Offense erupts as Starfires vanquish Suns
WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (May 28, 2022) – The Westfield Starfires scored early and often in a 15-2 rout of their Western Massachusetts rivals, the Pittsfield Suns, in a Futures Collegiate Baseball League matchup at Bullens Field. The Starfires are now 3-0 for the first time in franchise history. Brendan Jones and Jackson Hornung started the Westfield offense right away with a hit and a walk, and Patrick D’Amico’s groundout pushed Jones home. Jack Wentworth singled, and then swiped second, baiting the Pittsfield catcher into a throw that allowed D’Amico to score from third. Cavan Brady stroked the next pitch to center to plate Wentworth, and the Starfires had a 3-0 lead. In the fourth, Westfield added to the edge. Luca Giallongo’s grounder up the third base line forced a bad throw, and Jones followed by flaring a double to left-center. Hornung then singled to left to bring Giallongo home, and likewise D’Amico hit the ball through the left side to plate Jones. Wentworth added another to the tally with a hit to center to bring Hornung home and the Starfires lead was 6-0. As impressive as the first and fourth were, the fifth inning was the most explosive offensively. Nolan Florence opened the frame with a line-drive home run to left, and Ryan Lavelle followed with a double to right-center. Giallongo walked, and after the pair advanced on a passed ball, Hornung hit a two-run single. Jakob Cohn became the ninth Starfire with a hit by singling to left, and Wentworth and D’Amico both walked, loading the bags for Florence to come up again. He repeated his performance from earlier in the inning, launching a grand slam to left to give Westfield a 14-0 edge. For good measure, the Starfires added one more in the sixth, as Javvy Irrizary pinch-hit a double and was ultimately brought home by a Chad Lavelle groundout. The Suns added two unearned in the seventh to break the shutout, but the game ended with the run rule, 15-2. Ryan Donahue, a Westfield State University product, earned the win with 5.1 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and fanning six. Alex Rosario finished the game, going 1.2 innings and conceding one hit and two unearned but fanning three. The two teams will face off again at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 29.
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