WORCESTER—For the first time since their inception in 2013, the Worcester Bravehearts will take the field under new ownership, but familiar faces remain.
Under a memorandum of understanding expected to be formally announced soon, the Creedon family is selling ownership of the team to the Vaccaro family, led by Frank and Matt Vaccaro, John Creedon Jr. confirmed to the Worcester Guardian on Tuesday.
The face and voice of the Bravehearts, Dave Peterson, will stay on as general manager. Donny Porcaro remains as assistant GM, while manager Alex Dion also returns.
Information regarding a new lease for the team to continue playing at Fitton Field, which is owned by the College of the Holy Cross, was not immediately available.
While Creedon confirmed the pending announcement, neither he nor Matt Vaccaro were immediately available for comment.
The Bravehearts formed in partnership with the College of the Holy Cross, which was announced in 2013, about a year after the dissolution of the Worcester Tornadoes, who also played at the HIP as part of the Can-Am League. They played their first season in 2014. The Bravehearts are four-time champions of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (co-champs in 2018), winning championships in their first two seasons. They celebrated their 10th anniversary last year.
Founded in 2010, The FCBL is a collegiate summer baseball league.
Matt Vaccaro is a founding member of Masis Staffing Solutions, a family-run business at 1331 Grafton St. Sports, specifically baseball, are nothing new to Matt Vaccaro, who, interestingly enough, was a catcher for the Worcester Tornadoes during their inaugural season in 2005. The team won the league championship that year. His coach was former Boston Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman, currently the hitting coach for the Worcester Red Sox, which play just a few miles away from the Bravehearts at Polar Park.
The Vaccaro family is well known for their affiliation with the Shrewsbury American Legion Post 397 baseball team, which also plays at Fitton Field.
While he is selling the Bravehearts, Creedon Jr. still maintains ownership of the Nashua Silver Knights, which he bought in 2019.
Be sure to return to the Worcester Guardian for more on this developing story.
With more than 30 years of experience as a journalist, Walter Bird is a former editor of Worcester Magazine, former executive editor of Stonebridge Press Newspapers, and a two-time Weekly Reporter of the Year through the New England Newspaper & Press Association. He can be reached at walterbirdjr@gmail.com
