WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Westwood continues to build a strong case for a top-four seed for the Bergen County baseball tournament.
The hard-hitting Cardinals, No. 4 in the NorthJersey.com Top 25 rankings, out-smashed No. 7 Ramapo, 9-8, Thursday in the Big North Conference to improve to 12-1.
Joe Cerritelli hit a three-run home run to left-center field in the fifth inning to give Westwood a 9-6 lead and continue its streak of scoring at least eight runs in every game.
“We just battle all game long,” said Cerritelli, a sophomore shortstop. “We thrive off hits and we got back at them.”
Ramapo smashed three homers in the fourth to turn a 5-1 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Senior Payne Teel and junior Charlie Wingfield, the starting pitcher, hit solo shots down the left-field line. Senior Aidan Hayward hit a two-run blast to left to give the Green Raiders their 6-5 lead.
“We showed some fight being down 5-1 there with the inning where we strung together three home runs,” Ramapo coach Mike Esposito said. “But we’ve got to be able to make the plays down the line to take that ballgame.”
Westwood senior reliever Andrew Dillingham delivered a 1-2-3 seventh thanks to a diving catch in the outfield. Senior left fielder Sam Arcieri made a diving grab near the line to prevent what would have been a leadoff double.
Dillingham, who started the game at third base and was chosen a member of the NorthJersey.com “Mr. Versatility” team, then induced a flyout to center and groundout to shortstop.
“That was big-league play, and an even bigger spot to start off the last inning up a run,” Westwood coach Nick Urbanovich said of Arcieri’s catch. “If that ball goes to the fence, now we’ve got a man on second and no outs and who knows what’s going to happen.”
What it means
Westwood has three more games leading into Wednesday night’s Bergen County tournament seeding meeting: Saturday at Rutherford and next week’s home-and-away against one of North Jersey’s most improved teams, No. 12 Indian Hills.
Urbanovich mentioned defending champion Don Bosco, St. Joseph and Ridgewood as other high seeds, and three wins would guarantee a top-four slot for the Cardinals. Two more victories might also be good enough.
“When I first got here, it was ‘Just get in the tournament,’” said Urbanovich, whose team has made five county tournaments in his six seasons. “And now it’s time to take the next step as a program, which is good.”
Key inning
Cerritelli’s three-run homer was part of a four-run fifth that provided a 9-6 lead. It came after Ramapo (9-4) scored five runs in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead. Cerritelli was the No. 8 hitter and struck out and flew out in his first two at-bats.
Cerritelli’s homer came with two outs and scored senior Joe Klein, who reached on a one-out walk, and Dillingham, who with two outs reached on an infield error that allowed sophomore Jack Walsh to score to tie it, 6-6.
“It was amazing,” Ceritelli said of his game-winning hit and first varsity homer. “I got the high fastball, took it to left-center, and it was great.”
“He’s been battling, he’s been making adjustments,” said Urbanovich, whose Cardinals average 12.1 runs per game. “And we’ve been working daily with him, to get him back to where he was, and where he could be. And he ran into a ball.”
By the numbers
Westwood had eight hits and three infield errors. Walsh, the starting pitcher and cleanup hitter, was the best Cardinal with a bat, going 3 for 3, with three runs and an RBI.
Ramapo had eight hits and four infield errors. Teel, who started in center field and shifted to shortstop, was 3 for 4, with two runs and an RBI. Hayward was 2 for 4, with two runs and two RBIs.
“What it came down to was they made more plays on defense than we did,” said Esposito, whose Green Raiders remain in contention for a high seed for the Bergen tournament. “We gave them some extra outs, and in high school baseball, when you give a team more than 21 outs, you kind of hurt yourself there.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0