Final North Jersey Standings

Photos from Berkley Heights game

Coaches Difilippo and Anderson discuss differing
opinions on proper sunglass placement


Scott Tupper admires his work


Devin "The Animal" Anderson behind the dish


Hopper Murray lets one fly


Good times at Scoops

Westfield Blue defeats Berkley Heights 7-4

Westfield completed the North Jersey regular season with a 7-4 win over Berkley Heights. The victory pushed Westfield’s overall record to 18-6 and their North Jersey record to 11-1, placing them in a tie for first place with Summit. The strong finish will likely give them a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

Westfield got strong pitching from starter Scott Tupper and from relievers Brett Robertshaw, Hopper Murray and Chris Rinaldi. Tupper’s control was extremely accurate and he did not issue a walk in the 3 innings he pitched. He allowed only 3 hits and struck out 3. Robertshaw relieved Tupper and pitched the 4th inning. He allowed only a walk and he struck out 2 Berkley Heights batters. Murray pitched the 5th, recording a strikeout and making a great defensive play from the mound to end the inning. Rinaldi pitched a scoreless 6th inning and struck out 2 batters.

Westfield offense scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and 4 in the 5th. In the 1st inning, Nick Mele started the rally with a disciplined at bat that led to 2 out walk. He stole second and scored on an RBI single from Chris “Boots” Boutsikaris. Vin “Madman” Difilippo also had a good at bat that led to a walk and then Devin “The Animal” Anderson cleared the bases with a 2 run triple to left center field. In the 4th inning, Matt “Freight Train” Macik and Eric Varakian worked their way on with walks to start off the inning. Chris Rinaldi followed with an RBI double to left center and Nick Mele knocked in Varakian and Rinaldi with a clutch RBI single. Mele stole second and eventually scored on a hard hit RBI ground out from Difilippo.

Westfield’s defense was solid throughout the game. Catcher Devin Anderson made a great play in the 4th inning when he held onto a foul tip to secure a strike out. Shortstop Vin Difilippo made a heads up play when, with 1st and 2nd and no one out, he made a nice play on a ground ball to shortstop and went to 3rd base to get the lead runner. Varakian and Chris “Mariano” Varano each made nice plays at 2nd base. Rinaldi made a nice backhand grab and short and threw to Boots at 1st who made a nice scoop to complete the play. 3rd baseman Matt Macik and catcher Vin Difilippo made a nice play in the 5th almost nailing a Berkley Heights runner who was attempting to steal 3rd base, but the runner was ruled safe. Brett Robertshaw had a booming double to right center field in the 4th.

Next up is practice on Monday from 6-8pm at Houlihan Field. This will be the boys first event on turf this year and TV36 will be there to capture it and speak to the boys about their season.

Leader Article on Florham Park Game

Today's Leader (July 19th) has a nice article on the boys' recent victory over Florham Park. http://www.goleader.com/07jul19/07jul19.pdf

Schedule for July 20th through July 29th

The schedule for July 20th through July 29th is currently as follows...

• >> Fri, 7/20 at 6pm - This is the game against Berkley Heights which was originally scheduled for Wed, 7/18 .
• >> Mon, 7/23 - Practice at Houlihan from 6-8pm
• >> Wed, 7/25 - 2nd Rd Playoffs (Location TBD@6pm)
• >> Fri, 7/27 - 3rd Rd Playoffs (Location TBD@6pm)**
• >> Sun, 7/29 - Finals (Long Hill@8pm)**

** - only if we win the previous playoff game

There is a chance that there may be an additional practice over this coming weekend. I'll know more towards the end of the week.

Westfield Blue defeats Chatham 12-11 in nail biter

Westfield narrowly defeated a tough and scrappy Chatham team by the score of 12-11. Nick Mele started the game for Westfield and pitched 2 strong shutout innings and Eric Varakian, Chris “Mariano” Varano and Vin “Madman” Difilippo combined to pitch the last 4 innings getting out of tough jams when they needed to. Difilippo was especially tough entering the game in a bases loaded situation and only one out in the 5th and shutting down the Chatham threat.

