Third-year Starfire Josh Frometa hit an infield single in the sixth inning for his now-franchise leading 71st career hit while the Westfield pitching staff threw a one-hit shutout, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 4-0 win over the Nashua Silver Knight on Saturday, August 2, at Holman Stadium.
The Starfires improve to 14-38-2 with the weekend victory while the Nashua Silver Knights continue to fall apart at the least opportune time. They have lost 12 of their past 13 games to fall to 23-31-0 and two games out of a playoff spot.
After the Starfires went six up, six down in the first two innings, Worcester State product Riggs Catlin worked a one-out walk in the second inning. Then, Keene State product Otis Follet got his first hit as a Starfire with a single into right.
This sent Cole Silvia to the plate and the Iona Gael ripped a ball off the top of the wall in left center for a double, scoring both men on base for an early 2-0 Westfield lead on the road.
Nolan Geisler threw five shutout innings against Nashua without allowing a hit. (Kelsey Sagvold)
Nolan Geisler on the mound for the Starfires was nothing short of spectacular in his fifth start of the season. The UMass-Lowell Riverhawk allowed a handful of free passes, but never more than one in
an inning, and Nashua was held hitless through their first five innings, while Geisler picked up six strikeouts.
Heading into the sixth inning, Northeastern’s Anthony Ruggiero reached on a ground ball just out of the reach of Nashua’s second baseman to start off the frame, then stole his 11th and 12th bags of the season.
The man of the hour, Frometa, stepped to the plate, and after falling behind 1-2, the American International College senior-to-be hit a soft popup between third base and the mound. The ball was not high, and it bounced in no man’s land on the infield grass and with Frometa’s speed, the Silver Knights could do nothing about Frometa’s record breaking 71st hit as a Starfire. The hit also drove in Ruggiero from third and the Starfires went ahead 3-0.
Columbia product Koby Seelig entered the game in the bottom of the sixth and tossed a perfect inning there as the hosts still had a goose egg in the hit column.
Silvia got his third hit of the night in the seventh and then Connecticut’s Evan Menzel joined him on the bases with a single of his own. Ruggiero then slapped a ball to shortstop that went under the glove of Patrick Shrake and the error gave Silvia a one-way ticket to home to expand the Westfield lead to 4-0.
Seeling got an out in the seventh before handing the ball over to incoming freshman at the University of Connecticut, Traigh Skiffington. The East Longmeadow, Massachusetts native got the final two outs in the seventh and one out in the eighth to keep the no-hitter intact before Southern Maine Husky-to-be Thomas Pirog entered the game.
Finally, in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Silver Knights worked a walk off Pirog, then Brenden Walsh got a base hit into center field to break up the no-hitter with just five outs remaining.
Despite allowing two baserunners early, Pirog regrouped and got a strikeout for out number two, then a weak infield popout ended the inning with the Starfires still ahead 4-0 heading into the ninth.
Boston College’s John Mass came in to get the final three outs in the ninth, and he continued the Starfires’ stellar pitching night with a 1-2-3 ninth inning whiffing two Silver Knights as the Starfires blanked Nashua in Holman.
In addition to Frometa’s being crowned as the Starfires all-time hits leader after surpassing Danny Crossen, he also tied Jackson Hornung with 45 career RBIs with his run-scoring single and has a chance for another milestone in his final few games.
Both Menzel and Silvia had three hit nights with each recording a double and Silvia grabbing two RBIs as well.
Among the five pitchers used for Westfield on the night, the quintet combined for nine shutout innings, one hit, just three walks and 11 strikeouts. It is the second shutout of the season and first since a 10-0 victory over the New Britain Bees on June 3 in Westfield’s fifth game of the season.
The Starfires will look to keep up the momentum as they return to Bullens Field on Sunday, August 3 for a matchup against the Norwich Sea Unicorns starting at 1:00 p.m.
