Cranford Edges Westfield 6-5 For Union County Baseball Crown

It was everything a baseball fan could want from a championship game. Two storied programs, stars, unsung heroes and edge-of-your-seat excitement from start to finish as Cranford edged Westfield 6-5 in the 57^th Union County Tournament Championship game played at Williams Field in Elizabeth.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said junior shortstop Sean Trotter. "We beat a very good team. We played our hearts out and it's a good win."

"It means a lot," said junior Greg Matlosz. "I lost my voice cheering the team on, and we finally did it."

The Cougars and Blue Devils entered with a combined 17 county titles to their credit, led by two of the best coaches in the state in Cranford's Dennis McCaffery and Westfield's Bobby Brewster.

"It was a good one to get, it really was," said McCaffery, in his 12^th season at the Cranford helm. "It's a credit to our kids. They hung in there. They worked the entire game. We played a very good Westfield team, and we were fortunate to be able to pull it out today."

"We had two good teams," said Brewster. "Cranford is fundamentally sound. They don't make mistakes. I saw a lot of really nice baseball plays. It was played well."

Westfield (16-8), which struggled to get early runs through the first three games of the tournament, struck first when they pushed across a run in the first inning before adding four more in the top of the third for a 5-0 lead.

But in the bottom half of that frame, the Cougars answered right back with five runs to tie the score. Sean Trotter, whose batting average has been hovering around the .400 mark all season, came through with a single before Nick Pace and Greg Matlosz drew walks. It was then Mark Osofsky's turn, and he came through with a clutch two-run single to cut the lead to 5-2.

That opened the door for senior Nick Cook, who knew he could tie the game with one swing.

And that's exactly what he did, sending the Aidan Scanlon fastball over the right field fence to even the score at 5-5 and change the momentum of the game.

"It was a fastball a little down in the zone," said Cook, who is headed for a college career at Widener University in Pennsylvania. "I got a good swing on it, and the wind caught it. I was just hoping, rounding first base, that it was going over."

"Once we were down 5-0, I knew we still had a shot," said Pace, a senior centerfielder who made a great diving catch in the contest to thwart a rally. "As long as we'd start hitting the ball, we'd be all right."

"Our pitcher had one tough inning and that's the way the game went down," said Brewster. "That's baseball. It's a game of inches. Always has been, and always will be."

Meanwhile, McCaffery was looking for a way to shut down the Blue Devils vaunted offense, so he called on freshman lefthander Ryan Williamson, who has pitched well beyond his years during his debut campaign.

How would he handle the pressure? By tossing 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball, while mixing his fastball and outstanding curveball with precision.

"You just gotta keep throwing strikes," said the southpaw. "Coach really told me to throw strikes. You gotta trust your teammates behind you to make the plays for you. It feels great."

With Scanlon and Williamson throwing well, both teams were looking to manufacture a run. Cranford did just that in the last of the fifth, when junior rightfielder Eric Walano doubled to lead off the inning. Matlosz then hit a fly ball to right field, which was deep enough for Walano to tag and head to third.

After Westfield first baseman Dan Kerr dove to his right to make a diving stop to rob Osofsky of a base hit, Nick Cook stepped up to the plate looking to add to his hero status. But with the count at 2-2, and Scanlon looking for a strikeout pitch, the righthander fired one over catcher A.J. Murray's head to the backstop, which allowed Walano to hustle home to give Cranford a 6-5 lead.

"I was able to get a good read on the wild pitch," said Walano. "I got over there, and I ran as hard as I could, and just slid head first. It was a great feeling to score that run."

Westfield rallied in the top of the seventh, when a long hit against the fence down the left field line was held to a single thanks to Osofsky's hustle and strong arm. Earlier in the inning, Osofsky came up with a big defensive catch on a line drive. Both plays could have changed the outcome.

"I wanted to play it off the wall correctly so that he couldn't get to second," said Osofsky. "Luckily, I made a good play off the wall and he couldn't get there."

It turned out to be a key moment, when two batters later, Williamson gave up a single up the middle which would have tied the game. Instead, there were runners at first and second.

Williamson got out of the jam when he induced a ground ball to Ghiretti at second, who tossed to Cook for the final out, locking up the Cougars' sixth county title in 12 years and first since 2007.

"I love him," said Pace of  Williamson. "Good leadership. He came out there and threw his best."

"Ryan's an outstanding pitcher," said senior catcher Marc Linger. "He's not a finesse pitcher, he rears back and throws as hard as he can but he does an outstanding job. He did the job today and got those guys out."

"I know he's a freshman in grade, but he's a very poised young man and we were not surprised at all to see him give us that type of effort," said McCaffery. "He did an outstanding job keeping the score where it was and not letting other damage happen. It's a credit to Ryan, to the kids, it's a credit to the town and the little league for getting him to pitch at this level in his freshman year."

With the sweet taste of victory in hand, the Cougars did their best to try and take in the whole experience.

"It's great winning the county championship, we havn't won it in three years," said Linger. "It's fabulous to win it, against Westfield especially, even better. It means we got the season sweep, but now we have to go into the states and go on from there."

"It's very satisfying," said McCaffery. "We lost a game earlier this season and the kids approached me about hitting in the morning and really try and work on the area of hitting. It's a credit to them, it's a credit to their hard work, and it's nice to see hard work pay off for them to be county champs."

"We have a great baseball team, and we'd like to keep our success going," said Walano.

"It feels great, but we have to stay focused and keep going," said senior Rob Ghiretti.

For senior pitcher Pat Gilstrap (4-0), getting to start in the championship game and watching his team win is a feeling he'll never forget.

"It feels great. It was a great team victory. We really worked for the win. I can't describe it. I don't want to leave. I want to play here another year. This is the best team I ever played on. I feel like family. We just play good as a whole. I don't want to leave. I love it."

Cranford (20-5) will have little time to relax, with the state tournament kicking off Monday with a 4 p.m. home game at Memorial Field.