WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (August 19, 2024) – The Futures Collegiate Baseball League named first-year Westfield Starfires manager Paul Bonfiglio its 2024 Manager of the Year Award winner on Monday, August 19.

The award is the first won by a Westfield manager in franchise history.

“I want to congratulate Paul on an incredibly well-deserved Manager of the Year selection,” said team owner Chris Thompson. “Every aspect of our team that he had a part in improved dramatically, and the buy-in from opening day to the final out from our student-athletes shows his ability not just as a baseball tactician but a leader of people and a builder of character. His efforts on and off the field helped create the most successful season in franchise history by every measure,” he added.

“I’m extremely grateful to receive this title from my peers across the league. Chris  Thompson, Hunter Golden, and the players have supported me tremendously. This recognition is not possible without their efforts. I’m truly blessed to do what I do,” Bonfiglio said, adding “Westfield is a special place. It was a thrill to help bring such passionate play to our fans. They saw great effort and talent on that field. There’s nothing better than that.”

The Starfires won a franchise-record 34 regular season games and 36 total contests including postseason play. Those victories came on the strength of a league-best offense that produced 365 runs in 56 games, good for 6.51 runs per game. The team crushed a league-high 41 home runs and generated 716 total bases, also the most in the FCBL.

On the pitching side, the Starfires combined for a league-best five shutouts including postseason play, along with 16 total saves.

Westfield had two statistical champions for the league on the season – Trey Cruz led the league in home runs with eight, and Jake Jachym was the league’s ERA leader among qualifiers with a 2.70 ERA that drops to 2.30 if his postseason showing was included.

Jachym, a Westfield native, set the franchise single-season and career wins record with six and eight, respectively, while fellow two-year Starfire and Chicopee native Josh Frometa broke the franchise walks record.