WF White 11s Win District 12, Bridgewater, N. Edison Tourneys
The Westfield White 11U baseball team completed a tremendous season by placing first in the Cal Ripken District 12, Bridgewater and North Edison 11U-50/70 tournaments and they com-piled an overall record of 28-6-1.
The district title was a repeat championship and they compiled an 18-3 record in tournament play. Five of the team’s losses were by a single run. The tie and all but one of the losses were avenged by defeating those same opponents later in the season.
Westfield White also made a strong run at the Cal Ripken Northern NJ State title where they finished 4-1 in pool play and received the top seed in the playoff round. Westfield led Bridgewater, 2-0, going into the final inning of the championship game but
lost 3-2. Westfield bounced back in its last game of the year with a come from behind, walk-off, 7-6 victory in the finals of the Bridgewater 50/70 tournament, over a very strong Flemington team that was previously undefeated in the tournament.
The team was comprised of Eric Varakian, Christopher Rinaldi,
Vincent Difilippo, Nick Mele, Devin Anderson, Christopher Boutsikaris, Christopher Varano, Hopper Murray, Scott Tupper, Michael Mobarakai, Brett Robertshaw and Tommy Summers. Joe Rinaldi, Glenn Anderson, Rich Varakian, Vin Difilippo and Mike Varano coached Westfield White.
“The boys played very smart, aggressive, team baseball throughout the year and their focus and commitment to the team and to one another really paid off. I’m extremely proud of the team, their collective and their individual accomplishments, but most importantly with how well they conducted themselves throughout the
season,” coach Rinaldi said. “They gave 110 percent each time out and they always behaved as gentlemen. They did a truly great job of representing the Town of Westfield.”
The team maintained a blog covering their entire season at westfield11white.blogspot.com.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
WHAT A FINISH!!!
2009 Westfield White -- Bridgewater 11U, 50/70 Champions
The race to the last team meeting of the year!
Coach R receives the "Gatorade" treatment
The leaders of the Westfield White fan club gather to celebrate the victory
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Westfield Finishes Season With Bridgewater 11U 50/70 Chamionship
Westfield White completed their summer travel season with an impressive, come from behind win against a very strong Flemington team in the championship game of the Bridgewater 11U, 50/70 "A" tournament. Westfield finished the Bridgewater tournament with an unblemished 6-0 record and an overall record of 28-6-1.
Westfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. Eric Varakian and Vin Difilippo drew walks (Difilippo was actually hit by a pitch) and Nick Mele delivered an RBI single. Devin Anderson and Chris Boutsikaris (RBI) also walked and Boutsikaris' walk forced in Difilippo for the 2-0 lead.
Michale Mobarakai took the mound for Westfield and he held Flemington scoreless over the 1st two innings of play. In the 3rd, Flemington began to break through and after a walk, a couple of hits and an error, Westfield was trailing 4-2. Scott "T-Rod" Tupper relieved Mobarakai with the bases loaded and two outs and Tupper got the final out of the inning on a first pitch, breaking ball of some kind that induced a harmless fly ball to right field. Tupper also threw a scoreless 4th inning and a solid 5th in which he only allowed an unearned run. When he left the mound after the 3rd out in the 5th, Westfield trailed 5-2.
Westfield came to bat in the bottom of the 5th and immediately proceeded to rally. With 1 out, Brett Robertshaw, Tommy Summers and Eric Varakian each singled to load the bases. Chris Rinaldi then lofted a fly ball to deep left center that banged off of the top of the fence. Rinaldi was held to a long single, but two runs scored on the play. Vin Difilippo followed with a hard grounder up the middle which brought in another run, tying the score at 5.
Nick Mele came on to pitch the 6th and he threw very well, but he was victimized by an error which allowed Flemington to score an unearned run and to take a 6-5 lead. There was no quit in the Westfield offense as they came to bat trailing by 1 run in the bottom of the 6th. Chris Boutsikaris started the inning with a walk and then Chris Varano lined a single to right field to put runners on 1st and 2nd and Hopper Murray drew a walk to load the bases. Tupper then came up and ripped a line drive to left field for an RBI single which knocked home Boutsikaris who was the tying run. Michael Mobarakai stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in a 6-6 tie game and quickly found himself with a 1-2 count. He fouled off a pitch and then lined an RBI single right field to drive in Varano with the winning run. Westfield White mobbed Mobarakai as he rounded first base after his walk off RBI single and the boys then claimed the championship trophy to close out what has been a truly amazing season.
