Norwich Unable to Find Winning Solution in 5th Straight Defeat

Norwich, CT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns continued to reel on Saturday night, falling 5-2 to the league-leading Worcester Bravehearts. With the defeat, Norwich has now dropped five straight, while Worcester extended its winning streak to six and notched a franchise-record 40th win — the most in the Futures League this season.

Worcester began the scoring in the 1st, grabbing an early 1-0 lead. Kaleb Woodward drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error by Norwich second baseman following catcher Clay Hartje’s throw. Woodward came around to score on a Nick Pappas RBI groundout to third.

Norwich answered immediately in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1. Chase Taylor extended his hitting streak to three games with a leadoff single through the right side. He stole second and moved to third on a Gavin O’Brien infield hit. Charlie Walsh brought him home with a fielder’s choice groundout.

The Bravehearts recaptured the lead in the 3rd, striking for 3 runs to build a 4-1 lead. Norwich starter Matt Tabet ran into immediate danger, plunking the leadoff batter and back-to-back base hits loaded the bases with no outs. Casey Wensley gave Worcester the lead on a one out sacrifice fly to left and Jackson Marshall extended their lead, dumping a 2-run single into left field.

The Sea Unicorns cut the deficit in half in the home 3rd on a Gavin O’Brien RBI double to center field, scoring Connor Scanlan who singled earlier in the inning. A baserunning mishap by O’Brien – who stumbled rounding second – led to the second out and helped Worcester escape the frame without further damage.

Casey Wensley added to the Worcester lead in the 7th, wiring a 2 out RBI single up the middle to bring home Woodward and restore the Bravehearts 3-run advantage.

All-Star reliever Caleb Allen earned the victory for the Bravehearts, tossing 3.2 innings of 1 hit baseball and Josh Fisher locked down the save recording the final 5 outs. Fisher has now collected saves in consecutive outings while Allen picked up his third win of the summer.

Win – Caleb Allen (3-1)

Loss – Matt Tabet (0-1)

Save – Josh Fisher (S,2)

Time – 2:34

UPCOMING

Norwich will look to snap their 5-game slide tomorrow afternoon against the Westfield Starfires. Bryce Detwiler will make his second start of the summer opposite Brendan Murphy (1-5). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Bullens Field.

Written by Adam Plager