Sea Unicorns Drop Wild Wednesday Affair Against Bravehearts
The Norwich Sea Unicorns dropped their second consecutive ballgame last night falling to the Worcester Bravehearts 16-13 at Fitton Field. Norwich’s defeat moves the Sea Unicorns to 13-9 overall and they remain in 2nd place in the Futures League standings behind Westfield.
It was as perfect a start as Norwich could ask for, taking an 8-1 lead into the 5th inning before the madness erupted. The Sea Unicorns came out swinging spotting 6 runs in the top of the 2nd while sending 8 batters to the plate. Izzaiah Walker ignited the Sea Unicorns offense, smashing a double off the right field wall to drive home a pair. AJ Soldra delivered with a double of his own to help Norwich extend their lead. Later in the inning, Alex Irizarry blasted a 3-run home run to give Norwich a 5-run lead.
Norwich continued to crush the baseball in the 3rd inning with another round tripper. Ryan Grace cleared the deck in right field in a similar spot to where Alex Irizarry belted his. The homerun for Grace was his team leading 3rd of the summer and helped Norwich build a 7-run advantage.
Worcester responded to the deficit in the 5th striking for a 6-run inning of their own to cut the Norwich lead to 1. Sea Unicorns starter Tim Lewis was cruising into the 5th, tossing 4 innings of 1-run baseball. Unfortunately, Lewis allowed the first 3 batters he faced to reach base safely, forcing manager Kevin Murphy to make a call to the bullpen with the bases loaded and nobody out. Michael Belcher was brought into the ballgame to make his Sea Unicorns debut. Belcher began his outing with a strikeout before Worcester erupted offensively, started by a 2-run double down the right field line to cut the Norwich lead to 5. Some command trouble paved the way for the Bravehearts as they added another run on a wild pitch. The Bravehearts cut the Norwich lead to 1 thanks to their second double of the inning.
The Sea Unicorns responded with 3 runs of their own in the 6th to take an 11-7 lead. Alex Irizarry produced his 4th RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly to right. Christian Stratis continued the home run parade for Norwich, cracking a 2-run big fly over the left centerfield wall. The home run for Stratis was his 1st of the summer and gives him 13 RBI’s on the season. Worcester was able to chip into the deficit with a run in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 3. Once again, Norwich responded with their 4th home run of the night clobbered by Nick Sturino, to give Norwich a 5-run lead heading into the home half of the 7th.
The Bravehearts took control of the game in the bottom of the 7th adding a pair of runs to close the Norwich lead to 3 once again. Worcester exploded in the 8th with their second 6-run inning of the night to take a 16-13 lead, which would ultimately cap off all the offense in the ballgame. Norwich was held scoreless the rest of the way by the Bravehearts pitching staff, spoiling the efforts of the offense.
Overall, Norwich issued 9 walks and fired 4 wild pitches as a pitching staff. Defensively, Norwich struggled committing 4 errors leading to 2 unearned runs for the Bravehearts. Worcester lead off hitter CJ Egrie was the catalyst for the Braveheart offense finishing his night 3 for 3 with a pair of walks, 4 runs, 1 RBI, and on base 6 times.
Norwich is back in action tonight on the road at New Britain Stadium for a meeting with the New Britain Bees. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. EST.