DOWLING 3 HITS; IVES, EDWARDS 2 HITS; ALFANO 2 RBI
Six innings of effective pitching turned into a spiraling ball of confusion in the seventh inning when the top-seeded Westfield High School baseball team met the second-seeded Governor Livingston Highlanders for the third time this season but this time it was for the Union County Tournament championship at Kean University in Union on May 13. The Highlanders led 3-0 going into the top of the seventh inning added seven runs but had to hold on for their lives to salvage a 10-8 victory.
The 19-3 Highlanders put Matty Diskin on the mound and he tossed the first six innings marvelously, scattering five singles – no more than one in any given inning – and walked no one, while striking out eight Blue Devils during that span. After he ran into a brick wall in the seventh, Diskin was relieved by Vinny Graham, who also ran into trouble and was relieved by Anthony DeNora, who finally put out the fire in the nick of time.
Senior Tomas Cestero started for the 16-4 Blue Devils and yielded an unearned run with one hit in the second inning and two runs on two hits in the third inning. Until the seventh inning, Cestero held the Highlanders scoreless and hitless in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. During that span, Cestero did hit two batters and walked two, while recording five strikeouts. Logan Revock relieved Cestero with two outs in the seventh inning but failed to stop the Highlanders’ offensive onslaught so Grant Como stepped in and allowed one hit and a walk before fanning the final batter.
Diskin yielded a single to Cestero in the first inning, a single to Kellen Edwards (2-for-4, run) in the second and a single to Kevin Dowling (3-for-4, RBI, run) in the third. He also ceded a single to Aaron Ives (2-for-3, RBI, run) in the fifth and a single to Randy Davis (1-for-3, RBI) in the sixth.
Cestero’s second inning began with DeNora hitting a high popup about 20 feet along the first base line. Cestero made the call but dropped it in fair territory. Next, Cestero attempted a pickoff but threw wide and DeNora sprinted all the way to third base. Diskin laid down a perfect bunt single but the runner held on third. DeNora then scored when Matt Shaffer grounded out to second. Blue Devil catcher Liam Sullivan got the third when he gunned down Diskin attempting to swipe third base.
In the third inning, Cestero struck out the first batter then hit Dom Labisi (1-for-3, RBI, run) on the fist. Zach Geertsma (2-for-5, 2 RBI, run) stepped to the plate and launched a long RBI triple to centerfield. Mike Basile (2-for-4) followed with a fading RBI single to right to make the score 3-0 that held until the wildness of the seventh inning.
“I think that the fans got the chance to see two of the top 20 pitchers in the state who happen to be in the same county. It was a great duel and I thought we showed some great fight and I wouldn’t expect anything less from our guys. My hope is that we use the last inning of the game to move us into Wednesday’s game and through the state playoffs.”
The top of the seventh inning began with Cestero getting Labisi and Geertsma to fly out to Dowling in centerfield. Just as it appeared that it would be another controlled inning by Cestero, Basile wiggled a single past third. His courtesy runner Harry Woodard advanced to second on a wild pitch then stole third base. Matt Kosuda walked to set up a first-andthird situation that would happen several times in the inning. Revock relieved Cestero.
From that point onward, concentration would collapse into a ball of confusion. DeNora tapped a dinker toward third that was mishandled as Woodard scored. DeNora swiped second unopposed then Alex Adornato hacked a two-run single to right and also stole second unopposed. Diskin tapped a dribbler to second that was also mishandled and also stole second base. Shaffer drew a free pass. Ryan Pappas lined an RBI single to leftfield and Labisi hit a high chopping infield RBI single.
Como stepped to the mound and after a wild pitch that allowed Shaffer to score, he yielded an RBI single to Geerstma to make the score 10-0. Como walked the next batter then struck out Kosuda for the third out.
Most teams would throw in the towel trailing by 10 runs in the final inning. But not the Blue Devils! Diskin began the inning by walking Nic Labin, who would later get hit by a pitch. Then Diskin’s collapse really began. Ives sizzled a single down the third base line. That would be the first of six straight singles that he would yield. Dowling fooled them all and laid down a perfect bunt single and Sullivan hooked an RBI single to left.
With the bases loaded, Como hit a high hacking infield RBI single between the mound and the third baseline. Jake Albano slashed a tworun single down the third baseline and Braedan Trajkovski lashed an RBI single to right making the score 10-5. It was now time to take Diskin off the mound and in came Graham.
Davis launched an RBI sacrifice fly to center as Alfano tagged up and scored. Edwards singled to right and Labin took one for the team to load the bases. DeNora stepped to the mound in hopes to put out the fire. Ives lofted an RBI sac fly to right as Edwards scored then Dowling narrowed the score to 10-8 with an RBI single to left.
Runners were on first and second with two outs and to the plate came 65, 300-lb, left-handed batter Julian Montez with the potential winning run. The count went to 2 balls, 2 strikes but DeNora finally recorded the strikeout.
In the end, Diskin was charged with seven runs on 11 hits and one walk, while striking out eight. Cestero was charged with five runs, five hits, three walks and two hit batters, while striking out five.
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