Westwood Softball U10 - Playoffs Today

Monday, June 27 game, at Westvale Park
Midland Park Summer Softball League, U10 Division
FINAL: Wyckoff 29, Westwood 27 (9 innings; game concluded on July 21)

The Westwood Cardinals concluded their regular season with a 29-27 loss to Wyckoff on Thursday night -- a wild, back and forth game that began 3.5 weeks prior, and finished after two extra innings.

Once upon a time, the game started, on June 27, and Wyckoff broke out to a quick 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, Westwood benefited from 11 straight walks, 13 in total, plus an RBI single by Katie A to take an 11-4 lead. The Cardinals then scored a run in the second (Hailey V ground-out drove in Shannon M) and third (Tina F fielder's choice scored Delaney F), but Wyckoff scored three (second) and seven (third) to take a 14-13 lead after three.

Wyckoff then tallied five more in the fifth, before Westwood responded with six of their own in the bottom half (bases loaded walks by Tina and Sam L, RBI singles by Ally D and Shannon, RBI ground-out by Annaliese G) to make it 19-19 after five.

Still with me? OK, in the sixth Wyckoff scored four, but the Cardinals came back again in the bottom half with five runs (bases loaded walk by Jillian P, bases loaded hit-by-pitch by Katie A, two-run single by Tina and RBI ground-out by Sam). Westwood led 24-23 after six. Wyckoff would not give up, scoring three in the top half of the seventh. As the Westwood girls got ready for their last licks, the lights went out. It was 10 p.m., apparently enough softball for one night. The league ruled that the teams had to complete the game from where it left off, so fast forward to July 21. Westwood, down 26-24, battled back to tie the game at 26 (RBI ground-out by Kaitlyn K and clutch two-out bases loaded walk by Delaney). Off to extra innings -- neither team scored in the eighth, but Wyckoff scored three in the ninth, Westwood only managed one run in the bottom half (bases loaded walk to Lauren B). Four hour, 15 minutes -- and three and a half weeks -- later, the final score was: Wyckoff 29-27.

The good news for the Westwood girls: they get another shot at Wyckoff in the first round of the playoffs (Monday night, July 25, at 6:30 p.m. at Westvale Park). It was a successful first travel season for the girls, as the Cardinals finished with an 8-4 record and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs (8 out of 13 teams make the playoffs). Playoffs are single-elimination. Westwood has to beat fifth seed Wyckoff to make the semifinals (the U10 semis are Tuesday night, finals Wednesday night). The girls have had fun all season, learned a lot, showed a lot of determination and have improved tremendously along the way. The players, and coaches, look forward to the opportunity to compete in the playoffs this week. We hope to see fans come out and support this team.