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Bravehearts surge late, top Bees for third straight win

  • Posted by Local sports June 3, 2024 - Filed in Sports - #Worcester Bravehearts  #Futures League  #Fitton Field  - 1,645 views

    Assumption’s Smith legs out inside-the-park home run

    WORCESTER – After relinquishing a 5-run 6th-inning lead, the Worcester Bravehearts scored 4 runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat the New Britain Bees, 11-8, at Fitton Field Sunday.

    The victory marks the third straight for Worcester.

    The Bravehearts took a 2-0 lead on a first-inning run-scoring single by Owen Pincince (New Haven), but New Britain tied the game in the fifth on a Freddy Forgione (SUNY Maritime) double.

    ’Hearts starter Nik Pavia (Franklin Pierce), left the game with 2 outs in the top of the fifth. The Bolton native surrendered 2 runs on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. Canton’s Andrew Middleton (UMass) then stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout to keep the score tied.

    In the bottom of the 5th, Bravehearts leadoff hitter CJ Egrie (Holy Cross) singled, then scored when Cody Smith (Assumption) hit a ground ball down the left field line and raced around the bases for 2-run home run. It marked just the second inside-the-park home run in Bravehearts history, and the first since Zach DeMattio (Wheaton) on June 26, 2021.

    The Bravehearts tacked on when Pincince ran home on a wild pitch, then expanded the lead to 5 runs on Smith’s sixth-inning RBI groundout and Matt Milone’s sacrifice fly.

    But New Britain responded with 5 runs of its own in the seventh and eighth, tying the game, 7-7, before Worcester exploded for the game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth.

    After Egrie clocked a 1-out triple to left-center field and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, Pincince and Dylan LaPointe (FAU) knocked RBI singles. The third wild pitch of the inning plated Pincince, and the ’Hearts carried an 11-7 lead into the ninth. There Hudson’s Keegan Antelman (Bentley) surrendered an RBI single, but induced a game-ending flyout to nail down Worcester’s third straight win.

    Worcester caps a four-game home stand Tuesday, when they face the Futures League Road Warriors before a sellout crowd of children on the second of 2 Baseball In Education Days. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m.

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