BASEBALL ROUNDUP
MAJOR LEAGUE
GAME DATE: 4/16/16
Moose Lodge 4, Kiwanis 1
Going up against a tough Moose Lodge ball club, Kiwanis looked to start the season off on the right foot after winning the division in 2015. Kiwanis had Cam Hoynoski on the hill versus southpaw Danny Provost for Moose.
Moose jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Kiwanis was able to get 1 back in the bottom half of the inning. Moose Club had outstanding starting pitching from Danny Provost and his younger brother Alex also pitched great in relief. The Provost Brothers were too much for Kiwanis taking the opening game 4-1.
Cam Hoynoski and Anthony Schabowski pitched well for Kiwanis, with outstanding defense from Ryan Goyette, Bryce Alaconis, Anthony Schabowski, Cam Cusack, Logan Hansen, and Dylan Arooth.
GAME DATE: 4/17/16
Slovak 6, Kiwanis 2
Before the season even began, this game was circled on everyone’s calendar. Two storied franchises and two fireball pitchers going head to head on a cold spring night. Kiwanis’ Riley “Bulldog” Sullivan would square off against Slovak’s Troy Hevey in a game dominated by strikeouts. It was a very well-played game throughout, with nice defensive from Jared Noel, Colin Cusack, Dylan Arooth, and Anthony Schabowski.
With Kiwanis down 5-0 heading into the top of the 4th, the boys needed to get the bats going. Joey Calderella started the rally with a base hit to right. Next up, Riley Sullivan. After a few nasty pitches, Sullivan calmed and collected himself, got back into the box, and then deposited the next pitch over the right center field fence for his first ever Home Run. Sullivan’s blast cut the lead to 5-2, but the Kiwanis bats ran out of steam and the team lost 6-2, dropping to 0-2 record on the season.
GAME DATE: 4/23/16
Commercial Distributing 3, Hastie Fence 2
Commercial Distributing and Hastie Fence tangled on Saturday at Cross Street. The game was tightly contested with Commercial claiming the win with late inning excitement. With the win, Commercial improved to 2-1.
In the bottom of the first, Colby Nadeau and Aidan King scored after reaching on a walk and an error. Kyle Scherpa was credited with an RBI with a sacrifice fly that brought in King. Hastie responded with a run of their own in the second after a leadoff single and a defensive miscue by Commercial. After 2 innings Commercial led 2-1.
The score held until the 6th inning. In the sixth, Hastie’s first batter ripped a shot past the center fielder Nadeau. Nadeau retrieved the ball and threw in to second baseman Ryan LaPoint who relayed to third baseman Colby LaPoint. The tag was applied and the runner, credited with a double, was gunned down trying to extend to triple. Hastie would score however when the next two batters singled and doubled to tie the score at 2-2. The inning would end with a bloop fly ball into shallow right that was tracked down by Ryan LaPoint.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ryan LaPoint reached base on an infield error. He was moved along by a hit from brother Colby LaPoint. He scored on a pass ball to give Commercial the win by a score of 3-2.
GAME DATE: 4/24/16
Commercial Distributing 9, Moose 4
The Moose Club and Commercial Distributing met on Sunday in an entertaining baseball contest. Commercial (3-1) came out on top by a score of 9-4.
Moose jumped out to a 1-0 lead taking advantage of a double and single in the first inning. Commercial responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the inning due to a leadoff walk and 4 consecutive hits (Colby LaPoint, Jay Scherpa, Aidan King and Kyle Scherpa). The game was tied up in the third with Moose tacking on 3 runs of their own with a 5 hit inning. With the scored tied at 4, Commercial moved ahead for good with another barrage of hits led by Darin Towle, Ryan LaPoint, and Jeffrey Donahue.
Commercial bats were on display with each of the first 9 batters in the lineup recording hits en route to an 11 hit attack. Multiple hitters were Jay Scherpa (single, triple) and Colby LaPoint (2 singles). Colby Nadeau added a triple in the 5th inning leading to the final run.
Pitcher Kyle Scherpa provided 3 innings of scoreless relief for Commercial.
