The regular season came to a close for a pair of tournament-bound high school baseball teams.
Westfield, behind a 3-run homer from Kyle Murphy, defeated Southwick-Tolland Regional in an independent matchup at Bullens Field Saturday.
Murphy’s third-inning blast was all that Westfield pitcher Nate Barnes needed to work with. Barnes struck out eight batters in seven complete innings.
Southwick had a chance to tie or win it in the seventh with runners at second and third, but Ross Lebo was robbed of a hit by a diving catch in left field to end the game.
“It was a pretty good game,” Southwick coach Tim Karetka said. “We just couldn’t get the bats going. Fortunately it was close, but not close enough.”
Southwick (12-8) and Westfield (16-4) now await Tuesday’s unveiling of the postseason seeds for tournament play. The Rams will compete in the D2 tournament, and the Bombers in D1.
“We actually took something positive against a very good team in Division 1,” coach Karetka said. “We played well defensively; we’re ready to go into the tournament.”
