Westfield Wins Concorde District Softball Title

By Chris Barron

senior first-team All-District selection Jackie Martinez led the softball team Monday night, collecting two hits and reaching base four times as Westfield defeated 6-3 to win their second consecutive Concorde District Championship.

Martinez, who went 2-for-3 in the game with one RBI and two runs scored helped tie the game by scoring on a single by senior Jess McNamara. This was after Chantilly had gone ahead, 1-0, in the top of the third on a two-out single by junior Bryanna Kerbuski. The Bulldogs added two more runs on RBI groundouts by junior Carrie Otroba and senior Alex Tenney to take a 3-1 lead after one inning of play.

Sophomore pitcher Keona Gaines also did her part for the Bulldogs by throwing a 105 pitch complete game striking out six Charger batters and walking none. She also went 0-for-2 at the plate with a walk. 

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. The inning started with a single to right field off the bat of Martinez. She then stole second base and advanced to third on a single by All-District selection Alex Bohrer. McNamara then grounded out to first which scored Martinez. A Chantilly error by Colleen O’Brien allowed Bohrer to score, extending the Westfield lead to 5-1. 

The Chargers who didn’t get a hit in the third or fourth innings received a two-out single from Alex Sallberg in the fifth. A groundout ended any chance of cutting the lead in half.

Westfield ended their scoring in the bottom of the fifth when McNamara doubled to right center and scored on a single to center by Tenney. McNamara was named the Concorde District Player of the Year before the game. 

The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on two walks and an infield single but could not push any runners across the plate. Relief pitcher and junior Emily Gembarowicz then got McNamara to line out and Otroba to strike out.

The final scores of the game came in the top of the seventh inning when senior Wendy Sloan got a two-out single and the next batter senior Rachael Taft deposited Gaines’ 0-2 pitch over the center field fence for a two-run home run 6-3. The comeback was on but the final out of the game came when Sallberg grounded out to second.

Both teams advanced to the Northern Region Tournament, which will start on Friday. The Bulldogs (16-4) will host the National District’s fourth seed, Washington-Lee. The Chargers (14-6) will host the three seed from the National District, . The other teams from the Concorde to advance were who travels to , and , which will play at Yorktown.

 The All-Tournament team which was announced after the game consisted of Emily Corridon, Allie Newcomb, Rachael Taft, Wendy Sloan, Tori Doherty, s Jen Goodman, Jackie Martinez and Keona Gaines. Jess McNamara was named the tournament’s MVP.