Westfield's year end party is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Westfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. Eric Varakian and Vin Difilippo drew walks (Difilippo was actually hit by a pitch) and Nick Mele delivered an RBI single. Devin Anderson and Chris Boutsikaris (RBI) also walked and Boutsikaris' walk forced in Difilippo for the 2-0 lead.
Michale Mobarakai took the mound for Westfield and he held Flemington scoreless over the 1st two innings of play. In the 3rd, Flemington began to break through and after a walk, a couple of hits and an error, Westfield was trailing 4-2. Scott "T-Rod" Tupper relieved Mobarakai with the bases loaded and two outs and Tupper got the final out of the inning on a first pitch, breaking ball of some kind that induced a harmless fly ball to right field. Tupper also threw a scoreless 4th inning and a solid 5th in which he only allowed an unearned run. When he left the mound after the 3rd out in the 5th, Westfield trailed 5-2.
Westfield came to bat in the bottom of the 5th and immediately proceeded to rally. With 1 out, Brett Robertshaw, Tommy Summers and Eric Varakian each singled to load the bases. Chris Rinaldi then lofted a fly ball to deep left center that banged off of the top of the fence. Rinaldi was held to a long single, but two runs scored on the play. Vin Difilippo followed with a hard grounder up the middle which brought in another run, tying the score at 5.
Nick Mele came on to pitch the 6th and he threw very well, but he was victimized by an error which allowed Flemington to score an unearned run and to take a 6-5 lead. There was no quit in the Westfield offense as they came to bat trailing by 1 run in the bottom of the 6th. Chris Boutsikaris started the inning with a walk and then Chris Varano lined a single to right field to put runners on 1st and 2nd and Hopper Murray drew a walk to load the bases. Tupper then came up and ripped a line drive to left field for an RBI single which knocked home Boutsikaris who was the tying run. Michael Mobarakai stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in a 6-6 tie game and quickly found himself with a 1-2 count. He fouled off a pitch and then lined an RBI single right field to drive in Varano with the winning run. Westfield White mobbed Mobarakai as he rounded first base after his walk off RBI single and the boys then claimed the championship trophy to close out what has been a truly amazing season.
Westfield's year end party is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Westfield Loses 3-2 Heart Breaker To Bridgewater in State Finals
Westfield and Bridgewater played an outstanding baseball game tonight in the championship game of the Cal Ripken Northern NJ State tournament. Westfield led 2-0 going into the 6th inning but could not hold off a late Bridgewater rally and Westfield lost 3-2.
Westfield pitcher Vin Difilippo was superb all night, throwing 5 1/3 innings of 6 hit ball and he did not walk anyone. The Westfield defense played one of their strongest games of the year behind their starting pitcher and there were several "Blue Ball" worthy plays made in the field (The "Blue Ball" is an award for outstanding defensive effort). Nick Mele made at least 4 spectacular plays in center field on line drives and fly balls, Chris Rinaldi and Chris Boutsikaris teamed up for a back hand stab of a grounder deep in the hole at short and a scoop for the out at first, Eric Varakian made two great plays -- one diving to knock down a grounder at 2nd and the other a diving catch in right field, Michael Mobarakai and Brett Robertshaw both made very good plays at 3rd base on hard hit balls and Chris Varano made a strong play at 2nd to rob a hit in the early innings. Devin Anderson caught all 6 innings and was extremely solid behind the plate all night for the Blue Devils. Westfield flashed the leather all night and it was one of the best defensive showings of the season.
While Difilippo was holding the Bridgewater bats in check, the Bridgewater pitcher was doing the same to the Westfield bats. Nick Mele broke through in the 2nd and missed a home run by less than a foot when his line drive to left center banged very high off of the fence. Mele was stranded on the bases in the 2nd, but Westfield scored 2 runs in the 3rd to take a 2-0 lead. Michael Mobarakai reached on a fielder's choice and then Eric Varakian and Chris Rinaldi singled to load the bases. Vin Difilippo's hard grounder to short allowed Mobarakai to score and then Mele drove in Varakian with an RBI single. Westfield threatened further in the inning but they were not able to plate any additional runs.
The score remained 2-0 going into the 6th. Bridgewater led off with a single and a stolen base. The runner advanced to 3rd on a single by the next batter, but the batter was thrown out at 2nd trying to advance to 2nd on the throw home. The runner on 3rd scored on a called balk to cut the Westfield lead to 2-1. Bridgewater's clean up hitter singled and Difilippo was relieved by Chris Rinaldi. The Bridgewater hitter worked the count to 3-2 and then tomahawked a high fastball over the bag at first for an RBI double which tied the game at 2. The next batter grounded out and the go ahead run advanced to 3rd. The batter then fouled off a bunch of pitches and lined a 3-2 pitch into center field to bring the go ahead run home.
Westfield came to bat in the bottom of the 6th and took some good cuts, but they were not able to muster much offense and Bridgewater recorded the final out on a ground ball to 1st to secure the win and the state title.
Game notes...Difilippo and Mele were both 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Westfield plays their last game of the year in the finals of the Bridgewater tournament vs Flemington on Tuesday at 6:00 PM in Bridgewater.
Westfield pitcher Vin Difilippo was superb all night, throwing 5 1/3 innings of 6 hit ball and he did not walk anyone. The Westfield defense played one of their strongest games of the year behind their starting pitcher and there were several "Blue Ball" worthy plays made in the field (The "Blue Ball" is an award for outstanding defensive effort). Nick Mele made at least 4 spectacular plays in center field on line drives and fly balls, Chris Rinaldi and Chris Boutsikaris teamed up for a back hand stab of a grounder deep in the hole at short and a scoop for the out at first, Eric Varakian made two great plays -- one diving to knock down a grounder at 2nd and the other a diving catch in right field, Michael Mobarakai and Brett Robertshaw both made very good plays at 3rd base on hard hit balls and Chris Varano made a strong play at 2nd to rob a hit in the early innings. Devin Anderson caught all 6 innings and was extremely solid behind the plate all night for the Blue Devils. Westfield flashed the leather all night and it was one of the best defensive showings of the season.
While Difilippo was holding the Bridgewater bats in check, the Bridgewater pitcher was doing the same to the Westfield bats. Nick Mele broke through in the 2nd and missed a home run by less than a foot when his line drive to left center banged very high off of the fence. Mele was stranded on the bases in the 2nd, but Westfield scored 2 runs in the 3rd to take a 2-0 lead. Michael Mobarakai reached on a fielder's choice and then Eric Varakian and Chris Rinaldi singled to load the bases. Vin Difilippo's hard grounder to short allowed Mobarakai to score and then Mele drove in Varakian with an RBI single. Westfield threatened further in the inning but they were not able to plate any additional runs.
The score remained 2-0 going into the 6th. Bridgewater led off with a single and a stolen base. The runner advanced to 3rd on a single by the next batter, but the batter was thrown out at 2nd trying to advance to 2nd on the throw home. The runner on 3rd scored on a called balk to cut the Westfield lead to 2-1. Bridgewater's clean up hitter singled and Difilippo was relieved by Chris Rinaldi. The Bridgewater hitter worked the count to 3-2 and then tomahawked a high fastball over the bag at first for an RBI double which tied the game at 2. The next batter grounded out and the go ahead run advanced to 3rd. The batter then fouled off a bunch of pitches and lined a 3-2 pitch into center field to bring the go ahead run home.
Westfield came to bat in the bottom of the 6th and took some good cuts, but they were not able to muster much offense and Bridgewater recorded the final out on a ground ball to 1st to secure the win and the state title.
Game notes...Difilippo and Mele were both 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Westfield plays their last game of the year in the finals of the Bridgewater tournament vs Flemington on Tuesday at 6:00 PM in Bridgewater.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Rain Kills Westfield's NJASBL Season
Westfield White was forced to withdraw from the New Jersey All Star Baseball League Playoffs as a result of scheduling conflicts and playoff deadlines. Westfield was in the 4th inning of a quarter final round game with South Orange Maplewood and they had just started to come alive offensively when thunder halted play. Shortly afterwards lightening and heavy rains came forcing a cancellation of the game. The NJASBL mandated that all semi-final round games be completed by Monday, July 27th and because the quarter and semi final round games could not be completed today, Westfield had no choice but to withdraw due to conflicts with the Cal Ripken State Tournament Championship game on Monday.
Westfield plays next against Bridgewater on Monday at 6:00 PM in Hillsborough in the Cal Ripken State Tournament Championship game.
Westfield plays next against Bridgewater on Monday at 6:00 PM in Hillsborough in the Cal Ripken State Tournament Championship game.
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