Box Score

NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut  (July 20, 2023) – From the pitching to the hitting to the defense, everything worked for the Westfield Starfires in a 7-0 win at New Britain Stadium against the Bees on Thursday, July 20.

Westfield is now 24-25 on the season.

The scoring opened in the third for the Starfires. Nick Serce led the inning off with a base hit, and Corey Zientek followed two batters later with a bunt up the third base line to put a pair on. Jake Risedorf then doubled to right, scoring Serce easily, but the throw home was in time to put Zientek out, limiting the damage to one run.

Michael Breen started the fourth the same way Serce started the third, opening with a base hit. He then stole second before coming home on a long double off the wall in left-center field by Luke Yuhasz that knocked the New Britain starter out of the game. The pitching change proved fruitless, as Serce hammered the first pitch off the top of the wall in right for another double, scoring Yuhasz for a 3-0 lead.

Breen led off again in the sixth, and again singled. Two batters later, Jay Bant walked up to hit, and wasted no time crushing the first pitch for a home run off of signage beyond the right-field wall, his third of the campaign.

The Starfires closed the scoring in the seventh with two more. Zientek and Risedorf both walked to kick off the frame, and Isaiah Pinkney slapped a single through the left side to bring Zientek home. Breen then dribbled a ball to first that allowed Risedorf and Pinkney to advance, setting up Josh Frometa to hit a deep fly ball to center that Risedorf tagged up and scored on.

As sturdy as the bats were, the arms for Westfield were equally impressive. Michael Aceto served as an opener, working around a single to throw a scoreless first frame before giving way to Trey Yesu, who scattered four hits and a walk across five innings to gain the win. Joe Fischer allowed one hit in two relief innings, and Alex Oppenheimer got around a two-out walk and single in the ninth to complete the shutout.

Westfield returns home Friday, July 21 at 6:30 p.m. to host the Norwich Sea Unicorns at the Richards Jewelers Diamond at Billy Bullens Field.