Sea Unicorns Fight Back To Force Game 3 Against Bees
Norwich, CT – It was a wild one in the Rose City, but the Sea Unicorns come out on top and stay alive as they defeat the New Britain Bees 11-5 in Game Two of the semifinals.
Neither starter on the mound could quiet down these offenses on Tuesday, as even one of the best pitchers in the Futures League got rocked around. That would be New Britain’s Garret Garbinski, who was dominant in his last regular season appearance against Norwich. However, Garbinski would only make it 3.2 innings, allowing eight runs with only five earned on 10 hits with four strikeouts to one walk.
On the home side, Joe Pitts took the mound for manager Zach Gitschier. Pitts ended up going 4.1 innings deep, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts to one walk.
Offensively, the scoring started right away for the Bees in the top of the first. After two quick outs, George Slauson doubled to right field before coming in to score on a Michael Olender RBI single.
After a scoreless second inning on both sides, the Sea Unicorns came alive for the home crowd at Dodd Stadium in the third. A leadoff David Pengel double would immediately cost the Bees, as Kenny Noe smacked an RBI single to tie the game. TJ Baer singled as well to keep the line moving before Michael Fiatarone tallied on with an RBI single of his own to give Norwich the lead. After Fiatarone advanced to second on a wild pitch, Jackson Powers kept the rally going with a two-RBI single to left field, putting the Sea Unicorns up 4-1 with still no outs in the frame. However, Garbinski would get two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice to stop the damage.
The Bees would begin to craft an answer in the fourth. Back-to-back singles followed by an Owen Rich groundout to advance both runners into scoring position made it look like New Britain was right back in this game. Dylan Swarts would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly, but that’s all the Bees would get in the frame.
That run would immediately get cancelled out by the Sea Unicorns, as Tyler Jones began the bottom of the fourth with a monster solo home run over the left field wall to make it 5-2 Norwich. Noe and Baer would both knock singles to put two on with one out before a run would score on a throwing error by Amato Civitello. With two outs, a wild pitch would score Baer before a JP Kuczik RBI single made it 8-2 Norwich.
New Britain would once again try to inch closer to the Sea Unicorns in the fifth. Back-to-back singles led to a Tim Hennig sacrifice fly. Soon after, a Tyler Garbooshian HBP and Slauson walk would load the bases with one out. Norwich would put in Shaun Flannery to try and stop the damage early, and it would just be the start to a great night from the reliever. The Bees would score one more run on another sacrifice fly before Rich lined out to end the frame.
The Sea Unicorns would drive in a run of their own in the home half of the fifth. A Matt Park single would get the first runner on base before two errors by Garbooshian allowed Norwich to get two runners in scoring position. The Bees luck would continue to haunt them, as the curse of Dodd Stadium was in full effect as Norwich scored another run on a Max Jarvie balk.
Flannery would be dominant for the remainder of the game, putting the team on his back in relief. In 4.2 innings, the closer allowed no runs on only one base hit with four strikeouts to no walks. When the city needed him most, he delivered.
New Britain would tally one more run in the ballgame in the seventh. Hennig reached base safely and advanced to second on an error by Noe before advancing to third on a wild pitch. He would come in to score the fifth and final run for the Bees on a Garbooshian groundout.
The Sea Unicorns tacked on some insurance runs with another big inning in the eighth. After Pengel walked, Noe smashed an RBI double to make it 10-5 Norwich. Another walk would put two runners on and nobody out for Fiatarone, who knocked an RBI single to give the Rose City a whopping 11-5 lead.
Flannery made nobody sweat in the ninth inning, despite the Bees still trying by pinch hitting Ian Wirtz for star Ben Kuja. Flannery struck out the pinch hitter before forcing a groundout and flyout to end the game and allow Norwich to survive another day in the semifinals.
Noe would earn Futures League Player of the Night honors, going 3-5 with two RBIs and three runs.
The Sea Unicorns will now head back to New Britain Stadium Wednesday night for a winner-take-all Game Three and try to advance to the Futures League championship for the fourth consecutive year. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. E.T.
Win – Shaun Flannery (1-0)
Loss – Garret Garbinski (0-1)
Time – 3:00
Written by Mark Benway
