Starfires Spoil Sea Unicorns Home Opener
Norwich, CT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns came up short in their home opener Sunday afternoon, falling 6-2 to the Westfield Starfires. The loss drops Norwich back to .500 with a 2-2 record through four games.
Both sides were held scoreless in the opening inning, but Westfield broke through in the 2nd to take an early 2-0 lead. Westfield took advantage of some command trouble from starter Daniel Cantafi who issued a pair of walks in the frame. The former Starfire narrowly escaped the jam, but the Starfires executed a double steal to set up a 2 out opportunity with runners at 2nd and 3rd. Cole Silvia delivered for the visitors poking a 2 out base hit into right field to drive home both runners.
Despite the rocky second, Cantafi settled in and battled his way through four innings, allowing just one earned run in his Sea Unicorns debut.
On the other side, Westfield starter Nathan Pirog held Norwich scoreless through five innings. The Keene State product allowed just four hits and five total baserunners over his outing, effectively stifling the Sea Unicorns’ offense.
Westfield broke the game open in the fifth, striking for three runs to stretch the lead to 5-0. A leadoff walk and base hit set the stage, followed by a successful double steal that forced Norwich to bring the infield in with nobody out. Josh Frometa then rolled a single into center to make it 4-0. Frometa later came around to score on a two-out infield single after stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch.
Norwich responded with a pair of runs in the sixth to slice the Westfield lead to 3. Aidan Stern sparked the rally by legging out an infield single up the first base line. A fielder’s choice moved him into scoring position, and Gavin O’Brien worked a one-out walk to bring up Gabriel Rivera. The Rutgers commit stayed hot at the plate, roping a single into right to drive in Norwich’s first run of the day. Chace Chaplin followed with a fielder’s choice groundout to bring home O’Brien from third. Unfortunately, that would be all the offense Norwich would supply.
Charles Ennis turned in a strong relief performance for Norwich, holding Westfield to just one run over three innings. The right-hander surrendered only two hits and struck out three in his first outing of the summer.
The Starfires added an insurance marker in the ninth. Kacin Robinson led off the inning with a single, prompting Norwich to make a pitching change and relieve Ennis. UConn product Frank Spirito struck out the first two batters he faced, but a misplayed ball in right field produced the 6th run of the afternoon for the Starfires and the 3rd RBI of the game for Josh Frometa.
Norwich will hunt their first home win Tuesday night when they host the Vermont Lake Monsters. Matt Wootton will take the mound for the Sea Unicorns, opposite Eli Fleming for Vermont. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with gates opening at 5:30.
Tuesday’s promotion: 2 for $5 Hot Dogs! Plus, fans who purchase a ticket to this game will receive a free ticket to our next Tuesday home game on June 24.
Win – Nate Pirog (1-0)
Loss – Daniel Cantafi (0-1)
Time – 2:47