Starfires finish sweep of Suns, reach 4-0
PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts (May 29, 2022) – The Westfield Starfires continued to produce prolific offense to open the Futures Collegiate Baseball League season, defeating the Pittsfield Suns 14-3 at historic Wahconah Park on Sunday, May 29. The Starfires are now 4-0 for the first time in franchise history, and have scored 45 runs in four games this season. “If we keep putting together at-bats like this, games like this, it’s going to be a fun summer,” said manager Kyle Dembrowski after the game, adding “It’s cool to see one through nine are able to put barrels on the ball, put together competitive at-bats…the results speak for themselves.” In the second inning, Westfield rang up five runs without actually recording a hit. Three straight walks by Javvy Irizzary, Alex Sorrenti-Burns, and Chad Lavelle loaded the bases, and everyone advanced on a ground ball by Luca Giallongo. Jackson Hornung followed with a grounder to second, and though the Suns defense was able to put out Giallongo at second, the throw to first went awry, plating Lavelle after Sorrenti-Burns had come home already. Patrick D’Amico thten reached, and both he and Hornung ultimately scored on wild pitches to give the Starfires a 5-0 lead. The following inning, Sorrenti-Burns walked, and Giallongo and Hornung singled, with the latter hit bringing both in thanks in part to another wild pitch. The Suns sandwiched a wild pitch between two hits for their firstrun of the game in the bottom half of the third, and added another run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth that came with the bases loaded. Both teams scored in the fifth. Sorrenti-Burns singled and stole second before coming around on two more defensive miscues, while a walk and two singles brought in Pittsfield’s third run of the game. The Starfires put the game away in the sixth and seventh with six more runs. D’Amico and Johnson hit back-to-back singles and then executed a double steal. Daniel Burnett drove Johnson in on a groundout later in the inning. In the seventh, Sorrenti-Burns led off with a single, followed by an RBI double by Giallongo, who scored on back-to-back hits by Hornung and D’Amico. That duo pulled off another double steal, and D’Amico was driven in by Burnett, who singled to bring the score to 14-3. Pittsfield failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, and the run rule came into effect to end the game. Kevin Hummer earned the win, throwing four innings and allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Edwin Almanzar closed the final three frames to pick up a save, with one run allowed on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The Starfires head to the Granite State on Monday, May 30 for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with the Nashua Silver Knights at Holman Stadium. |