Westfield’s offense jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st. Eric Varakian led off with a walk and Chris Rinaldi followed with a double to the center field fence. Nick Mele followed with a 2 run double. After walks to Chris “Boots” Boutsikaris and Hopper Murray, Devin “The Animal” Anderson took one for the team and got an RBI when he was hit with a pitch. The inning ended without further scoring, but only because of a great play by the Chatham right fielder who fielded a one hop rocket off of the bat of Brett Robertshaw in right center field and threw to 2nd base to get the force out.

Westfield got 2 more in the 3rd and one more in the 4th In the 3rd, Rinaldi led off with a double and was promptly singled home by Boots. Boots stole a couple of bases and scored on a hard grounder that was hit by Vin Difilippo. In the 4th, Devin Anderson led off with a double to the left center field fence, advanced to 3rd on a Scott Tupper single and scored on a hard grounder from Brett Robertshaw. The score was 6-1 after Westfield’s turn at bat in the 4th, but Chatham stormed back with 3 in the bottom half of the inning to make it a close game.

Eric Varakian pitched solidly in the 3rd and 4th innings and Chris Varano and Vin Difilippo combined to pitch the 5th for Westfield. Chatham was threatening in the 5th and Difilippo came on to put out the fire and he also pitched the 6th to pick up the save.

The offense scored 6 runs in the top of the 5th to give Westfield some breathing room. Ethan “Smiley” Smith led off the inning with a single and Varakian followed with a double. Rinaldi was hit with a pitch to load the bases and then Mele, Boots Difilippo and Murray each hit the ball hard to knock in runs. Murray’s single, which was a missile of a line drive to right field, drove in Rinaldi and Mele and then “The Animal” Anderson cleared the bases with his 2nd double of the day. Mariano Varano knocked in Anderson with a single to close out the scoring.

Westfield got a big scare when Chatham batted in the bottom of 6th when Chatham pulled within 1 run and had 2nd and 3rd with only one out, but solid pitching and very good defense allowed Westfield to escape. With one out and 2nd and 3rd, the runner on 3rd attempted to score on a slow roller to 3rd that slipped past the Westfield 3rd baseman. Shortstop Chris Rinaldi backed up the play and threw a strike to catcher Nick Mele for the 2nd out. The batter advanced to 2nd on the play and Chatham once again had the tying and winning runs on base when second baseman Eric Varakian made the defensive play of the game. Varakian made a diving play in short right center field on a soft fly ball that looked like it would drop in for the winning hit. Varakian was mobbed by his teammates after the play.

The Westfield defense was solid throughout most of the contest. Pitcher Difilippo made an amazing play on a soft grounder to the left side of the mound and threw a strike to Nick Mele at 1st from his knees to nip the Chatham runner and end the 5th inning. Rinaldi made a nice backhand stab at short and threw across to a stretching Boots at 1st for a key out early in the game. Robertshaw made a nice catch on a high pop up in foul territory off of 3rd base for an important out in the 5th inning. Matt Macik hit the ball hard in each plate appearance and was robbed of a hit in 2 of his 3 at bats.

Next up is Berkley Heights on Wednesday at 6pm in Berkley Heights. Warm ups will start at 5:20pm and the boys will wear their gray uniforms.

Pictures from Chatham Game (7/16)

Eric V looks in for a sign

Mariano shakes off the fastball

Hopper, Scott and Devin "The Animal" getting ready for the game

Chris R and Eric

Good buddies...Nick, Chris R and Eric

Eric visualizing his double

Eric practicing his swing

Directions to Berkley Heights for 7/18 Game (Fields are at Early Childhood Center at Hamilton Terrace School)

BERKELEY HEIGHTS DIRECTIONS TO BASEBALL FIELDS at Early Childhood Center at Hamilton Terrace School

TRAVELING 78 EAST:

Get off 78 at Exit 41 (Scotch Plains/Berkeley Heights). Take a left off the exit and travel to traffic light. Turn right at traffic light and travel approximately ¼ mile. Turn left onto Horseshoe Rd. and travel to traffic light. Turn left onto Mountain Ave. and travel about ½ mile. Turn right into The Early Childhood Center (you'll see a white sign on either side of the entrance).

TRAVELING 78 WEST:

Get off 78 at Exit 43 (Berkeley Heights/New Providence). Take a right off the exit onto Diamond Hill Rd. and go through 1^st light. At second light take a left onto Mountain Ave. Travel on Mountain Ave. going thru two lights and travel about ½ mile. Turn right into The Early Childhood Center (you'll see a white sign on either side of the entrance).

