NASHUA – The Worcester Bravehearts brought the winning run of its third straight FCBL Championship to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in Nashua on Saturday night.
Nashua Silver Nights’ Brandon Dufault (senior, Northeastern) ended the game with a strikeout against Worcester’s Tyler Patane (senior, Franklin Pierce) to win the deciding game of the 2020 FCBL Championship, 5-3.
After winning game one of the three-game Championship Series, Worcester gave up three runs in the first inning in each of the two final games.
It was the seventh straight trip to the FCBL Championship for the Bravehearts, which now has a 4-3 finals record.
Nashua won its fifth FCBL title with the win, taking the lead for the most in league history.
The Bravehearts earned the home field advantage for the series during the regular season, but all three games were held in Nashua due to gathering restrictions in Massachusetts.
This Bravehearts season was summarized by the team’s official Twitter account after the game:
In 2020:
-We didn’t have a home field until a week before the season
-We got on the bus every night in a shopping plaza
-Coaches doubled as the grounds crew
-We still competed in the finals for the 7th straight year. We are proud of this team & we tip our caps to @SilverKnightsNH— Worcester Bravehearts 💚⚾ (@WooBaseball) August 23, 2020
The Bravehearts are expected to return to play home games at Hanover Insurance Park on the Holy Cross campus in 2021.