For the second year in a row and third time since 2021, the Westfield Starfires have the Futures Collegiate Baseball League’s Home Run Derby Champion, as Pittsfield, Massachusetts native and Brown University freshman Morrie Fried won a swing-off over Norwich’s Shaun Flannery on a rainy night at Nashua’s Holman Stadium.
The field Fried was in was stacked. Apart from the six other Futures League players representing each of the teams, 13-year Major League Baseball veteran Jonny Gomes, a member of the Boston Red Sox 2013 World Series team, participated to bring the Derby to eight competitors.
The rookie did not blink. In the first round, he blasted four home runs to left, the top total; Flannery’s three and Gomes’s pair pushed them into the second round.
As rain picked up, Flannery swung first in the second round, hitting three shots over the fence. Gomes followed, and hit one early, but nine straight outs ended his day. That brought Fried to the dish.
He hit two early home runs, but ran into outs up to nine. Down to his final swing, he made it count, cracking another long shot to left-center to tie the final round at three and force a five-swing swing-off.
Flannery again went first, and only truly connected on his last swing to score one. That gave Fried a chance to walk it off.
The rookie did not need all five swings.
His first offering was a towering shot to left, clearing the wall easily. His second was a line-drive rocket that made it out as well, sending the ballpark into a frenzy.
Fried is the third Starfire to win the FCBL Home Run Derby, following Cole Bartels in 2021 at New Britain Stadium and Griffin Enis in 2025 at Fitton Field.
The All-Star Game itself was washed out by the rain and will be played on Wednesday, July 22 at 6:03 p.m.
