NEW BRITAIN, CONN. – Westfield native and incoming Cornell University freshman Connor Niemiec threw five shutout innings in his 10th and likely final start of the 2025 campaign for the Westfield Starfires, but a two-run eighth by the New Britain Bees was the difference in a 3-2 result on Wednesday.
The Starfires record stands at 15-41-2 for 32 points, while the Bees, at 27-30-1, have 55 points, clinching a playoff berth with the win.
Both teams collected a hit in each of the first two innings, with Connecticut’s Evan Menzel and American International College’s Josh Frometa singling for the Starfires, but it was not until the third that either team converted a hit into a run.
In that frame, Boston College’s Ben Williams fell behind 0-2 before battling back and taking the sixth pitch of his at-bat into center field. He stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout. New Britain starter Max Jarvie tried to strike out Menzel with a 1-2 curveball to end the inning, but the pitch bounced past the catcher to the backstop, allowing Williams to dash home.
Two innings later, Columbia’s Jimmy Chadwell and Menzel worked back-to-back walks. The Bees then turned a 6-4-3 double play, but Chadwell took third, and Northeastern’s Cooper Tarantino whacked a first-pitch double into the left-center gap to score the third baseman.
However, New Britain countered with a run of its own in the home half. A walk, sandwiched between two singles, loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly brought home one. Menzel then flashed the leather, snaring a sharply hit ball at short. He kept the runners where they were before throwing to first for the second out. Keene State’s Dylan Ellison then came in and needed just four pitches to end the inning with a strikeout.
The Starfires had a chance to extend the lead in the eighth as Anthony Ruggiero of Northeastern walked, and Frometa and Stonehill’s Kacin Robinson were hit by consecutive pitches with two outs to load the bases, but the team came up empty.
Unfortunately, that was the opening New Britain needed. Both of its first two men at the plate also were hit by pitches, and after a flyout, back-to-back singles by Colin Crowley and Caleb Miller tied the game and put the Bees on top. Connor Willett then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth frame.
Menzel, Ruggiero, and Frometa each reached base safely multiple times in the game; Frometa was also intentionally walked in the sixth, which put him on base safely for the 150th time in his Starfires career.
Niemiec scattered three hits and did not allow a free pass in his five innings of work, striking out three. The Westfield native concluded a strong campaign with 29 total strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings as he prepares to head to the Ivy League next spring.
Ellison also recorded three punchouts in his 1 1/3 innings, while another Westfield native, Springfield College’s Josh Mayo, recorded a strikeout and a groundout against the two men he faced.
Westfield will play its final road game of the 2025 campaign on Thursday, August 7 at 6 p.m. at Holman Stadium in Nashua, New Hampshire against the Silver Knights.
After that, the team returns home for Fan Appreciation Weekend and its final two games of 2025. On Friday, August 8, Boston Bruins Anthem singer Todd Angilly will sing the Star-Spangled Banner before the game. Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series Champion closer Jonathan Papelbon will take the mound at Bullens Field for the first pitch in a 6:30 p.m. start against the Silver Knights in an appearance presented by Sherwin Williams, Advance Manufacturing, and Peerless Precision.
The regular season then concludes on Saturday, August 9 with a 6:30 p.m. start against the Norwich Sea Unicorns. The team is holding its Host Family Appreciation Ceremony as well as its annual team awards, and additionally is partnering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a Mental Health Awareness Night. A 50/50 raffle at the game will benefit AFSP.
Tickets to all Starfires home games can be purchased at www.westfieldstarfires.com.
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