Westfield Police Association 7, Slovak 1 Slovak Club faced off against rival Westfield Police Association in the American Division. Liam Poole took to the mound to pitch for Slovak Club delivering two great innings while James Coach worked hard behind the plate. Slovak Club offensive was strong but Westfield Police Association made key plays on the defensive side. Derek O’Dea hit a single, driving in Sullivan Donohue to score. Carlos Rodriguez pitched the third and the fourth innings while Jax Grady pitched the last two innings for Slovak. This was Jax Grady first Major’s pitching performance of the season.
Jacob Wagner was strong on the mound for Westfield Police, holding Slovaks bats to one run. Police were on fire at the plate with hits by Kareem Zaghloul, Jacob Wagner, Colin Reed, Zachary Olsen, Dakota Durkee. Wagner was backed up defensively in the field by Andrew Bruno , Sean Roselli , Sam Yesu tracking fly balls in the outfield. Keep it up police.
Westfield Police Association beat Slovak Club giving them their first loss of the season.
Sons of Erin 6, Kiwanis 4
After a thrilling win the previous day, Kiwanis looked to get back to .500 on the season against a tough Sons of Erin team. However, Sons of Erin pitcher Scotty Hepburn had something else in mind. Hepburn dominated Kiwanis from the start, striking out multiple hitters on multiple occasions. But Kiwanis would not be outmatched, and they had great starting pitching from Anthony Schabowski who went three and two-thirds of an inning. Colin Cusack, making his first Major’s appearance in relief, continued the strong pitching effort for the black and orange.
Kiwanis had outstanding defense from Dylan Arooth, Ryan Goyette, Jared Noel, Bryce Alaconis, Logan Hansen, and Cam Cusack. Cam Hoynoski, Joey Calerdella and Anthony Schabowski all had hits for Kiwanis.
Sons of Erin held on to win, 6-4. Kiwanis drops to 1-3 on the season.
GAME DATE: 4/23/2016
Slovak 4, Air Compressor 3 Slovak Club was well matched against National League rival Air Compressor at Cross Street field. Derek O’Dea took to the mound to pitch for Slovak Club delivering three great innings while Sullivan Donohue worked hard behind the plate. Slovak Club and Air Compressor dueled it out with a tie game 3 to 3 in a pitching battle and great defensive game. Carlos Rodriguez and Liam Poole pitched two innings in relief for O’Dea. Slovak Club scored when Derek O’Dea at the bottom of the sixth inning on a pass ball at home plate. Slovak Club went on to beat Air Compressor in a very tight well-played game 4-3. Slovak Club is 3-0 and is in first place in the American Division.
Westfield Police 15, Moose Club 5
Westfield Police had another great weekend with a win over Moose Club 15-5.
Police lead with a strong hitting attack with hits by Sean Roselli, Jacob Wagner , Nick Montanoro, Nick lenfest , Josaih Alvalle and a great pitching performance by Kareem Zaghloul.
Kiwanis 11, Advance Manufacturing 0
There are times in a team’s season where you need that one individual to stand up and say, “No more”. A stopper if you will, a boy who is willing to take the ball on the mound and do whatever is needed to stop the losing streak. For Kiwanis, that boy was Joey Calderella. Calderella was outstanding right from the start, and the Kiwanis bats finally came alive.
Dylan Arooth was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Joey Calderella was 1 for 3 with 1 run scored. Riley Sullivan had 3 walks and 3 runs scored. Cam Cusack drove in two runs with a ringing double to right center. Bryce Alaconis helped in the effort going 1 for 3 with two RBIs. And Jared Noel was outstanding behind the dish.
But as the game reach the later innings innings, a hush came across historic Paper Mill field. Calderella sat alone in the dugout, undisturbed by his coaches or teammates, in fear of the jinx. As Calderella walked out to the mound in the last inning, everyone held their breath. He was a mere 3 outs from immortality, and a no-hitter. After a hits batsman, Calderella settled down and retired the next two hitters on strikeouts. And with two outs, Calderella induced a ground ball to Riley Sullivan at short who made the play and secured the no hitter! A feat that will forever go down in Westfield Little League history! This was Joey Calderella’s first no-hitter.
Kiwanis would win the game 11-0 and improved their record to 1-2.
