Westfield Softball Heads to Regional Championship

The Oakton Cougars fought hard, but the Westfield Bulldogs won 4-2 in the Northern Region semifinal game Wednesday to move on to the championship game.

The game, hosted by Robinson Secondary School, stayed evenly matched defensively for much of the game, with each team answering the other after each run scored, leaving the game tied at 2-2 heading into the fourth.

The first run of the game came from the Cougars in the first inning. Though Oakton's starting pitcher Allison Davis pitched a one-two-three first inning, the Bulldogs answered that one run in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Alex Tenney to score Carrie Otroba, who had earlier reached on an error.

Three batters later, the Bulldogs added another run with a squeeze bunt from Caitlin Rudy to score Tenney for a 2-1 lead.

The Cougars tied it up again at the top of the third, leaving the score at 2-2 until the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Bulldogs' winning run came because of a throwing error when the Cougars tried to turn a double play on a bunted ball from Jackie Martinez. Instead, the throw to second soared into the outfield, allowing Martinez and Kayleen Bell — on base because of a line drive single — to score.

"We were at the top of the order and I was just going to sacrifice her to move the runner to second," said Dean Ferrington, Westfield's head coach. "The sacrifice didn't go over the way we wanted it to, but it worked out in our favor."

Bulldogs starting pitcher Jenn Goodman gave up seven hits in five innings and struck out one batter. Reliever Keona Gaines gave up no runs in her two innings of work and gave up just one hit to close the game with the Bulldogs on top.

The win brings the Bulldogs to the Northern Region Championship game for the first time since 2008, the year they last came out on top of the Northern Region.

They will face the winner of the South County-McLean semifinal game at a 4 p.m. Friday game at James Madison High School.

"Whoever we face, we'll be ready to play," Ferrington said. "That's all I can predict."