The Raiders won their first game of the season against Westfield by an 11-1 mercy calling at the end of the sixth inning last Friday. Though the mercy rule surprised a few onlookers, the Raiders’ victory had been certain from the third inning onward.
In top of the first inning, junior Peter Yarem scored the first run of the game for SPF. The lead extended once junior Peter Warren raced past home when Westfield missed the ball from a base hit by junior Colin McAlindin. McAlindin scored on the following play from a double by Yarem, making the score to 3-1. The Raiders continued to punish the Westfield pitching and ended the third up 6-1.
Until the top of the fifth inning, not much else happened, the Raiders and the Blue Devils both played their hardest without scoring. Then, junior Matt Fox scored his second run of the game, running home off a single by junior George Mueller. O’Brien also got a run when sophomore Anthony DiNizo hit a single. Scotch Plains-Fanwood ended the inning up 8-1.
In the sixth inning, McAlindin, Fox and Warren each scored a run. It was McAlindin’s second run of the game and Fox’s third. After the inning concluded with a score of 11-1 Raiders, the game was ended as a mercy rule, giving SPF a tremendous victory.
“Our guys really played like a team today,” said Coach Higgins. “We really struggled with the plate Tuesday and Wednesday in our  scrimmages, and today they were just completing the whole time.”
Overall, Friday was a huge victory for the Raiders, and hopefully, an indication of how the rest of the season will go.