The Norwich Sea Unicorns took the opener of the best of 3 Futures League Championship series last night behind enemy lines, securing a 5-3 triumph over the Westfield Starfires. Norwich’s victory last night was the Sea Unicorns 2nd victory on the road this postseason.

Westfield began the scoring in the 2nd, converting on a wild pitch by Norwich starter Teo Spadaccini. The Starfires began the frame with back-to-back infield base hits from Aidan Redahan and Julio Solier. Spadaccini recovered, retiring the next 2 batters he faced, but Westfield had runners stationed at the corners. Unfortunately, Teo was unable to escape the jam after firing a wild pitch to Josh Frometa to bring home the first run of the night for the host.

The Sea Unicorns responded immediately in the 4th on a bases clearing triple by AJ Soldra to give Norwich their first lead of the night. Chris Carson kickstarted the Norwich offense with a 2 out single into left field. Some command trouble by Westfield starter Kyle Salvati helped Norwich load the bases after Salvati issued a walk to Connor Lane and plunked Nick Sturino to set the table for Soldra. The Seton Hall transfer capitalized, hammering a triple down the right field line to unload the bases. Soldra’s triple is his first of the postseason and 9th overall this summer.

Westfield answered back in the 5th thanks to a game tying 2-run blast from Danny Hussey. Hussey’s home run is his second of the postseason and leveled the scoring at 3.

Norwich took the lead for good in the 7th on a clutch RBI single from Nick Tomasetto. The Rutgers product continued his timely late-inning offense, driving home Kaiden Dossa who doubled earlier in the inning. Nick Sturino added some insurance in the 8th, scoring Alex Irizarry with a 2 out infield single.

David Rodriguez earned the victory for Norwich out of the bullpen, tossing 2.2 innings of relief. The Trevose, Pennsylvania native punched out 4 while allowing a run on one hit. Overall, Rodriguez owns a 1.90 ERA over 3.2 innings of work in the postseason with 6 strikeouts and has not issued any walks.

Jimmy Mulvaney sealed the deal for Norwich in game one, completing a 6 out save. The Fairfield reliever worked around a couple of baserunners in the 9th inning to preserve the victory for Norwich in the opener of the best of 3 series. Mulvaney has now worked 4 scoreless innings in the postseason.

Win- David Rodriguez (1-0)

Loss- Cam Fisher (0-1)

Save- Jimmy Mulvaney (1)

Time- 2:51

UPCOMING

After last night’s 5-3 win, the Norwich Sea Unicorns have taken a 1-0 series lead in the FCBL Championship series. Norwich needs one more victory this afternoon to repeat as Futures League Champs. The series swings to the Rose City this afternoon with Game 2 scheduled for 1 p.m. EST. Game 3 will be played, if necessary, at 6 p.m. local time. Both contests will be hosted at historic Dodd Stadium and it is free admission along with free parking.