Worcester No. 1 Seed, Norwich Seeks Three-Peat in 2025 Futures League Postseason

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ROCKLAND, Mass. — The Worcester Bravehearts claimed their first regular-season championship since 2020 and will be the No. 1 seed in the 2025 Futures League Postseason, which begins Sunday night with the best-of-three semifinal round.

Worcester (45-16) joins three returning competitors in the field in the No. 2 Vermont Lake Monsters (40-22), No. 3 New Britain Bees (29-32) and No. 4 Norwich Sea Unicorns (28-33), who hope to author another August run to become the first back-to-back-to-back champion in league history. 

Both semifinal series will commence on Sunday, August 10, with the two winners advancing into another best-of-three series for the championship following one scheduled off day. The higher-seeded team will host the first and, if necessary, third game.

The 2025 Futures League Championship Series is scheduled to take place between Thursday, August 14 and Saturday, August 16, if necessary. Should two-game sweeps occur in both semifinal series, the championship would start on Wednesday, August 13.

The full Postseason schedule can be found here.

The top three seeds all finished the regular season with at least six wins in their last 10 games, but none were more impressive than Worcester which went 9-1 to finish and broke the Futures League's single-season wins record with a 4-3 Saturday triumph over New Britain. The Bravehearts, who are looking to claim their fifth league title and first since 2019, own the best batting average (.280) and team ERA (3.94) in the circuit this summer.

While Worcester had a 7-5 season series advantage over Norwich, the Sea Unicorns picked up three of their victories in the last five meetings including two since the All-Star break. Vermont earned eight wins in 12 head-to-head games with New Britain, including back-to-back to conclude a three-game series in Burlington just last weekend. 

The Bravehearts boast two .300-hitting regulars in slugging first baseman Jackson Marshall (UConn) and center fielder Kaleb Woodward (Trinity of Texas). Marshall not only slugged nine homers, but leads the league in on-base percentage at .434. Woodward is the top base-stealing threat with 25 in 28 attempts. Infielder Casey Wensley (Bryant) has also driven in 30 runs.

Marshall racked up 14 hits and 10 RBI against Norwich this summer, while hometown native five-game winner Jake LeFrancois (UMass Lowell) triumphed over the Sea Unicorns twice and reliever Caleb Allen (Bentley) posted a 1.59 ERA in five head-to-head outings.

Norwich is due to give the ball to workhorse Matt Wootton (Eastern Connecticut) on its quest for history. The righty pitched to a 2.70 ERA and struck out 47 through a league-high 50 innings, allowing more than two runs in only one of his last six outings. On the offensive side, infielder Jack Sweeney (Rutgers) leads the club with 12 extra-base hits and 21 RBI.

Sea Unicorn outfielder Gavin O'Brien (UMass) tore up Worcester to the tune of a .520 average, going 13-for-25 with three doubles, five RBI and six runs scored. Left-hander Brendan Grady (Trinity) struck out 10 Bravehearts across 7.2 innings of work on the mound, helping him rank in the top-five in that category across the league this summer.

Vermont enters the postseason with four of the league's top-10 qualifying hitters, including first baseman Shaun McMillan (St. John's) who has belted 11 home runs and ranks third in single-season league history with his 52 RBI. Outfielder Sam Cavossa (Saint Michael's) hits .330 with a league-leading 69 hits and 42 runs. On the mound, southpaw John Delgado (Stevenson) is 4-1 with a 1.26 ERA and league-high 53 strikeouts in 43 innings.

Cavossa had eight RBI in 10 games against New Britain, but several key arms showed out during the season series. Delgado held the Bees scoreless over 10 innings and 2024 Futures League Relief Pitcher of the Year Sean Gamble (Bethany Lutheran) struck out 10 in 4.1 frames to post three of his league-high 10 saves, while Jack McLaughlin (Tufts) picked up two relief wins.

Two of New Britain's best were strong against Vermont all summer, as third baseman Colin Crowley (Winthrop) hit .341 with a double, triple, eight RBI and eight runs scored, and All-Star starting pitcher Garret Garbinski (UConn) limited the Monsters to just two hits across six shutout innings.

For the summer, Crowley is a .310 hitter who has reached base at a .405 clip and scored 30 runs, while catcher/outfielder Brennan Staubley (Southern Connecticut) has been a consistent presence with 13 doubles and 25 RBI. Garbinski has allowed just two earned runs and struck out 32 in 30.1 innings, good for a miniscule 0.59 ERA. The relief duo of Evan Mello (Wheaton) and Zach Zajac (RPI) has combined for 10 saves.

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