The Bravehearts began the week by hosting the New Britain Bees at Fitton Field on Monday, and they were led by Hunter St. Denis, whose 4-4 night was just a triple short of the cycle in WooBall’s 6-3 win. St. Denis was named the FCBL “Player of the Night” for his efforts.
Down one in the second, a Benny Hess single knotted the score 1-1. Again down a run in the fourth, a St. Denis solo shot to right tied it 2-2. St. Denis would give Worcester the lead for good with an RBI double in the fifth. Will Kraemer followed with a two-run shot. In the eighth, Gabe Malaret tripled in St. Denis for his third run scored of the game.
Gavin Price earned the win with a five-inning start, striking out seven. Aiden Cardoza followed with two innings of scoreless relief, and Ian Carter tacked on another.
Tuesday was a trip north to Holman Stadium for the Bravehearts to take on the Silver Knights, and Worcester scored a late tying run but couldn’t hold their tenth-inning lead in an 8-7 loss to Nashua.
WooBall got out of the gates quickly with a Hunter St. Denis sacrifice fly and RBI singles from Gabe Malaret and Cade Centracchio. After two Silver Knights runs in the third, Jake Yang made it 4-2 with an RBI double in the fourth.
Nashua took a 5-4 lead in the fifth, but in the eighth, Worcester tied it when Jack Murray scored on a wild pitch. In the tenth, the Bravehearts scored twice on another wild pitch and another Yang double. But the Silver Knights would score three in the home half to take the game.
New Britain was the visitor at Fitton Field Wednesday night, and despite the hot temperatures, Worcester’s bats were cool in the Bees’ 5-3 win over the Bravehearts.
Jacob Malfant‘s two-run single gave WooBall a 2-1 lead in the third, but that’s the last time the Bravehearts would get a runner across the plate until Dylan Prince scored on a wild pitch in the ninth. Connor Herlihy was the only one of three WooBall pitchers to not allow a run.
Worcester went into Thursday night’s contest against Westfield at Fitton Field looking to break that two-game losing streak and put up two crooked-number innings to defeat the Starfires 11-3.
Down one in the bottom of the second, Talen Rosborough knotted the score with an infield RBI. Brayden Cali then doubled to score two more, and Cali would score on Cordell Clinkingbeard‘s RBI single.
In the fourth, Jake Yang doubled to score a run, followed by a Will Kraemer sacrifice fly. A Julian Mercado two-run shot would clear the bases but not stop the scoring as WooBall would grab another run in the frame on a Gill Dolan RBI single.
A seventh-inning Rosborough double and an eighth-inning two-bagger from Mason Bordelon would each score another run. Davis Kahn got the win in a five-inning start and was named the FCBL’s “Pitcher of the Night”. Aiden Cardoza (3IP) and Colton Cravens (1IP) both had scoreless outings.
Friday, it was south to Norwich for the Bravehearts, where they started off hot but unfortunately cooled quickly in a 14-6 loss to the Sea Unicorns.
Worcester took a 3-0 lead on Julian Mercado‘s first-inning RBI single and Jordan Luna‘s two-run second-inning single. Mercado’s second RBI hit, this one in the fourth, made it 4-1.
It was all Norwich after that, who took a ten-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, which should have ended the game under the FCBL’s mercy rule, but for whatever reason, the game continued. In the ninth, another Mercado single plated two more for the 14-6 final.
Independence Day saw WooBall heading to Vermont for a pair against the Lake Monsters, and in the completion of a previously suspended game, Worcester lost 11-6, and they didn’t fare much better in the second game, losing 5-4.
Down a bunch in the opener, Worcester made a game of it in the sixth on RBI singles from Jordan Luna and Tate Bannish. Following a run on an infield out, Julian Mercado‘s two-run single made it 7-5. But that was as close as the Bravehearts would get. Luna earned a second RBI with a run-scoring single in the ninth.
In the second game, reduced to seven innings under FCBL rules, WooBall jumped out to a 2-0 second-frame lead on Mason Bordelon‘s home run. In the fifth, Jordan Luna‘s double made it 3-1 Worcester, but the sides would end up tied 4-4 after the seventh. Gill Dolan‘s sacrifice fly gave Worcester a brief lead, but Vermont would walk it off with two in the home half.
Sunday saw New Britain visiting Fitton Field, and it was all Bravehearts as the batters pounded out 14 hits and 15 runs while starter Jake Shaughnessy went the distance, recording just the fourth complete game shutout in Bravehearts franchise history in a 15-0 win. Shaughnessy scattered three hits over seven innings and was the FCBL’s “Pitcher of the Night”.
Tate Bannish opened the scoring in the first with a two-run single, with a third run scoring on the play on an error. Bannish would then score on Alan Carpenter‘s single, and later in the frame, Gill Dolan walked with the bases loaded to score another.
In the fourth, Julian Mercado, who won the FCBL’s “Player of the Night”, launched a three-run homer to left. Worcester would grab another run in the inning on an infield error. In the fifth, WooBall would grab runs on RBI singles from Jordan Luna and Jack Murray, two runs on another Bannish hit, and a fifth in the frame on an infield out. Worcester’s 15th run in the game came in the sixth on Carpenter’s RBI single.
210Sports’ Bravehearts of the week
Pitcher: Jake Shaughnessy is the easy pick here with his complete game shutout, striking out six and facing just one batter over the minimum.
Batter: Julian Mercado is this week’s winner, going 8-20 with a double, two home runs, and 11 RBI. He also walked five times and scored six runs.
This week’s opponents
Monday: Off Day
Tuesday: at Westfield Starfires, 6:30 PM
Wednesday: at Lowell Spinners, 7:00 PM
Thursday: at Norwich Sea Unicorns, 4:00 PM, doubleheader
Friday: vs Norwich Sea Unicorns, 6:30 PM
Saturday: at New Britain Bees, 6:35 PM
Sunday: Off Day
Tickets to Bravehearts home games can be purchased online or by calling (508) 438-3773.
Around the FCBL
Monday
@ Vermont 10, Lowell 9
Nashua 5, @ Norwich 3
Tuesday
@ New Britain 2, Norwich 0
Lowell @ Westfield; ppd, rain
Wednesday
@ Vermont 10, Westfield 9
@ Norwich 6, Lowell 4
Thursday
@ Lowell 16, Norwich 4; 7 innings, mercy
@ Vermont 4, Nashua 2
Friday
@ Lowell 10, Nashua 8
Westfield 4, @ New Britain 3; game 1, 7 innings
@ New Britain 3, Westfield 1; game 2, 7 innings
Saturday
@ Nashua 4, Norwich 3
Sunday
Lowell 8, @ Westfield 2; game 1, 7 innings
@ Westfield 2, Lowell 1; game 2, 7 innings
@ Vermont 9, Norwich 1
For frequent updates on the Worcester Bravehearts, follow @210Darryl and @210Sports on Twitter.
—
Do you have something you loved (or hated) about the post? Head on over to the 210Sports Facebook page and leave a comment. You could comment on this post too, but fair warning: the spam filter catches lots of stuff it shouldn’t, and it might be weeks before we see your comment. While you’re there, please give the page a like and a follow.
You can also follow along and comment on the following sites:
Twitter/X (210Darryl), Twitter/X (210Sports), Bluesky, and Mastodon.
-30-
210Sports 
Leave a comment