Norwich Offense Explodes for Monster Series Opening Victory
Burlington, VT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns offense erupted for a season best 14 runs in Friday night’s 14-6 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters. Last night’s triumph improves Norwich to 16-20 overall and 0.5 games back of New Britain for 4th place in the Futures League standings.
Vermont struck first in the second inning on a Massai Marshall RBI triple that brought home Xander Meissner, who had drawn a walk earlier in the frame. The run marked the first earned run allowed by Norwich starter Luke Cardman since June 19 against Westfield, snapping a scoreless streak of 15 consecutive innings for the right-hander.
Aidan Stern gave Norwich the lead in the 3rd inning, clobbering a 2-run homerun. Stern’s one out blast brought home Kenny Noe who was aboard at first after wiring a single earlier in the frame.
Norwich added insurance in the 4th striking for a pair of runs to stretch their lead to 4-1. Jack Sweeney reached to start the inning via a walk. Anthony Tirado followed smashing a double to give the Sea Unicorns runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Later, Gabriel Rivera plated Sweeney on a grounder to short and advanced Tirado to third. Clay Hartje followed with a productive out of his own to score Tirado after rolling a ground ball to first.
The Norwich offense continued to roll in the fifth inning, erupting for five runs to increase the lead to 9–1. The Sea Unicorns quickly loaded the bases after a leadoff single by Aidan Stern, followed by command issues from Vermont reliever Shamus Kelly, who hit Chace Chaplin and walked Alec Warden. Charlie Walsh cleared the bases, crushing a double to left field. Jack Sweeney followed with a double of his own to drive in Walsh. Clay Hartje capped the monster inning with a sharp single to right, plating Sweeney.
Norwich’s offensive rampage continued in the 6th striking for 3 more runs to take a commanding 11-1 lead. Back-to-back walks to Stern and Chaplin provided Norwich with immediate traffic on the bases. Jack Sweeney delivered for Norwich, mashing his 2nd double of the night to score both base runners.
Vermont responded in the bottom half of the inning with three runs off Norwich reliever Justin Gouin, trimming the Sea Unicorns’ lead to 11–4. Shaun McMillan led off with a single and scored on a one-out double by Leandro Guevara. Xander Meissner followed with a base hit to put runners at the corners, and Cooper Berry made it three straight hits for the Lake Monsters, driving in Guevara. Massai Marshall capped the rally with an RBI groundout to first.
In the 7th, the Lake Monsters offense added a run against Norwich reliever Eric Mathewson on 3 hits. Leandro Guevara continued his big day at the plate cranking a 2 out single to score Bryan Richman who singled earlier in the frame.
The Sea Unicorns answered in the eighth with a pair of runs to restore their eight-run cushion. Charlie Walsh reignited the Norwich offense with a leadoff single off Lake Monsters reliever Emmet Christian. Control issues from the Tufts product loaded the bases, as Anthony Tirado walked and Gabriel Rivera was hit by a pitch. Kenny Noe delivered for the visitors, flipping a two out single into left to score Walsh and Tirado.
Massai Marshall completed the scoring for the hosts in the 8th, clocking a one out homerun against Norwich reliever Nick West.
Norwich finalized the scoring in the 9th, once again capitalizing on command troubles from the Lake Monsters pitching staff. The Sea Unicorns needed just 1 hit in the inning as Lake Monsters reliever Will Polishuk hit a batter and walked a pair.
The 14 runs and 14 hits last night are both season highs for the Norwich offense.
Win – Luke Cardman (2-0)
Loss – John Higgins (1-1)
Time – 3:30
Norwich will look to win the series tonight at Centennial Field. Matt Wotton (3-1) will take the baseball for the Sea Unicorns opposite Matt Higgins (0-0). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
Written by Adam Plager