WESTFIELD – Connecticut Husky-to-be Evan Menzel reached with a single in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, but the Westfield Starfires fell 7-3 at the hands of the Nashua Silver Knights Tuesday in a game that was shortened to seven innings due to a flat tire on Nashua’s team bus that delayed their arrival to Billy Bullens Field.
The Starfires fall to 13-37-2 on the season while the Silver Knights get back in the win column to reach 23-29 on the year. With the New Britain Bees falling in the home run derby to the Worcester Bravehearts also Tuesday, Nashua is just a single point out of the FCBL playoff picture.
After the delay of approximately one hour, Westfield opened the scoring in the bottom of the second after Boston College’s Ben Williams laced a single into center, then Assumption’s James McDermott joined him on the bases with another single.
The speedy Williams made it to third on a flyball, and then Iona Gael Cole Silvia hit a groundball to short, where the Silver Knights got the out at second, but Silvia beat the throw to first to prevent the double play and get Williams around to score the game’s first run.
Columbia product Justin Bowman earned his second start of the season and began his outing with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
However, after Westfield got ahead 1-0, the Silver Knights had a quick response, loading the bases in the third, sending a runner home with a sacrifice fly, and a couple of batters later, got out in front by way of a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, and the Starfires were playing from behind midway through the third.
Nashua was not slowing up at all in the fourth inning, scoring three more runs in the frame. The Silver Knights only had four baserunners on four singles, but they ran all over the Starfires in the inning with five stolen bases, leading to three of those baserunners scoring and giving the visitors a 5-1 lead.
In the home half of the fourth, the Williams-McDermott duo got things started once again with a single and a walk from the former and the latter, respectively. After Silvia put together a tough at-bat and ultimately walked to pack the bags, Nashua pitcher Rob Gilchrist threw a ball over the head of Josh Frometa to begin the plate appearance, which sent Williams to the plate off the wild pitch.
Frometa was retired to end the frame, but the Starfires chipped into the lead, which stood at 5-2 after four innings.
Heading into the fifth, Menzel led off the inning with a single, and then Anthony Ruggiero lined a ball to shortstop Patrick Shrake. Shrake took a hit away from Ruggiero by making a leaping grab, but then threw it away trying to double up Menzel at first.
Menzel took second on the miscue, and then Virginia’s Griffin Enis made Nashua pay with a base hit to score Menzel for the third Starfires’ run of the ball game.
After a couple of scoreless innings from the Westfield pitching staff, the Silver Knights got going again in the top of the seventh after two free passes, a double, and a passed ball got Nashua out ahead 7-3 heading into the seventh.
Fighting against a four-run deficit in their final at-bats, Northwestern product Griffin Mills launched an opposite field double, then Enis followed him up with an infield single, but the defense for Nashua shined again as Williams hit a blooper into right field that Jake Haarde made a sliding catch on for out number three as the Starfires fell short in the shortened game.
Over his hitting streak, Menzel is hitting .341 with five runs batted in over that stretch. Mills, Enis, and Williams all registered two-hit days as well, with both Mills and Enis grabbing an RBI, and for Williams, he has gone nine for his last 22 to raise his average from .210 to .262 in that span.
Prior to the contest, the Starfires took part in a celebration of Women In Baseball Week, recognizing the female members of the team’s staff that play a critical role in the success of the franchise. Director of Ballpark Operations Tammy Keeney threw out the ceremonial first pitch to her daughter, Concessions Coordinator Hannah Keeney.
Next on the docket will be a road matchup in New Britain on Wednesday, July 30, at New Britain Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. The team returns home Thursday, July 31, also to face the Bees, with a 6:30 p.m. start time.
Tickets to all Starfires home games can be purchased at www.westfieldstarfires.com.
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