Box Score

BROCKTON, Massachusetts (July 18, 2024) – The Westfield Starfires scored 10 times, including a grand slam by University of Louisiana-Lafayette junior Luke Yuhasz, in the first four innings of a 14-5 victory over the Brockton Rox on Thursday, July 18.

Westfield is now 26-18-1, totalling a Futures Collegiate Baseball League-high 53 standings points.

American International College’s Josh Frometa led off the game with a second-pitch double to left, and came home two batters later when Central Connecticut State University’s Danny Hussey slugged a 2-1 offering over the wall in right-center field for his first home run of the season.

In the third, Clark University senior Ryan Caulfield, in his Starfires debut, smacked a ball to the wall in center and sped around to third base with a triple. He scored during the at-bat of Jackson Haker on a passed ball, but the Central Connecticut State senior doubled anyway, and was followed by Louisiana-Lafayette rookie Blaine Lucas also hammering the right-center gap for a triple. Frometa flew out to center immediately after, allowing Lucas to come home to give Westfield a 5-0 lead.

Not content with five, the Starfires burst it open in a big way in the third, as Hussey doubled to lead off; Kansas State University’s Chandler Murray was then hit by a pitch and Bryant University’s Cameron Papetti hit a sinking liner that just dropped in to load the bases for Yuhasz. He took the first pitch, and then swung at the second, launching it into the Westfield bullpen in left-center for a grand slam.

Brockton notched two of its own in the third, but the Starfires were not done adding to the tally, as Yuhasz came to the plate once more in the fourth with the bags packed. He singled up the middle, scoring Boston College freshman Julio Solier for a 10-2 lead.

“Not gonna lie, the first swing I took the second at-bat, swung a little too hard. I took a step back, took a breath, shortened up my approach again and put the ball in play,” Yuhasz said.

Over the next few innings, Brockton cut into the lead somewhat, but the Starfires put it away in the eighth. Frometa singled, took two bases on wild pitches, and scored on a Hussey groundout. Papetti and Yuhasz each earned free passes, and came around on a Caulfield single to center, expanding the Westfield lead to 13-5; Murray smacked an RBI single in the ninth for the 14-5 final.

Westfield saw steady pitching all night, with the win going to Union College’s Chris Suter; the Garnet Charger hurled 5.1 innings and struck out four.

“Cam [Papetti] called a great game so I just trusted what he was putting down, throwing strikes, and the offense gave me a lot of energy to keep going. It’s a lot easier to pitch with eight great guys behind you and 10 runs on the board,” Suter said.

Behind him, the bullpen trio of Nichols College’s Clark Churchill, Westfield State University’s Joe Fischer, and George Washington University’s Declan Wywoda stifled the Rox offense, limiting the hosts to one hit in the final 3.2 innings.

The Starfires have an off day on Friday, July 19 before visiting the Vermont Lake Monsters on Saturday, July 20. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.