Westfield Starfires Defeat Vermont Lake Monsters to Win Season Series on Saturday

BURLINGTON – For the first time in franchise history, the Westfield Starfires claimed a season series win over the Vermont Lake Monsters, dominating both ends of the court in a 10-3 victory on Saturday.

Westfield is now 27-18-1 and sits in second place in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League standings with 13 games remaining.

It was a pitching duel in the first three innings, as Post University’s Jack Martineau took on the University of New Haven’s Christian Di Risi. Westfield broke the shutout when Central Connecticut University’s Danny Hussey singled, advanced on a Di Risi baulk and took two bases on a wild pitch that went deep into foul territory behind home plate at Centennial Field.

However, Chone James led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joe Marini to tie the score.

The tide turned immediately for the Starfires in the fifth inning. Clark University’s Ryan Caufield bounced the first pitch of the inning to short, but it crept through to left-center. That set in motion a string of four consecutive hitters who hit the ball, including an RBI single by Boston College’s Julio Solier.

With Westfield loaded and already leading, the Lake Monsters turned to Cole Riskin, but a high chopper from Central Connecticut State University’s Aidan Redahan bounced over the Vermont first baseman for another run.

Two batters later, Hussey hit a two-run single to center on the first pitch he saw, and both Blue Devils came home on a wild pitch plus a throwing error, giving the Starfires a 7-1 lead. Martineau made sure the lead survived and put the side in order in the fifth inning.

“Everything. A combination of fastball, slider, changeup and curveball,” Martineau said after the game when asked what worked for him. “To get back on top in the fifth inning and just attack, it makes everything easy.”

The Starfires added two more in the sixth when College of the Holy Cross rookie Van Liott and Quinnipiac University’s Kyle Garbowski singled to lead off the inning. Solier bounced to the mound and though Garbowski was thrown out at second, the Eagles freshman hit the pitch to stay out of the double play.

He then went off to steal second, drawing a foul pitch that scored Liott and came home on a wild pitch. Westfield’s final run came in the seventh, when Jayden Novak of the College of Charleston went to the opposite field for his third longball of the year.

Vermont threw the ball twice in the seventh inning, but with Daniel Cantafi on base, he could do nothing. The Keene State University pitcher allowed only one baserunner in his two innings due to an error on a dropped ball.

In the ninth inning, manager Paul Bonfiglio turned to Sam Morris of Millersville University to pitch. The outfielder induced a double play after giving up a single, then threw three straight strikes, one of which reached 90 mph, to retire Jacob Miller and end the game.

“I wasn’t planning on pitching here too much,” Morris said. “But it was really cool to get the opportunity here, especially to play for this team. I love these guys.”

“We pitched extremely well … that’s the biggest thing that stood out to me tonight, but our at-bats were really good, too,” Bonfiglio said. “There were a lot of hard ground balls. We don’t have to be a soft-swinging team, but there are adjustments that need to be made if we’re popping up a lot.”

Westfield’s win moves the team to 5-2 against the Lake Monsters in 2024, with all seven games played in Burlington. With one meeting remaining, the Starfires have won the series for the first time in the four years since Vermont joined the league.

The Starfires’ final game before the All-Star Break is an away match against the Worcester Bravehearts on Sunday at Fitton Field.

The first pitch is scheduled for 4pm