TRAVELING 22 EAST:

Pass "Sears" on your right and "Blue Star" on your left and get into the right hand lane. Follow signs for Berkeley Heights/New Providence. Turn right immediately after "Snuffy's" and then another quick right going over Rt. 22. Go thru light (the quarry will be on your left after about ¼ mile). Go thru 2 lights. At the third light take a left onto Mountain Ave. Travel on Mountain Ave. going thru two lights and travel about ½ mile. Turn right into The Early Childhood Center (you'll see a white sign on either side of the entrance).

TRAVELING 22 WEST:

Pass "Bowcraft" on your right and travel about 1 mile staying in the right hand lane. Turn right IMMEDIATELY after "McDonald's" and travel about ¼ mile. Turn right at road's end (the quarry will be in front of you). Go thru 2 lights. At the third light take a left onto Mountain Ave. Travel on Mountain Ave. going thru two lights and travel about ½ mile. Turn right into The Early Childhood Center (you'll see white signs on either side of the entrance).

Directions to Chatham (Monday, 7/16 @ 6pm)

Directions to Shunpike Fields and Castle Park complex in Chatham are as follows...

• -- Take NORTH AVE heading towards Scotch Plains (2.1 miles)
• -- Turn RIGHT onto CR-655 / N MARTINE AVE. Continue to follow CR-655. (0.8 miles)
• -- Turn LEFT onto CR-655 / PARK AVE. Continue to follow CR-655. (2.1 miles)
• -- Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MOUNTAIN AVE / CR-622. (0.9 miles)
• -- Turn LEFT onto CR-647 / SOUTH ST. Continue to follow CR-647 (2.4 miles)
• -- Turn LEFT onto SOUTHERN BLVD / CR-647 (2.5 miles)
• -- Turn RIGHT on Shunpike Rd and fields should be on the right (see map)

We are playing on field #3 which is the first ball diamond on the right.

Video Highlights from Warren Game (7/13)

(Press play button in lower left hand corner of the video frames below)

Westfield gets out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the 1st inning with great pitching and solid defense



Westfield outfielders come up throwing to the plate



Westfield hitting highlights


A big thanks to Rich Mele for taking video of the game.

Westfield's run in Babe Ruth tournament ends with 3-1 loss to Warren

Westfield Blue lost 3-1 to a tough, well coached team from Warren. The loss dropped Westfield to 2-3 in the Babe Ruth tournament and ended Westfield’s run at the tournament playoff round.

Westfield got incredibly strong pitching from Vin “Madman” Difilippo. Madman held Warren to only a single earned run through solid innings of work on the mound. He scattered six hits over 4 and battled fiercly to get out of trouble in the 1st and 4th innings. The 1st inning was particularly impressive as Warren loaded the bases with no outs, but Difilippo dug down and added a few MPHs to his fastball and snuck in a few timely changeups to escape the inning without allowing Warren to score. Nick Mele pitched one inning in relief and retired all 3 batters he faced. The defense was strong behind both pitchers. Centerfielder Scott Tupper prevented another Warren run when with a runner on 2nd base he charged a single up the middle and threw a strike to the cutoff man to hold the runners at 1st and 3rd.

Warren got great pitching as well and the Warren starter had a perfect game going until Nick Mele broke through with a single with 2 outs in the 4th. A few pitches later Chris “Boots” Boutsikaris followed Mele’s single with a single of his own and the only run of the game for Westfield. The only other hit of the game for Westfield was Brett Robertshaw’s clutch leadoff single in the top of the 6th. Eric Varakian followed with a line shot to center field, but the Warren center fielder made a nice running catch to head off the rally that seemed like it was in the making.

Next up is Chatham on Monday, 7/16 in Chatham in North Jersey League play. Warm ups will start at 5:20 and the boys will wear their gray uniforms. Directions to Chatham will be available later in the weekend.

Leader Articles on Branchburg and Cranford games

The July 12th issue of the Westfield Leader has two articles on the team. One on the game against Branchburg and the other on their Babe Ruth Tournament game against Cranford.

The articles can be accessed online at http://www.goleader.com/07jul12/07jul12.pdf