WESTFIELD – The Westfield Starfires had 11 players selected for various events at the Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game, including eight players chosen for the game itself. The two days of events will be July 24-25 at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont, and hosted by the Vermont Lake Monsters.
The first day will feature a Scout Day, which allows Major League scouts to watch players showcase their skill sets and the league’s Home Run Derby. Westfield has three Scout Day participants selected pitcher Shayne Audet and outfielders Luke Yuhasz and Corey Zientek, and Nick Serce will be Westfield’s entrant into the Home Run Derby.
The All-Star Game will take place on July 25, and it pits Team Mountain against Team Lake, about the northern region of Vermont, where Burlington resides. The league’s general managers selected the players to participate and placed them on the two teams.
Most of Westfield’s players will be on Team Mountain. Pitchers Ryan Bailey, Joe Espinola, Trey Yesu, and Kevin Zarnoch Jr. will be joined by catcher J.D. Jones, Serce, and outfielder Kiernan Caffrey. Team Lake will feature first baseman Jay Bant.
Audet, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, is the Futures League’s all-time strikeouts leader with 171, including a franchise-record 113 in a Starfires uniform across the 2021-23 seasons. After completing his undergraduate degree at New England College, he will play his graduate year at Penn State University.
Yuhasz is a rising sophomore at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. After a strong rookie campaign, the 6-foot-5 outfielder has posted a .280 average for the Starfires with a .368 on-base percentage, showing off speed and power with two doubles, two triples, and three home runs in just 50 at-bats.
Zientek recently completed his undergraduate career at the University of Scranton and will be headed to college baseball powerhouse Coastal Carolina University. He is hitting .275 for the Starfires, with four doubles, three triples, and four home runs to go with a .390 on-base percentage, and is one of the premier defenders in the league.
Serce leads the FCBL with a Westfield-record 10 home runs. The rising senior transferred from Alfred State University to American International College boasts a .410 on-base percentage, thanks to 23 walks, and has driven in 30 runs this season.
Bailey, Serce’s teammate at Alfred State, has baffled opposing hitters all season. The rising senior leads the FCBL with 52 strikeouts while posting a 2.85 earned run average that is second among qualifiers in the league.
Espinola, a Westfield State University rising senior, has been a force in Westfield’s bullpen. He has made 15 appearances and allowed eight earned runs while fanning 27.
Yesu, from Monson, Massachusetts, will be a sophomore at Bridgewater State University this fall. He has split time between the rotation and bullpen and has been reliable in both roles, to the tune of a 3.17 earned run average in 34 innings and wins in each of his last two starts as well as a 27-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Zarnoch is returning to the FCBL All-Star Game for the second time after being selected in 2022. The Worcester State University rising senior has thrown 40.2 innings across eight starts for Westfield and holds a 2-1 record with a 3.76 earned run average and 26 strikeouts.
Jones, who will play his junior season at Rutgers University after spending his first two campaigns at the University of Miami, has hit .328 in his 21 games in Westfield. With 14 walks and just five strikeouts, his .467 on-base percentage is among the best in the league.
Caffrey, an American International College rising junior from South Windsor, Connecticut, has picked up right where he left off from an All-Region season with the Yellow Jackets. His .316 average is fourth in the league among qualified hitters, and he reaches base at a .431 clip.
Bant, a rising junior at Monmouth University, is 11th in the FCBL in total hits with 35 despite taking just 84 at-bats. His .417 batting average includes five doubles and two home runs, and he holds a .473 on-base percentage.
Additionally, the FCBL’s Fan Vote will add two more players to the roster. Each team has nominated one player to be added, and the top two vote-getters will join the other players in Burlington on Tuesday. Yuhasz is the Starfires nominee.
Fans can click here to vote for Yuhasz.
