SPRINGFIELD – Though Westfield came into Sunday afternoon’s fourth annual Summer Classic against the second-place Worcester Bravehearts on a five-game losing streak, the Starfires showed their hometown faithful their roster still consisted of heart and courage.

Despite being hitless through five innings of action, the Starfires countered by scoring eight combined runs between the seventh and eighth innings to set up a photo finish. The effort wasn’t enough, though, as Mason Bordelon ultimately snapped Westfield’s momentum with a run-scoring single at the top of the ninth inning to ensure the Bravehearts an eventual 11-8 win against the Starfires from Walker Memorial Grandstand at Forest Park.

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“I thought today was an exciting game,” Starfires manager Paul Bonfiglio said. “I thought that it was another successful day here at Forest Park. It was beautiful here, and it’s really hard to beat this venue. And I thought that the game and its competitiveness and its kind of quirkiness. So it was a special opportunity for the community here in the Forest Park area of Springfield.”

It was a productive start for Worcester to begin the top of the first inning, as teammates Andrew Schmit earned a one-out walk before Benny Hess hit a single through first and second base to ensure the road team a runner in scoring position. And that proved essential, as Julian Mercado connected for a run-scoring single into right field before Jack Murray worked a bases-loaded walk that helped Mason Bordelon score from third to double the Bravehearts’ lead to 2-0.

Worcester was threatening for more in the top half, but Starfires starting pitcher Cam Fisher forced John Ramsey to chase a low pitch for the final out to ensure the Bravehearts stranded the bases loaded, but not before the road team recorded one walk and three combined hits to move ahead first.

The Starfires, though, were unable to counter in the bottom half as opposing starting pitcher Jake Shaughnessy earned a perfect 1-2-3 inning that included an inning-ending strikeout against Aiden Barclay to keep it a two-run difference through one inning. And that proved essential to begin the top of the second inning, as Brayden Cali earned a one-out walk. But the momentum was short-lived, as Shaughnessy hit a comebacker to Fischer to jumpstart a 1-5-3 double play to ensure the Bravehearts came up scoreless.

But that statistic was short-lived, as Ramsey was hit by a pitch. But despite an impressive running catch along the third baseline by Mike Cervoni, Jake Yang responded for the road team as he sat back on a 2-1 curveball pitch and sent it over the left-field fence to quadruple Worcester’s cushion through four innings of action.

Things only worsened for Westfield to begin the fifth inning, though, as Jayden Ortiz came into relieve Fischer. After a four-pitch walk to lead-off hitter Benny Hess, Ortiz momentarily responded with a three-pitch strikeout against Bordelon for the first out. But then after Hess moved into scoring position by stealing second base, teammate Julian Mercado welcomed the right-handed pitcher with a two-run blast past the 330-foot mark along the right-field line to extend the Bravehearts’ cushion to 6-0 behind their second two-run home run of the game.

But the Starfires earned their second baserunner in the bottom half, as Nic Frink walked. And then after Shaughnessy forced Morrie Fried to swing and miss on three consecutive curveballs for one of his six combined strikeouts, teammate Anthony Armenia attempted to ignite Westfield’s offense. The center fielder was unable to, though, as Hess caught Frink attempting to steal second base to end the Starfires’ potential threat and keep it a six-run difference as Westfield also remained hitless through five innings of action.

I thought that (Shaughnessy) had a really good, sharp curveball,“ Bonfiglio said. “I did think that we just didn’t do a good enough job getting it up. We should have started to, you know, basically take every curveball until we get to two strikes because that would have helped us a lot. It took a little bit for us to get that adjustment, but he definitely looked good because he also had a changeup that was working really well.”

For safe measures, though, Murray singled to right field and then reached second as outfielder Vance Bonior misplayed the baseball, which then allowed Murray to move into scoring position on the miscue. And that proved vital, as Ramsey made them pay with a two-out, run-scoring single to left field that plated Murray from second and further extended Worcester’s cushion to 7-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning.

But none of that mattered in the bottom half, as the Starfires’ first two runners reached safely via hit-by-pitch and walk to ensure the home team momentum for the first time on Sunday. And Westfield didn’t disappoint, as Frink poked a high dribbler to second base for his team’s first hit. The fun wasn’t complete, though, as Jamison Howland was caught in a pickle between second and third base.

But after reaching second safely, that allowed Barclay to score Westfield’s first run and make it a 7-1 deficit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

And then moments after the run-scoring play, Shaughnessy was replaced by relief pitcher Colton Cravens. But the right-handed reliever didn’t fare much better with runners on first and second, as Nick Fox kept the comeback attempt alive with a single up the middle to plate Howland from second base and bring the hometown crowd to their feet, as the Starfires made it a 7-2 deficit through seven innings.

The momentum was short-lived, though, as Bordelon connected for a two-run single into left-center field with the bases loaded against Barclay for Worcester with no outs in the top of the eighth inning. But the fun continued, as Dylan Prince earned the Bravehearts’ second hit-by-pitch of the inning, as Kyle Wilson was then called upon to replace Barclay to deal with another bases-loaded opportunity with one out still.

Though Wilson struck out Murray on a curveball to start, the junior walked Ramsey to bring home Hess and make it 10-2 in favor of Worcester entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The score didn’t remain that way for long, though, as the Starfires fanbase encouraged their club to score “one run at a time ... keep chipping away at it.”

And the message was received, as teammates States Farr and JJ Fox scored on a fielder’s choice and wild pitch to keep the bases loaded for Westfield with no outs in the bottom half. But the fun wasn’t complete, as Jamison Howland located a 2-2 pitch into left field to score Cervoni from third and help the Starfires cut their deficit to 10-5 behind three consecutive runs with no outs still.

In response to those previous plays, Conner Herlihy came in for relief for the Bravehearts. And the right-handed pitcher didn’t fare well either, as Barclay and Howland scored on a balk and a wild pitch to keep things interesting. And now with multiple runners on with only one out in the eighth still, Armenia lifted a 1-0 pitch to the warning track of right-center field with potential to even the score.

It wasn’t enough, though, as Schmit earned the one-handed grab to ensure only Frink scored from third on the sacrifice fly to keep Worcester ahead for good.

Despite the late comeback effort, Westfield moved to 11-16 behind its sixth consecutive loss, while Worcester improved to 16-10 and continued to close in on first place against Vermont in the league standings after its fifth straight win. The Starfires, meanwhile, look to get back on track against the last-place Lowell Spinners at home on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

“I don’t think that there’s any team in this league that’s that much better than we are, if better at all,” Bonfiglio said. “It’s upon us to correct our mistakes, and when we start to do that, we’ll be fine. We just have to start winning because we’re in a funk, and that’s OK.

“I think we’ll get out of that, but we’ve got to get healthy because injuries have really crippled us. But I’m proud of the way that we fought today, and I think that we’re going to see guys continue to fight here in the next few weeks.”

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