Box Score

WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (June 21, 2023) – The Westfield Starfires scored four times in the eighth inning and held on to earn a 7-5 win over the Worcester Bravehearts in a Futures Collegiate Baseball League matchup on Wednesday, June 21 at the Richards Jewelers Diamond at Billy Bullens Field.

Westfield improves to 13-12 on the season.

The opening run of the game was scored in unusual fashion. Westfield State University’s Dan Burnett worked a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then took third on a line-shot double to left that was nearly caught. Jack Kent then came to the dish, and though he swung for strike three, the ball caromed past the catcher, allowing him to reach and Burnett to score.

Westfield doubled the lead in the third. Aaron Cole and Nick Serce worked back-to-back walks, and then Cole took third on another wild pitch. That set up J.D. Jones for a sacrifice fly, scoring Cole.

The Bravehearts turned the game on its head in the fourth. Four singles and a sacrifice fly, combined with a fielding error, resulted in three runs, giving the visitors the lead, and then a hit by pitch followed by a single and a groundout added a fourth run in inning five.

The Starfires loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score, and packed the bags again in the sixth with just one out but only managed one run, with a Jay Bant single driving in newcomer Jake Risedorf. The team stranded two more runners in the seventh, leaving little room for a comeback.

However, in the eighth, fortunes turned. Kobe Mentzer led off with a four-pitch walk, and Bant drove a two-strike single through the right side. After an Aaron Cole sacrifice bunt, Serce drove the first pitch he saw to right field, scoring both Mentzer and Kiernan Caffrey, who had pinch run for Bant. Serce himself then scored on a Jones single, and Jones came around on a wild pitch, pushing Westfield’s edge to 7-4.

In the ninth, Greg Gorman led off with a home run, but Joe Espinola recovered to grab three outs, two by way of strikeout, for the save, punching out Daniel Bucciero to end the game.

Bryce DiPiero was the winning pitcher, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with one strikeout. Trey Yesu started, throwing  5.2 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The Starfires are on the road for their next two, both in Brockton against the Rox. Thursday’s contest will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Campanelli Stadium. The team returns home on Saturday, June 24 to face the Nashua Silver Knights at 6:30 p.m.