By Angela Watts
Assistant GM, Washington D.C. Metro Area
** Click the links to the left to access a full photo gallery, video highlights and a video interview with Westfield standout sophomore Jess McNamara!
Saturday's softball game at Westfield High had all the feel of a festive summer picnic.
The Bulldogs' parents filled coolers with bottles of water and lined tables with everything from meatballs and fruit trays to cookies and chips. They then gathered in the stands under the overwhelming sunshine of the spring's first hot day of the year easily chatting like old friends do.
The chatter stopped only when they turned their focus to cheering for the girls they love.
And when sophomore shortstop Jess McNamara blasted a solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning for the first walk-home home run of her young career to lift Westfield to a 3-2 victory over visiting Stone Bridge ... well, that's when the fun really began.
The Bulldog parents stood and hooted-and-hollered as McNamara rounded the bases and her teammates rushed to greet her at home plate.
"It was a long at-bat with the heat," said McNamara, the team's leadoff batter who fouled off several attempts before connecting on the long ball. "I just wanted to crush it. I've never swung so hard in my life.
"Honestly, I hit it -- and I was so happy because I've been struggling for a while -- I was so happy that I hit it in the gap, hard. I had no idea [it was gone] until I turned first base ... and I was so shocked. I couldn't believe it.
"It was the best feeling ever."
The win was the third solid victory for Westfield (11-3 overall, 7-0 Concorde District) in the past seven days, as the Bulldogs' also recently defeated a storied O'Connell team, 5-3, and Concorde District rival Robinson, 16-10, earlier this week. Stone Bridge, meanwhile, fell to 10-5 overall and stand at 6-3 in the Liberty District.
"A home run makes things a lot easier than trying to scratch it out, that's for sure," Westfield Coach Dean Ferington said. "And I'm really happy for Jess. She just kept battling in there until she could find something she could drive ... that's a great job of hitting right there.
"She's been struggling, but hopefully that one hit will turn her year around and she'll get hot."
McNamara's wasn't the only home run of the afternoon. Stone Bridge senior third baseman Ashley Gardner crushed a two-run, home run of her own in the bottom of the third inning that knotted the score at 2 after Westfield had taken the lead on an first-inning, RBI single by senior third baseman Susan Slusher and a second-inning run by senior first baseman Robyn Mendlow, who reached on a double, stole third and scored on an error.
From there it was a pitching -- and defensive -- dual between the two teams, as Stone Bridge senior Cassie Phillips (five hits, five strikeouts, two walks), Westfield sophomore starter Alex Tenney (three hits, five strikeouts, one walk in four innings) and sophomore reliever Jennifer Goodman (one hit, one strikeout, no walks in three innings) all posted solid performances.
But the dual ended abruptly when McNamara came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with no one on base and one out.
"It was a huge at-bat, and right before I got up there I told the team,
'I'm not going into extra innings,' " McNamara said. "And I felt
the pressure ... but I love pressure. It's something I live for."
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
Stone Bridge 002 000 0 -- 2
Westfield 110 000 1 -- 3
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