Worcester Bravehearts

The Worcester Bravehearts are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England starting in 2014. The team's home games are played at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field in Worcester.

Worcester Bravehearts
Information
LeagueFCBL (West Division)
LocationWorcester, Massachusetts (2014-present)
BallparkHanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field (2014-present)
Year founded2014
League championships2014, 2015, 2018 (Co-champs), 2019
ColorsNavy, Green
         
OwnershipJohn W.S. Creedon, Jr
Websitewww.worcesterbaseball.com

The Bravehearts brought baseball back to Worcester for the first time since the Worcester Tornadoes franchise was disbanded in 2012.

Team history

The team was announced as a partnership with the College of the Holy Cross on September 30, 2013.[1] The new team's name and logo was announced on December 2, 2013, selecting the name "Bravehearts".[2] The "hearts" in the name refer to the heart on Worcester's city seal and nickname as the "Heart of the Commonwealth".

The team began its inaugural season on June 4, 2014, with a 3-1 win in Torrington, Connecticut against the Torrington Titans.[3]

On August 14, 2014, the Bravehearts defeated the Martha's Vineyard Sharks 1-0 at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field to clinch the FCBL Championship.[4]

In 2015, the Bravehearts started their title defense poorly, but a concluding 8-2 run in their last ten games got them into the playoffs as the sixth seed. They went on to repeat as league champions, defeating the Bristol Blues with a tenth-inning rally in the third game of the best-of-three championship series.[5]

Worcester won the West Division with a league-best record of 37-18 during the 2016 regular season, and for the third straight season they advanced to the FCBL Championship Series, where they fell to the Nashua Silver Knights in two games.[6]

Total attendance for Bravehearts games went up 18 percent in 2016. Averaging 2,230 spectators per game, the team ranked ninth nationally among total attendance for summer collegiate teams.[7]

The Bravehearts won the final game of the 2017 regular season to earn a one-game, winner-moves-on-loser-goes-home game against the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs. The Bravehearts won, 9-2, that sent them to the semifinals against the Brockton Rox. Worcester won the first two of the best-of-three series, capping it off with a wild, 13-7, win on the road. For the fourth straight year – all four of their time in the league – the Bravehearts punched their ticket to the championship series, this time in a rematch against the Nashua Silver Knights. On August 12, Nashua completed the two-game sweep again with a 2-0 victory in Game 2 at Holman Stadium in Nashua.[8]

The Bravehearts earned a share of the 2018 FCBL League championship, as the title was split between them and the Martha's Vineyard Sharks. The Bravehearts won Game 1, 10-6, on the Vineyard but lost Game 2, 4-2, at home. After rain washed out Game 3 of the FCBL Championship series at Vineyard Ballpark, league commissioner Chris Hall declared the Bravehearts and Martha’s Vineyard Sharks co-champions. The best-of-three series already had been delayed a day and many players’ flights home already had been booked. Postponing the game to the next day was not an option.[9]

In June 2019, the team's owner said he believes the Bravehearts can remain in the market after the 2021 relocation of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox.[10]

Worcester finished the 2019 regular season with a 30-26 record.[11] The Bravehearts beat the Pittsfield Suns in a one-game playoff.[12] They then beat the Brockton Rox, 2-1, in the semifinals to make the championship series for the sixth time in six seasons.[13] After beating the Bristol Blues, 2-1, in Game 1, Worcester won Game 2 in Bristol, 12-2, to win its fourth FCBL title in six years.[14]

References
  1. "FCBL Announces 10th Team for 2014". thefuturesleague.com. FCBL. September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  2. "#NAMEWOOBALL". Worcester Bravehearts. December 2, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  3. "Worcester Bravehearts Win Inaugural Game in Franchise History". Our Sports Central. June 5, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  4. "Desai leads the Worcester Bravehearts to 1-0 victory thanks to 8 strikeouts". Our Sports Central. August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  5. Suhoski, Shaun (August 16, 2015). "Worcester Bravehearts repeat as FCBL champs". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  6. Ames, Ryan (June 1, 2017). "Worcester Bravehearts, Blues set for season-opener". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  7. Murtishi, Alban (August 1, 2017). "Worcester Bravehearts owner John Creedon Jr. on potential PawSox move: 'Could Worcester support both teams? Maybe, but not likely'". masslive.com. Springfield, Massachusetts. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  8. Bird Jr., Walter (August 11, 2017). "A Cinderella Story: The Worcester Bravehearts not done yet". Worcester Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  9. Nordman, Dave (August 13, 2018). "Futures League championship: Game canceled; Bravehearts, Sharks share title". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  10. Reilly, Adam (June 3, 2019). "With The WooSox Looming, Worcester's Other Minor-League Team Gears Up For A Fight". WGBH News. WGBH-TV. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  11. "Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England - standings". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  12. Stuczko, Zachary (August 5, 2019). "Bravehearts: Angelo Baez dazzles in playoff start as Worcester eliminates the Pittsfield Suns". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  13. Stuczko, Zachary (August 9, 2019). "Bravehearts: Worcester tops Brockton, advances to FCBL finals". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  14. Calabro, Joe (August 12, 2019). "Bravehearts Win FCBL Championship". GoLocalWorcester. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
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