JV Baseball Finishes Season with County Championship

The Westfield High School junior varsity baseball team capped an impressive season with the county championship.

The team, a traditional feeder team for the varsity squad, gained the county crown after a 13-3 regular season record, which garnered attention from teams across the county and conference.

“Our kids played great this season,” coach Ken Miller said. “We started off 1-2 and our team batting average was .140 during those three games. Our kids worked hard and we won a big game against Union that catapulted us to a 10-game winning streak.”

After earning the third seed in the county tournament, Westfield first defeated Union Catholic. The Blue Devils ran into a tough pitcher for the Vikings, but came away with a 3-1 victory. Next up was Cranford, the sixth seed, a traditional powerhouse in county tournament play. Westfield beat the Cougars in a tight game to advance to the semi-final round.

There, the Blue Devils did not give seventh seed Roselle Catholic a chance and won the game in convincing fashion, 21-1. That set up a match-up against undefeated Scotch Plains in the county finals under the lights on May 21 at Weber Field in Union.

“I thought we had to play a flawless game,” Miller said about the county finals.

Sophomore Blue Devil right-hander Justin White dominated Scotch Plains, allowing one run, five hits, no walks while striking out seven in a complete game to earn the 6-1 victory.

“Justin was so dominant that his curveball and change-up had them fooled all game. He gave up five singles and after an unearned run in the third inning, he did not allow a runner past first base,” Miller said.

Meanwhile, Westfield's Tim Younger was solid at shortstop making several fine plays. Younger finished the season committing only one error on the year.

“We had one inning where we gave them five outs, but only allowed one run,” Miller said. “We capitalized on the errors they made and, after our one bad inning, we shut it down.”

On the offensive side, Westfield's Matt Rivera, took the life out of Scotch Plains when he hit a three-run home run to provide an early 5-0 lead.

The county provides an encouraging outlook on the future, with a strong pitching staff looking to lead next year. While led by White, the team leader in wins, earned runs and innings pitched, other standouts on the hill were Trip Nugent, Dan Wickens, Matt Rivera, Justin Erickson, Tim Younger and Zack Archambault.

“Justin White was lights out in the county tournament and got better as he went on,” Miller said.

On the other side of the field, Younger, the lead-off hitter and shortstop, was the spark plug on the team.

“In my 15 years coaching JV, Tim [Younger] is the best shortstop I’ve ever had,” Miller said. “He made some remarkable plays in the finals for us.”

 The outfield was strong offensively, led by Steven Forgash, who batted .500, Kevin Clancy and Greg Fortino. First baseman Brett Johnson added the pop to the lineup while Willy Riggs, James Barry and Tony Mastrocola were also big contributors to the team.

Many players will be involved in American Legion baseball this summer, in preparation for next year’s season.

“There is a great future for baseball in Westfield,” Miller said.