Historic season comes to a close
WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (August 9, 2022) – The Westfield Starfires concluded their historic 2022 campaign with a 10-2 loss against the defending Futures Collegiate Baseball League Champion Vermont Lake Monsters in Game 2 of the 2022 FCBL Semifinal on Tuesday, August 9. Vermont won the series 2-0. The Starfires jumped to an early lead with two first-inning runs. Noah Campanelli was hit by a pitch, and Jackson Hornung followed with a base hit to right. Patrick D’Amico then singled to left-center, driving Campanelli home. Two batters later, Brian Norsen drove a liner into left-center as well, pushing Hornung across the plate. The Lake Monsters flipped the script in the fourth, as Jimmy Evans and Brian Schaub reached on a walk and a single. Kyle Hoog drove Schaub home with a single, and Harrison Didawick doubled; Schaub scored to tie the game, but Hoog was thrown out at home as Ryan Lavelle’s throw from the wall was relayed to Michael Toth by Campanelli, and Toth got the tag on Hoog before he could touch the dish. Didawick came in on a wild pitch, however, giving the Lake Monsters a 3-2 lead. The visitors took charge after that, adding a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. Another relay from the outfield – this time from right fielder Daniel Burnett to Norsen to Alex Sorenti-Burns – cut down a runner at home in the eighth, but the Lake Monsters pushed two more across in the ninth for the 10-2 final. Although the postseason came to an end four wins shy of the ultimate goal, the season will be looked back on as one of incredible success. Franchise and even league records fell all year long. The Starfires became just the second team in FCBL history to lead the league in batting average for two consecutive seasons, hitting .276 thanks to their league-best 582 hits – one more than the record 581 that the 2021 Starfires accumulated in two more games, with the difference being Hornung’s miracle tying double in the ninth inning of the regular season finale. They shattered the mark for the team that was quickest to 100 steals, accumulating the total in the first 33 games. They also led the league with a .959 fielding percentage. With a significant portion of the roster both eligible and expected to return next season, the run by the Starfires to their first postseason berth is not the end, but instead just the beginning. For the latest on the team, be sure to follow the Starfires on Twitter and Instagram @starfiresbb, and visit us on the web at westfieldstarfires.com. |
