Connor Niemiec threw five scoreless innings in his start, Michael Quiros had three hits, and the Westfield Starfires scored three in the eighth to beat the first-place Nashua Silver Knights 4-1 on Wednesday, June 4, in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 at Bullens Field.
The Starfires end the day above .500 for the first time this season with a 4-3 record. The loss for the Silver Knights snaps a four-game win streak for them as they now stand at 4-2.
Quiros and Caleb Karll both singled on the very first pitches they saw, and the Starfires had two baserunners on quickly in the bottom of the first. Quiros then showed off his speed, stealing third, and then the Franklin Pierce Raven crossed the plate off a wild pitch to put Westfield on top 1-0 after the first inning.
Westfield native Niemiec was the starter and did not disappoint the first time through the order. The Cornell product was perfect through three with four strikeouts as the score remained at 1-0.
Not much happened until the top of the fifth, when three of the first four Silver Knights reached with two hit by pitches and a single to load the bases with one out. The Starfires elected to stick with Niemiec, who responded with his sixth strikeout and then got a popup to strand three, keeping the lead for the Starfires. He finished the day allowing two hits with six punchouts and no walks.
In the seventh, Nashua got their first two on with a one-base error and a walk. This was followed by a single to score the runner from second. The Starfires turned to Wheaton’s Greg Strite, who got three straight outs to limit the damage as the game headed into stretch time knotted at 1.
In the bottom of the eighth, John Mass had a pinch-hit infield single, Quiros blooped one into right to tally his third hit, and then Karll was drilled in the back to juice the bases. Southern Maine’s Peter Keblinsky got an RBI after taking one for the team, and then Boston College product Ben Williams watched four balls go by to make the score 3-1. Karll later came around to score on a wild pitch, and Nashua was suddenly in a hole down three going into the ninth.
The Silver Knights did get a leadoff double in the ninth, but the Strite came back with three straight ground ball outs to shut the door as the Starfires knocked off the hottest team in the league.
Karll and Keblinsky were each 1-for-3 on the day, with Keblinsky driving in what turned out to be the game-winning run in the eighth. The native of Ellsworth, Maine, is currently third in the league with a .421 batting average.
Pitching-wise, both Niemiec and the bullpen silenced the Nashua offense which came into this game leading the league early in both team batting average and OPS. Incoming Holy Cross freshman Owen Callaghan didn’t allow an earned run in his one inning of work, while Strite tossed the final three innings of the game, allowing just one hit and two baserunners, earning the win.
The Starfires will hit the road and head down to New Britain to take on the Bees for the fourth time this season tomorrow, June 5. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 a.m.
