Second baseman Will DiBattista (pictured) fires a ball to first base. Photos by Mike Flanagan.
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Westwood MIBL (2-10) returned home to Westwood High School last Wednesday to host Canton (6-7). Despite playing on their home field, Westwood served as the away team.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Canton plated five runs. Joe Fisher belted a two-RBI double to the right field fence to score a pair of runs. Following a groundout to second, a wild pitch to the backstop brought home Fisher to make it a three-run game. Justin Brown singled and stole second before coming around to score, thanks to a ball hit off the left field fence by Jacob Kaplan. Kaplan held up at first and was gunned down trying to steal second by Jacob Nguyen to end the inning.
Canton extended its lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to another RBI double by Fisher, a passed ball to the backstop, and an RBI single by Brown. Westwood finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. Jimmy Bean singled to begin the inning, advanced to third on an error at first base, and, incredibly, stole home.
The excitement from stealing home was short-lived for Westwood, as Fisher stepped up and belted a three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning, putting Canton ahead by 10 runs at 11-1 and forcing the game to end via slaughter rule. Fisher, a Westfield State commit, finished the game 4-4 (two doubles, one single, one home run) and pitched all six innings.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as game highlights, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram @flano0.
