Gotti, Westwood Roll Over Wellesley

Westwood's 11A Little League team was victorious Monday night, defeating Wellesley's Red squad 12-3 at Morrison Field.

Westwood starter Brian Gotti threw four solid innings in the win, allowing one hit and striking out six batters.

"The kid throws hard," his coach, Bill Reissfelder, said. "He's tough; he's gutty; he mixes a bunch of pitches in; and every time they threatened and got guys on base, you could see his heart just growing. The kid just wanted it too much, and he was fantastic tonight."

Gotti also went 3-3 at the plate and scored three runs.

Westwood was up 3-0 in the second inning, when third baseman Courtney McCue stepped to the plate and pounded a two-run homer to left field.

"The kids were so pumped for her," Reissfelder said. "It was such a big moment . . . she put a swing on the ball, and it was gone in a second."

The game started to go Wellesley's way in the fifth inning, as the visitors scored three runs and cut the deficit to 8-3.

Wellesley's Jack Wayman got the inning started with a pinch-hit single and scored on a Jack Waisel RBI groundout. Teammate Cooper Richards also had an RBI single in the inning.

Although the deficit was too much for Wellesley to overcome, coach Dave Rosenblatt said the fifth-inning rally will help his team build confidence heading into the playoffs.

"Unfortunately, we only played one inning tonight," he said. "We swung the bats well that inning, but they played a better game tonight."

Jacob Morris contributed to Westwood's offense, going 2-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. He also pitched the final two innings in relief of Gotti.