The Norwich Sea Unicorns dropped their second consecutive one run low scoring affair falling to the Westfield Starfires 2-1 on Thirsty Thursday. Norwich’s defeat moves them back into second place with a 10-7 record and returns Westfield atop the Futures League standings.
Westfield took advantage of a pair of errors committed by the Norwich defense in the top of the 1st to take an early lead. The visitors first base runner reached on a dropped third strike and advanced into scoring position after the Sea Unicorns catcher fired the baseball over the head of the first basemen Bo Yaworski into right field. Later in the frame Gianno Merlonghi brought home the first run of the game for Westfield on a fly ball into left field that was mishandled by the Sea Unicorns left fielder along the warning track.
A two-out rally in the top of the 2nd sparked the offense for the Starfires, contributing to their 2nd run of the night. Van Liott cracked a triple down the right field line and was later brought home on a base hit by Kyle Garbowski to the Norwich second baseman to extend their lead to 2.
The Sea Unicorns held Westfield off the board the rest of the way thanks to some excellent mound work by the pitching staff and timely plays on defense. Teo Spadaccini was able to work around a bases loaded threat in the top of the 4th with no outs to hold the Westfield lead at 2. Spadacccini finished his night working 4 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits and struck out 4. Relievers David Rodriguez and Aidan Whitten shined out of the bullpen, combining for 5 shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits overall the rest of the way.
Unfortunately, the Norwich offense went stale for the second straight night, collecting just 3 hits in the defeat. The Sea Unicorns brought home their lone run of the ballgame in the 8th inning, taking advantage of a pair of walks issued by Westfield to begin the inning. Norwich threatened in the 9th but came up empty leaving, the bases loaded as Jafar Vorha escaped the jam to secure the 6 out save. Despite the lack of hits for the hosts, the Sea Unicorns had their opportunities but were unable to convert on them, finishing the night 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Norwich has just 8 hits in their last 2 ballgames and have scored just 1 run in their last 23 innings.
The Sea Unicorns will look to get back into the win column tonight on the road against the Brockton Rox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST at Campanelli Field. Liam Carroll will get the baseball tonight for Norwich, making his first start of the summer and Max Marchetti will make his 3rd start of the summer for Brockton.