Tuesday,
April 15, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Kevin Bonkowski allowed a first inning run and then nothing else as Westwood posted an 11-1 win over Fort Lee that was shortened to five innings. |
WESTWOOD – There is still time for the Westwood baseball team to turn things around and earn a spot in the Bergen County Tournament. But after just two wins in their their first seven games and with a four-game slate of games this week, the Cardinals' margin for error has been reduced to just about zero. For Westwood to make a run at it, it was going to have to beat visiting Fort Lee on Monday afternoon to get some momentum going in the right direction.
“We came in and practiced [on Sunday] and we talked about this being the time to get things going. We have four games this week, Monday through Thursday, and this is a great opportunity to turn the tide as far as our record is concerned,” said Westwood head coach Chris Izzo. “But that is not going to happen by itself and we needed to put a complete game together. We needed to play defense, we needed a solid performance on the mound and we needed to put the ball in play and run the bases.”
Westwood did all of the above as, after spotting Fort Lee a one-run lead in the top of the first inning, the Cardinals scored the next 11. They followed up a four-run first with a seven-run third in which they sent 12 hitters to the plate and set themselves up to shorten the game, which they did with an 11-1 win that ended after five innings. The win pushed Westwood's record back to within shouting distance of .500 at 3-5 and just about everyone shared in the good feelings as Kevin Bonkowski went the distance on the mound and everyone in the lineup reached base at least once.
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Freshman catcher Steven Yelin had two of Fort Lee's five hits. |
Fort Lee got off to a quick start as Ricky Pasternak crushed a two-out double into the left centerfield gap to score Zach Wielkocz for the 1-0 lead, but after that it was all Westwood as it took advantage of an error on a groundball hit by Collin Saunders leading off the bottom of the first inning to open the floodgates. Saunders (1-3, HR, RBI, 2 SB, 2R) stole second before Sam Hutchinson (1-2, 2R, SB) singled and Evan Hull (1-2, 2R) drew a walk to load the bases for Justin Hrbek (2-2, RBI, R), who pulled a hard single to right to score Saunders with the tying run. Eddie Vorvolakos (1-2, 2R, 2RBI, SB) drove in the go-ahead run with a fielder's choice grounder, Hull scored on a wild pitch and Kyle Seickel (1-3, 2 RBI, R) made it 4-1 with his groundball that plated Vorvolakos.
From there, it was an uphill climb for Fort Lee.
“We got that run in the first inning and I thought we might be on our way. It was a good sign to get an early run on the road against a good pitcher, but we didn't throw enough strikes and our defense fell apart in the first inning,” said Fort Lee head coach Diego Lombardo. “It was kind of everything that could go wrong did in the first inning and we fell behind a good team that needed a win today. That made it tough.”
Bonkowski also made it tough as he settled in after giving up the early run. The junior right-hander struck out seven in a five-inning complete came and worked out of a few tight spots in impressive fashion. He gave up a leadoff single to Steven Yelin, Fort Lee's impressive freshman catcher, leading off the second inning but struck out the next two hitters swinging and then got a weak ground ball for the third out.
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Westwood leadoff hitter Collin Sauders hit an inside-the-park home run as part of a seven-run run third inning. |
Fort Lee's only other real threat came in the top of the fourth when Harry Cohen singled leading off and Yelin then crushed one off the wall in left center. But since the baserunner in front of him got a bad read, Yelin was held to a single and the Bridgemen then gave up an out on Anthony Scrivanich's sacrifice bunt that pushed both runners into scoring position. Bonkowski (5 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 7 K, 1 BB) then got a strikeout and a pop-up before working a 1-2-3 fifth inning to close out the game.
With shoulder surgery ending the season of Matt Rivera, who was was going to be the No. 1 starter in the Westwood rotation this year, before he could throw even a single pitch in the regular season, Bonkowski assumes the title of the Cardinals' ace and he pitched like one on Monday as he improved to 1-1 on the season. Bonkowski, who made 10 starts last year, is growing into the role.
“Having my team go out and score four runs in the first inning felt great. I made one bad pitch in the first inning and I paid for it and I had a little trouble with my curve today, but I know my team can hit and I just had to keep throwing strikes,” said Bonkowski. “After getting the lead it was all about getting the ball over the plate, throwing first pitch strikes and getting ahead. Good things happen when you are pitching when you are ahead on the scoreboard and ahead in the count as well.”
All ready in control, Westwood made it a rout in the bottom of the third. Hrbek started it with a walk and Vorvolakos took a pitched ball square in the back to set the table. Seickel had a two-run single and Robert Marino drew a walk before the biggest hit of the game, a bomb to right center by Saunders, who busted it right out of the box. The ball landed just shot of the fence and Saunders circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run without even a play at the plate.
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Ricky Paternak drove in Fort Lee's lone run with a double on this swing in the top of the first inning. |
“We needed to come out and put a complete game together and, offensively, that starts with me at the top of the lineup,” said Saunders. “My job is to get on base anyway I can and try to make things happen and if I can get one in the gap...that works, too.”
Momentum can switch quickly in a baseball season. Stringing a couple of quality wins together can change everything and Westwood is hoping that Monday's win was a sign of good things to come.
“I am very happy with the performance today in the field, on the mound and at the plate. Kevin [Bonkowski] gave us exactly what we needed today and he is our No. 1 guy now and he pitched like it,” said Izzo, who is in his third season as the Westwood skipper. “After a 2-5 start to the season we can't look past anybody and we have to take advantage of any opportunity we have to score runs. Down one pitcher with [Rivera's] injury, we have to take any opportunity we can to cut down the innings we need to throw and when we had the chance to end this game early I am happy that we got that done.”
Fort Lee fell to 3-4 on the season, the Bridgemen have been competitive just about every time out, Monday notwithstanding, and there is no reason yet give up on the goal of making the Bergen County Tournament for the first time in school history.
“I have been doing this since 2003 and that has been my goal since I have been here,” said Lombardo. “We have that big, fat zero in county tournament appearances and we want to get that off the board.”
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