Westfield White and their fans were tired after two State tournament games in less than 24 hours and they found themselves facing a very good opponent in Hazlet who they faced in the North Edison tournament semi-finals. Scott Tupper had plenty of gas left in the tank though and he threw 2 and 2/3 innings of spectacular shutout baseball, keeping the game close and providing Westfield's offense the opportunity to overtake Hazlet.
Westfield found themselves down by 3 runs after the top of the 2nd inning after a long 3 run homer by Hazlet's Sheehan. Westfield immediately responded in their half of the 2nd by scoring 4 runs to take the lead. Nick Mele led off the 2nd with a monster home run to deep center field to put Westfield on the board. After an out was recorded, the next 5 Westfield batters reached base, including Chris Boutsikaris, Chris Varano, Hopper Murray and Michael Mobarakai who all came up with hits. Murray crossed the plate with the 4th run to give Westfield a 4-3 lead.
Hazlet came roaring back with 3 runs in the top of the 3rd via another long 3 run home run to left center field. Scott Tupper was called on to take the mound and he escaped the 3rd without any further damage. Westfield's offense went to work immediately and they scored 3 runs in their half of the 3rd inning to take a 7-6 lead. Eric Varakian led off with a walk and Chris Rinaldi followed with a single. After both runners stole bases, Mele hit another long drive to deep center field and this one banged off of the fence for a 2 RBI double. Mele then scored on a Devin Anderson single.
Tupper took the mound in the 4th and the 5th and he threw a mix of pitches to keep Hazlet off balance and they were unable to get anything going. Westfield extended their lead to 10-6 in the bottom of the 4th with 3 more runs. Hopper Murray started the rally with his 2nd hit of the night and a stolen base. Mobarakai singled in Murray and then Brett Robertshaw singled as well. Eric Varakian knocked in 2 runs with a key single to right center and Chris Rinaldi followed with an RBI single to center.
Varakian relieved Tupper in the 6th and he threw a 1-2-3 inning to secure the win.
Westfield plays next on Sunday at 12:00 PM in Hillsborough against South Orange Maplewood in Cal Ripken State tournament play.
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