Norwich Wins Big on Record Setting Night
Norwich, CT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns offense came roaring to life on Friday night in front of a franchise-record crowd of 5,267, matching a season high with 14 runs in a 14-5 win over the first-place Worcester Bravehearts.
Worcester opened the scoring in the 1st against Sea Unicorns starter Matt Tabet to grab an early 1-0 lead. Kaleb Woodward kickstarted the Worcester offense with a leadoff single into right field. A stolen base advanced Woodward into scoring position and later scored on a one out single from Jackson Marshall. Norwich escaped the frame without any further damage after turning an impressive 5-4-3 double play.
The score remained the same until the 3rd inning when the Norwich offense erupted for 4 runs against Bravehearts starter Jason Potvin. All the damage came with two outs, as the Sea Unicorns strung together four consecutive hits. Kenny Noe ignited the rally with a game-tying RBI double to the right-center gap, scoring Aidan Stern, who had been hit by a pitch earlier in the frame. Charlie Walsh followed with a go-ahead single to left, bringing Noe around to score. Jack Sweeney kept the line moving with a base hit up the middle, putting runners at the corners. A successful double steal then plated Walsh from third and moved Sweeney into scoring position. Cal Chance capped the two-out rally, smoking a double to left field to score Sweeney.
The offense continued to rumble in the 4th as Norwich broke the game open, striking for five runs against Worcester reliever Stephen Rickert to build a commanding 9-1 lead. An error by the Bravehearts shortstop allowed Connor Scanlan to reach to start the inning, and Anthony Tirado followed with a walk to put runners at first and second with no outs. Later in the frame, some heads-up baserunning from Scanlan brought home the fifth run of the night for Norwich. Aidan Stern hit a slow dribbler to first and was narrowly thrown out, but the pitcher, who was covering the bag, fired home when he saw Scanlan break for the plate. The throw was wild, allowing the run to score and Tirado to advance to third. Gavin O’Brien plated Tirado with a base hit to left, and Jack Sweeney delivered the big blow with a 2 out, two-run triple into the left field corner to make it 8-1. Similar to the 3rd inning, Cal Chance capped the rally—this time ripping a single up the middle to score Sweeney and extend the Norwich lead to 9-1.
Norwich continued the offensive parade in the 5th with their second 4-run inning of the night to grow their lead to 13-1.
Eric Mathewson shined out of the Norwich bullpen tossing 5 shutout innings. The Eastern Connecticut State product held the Worcester offense to 2 hits while striking out 4, earning himself Futures League Pitcher of the Night honors.
The Sea Unicorns added their final run in the 8th inning, as Jack Sweeney and Cal Chance each wrapped up three-hit performances to close out a dominant night at the plate.
Worcester showed some late life in the 9th, scoring four runs on three hits and two walks against Norwich reliever Tiernan Doyle, who was making his Futures League debut. Despite the rally, the Sea Unicorns comfortably closed out the 14–5 win.
Win – Eric Matheson (1-0)
Loss – Jason Potvin (3-2)
Time – 2:55
Norwich is back in action this evening for a critical doubleheader against the New Britain Bees on the road. Matt Wootton (3-1) will take the mound for the Sea Unicorns opposite Jack Sheldon (0-1). First pitch is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. from New Britain Stadium.
Written by Adam Plager