Baseball: What stood out at Saturday's Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals
WOOD-RIDGE – Westwood’s cleanup hitter, sophomore Jack Walsh, has a knack for knocking game-winning hits.
Walsh smacked his third game-winner of the season to lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory in eight innings over Indian Hills in Saturday’s quarterfinals of the 65th Bergen County Baseball Tournament at the Wood-Ridge Athletic Complex.
“He’s got a slow heartbeat, nothing really bothers him, and he’s only going to get better,” Westwood coach Nick Urbanovich said.
Walsh’s two-out single through the left side lifted third-seeded Westwood into the semifinals, where it will face No. 10 Ramapo next Saturday at 2 p.m. at Demarest. In the 11 a.m. semifinal, top-seeded and defending champion Don Bosco will battle rival and No. 4 St. Joseph.
Walsh had a productive day at the plate and on the mound. He was 2 for 4, doubling and scoring a run in the fifth to give Westwood (17-5) a 1-0 lead. The right-hander also earned the win after throwing a scoreless seventh and eighth inning.
Indian Hills (16-6) had taken a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a two-out, two-run double to right-center by senior Cole Babaian. He drove in senior Nick Vitelli, who led off with a single to right, and junior cleanup hitter RJ Renshaw, who reached on a two-out walk.
Westwood had two at-bats in the seventh to win it and could not capitalize. With the bases loaded and one out, Indian Hills senior reliever Sean Pimley escaped with a strikeout and groundout.
That created the chance for Walsh in the eighth. Walsh capitalized after senior MD Cabral singled through the right side and his courtesy runner, junior Eli Tavares, stole second and moved to third on a 4-3 groundout. Walsh took a curve for a ball, then hit a fastball to win it.
“It was a crazy game,” Walsh said. “We had many opportunities, the game just kept going, and I got the walk-off, which is great.”
Here’s a look at the other three quarterfinals:
Grosfelt carries Ramapo
Senior right-hander Ken Grosfelt threw a three-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts to lift Ramapo to a 1-0 victory over No. 2 Ridgewood. Grosfelt labeled it, “Easily the best game I’ve pitched in my career.”
“Kenny Grosfelt pitched lights out,” co-coach Mike Esposito said after the Raiders played their third one-run game against Ridgewood this season and won for the second time. “He really had a competitive attitude out there, and we backed him up defensively.”
Ramapo (14-8) scored in the top of the seventh on senior Owen Wilson’s run-scoring single. Sophomore Alex Bellovich reached on a leadoff walk, the courtesy runner, junior Jayden Amadeo, advanced two bases on an errant pickoff throw, and Wilson singled to left-center.
Ramapo looks to avenge last month’s error-filled, 9-8 loss at Westwood. “We’ve been telling the kids, ‘Survive and advance,’” Esposito said, “and we’re excited to have a chance to play in a semifinal game and get after it.”
Lee leads Don Bosco
Sophomore Ethan Lee tossed a two-hitter with no earned runs, one walk and eight strikeouts to guide host Don Bosco to a 7-1 victory over No. 9 Hackensack. Only twice did Lee reach a three-ball count, and he retired 11 of the final 12 batters.
Junior Jayden Pena had a two-run single to give Don Bosco a 3-1 lead. Junior Dylan Espinal had a two-run double, and sophomore Junzen Sarza had two hits and two runs for the Ironmen.
Don Bosco seeks to defeat St. Joseph for the third time this season, after defeating its Big North United Division rival during the regular season by scores of 7-1 and 14-2.
St. Joseph by shutout
Senior Gabe Alvarez and junior Neylin Navarro combined on a shutout to lead St. Joseph to a 3-0 victory over No. 5 Glen Rock. Alvarez allowed four hits and struck out nine in six innings for the win, and Navarro earned the save with a hitless seventh.
St. Joseph led 1-0 in the second on a sac fly by senior Zach Worthington. The Green Knights extended the lead to 2-0 in the third on sophomore Ryan McCabe’s single, and they made it 3-0 in the sixth on sophomore Brady Shust’s single.
Jim McConville contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Baseball: Highlights from the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals
