Dateline Purcellville, VA – The Westchester Babe Ruth 15-and-under All- Star team has continued its winning ways in Virginia to earn the number one seed in the championship round of the Babe Ruth World Series in Loudoun County. The team has used a formula of strong pitching, stingy defense and timely hitting to move their record to 3-1 in pool play.
On Tuesday, Westchester outlasted the Southern Region champions from Brazoswood, TX , 2-0. Carlos Jacobo (Hawthorne ’17) won Game MVP honors for the second time in the World Series. He worked a complete game shutout on the mound, allowing five hits, three walks and struck out seven..
Westchester scored all of its runs in the first inning.
Uly Perez (Santa Monica ’16) singled to start the inning. Hot-hitting Matthew Kanfer (LACES ’15) sent a towering triple to center-field to score Perez. Kanfer would later come around to score on a ground ball by Lawrence Gilliam (Crossroads ’15). That would conclude the scoring for the game.
The Westchester defense turned two double plays behind Jacobo with the steady handed double play combination of Perez at shortstop, Cristian Amador (Culver City ’15) at second base, and Grant Craddolph (Westchester ’15) at first base. Cameren Landreth (Westchester ’16) continues to lead the team in on-base percentage at .875.
On Wednesday night, needing a win to secure the No. 1 seed in the championship round, Westchester wasted no time scoring nine runs in the first inning against the Virginia State champions from Vienna. Westchester needed to win the game and allow less than five runs to secure the top seed.
After first inning singles by Perez and Kanfer, catcher, Anthony Chavez (St. Bernard ’15), sent a 345-foot blast over the centerfielder’s head to score Perez and Kanfer. Gilliam walked and AJ Inatsugu (Santa Monica ’16) laid down an exquisite push bunt single.
Jacobo stepped to the plate and singled in Gilliam and Inatsugu. The rally continued when starting pitcher Cameren Landreth, was hit by a pitch and Nick Goff (Loyola ’16) reached on an error. After a walk by Perez, Kanfer punctuated the inning with a screaming fly ball triple to center field to clear the bases.
The game was suspended due to lightning for an hour after an inning and a half of play. When play resumed, pitcher Reggie Castro (St. Bernard ’15) took the mound and worked 4 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, collecting seven strikeouts along the way.
Westchester was able to close out the game early – forcing a mercy run rule victory in five innings. Mario Morales (El Segundo ’16) contributed a base hit and two RBIs to aid the cause. Isaiah Cepeda and Grant Craddolph made standout defensive plays in the field to seal the victory.
Matthew Kanfer earned Game MVP honors. He went 2-4 with a triple and 4 RBIs.
Westchester advances to the Semi-Final game.
Mr. Gilliam may be contacted at lgrhythm@gmail.com
