Coming off a winless week, the Worcester Bravehearts were looking to get back on track, but it was more of the same on Monday as they took on the Westfield Starfires at Fitton Field and once again found themselves on the wrong end of a 6-3 final.
Will Kraemer opened the scoring with a fourth-inning RBI double, but from the fifth frame on would trail the rest of the way. Worcester grabbed a run in the seventh on a balk, and in the eighth, an infield hit by Kraemer plated another run.
Tuesday was an off day, and it was the same old song and dance on Wednesday as the Bravehearts went up to Nashua and continued to allow too many crooked number innings in an 11-8 loss to the Silver Knights. Hunter St. Denis gave WooBall a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a two-run shot to left, but Nashua put up five in the home half to put Worcester in the rearview mirror.
St. Denis and Jeylem Sepulveda went back-to-back with solo home runs in the third, and the Bravehearts were able to take a brief lead in the fourth on a Jake Yang sacrifice fly and another run on some bad Nahua defense, but the Silver Knights put up four in the home half and two in the fifth to stay in the lead for good. A Yang sixth-inning RBI single and a bases-loaded walk by Chris Mondesir accounted for the rest of the scoring for Worcester.
Thursday, it was a home game against Westfield that was featured on NESN, and the Bravehearts picked a good time to end their losing streak by putting up 15 runs in a 15-8 victory over the Starfires. Ryan Garner picked up the win with four innings of scoreless relief and was named the Futures League “Pitcher of the Night”.
Down 4-0 after a half inning, Worcester began their first comeback of the game in the home half with a Julian Mercado RBI double and a Jeylem Sepulveda sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. WooBall took a 5-4 lead in the next frame behind a two-run single by Mercado and an RBI hit from Hunter St. Denis.
Worcester gave up another crooked-run inning in the third to go down 9-5, but once again made a comeback, this time in the fifth inning on an Andrew Schmit RBI double, a Brayden Cali RBI triple, and a Jake Yang RBI single. WooBall broke it open in the next inning on an Alan Carpenter bases-loaded walk, a Cade Centracchio two-run single, a run off a passed ball, and a Cali sac fly.
Sepulveda capped the scoring in the seventh with a solo homer to right for the 15-9 final.
Friday night had Worcester traveling north to take on Nashua, and Hunter St. Denis was the star of the show, going 4-4 with two runs scored in the Braveheart’s 4-2 win over the Silver Knights. St. Denis was later named the FCBL’s “Player of the Night”.
Down 2-0 in the fourth on two unearned Nashua runs, WooBall began their comeback with a fourth-frame Jeylem Sepulveda sacrifice fly, scoring St. Denis for the first time in the game. St. Denis would score again on a Benny Hess sixth-inning sac fly to tie it 2-2. Later in the frame, a Jacob Malfant RBI double would score two, for the eventual 4-2 final.
Joey Hagen picked up the win with the five-inning start, and Connor Herlihy added his first save of the season. Colton Cravens and Steven Parent each had scoreless outings on the mound.
Rain postponed the Bravehearts’ visit to New Britain, and that game will be made up on Sunday, August 2 as part of a doubleheader starting at noon.
New Britain came to Fitton Field Sunday, and it was all Bravehearts as Worcester scored early and often in an 11-1 win in a mercy-shortened seven innings game. Caleb Allen picked up the win, allowing just three hits and one run in six innings, while striking out six.
Down one entering the bottom of the first, WooBall turned on the jets in the home half, taking the lead on a Julian Mercado RBI single and when Jake Yang scored on a fielder’s choice. Yang’s RBI single in the second made it 3-1.
Alan Carpenter had an RBI single in the third, and in the fourth Hunter St. Denis launched a two-run single to left, and he would eventually score on Carpenter’s single. An infield error scored two more Bravehearts runs in the frame. In the seventh, Julian Mercado singled in a run for the ten-run lead and the win.
210Sports’ Bravehearts of the week
Pitcher: Caleb Allen gets the nod this week, with a six-inning win allowing just three hits and one run, while striking out six.
Batter: Hunter St. Denis is the easy pick this week, going 10-20 with two doubles, two home runs, six RBI, and eight runs scored.
This week’s opponents
Monday: Off Day
Tuesday: Futures League All-Star Game, at Nashua, 6:00 PM
Wednesday: Off Day
Thursday: vs Westfield Stafires, 10:30 AM
Friday: vs Vermont Lake Monsters, 6:30 PM
Saturday: vs Vermont Lake Monsters, 6:30 PM
Sunday: vs Nashua Silver Knights, 4:00 PM
Tickets to Bravehearts home games can be purchased online or by calling (508) 438-3773.
Around the FCBL
Monday
Lowell 3, @ Norwich 1
@ New Britain 9, Vermont 4
Keene Swamp Bats (NECBL) 2, @ Nashua 1; 7 innings, exhibition
Tuesday
@ Norwich 7, Nashua 6
@ Lowell 6, Westfield 4
Vermont 2, @ New Britain 0, 10 innings
Wednesday
@ Westfield 8, Vermont 6
Norwich 16, Lowell 6; 8 innings, mercy
Thursday
@ New Britain 8, Nashua 4
Vermont 6, Norwich 2
Friday
@ New Britain 7, Lowell 1
Vermont 9, Norwich 0
Saturday
Westfield 3, @ Nashua 0
Lowell @ Norwich; ppd, rain
Sunday
@ Norwich 10, Westfield 0; 7 innings, mercy
@ Vermont 14, Nashua 10; game 1, 7 innings
@ Vermont 6, Nashua 3; game 2, 7 innings
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