Norwich Moves Back On Top Of League Standings

The Norwich Sea Unicorns have won 5 straight ballgames after sweeping the Westfield Starfires in a road doubleheader Tuesday night. Norwich’s recent surge has moved the Sea Unicorns back into 1st in the Futures League standings holding a record of 25-15 through 40 contests.

Game 1

In game 1 of last night’s twin bill the Norwich Sea Unicorns posted an 11-5 victory at Bullens Field. Norwich jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, striking for 5 runs in the first.

Norwich sent 9 batters to the plate against Westfield starter Sam Formus to begin their night offensively, collecting 3 hits, a pair of walks, and took advantage of an error committed by the Starfires defense. The Sea Unicorns plated 4 runs before Westfield recorded their 1st out. After failing to record an out through the first 6 batters Norwich sent to the plate, Formus retired the bottom of the Sea Unicorns lineup in order, to escape the inning with minimal further damage.

Westfield responded to the early deficit with 4 runs in the 2nd and a run in the 3rd to even the score at 5. The Starfires offense came roaring to life in the 2nd sending 8 batters to the plate against Norwich starter Gavin Hawkes. A pair of singles and a walk immediately loaded the bases for the host. The third base hit of the inning produced the first run of the night for Westfield. Later in the frame, a one out bases clearing double brought Westfield to within a run. Hawkes was able to minimize any further damage, retiring the next two batters he faced. A solo home run by Luke Masiuk in the home 3rd tied the game at 5.

Norwich reclaimed the lead in the 4th, taking advantage of some command trouble by the Westfield pitching staff. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Norwich with one out. Despite a pitching change made by Westfield, Shaun Callahan brought home Kaiden Dossa from 3rd on a fielder’s choice to give Norwich the lead.

The bullpen for Norwich shutdown the Starfires offense in the final 4 innings, allowing just one hit the rest of the way. Tyler Rice earned the victory for Norwich in relief, tossing a pair of shutout innings.

The Sea Unicorns broke the game open in the 7th thanks to their second 5-run inning of the night. Kaiden Dossa shined once again for Norwich, collecting his 4th straight multi-hit performance while delivering a pair of RBIs and scoring a couple of runs. Trey Porter had his best performance of the summer offensively, collecting 3 hits, and both Anthony Tirado and Owen Turner drove in a pair of runs.

Game 2

Once again Norwich had a fast start, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. AJ Soldra began the ballgame for the visitors with a leadoff double. With one away, Antonio Ducatelli drew a walk to give the Sea Unicorns a pair of base runners and later Nick Tomasetto brought home Soldra with a base hit to center field. Alex Irizarry continued his torrid stretch, crushing a 2-run double down the line in right field to give Norwich a 3-0 lead.

Similar to game one Westfield battled back to tie the game. The Starfires rallied for a pair of runs in the 2nd and a run in the 3rd to return the game back to equilibrium. Westfield cut the Norwich lead to 1, striking for a pair of runs against starter Callen Powers in the home 2nd on 3 hits. The bats continued to heat up for the host in the 3rd against reliever Tiernan Powers who surrendered the equalizer on a pair of base hits from the Westfield offense.

The ballgame remained deadlocked at 3 until the bottom of the 6th. After surrendering a leadoff base knock, Bryson Plante took care of the next 2 batters he faced. Norwich elected to make a pitching change, with 2 away and runner on, for Giovanni Conte. Cameron Papetti took Conte deep to begin his outing and provided Westfield with their first lead of the night.

Norwich battled back in the 7th with 3 runs to take a 6-5 lead. The Sea Unicorns did all their damage with 2 outs. Antonio Ducatelli kept the game alive for Norwich with a single to left field and advanced Bo Yaworski to second. Later Nick Tomasetto reached on an infield single to bring home Yaworski and cut the Westfield lead to 1. Next, Scott Penney drew a walk and Alex Irizarry delivered his 2nd hit of the night to give the Sea Unicorns the lead with a base hit to left field.

Jimmy Mulvaney locked down the victory for Norwich with his 5th save of the summer. The Fairfield product has now lowered his ERA to 0.89.

Norwich is back in action this morning for a meeting against the New Britain Bees. It is Summer Camp Day at Dodd Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. EST.