Local sports (Sponsor: Worcester Bravehearts)

Stuart flirts with no-no, LaPointe hits 2 HRs in 'Hearts win

  • Posted by Local sports (Sponsor: Worcester Bravehearts) Jun 29 - Filed in Sports - #Futures League  #Worcester Breaveherts  #Fittton Field  - 467 views

    Hudson native fires complete-game shutout, allows lone hit with 2 outs in ninth inning

    WORCESTER — Hudson’s Brady Stuart (Endicott) came within an out of throwing a no-hitter, but settled instead for a complete-game 1-hitter as the Worcester Bravehearts topped the Futures League Road Warriors, 4-0, at Fitton Field Friday.

    ’Hearts catcher Dylan LaPointe backed Stuart with a pair of 2-run home runs, his second and third long balls of the season.

    After Stuart walked a batter with 1 out in the first inning, the righty set down 19 consecutive hitters. Worcester jumped ahead when LaPointe, who knocked 3 hits Thursday night against Norwich, rocketed a line-drive home run over the centerfield fence. The 2-run shot marked Worcester’s first hit of the night.

    Stuart continued mowing down the Road Warriors, picking up his eighth, ninth and 10th strikeouts across the fifth and sixth innings. When LaPointe stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, he launched a second 2-run homer to left-center, giving Worcester a 4-0 advantage.

    Back on the mound after 72 pitches, Stuart started the eighth inning by walking catcher Jake Fitzgibbons, marking the first Road Warriors baserunner since the first inning. On the next pitch, the righty induced a double play on a ground ball second, then struck out his 11th hitter to end the eighth.

    In the ninth, Stuart put out Owen McHugh on a ground ball to the mound, then struck out pinch-hitter Tommy Goonan. With the Endicott right-hander an out away from 10th no-hitter in Futures Collegiate Baseball League history, Road Warriors outfielder Nick Pappas grounded a first-pitch single to end the bid.

    Stuart got the next batter to fly out, sealing a complete-game, 9-inning shutout, the first in Bravehearts history. The right-hander finished the game having allowed a single hit and 2 walks, striking out 12 across 9 innings.

    Worcester hits the road Saturday for a matchup with the first-place Westfield Starfires. First pitch at Bullens Filed is set for 6:30 p.m.

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