Refreshed after an off day, the Westfield Starfires played a clean game and never trailed in a 7-3 win against the Vermont Lake Monsters at Centennial Field on Friday, June 5.
The win improves Westfield’s record to 4-5, snapping a three-game skid.
University of Massachusetts-Boston senior righty Cam Fisher got the start for Westfield, while Colby College’s Keller Vogt started for Vermont. Fisher got the first three Lake Monster batters to groundout in the first, before earning a lineout and two strikeouts in the second. The first hit of the game came from Starfires third baseman, Stony Brook University junior Mike Cervoni, who singled to start the third, but Vogt got out of the inning without any trouble. Vermont’s Jake Lopez singled in the bottom of the third, before a double play and a strikeout ended the inning for Fisher. By the end of the third, both starters had only allowed a hit. Vogt had five strikeouts while Fisher had three.
In the top of the fourth, the Starfires ended the stalemate. Stonehill College senior Jamison Howland led off the inning with a single to left field, before University of Massachusetts-Amherst junior Will Briggs hit a ball to third, which got Howland out at second but allowed Briggs to reach first on a fielder’s choice. UConn-Avery Point sophomore Logan Charbaneau walked, before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Louisiana Tech sophomore Easton Sanders knocked a bases-clearing single to left center to give Westfield the lead, 2-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Fisher got three quick outs to end the inning.
In the fifth, Coastal Carolina University freshman States Farr singled to left field to start the frame. A wild pitch from Vermont reliever Langdon Hazen advanced Farr all the way to third. After a groundout, Hobart College sophomore Jack O’Neil was hit by a pitch, putting runners on the corners with one out. O’Neil stole second before another wild pitch by Hazen scored Farr from third, and advanced O’Neil. Howland walked and stole second, putting runners on second and third. Then, Briggs launched a line-drive home run to left field, scoring three more runs and bringing the score to 6-0. Singles from Charbaneu and Anthony Armenia continued the inning, but they did not result in any more runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, Fisher walked the first Lake Monsters batter before allowing a home run to Elias Huber to cut the Westfield lead to 6-2. However, Fisher struck out the next Lake Monster and got a flyout. A single from A.J Seidel and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second, but Fisher earned another strikeout to end the inning.
After a scoreless top of the sixth for the Westfield offense, a double and a single from the first two Vermont batters put runners on the corners to begin the bottom of the sixth. American International College senior Zach Ruffing came on to relieve Fisher before striking out the next Vermont batter. With runners on the corners and one out, Huber came through to score another RBI on a single to left field, to make it 6-3. With runners on the corners, Ruffing earned a strikeout before being relieved by Sullivan Quirk. The junior at Western New England University walked the next batter, loading the bases with two outs. However, Quirk struck out Seidel to end the inning.
In the eighth with one out, Cervoni singled to put a runner on first. Farr singled, putting runners on first and secod. Kansas State’s Jett Viondola hit a grounder to third baseman Huber, who tried to spin a double play, but the second baseman’s throw missed the first baseman, scoring Cervoni for the final run of the game to make it 7-3. The rest of the game was hitless.
Briggs led the team with three RBI, and Easton Sanders went one-for-four with two RBI, while the team combined for nine hits.
Fisher got the win, ending the day with 5.0 IP, five hits, three earned runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. Five Starfires relievers combined to finish the rest of the game, and only allowed two hits. Springfield College’s Josh Mayo earned the save in the ninth. The Starfires defense was perfect, committing zero errors.
The Starfires will look to win and fight back to .500, as they take on the Lake Monsters again on Saturday, June 6, at 6:05 p.m.
