FSU catcher played 1st responder in recent fire
Fitchburg State catcher assists in putting out fire
Back on June 7, Dracut resident Brad Keefe was in the batting cages along with two of his teammates, Simone Downing and Josh Bein, getting some work in before their game later that night as part of the Sherrill Silversmith baseball team, which plays out of the New York College Baseball League.
Suddenly, instead of taking cuts in the cage, the three of them noticed something wasn’t right.
“We looked up and noticed that there was smoke right by one of the nearby houses,” said Keefe, a 2019 graduate of Dracut High School. “We ran over and noticed that a shed and the car were on fire. A couple of us went and knocked on the door of the guy who lives there and told him what was going on. Our home field is right next to the guy’s house, so the field crew showed us how to hook up and work the hoses so we could water the field. So, we grabbed those hoses, connected them and we just tried to maintain the fire until the firefighters could show up.”
Keefe, who just finished his sophomore season on the Fitchburg State University baseball team, said things could have easily escalated had they not done what they did.
“We never put the fire completely out,” Keefe said. “Our main focus was to make sure that the car didn’t blow up. It kept making popping noises. The fire was at the hood of the car, so we were just trying to keep it down because it was spreading pretty fast. We only had, like, garden hoses, so they were helping. Once the firefighters showed up, they had their hoses, so they were able to go inside (the shed) and put it out.”
Fitchburg State issued a press release mentioning that the three players were recognized for their heroic actions.
Sherrill City Manager Brandon Lovett said it was “a true sign of leadership and selflessness.”
Fire Chief Andrew Bennett said, “The selfless efforts of these individuals to actively take action and attempt to assist the residents of Sherrill in a time of crisis is greatly appreciated.”
Keefe said that the three of them are not heroes.
“We really didn’t have time to think, it just happened so fast. I feel like anyone else in that position would have done the same thing,” Keefe said. “We just said to each other ‘ that was crazy.’ It’s funny because this was the first week of us together, and one of them is from California, the other is from, like, four hours away from where it happened and I’m from Massachusetts, so we all just led up to that one spot.”
In two years at FSU, Keefe, a catcher, has a .281 batting average with four RBI. Thus far for the Silversmith team, he has appeared as a relief pitcher and outfielder.
The night of the fire, he made his debut on the mound, allowing one run on three hits over two innings.
The 20-year-old Keefe played baseball and basketball at Dracut High.