Courtney McKeen ’27
Sports Editor
Jake McGuire ’27
Staff Writer
The Worcester Red Sox hosted the Durham Bulls last week as their season kicked off into full swing. On Tuesday, the Woosox started out strong with a 7-4 win in Game 1. The WooSox started their lead off early with a RBI single by Dominic Smith in the first inning, and a three-run home run by Rob Refsynder in the second, giving them a 4-1 lead and carried the momentum the rest of the game.
The Spire was able to secure an interview with Head Coach Chad Tracy. He was proud that the offensive work they have been putting in all season has finally paid off and that they can hope to keep the hot bats through the rest of the series. He estimated Refsynder would spend a week with the Woosox before he returns to the Boston Red Sox.
In Game 2, the WooSox continued to dominate with a 6-2 win. The game remained a tie game at 1-1, until the bottom of the fifth inning when Chase Meidroth and Mark Contreras put up doubles, and built upon that lead thanks to a hit by Meidroth and a fielding error by the Bulls. They led 6-1 at the end of the sixth, and held the Bulls only to one more run the rest of the game.
Game 3 was a 12-5 domination, the most the WooSox have scored in a single game all year. Niko Kavadas put up two home runs, one in the second and one in the eighth, and went 3-3 on the day. Jamie Westbrook also had an impressive performance, going 2-2 with a three-run homer.
Unfortunately, they lost both games on the 7-inning Saturday doubleheader, their only two losses of the series. The Bulls got revenge with a 12-2 win in Game 1 and a much closer 4-3 win in Game 2. In Game 1, the only runs scored by the WooSox were in the first inning, while the Bulls scored six of their runs in the last inning. Durham’s Rob Brantly put up a two run homer, and three Durham batters scored on walks with the bases loaded. In the second game, all runs were scored in the first three games, with Durham going up 4-3 at the end of the top of the third, and shutting down the WooSox offense the rest of the game.
The last game ended on a high note for the WooSox. Durham went up 1-0 at the end of the first, but the WooSox scored seven times in four different innings to win the final game 7-1, as well as win the series 4-2.
At the end of the series, two players got the call to go play at Fenway. Boston Red Sox center fielder Rob Refsnyder had a strong performance in the series. He was coming off injured reserve and spent some time recovering in Worcester, heading back to Boston at the conclusion of his rehab stint.
WooSox pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa also joined Refsnyder in his move up to Boston. He got credit for both of the wins in Games 1 and 6. In Game 1, he pitched five innings with five strikeouts and four earned runs to lead them to victory. In the Game 6 blowout, Uwasawa had an even better game, pitching five innings with seven strikeouts and only one earned run.
As summer rolls into Worcester, the WooSox look to build after their successful series. In the MiLB, the Woosox have an 11-15 record and sit in 17th, 6 games behind first-place Scranton. Durham drops into last place with a 10-17 record. The WooSox play next at the start of May, when the Lehigh Valley IronPigs travel to Worcester for another six-game series at Polar Park.
Featured image courtesy of Minor League Baseball
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