Sea Unicorns Winning Streak Halted at Four

Norwich, CT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns were defeated 5-3 on Saturday night by the New Britain Bees, snapping their 4-game winning streak. Norwich’s loss returns the Sea Unicorns back to .500, owning a record of 7-7 through 14 ballgames.

Due to steady precipitation throughout the day, the originally scheduled 6:30 p.m. start was delayed until 7:35, when soon-to-be Yale Bulldog Matt Pearch delivered the first pitch.

Norwich opened the scoring in the 1st thanks to the leadoff triple from Aidan Stern. CJ Nolan quickly brought home Stern with a ground out to third.

New Britain evened the scoring with a run of their own in the 3rd capitalizing on a defensive miscue from the hosts. Jack Kane reached to start the frame after an error committed by the Norwich defense. A sacrifice bunt later advanced Kane into scoring position. Ryan Perez produced the tying run for the visitors clobbering a double to the wall in right field.

The Sea Unicorns immediately answered in the home 3rd thanks to the second triple of the night from Stern. The Trinity product came home to score thanks to a dropped third strike that leaked away from the Bees backstop.

Unfortunately, the one run lead did not last as New Britain struck for 3 in the 5th to take a 4-2 lead. Norwich reliever Charles Ennis ran into immediate danger as the Bees loaded the bases with no outs. Back-to-back singles and a fielder’s choice provided the Bees with a bases loaded opportunity with no outs. Ennis nearly escaped the havoc inducing a couple of pop ups in the infield. A bases loaded walk tied the game and later the 3rd hit of the night from Caleb Miller scored a pair to give the Bees the lead.

New Britain did not relinquish the lead; however, the Sea Unicorns did manage to battle back for a run in the bottom of the 5th to slice the Bees lead to 1. Alec Warden opened the frame by reaching on a dropped a third strike. Aidan Stern continued his monster night at the plate, ripping a double to right that brought home Warden, who scored on a throwing error during the relay back to the infield.

After the Sea Unicorns cut the Bees’ lead to one, New Britain restored their two-run cushion in the seventh by playing small ball. Following a leadoff walk, Camden Righi swiped second, advanced to third on a flyout to right, and ultimately came home to score on a wild pitch. The UCONN commit’s heads-up baserunning made it 5-3.

Norwich threatened in the 9th but could not cash in on their opportunity with runners at 2nd and 3rd and no outs. Mike Anquillare drew a leadoff walk to start the frame. Clay Hartje followed by poking a double down the line in right to set the table for Norwich. New Britain reliever Adam Merritt slammed the door shut after that, striking out the next 2 batters he faced and sealed the victory for New Britain with a pop up to short.

Despite the loss, Sea Unicorns starter Matt Pearch was impressive in his 4 innings not allowing an earned run while striking out 6 and scattered 3 hits. It was the first start of the summer for Pearch after opening the season with a couple relief appearances.

Norwich is back in action tomorrow afternoon for a meeting with the Westfield Starfires to begin a 3-game road trip. Landon Manzi is slated to make his Sea Unicorns debut when he takes the mound for Norwich. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm from Bullens Field.

Win – Ian Brown (1-0)

Loss – Charles Ennis (0-1)

Save – Adam Merritt (S, 1)

Time – 3:01

Written by Adam Plager