Bravehearts

Worcester, MA – Eric Chavarria proved why he was an All Star tonight, as the right-hander tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball to guide the Bravehearts to a 2-0 victory against the Silver Knights.

Chavarria allowed a runner to reach in the first inning and put runners on first and second the next inning, but he was unhittable after that. The Cypress College-product proceeded to retire 16 consecutive batters, including striking out the side in the seventh inning. Chavarria finished with nine total strikeouts and surrendered just two hits.

Worcester (21-18) needed the strong pitching performance because the bats were quiet. Worcester loaded the bases in the sixth, and Ben Rice took his base to force in a run. One inning later, Jakob Sessa singled home Trevor Johnson from second to take a 2-0 lead.

Christopher Macca (0.2 inning) and Bryce Hellgeth (1.1 innings, two strikeouts) pitched the final two frames for the Bravehearts to preserve the lead and to keep Chavarria in line for the win. Hellgeth entered with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth but struck out Kyle Sandstrom to kill Nashua’s best scoring chance of the night.

Sessa was the star for the Bravehearts, going 3 for 4 to boost his average to .318 for the season. Jack Gardner recorded two hits for Worcester as well. Mike La Rocca, Jack Arend, and Jared Dupere combined for the three hits for Nashua (20-21).

Griffin Young was hit with the tough loss as the Nashua starter allowed just one run across 5.1 innings. The righty fanned five and scattered six hits.

Worcester briefly hits the road tomorrow at Bristol before returning home for four consecutive games spanning from Saturday to Tuesday.