second inning produced two runs. Carracino ricocheted a hard single off Como’s glove and courtesy runner Ketschke swiped second. Pat Bendert chopped an RBI single past third. Berry dropped a single into right and after Dylan Falk was called out because he was out of the box on his bunt attempt, Riley’s infield single loaded the bases. Bendert then scored on a wild pitch. Labin, who singled in the Westfield second, became the victim of a back pick by catcher Carracino.
Cestero tried to make things happen in the Westfield third by drawing a one-out free pass, stealing second and dashing to third on a pitch in the dirt but Paccione managed to escape the inning. The Cougars’ lead jumped to 3-0 in the third when Toy doubled to deep leftfield and scored on Bendert’s ground single into right field.
The Blue Devils put up a run in the fourth. Edwards drew a walk and Labin laced a single over second. Ives hammered an RBI double to center but when Labin also attempted to score, he was gunned down at the plate. The Blue Devils then knotted the score with two runs in the fifth. Sullivan was hit in the back and courtesy runner McCormack stole second. Alfano sliced an RBI single to right and would later score on a throwing error.
Westfield took a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Ives reached on an error and would eventually score on Cestero’s RBI sac fly to centerfield, so the pressure was on the Cougars to produce in the seventh, and they did. Tripodi’s one-out grounder to short was muffed. McCaffery scribbled an infield single and Fry’s high infield chopper loaded the bases. Revock relieved Dowling. Toy lofted an RBI sac fly to center then a throwing error on Carracino’s grounder resulted in two Cougars scuffing home for a 6-4 lead.
Now it was the Blue Devils, who had their backs to the wall. Trajkovski bounced a leadoff single over second and Davis walked. Edwards’ grounder eluded the second baseman as Trajkovski scored. Labin hit a long RBI sac fly to right. Ives sizzled a single past first and Lynch walked to load the bases. Sullivan’s grounder to third was bobbled and Edwards skipped home with the game winner.
“It was a back and forth game and Cranford is a team that is never out of it, regardless of the score. I thought we were resilient and we battled our way through the game. Games like that can build a lot of character and confidence for our program,” Blue Devil Head Coach Jay Cook said.
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