Baseball: Basile's 100th Career Hit Highlights Gov. Livingston's 12-1 Rout of Westfield

WESTFIELD, NJ — On a day when senior catcher Michael Basile reached base four times and got the 100th base hit of his career, Gov. Livingston batted around in each of the first two innings to build a 10-run lead en route to a 12-1 baseball victory over Westfield on Friday.Basile lined a leadoff single to left field in the second inning for Hit No. 100. That hit ignited a five-run outburst for the Highlanders, who had already hung up a five-spot in a marathon first inning.Senior right-hander Reid Bazydlo allowed four hits in five innings pitched to get the victory. Bazydlo (4-0), who did not allow an earned run, struck out six batters and walked none.Leadoff batter Owen Keough went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Jackson Crimaldi — whom GL head coach Chris Roof termed "the best No. 8 hitter in New Jersey"— reached base four times and went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI. Matt DiRado clubbed a two-run double, which was the key blow in the Highlanders' five-run second.Keough had two hits in the top of the first inning — a leadoff double and an RBI single. There were four hits, three walks, a hit batsman, two wild pitches and two stolen bases in the top of the first. Ryan Pappas had an RBI single, Addison Adornato hit a sacrifice fly and Crimaldi singled in a run before Keough's RBI on an infield hit made it 5-0.For Basile, reaching 100 hits was just the latest achievement in the four-year varsity career of the Lehigh University-bound right-handed hitter who is also one of the best defensive catchers in New Jersey."I think just confidence has been the biggest thing," Basile said about what the biggest area of growth in his game has been since he was a ninth-grader in the starting lineup. "I think the coaching staff has instilled that in me. I didn't really know who I was as a player coming into this program, but then, over the years, coach Roof had a ton of confidence in me. He gave me opportunities freshman year, and because he's had confidence, I've had confidence in myself. It's such a mental game, and that's the biggest difference a lot of the time. I started my freshman year at eight or nine in the batting order. In the middle of the year, I got moved up to three, and then by the end of the year, I was in the seven or eight area again. I think I've been the three hitter the last three years."Basile is a .356 career hitter who is batting .354 this season with 17 RBI.“Mike is gonna be ridiculously hard to replace,” Roof said. "You talk about the greatest players ever to wear this uniform, and he's one of them. Just everything that he brings, defensively, offensively, his leadership, his attitude, his nastiness, just everything. Lehigh has no idea what a player they're getting."Bazydlo lowered his earned-run average to 0.54 in 26 innings. After getting few opportunities on the mound last season in GL's 28-0 championship campaign, Bazydlo is now, along with RHP Aidan Feldman, one of the two most important members of the Highlanders' pitching staff with senior RHP Keith Mann likely out for the season with a UCL injury."Reid threw fantastic. He's been really good these last few outings," said Basile, who has caught all of Bazydlo's innings. "He pounds the zone, his fastball had really good life today. He's got good command of his breaking ball. We have a ton of confidence in him, and when he's on the mound we know we have a great chance to win. Reid's a guy who's always been so talented. We were just so good last year (and) we were so deep that he got maybe one start. He stepped up so far this year, and I know he's gonna continue to do that. The fact that he wasn't able to throw last year is just crazy. He's so talented. We have a 1A and a 1B with him and Feldman, and we trust both of those guys.""Reid has really stepped up," Roof said. "He's always had a really good arm and he's really put it together with his slider and changeup, a two-seam, a four-seam. He's got some good velo, some good ride. He's throwing the ball really well."Gov. Livingston (13-3) completed a two-game sweep of Westfield (8-8). The Highlanders won Tuesday's matchup, 7-1, up on The Hill.GOV. LIVINGSTON 550 11 -- 12 9 1WESTFIELD (8-8) 010 00 -- 1 4 2WP-Bazydlo (4-0)LP-Statler