Westfield Blitzes Scotch Plains, 15-7

Eric Demers had 2 home runs & 5 RBI and Liam Devin had a homer of his own & 4 runs batted in to lead Westfield to a 15-7 win over Scotch Plains in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 State Tournament on May 20th in Scotch Plains.

After being held to a meager 3 runs in their previous 26 innings, the Westfield offense awoke in the top of the 6th, plating 8 runs to erase a 5-1 Raider lead. Chris Arena (3 hits, RBI) led off the frame with a double and scored on Demers' first blast, a 2-run shot that cut the Scotch Plains lead to 5-3. Matt Storks doubled and lead off batter Anthony Perconte (3 hits, RBI double) reached on a bunt single to put the tying runs on base. Quinn Dursee (double, RBI) then lofted a sacrifice fly & Mike Ionta (2 hits, RBI) followed with a double to drive home the tying run to make it 5-5. After Devin (2 hits) reached on an error, Jake Greenberg laced a 2-run single to give Westfield a 7-5 lead they would never relinquish.

Demers (3 hits) had an RBI double later in the 6th as Westfield batted around in the inning. Devin's 3-run shot & Demers' 2nd roundtripper of the game put the game out of reach in the 7th for Westfield.

Scotch Plains jumped ahead 4-0 on first inning home runs by Kevin Maxwell (2 hits) & Christian Zazzali (3 hits). Brad Alleman ripped 3 doubles & had 3 runs batted in for the Raiders.

The Blue Devils' Kevin Galasso had another strong performance on the mound, settling down after the 1st and pitching a complete game with 8 strikeouts. Galasso has been a workhorse for Westfield this year, pitching into the 6th inning of every start on his way to a sterling 6-2 record.

Next up for Westfield (13-11) are the state quarterfinals vs. Linden at Bob Brewster Sr. Field in Westfield on Friday, May 24th @ 4pm.