Nick Tomasetto’s 2 out walkoff double in the bottom of the 9th lifted the Norwich Sea Unicorns to their second consecutive Futures League title with a 5-4 victory over Westfield in Game 2 of the Futures League Championship. After dropping Game 1 of the semifinals against the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Sea Unicorns rattled off 4 straight wins to repeat as Futures League Champions, and the first to accomplish the feat since the 2018 and 2019 Worcester Bravehearts.

Westfield opened the scoring, striking for a run against Norwich starter Hector Alejandro in the 1st. Julio Solier began the frame with an infield single and advanced into scoring position after a throwing error by Alejandro spilled into foul territory up the first base line. Some command issues by the UCONN product loaded the bases for the Starfires with one out after issuing consecutive walks. Trey Cruz brought home the first run of the afternoon on a ground out to the Norwich first baseman. Alejandro escaped the frame without any further damage, inducing a fly ball to AJ Soldra.

Norwich responded in the 3rd, erupting for 3 runs against Westfield to take their first lead of the afternoon. Nick Sturino drew a one out walk and later Kaiden Dossa reached on a throwing error by the Westfield third baseman to give the Sea Unicorns runners at 2nd and 3rd with one away. AJ Soldra returned the ball game to equilibrium with an RBI groundout to second. Nick Tomasetto extended the stanza for the host, working a 2 out walk to give Norwich runners at the corners. Shaun Callahan took advantage, smacking a bases clearing triple to left field that narrowly escaped the reach of the diving left fielder.

The Starfires answered back in the 6th with 3 runs of their own to retake the lead. Alejandro ran intro trouble with one out after walking the next 2 batters he faced. Cameron Papetti cut the Norwich lead to 1 with an RBI double to left field and Jackson Haker evened the scoring at 3 with a ground out to second. Gianno Merlonghi restored the lead for Westfield, punching a go-ahead single into center field. Kyle Garbowski ended the afternoon for Alejandro with a base hit into left field to continue the threat for Westfield. Norwich elected to bring in Gavin Hawkes to escape the inning without any further damage. The move paid off as Hawkes punched out Solier to end the Westfield 6th.

Jordan Talbot held the Norwich offense scoreless after entering the ballgame in the 4th, allowing just 1 hit. Bo Yaworski delivered for Norwich in the 8th against Talbot with a game-tying 2 out double to the wall in left center field to bring home Porter.

Nick Tomasetto called game for Norwich in the home 9th with a walk off opposite field double against reliever Camden Thomas to seal the deal. Soldra extended the frame after being plunked by a pitch. Westfield decided to bring in Thomas to face Tomasetto, but the most clutch hitter in the late innings delivered once again to propel Norwich to their second straight Futures League title Sunday afternoon, completing a sweep over the Starfires 2-0.

The bullpen for Norwich was lights out once again, tossing 3.1 innings of shutout baseball. Mike Poncini earned the victory, firing 2 innings of scoreless baseball out of the pen while striking out 4. Overall, the Norwich bullpen allowed 3 earned runs in 22.2 innings of work in the postseason for a 1.22 ERA.

Win- Mike Poncini (1-0)

Loss- Jordan Talbot (0-1)

Time- 2:35

THANK YOU

Thank you fans, for another incredible summer in the Rose City. We could not do this without your support all summer long and cannot wait to welcome everyone back to Dodd Stadium next summer as we celebrate our 5th season as the Norwich Sea Unicorns and members of the Futures League.