Futures League Hosts 2025 All-Star Game at Worcester's Polar Park

WORCESTER, Mass. 一 Team Hearts rewrote the Futures League All-Star Game record books, scoring in each of the first five innings and totaling 19 hits in a 14-2 victory over Team Smiles on Tuesday night at Polar Park.

Vermont Lake Monsters first baseman Shaun McMillan (St. John's) finished a single shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. He highlighted the night with a three-run home run during Team Hearts' five-run second frame, which marked the first round-tripper in a Futures League All-Star Game since 2018.

McMillan, who is the Futures League's home run leader with 10 this summer following a NCBWA Freshman All-America performance in the spring, was named Most Valuable Player on the strength of his three extra-base hits. He also tripled in the third inning and doubled in the fifth, setting an All-Star record in that department.

While Team Hearts set new All-Star benchmarks for both single-game runs and hits, McMillan was not the only player to add his name to the individual record book. Worcester Bravehearts third baseman Will Kraemer (Pepperdine) went 3-for-4 and produced a record five RBI over the first four innings, including a pair on a first-inning double to uncap the scoring.

Center fielder Kaleb Woodward (Trinity of Texas) also represented Worcester well, reaching base five times while going 3-for-4 with a game-record three runs scored from the top of the batting order. Vermont left fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) also had three hits for the victorious team. 

The first three Team Hearts batters reached base and scored in the first inning, which began with Woodward hitting a leadoff single and scoring on Kraemer's two-run double into the right-field corner. Norwich Sea Unicorns second baseman Aidan Stern (Trinity) also drove in a run to build the early 3-0 lead.

Three consecutive run-scoring hits in the second helped the Hearts make it 8-0. Westfield Starfires teammates combined to drive in the first run of the frame, as designated hitter Jonathan Chatfield's (Keene State) single scored shortstop Evan Menzel (UConn). After Kraemer knocked another RBI double, McMillan wallopped a three-run homer down the left-field line.

Team Hearts' three-run third featured a Woodward RBI double to center before Chatfield scored Menzel on a sacrifice fly and Kraemer added a run-scoring grounder. Braveheart right fielder Evan O'Rourke (Salve Regina) and Kraemer each added an RBI single in the fourth and Kingsbury reached on an RBI fielder's choice in the fifth to bring the Hearts' lead to 14-0.

New Britain Bees starting pitcher Garret Garbinski (UConn) was the first of five straight Team Hearts pitchers to deal a hitless inning. Team Smiles broke up the no-hit bid when Vermont left fielder Sam Cavossa (Saint Michael's) hit a one-out single and scored on New Britain third baseman Colin Crowley's (Winthrop) line-drive up the middle two batters later.

Cavossa wound up scoring both runs for Team Smiles, as he also crossed the plate on Worcester shortstop Ryan LeClair's (Stonehill) two-out RBI single in the eighth.

The league's top ERA qualifier with a miniscule 1.15 ERA, Vermont southpaw John Delgado (Stevenson) was named the game's Most Outstanding Pitcher after recording a pair of strikeouts during a 1-2-3 third inning. The Nashua Silver Knights' Rob Gilchrist (Pace) and Bravehearts' Jason Potvin (Rhode Island College) also faced the minimum in their innings.

On the Team Smiles side, Worcester's All-Star Fan Vote-winning Josh Fischer (Wheaton) struck out two in the ninth.

Before the scene shifted to Polar Park, Griffin Enis (Virginia) became the second all-time Westfield slugger to win the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday night at Fitton Field. 

Hitting 27 homers throughout the three-round competition, Enis edged past Norwich's own rising freshman Bryce Detwiler (UConn) and a field which also included the host team's reigning Derby champion in towering first baseman Jackson Marshall (UConn).

Enis survived a first-round swing-off with Nashua third baseman Joseph Zorc (Princeton) to advance to the second round, where he blasted 13 homers and moved on to face Detwiler who logged 11. Enis then cleared the fences nine times in a two-minute final round.

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