Starfires’ Chris Walsh (35) fires to first base Monday night in a matchup against the Worcester Bravehearts at Bullens Field. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
WESTFIELD – After shutting out the Worcester Bravehearts for the first three innings in Monday night’s matchup, the Westfield Starfires added another loss to their season record with a final score of 12–6.
Westfield started their first offensive inning off strong with shortstop Elijah Dale hitting a single to put himself on base. Dale missed two games due to an injury and his first at-bat since then looked promising for the Starfires.
The first run of the game came soon after Dale’s hit as left fielder Andrew Ciacciarelli drove Dale home on a hard hit single to left field.
Westfield saw their next run come across in the second inning with the bases loaded as the Starfires right fielder Andrew Selima scored after Dale walked in his second at-bat of the game.
Worcester failed to tally up any runs in the first three innings as the Starfires continued to capitalize offensively. The Starfires had three hits in the third which helped push three more runs across, along with a walk and a crucial error made by the Bravehearts center fielder.
With the Starfires taking a 5–0 lead into the fourth inning, the Bravehearts had to make a change in their offensive production, which began with a single from Worcester’s third baseman Ben McNeill.
The Bravehearts kept that momentum throughout the inning with a total of five hits that resulted in four runs, putting Worcester just one run behind the Starfires.
Westfield’s five-run lead disappeared as the Bravehearts continued to dominate offensively and make quick outs on the defensive end, taking the lead shortly after tying it up in the fifth inning.
Worcester scored seven runs in the last four innings while the Starfires only generated one more in the ninth, leaving the field losing by six runs.
Pitcher Jakob Barker of the Worcester Bravehearts came away with the win and Tyler Coppo of the Westfield Starfires settled for the loss.
With a handful of home games still to play this week, the Starfires look to put the disappointing loss behind them and get back to being victorious at Bullens Field. – Courtesy of Audrey Gamble/Westfield Starfires
