Westfield Works Win on Warm Wednesday in S. Orange

Written by Whitney Bremer

Westfield White continued its hot streak Wednesday night with a victory against South Orange.

The ninth game action began with a left center double by Rinaldi. Following a walk by Barmakian, Rinaldi scored on a Bremer sack fly to center field, giving Westfield one run at the end of its first at-bat. With Barmakian at the mound, our defense then stepped into action. The Heinbokel-Rinaldi dynamic defensive duo thwarted a steal attempt at second and, although South Orange later managed to load the bases, Varakian at second base fielded a grounder and made the last out at first. 1-0 at the end of the first.

Despite a commendable shot by Varakian, the second inning produced no runs for Westfield. The bottom of the inning was 3-up, 3-down, thanks to a Barmakian strikeout and great defensive plays by Varakian, DiFilippo and Boutsikaris. 1-0 at the end of the second.

Hits by Heinbokel and Rinaldi, and a walk by Oberman, loaded the bases at the top of the third inning. Bremer’s grounder resulted in Heinbokel and Oberman scoring, bringing the score to 3-0. Although South Orange scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, and then loaded the bases, Barmakian executed a well-timed strikeout to end the inning. 3-2 at the end of the third.

In the fourth inning, Boutsikaris racked up Westfield’s 4th run on Heinbokel’s hit to right center. Heinbokel took over the mound at the bottom of the inning, allowing two runs but prevailing with three strikeouts. 4-4 at the end of the fourth.

In the fifth inning, Barmakian doubled with a shot to left center, and was brought home by Bremer’s single. The action continued with a Varano bomb to right, resulting in a triple for Varano and allowing Bremer to cross the plate. Rinaldi stepped onto the mound and kept the South Orange bats at bay. 6-4 at the end of the fifth.

Westfield continued it rally in the sixth. Varakian started the bats with a strong hit to left, and Heinbokel brought him home with a shot to center. Returning the favor, Oberman followed with a solid hit to left, bringing Heinbokel home and increasing Westfield’s lead to four runs. When Boutsikaris took over the mound, Westfield’s defense continued to hold South Orange at bay. 8-4 at the end of the sixth.

The final inning was punctuated by Anderson’s impressive double down the third base line, allowing both DiFilippo and Bremer to score. Boutsikaris then knocked Anderson in, bringing the score to 11-4. South Orange’s last at-bat was cut short by Boutsikaris strikeouts of the final two batters.
Final score: 11-4. Another win for Westfield: priceless.