Joshua Wise (11) goes airborne.
The Westwood baseball team didn’t have to play Friday night.
Following the tragic death of fellow student and two-sport athlete Ellis Hawkins in an auto accident Thursday night, the baseball coaches left it up to the players on whether they wanted to play at Richland Northeast.
“We had guys who had played with him in football,” Westwood head coach Johnathan Burroughs said of Hawkins. “He was well liked not only in football and basketball, but also within the community and throughout the school.”
Burroughs added that the team, along with guidance counselors and athletic director Jason Powell met to talk about what to do.
“If they weren’t in it emotionally, then we could reschedule,” Burroughs said. “Not a big deal. (Hawkins’ death) is bigger than baseball.”
Hawkins was a friend to many of the Redhawks, and instead of rescheduling, the Westwood baseball players chose to play.
“They were all in,” Burroughs said. “They wanted to play for him tonight.”
Westwood did. The Redhawks stayed hot at the plate and delivered a 12-7 victory over the Cavaliers to collect its fourth Region 3 4-A win.
While Westwood (4-2 region, 4-5 overall) grieved the loss of a friend, it played fired up.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, when Anthony LaCola scored on Ethan Barton’s sacrifice fly, and Rashawn Green and Josh Wise came home on Bryce Henson’s two-out double.
Richland Northeast got a run back in the second, but Westwood took a 7-1 lead with a four-run tally in the third.
Green, Wise, and Barton led off the inning with back-to-back-to-back hits. Green scored on Barton’s double to left, Barton and Henson came home on Brandon May’s one-out single, and Connor Buck drove May home.
From that point it had appeared the Westwood had the game under control. But Richland Northeast got to starting pitcher Brandon Anderson in the bottom of the fourth, rallying for five runs to cut the lead to 7-6.
Henry Taylor led off with a walk, and promptly came home on Jason English’s 2-run home run over the leftfield fence to cut Westwood’s lead to 7-3.
Later, with one out, Tucker Dove singled, Anderson hit Chase Asbill, and Eli Prieto singled to drive in Dove. John Miller singled to load the bases, still with one out.
That was the end for Anderson. May came on in relief and got Isaiah Manning to hit in a fielder’s choice for the second out. Tucker Bates singled to drive in Prieto and Miller, but May managed to strike out English and retire the side with the bases loaded again.
Richland Northeast never got closer. Westwood got three more runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to take a 12-6 lead. The Cavaliers managed only one run in the bottom of the sixth.
Anderson worked 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits. He walked one but hit two batters.
May put the fire out in the third, and from there onward he gave up three hits and a run in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six, walked two, and hit one.
Burroughs noted some things to be cleaned up—the Redhawks committed five errors—the gaffes meant little under the circumstances of playing for a friend.
“It’s tough,” Burroughs said. “I couldn’t ask any more from those kids to come out here with what they’re dealing with. I can’t ask them to forget about that.”
Instead, Burroughs is pleased with what the team is remembering.
“They’re starting to believe in themselves. They’re feeling it now, and we just gotta keep it rolling,” Burroughs said. “We’re approaching each game as the biggest game in the program’s history. Tonight was, and guess what next Tuesday is?”
Westwood played host to York Tuesday, and is at Lancaster Thursday.
Westwood: 3-0-4-3-2-0-0- 12 13 5
Richland Northeast: 0-1-5-0-0-1-0- 7 10 1
WP: Brandon Anderson LP: Henry Taylor
Hitters: Westwood – Ethan Barton 2-4, 2B, Sac. Bryce Henson 2-4, 2B. Brandon May 2-4. Rashawn Green 2-3. Josh Wise 2-4. Richland Northeast – Jason English 2-5, HR. Tucker Dove 2-4, 2B.