WHEELER DIVISION
GAME DATE: 4/28/16
Firtion Adams Funeral Home 10, Elks Club 6
Firtion Adams Funeral Home went deep in its bullpen, bringing five pitchers to the mound over six innings in a 10-6 victory over the Elks Club. Alejandro Rogers started for Firtion Adams and struck out 5 hitters over the first two innings. Parker Roit and Sam Slattery combined to pitch three scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts for Firtion Adams. Gavin Connors closed out the game striking out the final two hitters for the Elks Club.
Ethan Connors and Gavin Connors led the way at the plate for Firtion Adams with two hits and two runs each. Will Fruwirth hit a solid line drive single and a RBI while Darrin Schnopp and Brian MacIntosh each reached base twice and scored two runs.
The Elks Club played hard and scored three runs at the top of the sixth inning to close the gap to four runs.
GAME DATE: 4/24/16
Elks Club 17, SBS 7
Specialty Bolt came up short in a loss to Elks club this weekend. Joshua Wagner started for SBS on the mound and went up and down the line up with 9 strikeouts in three innings. Specialty Bolt had hits by Johnny Blaze, Josh Wagner, Cole Torres, Jacob Hanselman. Logan Allen and Drew Masters had some good defensive plays.
Specialty Bolt will be back on the field this weekend playing for a win.
Firtion Adams Funeral Home 18, Fenway Westfield 8
Firtion Adams Funeral Home got off to a fast start Sunday evening against Fenway Westfield scoring 5 runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 18-8 victory. Alejandro Rogers reached base in all four at plate appearances and scored two runs out of the lead off spot for Firtion Adams. Gavin Connors had three hits and scored three runs for Firtion Adams and Michael Miller had a pair of hits and scored three times. Teammates Darrin Schnopp, Will Halbert, and Sam Slattery collectively pitched well and each scored two runs for Firtion Adams. Fenway Westfield had a big 5 run third inning to close the score to 12-7, but Firtion Adams pulled away with a big 6 run last inning to seal the win.
SOFTBALL ROUNDUP
12U Division
Game Date: 4/21/16
Richards Grinders 10, Carpet Wizard 18
Carpet Wizard brought their bats to Sadie Knox on Thursday against Richards Grinders. First year 12U player Maria Bonfitto crushed 2 balls for a double and single to lead the offense. Olivia Lawry and Carly James both went 3-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Megan Cichonski was lights out in relief. She pitched the final 3 innings allowing no hits, no runs and striking out 7.
Game Date: 4/16/16
Carpet Wizard 14, Westfield Bank 4
Carpet Wizard came to play on opening day against rival Westfield Bank. Ava Cichonski got the start pitching with 2 solid innings and striking out 4. Carly James provided solid relief going 3innings and striking out 5. First year 12U player Megan Cichonski shut the door pitching the final inning. Isabella Morganelli had a great day at the plate going 3-3 with a double and 2 runs scored. Ciara Toporowski, James and Chiconski all added to the offense with 2 hits each. Emma Mazeika had a great day on the base path, reaching base and scoring on all three of her at bats.
10U DIVISION
GAME DATE: 4/28/16
OMG 5, Kiwanis 4
Although Kiwanis came up on the short end of a 5-4 score it was a great game. Ali LaPanne pitched three strong innings striking out 6 and walking 2 while only giving up 2 runs. Alaina Raco pitched two strong innings as well, striking out 5. At the plate for Kiwanis, Moja Premny led the way with two hits and a run batted in. Allie Stucenski, Grace Leduc, and Alejandra Strange also had hits for Kiwanis. Julia Daley made a great play in the field and drove in a run with a ground out. LaPanne also drove in a run with a ground out. In the field, Tristan Macznik made two great plays at shortstop and stole two bases, and Mia Tavares threw out a runner at first from right field.
GAME DATE: 4/23/16
Firtion Adams 18, OMG 13
Firtion took an early lead in the 1st inning against OMG, scoring 3 with hits from Chelsey Priest, Kelsey Bouchard, and Gabby Grabiec. The game stayed close thanks to steady pitching by Shea Hurley, Bouchard, and Paige Hutkoski. After a tough 4th inning, Firtion found themselves down by 5 going into the final inning. After several base hits, Becky Masoitt started a 12 run streak for Firtion with a base clearing double. Also contributing with base hits were Charlotte Bouye, Grace Burke, Hutkoski, Hurley, and Alex LaMountain.
In an exciting finish it was Firtion Adams over OMG. – Courtesy of Westfield Little League
