'Breath of fresh air': WooSox welcome Bravehearts for their first trip to Polar Park

WORCESTER — Roughly 24 hours before hosting their 2024 home opener at Fitton Field Saturday, the Worcester Bravehearts gathered by the first-base line at Polar Park.

For the first time since the home of the Worcester Red Sox opened in 2021, the other baseball team in Worcester were the guest of honor at a WooSox game.

“It’s fantastic. It’s what we wanted from the beginning,” new Bravehearts team president Matt Vaccaro said. “Right when we acquired the team, we felt like reaching out to the WooSox and forming a partnership was the best way for the city to co-exist and both teams to co-exist and to be here today on the field and enjoy a beautiful night with them as an extended family is wonderful.”

Following a busy offseason that began with the sale of the Bravehearts to the Vaccaro family of Shrewsbury, the four-time Futures League champions had a bustling Friday together.

Thanks to a 14-hit barrage in their season opener, the Bravehearts beat the Westfield Starfires, 10-0, on the road in Westfield early Friday. After a near 60-mile commute back home, a large contingent of Bravehearts players and coaches donned their white jerseys and heard their names called over the sound system at Polar Park ahead of the WooSox’ 9-5 loss to the Norfolk Tides.

“The only word to describe it is just surreal,” said Bravehearts pitcher Evan Remington, who starred at Oxford High and now pitches at Assumption. “Being at Polar Park, the field is so beautiful, you’re staring into the crowd in the stand, it just feels like an honor, especially in Worcester and it being so close to my hometown. It feels amazing.”

“It’s been a great day,” Bravehearts manager Alex Dion said. “I don’t think there could be any better experience for a new Braveheart.”

The Bravehearts make their return to Fitton Field on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) for a second straight game against Westfield. Mavrick Rizy, a 6-foot-8 right-hander from Fiskdale and LSU commit, gets the start for Worcester.

But on Friday, before any pitch was thrown at Polar Park, the Bravehearts made their first trip to Polar Park.

A day long overdue.

“We’re thankful to the WooSox and we’re really fortunate to have the Vaccaro family as our owners now and their relationship is what allowed us to do this,” Dion said. “It’s a breath of fresh air. I think there’s two really good baseball teams in Worcester and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have a positive relationship with each other.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Bravehearts serve as WooSox guest of honor at Polar Park