The sunshine, longer days, and warmer weather are harbingers of summer, and with that comes collegiate summer baseball for the FCBL and the Westfield Starfires as the organization takes the field for their seventh season.
Coming off their best season in program history, the Starfires dropped their opening day game 9-7 in the rematch of the 2024 FCBL championship against the Norwich Sea Unicorns at home, but then bounced back to win game two against the Sea Unicorns with a 15-5 victory on Friday, May 29.
The following day, Westfield dropped its first road match to the New Britain Bees 6-2. After a postponement of opening night on Saturday, May 31, the next day the Starfires got another victory over the Sea Unicorns, this time winning 6-2 in Norwich, Connecticut to get to an even 2-2 on the season.
The Starfires are picking up right where they left off last season in terms of offense, and through four games are hitting .270 and averaging 7.5 runs per game. They are also second in the league with a .737 team OPS and are the league leaders with 14 stolen bases.
Leading the way for the Starfires is American International College’s Josh Frometa, who is 5-for-17 early in the season. Frometa, who is now spending his third summer with the Starfires, was a First-Team All-NE10 selection this spring and is currently second in the FCBL with seven RBIs.
A couple of Division I athletes in Ryan Dillon from Cornell and Evan Menzel from Maine are near league leaders as well. Dillon at 4-for-8 is only one of four qualified hitters to have a .500 average or higher, and with four runs driven in, is top-five in the league in that category as well. Menzel, who was a member of the America East Second-Team in his rookie season at Maine, is hitting .364 and tied for the league lead with a pair of doubles.
Westfield is middle of the pack pitching-wise with a 3.71 team earned run average, and they are second with a .222 opponent batting average.
University of Connecticut’s Traigh Skiffington got the win on the mound in the first victory over the Sea Unicorns, and Keene State lefty Nathan Pirog is the other winning pitcher with his five-inning scoreless start in the Starfires’ most recent game, which was a road win against Norwich. Pirog is only one of three pitchers in the league so far to pitch at least five innings without allowing an earned run.
Dan Lang from UConn Avery Point also has a flawless ERA after going four innings of relief in the Starfires’ 6-2 loss to New Britain.
Looking ahead into the upcoming week, the Starfires will kick things off on Tuesday, June 3, with a home twin bill against the Bees. The doubleheader is due to the postponement of the Saturday, May 31 game, which was originally scheduled to be opening night for the Starfires.
New Britain is at the bottom of the standings with a 1-3 record, although their only win came over the Starfires. The Bees have struggled offensively so far, averaging just three runs per game and a .573 team OPS. The pitching has not been great either, with a 5.14 team ERA.
In the first matchup, Tyler Stone handled Starfires hitting, tossing four innings, giving up one run, and striking out five. The strikeouts put him in a tie for third across the league. Easton Masse leads the team in hitting, slashing .333.
On Wednesday, June 4, Westfield will play host to the Nashua Silver Nights in another morning game. After dropping their season opener to the Worcester Bravehearts, the Silver Knights have rattled off three straight wins over the Bravehearts, Lake Monsters, and the Bees to leap to first place in the FCBL with their 3-1 record.
The Silver Knights feature the best offense and pitching staff in the FCBL so far, topping the league with 8.25 runs per game, a .317 team average, and a team OPS of .869. They are also first in team ERA at 2.25 and a .191 opponent batting average. In addition, the pitching staff has surrendered the fewest walks of any team in the league with just 16.
The lineup features the top three batting average leaders in the league, with Ernie Little at 7-for-11 on the year and also third in the league with 5 RBIs. Patrick Shrake is also 7-for-11 for a .636 average, and Tommy Ahlers rounds out the top three with his .545 mark.
Tommy Flaherty had a solid outing as Nashua’s starter their opening day loss to the Bravehearts, going four innings, allowing one run, and punching out six.
If there is one weakness to the Silver Knights, it is the defense. Nashua is averaging three miscues per game, which is by far the highest in the league. This is in large part due to five errors in the loss to the Bravehearts, which doomed the Silver Knights as their misplays led to seven unearned runs for Worcester.
On Thursday, June 5, Westfield will return to Bullens for a matchup with New Britain once again before heading right back on the road to play the Vermont Lake Monsters for a three-game series in Burlington over the weekend.
The Lake Monsters are dead last in the league in most offensive categories with their .182 team average, 2.8 runs per game, and .487 team OPS. In three of their five games, they have scored two or fewer runs, including their most recent game against the Bravehearts, in which they were shut out with just two hits.
Despite this, the Lake Monsters are 3-2 and second in the league, thanks in large part to their pitching staff. The 2.93 team ERA is only behind Nashua, and they are averaging the fewest walks per game as a staff with only 18 free passes across five games.
Sam Cavossa and Conner Vercollone are the leaders with the bats for Vermont, with Cavossa slashing .357 and Vercollone at .300.
Romel Roca and John Delgado both have ERAs of zero. Roca started in a loss to Nashua with five innings and zero runs and Delgado took the rubber in a 1-0 victory over the Bees, going four innings of no-run baseball.
To recap, the Starfires will be at home this week with two games on Tuesday, June 3, against the New Britain Bees and then one on Wednesday, June 4, against the Nashua Silver Knights. Both days will have first pitch at 10:30 a.m. with the second half of the Tuesday twin bill beginning approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Tickets can be purchased at https://westfieldstarfires.com/ticket-page/
