Ignited by a five-run top of the fourth and 12 total hits, the W.F. West High School baseball team secured the Baseballism Kickoff Classic Championship with a 13-2 win over Ridgefield on Saturday afternoon at the RORC.
It marked the final game of a 3-0 start for the Bearcats, their first three games of the season after rain impacted some early season contests.
“We showed some grit, some toughness throughout the tournament. It is a good little start to the season,” W.F. West head coach Jesse Elam said. “They’re figuring out ways to get runs across (and) keep runs from scoring.”
A Deacon Meller RBI double in the third broke a scoreless game, then the Bearcats piled on. They loaded the bases with no outs and scored runs on a walk, sacrifice fly, single, groundout and single.
In the fifth, two runs scored on a pair of passed balls and a Ross Kelley line out made it 9-0. Meller and Kelley each drove in three runs and stole two bases while five batters registered two hits. Cole Ozretich pitched five shutout innings with five strikeouts.
W.F. West will host Mark Morris on Tuesday afternoon in what will be the first live game on its new turf field behind the high school.
“We’re jacked to get there and have the community come out and see it for the first time,” Elam said.
