Baseball: Governor Livingston holds on for wild win in UCT final
UNION – The celebration looked inevitable Monday night for the Governor Livingston High School baseball team as they led Westfield 10-0 in the Union County Tournament final. The No. 2 seed Highlanders needed three outs and ace Matty Diskin was pitching like one.
But Westfield wasn’t going to play props to the Highlanders’ coronation.
The top seed Blue Devils (16-4) scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the potential winning run at the plate. The blowout had become a thriller.
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Gov. Livingston junior Anthony DeNora – the third pitcher of the inning – got a swinging strikeout and the Highlanders had a 10-8 victory and fourth county title and second in four years. Last season the Highlanders lost to Cranford 1-0, which the unbeaten Cougars won on a walk-off hit.
Gov. Livingston coach Chris Roof said his team had been eager to make amends.
“We’ve all been around baseball long enough to know that it ain’t over in high school baseball until you get that 21st out,” said Roof. “I tip my cap to (Westfield coach) Jay (Cook) and to the Westfield team for never giving up. The team could’ve easily given up, but they didn’t.
“But our guys gutted it out and did the job and ten (runs) was enough.”
Both teams batted around in the remarkable seventh, scoring 15 runs.
“If we don’t score those seven runs this game probably ends up differently,” said Diskin, who struck out eight and walked one in six innings for the win.
Most of the Highlanders (19-3) who played in last year’s heartbreaking county final returned this season and though the celebration might have been delayed, it wasn’t less spirited.
“I'm a very passionate player, I enjoyed the moment I enjoyed the competition,” said Diskin. “Creds (credit) to Westfield, they were just hitting the balls in good spots, and they did what they were supposed to do.”
GL took a 1-0 lead in the second on Matt Shaffer’s RBI groundout. The Highlanders went up 3-0 in the third on sophomore shortstop Zach Geertsma’s booming RBI triple to center and sophomore catcher Mike Basile’s RBI single. That’s the way it stood until the wild seventh inning.
“For this group to come back a year later and get the job done in the counties, I mean it just shows the growth of this team,” said Roof.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: Governor Livingston wins UCT title
