There really is no place like home.
Springfield College senior and Westfield native Josh Mayo grew up coming to Bullens Field and watching the Starfires.
Now, Mayo is on the other side of the fence as a player, and in his second start of the year, Mayo forever etched his name in the Starfires record books by throwing the first nine-inning shutout in team history en route to a 4-0 Westfield win over the Nashua Silver Knights.
Westfield is now 5-6 as they continue to fight back to a winning record.
Mayo began the game with a hitless first inning and earned two strikeouts. In the bottom of the first, with one out, Stonehill senior Jamison Howland drew a walk, before UConn-Avery Point sophomore Logan Charboneau singled to right field. With runners on first and second, UMass Amherst junior Will Briggs continued his tear at the plate, knocking a single through the left side of the infield and scoring Howland from second, making the score 1-0. Hofstra junior Trent Jenks followed this up with another single, putting runners on second and third, but the inning ended after a strikeout and a groundout.
Mayo began the second with a strikeout and a flyout, before Nashua’s Pete Fischer hit a single, which was the first of only three hits Mayo allowed. Mayo earned another strikeout for the third out.
After the offense was hitless in the bottom of the second, Mayo put the next three Nashua batters out on nine pitches to begin the third inning. In the bottom of the third, Charboneau led off with a stand-up double off the left-center fence. Briggs followed this up by hitting a comebacker to the pitcher, which hit off of his leg and rolled away for a single, and put runners on the corners. Jenks took advantage of this by smacking a single through the right side of the infield, scoring the runner from third, and advancing Briggs to third. Jenks rounded first, expecting the throw from the outfield to head to third base, but it was cut off, and he was caught in a pickle between first and second. A pickle is often an entertaining and long-winded way to get an out, but Jenks juked and sprinted to stay alive before diving safely into second base. With a 2-0 lead and runners on second and third, Bridgeport senior Anthony Armenia hit a grounder to the shortstop, who threw out Briggs at home, while Armenia reached first safely. However, Armenia stole second, and when the Nashua catcher threw down to second, Jenks headed home, scoring another run to extend the lead to 3-0. Armenia also stole third, but two outs ended the inning.
Mayo allowed a lead-off single in the top of the fourth inning, but a lineout and a double play ended the frame. After a hitless bottom of the fourth, Mayo again set down the next three Nashua batters in order and earned another strikeout in the process.
In the top of the sixth, Nashua’s Max Dantoni bunted back to Mayo, who made his single mistake of the game by throwing the ball past the first baseman, putting Dantoni on second. A groundout to the shortstop put Dantoni on third base with two outs. With the shutout being threatened for the first time all game, Mayo got Nashua’s Ben Peterson to fly out to keep the shutout going.
Stony Brook junior Mike Cervoni led off the bottom of the sixth with a double but the Starfires were unable to bring him home.
Mayo needed only six pitches to sit down three more Silver Knights in the top of the seventh, and was once again hitless in the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jenks led off with a single, and Armenia singled behind him. Cervoni struck out, but the runners advanced on a double steal. St. Joseph’s senior JJ Fox hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Jenks from third for the fourth and final run of the game.
In the top of the ninth, Mayo returned to the mound to finish his masterpiece. After a groundout and a strikeout, Nashua’s Hudson Story hit a fly ball to center field, and Mayo raised his hands in the air in anticipation. The ball was caught by Armenia for the final out of the game.
On offense, Westfield combined for nine hits. Charboneau was two-for-four, Briggs was two-for-three with a RBI, and Jenks was three-for-four with an RBI.
Mayo ended the day with 9.0 IP, three hits, two walks, six strikeouts, and the win. He threw 96 pitches and faced 30 batters.
The nine full broke the franchise record set in 2020 by Chase Jeter of Sacred Heart University, who went 8.2 innings against the New Britain Bees on August 14, 2020, and was the sixth complete-game shutout by an individual pitcher in franchise history; the most recent came on July 28, 2024, also against New Britain, and also thrown by a Westfield native, Jake Jachym.
In his postgame interview, Mayo emphasized how his “attack, attack” approach on the mound did not change throughout the game, even when Nashua tried to adjust.
“[The approach was] to let them get themselves out. If they’re going to take [a pitch], good, now they’re in an 0-1 count, and if not, there was a lot of weak contact… I was just trying to get the offense back in and let them keep putting up great at-bats.” said Mayo.
Mayo gave a special shoutout to the pitch-calling from his catcher, Kansas State freshman Jett Viondola.
The Starfires will play another game at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9, against the first-place New Britain Bees.
