Five runs in the fourth inning and solid all-around pitching gave the Starfires all they needed as they beat the 12-4 first-place Worcester Bravehearts Wednesday night, June 18, at Fitton Field.
The Starfires move to 6-12 on the season, snapping a 10-game win streak for the Bravehearts. Worcester falls to 12-5, still holding a 2.5 game lead over the Vermont Lake Monsters for first in the standings.
Marist product Cody Hessellton got the call on the mound for the Starfires and was impressive early on. The Bravehearts got three runners on in the first three innings, but two of those players were caught stealing on the base paths, and the Bravehearts could not get themselves on the scoreboard.
On the other end, Worcester starter Evan McCarthy was mowing through the Starfires. In the second, Northeastern Husky Anthony Ruggiero got to third after a single, a stolen base, and a wild pitch, but two strikeouts ended the inning. This was the only base runner for Westfield in the opening three innings. McCarthy had eight strikeouts among his 10 batters faced through three frames.
The second time through the lineup was a completely different story, however. In the top of the fourth, Evan Menzel and Ruggiero both drew walks to lead off the inning, followed by a single from third-year Starfire Josh Frometa. Menzel initially held up at third, but a throwing error by the left fielder scored both Menzel and Ruggiero as the Starfires opened the scoring on the miscue.
The Starfires were just getting started as three more runs came across the plate in the frame. Seth Alford, from North Florida, hit a double in his season debut, another Northeastern Husky, Cooper Tarantino, had a run-scoring double, while Keene State Owl Jonathan Chatfield added to his team-high RBI total with a two-RBI single, and Westfield was suddenly leading 5-0.
The Starfires’ middle of the order struck again in the next inning with Ruggiero getting on base for the third time with a single, stealing base number two on the night, then Frometa smacked a double to left as Westfield tacked on their sixth run of the game.
The Bravehearts walked two Starfires in the sixth, after which Tarantino got another RBI base hit, this time with a one-bagger to plate another run as Westfield was pouring it on the Bravehearts with a 7-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Worcester was able to string together baserunners for the first time. A single, two walks, and another single plated two runs, and the Bravehearts got on the board, but were still in a hole, down 7-2.
After both sides seldom had baserunners in the late stages, the game entered the bottom of the ninth with the Starfires still leading by a score of 7-2.
Despite Westfield retiring two of the first three hitters, the Bravehearts proceeded to put together a big inning after four walks and a double scored two runs and loaded the bases for the mighty power-hitting Jackson Marshall.
Bonfiglio and the Starfires elected to stick with Columbia Lion Justin Bowman on the mound, who froze the FCBL home run leader for the punchout to end the game with the second straight victory for Westfield.
Frometa and backstop Tarantino both had a pair of hits with one double each on the day. Tarantino tallied two runs batted in while Frometa picked up one. Ruggiero had two hits, a walk, and two stolen bags, while Chatfield, with his two RBIs off a single in the fourth, has 12 on the year to pace the team and put him fifth in the league.
Hesselton got the win on the mound after going five-plus with four hits, two runs, and five punchouts. The southpaw now boasts a 2.84 ERA across his 12.2 innings pitched thus far. Penn Quaker Kai Nee entered the game in the sixth, getting all three outs there and pitching a scoreless seventh inning for the squad.
The staff as a whole locked down two of the best hitters in the league for the Bravehearts. Marshall came into the game leading the league in long balls and near the top in batting average and RBIs, and was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Jack Quick, meanwhile, was five for his last eight at the dish entering this game and hitting .379, but struck out four times against Starfires’ pitching.
The Starfires will continue to push back towards the top of the standings tomorrow, June 19, with a road matchup against the Norwich Sea Unicorns at 6:30 p.m.
