Norwich Wins Home Food Fight Against Vermont

The Norwich Sea Unicorns, who were rebranded as the New England Lobster Rolls, defeated the Vermont Creemees (Lake Monsters) 3-1, to cap off the home and home food fight. The victory for the Lobster Rolls improves Norwich to 31-18 and remain atop the Futures League standings.

There was no scoring in the ballgame until the 3rd, when the Creemees pushed across the first run of the night. After striking out the first batter of the inning, New England starter Hector Alejandro dealt with some command trouble, hitting the next two batters he faced. Mark Quatrani continued his strong summer, driving home his league leading 33rd RBI of the summer with a base hit into left field. The UCONN product quickly regained his form, escaping the inning without any further damage.

The Lobster Rolls responded with a run in the 4th to draw the game even. Vermont starter, Eddie Kaftan kept the New England offense silenced through his 3 innings of work, holding the Lobster Rolls to 3 hits. Matt Fincher elected to go to the bullpen to begin the 4th for reliever Robbie Lee. Nick Tomasetto began the threat for the host, wiring a one out base hit into right field. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for the Lobster Rolls and later Chris Carson delivered with an RBI single to bring home Tomasetto from 3rd. Unfortunately, some confusion on the base paths resulted in the 2nd out of the inning, as Bo Yaworski was retired. The Denison product set down the New England second baseman to conclude the Lobster Rolls chances in the 4th.

New England continued to surge offensively in the 5th, taking a 3-1 lead. Vermont manager, Matt Fincher summoned Dylan Knightly into the ballgame after Robbie Lee surrendered the equalizer. AJ Soldra instantly created trouble, smashing an opposite field triple into the left fielder corner. A wild pitch by Knightly provided the host with their first lead of the night. A pair of hit batsmen allowed New England a pair of baserunners with one out. A slow grounder to 3rd advanced both baserunners 90 feet. Bo Yaworski supplied some insurance for the Lobster Rolls, legging out an infield single to give New England a 2-run advantage.

Hector Alejandro turned in another quality start, firing 6 innings of 1-run baseball. The Waterbury, Connecticut native continued his dominance on the rubber, holding the Vermont offense to just 3 hits. Alejandro set a season-high in strikeouts as he punched out 9, including striking out the side in the 1st.

The Lobster Rolls had opportunities to extend their lead throughout the night, but failed to score with runners in scoring position. New England’s best chances occurred in the 6th and 8th when they loaded the bases. Vermont pitching struggled with command throughout the night, issuing 9 free passes, plunking a pair, along with a wild pitch.

The bullpen slammed the door shut allowing, just 1 hit in the final 3 innings. Jimmy Mulvaney sealed the deal for the Lobster Rolls on Food Fight night, completing a 5 out save. The Fairfield product worked around some traffic in the 8th to record the final 2 outs and struck out the side in the 9th to earn his 6th save of the summer.

These same two teams will clash once again this afternoon to conclude the home and home series. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST.

It is Sunday Funday at Dodd Stadium with postgame Kids Run the Bases and Have a Catch in the Outfield with their families. Baseballs for have a catch are presented by CT DOT. Sundays are also our First Mate’s Club Days presented by K&H Equipment of Plainfield.

Win- Hector Alejandro (5-0)

Loss- Dylan Knightly (1-1)

Save- Jimmy Mulvaney (6)

Time- 3:01