Norwich Completes Perfect Homestand with Victory over Westfield
The Norwich Sea Unicorns won their third in a row, defeating the top seeded Westfield Starfires 7-3 on Sunday. Norwich’s victory improves the Sea Unicorns to 23-15 through 38 ballgames and 2 points out of first in the Futures League standings.
Westfield began the scoring by striking for a pair of runs in the first to take an early 2-0 lead. The Starfires loaded the bases with no outs and immediately put the pressure on the Sea Unicorns. Norwich starter Justin Marks responded with a strikeout of the Westfield cleanup hitter for his first out. A sacrifice fly to center field produced the first run of the ballgame for the visitors. Luke Yuhasz extended the lead for the visitors with a bloop 2 out single into shallow center field. Marks escaped the inning without any further damage after inducing a ground ball to second.
Norwich immediately responded in the home first with three runs of their own to take a 3-2 lead. Kaiden Dossa began the frame drawing a leadoff walk and AJ Soldra followed, cranking a triple down the right field line to slice the Westfield lead in half. Sebastian Mueller brought the game even on a base hit back up the middle to plate Soldra from third. Connor Lane kept the line moving for Norwich, cranking a single to left field to give Norwich runners at first and second still with no outs. Back-to-back fly outs to center field produced the 3rd run of the inning for Norwich and gave the Sea Unicorns the lead.
The Sea Unicorns extended their lead in the 3rd, delivering their 4th run of the afternoon on 3 hits. Sebastian Mueller ignited the offense with his 2nd base hit of the day to provide Norwich a one out baserunner. Similar to the first, Connor Lane followed with a base knock of his own to give Norwich a pair of base runners. Nick Tomasetto advanced Mueller 90 feet with his second fly out to center field. The third base hit of the inning plated Sebastian Mueller from third, thanks to Scott Penney, who punched a single into right field.
After surrendering a pair of early runs to the Westfield offense, Norwich allowed just 1 run the rest of the way. The final run of the afternoon for the Starfires crossed the plate in the 4th to cut the Sea Unicorns lead to 1. Westfield loaded the bases with one away on a pair of singles and a walk issued. Reliever Teo Spadaccini minimized the damage, allowing a run to cross on a ground out to second base. The Yale product escaped the inning by inducing a pop up to third base to preserve the lead for the host.
Once again, the Norwich offense came to life in the late innings, adding a run in the 7th and a pair in the 8th to create some insurance. The top 4 hitters in the lineup for Norwich all finished with multi-hit performances. AJ Soldra and Sebastian Mueller led the way, each collecting three hits. Soldra finished his afternoon a home run shy of the cycle and drove in 3.
Mike Poncini earned the victory for Norwich in relief, holding Westfield scoreless in 1.2 innings of work. The Quinnipiac product has not allowed any runs across 3.2 innings this summer for Norwich.
The Sea Unicorns are back in action tomorrow night for a doubleheader on the road against Westfield. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST. from Bullens Field.