Box Score
WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (July 11, 2023) – On a day that had already seen so much to celebrate, the Westfield Starfires tied a pair of franchise records in an 8-7 win over the Futures Collegiate Baseball League-leading Worcester Bravehearts at the Richards Jewelers Diamond at Billy Bullens Field on Tuesday, July 11.
The Starfires rise to 18-21 with the success.
Kiernan Caffrey and J.D. Jones were both hit by pitches to lead off the bottom of the first, and after a groundout advanced them, Ryan Molinari’s infield single pushed Caffrey across for the game’s first run. However, the visiting side tied the game in the next half inning, as Jack Thorbahn singled and ultimately scored on a Marc Willi base hit.
In the third, the game was untied with one swing of the bat. With two outs, Nick Serce took aim at an 0-1 pitch and flew it deep to right field, clearing the fence with his FCBL-leading ninth of the year. That total ties him with Jackson Hornung, who hit nine to set the franchise’s record in 2022.
Westfield was not done in the inning either. Molinari followed with a bunt up the third base line, stunning the defense for a hit, and Jay Bant worked a walk that was aided by a pitch clock violation with the count full. He was lifted for Isaiah Pinkney to pinch run, and that proved fruitful as Jake Risedorf singled to right to drive in Molinari before the latter duo both came home thanks to Jackson Haker’s double off the left-center field wall.
Worcester cut into the deficit in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Daniel Bucciero smashed a double just inside the center field fence, bringing in Willi, Mike Maher, and A.J. Guindon. He was stranded at second to keep Westfield ahead 5-4, and the Starfires added a run with a Serce single and Risedorf double in the home half.
In the seventh, the Starfires extended the lead to 8-4. Pinkney smacked a ball to left, and two batters later, Haker came up again. On a 2-0 pitch, the American International College star got all of a hanging pitch and blasted it beyond the fence in left for his first of the season in blue.
Those runs proved critical as the Bravehearts notched an unearned tally in the eighth and two in the ninth. With the tying run at third and a go-ahead run at first, however, Ryan Robb fanned Vincent Eramo to end the game and earn a save.
Noah Kane worked five solid innings for the win, allowing four runs on five hits with three strikeouts in his first start after four relief appearances for Westfield.
The win gave Westfield manager Kyle Dembrowski 48 as the team’s top coach, tying Tony Deshler’s total from the 2020 and 2021 seasons for the most all-time in franchise history.
The Starfires head south to take on the New Britain Bees in a doubleheader on Wednesday, July 12, before returning to Westfield to host the Bees for a single game at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 13.
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